She drew in a deep breath, let it out again. Without a sound the lamp glided off the platform and high into the air over their heads. Tenel Ka thought about the flame, feeding it with her mind and making it brighter, brighter, until its warm radiance reached even to the darkest corners of the pavilion. Then she sent the lamp sailing around the outer edges of the tent; it made the complete circle so quickly that she heard Vonnda Ra gasp with amazement. Through her half-closed eyes Tenel Ka watched the dark-haired woman sit up, one hand outstretched, palm up, as if to ask a question.
Tenel Ka brought the lamp in closer for another circle, and then another, smaller and closer to the central tent post, until at last it spun around the center pole in a dizzy downward spiral, still glowing brightly—all in a matter of a few seconds. Last, Tenel Ka brought the spinning lamp lightly to rest in Vonnda Ra’s outstretched hand.
The Nightsister gave a gleeful chuckle. “You are welcome here, Sister,” she said. “What is your name?”
Tenel Ka threw her head back. “My name—our names—no longer have any meaning for us. We discarded them when we left our clan.”
“Come here,” Vonnda Ra ordered. When Tenel Ka did as she was told, the Nightsister stood and took the young girl’s chin in her fingers and looked deep into her eyes. “Yes,” she said with a satisfied nod. “You have much anger in you. Are you willing to go elsewhere to learn? To a place of instruction among the stars?”
Tenel Ka’s heart leaped. Perhaps this was where Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca had been taken. “Wherever your finest teachers are, that is where I wish to go,” she replied.
“But you must leave your slave behind. We will have little use for him,” Vonnda Ra said. No!
Vonnda Ra sighed. “What if I were to tell you that men rarely have any talent, and that we have never trained one this old? He would only distract you from what you must learn. There is little hope of teaching him. If you knew all this, then what would you say?”
“Then I would say … ,” Tenel Ka replied, leveling her best cool gray stare at Vonnda Ra, “that you are a fool.”
Vonnda Ra’s eyes went wide with surprise, but Tenel Ka did not stop. “This man has watched and learned the ways of the Force since before I was born. Not many—not many who still live—have seen his power. But I have seen it.”
Vonnda Ra abruptly turned her skeptical gaze toward Luke. “If you can lift this,” she said, pointing to her lizard-skull lamp, “and bring as much light to this tent as she did”—she nodded toward Tenel Ka—“then you shall accompany her.”
The Nightsister looked at Luke and then back down at the lamp. When it did not move, a small contemptuous smile flickered at the corners of her mouth. Then something large and dark floated between them and blocked her view. The flame from the oil lamp brightened, and the massive rancor-head chair grinned at her, its lifeless eyes glowing with reflected light. Then the head lifted and glided around the perimeter of the tent like a shuttlecraft.
Tenel Ka could see Master Skywalker standing with arms crossed over his chest, one knee bent in an apparently relaxed posture, his head cocked to one side, smiling at Vonnda Ra as he sent the rancor head whizzing about the pavilion.
“Since you asked,” he said, “I will give you light.” Suddenly, in a blur of motion, the stuffed rancor head shot upward with the speed of blaster fire. It disappeared through the ceiling of the tent, leaving a gaping hole in its wake, through which the bright morning sunlight streamed.
Vonnda Ra looked more than a little nervous as she stepped forward and took Luke’s chin in her hands. For more than a minute she gazed transfixed into his eyes. “Yes,” she hissed at last. “Yes, you understand the dark side.”
She backed away from him as if in awe, stared up at the rent in the ceiling of her pavilion, then looked back at Luke and Tenel Ka. “We expect an Imperial supply shuttle at dawn tomorrow,” she said. “When it leaves this planet, the two of you must be on it.”
18
Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca were at first surprised and delighted that they would be together for the next exercise—but the grim expressions on Brakiss and Tamith Kai soon soured their pleasure. Obviously, Jacen thought, the two Shadow Academy instructors had something difficult and dangerous in mind.
“Because you must move forward in your training,” Brakiss said, motioning outward to represent progress, “we have designed exercises to present greater and greater challenges for your abilities.”
Lowie groaned in dismay.
“For this next test, the three of you must work together. Each trainee must learn to act in concert with others to assist our cause. There are times when we must be unified to provide appropriate service to the Second Imperium.”
Em Teedee parroted from his place at Lowie’s waist, “Oh, most certainly—appropriate service to the Empire.”
Lowie growled at the translating droid to be quiet.
“You needn’t take that tone with me! I am simply reinforcing the things you need to know,” the reprogrammed Em Teedee replied, miffed.
The three companions found themselves in a new room this time, smaller, more claustrophobic, with numerous round hatches built into the walls on every side.
Tamith Kai went to a control panel in one corner and tapped in a series of commands with her long-nailed fingers. Four of the metal hatches slid open, and spherical remotes floated out on repulsorfields.
The remotes were metal balls studded with tiny lasers. They reminded Jacen of the defensive satellites that had been unable to stop the Imperial blastboats from invading GemDiver Station. He felt uneasy, wondering if the floating drones would start firing at them.
“These remotes are your protection,” Tamith Kai said. “That is, if the Wookiee can operate them correctly.”
Lowie growled a question. “Oh, do be patient, Lowbacca,” Em Teedee said. “I’m sure she’ll explain everything in good time. She’s quite good at this, you know.”
Brakiss gestured to the remaining hatches on the wall. “These will open at random,” he said, “and they will hurl objects at you.”
Brakiss reached into the folds of his silvery robe and withdrew a pair of polished wooden sticks, each about the length of Jacen’s arm. He handed them to the twins.
“These are your only weapons: these sticks—and the Force. If the Force is your ally, you have a powerful weapon.”
“We know that already,” Jaina snapped.
“Good,” Brakiss said, his intensely calm smile still in place. “Then you won’t object to the other restrictions we place on you.” From his sleeve he pulled out two long, black strips of cloth. “You’ll be blindfolded. You must use the Force to detect the objects coming at you.”
Jacen felt his heart sink.
“When the objects fly at you, you must either nudge them aside with the Force or strike them with the wooden sticks.” He shrugged. “That is all. A simple enough game.”
Tamith Kai took up the explanation. “The Wookiee will be in an observation chamber, working to protect you as well. Hell have full control of the computer to run these four remotes. They have powerful enough lasers to disintegrate any of the projectiles. Of course, if he misses, and the laser strikes you instead, he could cause serious injury.”
“So”—Brakiss rubbed his hands together, a look of anticipation on his beautiful face—“you have your own weapons, and the Wookiee has the remotes. The three of you must work together to keep yourselves alive.”