“Oh! Well, I could fire too—if I was paying attention,” Jacen said. He swung the four-barreled weapon into position, then watched the targeting cross move closer and closer. Maybe it was an old shielding plate from a blown-up Star Destroyer, or an empty cargo pod dumped by a fleeing smuggler. He tracked in closer….
“Stay on target,” Tenel Ka said. “Stay on target … fire!”
Jacen reacted instantly, squeezing the firing buttons, and all four laser cannons shot focused beams that vaporized the hunk of debris. “Yahoo!” he yelled. A similar whoop of delight came from the other gun well.
“It would appear that Jaina also hit her target,” Tenel Ka said.
“Don’t get cocky, kids,” Han shouted good-naturedly from the cockpit. His copilot Chewbacca roared agreement.
“Just making the galaxy safe for peaceful navigation, Dad,” Jacen called.
“We’re at a tie,” Jaina said. “We need one more shot each. Please, Dad?”
“You twins are always at a tie,” Han answered. “If I let you keep shooting until one of you scores and the other doesn’t, we’ll be circling the solar system for years. Come on back up to the cockpit. We’re almost home.”
As the Millennium Falcon settled onto a clear rooftop, Lowbacca unbuckled his crash restraints and groaned. The landing on Coruscant had been smooth, and he had enjoyed his time optimizing the Falcon’s computers—but he was anxious to get back into the open air. Even city air, as long as he could be high enough off the ground.
By the time Lowie reached the ship’s exit ramp, Jacen and Jaina had managed to unfasten their crash webbing too. The twins sped past him down the ramp and into the waiting arms of their mother. Leia Organa Solo, the New Republic’s Chief of State, stood on the landing platform with her younger son, Anakin Solo, and the golden protocol droid See-Threepio.
Lowie adjusted the miniaturized translating droid, Em Teedee, at his hip and made his way down the ramp, watching the close family scene with a certain amount of envy. Dark-haired Anakin hovered beside his two older siblings, asking occasional questions, his ice-blue eyes taking in everything. Leia, her long brown hair arranged in intricate coils, looked at all three of her children with obvious pride and affection. When Han Solo came out to join the reunion, the family erupted in another joyous burst of kisses and hugs and hair ruffling.
Lowie missed his family on Kashyyyk.
Jaina said, “Thanks for letting us bring our friends home with us for the visit, Mom.”
“Your friends are always welcome here,” their mother replied. She stepped forward to greet Lowie with a warm smile, then bowed briefly to Tenel Ka, who had followed him down the ramp. “We’re very honored to have you all here. Please, treat the palace as if it were your own home.”
Though Lowie didn’t say a word, Em Teedee spoke up at his waist, chiming in with a delighted voice. “Ah, See-Threepio! My counterpart, my predecessor, my … mentor! I have many things to upload to you. You’ll be most distressed to hear about some of the adventures I’ve had since Chewbacca first delivered me to the Jedi academy—”
“To be sure! A pleasure to see you again, Em Teedee,” Threepio said. “I doubt, however, that your tribulations are anything compared to the heavy diplomatic responsibilities I have to bear here on Coruscant. You simply couldn’t believe how easily offended some of these out-world ambassadors can be!”
As the two droids chattered along in near-identical voices, Lowie rolled his large Wookiee eyes. Chewbacca, having finished the Falcon’s shutdown procedures, came out to join his nephew just as Lowie handed Em Teedee over to See-Threepio so that the two could reminisce as “family” for a while.
Lowie heaved a small sigh, thinking of his homeworld of Kashyyyk, his parents, and his younger sister. His uncle placed a sympathetic hand on his hairy shoulder. Perhaps Chewbacca sensed Lowie’s homesickness, because he immediately launched into a description in Wookiee language of the room he had picked for his nephew to sleep in—one of the highest rooms in the Imperial Palace. Though Lowie would see no treetops from his window, Chewbacca assured him that the heights were indeed breathtaking, which should make him feel comfortable and secure. Chewie had also seen to it that the room was furnished with trees and hammocks and lush green jungle plants.
It wasn’t as good as visiting home, Chewbacca said, but it was a great place for a vacation.
Tenel Ka stared at the opulent room chosen for her by Leia Organa Solo. The furniture was beautifully carved, and the draperies and bed coverings were of the finest quality. The mattress looked soft and luxurious.
It felt like home in the Fountain Palace on Hapes. Tenel Ka shuddered. She was a princess of Hapes, since her father, the son of the former queen, a powerful matriarch, now ruled the Hapes cluster with his Dathomiran wife. But Tenel Ka had kept this fact hidden from her friends at the Jedi academy, preferring instead to follow her mother’s heritage from wild Dathomir. This palace was a bit too much like home on the Hapes central world—and Tenel Ka was uncomfortable with such amenities right now.
“Ah,” she said. “Aha.”
Striding to the bed, she yanked the covers off and pulled the pad onto the polished stone floor. She squatted down on it and nodded with satisfaction. The room no longer seemed as posh and fluffy—therefore, it was much more comfortable, not to mention much more suitable for a tough warrior woman. This was a fact.
2
As she tried to sleep, Jaina thought of how different Coruscant was from the thick jungles of Yavin 4. The planet-wide capital city bustled with an intensity and energy that filtered into every aspect of daily life. Unlike the tiny moon, which managed to still itself in the quiet hours before dawn, the New Republic’s central world stayed awake all the time.
Her brother Jacen blinked his bleary brown eyes as he joined her in the dining area the next morning. Tenel Ka and Lowbacca had risen early and, already at work on their morning meals, greeted the twins as they arrived. The golden protocol droid See-Threepio hurried about, making sure the guests had a fine eating experience.
Lowie ate steaming pieces of heated (but still raw) red meat from a gold-etched plate frilled with sculptured loops; Threepio had used the best diplomatic tableware and the choicest garnishes. The Wookiee youth, however, seemed to have trouble avoiding the decorative sprigs and delicate flowers that adorned the bloody meal. Tenel Ka, using a small dagger to poke at her plate, speared a piece of fruit.
“Ah, good morning, Mistress Jaina, Master Jacen,” Threepio said. “Such a pleasure to have you home with us again.”
Jaina glanced at the holographic window that stretched across the wall of the room—actually an image transmitted from one of the towers elsewhere in the great city. Because their mother was the important Chief of State, their family quarters were protected deep within the palace, without any real windows to the outside. Jaina knew that many other diplomats around the city were looking out their own false windows at the same projected image.
“Thanks, Threepio,” Jacen said. “We’ve been looking forward to this vacation. Uncle Luke has been teaching us some terrific Jedi skills, but it can be exhausting.”
The droid tapped his gold-plated hands together. “I am delighted to hear it, Master Jacen. Although I am naturally quite busy tutoring young Master Anakin, I have taken the liberty of setting up a fine curriculum of studies for you while you remain here on Coruscant. Your guests are more than welcome to attend classes as well. Oh, it will be just like old times!”
“Classes!” Jacen interrupted as he plopped down in a chair and began to shovel breakfast into his mouth. “You’re joking, right?”