Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy_ Champions of the Force - Kevin J. Anderson [0]
On a bier at the end of the room lay Luke Skywalker—like a body stretched out for a funeral.
Leia’s heart thumped with dread. She wanted to turn around and leave so she wouldn’t have to look at him—but Leia found her feet carrying her forward. She walked with a rapid step that became a run before she reached the end of the promenade. Han came carrying the twins, one in each arm. His eyes were red as he fought to keep tears from flowing. Leia already felt a wetness on her cheeks.
Luke lay in repose, swathed in his Jedi robe. His hair had been combed; his hands were folded across his chest. His skin looked gray and plasticlike.
“Oh, Luke,” Leia whispered.
She reached out to touch him. Using her abilities with the Force, she tried to reach deeper, to brush against his life force—but she felt only a cold hole, an emptiness, as if Luke himself had been taken away.
Not dead.
He could not be dead.…
CHAMPIONS OF THE FORCE
A Bantam Spectra Book / October 1994
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®, TM and © 1994 by Lucasfilm Ltd.
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eISBN: 978-0-307-79613-4
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada.
v3.1
Dedication
To my stepson and
“research buddy”
JONATHAN MACGREGOR COWAN,
who helped me see
“a galaxy far, far away” through
a child’s sense of wonder
Acknowledgments
Much of this novel was written at the Montecito Sequoia Lodge in the redwood forests of California. Lillie Mitchell, my typist, somehow kept up with all the microcassettes I dumped on her and egged me to greater speed by asking “What happens next?” My wife, Rebecca Moesta Anderson, provided brainstorming and late-night walks to help iron out plot problems, as well as giving her personal support and love. Tom Veitch helped me work out the background of Exar Kun and the Dark Lords of the Sith, which we’ve written into a twelve-issue saga for Dark Horse Comics. My editor, Tom Dupree, trusted me to deliver everything on time and in good shape (and he even enjoyed the story!); his assistant, Heather McConnell, kept a million things under control at once and refrained from hanging up on me whenever I called to pester her. Lucy Wilson at Lucasfilm helped make this and all of my other Star Wars stories possible, and her assistant, Sue Rostoni, managed to keep the different projects from crashing headlong into each other. In our many discussions Ralph McQuarrie provided a lot more inspiration than he will admit, including designing the temple of Exar Kun and other parts of the Jedi academy. West End Games, as usual, provided an enormous amount of valuable reference material on all aspects of the Star Wars universe. Most of all, I owe thanks to George Lucas for creating such a wonderful universe and for letting me play in it.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
About the Author
Also by this Author
Introduction to the Star Wars Expanded Universe
Excerpt