Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 01_ Jedi Search - Kevin J. Anderson [46]
Luke walked across the lake of fire.
He did not think about it. The lava refused to touch his feet. Only the Force burned bright around him. One step after another, he strode across the flaming rock, letting himself see nothing but his goal until he stood again on solid ground on the far side of the lake of fire, with Gantoris and his people.
When he reached safety, he nearly collapsed with relief, but he could not allow himself to show a change of expression. He tried not to think about what he had just done.
Gantoris stood before him, an expression of awe on his broad face. The others backed away, but Gantoris remained motionless. He swallowed as he met Luke’s gaze. “I will abide by my promise.” He drew a deep breath. “Teach me how to use this mysterious power within me.”
Without a thought Luke reached forward with trembling hands and touched Gantoris’s head. He sent mental fingers inward, probing to the back of the other man’s mind, searching until he found the mysterious nub in Gantoris’s subconscious, and pushed—
The strength of his reflexive reaction knocked Luke backward so that he had to catch his balance before tumbling into the lava. Gantoris did indeed have the Jedi potential, enough to make him a formidable candidate for the Jedi academy.
Luke allowed himself a sigh of relief. The terror and the testing had been worth it. He took Gantoris’s hand, then looked at the gathered survivors of the abandoned colony.
“We will find a new home for your people. But first you will come with me to Coruscant.”
9
Lando Calrissian’s ship, the Lady Luck, received clearance from a bored-sounding traffic controller to land in the spaceport of Umgul. As the ship coasted through the misty atmosphere, Lando was amazed at the number of private ships, space yachts, and luxurious ground skimmers bustling around the landing center.
Lando cruised with the other traffic over flatlands surrounding a broad river on his way to Umgul City. Fleets of sail barges drifted over the sluggish river. Looking down, he could see flashing lights and gyrating bodies that spoke of wild parties on the barge decks.
A moist planet, but cool, Umgul was frequently blanketed by dense fog and low-hanging clouds; even now, in the middle of the day, wisps of mist drifted up from the river and spread across the lowlands. Though unremarkable in resources and strategic importance, Umgul had earned galactic fame as a sports center, home of the renowned Umgullian blob races.
The Lady Luck followed her designated vector to a spaceport carved into limestone bluffs rising above the river. Accompanied on either side by tiny two-person pleasure skimmers, Lando brought his ship through the cavern mouth. He barely managed to avoid hitting a blue zeppelin full of tourists. Inside, hairy attendants wearing bright-orange vests directed the Lady Luck into her parking stall by waving handheld laser beacons.
Lando turned to the two droids next to him in the pilot’s compartment. “Are you boys about ready to have fun?”
Artoo beeped something Lando could not understand, but Threepio straightened in indignation. “We are not here to have fun, General Calrissian. We are here to assist Master Luke!”
“I’m here as a private citizen going to the blob races.” Lando jabbed a finger at him. Being in close quarters with Threepio for only a day had already been enough for the prissy droid to get on his nerves. “You are my protocol droid, and you’d better play the part—or I’ll have you run a complete diagnostic of all the sewage-control systems on Umgul City.”
“I … understand clearly, sir.”
As the Lady Luck’s ramp tongued out, Lando stepped into the chaos of the Umgullian reception center. Voices blurred by background noise made perpetual announcements over the intercom systems. Roars from departing vehicles echoed in the grotto. Acrid smells of exhaust fumes and engine-fueling ports stung Lando