Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 01_ Jedi Search - Kevin J. Anderson [77]
“Good idea,” Han said.
As they approached the enormous construction, flying low enough to avoid notice, he kept an eye out. Moruth Doole would not know of their escape until the lone surviving guard returned to the muster room and made his report. Han, Kyp, and Chewbacca would have a few moments to get a head start, but not very long.
Adjacent to the atmosphere factory, Han did indeed see a broad landing pad with four craft on it. Two of the ships were local landskimmers and useless to them—but the others were small supply shuttles, spaceworthy enough, though they wouldn’t go fast.
Holding the breath mask against his face, Han pointed with his other hand. “Down there. Get one of those ships and we’re away from Kessel.” He grabbed Kyp’s shoulder. “We can go home.”
14
When Luke returned to Coruscant, he had a joyous reunion with Han and Leia’s two-year-old children, whom he had not seen for some time, not since he and Ackbar had set up the secret, protected planet for them.
He waited in Leia’s living quarters, playing with the twins, tossing them in the air and juggling them using his Jedi powers. Jacen and Jaina squealed in delight, giggling and intuitively trusting that their Uncle Luke would never let them fall.
Children were a wonder to him. Raised with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on the parched world of Tatooine, Luke had had little time for playing with children because the life of a moisture farmer was wrapped up in such hard work.
When he left Tatooine with Ben Kenobi, Luke had joined the Rebel Alliance, spending time as a fighter pilot and in Jedi training with Yoda. He never had time or opportunity to see children—and now he felt as much pleasure playing with them, watching their wide-eyed innocence, as they seemed to enjoy having him around.
“Faster! Faster!” Jacen cried.
Instead, just to tease him, Luke stopped the boy cold in the air, letting him hang motionless as Luke orbited Jaina around him. The little girl squealed and stretched out her hand, trying to grab her brother’s ear as she spun.
Tiring of that, Luke let Jaina drift into a cushioned seat while he reached out to catch Jacen as the boy descended, holding him in his arms. Jaina squirmed and reached her pudgy arms up, wanting to be held too.
Luke made faces at the little boy, puckering his lips and wiggling them back and forth. He spoke in a funny head-cold voice that sounded something like Yoda’s. “The Force is strong in this little one, hmmmm? Yes!” But then Luke wrinkled his nose and noticed something he didn’t need Jedi powers to understand. “Or maybe that’s not the Force I sense. Leia, I think you need to perform a motherly duty.” He held Jacen in front of him.
Threepio bustled into the room. “Allow me to take care of that, sir. I have been getting a great deal of practice in the past day or two.”
Luke smiled at the thought of Threepio trying to manage squirming twins. He noticed the droid looked a bit scuffed and battered. “Was that part of your protocol programming?”
“My manual dexterity is sufficient to the task, Master Luke.” Threepio flexed his golden motorized fingers, then took Jacen from Luke’s grasp. “And believe me, I enjoy these duties much more than gallivanting through space, getting shot at by Imperial fighters, or getting lost in asteroid fields.”
Leia came into the room. She forced a smile that Luke could tell was a mask. She looked very tired. It wasn’t just the strain of combining her diplomatic duties with being a mother; something else deeply concerned her, but she hadn’t said anything. Luke did not pry—he could have reached in and taken the secret from her mind, but he would not do that to his sister. And she might even have figured out how to block him by now. He would let her broach the subject in her own way.
“The prep unit will have the meal ready in just a few minutes,” Leia said. “I’m very glad you’re back, and the twins seem to be pleased too.”
Luke realized that