Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 02_ Shadow Academy - Kevin J. Anderson [34]
Jacen touched the power button, and with a snap-hiss a sapphire beam crackled out, indigo at the core but electric blue on the fringes. He flicked the blade from side to side, and the molten energy sliced through the air, trailing a faint smell of ozone. He slashed back again.
Brakiss folded his hands together. "Good," he said.
Jacen whirled and held the lightsaber up. "Hey, what's to stop me from just cutting you down right here, Brakiss? You're evil. You've kidnapped us. You're training enemies of the New Republic."
Brakiss laughed-not a mocking laugh, but simply an expression of wry amusement. "You won't kill me, young Jedi," he said. "You would not cut down an unarmed opponent. Cold-blooded murder is not part of the training Master Sky-walker gives his young trainees... unless he has changed his curriculum since I left Yavin 4?"
Brakiss's alabaster-smooth face seemed exquisitely serene, but he raised his pale eyebrows. "Of course if you do let loose your anger," he said,
"and slice me in half, you will have taken a significant first step down the dark path. Even though I won't be here to see the benefits, the Empire will no doubt use your abilities to great advantage."
"That's enough," Jacen said, switching off the lightsaber.
"You're right," Brakiss agreed. "No more talk. This is a training center."
"What are you going to do to me?" Jacen said, holding up the lightsaber handle, alert and ready to switch it on again.
"Just practice, my dear boy," Brakiss said, easing toward the door. "This room can project holo-remotes, imaginary enemies for you to fight, to help you hone your skill with your new weapon. Your lightsaber."
"If they're just holo-remotes, why should I fight at all?" Jacen said defiantly. "Why should I cooperate?"
Brakiss crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm inclined to ask you to indulge me, but I doubt you would do that-at least not yet. So let us put it another way." His voice took on a sudden hard edge, as sharp as razor crystal. "The holo-remotes will be monster warriors. But how do you know I won't slip in an actual creature to fight against you? You would never know the difference, the holo-remotes are so realistic. And if you stand there and refuse to fight, a real enemy might just remove your head from your shoulders.
"Of course, I probably won't do that in the first session. Probably not.
Or maybe I will, to show you I'm sincere. You'll be here a long time training in the dark side. You never know when I might lose patience with you."
Brakiss stepped out of the training chamber, and the metal doors shut behind him with a clang.
Alone in the dimly lit chamber with its flat gray walls, Jacen waited, tense. Except for his breathing and his heartbeat, the room was completely silent, as if it swallowed all noise. He shifted, felt the hard Corusca gem still hidden in his boot. He took comfort in the fact that the Imperials had not found it and taken it away from him, but he didn't know how it could help him now.
Jacen turned the lightsaber handle in his hands, trying to decide what he should do. Intellectually, he was certain Brakiss was bluffing, that the man would never send in a real murderous monster. But a part of Jacen's heart wasn't so sure, and the slight twinge of doubt made him uneasy.
Then the air shimmered. Jacen heard a grinding sound and whirled to look behind him. A door he had not noticed before crawled open to reveal a shadowy dungeon from which something large and shambling scraped forward, dragging sharp claws along the floor.
Jacen's hobby back at home had been studying strange and unusual animals and plants. He had pored over the records of known alien races, memorizing them all-but still it took him a few moments to recognize the hideous monster that was now emerging from its cell.
It was an Abyssin, a one-eyed monster