Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 03_ The Lost Ones - Kevin J. Anderson [35]
Brakiss released his control and let the flame return to a small bright point glimmering on the flare stick. "Now you try it, Zekk. Just concentrate. Feel the fire, like flowing water, like paint. Use fingers in your mind to draw it into different shapes. Swirl it around. You'll get the feel of it."
Zekk leaned for-ward eagerly, then stopped himself. "Why should I cooperate? I'm not going to do any favors for the Second Imperium or the Shadow Academy - - or for you."
Brakiss folded his smooth hands and smiled again. "I wouldn't want you to do it for me. Or for a government or institution you know little about.
I'm asking you to do this for yourself! Haven't you always wanted to develop your skills, your talents? You have a rare ability. Why not take advantage of this opportunity, especially you, a person whose life has had, if I may say, too few advantages. Even if you return to your old life afterward, won't you be better off if you can use the Force, rather than relying on what you once thought of as a 'knack' for finding valuable objects?"
Brakiss leaned forward. "You are independent, Zekk. I see that. We're looking for independent people-people who can make their own decisions, who can succeed no matter how much their so-called friends expect them to fail. You have your chance, here, now. If you aren't interested in bettering yourself, if you don't bother to make the attempt, then you fail before you've even begun." The words were sharp, reprimanding, but they struck home.
"All right, I'll try it," Zekk said. "But don't expect much."
He squinted his green eyes and concentrated on the flame. Although he didn't know what he was doing, he tried different things, various ways of thinking. He stared directly at the flame, then saw it out of the corner of his eye, tried to imagine moving it, nudging it with invisible fingers of thought. He didn't know what he did or how to describe it-but the flame jumped!
"Good," Brakiss said. "Now try again."
Zekk concentrated, retracing the mental path he had taken before, and found it with less effort this time. The flame wavered, bent to one side, then jumped and stretched longer in the other direction. "I can do it!"
Brakiss reached forward and snapped the flare stick together again, extinguishing the flame. Immediately, Zekk felt a sharp disappointment.
"Wait! Let me try it one more time."
"No," Brakiss said with a smile that was not unkind. "Not too much at once. Come with me to the docking bay. I need to show you something else."
Zekk licked his lips, feeling hungry somehow, and followed Brakiss, trying to squelch his impatience to try again with the flame. His appetite had now been whetted-and part of him suspected that was exactly what the leader of the Shadow Academy had intended....
Inside the hangar bay Qorl and a regiment of stormtroopers worked to unload the precious cargo they had stolen from the Rebel cruiser Adamant.
Brakiss came in leading Zekk, who stared at all the ships stationed at the Shadow Academy.
"I wish I could show you our finest small ship, the Shadow Chaser,"
Brakiss said with a look of regret, "but Luke Skywalker took it when he charged in here to capture our trainees Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca."
Zekk scowled, but refrained from telling Brakiss that it served the Shadow Academy right, since they had kidnapped the three young Jedi first, for their own ends. He looked away.
Up in the control room overlooking the cavernous docking bay, the black-haired Tamith Kai stood watching the activities through slitted violet eyes. Beside her were two dark allies from Dathomir, Vilas and Garowyn.
Zekk flinched, his lips curling downward in anger as he noted that these were the ones who had stunned him and taken him from Imperial City.
"Pay them no mind," Brakiss said with a dismissive gesture. "They're jealous because of the attention I'm paying you."
Zekk felt a surprising flood of warmth and wondered