Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 03_ The Lost Ones - Kevin J. Anderson [9]
Tenel Ka cleared her throat and said ominously, "If we bring the egg back intact."
Jaina suddenly noticed that they had returned to the abandoned levels emblazoned with gang graffiti. The sharp corners of the cross in a triangle symbol seemed brighter now, as if freshly painted. Jaina wondered if the gang members could have marked their territory afresh in the short time since the young Jedi Knights had passed through. If the gang members kept such a careful eye out for everything, they might have spotted the five companions already. Maybe they were watching from hidden, shadowy corners right now...
Tenel Ka tensed and pulled out a small throwing knife, looking from side to side. She seemed alert, ready to spring at the first sign of danger, but Jaina didn't feel safe. With her Jedi senses, she felt a tingle down her spine.
"If the Lost Ones are so tough and powerful, how come we've never heard of them before?" Jacen looked around nervously in the creaking, musty buildings.
"Because you never come down here," Zekk answered. "Whenever we get together, you either have me come to the Imperial Palace or we meet in the safe upper levels. I'll bet your parents would blow their thrusters if they knew where we were right now."
"We can take care of ourselves," Tenel Ka said defensively, flashing her tiny dagger.
"Dear me, I shouldn't be so certain about that, if I were you," Em Teedee replied from Lowie's waist. The young Wookiee groaned.
Zekk smiled thinly. "Down here you can see how I live every day. I don't have anyone to wash my hands for me or cook my meals, you know. And I don't have the luxury of worrying about how to amuse myself. Every day is a search-I'm just lucky I have a special knack for finding things."
Jaina was surprised to hear a hint of resentment behind her friend's words. "Zekk, if you needed anything, you should have just asked. We could have found you new quarters, given you credits to spend-"
"Who said I wanted that?" he responded through clenched teeth. "I don't need charity. I've got my freedom here. I can do whatever I want.
Besides, it's more satisfying to live by my own wits than to be pampered and coddled all the time."
Em Teedee piped up, "Well really, Master Zekk! It might interest you to learn that not everyone minds being pampered and coddled."
Jaina ignored the translating droid and wondered if Zekk really meant what he said.
"Nothing personal", Zekk said with shrug. He looked up at the cross-in-triangle symbol. "Being a gang member doesn't impress me either. Their leader Norys - who's our age - is a big bully who likes to throw his weight around. I can run my way through the lower levels better than any of the Lost Ones, so he's been after me to join for a long time. He'd love to have me as his right-hand man, but I'm too independent for that.
I work for myself."
They stood at the entrance to a sheer-walled building, near one end of a dilapidated covered walkway that extended to an adjacent skyscraper. More threatening gang symbols marked the inside walls. Half of the windows were broken, and confined breezes whispered through the walkway like voices warning them to go back.
Zekk looked behind him. "This building we're in is the headquarters of the Lost Ones. We're taking a pretty big risk being here." His emerald eyes sparkled. "Kind of exciting, isn't it?" The building was large and dark, filled with cavernous spaces of empty meeting chambers, offices, and abandoned supply rooms. Jaina wondered if any record or blueprint of this ancient building still existed in the vast computer archives of the Imperial Information Center.
"I don't think you have to worry about Norys, though," Zekk said, raising his voice. "He talks big, but