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"Could you make the sun explode?" Zekk asked in awe.

Brakiss opened his eyes and looked at his young student. His smooth, perfect forehead creased. "I don't know," he said. "And I don't believe I ever want to try."

Zekk remembered the way Brakiss ha rst enticed him to experiment with his innate Jedi powers, by giving him a flarestick and showing how simple it was to draw shapes in the flames with the Force. Here in the Denarii Nova, Brakiss had done the same thing-only on a scale the size of a star system.

"Could I try it?" Zekk said eagerly, leaning forward. He touched his fingertips to the lightfiltering viewport, looking out at the double star and its brilliant corona, which rippled like a barely contained inferno.

Brakiss smiled again. "You're ambitious as always, young Zekk." He placed a firm hand on his prize student's shoulder. "But do not be impatient.

There is more you must learn, much more. You've been such a voracious leamer, surpassing my greatest expectations about how capable you are of using the power you were born with. You easily accomplish the exercises I set for you-but there comes a time when every Jedi trainee must be tested to the limit." Brakiss raised his eyebrows. "Tamith Kai continues to flaunt her greatest student, Vilas, who has been training here for more than a year. But you are learning so much faster. I believe you have reached that stage, Zekk."

He reached into his silvery robes and grasped something there, but hesitated, meeting the darkhaired boy's steady gaze. "I know you are ready for this. Do not disappoint me."

"What is it, Master Brakiss?" Zekk asked.

From the folds of his robe Brakiss removed a dark, ornate cylinder.

"The time has come for you to have your own lightsaber."

Zekk took the ancient Jedi weapon and stared at it in wonder. Even deactivated, it felt powerful in his hand. He squeezed the grip and swung the handle back and forth, imagining a crackling energy blade. It felt good. Very good.

"Normally," Brakiss said, "I would have suggested that you build your own weapon. But it takes time and intense concentration to assemble the components, understand the workings. And we have not the time. Through the dark side, many things are easier, more efficient. Take this lightsaber as my gift to you; wield it well in the service of the Second Imperium."

"May I turn on the power?" Zekk whispered, still in awe.

"Of course."

Brakiss stood back as Zekk activated the lightsaher. A scarlet beam lanced outward, glowing like lava. "This is a masterful weapon," Brakiss said. "It has already been attuned for use by the dark side."

Zekk swiveled his wrist left and right, listening to the hum of the powerful cutting edge.

"In fact, this lightsaber is very similar to the one Darth Vader used," Brakiss pointed out.

Zekk struck out against the air. "When can I train with it?" he said. "How will I learn?"

Brakiss led the young man out of the observation tower. "We have simulation rooms," he said. "A while ago, I spent some time training your friends Jacen and Jaina. Very disappointing. They did learn how to use lightsabers, but they resisted me each step of the way.

"I expect you, on the other hand, to excel in every routine. You, Zekk, will quickly surpass anything your friends accomplished. And I know Master Skywalker and his fears-be is too nervous to train his precious younger students with their own lightsabers. He considers the energy blades too dangerous." Brakiss laughed. "His fears are misplaced.

The most truly dangerous thing is a Dark Jedi wielding such a weapon."

As Zekk accompanied his teacher down the corridor, he switched off the lightsaber and held its sturdy handle in his grip. He looked down at the legendary Jedi weapon and ran his finger over its case.

The lightsaber felt warm, ready... begging to be used. The afterimage of the scarlet blade still blazed across his vision.

Zekk tried to blink it away, but the bright line remained. At last he said, "Yes, I can see how such a weapon