Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 04_ Lightsabers - Kevin J. Anderson [47]
Lowbacca growled and pointed toward the navigation console. "Oh, dear! Master Lowbacca suggests that it might, perhaps, be premature to feel safe and comfortable quite yet," Em Teedee translated. "You see, he hypothesizes that this wavespeeder was purposely sabotaged."
"What do you mean?" Jacen asked. "Those numbers don't mean anything to me."
"I think he means this." Jaina nodded down at the console, indicating the preprogrammed course coordinates. "The autopilot was set to take us into the middle of that killer seaweed-with no return course!"
THE GURGLING, SHUSHING sound of gentle waves lapping against stone docks and anchored boats f illed the cave grotto. With each breath, Tenel Ka drew comfort from the salty smells and the cool, solid rock around hen Sitting with bare, crossed legs, using a Jedi calming technique to help herself think clearly, she let her gaze drift across each of her friends.
Jaina, head under the control panel and feet high in the air, checked the wiring of the wavespeeder's directional controls. Lowbacca tinkered with the navigational computer from above, handing Jaina tools as she asked for them. Tenel Ka felt a pang of loss as she watched her two friends working witn such confidence and agility, completely unconscious of how easy it was for them to use either one hand or the other.
Jacen lay stomach down on a ledge beside Tenel Ka, his right hand reaching deep into the water while the fingers of his left teased the surface, trying to lure a glowing amphibious creature close enough to grasp it.
"Hand me that hydrospanner, would you, Lowie?"
Jaina said in a muffled voice. "I need to take this access plate off." Without looking up from his wore, the Wookiee plucked the too] from the case behind him with one nimble-fingered hand and passed it to Jaina.
It is so simple with two arms, Tenel Ka thought.
As quickly as the jealousy rose within her, she squelched it, chiding herself for being irrational.
Even if she still had both hands, she might not have been able to do the things Lowbacca could do with his long, limber arms. He used everything he had, body and mind, to the best of his ability. Just as Jacen and Jaina did.
Just as Tenel Ka always had.
Was she still that same determined person, using her skills and abilities to their fullest, she wondered, or was that person gone now that she had lost her left arm?
She scowled at the thought. If the missing limb was the only thing that bothered her, then surely she could have accepted the biosynthetic replacement her grandmother offered.... So perhaps the injury itself was not her primary problem, after all.
Tenel Ka noticed then that Jacen had propped himself up on his elbows and had turned to look at her, his eyes serious. "Hey, you fought really well out there yesterday, against that killer seaweed."
"You mean for a girl with only one arm?" Tenel Ka said bitterly.
"I... no, I-" Jacen's cheeks turned crimson and he looked away. His voice was low when he spoke again. "Sorry. All I remembered was you fighting that plant. I didn't even think about your missing ann-it didn't slow you down a bit."
Tenel Ka flinched as if he had slapped her. He was right, she realized: she had not fought like some weak, pitiable invalid. Instinctively, she had battled with everything in her repertoire, drawing on all of her resources. She had truly been herself, using every weapon at her disposal.
"Do not be sorry, Jacen," she said. "Your words were meant kindly. It is I who must apologize." She thought again of the battle, niusing over what she had accomplished. "I might have fought better, though, if I-"
"-if you had had your other arm?" Jacen finished for her. "Hey, I might have fought better if I'd had a blaster cannon, but I didn't. I just did my best."
"No." Tenel Ka looked at him in surprise. "I meant to say, I might