Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 07_ Shards of Alderaan - Kevin J. Anderson [12]
Brakiss and the Second Imperium were no longer a threat, and her friend Zekk had come back from the darkness. They could be together again, to face whatever the future held. So why wasn't she happy?
Jaina wasn't prepared to handle so many changes at once. @y couldn't things go back to the way they were? She was certain she still wanted to become a Jedi Knight, but it no longer seemed the only thing to do, the only possible path for her life. It no longer seemed like a simple choice. In fact, life seemed more complicated than ever before.
She leaned down and plucked a few pebbles from the shallow water, then tossed them one by one toward the center of theriver. In seconds the strong current erased all ripples, all signs of the pebble's splash.
Jaina bit her lower lip. In the end, was that all the effect her life would have?
She wanted to do something significant, not disappear without a trace.
Jaina gazed down into the murky river, but she could see no farther into its depths than she could into the future. She tossed a larger rock this time, making a bigger splash, but with the same short-lived result.
Suddenly, a small flat stone skittered across the surface, bouncing past her as easily as sunlight skipping across the ripples, before disappearing toward the far shore.
Jaina turned and saw a dark-haired young man standing ankle-deep in water at the edge of the river. "Zekk!"
"Is this a private game, or can anyone pla3r?" he asked, giving her a wan smile.
He seemed barely able to stand.
'You look She paused, at a loss for words. His long hair, a shade lighter than black, contrasted starkly with the pale skin of his face.
Purplish smudges beneath his emerald-green eyes made them look sunken and haunted. He looked as if he had not eaten for a week. "LTh, you look..."
'Alive?" Zekk suggested, smiling faintly.
Jaina cocked her head and looked him over, raising her eyebrows. 'Well...
just barely."
"I must be a pretty awful sight," Zekk said. "I actually feel better than I look. By a little bit, at least."
Jaina chuckled, feeling dizzy and tonguetied. "Well, that's a relief."
Somehow, she couldn't think of what to say to the friend who had once been so close. "Uh, do you need to sit down or anything?" She indicated a spot on the rock beside her.
Zekk shook his head. "I'm a bit shaky after so much time lying in bed, but I feel restless. I thought maybe we could take a walk in the jungle?"
He spoke hesitantly, as if afraid she might reject his offer.
"Together?"
Jaina slid off the flat stone and sloshed over to where he stood in the shallows.
"Well, then," she said with a grin, "what are we wading for?"
Zekk groaned at the joke. "I think your twin brother is having a bad influence on you.
Jaina spent the next hour with Zekk.
????? nmdging through the undergrowth, they made their own path. The two of them kept the conversation light, neutral, wandering along the borders of uncharted territories in their friendship. They crossed the river and made their way through the jungle to the ruins of the shield generator station.
Mangled equipment and chunks of blasted plasteel still lay everywhere.
"Looks like those commandos did a pretty thorough job," Zekk said in a quiet voice.
Jaina tried to determine if his statement held any pride that the Imperials, ostensibly under his command, had succeeded in their mission.
But he sounded only tired and disappointed.
Jaina bit her lower lip. 'Not much left here to salvage," she agreed.
"Mom's sending an all new generator, state-of-the-art.
New Republic engineers already cleared a fresh site for it right over there," she said, pointing toward another clearing just visible through the trees. "She's even going to station a military guardian force in orbit and upgrade all of our communications equipment. Uncle Luke doesn't like all these complications, but the Jedi academy will never be caught unguarded again."
Zekk nodded. "Master