Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 07_ Shards of Alderaan - Kevin J. Anderson [23]
"It'll take almost a year to hatch," Han warned, "and you have to keep it warm the whole time."
"No problem," Jacen assured him, looking over at his sister. "LTh-is it, Jaina?"
She pretended to heave a deep sigh.
"I think I can manage to build you a temperature-controlled cage, Jacen."
"And for you, Jaina..." Han held out a meter-long chain of devices that looked like a rope of Corellian nerf sausages. "A modular signal transmitter."
"Great! More components for my collection," Jaina said, grinning.
"Don't thank me too soon," Han said.
"The transmitter works, but this is such an old model that it doesn't have much range."
"Mat's okay, Dad-it's modular. I can figure out a way to link in a higher-powered signal booster," Jaina said, feeling her spirits lift at the prospect of this new mechanical challenge.
Jacen asked, as if the thought had suddenly struck him, "Why is it so important to Mom to rebuild the Great Temple just like it was? I mean, the Massassi weren't a particularly honorable race. Is she just doing this for Uncle Luke?"
"No," Han said. "There's more to it than that. You kids never really saw the planet Alderaan, where your mom grew up, since it was destroyed before you were born." 'Ve've seen holoclips," Jaina pointed out.
"And those framed images you gave her."
Han nodded absently. "Alderaan was a center of culture and education.
Peaceful planet... lots of artists, philosophers, musicians. Grand Moll Tarkin made your mother watch while he used the Death Star to blast her home planet into tiny little chunks. Ever since then, anything the Empire ruined, your mom's tried to set right again. And in her memory, Yavin 4
was our first safe haven after your uncle Luke and I rescued her from the Death Star. For her, the Great Temple is a symbol of the Rebellion's struggle to build a fair government for everyone in the galaxy. So it's kind of a personal thing. Mom'll be coming here in six or seven days to check on our progress."
"Hey, she'll be here for her birthday then," Jacen said, counting the days.
"We thought it would be nice to have the whole family together for a change," Han said. "Even if we have to come here to do it. 'Dad," Jaina said. "Jacen and I have been trying to come up with just the perfect gift for Mom's birthday. We thought that maybe if we went to the Alderaan system and got a special piece of Mom's planet, one that she could take with her wherever she went, like a keepsake.
'Yeah," Han said in a soft voice, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Yeah, I think your mom'd like that. But I don't have time to take you kids there. I've got to help with the work here, not to mention keeping up with the search for Raynar's father."
'Veil, we could go by ourselves in Tenel Ka's ship," Jaina said, trying to hide her expression of eagerness and fervent hope.
Han looked even more surprised. 'Oh, yeah. I forgot about the Rock Dragon.
Tenel Ka's parents contacted Leia for permission to station a Hapan ship here."
"You mean we can go then?" Jaina said.
"I didn't say that...." Han frowned, as if thinking it over seriously.
"Well, all right," he said at last. "But only on two conditions."
"Anything," Jaina said, and her brother nodded.
"First, you have to let Chewie and me check out the ship personally, so we know it's safe for you to fly. Second, I want you back here in three days. No more. Just to Alderaan and back-no sightseeing, no joyriding."
"We promise," Jaina said. "What could possibly go wrong?"
In the end, Han and Chewie found nothing more significant than a rear stabilizer to replace on the Rock Dragon. By the next morning, the ship was ready for its flight to the Alderaan system.
"Not a bad little hunk of machinery," Han said to Tenel Ka, looking around the cockpit approvingly. "Did they set it up specially so you could fly it with one hand?"
"The controls have been adjusted to make that possible," Tenel Ka said.
"But Jaina has agreed to act as pilot."