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For now, though, he walked through the underbrush in search of various colors of the polished button beetles. He had discovered a nearly intact nest under some broken rocks blasted from the Great Temple during the recent Shadow Academy attack, and he wanted to complete his collection of specimens.

Instead, as he parted a stand of tall ferns and stepped into a clearing, Jacen saw another young Jedi trainee, Raynat, sitting alone on a rock. He found this quite unusual, since the young man usually avoided the jungles, preferring to remain inside more "civilized" areas. Raynar's brightly colored robes were as multihued and iridescent as an entire swarm of button beetles. He sat with his hands on his robed knees.

Jacen grinned and waved. he'd been working harder at being friendly to Raynar since the boy's family problems had begun.

"Hi, Raynar. What are you doing?"

Raynar turned, startled by Jacen's arrival.

"Nothing."

Jacen laughed. "There's usually a lot more than nothing going on, when someone says 'nothing.'"

"All right," Raynar said with a sigh.

"I was meditating... using the Force to reach out with my mind. I thought maybe I could find out something about where my father went."

"Still no word, then?" Jacen asked.

Sadly, the blond-haired boy shook his head and stared down at his hands.

Though New Republic Security Forces and the bounty hunter Boba Fett--and who knew how many others--were searching the galaxy for him, Bornan Thul had not been found.

Jacen felt uncomfortable when someone else was in trouble or dejected and there was. nothing he could do about it. Although he often resorted to telling jokes, he knew this was probably not a good time to try that. "I wish there was something we could do to help," he said.

"If I can think of something, I'll definitely ask you, then," Raynar answered, looking slightly relieved, though not too hopeful.

He forced a smile. A small one... but it was a smile nevertheless.

When Jacen and Raynar returned together to the Great Temple, the workers had just finished restoring part of the hangar bay that had collapsed during the Imperial attack. New Republic engineers had pitched in with the large-scale work, while military ships hovered in orbit over the jungle moon to protect against any further attacks from space.

Arms crossed over his chest, Luke Sky-walker leaned against the Rock Dragon and watched Jacen and Raynar as they approached.

Jaina and Lowbacca sat beside the repaired passenger shuttle.

Jacen waved. "Hi, Uncle Luke."

"I've got a message from Raynar's mother," Luke said.

The boy from Alderaan instantly perked up and hurried over. "What is it?"

Raynar asked. "Is there news?"

"Not exactly," Luke said. "But she would like me to escort you to her fleet so you can be together during the search for your father.

She thinks it's best for your. personal safety."

"The fleet? Well, well, well..." Raynar frowned. "But how would I get there? If we're worried that someone will try to kidnap me as well as my father, I can't just "

"I guess we could take you," Jacen said.

"The Rock Dragon looks like a normal ship, so nobody would suspect anything."

"Thanks for offering," Luke said, "but I'm afraid Raynar's mother was quite insistent: I have to escort him personally. The Shadow Chaser has quantum armor-to shield us from any attack, and I can help guard him with my jedi skills."

"But what am I supposed to do when I get there?" the young man said, tugging at his colorful robes. "I need to continue my Jedi training and develop my skills. I can't be of any help to my father if I'm stuck in isolation with the fleet."

"Hey, we could go along, Uncle Luke," Jacen suggested, still trying to find a way to help. "We'll work on our exercises together.

Besides, Raynar needs friends with him right now."

Raynat looked at Jacen skeptically, and then at the other young Jedi Knights. "You'd do that you'd all come along with me?"

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka said.

"Sure," Jaina said. "We haven't always been very friendly to you, but maybe this is