Star Wars - [Young Jedi Knights 09] - Delusions of Grandeur (by Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moest

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DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

KEVIN J. ANDERSON and REBECCA MOESTA

BOULEVARD BOOKS, NEW YORK

To our nieces and nephews whose pride in us is both flattering and

energizing

Trinity Workman

Ashley Woehrle

Michael Woehrle

Shawn O'Donnell

Devin O'Donnell

Sarah Jones

Cary Jones

Daniel Jones

Spencer Jones

Amanda Moesta

Brandon Moesta

Wyatt Moesta

acknowledgments

Writing each volume of the Young Jedi Knights requires the help of many

different people--Sue Rostoni, Allan Kausch, and Lucy Wilson at

Lucas-film Licensing; Ginjet Buchanan and Jessica Faust at Boulevard

Books; Dave Dorman, cover artist extraordinaire; Vonda Mclntrye (who

created the character Lusa); Mike Stackpole for his help with Evir

Derricote and the plague; A. C. Crispin for her help with Aryn Dro and

Bornan Thul; Kaisa Wuo-rinen for her beautiful name and for being a

faithful fan; Nick Peterson for the joke; Lillie E.

Mitchell, Catherine Ulatowski, and Angela Kato at WordFire, Inc.; and

Jonathan Cowan, our first test-reader.

A special thanks to all of the fans and devoted readers whose enthusiasm

and support gave us the energy and encouragement we needed to keep

writing.

A KNOCK AT the wooden door startled Jaina Solo out of her reverie. She

had to blink a few times to orient herself as she shook off memories of

recent events.

Her gaze swept around her stone-walled room, across the sleeping pallet

and the small work desk by the window slit. Against one wall, neatly

stacked containers of spare cyberfuses, salvaged circuit loops, and

miniature gears gave evidence of her love for electronics and tinkering.

When Jaina heard the second knock, she glanced toward the arched

doorway. "Oh--come in!" she called, and her twin brother pushed open

the newly repaired door.

Jacen's eyes, the same brandy-brown color as her own, shone with barely

contained excitement. "Hey, guess what? My gort egg is finally about

to hatch! It's

making weird noises and rocking around. Wanna come watch?"

It took a moment for Jacen's news to sink in.

"Sure," she said, proud to know that the incubator she had built for

Jacen's gort egg--a gift from their father, Han Solo--had worked so

well. "I'll be right there. I'm just finishing up something. Give me

five minutes."

Jacen gave her a curious look. The room held no obvious projects that

could not wait until after the hatching. "Okay, but hurry--that egg

could hatch anytime now. I'm going to get Tenel Ka." He raced out of

the room.

Jaina smoothed her straight brown hair back behind her ears and turned

to face the tiny holocam that sat in front of her on her desk almost

hidden by a mound of spare parts. "Let's try this one more time, from

the top," she muttered. Then, taking a deep breath, she switched on the

holocam.

"Hello, Zekk. Things are pretty quiet here on Yavin 4. I really

miss--well, we all miss you. I wish you'd reconsider and come back to

the Jedi academy. Uh-oh. That's no good." She flicked the tiny holocam

off, erased her message, and flicked it on again. She cleared her

throat and started over.

"How are you, Zekk? I realize you didn't stay here for very long, but

things at the academy just haven't been the same since you left.

It seems like such a long time since we last saw you."

Jaina switched off the recorder again. "Oh, great.

That was cheery," she scolded herself. "Guaranteed to send him running

to the Outer Rim Territories and beyond."

She closed her eyes and imagined Zekk was right here in front of her . .

. his emerald eyes alive with intelligence, his almost-black hair tied

back at the nape of his neck ....

Opening her eyes again, she reset the recorder to the beginning and

readjusted her features to look more happy and relaxed. She actually

felt calmer then, and switched the holocam back on. One more time.

Forcing a twinkle into her eye, she flashed him the same lopsided grin

that she and Jacen had inherited from their father.

"Hi, Zekk. Hope you get this hololetter soon. I recorded a few others

and gave them to old Peck-hum.

He said he'd send the messages to you, but he couldn't guarantee when

you would get them." She cleared her throat and kept talking.

"We're all busy as ever, still at work rebuilding the temples."

She winced at the memory of the Shadow Academy attack Zekk himself had

helped to engineer, but plunged ahead and steered her thoughts toward

safer topics. "Seems like each time we get settled in, something comes

up and I'm off with Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Lowie on some new adventure.

Not as exciting as the life of a bounty hunter trainee, maybe, but it

keeps us on our toes."

She bit her lower lip and thought for a second.

"By the way, nothing fresh to report about Bornan Thul's disappearance

yet. In fact, things only seem to be getting worse. We went to a

planet called Kuar to look for clues and wound up tangling with a batch

of combat arachnids instead. You should're seen the battle! Anyway,

Thul's brother Tyko showed up afterward to help us search. That night

we were attacked by assassin droids led by IG-88!

We fought in the catacombs, but there were so many droids and combat

arachnids! IG-88 snatched Tyko Thul right in front of our eyes--and

there was nothing we could do to stop it. Now both Raynar's father and

his uncle Tyko are missing."

Jaina shook her head. "I know you're looking for Bornan Thul, too. Have

you caught any news on your end?" she added hopefully.

"Wish we could find something good to tell Raynar when we see him next.

Last we heard, he was still in hiding with the Bornaryn fleet--the

trading ships his parents own. We tried to send messages, but we can't

tell if word got through." She sighed. "Course, I have no idea if this

letter'11 get through to you, either.

"Anyhow, if you run into the fleet or get any word about Bornan or Tyko

Thul, we'd sure like to hear from you." Jaina stopped, blushed slightly.

"Well, we'd like to hear from you anyway, if you get the chance.

I'm rambling, so I guess I should sign off now. Peckhum will encrypt

this message and send it out to all the bars, cantinas, smuggler's

dens..." She grinned. "You know, all those places where scoundrels and

bounty hunters hang out. I'll send another hololetter when I have time.

Until then, may the Force be with you." She smiled one more time.

"Bye, Zekk."

Jaina stopped recording and nodded. "That ought to do it--not too gushy

or emotional." She really hated having to walk on eggshells when she

spoke to an old friend.

Eggshells. Egg.t

She had completely forgotten about Jacen's gort egg hatching!

Slipping the hololetter into a pocket of her flight suit, she dashed for

Jacen's room.

Only one room of the Great Temple boasted an entire wall of terrariums,

incubators, cages, and aquariums on sturdy stone shelves: the room

occupied by Jacen Solo. On most days at the Jedi academy, Jacen spent

an hour, or sometimes two, feeding and caring for his various pets,

using the Force to send them pleasant thoughts and to sense anything

they needed.

Today, however, he was interested in only one creature--one he had never

seen before.

"The shell appears . . . flawless," Tenel Ka said, holding her hand

above the spheroid egg.

Under the light of the incubator, the pearly pink shell gleamed softly.

Jacen glanced at the warrior

girl who crouched beside him watching the egg.

The egg made a sudden rocking movement, but Tenel Ka didn't flinch.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Jacen said.

"A beautiful color," she remarked.

"Uh-huh," Jacen said, though at the moment he was admiring the red-gold

of Tenel Ka's hair, some of which was loose and flowing, the rest caught

up in braids that fell forward over the shoulders of her green

lizard-hide armor.

"May I touch your egg?" Tenel Ka asked. She nodded toward the object,

which had once again

begun to rock and emit clicking noises.

"Uh . . . sure," Jacen said.

"Did I miss it?" Jaina burst into the room. "Did it hatch yet?"

The pearly egg gave a soft thump-thump and rolled up against one wall of

the incubator.

"Looks like you're right on time." Jacen moved a bit closer to Tenel Ka,

ostensibly to give his sister a better view of the incubator's front

panel.

Jaina glanced around the room before plopping herself on the floor

beside him. "Where's Lowie?"

she asked.

"He has not yet arrived," Tenel Ka said.

"I told him about the hatching," Jacen added. "He said he needed to

stretch his legs, but he should be here any minute." The pearl-pink

sphere in the incubator bounced a few times and made a louder ticking

noise.

"Come on, little one," Jacen coaxed, leaning closer to the incubator.

"You can do it."

A moment later, a warbling bellow could be heard just outside the

smashed window opening in Jacen's room. All three young Jedi turned

just in time to see Lowie swing through the opening in an

uncharacteristic display of swashbuckling bravado.

Part of the window area had been demolished during the Shadow Academy

attack, but since there was no major structural damage, Jacen was in no

hurry to get it repaired. He liked the fresh air.

Now the lanky, ginger-furred Lowbacca landed neatly on the flagstones,

smoothed a large hand over the black streak of fur that ran up over his

head above the left eye and down his back, and roared a Wookiee

greeting.

Tenel Ka raised an eyebrow and glanced at Lowie. "A fine entrance,

friend Lowbacca," she observed. "I will remember it."

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DELUSIONSOFGRANDEURbyKEVINJ. ANDERSONandREBECCAMOESTA BOULEVARDBOOKS,NEWYORK Toourniecesandnephewswhoseprideinusisbothflatteringandenergizing TrinityWorkman AshleyWoehrle MichaelWoehrle ShawnO'Donnell DevinO'Donnell SarahJones CaryJones DanielJones SpencerJones AmandaMoesta BrandonMoesta WyattMoesta...

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