Star Wars: Jedi Prince 2: The Lost City of the Jedi (7 page)

"What do you think, Han?" Luke asked. "Do you figure the Falcon will ever be able to make the trip again from here to the Bespin system in eighteen standard time parts?"

Suddenly Han Solo saw a gleam of white in the corner of his eye. He glanced toward the object and drew his blaster. "A stormtrooper!"

Han fired a couple of times. Chewbacca hurried over to see what the trouble was.

Luke propped himself up so he could see. "Stop, Han! That’s not a stormtrooper! It’s a droid I met. His name is Dee-Jay, and he’s from the Lost City of the Jedi!"

"It’s a droid named what from where?" Han asked.

Dee-Jay came toward them. Ken was alongside him, carrying his computer notebook.

"Commander Skywalker," Dee-Jay said. "You see what a disobedient boy I have here. No matter how many times I tell him not to come Topworld, he keeps coming back!"

"I had to find my computer notebook," Ken said. "I didn’t know there’d be a fire, and TNTs, and stormtroopers, and-" Ken suddenly glanced at Han. He recognized him from pictures he’d seen in the Jedi Library. "Wow, you’re Han Solo, right?" He then looked over at the Wookiee. "And-you’re Chewbacca!"

"Groooowwfff!" Chewie said, confirming that Ken had gotten his name right.

"We know who we are, kid," Han said. "What we don’t know is who you are and what you’re doing here."

"I’m Ken," he replied. "And I’ve always wanted to meet you, Mr. Solo, for just about my entire life. You’re one of the best Corellian pilots in the whole galaxy!"

"What do you mean one of?" Han replied. "You know anybody better?"

"Snoke Loroan made the trip from here to the Bespin system in fifteen standard time parts," Ken said, without even batting an eyelash. "The best the Millennium Falcon has ever done is eighteen standard time parts. I looked that up in the Jedi Library."

Han rolled his eyes in amazement. Who was this kid?

"Okay, okay, I’ll admit I’m impressed," Han said. "But Snoke Loroan got wiped out in the battle of Endor. We’re talking about living Corellian pilots."

"Then I guess you’re the best," Ken admitted with a smile.

"You’ve got that right," Han said and beamed. "Now I’ll tell you what, Chewie and I have flown from one end of this galaxy to the other in the Millennium Falcon. If you or your droid know any way we can escape from this blazing firepit, we’ll give you a free ride to the planet of your choice, someday." Han thought about his offer again. "Well, almost any planet. Kessel and Hoth are off-limits."

"You’ve got a deal!" Ken said. "That is, if it’s okay with Dee-Jay."

"Commander Skywalker," Dee-Jay said, "the flames approach. You and your friends must follow me to safety. With your help, I may be able to stop these fires."

To Luke’s astonishment, without walking very far through the forest, they arrived at the circular stone wall made of green marble.

"It’s just like in my dream!" Luke said. "We’re at the entrance to the Lost City of the Jedi!"

"My Corellian buddies will never believe this!" Han Solo said.

Dee-Jay led them through the opening in the wall. There they saw the circular tubular transport. As Dee-Jay approached, the door slid open, and they all went inside.

"Hold on tight," Dee-Jay warned. "You may find this ride a bit disagreeable."

The tubular transport dropped so fast, Luke and his friends felt as if they’d left their stomachs behind. They plunged through an underground region in total darkness. They kept dropping at an incredible speed, and soon they saw flashes of flickering lights from luminescent rocks.

At last they came to a stop at the bottom of the shaft, several miles underground. Luke stepped out and looked around in awe. Here it was, the place he had been searching for.

And in this illuminated cavern, it still seemed as bright and new as it must have looked when the first Jedi Knights built it a long time ago.

Luke tried to take in everything at once. The many dome-houses where the Jedi Knights used to live, the platforms filled with equipment of an advanced technology, and the transport vehicles and roads made of perfectly cut stone.

Dee-Jay led them past a huge building with a sign that read: Jedi Library.

"Those of you who live on the surface of Yavin Four think the weather of this moon is the work of nature," Dee-Jay said. "But it’s not. It’s actually controlled from down here, from our Weather and Climate Command Center."

They entered the Climate Command building. There Dee-Jay took them down a long corridor, as droids hurried by them busily from both directions.

"Thousands of years ago," Dee-Jay continued, "Yavin Four was a cold and barren world. The Jedi Masters who built the Lost City discovered that they could change its climate. All they had to do was find a way for the heat from the core of this moon to reach the surface.

"And so," Dee-Jay explained, "they cut many deep shafts into this moon, like the shaft of the tubular transport. The other shafts are designed for releasing steam and heat into the atmosphere. Using their weather and climate control system, the Jedi Knights made this moon grow warm and tropical. They even seeded its continents, so lush rain forests would grow."

Dee-Jay now led them into a gigantic room that had a huge machine the size of a planetary power generator.

"This moon is on a cycle-a six-month dry season followed by a six-month rainy season,"

Dee-Jay said. "The rainy season is due to start in several weeks. But if we could discover the code to speed up the weather cycle, we could start the rainy season now."

"That would sure douse the fires in a hurry," Han commented. "And none too soon. I won’t be a happy man if the Millennium Falcon goes up in smoke."

Dee-Jay opened a control box. "We’ve got to figure out the code," he said. "I’ve searched nearly every file in the Jedi Library, but I just can’t seem to find it."

"I had a dream," Luke said. "A vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He told me . . ."

Luke tried to remember what Obi-Wan Kenobi had told him in his dream. Memorize this code, Obi-Wan had said. Its importance shall soon become clear to you.

But what was the code Obi-Wan had told him to memorize? Try as he might, Luke couldn’t recall it.

Luke took a deep breath and then exhaled. He let all his thoughts flow out with his breath. Then, as he inhaled, he felt the power of the Force pouring into him, filling him with energy and power.

Suddenly it was there: JE-99-DI-88-FOR-00-CE.

"I remember the code!" Luke exclaimed. "Obi-Wan didn’t tell me what it was for, but I sure hope it activates the weather cycle."

Luke punched in the code. And it worked!

A screen in the room lit up and showed them what was happening on the surface of Yavin Four. Steam vents opened at locations all over the Yavin moon. The vents forced warm, moist air into the atmosphere. And with astonishing speed, storm clouds began to form everywhere across the sky.

Watching the screen, they could see the rain begin to fall. Then there was lightning. A torrential storm sent sheets of water pouring down from the black clouds. Soon the rain began to put out the fires in the forest.

In the torrential rainstorm, Trioculus, Grand Moff Hissa, and Emdee made their way back to what was left of their Imperial base camp. Reluctantly Baji accompanied them. To his sorrow, with a blaster pointed at his head, he was drafted into the Imperial army to become a staff physician.

As they surveyed the scene of the destruction, Trioculus clutched his jar of kibo seeds and touched his withered right hand to his face. It was no longer the same handsome three-eyed face he’d had before.

In Trioculus’s rush to get the kibo seeds from Baji’s hut, his face had been horribly burned. Now his face was covered with welts and blisters, and his skin was scorched.

Trioculus recoiled in shock at seeing that his Imperial strike cruiser had been blasted apart. And every Imperial escort carrier had either been damaged or exploded.

All that is, but one. In their push to achieve victory, the Rebel Alliance had neglected to destroy a single escort carrier.

The glove of Darth Vader, which Trioculus had left in his Imperial strike cruiser, was now lying in the mud on the ground. The rain lashed at Trioculus as he knelt to pick it up.

He didn’t put it back on, but he kept it.

"You’re going to make me another glove, Emdee," he said. "One that looks just like the glove of Darth Vader. No one must know that I no longer wear the real glove!"

"It’s regretful that we didn’t find the Lost City of the Jedi, my Emperor," Grand Moff Hissa said. "But if we send enough spies to Yavin Four, they’ll keep looking for it until they find it-and perhaps they’ll find the Jedi Prince as well."

"SPIN must be destroyed for this attack," Trioculus said. "SPIN-and every member of the Rebel Alliance in their Senate! Except . . ."

"Except whom, Lord Trioculus?" Grand Moff Hissa asked reluctantly.

"We’ll take Princess Leia alive," Trioculus replied firmly.

And then they climbed aboard the remaining escort carrier. Once inside, they activated the power and took off, leaving Yavin Four behind. Trioculus then laid his head back in his chair and closed his eyes.

With his face painfully burned, and his right hand crippled and withered, Trioculus escaped into a dream, a dream of the beautiful Princess Leia. He could see her striking face, her strong but soft features. And he dreamed of making her his queen-the Queen of the Empire!

The time had come for Ken to bid farewell to the Lost City of the Jedi, and to HC and Dee-Jay, the droids who had raised him with devotion. Chip was to remain with Ken, to help him when he went Topworld to join Luke Skywalker and become the youngest member of the Rebel Alliance.

Dee-Jay had always known that the day would arrive when he would have to allow Ken to leave the Lost City and go off into the galaxy to live his own life. However, he had expected to wait until Ken was at least twenty, not twelve.

But Dee-Jay understood that the time was right for Ken to depart. From now on, Luke would give Ken guidance and instruction in the ways of the Force. It was Ken’s destiny.

Zeebo jumped into Ken’s arms and licked his face, just like he had every single day, for years.

"I’m going to miss all you droids," Ken said. He thought about what he’d just said, and realized that he would probably even miss HC-100 every once in a while. "And I’ll miss the Jedi Library," he continued, "and my dome-house, and I’ll certainly miss you, Zeebo. Life won’t be the same not having a mooka to wake me up every morning. But just think-I’m off to see the galaxy. My adventures with the Alliance have just begun!"

Luke hoped Ken would always remain enthusiastic, even after he learned more about the real world. And above all, Luke hoped that Ken would remain safe from the vengeance of the Empire. They may have stopped Trioculus from finding the Lost City of the Jedi, but Luke knew the cruel Imperial ruler would never rest until he got even-with each and every one of them!

Glossary

Baji

A Ho’Din alien, a healer and medicine man who lives in the rain forest on the fourth moon of Yavin. Baji is wise, peaceful, and speaks in rhyme. He collects plants, rare stems, roots, leaves, and vines that are good for making medicines and that he fears may become extinct. He then transports them to his home planet of Moltok, for other botanists to study.

Chip (short for Microchip)

Chip is Ken’s personal droid. His outer metal is silver. He is the size of a twelve-year-old boy and is programmed to look after Ken. As much as he tries, more often than not he is unable to talk Ken out of doing adventurous things.

Commodore Zuggs

A bald, beady-eyed Imperial officer who pilots Trioculus’s Imperial strike cruiser spaceship.

Dee-Jay (DJ-88)

A powerful caretaker droid and teacher in the Lost City of the Jedi. He is white, with eyes like rubies. His face is distinguished, with a metal beard. He is like a father to Ken, having raised him from the time the young Jedi was a small child.

HC-100 (Homework Correction Droid-100)

His appearance resembles See-Threepio, though he is silver in color, with blue eyes and a round mouth. HC-100 was designed by Dee-Jay for the purpose of correcting and grading Ken’s homework. He walks in perfect step like a soldier on the march, and talks like a drill sergeant. He frequently pops into Ken’s dome-house without any warning for surprise homework checks.

Ho’Din

Gentle, ecologically aware aliens from the planet Moltok who have snakelike tresses growing on their heads. They are primarily botanists and prefer nature to technology. Baji is a Ho’Din healer. Ho’Din natural medicine is recognized throughout the galaxy.

Jedi Library

A great library in the Lost City of the Jedi. The Jedi Library has records that date back thousands of years. Most of its records are in files in the Jedi master computer. Others are on ancient manuscripts and old, yellowed books. Gathered in this library is all the knowledge of all civilizations and the history of all planets and moons that have intelligent life-forms.

Kadann

A black-bearded dwarf, Kadann is the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side. The Prophets of the Dark Side are a group of Imperials who, while posing as being very mystical, are actually a sort of Imperial Bureau of Investigation with its own network of spies.

Leaders of the Empire seek Kadann’s dark blessing to make their rule legitimate.

Kadann made the prophecy that the next Emperor would wear the glove of Darth Vader.

Kadann’s prophecies are mysterious four-line, nonrhyming verses. They are carefully studied by the Rebel Alliance for clues about what the Empire might be planning.

Ken

Ken’s existence has been kept a secret, and so has the location of the Lost City of the jedi, the city in which he is growing up. His origins are mysterious and his parents are unknown to him. For some reason the droids of the Lost City have decided not to reveal this information to him until he is older. Ken has been given the impression that he may be a Jedi Prince. He doesn’t know the significance of the birthstone he wears around his neck on a silver chain.