Star Wars: Jedi Prince 4: Mission from Mount Yoda (3 page)

There has been a very unfortunate development there that concerns the Empire."

Hissa looked up at the figure of Jedgar towering above him. "As Kadann wishes. I accept my duty gratefully and with pleasure," Grand Moff Hissa said, grinding his teeth in disgust.

"Of course you shall," High Prophet Jedgar said, with a nod. "Now then, give the order to your stormtroopers, and let’s settle the problem of the carbonite block once and for all."

Realizing he had no choice, Grand Moff Hissa gave the order. The carbonized body of Trioculus that the grand moffs had removed from the Cloud City Museum was then transported from the Moffship.

With regret Hissa watched as the carbonized block was taken to be stowed aboard the Scardia Voyager. He knew full well that it was a fateful moment -- Hissa realized that the frozen body of Trioculus was on its way to Kadann, about to be destroyed aboard Space Station Scardia!

"Do I have to start going to school like other kids?" Ken asked Luke. Together they walked with See-Threepio up the main hall of Dagobah Tech, to the room where Ken was scheduled to take a series of aptitude tests. Dagobah Tech was where all the sons and daughters of DRAPAC scientists studied.

"School is a great adventure and a real opportunity," Luke replied. "When I was only a few years older than you, I wanted more than anything else to study at the Academy. All my friends got to go-and I envied them. But from the time I was a kid, my Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru needed my help on their moisture farm."

"Well, I’d rather work on a moisture farm than go to school," Ken said.

"Moisture farms are hot and lonely," Luke insisted. "And besides, they’re all on miserable desert worlds, like Tatooine. End of discussion. Period."

Ken groaned as he went off and took the aptitude tests, which covered every subject from spaceship repair to galactic history. The tests were harder than he’d expected. He breezed through the questions on advanced math concepts and droid microcircuits, but he was stumped by the parts on alien languages and space navigation.

Things went from bad to worse when he tackled the questions on exobiology, the study of alien life forms. A lot of the questions were about g’nooks, a species of rather unintelligent apelike humanoids with very small brains. The test was so dumb, Ken decided that only a g’nook could have designed it.

After Ken finished, Luke and See-Threepio were waiting right where they had said they would be-beneath the sign that said DAGOBAH TECH, outside the main office of the school.

Ken complained about the aptitude tests as he, Luke, and Threepio walked briskly up the rocky path that led from the Dagobah Tech Counseling Center to the DRAPAC dining hall.

All of a sudden a whining sound came from the sky.

VREEEEEK!!

A small cargo spaceship descended from high above, rumbling and vibrating, as if damaged.

The descending craft sounded the interplanetary distress code.

Luke, Ken, and Threepio weren’t the only ones to observe the spaceship. Two Y-wing fighters zoomed out of a DRAPAC hangar and flew alongside the damaged ship, escorting it to a landing pad.

The cargo ship wobbled as it descended, suddenly dropping to the ground far short of the Mount Yoda hangars. Just before it was about to crash, it broke its fall with a blast from its anti-gravity thrusters, cushioning the landing.

Ken glanced at the spaceship in wonder, noticing strange, alien writing on the side of the disabled craft.

"That writing is a language called Durese," said Threepio, who was fluent in six million languages. "Apparently, this spaceship is called The Royal Carriage. It is from the planet Duro."

A porthole creaked open, and a tall, gray-skinned humanoid with narrow eyes, a wide mouth, and no nose stepped outside.

Luke instinctively drew his lightsaber, unsure of what to expect. But then he lowered his weapon when the pilot of the ship raised his hands, signaling that he was unarmed.

Ken stared at the alien, scrutinizing his furrowed brow and hollow cheeks, his long arms and fingers, and his boots. The alien was breathing heavily, ready to collapse from exhaustion.

"Ick-zhana-von-zeewee," said the alien, reaching out to balance himself against a boulder.

"Ick-zhana-zoo-poobesh," Threepio replied, speaking in Durese. "Ick-vee-brash Luke Skywalker eeg Ken vopen Jedi."

The alien from the planet Duro reached for a microelectronic device on the utility belt of his zippered gray uniform. He placed the device on his neck, and it stuck there.

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Skywalker and Mr. Ken," the Duro alien said politely, the neck device translating the guttural sounds from his throat. "I am Dustini. If you could be so kind as to spare me some food and water, I could-"

And then the alien dropped to his knees and fainted.

Rumors quickly spread throughout DRAPAC-tales about the horrible fate of the people of Duro. At great risk Dustini made the perilous journey from his home planet to Mount Yoda so the truth could be known.

After Dustini had quenched his hunger and thirst, bathed, and rested, Princess Leia and Affiance leader Mon Mothma called a meeting in DRAPAC’s north tower, the site of their largest conference room. Even Ken was granted permission to attend, as they all gathered to hear Dustini explain the purpose of his mission.

"For years, the Empire has been turning my planet into a dumping ground for hazardous wastes," Dustini began. "But still, my people of Duro survived, relocating ourselves onto orbiting space stations. Only the archaeologists of Duro remain behind to resist the Empire. We have a proud and rich history," Dustini explained, "with many archaeological monuments and treasures from Duro’s Golden Age. Nearly every schoolchild on every civilized planet learns about our ancient history-that glorious time when my people were ruled by the great Queen Rana, our wise lawgiver.

"But now," Dustini continued, "not only has the Empire turned our planet into a garbage dump of toxic chemicals, but Imperials have begun to steal the heritage of Queen Rana.

Stormtroopers are stealing all the relics from our past and sending them to Space Station Scardia in the Null Zone. The Empire’s about to wipe out our culture-we are to be only servants of the Empire and follow orders, that is all. But by taking everything that reminds us of our past, they will force us to forget our heritage and who we really are as a people. Kadann is a greedy, ruthless collector of ancient treasures. He craves the relics of Queen Rana so much, nothing will stand in his way."

Luke glanced at Princess Leia, nodding in agreement. He had heard that Kadann’s passion for ancient relics was out of control. The more treasures Kadann owned, the more he wanted.

"Please understand the peril we face," Dustini exclaimed as he continued his story, his gray face turning a shade of white. "None of the remaining Duro archaeologists on my planet are safe. The Empire arrests us on sight, forcing us to help them uncover more of our relics to steal for Kadann. And so we have all gone into hiding. I am one of a group of fifteen that remains hidden underground, storing and protecting our planet’s ancient art, statues, scrolls, jewels, books, and relics."

Dustini unlatched a cargo box and showed everyone some samples of what he had managed to save: a transparent crystal in the shape of the face of Queen Rana, an ancient scroll of the wise laws of Rana, the rings of Rana, golden plates with picture-symbols from the dawn of civilization on Duro, and a golden crown from the days of King Dassid, Rana’s son.

"Look," Dustini said, lifting the crown to his head, "this crown is just one of our many beautiful treasures."

VIIIIIIP!

"Ahhhhhh!" Dustini cried, grasping his head as his eyes turned upward.

Dustini toppled to the ground. He was paralyzed, his body locked in a twisted position, unable to bend or even stir. The translation microelectronic device fell from his neck, as the crown tumbled from his head and rolled onto the floor.

"Zockkkk . . . izzzzh . . . tzzzzt . . ." Dustini stammered, but as hard as he tried, he could no longer speak. He took short, gasping breaths, staring blankly toward the ceiling of the conference room.

"Zaaaaahh . . . kiiiiii . . ."

"Oh my!" Threepio exclaimed. "It appears that the crown was a booby trap, designed to kill any thief who plundered King Dassid’s tomb."

Luke kneeled beside Dustini, lifting the crown to examine it. He spied several tiny holes and needles inside; they must have pierced Dustini’s head, he thought. "Threepio, quick!"

Luke said. "Summon the medical droids at once!"

The medical droids arrived swiftly, bringing with them a cart to move Dustini to the medical center for examination and treatment. But as the medical droids leaned over to lift him, Dustini struggled, trying to move his paralyzed limbs. "Zoooock ... izzzzh . ."

Dustini managed to wiggle a finger. The finger trembled as he pointed it toward the jacket of his gray uniform. "Zaaaahh . ."

"His pocket!" See-Threepio exclaimed. The golden droid inspected Dustini’s upper pocket.

Inside, Threepio found a small hologram disc, which he promptly handed over to Luke for inspection.

The medical droids then removed Dustini from the conference room.

"Artoo," said Luke, "let’s see if this hologram disc fits into your projection slot. It seems to be the right format."

The little barrel-shaped droid rolled toward Luke on its three metal legs. "Dzvee boopa-ooonnn," he whistled as Luke attempted to put the data disc into the correct slot.

"It seems that Kadann’s prophecy is starting to come true already," said Mon Mothma, her brow knitted in deep concern.

"You’re right," Leia agreed. "Dustini must be the visitor to Mount Yoda who Kadann predicted would be pierced by gold. It had nothing to do with the golden knife Luke found on Z’trop after all. However, Kadann predicted that the last days of the Alliance would begin now."

"Well then," Luke said with determination, "we’ll just have to prove that black-bearded dwarf dead wrong."

Artoo-Detoo spun his domed top left and right excitedly. "Bdeee-zhiiip!" he beeped.

Seconds later a bright light inside Artoo projected a hologram of Dustini’s face. It seemed to float in the middle of the room.

"Zki-mip-conosco-zhoren," the hologram began.

Threepio began to translate the message at once. "Dustini says that he made this holographic recording so that if anything happened to him, his urgent mission on behalf of the archaeologists of Duro would not end in failure, and the Alliance leaders here on Mount Yoda would still receive his message."

"Khiz-ipm-ikzee-zeldar," the hologram of Dustini continued.

"Dustini requests that we fly on a mission from Mount Yoda to Duro," Threepio explained,

"to save Dustini’s fellow archaeologists and prevent the ancient treasures of Duro from being stolen by Kadann."

"Zhik-meez-bzooop."

"There’s more information on the disc, but there seems to be a glitch. Artoo can’t tell us any more."

Ken awoke the next morning with a churning feeling in his stomach. Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids were going off to Duro without him, and Ken was being left behind to attend classes at Dagobah Tech. Ken was feeling upset. Why did he have to go to school, anyway? He could learn everything he needed to know while going off on Alliance missions.

"Hurry, hurry," said Chip, Ken’s personal droid. He was standing beside Ken’s bed. "Get up. Up-up-up. You have to get dressed, wash your face, brush your teeth, comb your hair, and zip downstairs to the commissary to have breakfast. Quickly now-and find your computer notebook. Do you remember where you put it?"

"Okay, Chip, I’m getting up," Ken said.

Chip certainly is bright-eyed and on his toes for such an early hour of the morning, Ken thought. But then again, droids never had the unpleasant experience of having to wake up from a deep sleep. At all hours of the day and night, droids always remained alert, fully charged, and ready to go.

Ken glanced at the timepiece beside his bed, in the comfortable cubicle he had been assigned to live in at DRAPAC. "I’m skipping breakfast today," he insisted. "I want to say good-bye to Luke and everybody before they blast off for Duro. They haven’t left yet, have they?"

"They’re probably in the hangar, boarding," Chip replied. "You’d better make it a quick good-bye. You won’t make a good impression on anyone if you’re late for the first day of school!"

Ken washed, dressed, brushed his teeth, and combed his hair; then he hurried outside the main DRAPAC building, running all the way to the hangar where the Millennium Falcon was docked on a landing pad.

"Luke, Leia, are you there?" Ken called out, peering through the open hangar door. He blinked, as the hangar’s overhead illuminators glared in his eyes. "I just came by to say good-bye and wish you a-"

Ken fell silent, suddenly realizing that no one was inside the hangar to hear him.

"Anybody here?" he shouted again, but all he heard was the echo of his own voice. There was no sign of any humans or other biological life-forms in the hangar-not even any droids.

Maybe they were already on board, making last-minute preparations.

Ken walked inside the hangar to see if Luke or any of the others were inside the spaceship. He popped through the hatch and air lock, but was disappointed to discover that no one else was on board. Maybe they were back in the cargo bay of the Millennium Falcon, near the engineering station and service access. They were probably strapping down their gear to get ready for takeoff.

Ken went back to check. When he entered the cargo bay, he discovered that all of the supplies for the journey to Duro had already been packed and strapped, and no one was-CHHH

. . . CHHH . . . CHHH.

Ken thought he heard the sound of boots walking near the quadrex power core. He swung around to look, accidentally knocking into a loose transport crate and sending it toppling against the cargo door’s emergency control mechanism.

CRASH!

Suddenly the bulkhead door to the cargo bay swung shut.