[Black Fleet Crisis] - 03 - Tyrants Test (Michael Mcdowell), Star Wars

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Star WarsThe Black Fleet Crisis Trilogybook three:Tyrant's Testby By: Michael P. Kube-McDowellBANTAM BOOKS NEW YORK TORONTO LONDON SYDNEY AUCKLANDDedicationFor the stalwart crew, Russ Galen, Tom Dupree, Sue Rostoni, Lynn BaileyAnd the bold captain, George LucasAcknowledgmentsWriting "The Black Fleet Crisis" has been either the most grueling fun or the most enjoyable marathon of my writing career. Either way, the last seventeen months have been amazingly full--a new home, two new babies (Amanda and Gavin), and more than three hundred thousand new words of fiction.Though I was on my own in the many long hours I spent with my old friend Qwerty, I couldn't have had those hours, or done nearly as much with them, without the help of a grand conspiracy of allies.First among them are my immediate family, Gwen Zak and my son Matt, and my de facto extended family, Rod Zak and Arlyn Wilson. With unflagging grace and good humor, they pitched in wherever they were needed, doing whatever had to be done to keep the home fires burning and the dragons at bay.The seasoned professionals of this conspiracy were SCG superagent Russ Galen, Bantam editor Tom Du-pree, BDD Audio producer Lynn Bailey, and Lucasfilm's Sue Rostoni. Working their mysterious ways through such arcane media as the fax, the telephone, and E-mail, they skillfully managed the more far-reaching elem of the master plan.Then there were the many sympathizers, who, though not formally part of my cell nevertheless fered their knowledge or services to further our cause.Prominent on that long list are DanWallace, Craig ert Carey, Timothy O'Brien, R. Lee Brown, Mic Armstrong, Jim Macdonald, Daniel Dworkin, Ev.Cainto, and Mike Stackpole.Meanwhile, John Vester, Dave Phillips, and nifer Hrynik took the point on a fiendishly clever' information campaign.Though security concerns limit my freedom to name names, I also want to acknowledge the aid and comfort I drew from the volunteer flyspeckers in CompuServe's SF Media Two forum (GO SFMEDTWO) Genie's SF Roundtable Three (SFRT3), and from the cals of RASSM.I offer my most earnest salute to the chief archi of the Rebellion, George Lucas, without whose inspiration none of us would be here.Finally, I want to thank the true believers of cause--Star Wars fans around the globe--for coming along on this journey. Your boundless enthusiasm and vocal support have meant a great deal to me.- -Michael Paul McDowell: August 31, 1996Okemos, MichiganDramatis PersonaeOn Coruscant, capital of the New Republic:Princess Leia Organa Solo, President of the Senate an - Chief of State of the New RepublicAlole and Tarrick, aides to LeiaAdmiral Hiram Drayson, chief of Alpha BlueGeneral Carlist Rieekan, head of New Republic IntelligenceBrigadier Collomus, operations senior staff for NRIFirst Administrator Nanaod Engh, administrative director of the New RepublicMokka Falanthas, minister of stateSenator Behn-Kihl-Nahm, chairman of the Defense Council and friend and mentor to LeiaSenator Rattagagech of Elom, chairman of the Science and Technology CouncilSenator Doman Beruss of Illodia, chairman of the Ministry CouncilSenator Borsk Fey'lya of Kothlis, chairman of the Justice CouncilSenator Tig Peramis of WalallaBelezaboth Ourn, extraordinary consul of t] PaqweporiWith the Fifth Battle Group of the New Republic Defense Fleet, in Farlax Sector:General Etahn A'baht, Fleet commanderColonel Corgan, staff tactical officerColonel Mauit'ta, staff intelligence officerCaptain Morano, commander of the flagship IntrepidPlat Mallar, sole survivor of the Yevethan raid on PolneyeAboard the Teljkon Vagabond:General Lando Calrissian, Fleet liaison to the expeditionLobot, chief administrator of Cloud City, on vacationSee-Threepio, protocol droidArtoo-Detoo, astromech droidAboard the yacht Lady Luck, in pursuit of the Vagabond:Colonel Pakkpekatt, expedition commander Republic IntelligenceCaptain Bijo Hammax, foray commander Pleck and Taisden, NRI technical agentsAboard the Obroan Institute research vessel P Rift, at Maltha Obex: Dr.Joto Eckels, senior archaeologistOn N'zoth, spawnworld of the Yevetha, in Kc Cluster, Farlax Sector:Nil Spaar, viceroy of the Yevethan ProtectorateEri Palle, aide to Nil SpaarDar Bille, proctor of the Yevethan flagship Tal Fraan, proctor cogent to the viceroyGeneral Han Solo, a prisonerAboard the skiff Mud Sloth, en route to J't'p'tan, in the Koornacht Cluster, Farlax SectorLuke Skywalker, a Jedi MasterAkanah, an adept of the White Current On Kashyyyk, homeWorld of the Wookiees:Chewbacca, participating in coming-of-age ceremonies forhisson LumpawarrumpTyrant's TestChapter 1Three levels down from Rwookrrorro and eighteen kilometers northeast along the Rryatt Trail, the Well of the Dead appeared as a solid green wall ahead of Chewbacca and his son Lumpawarrump.This deep in the wroshyr jungle of Kashyyyk, the tangled web of trunks and branches was ordinarily almost barren. So little light penetrated the dense canopies overhead that any leaves that sprouted quickly withered. Only the gray bridal-veil sucker and the pad-dle-leafed mock shyr, both parasites, and the ubiquitous kshyy vines decorated the runs and paths.But neither the bridal-veil nor the mock shyr was abundant enough to block those runs and force the Wookiees to the underside of the web of branches.They--and the creatures that made their homes at that level--could move freely over the top of the tangled maze. Despite the dim light, sightlines of up to five hundred meters were the norm, with the trunks of the wroshyr trees themselves providing the only cover.It was the Shadow Forest, the realm of the nimble rkkrrkkrl, or trap- spinner, and the slow-moving rroshm, which helped keep the paths clear by grazing on bridal-veil.tongued needlebugs, whose sucking proboscides could pierce the tough wroshyr bark and draw on the juices within.The most dangerous inhabitants were the elusive kkekkrrg rro, the five- limbed Shadow Keepers, which preferred to roam the underside and even more strongly preferred the taste of meat. The Shadow Keepers would not attack an adult Wookiee, but long history, now mostly forgotten, had made the kkekkrrg rro the personification of the skulking unseen enemy, and it was the rare Wookiee who would not reach for his weapon on seeing one.All this and more Chewbacca had shown and explained to his son as they journeyed down from the hunting ground of the Twilight Gardens, a level above.The whole time, memories had swirled around him on the stagnant air.Some were memories of his own journey of ascendance in the company of his father, Attitch-itcuk, of the tests that had earned him the right to wear his baldric, to carry a weapon in city, to choose and confirm his name.Two hundred years, and the forest is still the same--only I am the father now, not the son....Chewbacca also vividly remembered the foolish expedition he and Salporin had made to the Shadow Forest in advance of their coming-of-age. Unarmed but for a single ryyyk blade Salporin had pilfered from his eldest brother, Chewbacca and his friend had left the nursery ring and descended into realms forbidden to the children they still were.They had thought to prepare themselves for the unknown, but managed only to scare themselves with it.Their courage had faded with the failing light, and by the time they reached Shadow Forest, all it took was a skittish trap-spinner to send them fleeing back to the safety of the familiar.And what we thought we saw filled our nightmares until our tests of ascension finally came--poor Salporin!I only had to wait six days.If Attitchitcuk knew--then or later--what they had done, he had never let on.Chewbacca looked at his son appraisingly. He doubted that there were any secret journeys concealed behind those nervous eyes. Years ago, a very young Lumpawarrump had gone alone into the forest near Rwookrrorro in search of wasaka berries and gotten himself lost--a misadventure that had grown much in the retelling, until it became a family fable populated by every monster of the dark depths of both jungle and imagination. But the scare had been real even if the danger had not, and since then his son had been content to stay close to the nursery ring and the home tree.And Mallatobuck and Attitchitcuk had been content to allow it, to let him be different. Neither, it seemed, had pushed him to take part in the toughen- ing--the unstructured rough-and-tumble play of the nursery ring, where young Wookiees learned their fearlessly headlong fighting style. When Chewbacca had greeted his son with a fierce growling rush, Lumpawar-rump had turned from it, yielding as though he were already wounded.It had been a difficult moment for everyone. But in the aftermath, Chewbacca realized that he was seeing part of the price his son had paid for his absence.In honoring a life debt to Han Solo, Chewbacca had left his son to be raised by mother and grandfather.He could not fault their love or their care, but something had been missing--something to spark the rrakktorr, the defiant fire, the eager strength that was a Wookiee's heart. Lumpawarrump did not even have a friend like Salporin to test himself against in daily clinches and slap-fights.The calendar said that it was time. Lumpawarrump had sprung up to adult height. But he had only begun to fill out that tall frame, and it was clear that he did not yet. feel the power of h... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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