“We still have some time before the ship arrives,” Hoole said. “I believe I would like to take Eyal up on his offer and look around. Shall we go back into the base?”
“Prime,” Zak said, jumping to his feet. “As long as you’re sure they’re not going to pull blasters on us, I want to find out just how crazy they are. Let’s move.”
“Actually, I’d rather not,” Tash replied. “You go ahead.”
Hoole paused. “It would be wiser to stay together.” Tash knew that if she tried to sort out her thoughts in the company of her uncle or her brother, she’d end up talking to them. And she wasn’t ready for that yet. “I have some things to think about.”
Hoole seemed to read her mind. “I would prefer that you not return to the Jedi ruins just yet.”
“I promise,” she said.
“In that case,” Hoole considered, “very well. The Dantari do not seem to come near the ruins, so you are safe from Maga. But please do not wander off.”
Tash promised again, and waved as Zak and Hoole departed.
Once she was alone, she let out a deep sigh. She realized that she’d been on edge since the moment she’d entered the Jedi ruins.
No, she thought, I’ve been anxious since before that. She’d been edgy since she’d used the Force in anger against Maga. Tash tried to remember her nightmare, but all she recalled was the cold, dreadful feeling of the dark side.
The moment Tash thought of the dark side of the Force, it seemed to reach out and surround her. Tash shivered as though a chill wind had washed over her. The sun lost some of its shine. The blue sky turned a bit darker. A gray mist settled around the edges of her vision. She stared ahead at the bridge, but it seemed clouded by fog. She blinked, but her vision would not clear.
I need to concentrate on something, she thought. I should practice with the Force.
Tash pulled the crystal pendant from inside her shirt. Despite the fog, the ruby-red gem flashed in the sunlight. Tash tried to focus on the pendant, imagining the Force connecting her to the tiny crystal.
Relax, she told herself. The Force will work when you’re peaceful.
But Tash couldn’t relax. The crystal pendant made her think of her mother, and this time, instead of the warm memories of the moment her mother had given her the pendant, all she could think of was her mother’s death. Her mother was gone forever, wiped out, along with an entire planet, by the Empire.
An angry frown crossed Tash’s face.
She hated the Empire.
Shaking the thought from her head, Tash held the pendant in the palm of her hand and refocused. She tried to remain calm, but all she could think about was how sad she was… and how terrible the Empire was… and how angry she was at all Imperials… and how she wished she could use the Force to destroy the Emperor forever.
The pendant leaped from her hand and flew through the air.
Tash watched in disbelief as the pendant fell into the grass. She had never been able to move anything-large or small-that far before.
Instinctively, she knew why.
It was the dark side. She had let herself get angry, even hateful, while thinking of the Empire. It had given her a strength she’d never had before.
The dark side.
Tash felt it call to her again. It was tugging at her. She felt it pull her toward the ruins… toward the room at the center of the Jedi fortress. Something was there. Waiting for her.
Tash tried to ignore the silent call by putting her mind on her pendant. She got down on her hands and knees in the grass to look for it.
Nearby, she heard footsteps on the bridge. She looked up. It was Eyal. He was passing her, walking across the bridge toward the ruins.
“Hi. Lost something?” Eyal asked.
“Yes, but I’ll find it, thanks,” she replied.
He nodded and walked on toward the base.
Tash stuck her nose back into the grass, searching for the pendant. It had to be here somewhere…
Tash heard footsteps on the bridge. She looked up.
It was Eyal. He was crossing the bridge, heading toward the ruins.
Again.
CHAPTER 8
While Tash was sitting on the riverbank, Hoole and Zak went back to the Rebel base. As before, they received quite a few stares but were otherwise ignored.
“They sure seem busy,” Zak said as several Rebel personnel hurried past. “I wonder what they’re doing.”
“Perhaps word of our ship has spread,” Hoole suggested, “and they are preparing for departure. I wonder if there is some sort of computer record stored here that we could look at.”
“If there is, it would be in that building,” Zak said, turning toward the closest of the five domes.
“How are you so certain?” the Shi’ido asked.