Star Wars: Jedi Prince 2: The Lost City of the Jedi Read Online Free PDF Page A

soon out of sight of the pyramids, lost and alone in the sky, with no understanding of where he was headed or why. Then he saw a stone sticking up very slightly above the treetops.
    He slowed down his airspeeder, hovering and circling the stone.

    He could see that it was like a steeple, perched at the top of a small temple hidden among the trees-a temple built by the ancient Massasi tribe of Yavin Four.
    Luke piloted his airspeeder to a landing, breaking through the thick blanket of leaves at the treetops. At last he was on soft ground, near the base of the ancient temple. The floor of the rain forest was dark. The foliage was so thick the skylight couldn’t shine through.
    Luke felt the pull again. The Force was guiding him, drawing him to walk past the tangle of twisting vines and radiant flowers that were in front of him.
    A voice inside Luke, however, told him he should go back. His conscience was telling him that Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacca would be worried about him.
    But for the moment Luke followed a different voice instead. It was a quiet voice that made scarcely a sound. It was the inner voice of the Force, a voice that only a Jedi Knight could hear.
    Luke left his airspeeder near the base of the temple and walked through the thick foliage.
    He heard someone speak in rhyme, and he stopped cautiously in his tracks.
    "You come from afar
    So very welcome you are."
    A strange alien humanoid with green, rubbery skin was leaning over, digging up a purple flower. When the alien stood erect, Luke could see that he was almost nine feet tall.
    Instead of hair, there were short, snakelike vines growing out of the top of his head.
    The alien glanced at Luke and spoke again:
    "Baji is my name
    I’m glad that you came."
    Luke’s experience in life had taught him never to be too trusting. He put one hand on his lightsaber, unsure whether Baji was a friend, or an enemy pretending to be a friend.
    "What are you doing here, Baji?" Luke asked.
    "A Ho’Din healer am I
    May these plants never die
    From them comes health
    The only true wealth."
    Baji held up the purple flower just beneath Luke’s nose. Luke cautiously took his hand away from his lightsaber and touched the flower. He took in its sweet, strong fragrance.
    Baji explained:
    "A Ho’Din healer never lies
    Kibo plants cure the eyes
    So rare and hard to find
    For the blind man, so very kind."
    Suddenly Luke noticed a silvery gleam of light shining from behind a shrub. It was something made of metal, and it was moving.
    Could it be a weapon?
    Luke leapt to his feet, drew out his lightsaber, and turned on its power. It was now a deadly, glowing sword, ready for battle.
    "Come out from behind there, whoever you are!" Luke said.
    There was the sound of crinkling leaves. Whoever was hiding in the brush was trying to crouch and keep out of sight.
    "Show yourself," Luke said. "This is your last warning!"
    A silver, boy-shaped droid instantly popped up from behind the bush. "This is highly irregular!" the droid exclaimed. "Do you always threaten innocent droids who are merely taking a walk in the forest?"
    "Why are you spying on us?" Luke asked. "Who are you?"
    "I’m not programmed to give out my name to strangers," the silver droid said.
    "That’s just what I’d expect a spy to say," Luke replied.
    A boy who seemed to be about twelve or thirteen poked his head up alongside the droid.
    "Don’t blame Chip," the boy said. "I was the one who said we should come here. But I’m warning you, if you’re a soldier of the evil Empire, you’ll never take me alive!"
    Luke grinned. "I’m not an Imperial soldier," he said. "I’ve probably fought more Imperial stormtroopers than you can count. What’s your name?"
    "Ken," he replied.
    "Ken what?"
    The boy shrugged. "Just Ken. I was never given a last name by the droids."
    "What droids?" Luke asked suspiciously.
    "Chip, and the droids who live near my dome-house, of course," Ken said, touching the silvery crystal he wore