Star Wars: Lost Stars

Chapter 1: Part 2

Thane wondered if he could manage to jar loose the restraining bolt on the CZ-I tutor droid. If so, then the droid would let him go even if he hadn't completed his stupid mathematics test.

"Your concentration is faltering," said CZ-I. "This is not conducive to optimal performance."

Thane pointed to the nearest chrono. "I'm late for flying practice."

"You must complete your lessons in order to pass the subject. How else will you gain admittance to an Imperial academy? Your parents' fondest hope is that you will follow in Dalven's footsteps."

Sometimes Thane believed CZ-1 was slier than a droid ought to be. Nothing made Thane fume like the knowledge that Dalven had, somehow, managed to get into one the academies - one of the lesser ones, but still. Thane suspected his father might have bribed the local recruiter to admit his elder son to bolster the family pride. But Oris Kyrell wouldn't exert himself like that for Thane, who would have to get into the academy on his own.

So he thought fast. "I won't gain admission to an Imperial academy if I can't fly well," Thane pointed. "And how can I fly well if I don't practice?"

"Your family has its own hangar and aircraft. Therefore you can practice at any time."

With his best smile, Thane said, "But we also have you, CZ-I. That means I can take math lessons at any time, too. I can only fly with a partner when Ciena's free, and she's coming today, so doesn't it make sense for me to prioritize flight time?"

CZ-I cocked his head, and Thane heard the faint whirring that meant the droid was thinking hard.

Very casually, Thane said, "You know, when I get back, I really ought to give you a lubrication bath. A nice long soak. It's been a while, hasn't it?

A few more moments of silence followed before CZ-I said, "Now that you mention it, my couplings have been stiff lately."

With a grin, Thane snapped off the mathematics holo and grabbed his flight jacket. "I'll be home before my parents get home from that stupid banquet. Okay?"

"And mathematics test tomorrow!" CZ-I called as Thane dashed out the door.

His family had a private hangar, but - as with most people on Jelucan - their territory ran more vertically than horizontally. Their gold-tiled home stretched almost the entire width of their property, mostly because his parents had insisted that people of their stature needed a home grander than the neighbors'. The snobbery annoyed Thane less than the fact that this meant his hangar was three hundred meters away - downhill.

At least he'd figured out a solution. With a grin, Thane slid on his flight goggles and ran for the far ridge. The handlebars were in position and ready, so all he had to do was grab them tightly, release the brake, and jump.

Immediately, he was zooming along the cable that led from his home to his hangar, dangling from the handlebars as he sped down the long ridge of stone. Cold mountain air whipped around him as looked out into the valley far below. It wasn't as good at flying, but it came close.

He reactivated the brake as he slid toward the end post, but only gradually, because he liked to have some velocity left at the end. Just before he would've crashed into the post, Thane let go and leaped to the ground, laughing out loud.

Then he heard, "You know, someday you're going to break your face on that thing."

Thane turned to see Ciena standing there next to her family's clunky old ridgecrawler. She looked even shorter and skinnier than she was in that oversize flight suit, and her face still appeared younger than her age, with its rounded cheeks and snub nose. Her arms were folded across her chest and she was trying to look stern, but he could see the smile hiding in her dark brown eyes.