But first, the official description onCataclysmfor those either not caught up or who need a refresher.
“After five years of conflict, the planets Eiram and E’ronoh are on the cusp of real peace.
“I’ve seen Axel Greylark on the holonet,” Orin said.
‘Star Wars The High Republic Cataclysm’ by Lydia Kang.Random House Worlds
“Quite the wealthy playboy.
Looks like his palace has changed locations.”
She bit her lip.
She had to control their first conversation or things might go haywire and she’d get no information.
“What’s this boyo like?”
“In your opinion?”
“I may have a crush on him already,” Orin said.
“He’s the walking definition of charisma,” Gella said.
“But he’s got a thing against Jedi because of a bad history involving his dad’s death.
Don’t let him fool you.
Under that celebrity sheen, he’s painfully insecure.”
Orin made a clucking sound.
“You like him, don’t you?”
Gella cocked her head toward the Jedi Master.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Didn’t have to.”
Gella steadied her mind and took a breath.
“He’s slick.
But there is a gentle side to him that I sensed.
A young kid inside who’s still hurting.
I looked for the good in him before I had a grasp of who he was.”
She furrowed her brow.
“And I tend to get defensive when I’m reminded of my mistakes in judgment.
They had huge consequences, Orin.”
He looked down as they drew closer to the landing pad.
I may have not always been around civilized folk all the time, but I did learn one thing.
I’m good at reading people.
But it’s a skill that has taken decades.
You’re sharpening those skills even as I speak, but still.
Be careful, Gella.
Your feelings may alter your judgment.”
Gella said nothing, using their imminent landing as an excuse to not speak.
She would be on her guard.
Not make any snap judgments.
And control her emotions.
It all seemed so very simple.
Then why was she still nervous?
They were welcomed by armed guards, native to Pipyyr.
They were shorter than Wookiees, with fangs that shone only when they spoke.
It was cold and windy.
Gella pulled her cloak around her front and nodded when she met the guards.
“We’ve come to interrogate Axel Greylark, one of your prisoners.”
“The Republic has sent you?”
one of the guards asked, voice sounding like a low rumble.
“Yes,” Orin said.
“No,” Gella said, almost simultaneously.
They exchanged glances and the guards shifted their feet.
“I am Jedi Master Orin Darhga, and this is Jedi Knight Gella Nattai.
We are working directly in concert with Chancellor Greylark,” Orin said.
“Our visit will be brief.”
The guard looked down at a datapad.
“Your ship checks out.
TheEventideis one of Greylark’s fleet.”
He looked up at Gella.
“It looks like the chancellors have left a white list for access without authorization.
You are on it, Jedi Nattai.
You will leave your weapons on your ship or locked in our armory.”
Neither felt particularly safe to Gella, but they decided to leave them with the guards.
The air here smelled strange, like old seawater.
Gella was growing a mild headache, and even Orin looked a little off.
“You’ll probably notice the pressure change,” said the guard leading them.
Her voice was gruff and low.
“Our atmosphere is slightly denser than on other inhabited planets.
Most get used to it.”
The guard led them through yet another set of blast doors, and finally to a row of cells.
The cells were smallcontaining a cot, washing facilities, and table.
One displayed an old holonet music show that Gella remembered as a child.
On another screen was a candid interview with a jovial Chancellor Mollo, his facial tentacles waving.
So this is where they were keeping Axel?
It was nothing like what she’d imagined.
She’d assumed Axel would be in a cushy prison for the wealthiest convicts in the galaxy.
This was harsh for any prisoner.
Transferred from prison barge CA73Z two weeks ago.
Here we are."
The guard stepped back so they could speak with relative privacy.
Inside, the disgraced Axel Greylark was curled up on the cot.
Gella had imagined speaking to him a thousand times since she’d last seen him on Eiram.
Orin glanced at her, his face showing the tiniest bit of worry.
When he saw Gella, he jerked to attention, draping his legs over the side of the cot.
He was thinner and paler, with shadowed and hollow eyes.
An expression of confusion settled on his features.
What are you doing here?"
Gella’s head throbbed mildly.
She told herself to stay clearheaded, but the ache was distracting.
She took a moment to reach out with the Force, to steady herself.
But it was more difficult than usual.
“We’re here to ask questions,” Gella said, trying to ignore the pain.
“About Jedha.”
He shook his head in disbelief.
“Whathow did you get here?
What have you been doing?”
Axel looked suspiciously at Orin, finally noticing him.
Axel’s whole posture changed slightly, like when darkness descends imperceptibly just after a sun sets.
He crossed his arms.
“So, what about Jedha?”
“Before that, mate.
Why are you looking so knackered?”
Axel said, his face confused.
“You look tired.
Or both,” Orin added.
“If you care, why don’t you get me transferred off this fuzz-covered planet?”
he said, winking.
One of the Pipyyr guards growled at a distance.
“Insulting the guards?”
He motioned to Gella.
“Maybe he’s not as clever as you think.”
“You called me clever, Gella?”
Axel’s eyebrows went up.
“I’ll take it.”
But his hand went to his stomach, and he suddenly paled, despite his repartee.
She stepped closer to the partition, studying him.
There were several emotions arising from Axel.
Relief, distrust, and now .
And he wasn’t controlling them well.
This was all genuine.
“You aren’t well,” Gella said.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s the atmospheric pressure.”
He rubbed his head.
“Feels like my brain is being squeezed all the time, and I can’t keep food down.
“Don’t they have medicine or something for that?”
Gella shouldn’t care, but the words left her before she could think about it.
Maybe it was her own blossoming headache that made her think less clearly.
It helps a little, but I’m more sensitive than most to the pressure, I guess.
Maybe growing up on some of those high levels on Coruscant with those altitudes.
I don’t know.”
They’d passed by several other inmates, and none of them seemed nearly as sick.
“Look, I’m fine.
I get boring food, lots of rest, and far too much time to think.
Definitely no Chandrilan linen sheets or shimmersilk pajamas here.
What happened on Jedha?”
Gella studied him, staying silent.
She sensed his emotionsthe queasiness, the pain, the wondering.
He really seemed to not know.
“The peace talks on Jedha failed.
There was a battle, with a lot of casualties.
Jedha City is a mess.
Something, or someone, was hurting Force-users.
Gella stepped closer to the partition.
“You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”
He looked down at Gella.
“I didn’t.
“What else is going to happen?
After everythingyou have to tell us.”
“I’m not a member of the Path of the Open Hand,” Axel said, shrugging.
“But you worked for them.
Is the Herald their leader?”
“Spill it,” Gella said firmly.
She was getting irritated.
If only this headache would distract her.
Gella and Orin exchanged glances.
She could tell by how he said the words that he didn’t mean Chancellor Greylark.
Who is that?”
“She’s the leader of the Path.
She took them from a small religious group on Dalna into something bigger.
Much bigger,” Axel said.
Gella watched him carefully.
Axel had never said who’d instructed him when he wreaked havoc on Eiram.
There had been a woman he’d spoken to, but Gella had never learned her identity.
And the way Axel was standing nowslightly hunched and not meeting her eyespoke volumes.
“She was the one, wasn’t she?”
“Who was behind all your moves on Eiram and E’ronoh?”
Axel nodded, still not making eye contact.
“Does she know what the Herald did on Jedha?”
Gella took a calming breath before saying, “Tell us what you know.”
Orin pointed at him.
“Trust me, one hour will suffice,” Gella said, drily.
Shockingly, Axel smiled a little.
His hands shook a little as he raised them to the partition.
“The Path is stationed on Dalna.
But that’s common knowledge if you ask around.
I need to tell you something.
I didn’t have a chance before I got taken away”
“For murder.
Among other things,” Gella added.
“I know, I know.
And it was wrong.
I had a million reasons why it made sense, and why I had to do it.
But I didn’t have to do anything.
It was my fault, and my doing entirely.
But I’m sorrier for losing your trust, Gella.”
They stood only a scant meter away from each other.
None of this seemed real.
Don’t let him do it again.
“I don’t think what happened on Jedha was just the Path stirring up trouble against the Jedi.
Tell me what you know.”
Axel took a step closer.
His palm slapped against the partition hard.
Gella and Orin both jerked back in surprise.
Axel’s head sagged.
“Gella,” Axel gasped, and closed his eyes.
“I’ll tell you everything, but .
“What is it?
Gella put her hand up as well, and Orin moved to pull her back.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to black out.”
Axel’s hand squeaked down the plane between them, his eyes closing.
The guard ordered Gella and Orin back, opening up the cell to assess Axel.
She murmured to herself, checking his vital signs.
Orin’s eyebrows rose high.
“That did not go as I expected.”
“I thought he was going to be different,” Gella whispered.
“I thought you were going to give him a harder time.
I’d no idea the job was already done for us before we got here.”
The incoming guards placed Axel on a hover-stretcher and whisked him away.
She stared at the empty corridor for longer than she intended, frowning deeply.
Axel was doing so poorly.
Incarceration was one thing, but this place was physically hurting him.
It was cruel, even if it wasn’t the intent of the prison itself.
The Republic needed to know.
Gella wondered if Chancellor Greylark had any idea how awfully her son was faring.
And now her fury toward Axel had morphed into pity, and wanting to help him.
Reprinted fromStar Wars: Cataclysm (The High Republic)by Lydia Kang.
2023 by Lucasfilm Ltd.
Published by Random House Worlds, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
