Zoraida Cordova - A Crash of Fate

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All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Lucasfilm Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Lucasfilm Press, 1200 Grand Central Avenue, Glendale, California 91201.

ISBN 978-1-368-05068-5

Cover Illustration by Matt Griffin

Design by Leigh Zieske

Visit the official Star Wars website at: www.starwars.com.

CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter 1: Izzy

Chapter 2: Jules

Chapter 3: Izzy

Chapter 4: Jules

Chapter 5: Izzy

Chapter 6: Jules

Chapter 7: Izzy

Jules

Chapter 8: Izzy

Chapter 9: Jules

Chapter 10: Izzy

Jules

Chapter 11: Izzy

Jules

Izzy

Chapter 12: Jules

Izzy

Chapter 13: Jules

Izzy

Chapter 14: Izzy

Jules

Chapter 15: Izzy

Chapter 16: Jules

Chapter 17: Izzy

Jules

Chapter 18: Izzy

Chapter 19: Jules

Chapter 20: Izzy

Chapter 21: Jules

Izzy

Jules

Izzy

Jules

Chapter 22: Izzy

Jules

Chapter 23: Izzy

Chapter 24: Jules

Chapter 25: Izzy

Jules

Chapter 26: Izzy

Chapter 27: Jules

Chapter 28: Izzy

Chapter 29: Jules

Chapter 30: Izzy

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

For my brother Danilo J. Córdova.

I have nothing left to teach you, young Padawan.

The girl climbed the rock face, higher and higher. She scraped her knee only once, and the cut had already begun to scab over as they neared the top. The frilly dress she wore was covered in sweat and dirt. Her father would be angry with her. He’d sewn in extra panels only the day before because she’d had another growth spurt practically overnight.

“Come on, Jules!” she shouted. “We’re almost there!”

“No fair, Izzy,” the boy called back. Loose pebbles fell over his head, and though he’d convinced himself that he wasn’t afraid of heights, he made the mistake of looking down, only for a moment. His palms were sweating and his belly flip-flopped from the fear of falling. If he wanted to fly, he’d have to get over his fears, and to do that he needed to conquer them. The trouble was, it was easier to think rather than do, and the doing was proving rather difficult. When the boy looked back up, sunlight beamed in his eyes, but he could still see the girl was already a meter or two ahead. He grunted and pushed himself to climb faster. “Your limbs are longer. That’s practically cheating!”

“ Practically but not exactly ,” she said.

Izzy Garsea held on to the nooks and crannies in the jagged rock. The suns beat overhead, relentless during the dry season. Not a single cloud provided shade, but they’d covered their heads with the scarves Jules’s mother had dyed bright blue only the previous week. Jules had helped, and his fingers were still stained from accidentally sticking his hands into the dye buckets. Blue and purple freckles dotted his golden-brown forearms like constellations.

Using a spire like a ladder to get to a cliff shelf, the boy and girl threw themselves on their backs, victorious smiles painted on their faces. So far away from Black Spire Outpost, it felt like the whole world was laid out just for the two of them. They could scream as loud as they wanted and not be reprimanded. They could do anything .

“One day I’m going to beat you,” Jules said, sitting up.

Izzy giggled and brushed off the pebbles that stuck to her hands. “Keep dreaming, Jules. I’m taller.”

His big toothy smile was sweet. “You won’t always be.”

Despite being one year older than the girl, Julen Rakab was still a head shorter. For a six-year-old on Batuu, it meant he got his allowance stolen quite a bit by bigger kids and transient travelers prowling for an easy mark. But the girl never treated him that way. Left alone during the long stretch of day when their parents had to work, they’d forged a bond. With her, he was safe—well, as safe as two little ones could be while rock climbing. But he borrowed some of her fearlessness and followed as far as she was willing to take him.

They settled beneath the shade of gnarly trees that had somehow managed to retain their leaves. From their vantage point, the lands of Batuu spread beneath them, a swell of green and jutting rock. While their respective parents toiled away on various farms, the girl and the boy made plans of their own.

They unpacked their snacks from their pockets: a bag of popped grains he’d made the night before, dried fruit from the Garsea pantry, caf beans covered in chocolate she’d snuck from her mother’s hidden tin of sweets, and a canister of fresh water. They shared everything, but the boy always gave the girl a slightly larger bite of fruit, let her have her fill of chocolate and water.

“Da says I can start working on the farm for next year’s harvest,” he told her, handing over the metal canteen.

The girl gasped. Her already wide green eyes went wider. “But, Jules, who will play with me then?”

“I’ll still play with you, I promise.”

“Not every day. I hardly ever see my parents at home. They leave at suns-rise, and by the time they come home, it’s dark and they’re too tired to do anything but eat and sleep.”

“Yeah, but they’re old.” The boy shook his head, hoping to reassure her. “My sister gets home and works on her knitting to sell in the market.”

“Why can’t you start when you’re older?” the girl asked.

“Because Da says if I want my own ship, I have to save for it myself.”

“Your own ship ?” she said with wonder. She tipped her head to look up at the sky. A small luxury vessel was making its way to Black Spire. The Outpost was only a little cluster of buildings from that distance, but she knew how busy it was. Her father had let her go along with him once. She had drunk in the open shops, the bustling streets, the smell of roasted meats and nuts. “Will you take me with you?”

“Of course, Izzy. We can explore new moons and planets.” He sat up on his knees and found a disk-shaped rock. He simulated a flight path in the space between them. “I was at Oga’s—”

“What were you doing there?”

“I like to see the new travelers when they land. There’s always someone wearing what my dad calls ‘flashy and absurd,’ whatever that means. Anyway, I overheard two men talking about a moon that’s completely covered in ice and snow.”

Izzy scrunched up her face and twirled the tip of her long black braid. “I don’t like being cold.”

“What about a planet that’s all water? Think of all the creatures that could be discovered down there. Or where the sky is all different colors all the time. Or a city with billions of people!”

Izzy finished the last of the water. She wasn’t sure what kind of world she wanted to visit, but she was sure she didn’t want to spend her days without Jules. “Can I be princess of the ship?”

“I don’t think that’s how princesses work,” he said as he landed the rock-ship at their feet and it became a plain stone among the others.

“How do you know? Have you met many princesses?”

He considered this. “Fine, you can be princess. But I’m the captain.”

“Why do you get to be the captain?” She tapped her finger on her chin thoughtfully. “I could be both.”

“You can’t be both .”