Adventures in Wild Space: The Rescue

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time: 18 BBY, a year after the events of Revenge of the Sith. The Empire is beginning its rule.

Place: Agaris, a fungus-filled planet in Wild Space.

After months of searching, Lina and Milo Graf have finally located their parents. They're being held captive on an Imperial mining colony, Agaris. Coincidentally, the Grafs were the first cartographers to map the planet. The kids have taken an Imperial ship and, pursued by TIE fighters, manage to land on Agaris. They are attacked by a "stalk". You see, Agaris is covered in a forest of giant mushrooms, and some of them like to shoot spiked spores at ships. Ships like the Grafs'. Their ship goes down, and their droid CR-8R gets impaled by a spike. To avoid capture by stormtroopers, Lina and Milo leave CR-8R behind. They run into the mushroom forest. The stormtroopers follow and are attacked by an unknown creature in the mist.

Meanwhile, Governor Tarkin is here to oversee the mining operation on Agaris. There are a couple of issues. First, they can't find any quadanium to mine. Also, miners keep disappearing. The ones that come back claim that they were attacked by eyeless creatures, but there isn't supposed to be sentient life on the planet. He interrogates the Graf parents. They refuse to cooperate, but they clearly know more than they're letting on.

The Graf kids are drugged and captured by the mysterious creatures... who turn out to be sentient eyeless mushroom people. The leader, Hffrr, was a friend of their parents. The Agarians have been capturing the stormtroopers because they don't want their planet to be deforested and mined. Hffrr agrees to bring the Grafs to the Imperial base so they can save their parents. He can't get too close; the base's generator produces a frequency of vibrations that is harmful to the mushroom people.

As soon as Lina and Milo arrive, they are captured (of course). But at least they get to see their parents... who are also captured. The only one to escape is Milo's Kowakian monkey-lizard Morq. He finds his way into the garbage chute, where he discovers CR-8R's head. He and CR-8R escape the garbage pit. They also break Lina out. The other prisoners aren't so lucky, but at least they get to watch the Agarians' assault on the mining base, made possible by Lina destroying the generator.

Tarkin escapes. In fact, all the stormtroopers are allowed to escape. Hffrr isn't interested in vengeance. He's also interested in staying on Agaris. He reveals that the mushroom people aren't native to this planet. They're actually functionally immortal and can travel in space without heat or oxygen. He and all the mushrooms shoot off from the planet and travel into space, until they find a new homeworld.

Finally reunited, the Grafs think about the future. They could find some habitable planet in Wild Space and just spend the rest of their quiet, peaceful lives away from the Empire. But Lina and Milo decide they can't just abandon the people who live in the galaxy. The Grafs fly away to Lothal to join the rebellion.  

Quotes: 

• "This is a sentient being. I will not kill it."
  
• "Milo was reminded of his parents' old bedtime stories about the Jedi and their lightsabers. Lina faced the droid, her face firm, the pipe raised."
• "If there's one thing I've learned in my long life, it's that family is the most important thing in the universe."

Final Judgment: 5 out of 5 sentient mushroom stalks. I really enjoyed this final entry in the series. I especially liked the ending. It's important to stand up to fascism, whether it's found in outer space or right here on Earth. You can't just run away. This is a great and timely message for young readers.