Brudi hadn’t said that the transport was safely aboard, and Shryne knew why the moment he and Starstone reached the docking bay. The wedge-shaped ship had skidded in on its port side, gouging the deck, destroying arrays of landing lights, reducing two labor droids to spare parts, and ultimately flattening its pointed bow against an interior bulkhead.

No one inside was injured in the crash, however.

Any more than they were already injured.

The six bedraggled Jedi who literally staggered down the transport’s crumpled boarding ramp were a mix of alien, human, and humanoid. Neither Shryne nor Starstone knew any of them by sight, name, or reputation. Face and arms burned by blasterfire, Siadem Forte was a short, thick-bodied human, older than Shryne but still a Knight. His Padawan was a young Togruta named Deran Nalual, who had been blinded during the same firefight in which Forte had been wounded. Klossi Anno, a Chalactan, was also a learner, her Master having died saving her life; where exactly the opposite had happened to Iwo Kulka, a bruised and limping Ho’Din Knight. Unranked human Jedi Jambe Lu and Nam Poorf were agricultural specialists who had been returning to Coruscant from a mission on Bonadan.

On board was a seventh Jedi, who had died during the transport’s hyperspace jump to the rendezvous.

Med droids tended to the wounds of new arrivals. Then, after the Jedi had rested and been fed, everyone gathered in the main cabin, where Shryne, Starstone, and a few of the smugglers listened to accounts of savage engagements and close escapes on half a dozen worlds.

As Shryne had guessed, no other clone troopers were known to have refused to obey the Jedi execution order Palpatine was believed to have issued. Two of the Jedi had managed to kill the troopers who had turned on them. Another had escaped and survived by donning clone armor. The pair of Jedi from the Agricultural Corps hadn’t been in the company of troopers, but had been fired on and pursued when a shuttle they were aboard had arrived at a Republic orbital facility.

Originally ten in number, they had gathered on Dellalt after receiving a 913 code transmitted by Forte, the eldest among them. It was on Dellalt that they had commandeered the transport, during a battle in which two of the Jedi had been killed and many of the others wounded—and seemingly from Dellalt that the light cruiser and ARC-170s had pursued them.

By the time all the stories had been told and endlessly discussed, the Drunk Dancer had emerged from hyperspace in a remote system of barren planets that had long served Jula and her crew as a hideout of sorts. Relieved of her pilot duties, she entered the main cabin and sat down next to Shryne just as talk was turning to HoloNet accounts of what had occurred on Coruscant following Palpatine’s decree that the Grand Army had been victorious, and that the Republic was now an Empire.

“Some of the information released has to be false or exaggerated,” the agronomist Jambe Lu said. “Holoimages we’ve seen thus far show that the Temple was certainly attacked. But I refuse to accept that everyone was killed. Surely Palpatine would have ordered the troopers to spare the younglings. Perhaps some instructors and administrators, as well.”

“I agree,” Lu’s partner, Nam Poorf, said. “If Emperor Palpatine had wanted for some reason to exterminate the entire Jedi order, he could have done so at the start of the war.”

Forte ridiculed the idea. “And who would have led the Grand Army—Senators? What’s more, even if you’re correct about the Temple, the best we can hope is that an untold number of Jedi are imprisoned somewhere. What we know to be true is that Masters Windu, Tiin, Fisto, and Kolar died in the attempt to arrest Palpatine; and that Ki-Adi-Mundi, Plo Koon, and other High Council members are reported to have been assassinated on Separatist worlds.”

“Any word on Yoda or Obi-Wan?” Shryne asked Forte.

“Nothing more than HoloNet speculation.”

“About Skywalker, as well,” Nam Poorf said. “Although we heard rumors on Dellalt that he died on Coruscant.”

The Ho’Din Jedi Knight glanced meaningfully at Shryne. “If Skywalker is dead, does that mean that the prophecy died with him?”

“What prophecy?” Forte’s sightless Togruta Padawan asked.

Again, Iwo Kulka looked at Shryne. “I see no reason for secrecy now, Roan Shryne.”

“An ancient prophecy,” Shryne explained for the benefit of Nalual, Klossi Anno, and the two agronomists, “that a Chosen One would be born in the dark times to restore balance to the Force.”

“And Anakin Skywalker was thought to have been this Chosen One?” Lu said in astonishment.

“Some members of the High Council believed there was justification for thinking so.” Shryne looked at Iwo Kulka. “So in answer to your question, I don’t know where the prophecy fits into all that’s happened. Foretelling was never my area of expertise.”

It came out more bluntly than Shryne had intended. But he was exasperated by the fact that everyone was talking around the real issues: that the Jedi were suddenly homeless and rudderless, and that important decisions had to be made.

“What matters,” he said into the silence that followed his sarcasm, “is that we—that all Jedi—are prey. Palpatine’s initial actions might not have been premeditated. We’ll leave that for the historians to determine. But he’s intent on eliminating us now, and we’re probably placing ourselves at greater risk by grouping together.”

“But that’s exactly what we have to do,” Starstone argued. “Everything that has just been said is reason enough to remain together. Jedi being held prisoner. The younglings. The unknown fates of Masters Yoda and Kenobi …”

“To what end, Padawan?” Forte said.

“If nothing else, to prevent the Jedi flame from being extinguished.” Starstone glanced around, in search of a sympathetic face. That she couldn’t find one didn’t prevent her from continuing. “This isn’t the first time the Jedi order has been brought to the brink of extinction. Five thousand years ago the Sith thought that they could destroy the Jedi, but all their attempts failed, and the Sith Lords only ended up destroying one another. Palpatine might not be a Sith, but, in time, his greed and lust for power will be his undoing.”

“That’s a very hopeful attitude to take,” Forte said. “But I don’t see how it helps us now.”

“Your best chance of surviving is in the Tingel Arm,” Jula said suddenly, “while Palpatine’s full control is still limited to the inner systems.”

“Suppose we do go there,” Starstone said while separate discussions were breaking out. “Sure, we can assume new identities and find remote worlds to hide on. We can mask our Force abilities from others, even from other Forceful individuals. But is that what you want to do? Is that what the Force wants for us?”

While the Jedi were considering it, Shryne said: “Have any of you heard the name Lord Vader?”

“Who is Vader?” Lu asked for all of them.

“The Sith who killed my Master on Murkhana,” Starstone said before Shryne could speak.

Iwo Kulka looked hard at Shryne. “A Sith?”

Shryne lifted his eyes to the ceiling, then looked at Starstone. “I thought we agreed—”

“Vader fought with a crimson lightsaber,” she interrupted.

Shryne took a calming breath and began again. “Vader assured the troopers on Murkhana that he wasn’t a Jedi. And I’m not sure what he is. Possibly humanoid, but not fully organic.”

“Like Grievous,” Forte assumed.

“Again—possible. The black suit he wears appears to keep him alive. Beyond that, I don’t know how much of Vader is cyborg.”

Poorf was shaking his head in confusion. “I don’t understand. Is this Vader an Imperial commander?”

“He’s superior to the commanders. The troopers showed him the sort of respect they’d reserve for someone of very high rank or status. My guess is that he answers directly to Palpatine.” Shryne felt exasperation surfacing once more. “What I’m getting at is that Vader is the one we need to worry about. He will track us down.”

“What if we get to him first?” Forte said.

Shryne gestured broadly. “We’re eight against someone who may be Sith, and one of the largest armies ever amassed. What does that tell you?”

“We wouldn’t go after him immediately,” Starstone said, quickly picking up on Forte’s question. “Palpatine isn’t embraced by everyone.” She looked at Jula. “You yourself said that his reach is limited to the inner systems. Which means we could work covertly to persuade Outer Rim Senators and military leaders to join our cause.”

“You’re neglecting the fact that most species are now convinced that we had a hand in starting and perpetuating the war,” Shryne said strongly. “Even those who aren’t convinced would risk too much by helping us, even by providing sanctuary.”

Starstone was not deterred. “We were two yesterday, and we’re eight today. Tomorrow we could be twenty or even fifty. We can keep transmitting—”

“I can’t allow that,” Jula cut her off. “Not from my ship, anyway.” She looked at Forte and the others. “You say you were tracked from Dellalt. But just suppose the Empire is also monitoring Jedi frequencies for Nine Thirteen transmissions? All Palpatine would have to do is wait until you were all in one place, then send in the clones. Or this Vader character.”

Starstone’s silence lasted only a moment. “There’s another way. If we could learn which worlds Jedi were assigned to, we could actively search for survivors.”

Lu thought about it for a moment. “The only way to learn that would be by accessing the Temple’s data banks.”

“Not from the Drunk Dancer, you won’t,” Jula said.

“Couldn’t happen anyway, Captain,” Eyl Dix said. “Accessing the data banks would require a much more powerful hyperwave transceiver than we have, and one that would be very hard to come by.”

Dix glanced at Filli for corroboration.

“Eyl’s right,” Filli said. Then, around a forming grin, he added: “But I know just where we can find one.”