Book 10

The Fall of the Diversity Alliance

Jedi Bounty

by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta

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To our friend and faithful reader Deb Ray

acknowledgments

Writing each volume of the Young Jedi Knights requires the help of many different people--Sue Rostoni, Allan Kausch, and Lucy Wilson at Lucasfilm Licensing; Ginjer Buchanan and Jessica Faust at Boulevard Books; Dave Dorman, cover artist extraordinaire; Vonda Mcintyre (who created the character Lusa); Mike Stackpole for his help with Evir Derricote and the plague, as well as the Twi'leks; A. C. Crispin for her help with Aryn Dro and Bornan Thul; Lillie E. Mitchell, Catherine Ulatowski, and Angela Kato at Word-Fire, Inc.; and Jonathan Cowan, our primary test-reader.

JACEN SOLO ADDED another branch to the small campfire. He inhaled the jungle scents that mingled with the spicy smell of burning wood. Yavin was alive and wild and mysterious around them.

His twin sister Jaina stared pensively into the flames, while Tenel Ka, dressed in her usual lizard-hide armor and boots, paced in restless circles around the small clearing. Raynar fidgeted beside Jacen, pick'rag up twigs and tossing them into the embers. His moon-round face had a fretful, haunted look, as if he wasn't at all enjoying their night out camping in the jungle.

Jacen leaned back and lay down with his hands behind his head.

Oblivious to the bits of forest debris that distributed themselves through his curly brown hair, he looked up into the star-filled sky and reached out with the Force.

He tried to sense small creatures hiding in the jungle around them, but tonight his usual ability eluded him. He sighed. Unfortunately, his Jedi senses picked up mostly his sister's worry, Raynar's anxiety, and Tenel Ka's frustration.

"It's just not the same without Lowie here," Jaina said.

"I should certainly say not," Em Teedee, the miniaturized translating droid, agreed. The little droid hovered with the newfound freedom of the microrepulsorjets he'd had installed on Mechis III. He followed just behind Tenel Ka as she made each restless circuit of the clearing.

Jacen gave up trying to sense small animals.

"It's been weeks since Lowie left. He hasn't even tried to contact us."

He sat up and looked at his sister. "Hey, you don't suppose Lowie decided to join the Diversity Alliance, do you?"

"I hope not. They're the ones who put out a bounty on my father, after allf Raynar answered before Jaina could speak. He clenched one hand around a fistful of twigs until they snapped. "I'll bet there isn't a bounty hunter in the whole sector who's not trying to track down the infamous Bor-nan Thul and collect the reward Nolaa Tarkona offered." A hint of bitterness infused his words.

Jaina bit her lower lip. Reflections of the flames danced in her brandybrown eyes. "Zekk's out there with all those bounty hunters--but at least he's on our side. He's taking a pretty big risk, too. If the Diversity Alliance finds out he worked for your father and helped your uncle Tyko, Zekk could be in trouble."

Jacen thought about their dark-haired friend.

Zekk had been trained by the Shadow Academy to use the dark side of the Force but had turned away from it. Deciding to start a new life, he'd chosen to become a bounty hunter. With his piercing emerald eyes, excellent fighting skills, and knowledge of the Force, Zekk would be a formidable opponent to anyone who crossed him.

"Don't worry about Zekk, Jaina. I have a feeling he can take care of himself. I'm more worried that Lowie might be pressured to stay on Ryloth and work for the Diversity Alliance. You heard what they did to Lusa."

Jaina scowled. "Lowie'd never join a political group that despises humans. He's our friend."

Jacen tried to imagine the lanky Wookiee hating anyone simply because he'd been ordered to. The idea seemed ridiculous. "No, I can't believe he'd go along with that. But why hasn't he at least tried to send us a message?"

"Perhaps he has," Tenel Ka said from the opposite side of the clearing.

"He may have been unsuccessful."

Jacen glanced up at the statuesque warrior girl as she broke into a trot.

Her red-gold hair, half of which was caught up in Dathomiran warrior braids, flowed out behind her like the tail of a comet.

Em Teedee kept pace with her. "Surely you're not suggesting that poor Master Lowbacca might have been prevented from making contact with us!"

the translating droid wailed.

"It is possible. If so, he could also have been prevented from returning here," Tenel Ka said.

Jaina groaned. "That would explain a lot--like why the communications center on Ryloth never lets us speak to Lowie when we get a connection through to them."

"Hey, if Lowie's in trouble, then I think we ought to do something about it," Jacen said.

"Agreed," Tenel Ka said, still jogging along the perimeter of the clearing.

Jaina shrugged. "No argument here. If we can't talk to Lowie any other way, we'll go to Ryloth in person."

"Oh my! We could be doomed!" Em Teedee said.

"But I would gladly sacrifice my last circuit if it would be of any help to Master Lowbacca.

Indeed...," the little droid continued bravely, "going to Ryloth may be an excellent opportunity for me to use my translating skills; I am fluent in over sixteen forms of communication, you know.

Well, I suppose that's all settled, then."

"I guess you should count me in too," Raynar added.

Jacen looked at Raynar. The lightly freckled youth with the spiky blond hair seemed tense and edgy. Raynar's blue eyes followed Tenel Ka and Em Teedee around the circle. Around and around and around. "Do you really have to do that, Tenel Ka?" Raynar blurted out at last.

"The jungles are dangerous at night," Tenel Ka replied without slowing.

Her voice was steady and she didn't gasp or pant as she spoke.

"Tionne advised us to post a watch. Therefore, I am ensuring the safety of our campsite by patrolling its perimeter."

"I knew that," Raynar said in exasperation.

Jacen gave a lopsided grin. "We know you offered to take the first watch, Tenel Ka. I think Raynar was just wondering why you're practically running. If you wear yourself out, you'll be too tired to fight against any real threat."

Tenel Ka raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I have found that when I combine physical exercise with my other duties, I am able to think more clearly.

It is also an excellent way to release tension."

Jaina chuckled. "In that case, maybe we could all use a good run."

Just as his sister spoke, Jacen sensed it: something out in the jungle watching them. Tenel Ka noticed it too, for she stopped dead in her tracks.

Em Teedee narrowly avoided colliding with her shoulder. A split second later the warrior girl dove to the ground and rolled as a snarling, fang-filled ball of fur sprang through the air where she had been standing.

Jacen and Jaina were both on their feet, light-sabers in hand, before the furry creature touched the ground. "It's a rakhmar," Jacen yelled.

"Probably looking for a quick meal."

The meter-long beast sprang into the air again, a dynamo of black-swirled fur and snapping teeth. This time, it struck at the only person who had no weapon. ¢

"Raynar, look out!" Jaina cried, leaping after the vicious creature, but Raynar was already moving to dodge the sweeping claws. He launched himself forward, narrowly missing the campfire.

Menacing yellow eyes glittered in the firelight.

The rakhmar overshot its target and grazed Raynar's leg with its razorsharp rear claws.

The jungle predator spun around as Raynar snatched a burning branch from the fire, ready to defend himself. The rakhmar crouched on its back legs, muscles coiled, ready to lunge again.

Raynar held his torch high. A strong arm yanked him backward just as the predator sprang--and a pair of lightsabers slashed past him in a parallel glare of emerald green and electric violet.

The energy blades sliced the vicious rakhmar into three even pieces that fell to the ground with wet thumps.

With their lightsabers still blazing, Jacen and Jaina inspected the clearing for any other would-be predators.

"I do not believe you will need this," Tenel Ka said, taking the firebrand from Raynar and tossing it back into the campfire. "Your instincts and reactions were commendable."

"Oh, yes. Excellently well done, everyone!" Em Teedee's silver oval floated over to Raynar. "I scarcely had time to be frightened although I do believe Master Raynar has sustained some injury."

"It's not too bad." Raynat pulled aside his brown Jedi robe to examine the thigh where the rakhmar had clawed it. Dark blood ran from a pair of gashes just below his right hip.

Jaina knelt beside Raynar and examined the leg.. "What do you think?" she asked her brother.

Jacen winced. It looked worse than he had expected. "I think we shouldn't have walked all the way here. Maybe we should're borrowed Lowie's T-23

instead. It's a long hike back to the Great Temple."

Tenel Ka pressed her hand against the wounds to slow the bleeding.

"Raynar should not walk with this injury," she agreed. "We must bind the leg."

By the light of the campfire, Jaina tore strips of cloth from the bottom of Raynat's Jedi robe.

Em Teedee brightened his optical sensors to provide lighting from above while Jaina and Tenel Ka bandaged Raynat's thigh. Unperturbed by all the blood, Tenel Ka wiped her hand on the ground.

"I think I'll be able to walk now," Raynar said bravely, though his voice wavered. When Jacen and Jaina helped him stand, however, all color drained from his face and his knees buckled.

Jacen caught him before he fell.

"Dear me! Perhaps Master Raynat would be better advised to rest while one of us returns to the Jedi academy to summon assistance," Em Teedee said.

"I believe I would make an appropriate messenger. Therefore, I volunteer to serve in that capacity."

But before the little droid had even finished speaking, Jacen heard something approaching through the jungle. "We've got company," he said.

Tenel Ka had already assumed a fighting stance, lightsaber drawn, before they identified the sound as hoofbeats.

"Lusa?" Raynar murmured. "Is it Lusa?"

At first Jacen thought his friend must be delirious, but he quickly discovered that Raynar was right. Her rich cinnamon hair and mane flying, Lusa galloped out of the trees. Only when she reached the center of the clearing did she come to an abrupt stop.

In the firelight, sweat glistened on the centaur girl's bare torso and flanks. Her face seemed to go almost as pale as Raynar's when she looked at him. "You're hurt!" she gasped.

Color flooded into Raynar's face. "Yeah, I... noticed."

"Hey, how'd you find us?" Jacen asked.

Still looking at Raynat with concern, Lusa answered distractedly.

"Before you left Raynar gave me a general idea of where you would be camping. When I got the message, I just headed this direction and hoped to find you."

"Message? What message?" Jaina asked.

"Oh." Lusa stamped a hoof. Her eyes sought out Tenel Ka. "I believe you have a grandmother who used to be queen of the Hapes Cluster?"

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka said.

"Well, she's wreaking havoc with the protective forces stationed in orbit. She asked for Master Skywalker, and when she found out he wasn't here she demanded to see you immediately.

Tionne told her that you were out, and the New Republic forces wanted to detain her ship while they ran a background check, but your grandmother wouldn't listen. She must have intimidated the guards somehow, because she'll be at the landing field in half an hour."

Jacen chuckled. "That sounds like Ta'a Chume all right."

Tenel quirked an eyebrow at him. "It would seem we all have business back at the Jedi academy." She turned her cool gray eyes back toward Lusa.

"Raynar requires immediate medical attention. He should not walk."

"I... I could carry him," Lusa said. She sounded rather uncertain.

Jacen knew the idea must have been difficult for the centaur girl. For years the Diversity Alliance had taught her to loathe humans. She was just beginning to unlearn her distaste for physical contact with them.

"I couldn't ask you to--," Raynar began.

"You do not need to ask," Lusa interrupted.

She folded her legs to kneel beside him, then spoke gently. "I am...

offering."

Jacen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well then," Jaina said, "what are we waiting for?"

It took the companions nearly two hours to get back through the jungles to the Jedi academy.

Jaina and Lusa took Raynar into the Great Temple so that the medical droids could examine him, while Tenel Ka and Jacen headed directly toward the landing field.

An armored Hapan vessel hovered overhead. A couple of New Republic guardian ships had apparently accompanied it down from orbit, and the guards stood awkwardly on the stubbly grass, gazing up at the cruiser.

At Tenel Ka and Jacen's approach, the ship finally descended onto the field. When the exit hatch opened, two dozen armored Hapan soldiers scrambled down the ramp and arrayed themselves around the vessel to form a barrier against anyone who might try to come close to the former Queen of Hapes. Only then did Ta'a Chume herself appear. The aristocratic old woman glided down the ramp, waved an imperious hand to summon her granddaughter and Jacen, and disappeared again into the ship.

Jacen felt nervous as he and Tenel Ka walked toward the ring of guards, who parted to let them pass. The warrior girl led the way into the ship without hesitation.

In the centermost chamber, Ta'a Chume waited for them. She perched regally on a repulsor-bench, looking every centimeter the queen that she had once been.

Tenel Ka stopped directly in front of her grandmother.

"I assume you have brought information about the Diversity Alliance," she said without preamble.

Ta'a Chume sighed. "Such a beautiful child.

And such a shame about the loss of your arm in that lightsaber accident.

If you would only reconsider about that prosthetic limb..."

Jacen saw Tenel Ka stiffen.. "Grandmother, you did not come to Yavin to discuss my arm."

Jacen was surprised that the former queen did not seem offended by her granddaughter's abrupt answer, and instead merely shrugged and smiled faintly. "No, but you can't blame a grandmother for trying. I did some research for you....

Tenel Ka nodded. "What have you learned about Nolaa Tarkona?"

Her grandmother's smile grew warmer. Your instincts about the Diversity Alliance are quite correct. It's more than a simple political movement.

The conspiracies and intrigues are almost worthy of the Hapan government."

Tenel Ka scowled. This was not good news.

Jacen leaned forward to hear what Ta'a Chume would say next.

"My spies have only begun to uncover a particular truth that the Diversity Alliance hides, even from some of its most dedicated followers.

But first, let me warn you: although they preach unity and equality for all alien species, the Alliance itself is as intolerant, in its way, as the Empire ever was. I'd even venture to say that the Diversity Alliance was founded more on hatred of humans than on the ideal of unity."

"Yeah, we kind of got that impression, too," Jacen said.

Tenel Ka's grandmother glanced at him and continued. "You probably know that the Diver-sityAlliance's headquarLers are on Ryloth, home-world of the Twilek race."

Tenel Ka nodded impatiently. "Yes, their leader is a Twilek. It was only logical that she would base her headquarters--"

"But what you don't know," Ta'a Chume interrupted, "is that all of the profits from ryll spice--the most lucrative of all Ryloth's exports--have for the past two years been siphoned off to fund the Diversity Alliance."

Jacen listened with interest. His father, Han Solo, had told him about his adventures with glitterstim spice from the planet Kessel, but · lacen knew relatively little about ryll.

"And," Ta'a Chume went on, "those profits have built the Diversity Alliance into a formidable power indeed. The funds have been used to purchase weapons-both legal and illegal--to hire bounty hunters to track down enemies, and to hire assassins to ensure the silence of... former friends."

Iacen gave a low whistle.

The ersvhile queen's expression turned frosty.

"Apparently, this Nolaa Tarkona is rather more tolerant of her enemies than she is of friends who decide to go their own way. Leaving the Diversity Alliance is a dangerous proposition. That is what we have learned so far, but I think we'll find there is much more." · lacen and Tenel Ka exchanged worried glances.

"Your information is most useful," Tenel Ka said. "We may need to do further research. Thank you, Grandmother."

"We'd better have a talk with Lusa," Jacen said.

RAYNAR WINCED AS the green plasteel medical droid methodically cleaned the gashes on his thigh.

"Is it very painful, Master Raynar? Em Teedee asked. The little translater bobbed in the air just above the foot of the narrow padded table in the Jedi academy's tiny infirmary.

In spite of the throbbing streaks of fire that shot along his thigh, Raynar didn't want to appear weak in front of Lusa and Jaina. He shook his head. "I'll be just fine now." But he couldn't control his grimace when the medical droid none-too-gently slapped a graft-patch across the deep scratches from the rakhmar.

Lusa gave an impatient stamp with one hoof and moved closer to Raynar.

He was suddenly aware that the cool, antiseptic smell of the room had been replaced by a warm scent of woods and spices. He breathed deeply and relaxed a bit.

"Thank you, I'll take it from here," Lusa said, shooing away the medical droid. "Jaina, please hand me that anesthetic gel and those bandages.

Raynar watched with detached surprise as the centauriform girl shook back her cinnamon mane and briskly cleansed her hands. With a few quick swipes of anesthetic gel, she deadened the pain in his thigh.

Then she began to bandage his leg, her movements deft and practiced.

"You look like you've done this before," Jaina observed, settling onto a stool beside the table.

Lusa shrugged one bare shoulder. "During my time with the Diversity Alliance I became an accomplished medic. Emergencies often arose when we were rescuing the downtrodden. There were many wounds to heal....

"She smiled apologetically as she continued winding the bandage around Raynar's thigh. "This is the first time I've helped a human, though."

She secured the bandage in place and rested her hand lightly over the wounded area.

"I... you do good work," Raynar managed, feeling a sudden feverish heat that had nothing to do with his wounds. "Thank you."

"That's a useful skill," Jaina said. She grinned and winked conspiratorially at Raynar, then looked across the table at Lusa. "I think our patient ought to heal quite well now. Maybe we should ask Uncle Luke about teaching you to use the Force to diagnose--" Just then the door to the infirmary opened and a Bothan soldier marched in. The simian-faced alien wore the uniform of the New Republic Forces stationed in orbit around the Jedi academy.

His eyes narrowed when he saw Lusa, and his pointed ears twitched.

Em Teedee spun in midair to face the intruder.

"I beg your pardon, sir. Might I be of any assistance?

Do you have business here in the infirmary, or can I direct you elsewhere?"

The soldier seemed nonplussed and didn't answer immediately. He appeared to be pounds xated on Lusa. Raynar, who didn't like the way the Bothan was looking at her, propped himself up on one elbow. A sense of foreboding tickled at the back of his mind--or maybe it was just a pang of jealousy....

"Can we help you find someone?" Jaina prompted.

"No," the Bothan said. He took a step forward.

Raynar, feeling unaccountably protective, stretched out his free hand from where he lay and rested it on Lusa's back. Jaina must have been uncomfortable too, he realized, for out of the corner of his eye he saw her hand move to the hilt of her lightsaber. Lusa's back muscles tensed.

Raynar threaded his fingers through her mane.

He took a deep breath and felt the Force flow through him.

"Hey, how's the patient? All fixed up now?"

Jacen asked, trotting through the infrrmary door with Tenel Ka beside him. He stopped short when he saw the New Republic soldier and eyed him curiously.

Tenel Ka was instantly on her guard. She arched an eyebrow. "Do you require assistance, sir?"

The Bothan backed up a few steps toward the door. "I--I was told to report to the hangar bay."

"Ah," Tenel Ka said. "Aha. This is not the hangar bay."

"Oh, indeed, sir! Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Em Teedee exclaimed. "I'll escort you there immediately. It just so happens I have business to discuss with one of the astromech units there." The little silvery droid zipped out into the hallway. "It's only one level down.

Your confusion is quite understandable, given the amount of reconstruction still in progress here in the Great Temple.

If you would be so kind as to follow me?"

With a last reluctant look around the infirmary, the Bothan soldier followed Em Teedee out the door and down the stone walled corridor.

Raynar was about to remark on the strangeness of the encounter when Jacen said, "I'm glad you're still here, Lusa. Would you mind if we asked you a couple of questions about the Diversity Alliance? We have to know."

Lusa, who had just begun to relax now that the guard had left, looked instantly wary again. She took a few steps backward into the corner.

"It's important?"

"Very important," Jacen said.

Raynat fixed his attention on Jacen now, hoping that the questions wouldn't upset Lusa too much.

"I need you to promise you won't tell anyone this," Jacen went on, "but we're going to Ryloth.

I don't think Lowie knows what you've told us about the Diversity Alliance, and--"

"Who?" Lusa interrupted. She clacked one hoof on the floor "Who is going to Ryloth?"

Jacen made an all-encompassing gesture.

"Jaina, Tenel Ka, Em Teedee, and I. Raynar was going to go too, but now that he's wounded--"

"You're not leaving me behind," Raynar objected.

"I'll be just fine." - "No! It's too dangerous," Lusa said. "In the Diversity Alliance, hatred for humans is strong.

You would be risking your lives to go there."

"What if we pretended to be on diplomatic business?" Jaina suggested.

Lusa shook her head. "They might not dare to harm you in such a case, but they would most certainly turn you away."

"Then we will not enter through the front door," Tenel Ka said. "We will find another way."

"Did you know that the profits from ryll mining on Ryloth are being siphoned off to buy weapons and hire assassins?" Jacen asked Lusa.

"We just learned that from Tenel Ka's grandmother."

Lusa's eyebrows rose toward the delicate crystal horns that protruded from her forehead. "The news does not surprise me. I never learned where Nolaa Tarkona got most of her funding. I did know, however, that the Diversity Alliance used bounty hunters and assassins."

"A common enough pracicef Tenel Ka interjected.

"We've known for a long time that they used bounty hunters," Raynar said.. "They've been trying to capture my father for months."

"But there is more about them that you may not know," Lusa said.

"Sometimes Nolaa Tarkona sends assassins to... 'deal with' those she believes are traitors to the Diversity Alliance. Nonhumans."

"Well, well, well. I thought Nolaa Tarkona preached that humans were the only enemies of the Diversity Alliance," Raynar said.

"True. And that's one good reason none of you should go to Ryloth," Lusa answered. "But there's more. Once, when I had been with the Diversity Alliance for less than a year, a close friend of mine, a Talz, decided to quit. He never told me why he left, though! suspect I now know him reasons. He simply disappeared. A few days later Nolaa Tarkona invited us all to a 'demonstration' in her private grotto chambers."

Lusa's voice grew rough as she spoke, as if she strained against strong emotions. "She gave a great banquet for several of us whom she called her most loyal followers and told us that we would be promoted, given greater honor and responsibility in the Diversity Alliance. Throughout the meal, her Adjutant Advisor Hovrak did not eat. But when we had all finished, Nolaa Tarkona surprised us by having her Gamorrean guards bring in my friend, the Talz. Then, as we all looked on"--she shuddered--"Hovrak made his dinner out of my friend. He killed and ate him right in front of us!"

Jaina gave a wordless cry of disbelief.

Tears trickled from the corners of Lusa's eyes, 'but she continued speaking as if she did not notice. "While... while Hovrak fed, Nolaa gave a speech.. "So it shall be with all traitors to the Diversity Alliance,"

she said. She praised us again for our loyalty and ended with these words. "I believe that the lesson here is simple enough. If you are not a friend to the Diversity Alliance, then you are a friend to our enemieswand a traitor to US all.""

"So it's true," Jacen said. "Lowie may not be able to leave the Diversity Alliance, even if he wants to."

Lusa nodded. "That was one of the reasons I came here with Master Skywalker--because of the security the Jedi academy and its guardian force could offer." She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, as if the air in the tiny infirmary had suddenly turned icy. Raynar hated to see the tortured look on her face and wished he could comfort her.

"Nolaa Tarkona is very... idealistic," Lusa went on. She believes that all aliens must band together, that only by doing so can they defeat the humans who subjugated them for generation upon generation. If Lowbacca decides to return to his human friends, he will be in danger.

He is already trapped."

"But I'm sure Lowie never actually joined the Diversity Alliance. His parents said he only went there to see if he was interestedf Jaina objected.

Lusa shrugged. "Nolaa might not see it that way. If Lowbacca rejects her beliefs once he understands them, it could be enough for her to brand him a traitor."

"Then we have no choice but to go after him," Jacen said. %Ve can't leave him in the clutches of the Diversity Alliance."

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka confirmed.

Raynar sat up. "It's all settled, thenf Lusa sighed in resignation. In that case, you will need my help."

NEITHER THE ACHING cold nor the searing heat from the two intemperate halves of Ryloth's surface penetrated to the Diversity Alliance headquarters deep beneath the surface. But in the narrow region where hot met cold, an almost habitable zone of moderate temperature encircled the planet. This strip of mountainous land, only a few kilometers wide, was neither fiery nor frigid, light nor dark, but existed in a perpetual twilight between the extremes. The blast-shielded entrance to Nolaa Tarkona's grotto space dock opened out of a mountainside into this twilight zone.

Lowie couldn't help but be impressed by the variety and quality of ships that passed through the entrance, going about the business of the political movement. Other Twiek cities occupied sections of the mountains to the north and south, but Nolaa Tarkona had taken over all the prime areas, including tunnels in and around the main ryll mining centers. Here in Tarkona's headquarters, computer operators, pilots, mechanics, and all manner of workers kept busy night and day.

Lowie's sister Sirra crooned her amazement and complimented the Diversity Alliance on its wonderful fleet of ships. Raaba, who was conducting the tour of the starship grotto, hastened to assure them that not all of the ships belonged to the Diversity Alliancewonly the best ones.

The remainder were owned by trading partners, diplomats, bounty hunters, political allies, and the occasional mercenary who came looking for work.

Sirra pointed to a clunky, meteor-scarred old vessel clearly used for hauling freight of some sort. The big freighter was just entering the cavernous grotto dock, coughing exhaust and groaning as it extended its landing struts. Sirra joked that the old scow must belong to a garbage trader.

Raaba gave a comradely bark of laughter and leaned closer to her friends.

Those battered-looking ships, she explained, came and went regularly.

Despite their appearance, on their outward-bound journeys they carried ryll spice ore, a valuable mineral resource belonging to the Diversity Alliance. Though the ryll mined on Ryloth was substantially different in form and potency from the glitterstim spice found on Kessel, it still brought a high price on the open market.

A grin of pride appeared on Raaba's chocolate furred face. It was part of Nolaa Tarkona's special genius that when she had overthrown the Twi'lek government, she had also taken control of their spice mines.

Without the income from ryll, the Diversity Alliance would have had to rely completely on donations from supporters. As it was, credits from the sale of the valuable mineral were used to rescue the downtrodden and to spread the word about unifying all non-human species. The Diversity Alliance would fight for alien rights as no government ever had.

The bulky ore hauler hummed past them and down a side passageway that led to a secured loading area. Half a dozen workers struggled with its cargo containers, while a small traffic-controlling lizard waved brilliant glow-rods to direct the large ships and keep them away from each other.

Although Lowie and Sirra had seen the starship grotto and its various hangar bays before, they had never had a full-fledged tour. Since neither he nor his sister had yet expressed a desire to join the Diversity Alliance, Lowie suspected that Raaba was trying to impress on him the worthiness of Nolaa Tarkona's ambitions.

Raaba probably thought that the flashy new ships and their excellent docking and repair facilities might entice Sirra to join the Diversity Alliance. She was probably right, Lowie thought.

But as the tour continued, his own uneasiness did not dwindle. This place, these attitudes just did not ring true to him. In fact, the docks only served to remind Lowie that he and Sirra did not have their own ship and could not leave Ryloth whenever they chose. If he asked to go back to Yavin 4, he suspected Raaba would find some excuse to delay him.

Feeling a tingle of his Jedi senses, Lowie turned to find Adjutant Advisor Hovrak watching them intently from one of the small bays. He stood beside Raaba's star skimmer, the Rising Star, as if guarding it.

Noticing that he had been seen, Hovrak motioned the three friends over.

The wolfman stroked a clawed hand over the Rising Star. He suggested that Raaba might want to train Sirra to fly the star skimmer.

He advocated that all their members learn everything they could, to reach their fullest potential.

Guessing correctly, he said that Sirra had probably never flown such an agile, modern craft before. Vho knows?" the Adjutant Advisor added in a sly voice. "If Sirra proves herself an able pilot and decides to join the Diversity Alliance, I might just need to get her a new star skimmer of her own."

With a sinking sensation in his stomach, Lowie watched Sirra's patchworkshaved fur bristle in delight as she looked over the ship with shining eyes. She traced her fingers over the Rising Star's hull.

Lowie sighed. He had been hoping to persuade Raaba to take the two of them back to Kashyyyk the next day. He was anxious to continue his Jedi training under Master Skywalker, but somehow he didn't think there was much chance of convincing either of them now....

Without saying anything, Lowie followed after the two young Wookiee women.

He had a very bad feeling about this.

THE GRASSY LANDING clearing near the rebuilt Great Temple was damp from an evening shower. Water droplets clung to the lush jungle underbrush that had been pressed down by the frequent shuttles returning from orbit.

The unseasonable rain had been as warm and as brief as a farewell embrace from a friend, but its moisture had brought out all the fragrant exotic scents from the thick forest around them.

Everything was quiet, hushed.

The companions worked with quiet speed to make the Rock Dragon ready for their unscheduled journey.

Standing outside the Rock Dragon, Raynar performed the prefiight checks Jaina had assigned him. When Lusa approached, he could sense the centaur girl's presence immediately, as if there were a change in the air temperature. He tried to hurry through his tasks so he could spend a few more minutes with Lusa before they left. At the sound of a hoof impatiently stamping on the soft ground, though, he turned to her with a smile.

In a way, Raynat was glad Lusa wouldn't be coming with them to Ryloth.

For one thing, she would be safer on Yavin 4; if the Diversity Alliance captured the centaur girl, it would mean certain death. But also, he couldn't afford to be distracted at a time when he would need all his wits about him to help rescue Lowie. And he found Lusa very distracting indeed.

"I still think you should wait to discuss this with Master Skywalker.

He'll be back in a few days," she said, resuming the conversation that had begun hours earlier. "Or at least let Tionne know what you plan to do."

Raynar shook his head. "You know what Jacen and Jaina think. Tionne or Master Skywalker would feel obligated to alert Chief of State Organa Solo. Then it would become a diplomatic incident, and Lowie would become a pawn for the Diversity Alliance. It's better if we slip in ourselves and take care of it quietly, before anyone can get too alarmed."

Lusa tossed back her cinnamon mane. "Well, their mother should be told this newest information as soon as possible. Even I didn't know how dangerous the Diversity Alliance was becoming. And I was a loyal member for more than two years." Lusa stamped a hoof again to emphasize her point. "Maybe the New Republic should take some action."

Faced with her unaccustomed anger, Raynar was at a loss for words. To his surprise, he sensed that her turmofi was born of concern--and fear--for him.

"If I cannot tell Tionne the truth, what shall I tell her once you are gone? A Jedi would know if I lied," Lusa continued, a storm of deep cinnamon color rising in her face. "And I will not lie, even for you."

Raynar felt a pang of guilt for putting his friend in such a position.

He grimaced and rubbed a hand along his aching thigh. At seeing his twinge of pain, Lusa's eyes instantly filled with distress, though they held no less anger. "And you are still wounded!" she accused. "You have no business going on such a dangerous mission. You should stay here and recuperate."

Raynar's thoughts churned. The reasons for going to Ryloth had seemed so clear and compelling just a couple of hours ago. How could he stay behind in safety when Lowie's life might be in danger? Then again, if Lusa was correct about the Diversity Alliance, her life could be in danger here, too,. no matter what protection the Jedi academy offered.

But what about Raynar's own father? All threats to Bornan Thul's safety had begun on Ryloth. If he could learn anything or find any way to help his father, the key lay in Nolaa Tarkona's headquarters.

But if he tried to explain all this to Lusa, she would protest that being the son of Bornan Thul would only put him in greater peril.

Fortunately, Raynat was spared the need to explain any further when Jacen, Jaina, and Tenel Ka emerged from the Rock Dragon.

"Our ship appears to be in excellent condition, Captain," Tenel Ka said.

Jaina grinned. "Checks out perfectly."

"And there are no unexpected creatures as passengers either," Jacen added. "I checked." He looked at the centaur girl. "You're sure you can take care of Nicta and my other pets while we're gone? A hatchling gort needs a lot of attention, you know."

Lusa nodded. "Yes. That will be the easiest part of my duties while you are away."

Raynar cleared his throat. "Um, Lusa wants to know what she should tell Tionne after we leave."

Jaina frowned. "We'll need a few days, at least.

You have to stall her that long."

Jacen spoke up. "Hey, I've got a pretty good joke you could tell her."

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Not now, Jacen." She looked seriously at Lusa.

"I can't ask you to lie, but we do need some time. Once More finds out the whole story about the Diversity Alliance--well, as much of it as we know, anyway--she'll do everything she can to protect the New Republic.

She might even want to take immediate action."

"And if she did that," Jacen said, "she probably wouldn't be able to protect Lowie. But he's our friend, and we have to do everything we can to get him out first. After that, we'll tell my mother. I promise."

Lusa shook her head, and her diamond horns glinted in the dim light.

"I will have to tell Tionne something in the meantime."

"Ah. Aha," Tenel Ka said. "you may tell Tionne this: my grandmother arrived with disturbing news of a conspiracy. The four of us have gone to investigate. This is a fact."

Lusa nodded. 'res I can tell her that... and she will probably assume that you are on Hapes.

I don't like it, though. Are you certain you understand the plan we discussed?"

Relief flooded through Raynar. "Thanks for understanding, Lusa. We've got the codes you provided--I think this is going to work."

"Already input the coordinates you gave us," Jaina added.

"Em Teedee's hooked up to the navigational panel and ready to go," Jacen said.

Raynar smiled with more confidence than he felt. "We'll be there and back before you know it."

Lusa shook her cinnamon mane and crossed her arms over her bare midriff.

"I doubt that. Do not underestimate the Diversity Alliance."

"Promise me you won't start to worry for at least three days," Raynat said.

Lusa made a noise that was somewhere between a whinny and a snort.

"You ask the impossible," she said. "I won't lie. But I will not betray your trust, and I will help you in any way I can."$

Raynat reached out impulsively and gave Lusa's hand a grateful squeeze.

"I knew we could count on you."

For a moment, Raynar thought the centaur girl would give him a farewell hug; instead, she squeezed his hand in return. Then she reared up, tossing her mane wildly and looking around at the companions. "The plan is a dangerous one," Lusa said. "May the Force protect you."' With a swish of her tail, she turned and galloped back toward th. "Great Temple.

By the time the Rock Dragon rose and launched itself into the misty night sky, the landing field was completely deserted.

ZEKK TRAVELED ALONE in the Lightning Rod--as usual--searching half the galaxy for Bornan Thul. As usual.

Through a subspace announcement, the Diversity Alliance had recently increased the bounty offered for the human merchant, who had been on the run for months now. Despite the efforts of the best trackers in the galaxy, Bornan Thul still eluded capture.

And Nolaa Tarkona was getting quite desperate for the information he carried.

Zekk himself had been face-to-face with the hunted man. On Borgo Prime, Bornan had hired him to send a secret message to his family and also to find his brother Tyko, who had supposedly been kidnapped by the assassin droid IG-88.

But Zekk had discovered that Tyko Thul was in no danger and had merely concocted a hoax to lure his brother into the open. But Bornan had outwitted Tyko and even Zekk.

Zekk still wanted to be the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, yet he could not trust Nolaa Tarkona's motives.

Bornan Thul had told him some disturbing things, enough that Zekk knew he could never stomach the consequences of delivering him into the clutches of the Diversity Alliance--no matter how huge a reward she offered.

But few other bounty hunters felt the same moral compunctions.

Now Zekk drifted out in an empty galactic desert between star systems.

He had come here following his instincts, not knowing why. As a streetscamp back on Coruscant, Zekk had always been good at finding things... and he used those skills now.

The Lightning Rod's sensors were fully alert, tuned in such a way that his entire ship became a listening device, scanning for clues. His computer filtered out trivial hyperwave transmissions, searching for something that would require his attention among the drone of all the other subspace chatter. All directions around him were quiet and still.

He had newly installed scanners and voice identification correlators in his ship, sifters and subject classifiers--the best tracking equipment he could afford. He found it ironic that Bornan Thul himself had made it possible for him to pay for many of the Lightning Rod's upgrades.

After leaving the droid manufacturing world and exposing Tyko Thul's ruse for what it was, Zekk had found an unmarked deposit in his credit accountwpayment in full for his services as a bounty hunter. Bornan Thul had been true to his word, and Zekk's obligation to his former employer had ended.

According to the bounty hunter's code of ethics, Zekk was now free to capture the man and bring him in for the reward. Zekk's conscience and his personal sense of ethics, however, would not allow it.

It seemed so unfair to Zekk that the code of honor in his chosen profession would force him to make one decision while his newly regained personal honor dictated a completely different course. And then there was his friendship with Jaina, her brother Jacen, and--though he hated to admit it--even Raynar. He could not betray them.

Zekk eased back in his pilot's seat. The dingy cockpit was familiar and felt like home. He liked being alone and self-sufficient, with no one to remember his past. He let his thoughts wander, thinking of Jaina Solo, especially the last time they had said goodbye when he'd left Mechis III.

Jaina wanted badly for him to come back to the Jedi academy, and deep in his heart Zekk wanted the same thing--but he still bore the tremendous guilt of having led the Dark Jedi of the Second Imperium in their attack on Luke Skywalker's Jedi training center. Zekk had been the darkest knight at the Shadow Academy, and he took personal responsibility for all of the death and destruction.

Honor and friendship, Zekk mused. He had given up both when he'd fought for the Shadow Academy. He shook his head.

Never again.

Despite Master Luke Skywalker's assurances, Zekk couldn't just walk back in and believe he would be welcomed without reservations. He had to rebuild his confidence first, to decide in his own mind that he truly wanted to be a Jedi Knight after all. And that he was worthy of trust and friendship.

Still, it would be very nice to be back with Jaina... and with Jacen, of course.

Just then one of his numerous sensors triggered an alarm that brought him to full awareness.

Thrusting aside all thoughts of Jaina and Yavin 4, he focused his attention down to a laser-sharp point, quickly scanned the control panels, and flicked on the corem system.

The intercepted transmissions were doused with static, warbling and fading as if snatched from a vast distance. The power levels in one of the ships seemed to be rapidly fading. It was a distress signal, but encoded. Why would anyone encrypt a distress signal?

Then he recognized the code--he could not translate it, but he recognized its origin from when he had sent similar signals in the name of Bornan Thul. That was the special encryption used by the Bornaryn fleet!

Zekk knew the identity of the sender even without translating the words.

Who else would send a distress beacon directly to the Bornaryn fleet but the man Zekk had seen in disguise on Borgo Prime?

The answer was obvious: "Master Wary," who had hired him to go save his brother Tyko.

Now it seemed Bornan Thul was in need of rescue himself.

The second transmission was a gruff warning.

"This is Dengar. I claim bounty hunter's right. Bornan Thul is my quarry.

I will tolerate no interference."

Previously, Zekk had led Dengar on a merry chase by sending his tracker buoy high out of the galaxy in a fast message pod. The sallow-faced, bandaged human should have gone on a long and fruitless pursuit to nowhere... but Dengar apparently hadn't been fooled for long. The cyberuetically enhanced bounty hunter thought fast, reacted fast, and proved entirely relentless on the hunt..

He had already found Bornan Thul.

Zekk didn't bother to ponder the bounty hunter's threat.

Instead, he punched in coordinates after tracing the sigual to its source, powered up his engines, and launched the Lightning Rod on a brief hyperspace jump. His instincts had brought him close to Bornan Thul, but not close enough.

Dengar, with his cadaverous face and sunken eyes, had fired upon Zekk without warning on the abandoned ice planet of Ziost. And again, he had destroyed everything in sight on Mechis III--emotionless, relentless, blasting anything in his way.

Zekk's lips formed a thin, cold smile. Dengar needed to be taught a lesson, all right--and he was just the one to do it.

Homing in on the distress signal, Zekk powered up the Lightning Rod's weapons systems.

The last time he'd fought Dengat, Jaina had done the shooting while he did the flying. This time Zekk would have to do both. But he still had the advantage, given both his Jedi instincts and the element of surprise.

If he did this right, Dengar would never know what hit him.

He watched the navicomputer, counting down the seconds until he emerged from hyperspace.

He kept his hands on the firing controls, intent.

In his mind he brought up an image of Dengar's ship, a modified Corellian JumpMaster 5000, imagined its hot engines and every minuscule weak point in its U-shaped configuration.

Zekk cued an ion torpedo as the swirling starlines of hyperspace faded and his ship lurched out into the starfield--and instantly saw the two ships engaged in a dogfight. Dengar's vessel, Punishing One, pummeled a crippled and heavily damaged craft that must have been Bornan Thul's.

Even now Dengar's sensors would be sounding an alarm at Zekk's appearance. He had no time to hesitate. Without wasting a heartbeat, Zekk fired his ion torpedo, powered up a second, and launched it.

Both torpedoes flew truerathe first exploded beside Punishing One's port stardrive, while his second neutralized the starboard engine.

He opened up the corem channel. "Hello, Dengarmit's me, Zekk. I just wanted to make sure you'd remember who I am."

Dengar's voice, normally gruff and flat, was heated by the fires of outrage. The enhancements to his brain had stripped him of most emotions, but Dengar could still experience rage. "You have broken the Bounty Hunter's Creed. You fired upon me as I pursued another target."

Zekk said, "Your target is also my target, and you're standing between me and my bounty."

Dengar roared. Zekk took careful aim at the Punishing One's communications dish and blasted it to pieces. The bounty hunter could do nothing.

His ship hung helpless in space.

Bornan Thul tried to limp away, two of his engines sparking and flaming.

Many of the running lights on his ship winked out. Thul's systems were failing.

"Hello. "Master Wary," Zekk transmitted. "We meet again, it seems."

"I should never have been so foolish as to hire you in the first place,"

Thul said bitterly. "My engines are damaged, my ship in ruins.

I don't know how I'll ever make it away from here. I should have guessed no one would answer my i distress call but one of you bloodthirsty bounty hunters."

"Actually," Zekk said, "I came to help you get away from Dengar. I... I'm not going to take you in."

"Why should I believe you?" Thul shot back.

"You bounty hunters are all the same, interested in profit but never in consequences. If Nolaa Tarkona gets the information I have, the whole galaxy will become a charnel house."

"You mean the navicomputer Fonterrat gave you?" Zekk asked, gambling with what he already knew.

"Fonterrat? What do you know about him?

That sniveling worm would let billions die for his own profit."

"Fonterrat is dead--as are all the people on the human colony of Gammalin. It was a plague."

Zekk had been to the modest settlement, wiped out down to the last inhabitant by a horrible disease unwittingly carried there by Fonterrat, a small-time scavenger who had made the mistake of doing business with Nolaa Tarkona.

Bornan Thul groaned. "Perhaps it is too late then."

"What's too late? I can help you protect the information you have--"

"No one can help me," Thul said flatly. "Especially not a bounty hunter."

"Listen, I found your brother Tyko, didn't I?"

Zekk said. "I've spent time with your son Raynar. Why won't you trust me?"

"I can't trust anyone," Thul said. "There's too much at stake. The Diversity Alliance has infiltrated everywhere. I can't even be sure of the New Republic. The Alliance has spies in the military, in the government."

Thul's ship staggered away, as if running at only 10 percent power.

Zekk couldn't believe the man was still trying to escape when he had so little chance. The Lightning Rod could run him down in an instant.

In his pilot's seat, Zekk felt a sudden chill of warning down his spine.

His rear sensors showed Dengar's ship powering up again, its lights flaring, weapons systems coming to bear.

"What?" Zekk exclaimed. The blasts of his ion torpedoes should have knocked the Punishing One out of commission for hours--but Dengar must have been prepared for such contingencies.

Maybe he had repaired his communications quickly as well, Zekk thought.

"Dengar, behave yourself--or do you want me to shoot you again?"

In response, the other hunter fired three precisely targeted turbolaser blasts at him. Reacting immediately with his Jedi instincts, Zekk spun the Lightning Rod about in a corkscrew trajectory that took him up and away from the line of fire.

Intent only on escape, Bornan Thul continued to limp away in his damaged craft, gathering speed, trying to change coordinates to where he could escape into hyperspace.

"Oh no you don't," Zekk said, and took off after wThul. He saw the hyperdrive engines glowing on the fugitive's battered ship. Somehow Thul had gathered the power and speed necessary to escape.

He must be making his computations right now!

Zekk toggled up a special torpedo, aimed carefully at the sluggish ship, then launched it. The torpedo sailed across space, a pinprick of fire that hit the hull of Thul's craft an instant before the ship blurred, elongated, and then snapped away, streaking through into hyperspace.

One of Dengar's engines flickered to life and he fired again at Zekk.

The wounded U-shaped craft picked up speed, pursuing with murderous intent.

With a flash, another ship emerged from hyperspace, and Zekk recognized the odd shape of Boba Fett's Slave iv. Fett streaked into the fray, entering with all weapons primed. In a moment this place would be crawling with greedy bounty hunters who had picked up Thul's distress signals.

They were like predatory fish chasing after wounded prey.

Zekk decided the best thing to do right now was to get away, so that he could track down Bornan Thul in his own time.

He had chosen a very narrow and dangerous course. The trackers were a rough bunch, unruly and deadly, and they only operated according to certain terms. Zekk had violated those terms. He had taken sides against most of the other hunters.

And Bornan Thul didn't even believe his motives.

But Zekk knew that bringing in Raynat's father could prove deadly for humanity. He had been to Gammalin. He had seen how the virulent disease had swept through the population. Was Bornan Thul a carrier of the plague? What information did Fonterrat's old navicomputer contain, and why did Nolaa Tarkona want it so badly?

Dengar's recovering ship rounded on the Lightning Rod and opened fire.

Zekk again dodged as he punched coordinates into his navicomputer.

From Slave IV Boba Fett also issued a warning, ordering Zekk not to flee.

Zekk knew he could not possibly escape from the combined efforts of Dengat and Boba Fett.

Leaving the dueling field behind, he flew off, closing his mind to the shouts of outrage that poured from his comm system.

"Sorry, Fett," Zekk muttered under his breath.

I know you won't understand, but it was the only way I could live with myself." Dengar's and Boba Fett's words cut off abruptly as soon as he launched into hyperspace.

Relaxing slightly, Zekk permitted himself a slow sigh of relief and pleasure. He was confident now that his position was clear.

And all was not lost. Yes, Bornan Thul had escaped... but Zekk had borrowed a trick from Dengar.

Just in case Thul wouldn't listen to him--as had indeed proved to be the case--Zekk had prepared a tracking device, a torpedo carrying a transmitter that would strike and cling to the fugitive's ship.

The transmitter would activate in a couple of days, and then Zekk could find Bornan Thul anytime he wanted. It would be as easy as following the blips....

But finding the hunted man was one thing--figuring out how to help him was quite another.

AS THEY APPROACHED the Twi'lek homeworld, Jaina maintained sufficient distance that the Rock Dragon would appear as an indistinguishable blip against the stellar background.

The fire and ice planet hung tantalizingly close, but Jaina did not dare move nearer. The Diversity Alliance was extremely watchful.

"Finding Ryloth's the easy part," she said, turning slightly in the pilot's chair. "Getting into Nolaa Tarkona's tunnels is going to be the real trick."

The Twi'Lek clans had built their homes by boring into cliffsides and creating enormous cities, complete with towering structures, in caverns and grottoes that were protected from the harsh environment of the planet's surface. Nolaa Tarkona had taken over a prime section of tunnels not far from the ryll mining areas, and the Diversity Alliance now controlled Ryloth and held its population in an iron grip.

"We must be patient," Tenel Ka said. "Lusa was certain that the correct opportunity would arise. The plan should work."

"Excuse me, Mistress Jaina," Em Teedee piped up from where he had been wired to the navigational console, "my initial scans indicate substantial traffic in the vicinity of Ryloth. The planet appears to have many orbiting vessels as well as frequent arrivals and departures of automated industrial ships in the inhabited sections of the mountains."

"Industrial ships?" Jacen said. "What kind of industries do they have on Rylothmother than mining, I mean?"

"Actually, mining ryll spice is Ryloth's major industry now." Raynar seemed glad to show off his knowledge of interstellar commerce. "Ryll is a rare mineral with medicinal uses. It's fairly valuable, and it was used during the Krytos plague when the Rebels took Coruscant. Of course, before Nolaa Tarkona took over the government, a good part of Ryloth's income came from a huge black-market slave trade in dancing girls, administrators, accountants, and so on. The trade still exists, but now it's more secret than ever.

Twilleks are famous for doing business behind the scenes. They usually slink and hide and work in shadows to pull their strings. Nolaa Tarkona, on the other hand, doesn't seem to keep a very. low profile."

"Ah. Aha," Tenel Ka said. "Ryll is now Ryloth's major export, and Nolaa Tarkona siphons away profits to fund the Diversity Alliance."

"Probably practices a bit of piracy to build up her resources," Jaina added. "Gets the rest in donations from her converts."

"Converts like Lowie," Jacen said, and a feeling of gloom passed over the young Jedi Knights.

"We've got to find him and rescue him."

The companions waited for hours, using Jedi relaxation techniques with varying degrees of success. Their ship hung motionless in space, a bit of insignificant galactic flotsam, unimportant, unnoticed.

Finally, a sensor blip caught Jaina's attention, and she leaned forward.

"Large craft coming into the system, approaching on our vector." She backtracked its path. "Looks like an empty drone of some sort."

"It appears to be on autopilot, Mistress Jaina," Em Teedee confirmed.

Raynar leaned closer to peer at the sensors.

"Good. It's one of those automated ore haulers Lusa told us about.

You knowrathe ones that come to Ryloth, pick up raw ryll material, then take it off-planet for processing."

"Then this is the one we'll use for camouflage," Jaina said, biting her lower lip. "It's big enough.

Shouldn't be hard to hide ir its shadow."

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka agreed, "but the Diversity Alliance will be vigilant."

"Sure. Lusa warned us about that," Jacen said, scratching his tousled brown hair.

"We'll just have to be extra careful."

"A commendable ph'dosophy, Master Jacen, Em Teedee agreed.

As the lumbering ore hauler continued toward the planet, its uneven shape filled much of the starfield in the viewports. Jaina sk'rllfully maneuvered the Rock Dragon behind the giant robotic craft where its bulk would eclipse their own ship.

Now we'll just slip in and no one will notice," she said with a bit more confidence than she actually felt.

Jacen's brandy-brown eyes squinted as he studied the pitted surface and blocky configuration of the ship that would serve as their shield.

"Looks like it's seen better days."

The ore hauler was a giant rust bucket that looked as if it had served as a freighter since the Clone Wars. Its outer plating was scored from cosmic radiation, solar flares, and a few potshots taken by space pirates. The bulk of its body consisted of tetrahedral storage bins linked together in a hodgepodge cluster. Some of the storage bins had broken latches; others looked as if they had been welded shut.

Raynar leaned forward and whistled. "In my parents' fleet, we overhaul all the hull plating long before it can pick up that much ionization damage."

Propulsion systems lined the rear of the hauler, glowing white. A computerguided bridge console lay buried deep within the ship's core like the rudimentary brain of a prehistoric creature. Jaina noted no weapon emplacements-no defensive systems whatsoever, in fact.

She nudged the Rock Dragon's repulsorjets, tweaking them closer and adjusting her speed to match the hauler's exactly. "We're just going to hitch a ride here," Jaina said. "Hang on while I get closer."

"Dear me, this may require some rather difficult flying, Mistress Jaina,"

Em Teedee said.

"Please allow me to assist you with the coordinates."

She looked over at the empty seat where Lowie usually sat. "All right.

I could use a little help from a qualified copilot at the moment."

The little droid's sensors dimmed as he frantically ran calculations on the navigational computer.

Biting her lower lip, Jaina dusted her fingers across the guidance controls and eased the Rock Dragon closer and closer to the corroded hull.

She adjusted their speed minutely, moving to place the Hapan passenger cruiser exactly on top · of one of the tetrahedral cargo containers.

With a thunk, the ships joined, and Jaina engaged a magnetic locking device that would fix the Rock Dragon in place. She let out a sigh of relief and sat back, crossing her arms in satisfaction.

"There! That ought to do it. Now we can ride the ore hauler right on down. They'll take us along as part of the package.. and we'll slip into Nolaa Tarkona's tunnels without any trouble at all."

Heavy blast doors groaned open on the mountainside, exposing the starship grotto in the caves of the Diversity Alliance. On schedule, the ancient ore hauler followed the automated beam to its cleared landing area. With a burst of repulsorlifts and a backwash of dust and exhaust fumes, the clumsy freighter settled to the rock floor as workers scrambled to receive it. They prepared for another important shipment off-planet.

Computer engineers logged the hauler's arrival and more loads ofryll ore were sent up from the deep underground mines. A hodgepodge group of Diversity Alliance recruits and re-commissioned droids waited for the safety lights to wink off on the hauler's guidance console.

Gamorrean guards watched the activity, marching back and forth to look busy.

The business of the Diversity Alliance had to proceed without delay--and Adjutant Advisor Hovrak made sure there were no complications.

The proud wolfman stood clad in his clean uniform, proudly watching the activity around him.

The spray of medals and ribbons on his chest gleamed.

"Prepare for work," Hovrak said with a growl.

"We have to fill this ore shipment and send the transport away. The processing facility is not yet operating to its full capacity, and the next vessel is already approaching orbit. Now, move!"

"Yes, sir," a Gand said, his voice puffing beneath his respirator mask.

He moved slowly, punching a request into an electronic pad at his side.

From other catacombs came heavy, metal-sided carts filled with ryll-rich rubble that had been mined by the slaves down in the deep tunnels. The Gand directed a work crew to attend to the arriving carts.

Hovrak gazed at the automated freighter, which reminded him of a bantha sleeping in the desert sun. Its sides creaked as it adjusted to the extreme temperature variations, freezing in space and burning through a steep descent in the atmosphere.

Everything checked out.

This old robotic craft had been donated to the Diversity Alliance by a Hig trader. Occasionally, the alien captain flew a run or two herself, but most of the time she let automated pilots take care of the drudgery while she remained on a backwater world enjoying herself at a cantina.

As other recruits rushed about to take care of exporting the next shipment, Hovrak clasped his clawed hands behind his back. Full of his responsibilities for Nolaa Tarkona, he maintained a rigidly upright posture and marched on an inspection tour around the ore hauler.

He scrutinized the front cargo pods, the large metal-walled bays, the rear propulsion systems.

The battered ship was much the worse for wear, but the Diversity Alliance couldn't be choosy... and this ore hauler had served Nolaa Tarkona well.

Soon, when humans were gone from the galaxy, the other alien races would share in a great deal of wealth, Hovrak mused. For now, though, they would have to bide their time, waiting until Nolaa's plans came to fruition.

As he rounded to the port side of the ancient hauler, though, Hovrak's daydreams were interrupted.

He came to an abrupt halt as he saw a small craft attached to the side of one of the tetrahedral cargo bays. An intruder! Someone had slipped through the Diversity Alliance's orbital defenses!

Hovrak shouted to sound the alarm. Docking-bay workers poked their heads out to see the cause of the commotion. The wolfman marched around the grotto, shouting for guards.

Corrsk, the Trandoshan killer, as well as four more Gamorrean guards charged into the starship grotto. The guards drew their weapons, in search of something to shoot. With a bulky scaled paw, Corrsk knocked them aside, wanting to score the kill himself.

Hovrak roared, and the security forces came around to the back of the automated ore hauler.

The wolfman stood tall to glower at the unexpected ship attached to the hull. "That's a passenger cruiser," he said, and sniffed the air.

"A Hapan design, I believe. I want to get to the bottom of this."

Corrsk looked suspicious, narrowing his huge slitted eyes. "Prepare your weapons," he growled at the guards.

Hovrak marched over to an access ladder and climbed up to where the strange craft clung to the ore hauler. It had been magnetically attached.

"Let's get inside," he said, then stood back, not wanting to get his uniform dirty.

The Trandoshan pushed his way forward and found the access hatch. He worked the priority override designed into the airlock, and the Hapan cruiser opened with a hiss as the pressures equalized. Cold, stale air rich with human scent filled Hovrak's nostrils. Bristling with anger, he sniffed, and sniffed again as he crawled inside.

The other guards drew their blasters as they dropped down into the pilot compartment, then marched toward the back passenger seats.

But they found no one. The ship was empty.

Hovrak went to the cockpit console and called up the data he could find.

The rest was encrypted. "This ship is called Rock Dragon, a small passenger cruiser... abandoned, it seems. Sent to us for salvage." He curled back his lips to bare his fangs.

The Trandoshan poked through the ship, his nostrils flaring. "I smell humans," he said. "Kill humans."

But though Hovrak and the Gamorreans and Corrsk scoured the small passenger cruiser, they found no secret compartments--and no sign of any human passengers.

"Very well," Hovrak said, "we'll consider it a gift. Arrange to have the ship removed to the small-craft bay. We can put it to use." He climbed out of the hatch, then bellowed down to the other workers. "Go get the ryll cargo containers! We need to bring the ore up and get this ship launched again."

The Gamorreans and Corrsk stalked across the grotto toward the smallcraft bay, where they could fetch a mechanic to disconnect the Rock Dragon and pilot the cruiser to safe storage.

Hovrak leaped down and went to report. Nolaa Tarkona ought to know about this ship. Perhaps she'd have some suggestions on how best to use it.

As he left the starship grotto, Hovrak saw the Trandoshan standing at the edge of the grotto.

Corrsk sniffed the air again, looking around suspiciously. Then he departed, leaving the Rock Dragon unattended and alone.

The cargo hatch of one of the tetrahedral holding bays cracked open just enough for a silvery ovoid to lift up on its microrepulsorjets.

Em Teedee rose above the edge of the cargo hauler, then performed a pirouette. His optical sensors glowed as he scanned the grotto.

"I see no one, Mistress Jaina. It seems we're in the clear."

"If we are clear," Tenel Ka said, unseen in the storage bin, "we must move quickly."

The cargo hatch popped entirely open. Jacen and Jaina scrambled out to stand on the stained hull of the ore hauler. They shucked their flexible environment suits and stowed their helmets and suits back in a corner of the storage container.

"Good thing we hid in here," Jacen said, noting the open hatch of the Hapan passenger cruiser.

"I'll bet they gave the Rock Dragon a pretty thorough search."

Raynar clambered out, flushed and panting.

He brushed wrinkles from his drab Jedi jump-suit.

"I don't think Nolaa Tarkona is gullible enough to believe that story about finding the ship in space," he said. "We should get far away from here before they come back to make a more complete search."

"Too late," Jaina said. They heard the thunder of machinery and the sound of approaching feet marching from deep underground catacombs.

"They're going to get the ore hauler prepped and ready to launch again."

The young Jedi scampered across the stone floor of the starship grotto and ducked into a dimly lit side tunnel. Em Teedee bobbed along behind them on his repulsors.

"Well, we did it," Jacen whispered, turning around to clap a congratulatory hand on Tenel Ka's shoulder. "We're here. Now all we have to do is find Lowie."

"Yes," she said. "And now our danger is greater than ever. We are in the lair of the Diversity Alliance, and if they capture us we may not escape with our lives."

NOLAA TARKONA STRODE through the carved rock corridors, brooking no delays as she descended toward the small-craft bay. The Rock Dragon awaited, and she wanted to see it with her own rose-quartz eyes. Dark robes that hid most of her body swirled around her as she walked.

Everyone who caught sight of her determined expression hurried to get out of her way.

Hovrak kept pace beside her, his uniform trim and free of stains. The wolfman took special care to protect the clothing from blood spatters during his violent meals. It was just one of the ways in which he expressed his pride at being her Adjutant Advisor.

"This way, Esteemed Tarkona," he said. "I've chosen one of our Sullustan mechanics to fly the ship to where we can give it a thorough inspection."

"Yes... be very thorough." She frowned.

"Something about the convenient appearance of this craft makes me uneasy."

Without turning, Nolaa scanned the tunnels behind her with the optical sensors embedded in the stump of her severed head-tail. It always paid to remain vigilant for spies or assassins. In the grotto light, her tattooed head-tail twitched, indicating her agitated state.

Nolaa was not nearly as attractive as her half sister Oola, but she had developed power instead of grace. Nolaa had learned to manipulate people.

She achieved her ends through inspired rhetoric.

Her half sister had died because of her beauty, kidnapped by the vile traitor Bib Fortuna and sold to Jabba the Hutt, who had killed her on a whim and fed her to the horrible rancor.

Nolaa had a much more important destiny, though. She would hold the future of entire worlds in her clawed hands. And she would bring about the end of the human race.

She and Hovrak emerged into the rocky chamber of the small-craft bay.

With a whine of low-power engines the Rock Dragon floated in from the nearby starship grotto. Despite a few uncertain stutters and overcompensations at the helm, the pilot seemed to know what he was doing. Nolaa admired the skill of the large-eyed, mousy alien in the cockpit who maneuvered the Hapan craft into the open area of the low-ceilinged chamber. The other spectators stepped back to give Nolaa room.

The passenger cruiser bore a few exterior markings, mostly ornamental...

but no serial nuraber or special designation. Either its original owners didn't care about such legal trivialities, she reflected, or they had something to hide.

"A nice ship to add to our collection," Nolaa said. "Unfortunately, it won't augment the military branch of our fleet."

Hovrak rubbed his claws together. "But the Diversity Alliance cannot depend on military might alone, Esteemed Tarkona. Though we have the moral high road, we do not have the strength of numbers; it is possible we never will. We must win the battle through other means."

"Our time is running out!" Nolaa snapped. She clenched her jagged teeth, which she had recently filed sharp again. "That is why we must obtain the plague! Where is Bornan Thul?"

She scowled, staring toward the heavy blast doors that sealed the opening to the small-craft bay in the cliffside. "I am astonished at that human's resourcefulness. He should have been captured and brought to me months ago." Her hand squeezed into a fist so tight that her pointed claws drove into the skin of her palm, drawing dark blood.

"We've raised the bounty," Hovrak said. "Soon Fonterrat's navicomputer will be in our possession, and we can find the Emperor's plague storehouse."

Nolaa shook her head, her tattooed head-tail swaying from side to side.

"We've already offered enough credits to interest everyone with any talent. We need a lucky break. We need someone to come across the right clue."

She focused her pale eyes on the Rock Dragon as the Sullustan pilot set the craft down and shut off the repulsorlifts. She scowled again and turned to Hovrak. "Run a full data check on this vessel. I want to know everything about it." Her face held a troubled expression. "It probably has nothing to do with Bornan Thul, of course. The ship is of Hapan design, and the Hapans are not allied with the Bornaryn fleet--at least we don't think so."

The Sullustan pilot popped his head out of the Rock Dragon's hatch and jabbered something about how well the passenger cruiser handled.

He bowed respectfully to Nolaa before Hovrak shooed him away.

The Trandoshan representative entered the landing bay, stamping his feet.

Corrsk sniffed, scanned the area with his orange eyes, rippled the armored scales on his hide. His muscles bunched and he crushed his wide jaw together with displeasure, sampling the air. He eyed the Rock Dragon with instinctive loathing, then went directly to Nolaa Tarkona.

"You seem agitated, Corrsk," she said. "What are your concerns?"

Corrsk inhaled deeply and. shook his massive head. "Smell Wookiee.

Trandoshan hate Wookiee."

He glared at the Rock Dragon. "Human ship. Should be no Wookiee there."

Nolaa remembered that earlier in the day Raabakyysh, Lowbacca, and Sirrakuk had worked on ships in the small-craft bay, tinkering with engine systems and sharing maintenance suggestions.

All of their jobs had been tracked by the headquarters' exhaustive computerized record systems. The residual scent of Wookiee fur must still be hanging in the air, Nolaa thought, though she herself could not detect it.

"Make peace with your primal desires, Corrsk," Nolaa said, her voice firm but understanding. "I know Wookiees are your natural enemies, but in the Diversity Alliance we rise above such things.

We have one true enemy: the New Republic, the humans... those who would deny us our rights as sentient beings. Don't waste your time on the wrong target."

"Kill humans?" Corrsk said. "Haven't killed any humans yet." He drew in a snarling, hissing breath.

Nolaa nodded in commiseration. "I sympathize. I can't wait until we are finally able to obliterate their despised race--but for that to happen, the Diversity Alliance must work together.

If the Empire and the Rebels could call a temporary truce at Bakura, then we must show ourselves superior to them. We can have a lasting peace among alien species."

The Trandoshan nodded, and his wide shoulders sagged with the difficulty of the task she had set for him.

"Your anger is a good thing, Corrsk--if you know how to use it properly."

The Trandoshan drifted away, still uneasy. He remained suspicious, but Nolaa did not question him.

Perhaps the scaly predator would find some detail they needed to know.

She decided it would be best to leave him alone.

Nolaa turned to Hovrak. "Get to work on identifying that ship and its history," she said.

"Keep me apprised of your progress.

After Hovrak bowed low, clenching his clawed hands, he rushed off down a corridor to his work.

Several other tunnels and transport trains led to the deep excavation mines, ore shipment centers, and terminus rails. Nolaa glanced at each tunnel, studied the activity in the small-craft bay for a moment, then headed back toward her own private chambers, where she could think, where she could feel safe.

Humans had committed so many crimes against alien species throughout history, she thought bitterly. Even though these tunnels were her place of power, Nolaa Tarkona did not feel absolutely protected anywhere. And the mystery of this unoccupied Hapan ship made her far more nervous than she could allow Hovrak or Corrsk to see.

When she returned to her throne room grotto, Nolaa intended to relax and let waves of contemplation sweep over her. She wanted to sit back under the brilliant scarlet banners of the Diversity Alliance and think of her overall plan, how her group could achieve its magnificent goals.

Her visions of the future inspired her.

But before she had relaxed for even two minutes, a Duros communications specialist swept into her room. The alien's sunken, noseless face and blue skin, his squared-off head and wide, pupilless eyes, gave him the appearance of a mummy. He moved very quickly, as if agitated.

The Duros bowed perfunctorily and said in a watery voice, "Esteemed Tarkona, you have a message from the bounty hunter Boba Fett. He wishes to speak privately with you."

Nolaa was startled. The masked bounty hunter would not call unless he had something important to tell her. She hoped the news was good, but she feared his message was something she would not want to hear.

Nolaa went into her isolated office, stood by the polished black table, and activated the inset holoscreen. Fett's helmeted head appeared.

He nodded slightly as he spoke, but she could see no other indication that anything human or alive hid beneath the slitted Mandalorian visor.

"Nolaa Tarkona," he said, "two of us found Bornan Thul."

Her heart leaped, but Fett's voice did not carry a gloating or triumphant tone. "He escaped usm but not without assistance, and only temporarily.

I am confident I will bring him to you before long."

"You communicate with me simply to report failure?" Nolaa demanded.

"I'm beginning to believe, Boba Fett, that your reputation is undeserved."

"It is deserved well enough," Fett said. His voice remained neutral, as if he was incapable of taking offense. Thul has proved to be considerably more skillful than I had anticipatedrebut I enjoy the challenge."

"Why did you call, then?" Nolaa asked. "I am very busy."

"To inform you of a new enemy, a bounty hunter who helped Thul escape.

Either Dengar or I would have secured the item you seek, had it not been for this traitor's meddling."

"Who?" Nolaa demanded. "Who is this traitor?"

"His name is Zekk," Fett said. "The young man seemed naive. He claimed to be in training as a bounty hunter. But he turned against us and Bornan Thul slipped away."

Nolaa Tarkona seethed. Everything seemed to fall apart and become complicated, when it should have been so simple! Without even answering, she severed the transmission link. She clamped her mouth shut and allowed the anger to bo'd within her. New enemies cropped up everywhere, and the Diversity Alliance's battle grew more and more difficult each day.

But this fury did not drain her; it tempered her, adding endurance.

She had told Corrsk that his anger was a good thing if directed at the proper target--and Nolaa Tarkona had many targets indeed.

Corrsk climbed into the impounded Rock Dragon. His scaled feet clomped on the deck plates. He moved about, sniffing, touching seats, opening storage lockers. With his clawed fingers he ripped open one of the rear passenger chairs, but found no hidden weapons, no clue as to the ship's origins.

The ship's computer had apparently been coded with unbreakable passwords, though Corrsk suspected that the Diversity Alliance's expert slicers could dig out all the information he needed. They would rip the answers from the Rock Dragon's memory banks.

The stench of humans was strong, heating his blood, increasing his desire to kill. Everything around him took on a reddish tinge as his stalking lust increased. His claws flexed like durasteel talons; his muscles pumped like the pistons of an Imperial walker.

He had waited too long to fightmwaited too long to kill. He needed to find a victim soon or he would go into a murderous frenzy and slaughter everything in sight.

Corrsk inspected the Rock Dragon again, searching for any shred of evidence. Then, focusing on his olfactory senses, he returned to the copilot's chair and inhaled deeply. A familiar scent, delicious... and infuriating.

He hadn't been certain before, but now he knew that he detected more than just the pungent, overpowering smell of human.... Mingled with it was the incredible, distinct aroma of Wookiee.

But not just any Wookiee. This was the unmistakable scent of the gingerfurred one Nolaa Tarkona had welcomed into the Diversity Alliance, the one Ruaha had recruited and brought to Rylotb Lowbacca.

He smelled Lowbacca, here in the impounded ship. The lanky Wookiee had some connection with this mysterious passenger craft.

The Trandoshan growled deep within his throat.

He sensed a deadly plot here: danger and betrayal.

Lowbacca must have something to do with the Rock Dragon. What treachery was he planning?

Corrsk growled again as he climbed back out of the small ship. He would keep this information to himself for now. He would have to be content in the knowledge that the time for bloodshed would be soon.

Very soon.

He would get his chance to kill humans. And at least one Wookiee..

TENEL KA LED the way through the dim and winding tunnels, her warrior senses alert, every muscle taut and ready. She was acutely aware of the danger they faced: anyone who noticed the companions would immediately recognize them as intruders in the realm of the Diversity Alliance.

Nolaa Tarkona would not tolerate the presence of humans.

Jacen clung close beside the warrior girl, and together they used their Jedi senses, casting out through the Force like a net for any glimmer of their friend Lowbacca.

Raynar struggled to keep up with Jaina, who hung back a bit, staying close to him in case he needed her help. He limped a little on his healing leg, but made no complaint. The little translator droid hovered between them at shoulder level, bobbing along as part of the expedition.

With whispering footsteps as quiet as spring?

????? leaves brushing together, the young Jedi Knights hurried down one long corridor to an intersection.

Tenel Ka paused, studied the adjacent corridors, and listened.

Finally, detecting a slight tingle of Lowie's presence, she chose a corridor that led in that general direction. "This way."

She touched her rancor-tooth lightsaber, fingering the carvings on its hilt. "If we are seen," Tenel Ka said, "we should return to the Rock Dragon. We must use our lightsabers--the fight will be for our very lives."

"I propose that we not allow ourselves to be seen in the first place," Em Teedee said. "It would be entirely too dangerous."

"Great suggestion," Jacen said, rolling his eyes.

"Now why didn't we think of that?"

They saw alcoves chopped out of the rock walls, and passages that plunged steeply down into deeper rock. The entire mountainous region of Ryloth was a tangled warren dug out by the Twi'leks over thousands of years.

Many of the tunnels were now unused, the sites of battles in ancient clan wars.

In her training as a princess of Hapes, Tenel Ka had learned about many distinctive civilizations, including the Twi'leks. Short on resources and living space, the Twi'lek culture had developed into a violent and angry one. They had built several underground cities of linked caverns and tunnels, cramped hives for the various clan factions.

Since the Twiqeks could not easily spread out into the inhospitable territory of the frozen night side or the burning day side, they were forced either to dig new tunnels or to kill each other off and keep their population to a manageable level.

Nolaa had chosen isolated tunnels far from the cavern cities for her headquarters. From there she could direct space traffic and ryll mining operations. In her takeover she had disposed of the leaders of the most powerful clans. Now she controlled the planet through the ostensibly noble and peaceful rule of the Diversity Alliance--not to mention a carefully chosen assassination here or there when it became absolutely unavoidable.

Tenel Ka crept forward, using all senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell...

and the Force. The air tasted of damp coolness and rock dust with a sour undertone of moss and fungus, and the faint metallic odor of minerals and old blood.

Tenel Ka motioned for the others to follow her as she hurried through an uncomfortably long stretch of corridor. She normally enjoyed running at full speed, but here she felt naked and exposed. Some guard might see them and sound the alarm at any moment. But she heard no movement, no footsteps, only a trickle of water that ran from a crack in the ceiling above.

Tenel Ka chose another dim tunnel and turned left. She had just turned again into a side passage when she heard the clomping of something large around a blind corner ahead. In fact, several somethings--or someones.

Jacen brought himself to a skidding halt, and she pushed him back the way they had come.

The young Jedi Knights scrambled for cover.

"In here, quick!" Jaina whispered, pointing to a small storage alcove.

"NTe've got to hide."

A tarpaulin just large enough to conceal them hung across the opening.

A bright blue triangle had been painted on the rock beside the opening; Tenel Ka did not recognize the symbol, but this was no time to speculate about what' it might mean. Jaina drew the tarpaulin aside and tugged Raynar into the alcove. "What are you waiting for?"

They ducked inside, and Em Teedee barely managed to zip beneath the thick cloth before it dropped back into place. The four sat crouched in the shadows, holding their breath, listening intently.

Raynar looked pale and frightened, but ready to fight if necessary.

Jaina sat next to him, wearing a grim expression. Though the caves were cool, Tenel Ka could feel perspiration trickling down her back beneath her scant reptile armor.

With a clank and a shuffle, three hulking guards rounded the corner.

Their heavy footsteps pounded closer, accompanied by grunts and snuffling sounds.

Around the edge of the tarpaulin, Tenel Ka saw three squat Gamorrean guards stride by on patrol. The huge brutes seemed wary, their piggish eyes open for any intruders. The guard on the right stumbled and lurched into the one in the middle, who shoved him back. The Gamorreans snorted at each other, then continued plodding along.

Tenel Ka narrowed her granite-gray eyes and heaved a faint sigh of relief after the guards moved past the hidden alcove.

Jacen touched Tenel Ka's arm and indicated the storeroom where they had taken refuge.

"Hey, look at this," he whispered.

"Oh my!" Em Teedee brightened his optical sensors to help light up the shelves. "I daresay this is quite an impressive array of firepower!"

All around them, shelves were piled high with blasters and laser rifles, thermal detonators and sonic grenades. The weapons were stacked haphazardly, stockpiled by the Diversity Alliance m just in case they should ever need them for an ultimate battle against their human enemies, no doubt.

Tenel Ka felt cold. Nolaa Tarkona was ready for an all-out war against the New Republic, even if she didn't capture Bornan Thul.

Now, it was more important than ever that they escapewnot just to get their friend Low-bacca to safety, but also to warn the New Republic about the enormity of the impending threat.

Tenel Ka considered taking weapons with them, but blasters and grenades weren't the weapons of a Jedi. She believed she and her friends could get in and out without having to fight. She did, however, make a mental note of the blue triangle symbol that marked the arsenal's location, just in case they were forced to fight their way back out.

The four companions slipped back into the corridor. They checked the tarpaulin to be sure it hung naturally, as it had before their arrival.

Then Tenel Ka and Jacen cast out with their minds again. The glimmer of the Wookiee's presence seemed brighter now.

"That way?" Jacen said, pointing.

Tenel Ka nodded. "Come," she said, creeping along a sloping downhill path. "We must find Lowbacca and leave again before it is too late.."

Raaba's chocolate-brown fur bristled with pride as she led Sirrakuk down to the small-craft bay, where personal ships belonging to the Diversity Alliance were reconditioned, upgraded, and sent out on missions.

Sirra wanted to take a look at the strange new vessel that had arrived attached to a robotic ore hauler. Raaba was happy to provide her with the access clearances. She felt great pleasure that her young Wookiee friend enjoyed the new things she had seen in the Diversity Alliance.

Lowbacca, on the other hand, seemed moody and distant, and Raaba was afraid she hadn't managed to convince him of the logic in Nolaa Tarkona's arguments. She couldn't understand what was wrong with him, why he couldn't see clear reason; if nothing else, his emotions should have persuaded him when he heard the heartbreaking tales of human cruelty to alien species!

But he had spent his last few years being brainwashed by humans. Raaba had her work cut out for her.

Today Adjutant Advisor Hovrak had taken Lowie down to the main computer center and assigned him the task of optimizing the inventory programming.

While working with the computers, the lanky Wookiee had appeared somewhat happier, his mind preoccupied. That, Raaba thought, was at least a step in the right direction....

She and Sirca entered the small-craft bay.

Raaba's skimmer, the Rising Star, was in a reserved berth near the huge bay doors, ready for her to take off whenever she wished.

At the moment, though, Raaba's highest priority was to ensure that Sirra and Lowie adapted well to the Diversity Alliance. The Twi'Lek leader had made it clear how valuable she considered the new Wookiee recruits, particularly Lowbacca with his Jedi abilities. Raaba would not let her leader down.

Sirca stood in the bay, her eyes as bright as new credit chips when she saw the vehicles arrayed under the lights. She had shaved additional decorations on her shoulders and arms, and now the patches of hairless skin stood out in interesting contrast to her thick fur. She wore the unusual look at the wrists, neck, and ankles with a greater verve and imagination than she had before. Tufts of fur stood out in odd patchworks and curled designs.

Not satisfied with working in the computer factories like her parents, Lowie's sister had undergone training on Kashyyyk to become a starship pilot. Sirra had dreams of her own, and Raaba intended to play on them.

The Diversity Alliance could fulfill those dreams as the New Republic could not. Sirra let out a yip of delight when she saw the mysterious salvaged ship.

Two Ugnaught mechanics briskly scoured the hull seams, cleaning away the carbon scoring and polishing up the old passenger cruiser. Sirra studied the craft, noting the lines and the Hapan design.

Raaba, though, froze as she recognized the Rock Dragon. She had seen this ship on Kuar, flown by Lowbacca and his friends--his human friends!

What was it doing here?

Her dark nostrils flared as she sucked in a deep breath. Something was terribly wrong. Raaba looked around the echoing cave chamber, past its bustling mechanics. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the numerous tunnels where humans could hide. Spies? She unconsciously pushed her armbands tighter against her biceps. Human spies, creeping around in the private sanctuary of the Diversity Alliance!

Oblivious to Raaba's tension, Sirra leaned forward to study the ship; she seemed eager to sit behind its controls. Raaba gestured for her to do as she wished, and Lowie's sister sprinted toward the open passenger cruiser. With absolute fascination, she investigated the engines, the hull, the landing struts, before finally clambering inside.

Raaba held back, feeling her stomach knot.

What if Lowie's friends had come to abduct him, to steal him away from his place in the Diversity Alliance? It would be a decidedly human thing to do. Humans were sore losers, she thought, unwilling to let aliens make their own choices.

Raaba hurried over to a communications console, switched to a private channel, and summoned Adjutant Advisor Hovrak. In the growling Wookiee language she rapidly told the angry wolfman of her suspicions.

Hovrak snarled. "I knew there was something strange about that ship," he said. "I must increase security. Raaba, join me in the main grotto, and we will send out search parties from there. Is Lowbacca still stationed in the computer center?"

She nodded, and Hovrak said, "Good, then we will concentrate our search in that area. If we can keep your friend distracted, perhaps he will not realize anything is happening. We can take care of this before it becomes a problem."

Raaba clenched her powerful fists and her biceps bulged against her armbands. Lowie. The young Jedi Knights were undoubtedly looking for him.

Jaina led the way next, her senses tingling.

"Lowie's close," she said. "He's just up here."

"Be careful, Jaina," Tenel Ka said.

"I'm careful," she answered. Jaina paused at the corner to detect any alien Diversity Alliance soldiers in the next section of tunnel, but it too was empty. Eerily quiet. They had been incredibly lucky so far.

These catacombs seemed abandoned. When Nolaa Tarkona took control, she had slaughtered many Twileks who fought against her--and now this section of tunnels was indeed like a tomb.

The floor grew smoother, as if heavy footsteps had polished the rough-hewn stone. Ahead, Jaina saw several corridors that branched around the same central place, a large room with glassed-in walls and a support structure holding it up; heavy-duty recirculation fans fed in cooling air.

Computers and terminals filled the enclosed chambermand there, flanked by a Sullustan and two polished hacker droids, sat Lowie!

"There he is!" Jaina said in a hoarse whisper.

"I'm certain he'll be most pleased to see us," Em Teedee said at her shoulder. "I simply do not know how he manages to get by without me."

The ginger-furred Wookiee hunched over a terminal linked to a mainframe.

His lanky arms hung down as he studied a screen, deep in concentration.

He punched buttons on a keypad.

Symbols scrolled up past his eyes. Lowie nodded, then moved to a different terminal.

Before anyone could stop her, Jaina hurried out into the tunnel intersection. She would have to get Lowie's attention, but it seemed impossible without also sounding an alarm.

Em Teedee swiveled in the air, his optical sensors glowing. "I'm certainly anxious to speak with Master Lowbacca again."

Not wanting to be left behind, Raynar and Jacen accompanied Jaina, scurrying forward, keeping low. Tenel Ka hesitated, looking around in the dim tunnels instead of ahead. "We must be cautious." Then she felt a cold shiver of warning up her spine.

Jaina spun around, also sensing it, just as Em Teedee let out a thin wail. "Oh dear, they've found us."

Tenel Ka whirled to face a large group of one-eyed Abyssin armed with spiked clubs, a towering Trandoshan reptile, and a wolfman who appeared to be the leader. He grinned with triumph, showing off his fangs.

Tenel Ka grabbed for her lightsaber, but the alien soldiers already had their blasters drawn.

The wolfman barked a quiet order. "No light-sabers, Jedi Knights," he said, "or we will cut you down where you stand. I am Hovrak, and every soldier here obeys my orders."

An Abyssin reached up to snatch Em Teedee out of the air.

"Let me go, you brute! Be careful--you'll scratch my casing."

"No outbursts, no noise," Hovrak warned. "You will come with us quietly."

From another tunnel a second group of soldiers emerged. With them stood Raaba, chocolate fur bristling, red headband cinched around her head, and armlets pushed high on her biceps.

Jacen looked desperately at the Wookiee woman. His eyes pleaded.

"Hey, Raaba, tell them who we are! We just wanted to talk to Lowie."

But the plea was wasted. Raaba glared at them.

In a smooth motion their captors swept them into a side catacomb, away from the computer center. Jaina drew a deep breath to shout for Lowie--

but the Trandoshan clapped a rough rept'rlian hand across her mouth.

"Kill humans," he gargled, as if in anticipation.

The monsters hauled the young Jedi Knights off as prisoners. The guards remained wary, keeping their blasters pressed against their sides.

The companions could never coordinate their Jedi powers all at the same time to divert so many blaster bolts.

Jaina swallowed hard. They would fight to escape--but now was not the time...

Back in the computer center, Lowie sensed a great uneasiness in the Force. He looked up from a difficult problem at his terminal, glanced around the computer center, and then darted his gaze out through the transparisteel walls into the shadowy corridors beyond.

Although the interior light caused quite a glare, and he could make out only a few details, he thought he saw a flicker of shadows, a movement of bodies disappearing into a corridor... but he could not be sure.

Once again he felt the heavy loneliness he had almost forgotten during his deep concentration.

He loved working with computers, and this programming problem was a great challenge. He stared out the windows for a long moment, but nothing reappeared. Then with a low sigh he sat back down at the keyboard and returned to work.

It was probably just his imagination. Lowie missed his friends terribly, and he must have been seeing only what he wanted to see.

STRUGGLING IN HOVRAK'S grip, his wrists tied behind him, Jacen cast about in his mind for some way of using his Jedi abilities to free himself. The wolfman's claws dug through the sleeve of his fiightsuit piercing his skin and drawing a few sticky droplets of blood. Jacen barely felt the pain, though.

He looked over at his sister, then at Tenel Ka, to reassure himself that they were all right. The warrior girl showed no sign of agitation, but when her granite-gray eyes flicked toward him, he saw grave concern. He drew a deep breath and called on the Force for the calm courage he needed, to keep up a good face for her.

The Diversity Alliance attackers didn't deserve the satisfaction of seeing their fear.

The other young Jedi Knights remained silent as Hovrak and the guards marched them through an endless maze of corridors until they finally emerged into Nolaa Tarkona's throne room grotto.

The Twi'Lek woman sat st'dly in her stone chair on the dais, leaning forward. Her glittering pink eyes intent, she watched them with barely disguised loathing.

Jacen stared back at the scarred leader of the Diversity Alliance. Her skin was pale and cadaverous, and the masculine uniform and padded body armor Nolaa wore beneath her flowing black robe hid any feminine curves she might possess. Even so, she radiated power as she watched the young human captives.

"Ah, a gift for me," Nolaa Tarkona said. "Or perhaps a snack for Hovrak."

Hovrak's hot breath blew down Jacen's neck.

"We're not a gift for anyone," Jaina snapped.

"Or a snack."

Nolaa's tattooed head-tail twitched. She displayed a set of perfectly pointed teeth. "You are trespassers--intruders, spies. Worst of all, you are human." She spat the word and scowled with distaste. "Humans have always tried to destroy what alien species have built. This is my private sanctuary, a place of freedom for all species. Still you have crept in and contaminated this place with your presence. You were caught near the computer center, no doubt attempting sabotage."

"No way!" Jacen said. "We only wanted to see our friend Lowbacca."

He struggled in Hovrak's grip and looked over at Raaba, pointing at her with his elbow. "Raaba knows. We're friends of Lowie's. We just need to talk to him."

The chocolate-furred Wookiee woman took this as her cue to march toward Nolaa Tarkona with the three lightsabers the soldiers had confiscated, as well as the silver translating droid, which had been powered down for storage.

Nolaa looked at the Jedi weapons and then up at Raaba. "You know these humans? How so?"

Raaba averted her eyes, flashed a venomous look at Jacen for having embarrassed her, then growled an answer. Even with Em Teedee switched off, Jacen could understand many of her words. Raaba explained that these were Jedi trainees from Master Skywalker's academy on Yavin 4.

They were former companions of Low-bacca's, but now that Lowie was with the Diversity Alliance, Raaba was certain he knew who his true friends were.

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka said. "And we're his true friends. For this we do not need to tell him lies, as you do."

Hovrak lashed out to cuff Tenel Ka, backhanding her with a hairy paw.

She reeled at the blow, but did not cry out in pain.

Jacen struggled backward, hoping to kick Hov-rak, but to no avail.

Then he calmed himself. He was a Jedi, he reminded himself. He would use the Jedi way. Letting his eyes fall half shut, he reached out with the Force and detached all fourteen of the glittering medals Hovrak so proudly displayed on his precious uniform.

To the wolfman's surprise, the emblems sprang away from his shirt to scatter jingling on the floor. The Adjutant Advisor roared and bent down to grab the medals, but they leapt from his hands and fell tinkling to the rock floor again.

They must die," he said, glaring at the companions.

"Eat them," the Trandoshan heartily agreed.

"Kill humans."

Standing beside Nolaa Tsrkona, though, Rssba glanced sidelong at the young Jedi Knights. She seemed uneasy, and Jacen wondered if perhaps the Wookiee woman felt guilty about what she had done.

Raaba took a step closer to Nolaa's stone chair.

In a low voice, she argued against the Adjutant Advisor's brutal suggestion, insisting that the young Jedi Knights were too important to be killed. Their deaths could cause significant problems for the Diversity Alliance... but if the need arose, they could fetch a fine ransom or be used as hostages. The Solo twins were the children of the New Republic's Chief of State. The warrior girl was a princess of the powerful Hapes Cluster.

Raaba hesitated, then looked at young Raynar as a growl built in her throat. Her words to Nolaa were so husky and quiet that Jacen had to strain to hear them. And this young man, she told her leader, was the son of Bornan Thul.

The Twi'lek woman's face lit up with delight.

"Bornan Thul is your father?" She ran her tongue along the sharpened points of her teeth.

Raynar flinched and took a step back.

"You'll never 'md him," he said. 7rhatever it is you want from my father, you won't get it."

"Perhaps we won't need to find him, if we've found you," Nolaa said, favoring him with her broadest smile. "And children of the Chief of State, daughter of the House of Hapes--you may serve us well indeed when the Diversity Alliance launches its all-out war against humanity.

Nolaa's dark robes flowed around her, obscuring her padded armor, as she stood up. Her tattooed head-tail twitched, and all of the Diversity Alliance soldiers came to attention, sensing their leader's agitation.

Hovrak still scrambled around on the stone floor, picking up his scattered medals, growling in frustration. He hadn't quite comprehended yet that Jacen was the cause of his embarrassing clumsiness.

Standing calm and motionless, Jacen fixed his attention on the three deactivated lightsabers lying unattended on the dais. He focused his mind on his own weapon, then on Jaina's, then on Tenel Ka's. He knew how they worked, knew how to manipulate them.

Nolaa Tarkona clenched her clawed hands at her sides. Her eyes were like two bright lasers.

Her head-tail twitched.

Her feet were very near the lightsaber handles.

Jacen reached out with his mind... and with apush he pressed all three power studs. An emerald-green blade, an electric-violet one, and then a turquoise one sprang out like spears toward Nolaa Tarkona's feet.

She reacted with astonishing speed, leaping back. The lightsabers writhed as if they were alive, or possessed. The handles vibrated with power, but so far only the hem of Nolaa's black robe was slashed and singed.

The guards bellowed at each other, causing an uproar. The Gamorreans appeared confused by this new development. Hovrak bounced to his feet, dropping all of his medals again.

"Jedi powers," Nolaa said. "They're using Force tricks!"

The Trandoshan hammered Jaina to her knees.

One of the Abyssin knocked Tenel Ka aside.

Raynar shouted, "Leave them alone!"

Raaba hurried forward and carefully but frantically tried to grab the handles of the lightsabers to protect Nolaa Tarkona. One of the guards hurried forward, afraid of the Jedi blades, but knowing he had to do something.

"Kill the human Jedi," Hovrak snarled. All of them. It is the only way to prevent such incidents."

The alien guards brought up their blasters, targeting the young captives.

The Diversity Alliance soldiers were clearly ready to follow the Adjutant Advisor's orders without question.

Jacen stepped forward. "No, wait! We surrender."

He used the Force again, struggling hard to maintain sufficient concentrationMand switched all the lightsabers back off.

The guards looked down at the three handles as if they were Unpredictable poisonous snakes.

Raaba reached forward and gathered them up with a growl.

"Do not kill the humans yet," Nolaa Tarkona said, breathing heavily to control her anger.

"These four are too valuable, and we must plan accordingly." She fxed them each with an ice-pick stare. "However, I think it would be best if they were to disappear for now."

"Wait. Please let us talk to Lowie first," Jacen said. "Just for a few minutes."

Nolaa pursed her lips in mock regret. "Sadly, Lowbacca must never know of your presence here," she said. Raaba crossed her arms firmly over her chest and nodded vigorously. She seemed to understand that her present tenuous friendship with Lowie would be damaged if he knew his human friends had come t°rescue him-and that Raaba had prevented them from seeing him.

"Lowbacca remains with us," Nolaa said. "And you, too, will serve the Diversity Alliance. After all the pain and loss humans have visited upon alien species, it is only fitting that you now work to profit the Diversity Alliance. Consider it a form of atonement." She gestured toward one of the side corridors. "Take them down with the other slaves. They will work in the ryll caverns until we decide how best to use them... or until the work itself kills them."

The young Jedi Knights struggled as the guards dragged them away from the throne room, but Jacen knew there would be no escape from the spice mines of Ryloth.

NOWHERE.

For the moment, Zekk had decided to go nowhere.

After his brief encounter with Bornan Thul and the other two bounty hunters, Zekk had made a short hyperspace jump to the vicinity of a small and unremarkable star system. He let the Lightning Rod drift in the laser-sharp blackness of space. The dwarf star itself was the only bright spot of light anywhere near.

Zekk had no appointments, no known destination... and he needed time to think.

For now, this was the perfect spot. No distracting planets or spaceports, no ship traffic. No fields of asteroids littered the area about him.

No gaseous anomalies or nebulas lit the darkness with their multicolored glows.

Even the Lightning Rod seemed strangely silent in its operation, as if it were holding its breath to give Zekk time for peaceful introspection.

He welcomed the solitude, since he had a great deal to think through.

Nothing was clear at the moment.

Dimming the lights inside the cockpit, Zekk leaned back in the pilot's seat to organize his thoughts.

He was satisfied for now with what he had accomplished by planting a tracer on Bornan Thul's ship. Zekk had been careful to ensure that the remote wouldn't put Thul at risk. He had set its automated transmitter for delayed activation, to keep other bounty hunters from picking up and identifying the signal before Thul left the area. Also, if Bornan Thul himself became suspicious of the "dud" torpedo and ran an immediate check on his own ship, he would detect nothing. It would be a full two days before the tracer beacon would activate.

That was time enough for Zekk to figure out some way to make Bornan Thul trust him. But he knew it might not be very 'easy. From what Thul had said, he trusted no one with the "information" he possessed.

Zekk shook his head in irritation. Didn't Thul realize that holding the information back, that trying to keep it a secret, was more dangerous than simply sharing what he knew with the New Republic?

But what could Thul possibly know that Nolaa Tarkona wanted so desperately? And what kind of knowledge would Bornan Thul hide from both the Diversity Alliance and the New Republic?

Zekk tried hard to piece together what he knew.

Clearly, this whole situation made sense to N0-laa Tarkona and to Bornan Thul. Unfortunately, neither of them had been generous enough to let Zekk in on the secret. Between what he had learned from Fonterrat's message cube, recorded just before the scavenger had died on the ill-fated colony Gammalin, and what Bornan Thul had let slip during Zekk's conversations with him, there had to be an answer.

As his ship slowly rotated in the emptiness, a bright streak curved across the unrelenting blackness of space, just a few hundred kilometers in front of the Lightning Rod. A comet, Zekk realized, its long ghostly tail evaporated by the distant warmth of the small sun.

Intrigued, he decided to follow the glowing ball of ice that trailed a ribbon of sparkling vapor behind it.

Zekk watched it for a moment, then set a course in his navicomputer so that the Lightning Rod would parallel the beautiful comet and keep pace with it on its long, slow journey around this solar system. He grimaced at the irony: despite the technology Zekk had at his disposal, the comet seemed to have a stronger sense of direction than he did.

The evaporating ice ball sailed confidently along on its course, needing no one to direct it, no navicomputer to guide it or make course corrections--only the pull of gravity.

A frown wrinkled Zekk's forehead as he tried to recall something that Fonterrat had mentioned about the navicomputer. Bornan Thul had claimed to have "information" that could put millions of lives at risk. Human lives.

Immediately after his secret meeting with Fonterrat on the isolated world of Kuar, Thul had decided to disappear.

Fonterrat had mentioned giving Thul a navicomputer module. And it seemed that the navicomputer was the one thing Nolaa Tarkona desperately wanted.

But what information could it hold? The location of something?

What had Nolaa lost... or what did she need to find?

Because Nolaa had loosed the plague on Gammalin, Fonterrat had expressed his hope that the Diversity Alliance would never find Bornan Thul and his cargo. Could there be a connection, then, between the navicomputer and the plague?

The plague had killed every human on the colony, but then it had died out. Surely Nolaa Tarkona could make no further use of it.

But if Nolaa ever found the original source of the plague, it was possible that nothing would ever stop the spread of the disease.

Zekk shifted uncomfortably at the thought.

Fonterrat had said something about giving Nolaa Tarkona two samples.

Surely one more vial could do no worse than the first had--though that was bad enough. But what if Nolaa decided to unleash the plague on Coruscant, for example? Or what if she found a way to replicate it, and infect all human worlds?

No. Fonterrat had seemed fairly certain that this was not possible; otherwise Bornan Thul could never have thwarted Nolaa Tarkona's plan just by hiding from her. What then, would the navicomputer tell her?

Something clicked in Zekk's head. It was almost like one of those puzzles that Jaina's younger brotherAnakin loved to solve. Suddenly, a dozen snatches of conversation and stray bits of messages whirled together and resolved themselves into a logical pattern in his mind. Without understanding for certain how, he knew now what Bornan Thul had.

Fonterrat's navicomputer must contain the location of the place where the scavenger had found the plague. The two small samples must have been Fonterrat's bargaining tools, samples to show his good faith so that the Diversity Alliance would barter with him for more. But Fonterrat had not trusted Nolaa Tarkona enough--with good reason--to sell her the information directly. And in the end, something had caused Fonterrat to warn Bornan Thul about the danger he carried.

The scavenger 'had clearly wanted to profit from the information, but maybe he had hoped the Diversity Alliance would never use it. Nolaa, however, had used the sample he had given her.

Indiscriminately.

Yes, it was possible, Zekk thought. But where could such a horrible plague have come from? A planet with no human population? Somewhere in the Outer Rim? But surely a planet with a virus so deadly to humans would have been reported long ago.

Or the disease could be some substance that had been found by a mining company in an asteroid or a comet. It was even possible that some crazed alien on an uncharted world had actually developed the virus on purpose.

In any case, Zekk knew he'd have to gain Bornan Thul's confidence, if he was to be of any help to the man. Thul couldn't protect such an important secret forever. Zekk would be able to fend him as soon as the homing beacon activated.

And if he managed to get a lead on Bornan Thul, it wouldn't be long before one of the other bounty hunters was successful as well... someone sly and skillful like Boba Fett.

Still staring at the glowing streak of comet in front of him, Zekk shook his head. He couldn't allow that to happen. If anyone could get Bornan Thul to trust him at this point, it would be his son Raynar.

Zekk set his mouth in a grim line. He hoped Raynar would believe him when he explained the urgency of the situation. Zekk thought he had established a basis for trust with Raynar on Mechis III, but he'd have to convince the young man once and for all that he no longer wished to collect the bounty on his father.

Zekk now knew exactly where he wanted to go.

It was time to pay a visit to Yavin 4. With growing anticipation, he leaned forward and entered a new set of coordinates into his navicomputer.

Zekk turned the Lightning Rod in a quick arc and peeled away toward the Jedi academy, leaving the comet to streak onward alone in the darkness.

TENEL KA WATCHED one of the Gamorrean guards shove Raynar, who fell hard against the mine car that would take them deeper underground.

"I'm cooperating--there's no need to get rough!" the young man objected.

He regained his balance and stumbled onto the personel transport vehicle.

When the guard muttered something vaguely conciliatory, two other Gamorreans cuffed their apologetic companion.

In silence the young Jedi Knights climbed aboard the mine car and eased themselves onto the dirty metal seats. The guards held tight to handles beside their seats as the vehicle accelerated with a lurch.

The mine car picked up speed, carrying them farther from Nolaa Tarko-na's throne room, farther from their impounded ship... and farther from Lowie.

Staring out the open sides of the vehicle, Tenel Ka watched the walls blur by. She noticed places where chunks of rock had broken away, as well as scars and craters left by blaster fire that had ricocheted off the stone. Much of the fighting during Nolaa's revolution must have taken place down here, when the old Twi'Lek clans had fallen to the reactionary Diversity Alliance.

When the vehicle stopped, the companions were ordered to get off.

Though they all stood immediately, Hovrak grabbed Tenel Ka by the arm and yanked hard. "Stop gawking at the walls, human--you've got work to do."

Tenel Ka's poise was good, and she managed to keep her balance. Even so, Hovrak's sharp claws scratched her unprotected skin. Warm blood flowed from a shallow wound on her upper arm, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her wince in pain.

"Hey, leave her alone? Jacen said, trying to push his way forward.

Hovrak dismissed the tousle-haired young man with a snort, then looked pointedly at the stump of Tenel Ka's other arm.. "Wou are lucky the Esteemed Tarkona considers you too important to kill. You are sure to be a burden down in the spice mines. We won't get much work out of a one-armed female. Worthless."

Tenel Ka reacted with spring-loaded reflexes, whirling about to slam the flat of her hand full force against Hovrak's snout. The impact made a sound like ripe fruit struck with a hammer.

Continuing her spin, Tenel Ka brought her booted foot up and kicked the wolfman unmercifully in the abdomen. Then she lashed out with her other foot to smash him sharply in the knee.

Hovrak fell.

It all happened in two seconds. The Adjutant Advisor yowled in unexpected pain even before the blood began to spurt from his smashed snout.

The other Jedi Knights could not leap to her aid before Hovrak's guards dragged Tenel Ka away from him but she was finished.

One eyebrow arched, the warrior girl shot Hovrak a look of challenge.

"Perhaps a one-armed female is not quite as helpless as a complacent wolfman," she said coldly.

Hovrak coughed blood and got back to his feet while the guards chuckled at her retort. They froze, looking sheepish, when Hovrak glared at them.

Struggling to regain his dignity, he wiped a sleeve of his uniform across his snout. Blood smeared the meticulously clean cloth.

"Throw them in with the other mine slaves.

And if this girl's production is one gram less than the requirement... we shall see how well she can work with no arms."

Many Twi'lek caves began as natural formations that were hollowed out over centuries of labor into a larger and larger underground labyrinth.

As the civilization expanded and the population grew, they dug deeper into the mountain ranges.

By accident the Twi'lek people had discovered veins of the precious mineral ryll, a form that was sometimes called spice. Ryll had numerous uses--medicinal and otherwise--and the Twfieks immediately became important suppliers, often working with smuggler lords and contraband shippers.

Small cracks and tunnels in the living rock had been expanded by slaves into echoing chambers until the mines grew huge and unsupported.

Finally the walls had collapsed--freeing new veins of ore at the expense of the poor, crushed workers. Their Twi'lek masters had not deemed this expense unreasonable.

As Tenel Ka and her friends were led into the mines, she let her gray eyes adjust to the harsh, uneven light. The majority of labor parties she saw around them consisted of human prisoners.

Apparently proud, Hovrak pointedly explained to his new workers, "Those slaves are pilots and smugglers that crossed Nolaa Tarkona, not to mention a few hapless captives taken from small craft we found in nearby systems. If anybody noticed their disappearance, it would have been dismissed as a mere space accident. Now, working for the Diversity Alliance gives meaning to their pitiful lives."

A few of the downtrodden miners were Twfieks who looked emaciated and beaten. Tenel Ka watched them with interest, recognizing that these must have been outcasts or survivors from the Twi'Lek clans Nolaa had squashed during her takeover of the government. The lucky ones, it seemed, had died during the fighting.

To illuminate the ryll excavations, the slave masters had brought in wide glowpanels powered by self-contained generators. The portable units shed their garish light onto the main work areas. The stark contrast between this highpowered brilliance and the shadows in the walls, corners, and jagged ceiling hurt Tenel Ka's eyes.

Clusters of strange, lumpy fungus grew from crevices in the walls like melted, foaming plastic.

The pale fungus oozed a sickly, sweetish odor that turned her stomach.

The ceiling itself was a festival of stalactites, with spiky banners unfurled and stabbing down toward the floor. Her sharp eyesight showed Tenel Ka that the stalactites were the same strange fungus. The white, foamy mounds seemed to grow and pulse in the bright illumination from the glowpanels.

Dust and sweat and fear mingled with the sickly aroma of fungus in the stuffy air. Water from distant springs trickled down in copper-colored rivulets to pool in salty, scummy puddles on the uneven floor.

"If you need refreshment, drink from there," said one of the guards.

"Blaster bolts!" Jacen said in disgust. "You expect us to drink that?"

"Not necessarily," said the guard. "But you'll get nothing else from us, so you'd better consider it. If you're hungry, eat fungus. It isn't too poisonous."

One of the mine bosses, a round-eyed RodJan, came up to inspect his new team. He spoke quickly through his tapirlike snout, as if racing to get through a boring memorized speech. "You're here for one purpose: to break stones. You'll never get anywhere close to pure ryll, since the low-grade ore is shipped off planet for chemical separation of the spice. SOme of you will use hammers to chip away rock from the walls.

It's backbreaking work, and we enjoy watching you suffer."

"What will the rest of us do?" Raynat asked, looking thoroughly intimidated at the prospect of such intense labor.

"I"nat job will be... worse," the Rodian said.

Reflected light gleamed off his huge metallic eyes. With sucker-tipped fingers, he pointed up to where a network of cables, scaffolding, and fibercords suspended groups of workers under the forest of fungus-covered stalactites. "The rest of you must harvest those rock spikes. Without failing."

As if on cue, two dangling workers broke one of the large inverted pinnacles. The stalactite flew down through the air like a deadly spear to crash into a holding pit far below. Dust and debris billowed up.

Guards shouted at the other slaves to keep working.

"We have discovered a new technique," the Rodian said with pride in his thin, warbling voice. "That special fungus you see leaches ryll through the rock and concentrates it in the stalactites. After you break the stone free for us, we can quickly collect the ore in its most valuable form. This helps the Diversity Alliance fund its important activities."

The young Jedi Knights looked at each other, as disturbed at the thought of assisting Nolaa Tarkona's insidious plan as they were to be slaves.

"You--one-armed girl." The RodJan gestured toward Tenel Ka.

"Adjustant Advisor Hovrak suggests that I give you the most diiTcult assignment. To the cables with you... and your friend here."

The guards hustled her and Jacen off toward hanging fibercord harnesses, fumbling to fasten the frayed loops around their torsos. A Sullustan supplier handed them each a small vibrating rock hammer.

"That's this," Jacen asked, "a toy?"

"This is your assigned ryll excavating device," the Sullustan said.

"It is the most powerful tool you slaves are permitted to wield."

Tenel Ka herted the puny hammer in her grip, but could think of no way to use it as an effective weapon. None of the surly-looking captives in the mine met the companions' eyes, feigning a lack of interest in the new prisoners.

Using a pulley arrangement, two slaves heaved Tenel Ka and Jacen up toward the jagged ceiling.

The floor disappeared beneath her booted feet, and the spiked stalactites rushed down to meet her.

Jaina and Raynar, pushed toward one of the expansive walls, were handed small power digging tools. Glowering armed guards told them to get to work. After a glance up at their companions suspended from the ceiling, the two began to chop halfheartedly at the rockface.

Next to Jaina, Raynar struggled against the unyielding stone. His hands quickly became bruised and bloody from clawing away the loose rock that Jaina broke free. As the son of a merchant lord, he had never worked so hard with his hands. Jaina's hours spent tinkering with mechanical objects had given her just enough calluses to make her tough--but her hands still ached.

"Can't just wait around to be rescued," she said, keeping her voice low.

"Nobody knows we're on Ryloth. My parents can't send in troops to get us out of here." She heaved a noisy sigh. "That's what we get for not telling anyone where we're going."

Raynar's face was pale, and he looked sick with fear. "Well, Lusa knows.

She's our only hope." He swallowed hard. "But she promised not to tell anyone. It may be a long time before she changes her mind."

Jaina gave him a consoling pat on the arm.

"We're Jedi, Raynar. We've got the Force. Nothing is ever hopeless...."

Suspended above the grotto, dangling beside a sharp stalactite, Tenel Ka swung herself into position. She gripped the hard spongy fungus, swung herself like a pendulum, and smashed with her vibrating hammer at the end of each swing.

"I'd love to tell you a joke," Jacen said, swinging himself alongside her so that they stayed close together, "but nothing really seems funny to me at the moment."

They pummeled the same pinnacle of rock until the fungus-covered stalactite broke free and tumbled toward an empty crater in the floor.

The rock spike shattered into chunks of rich ore.

"Another one down," Jacen said. "More credits for the Diversity Alliance."

Tenel Ka fumed in silence. Then something caught her eye. With a gesture of her chin, she indicated the chocolate-furred Wooldee woman who had just appeared in an opening in the observation gallery.

Raaba stood tall and enigmatic and powerful.

She looked on with interest, turning her attention from one young Jedi Knight to another to another. She spoke with none of the guards, only watched.

Dangling in her harness, Tenel Ka glared in mute fury at this friend of Lowie's who had betrayed them. Then she angrily set back to work, her thoughts as sharp as steel, and as hard.

Finally Raaba turned and stalked away.

Although Tenel Ka hoped to develop a plan, at the moment she had to admit that she could see no way for them to escape.

THE SMALL GREEN jungle moon of Yavin 4 was a welcome sight in the Lighting Rod's front viewports. Though thoughts of the Jedi academy still intimidated him, Zekk found his spirits rising in anticipation of seeing his friends Jaina and Jacen Solo again.

He used the entry request code that Jaina had so thoughtfully provided when helping him overhaul the Lightning Rod on Mechis III; the New Republic guardian forces in orbit allowed him to pass. Nosing the Lightning Rod down into Yavin 4's atmosphere, he wondered if the twins would help persuade Raynar to go along on his search for Bornan Thul.

They might even volunteer to accompany him themselves. He hoped that at least Jaina would want to join him.

But as Zekk made his final approach to the Jedi academy's landing clearing in front of the Great Temple, now mostly restored, he felt a strange twinge through the Force. Not a tingle at the back of his neck, as he sometimes felt when danger was present. It was more like a premonition that the day would not turn out quite as Zekk hQped.

Trying to brush aside his sense ofunease, Zekk brought the Lightning Rod in for a skillful landing on the stubbly grass field. A part of him hoped that the orbiting security force had alerted Jaina of his arrival.

If so, Jaina might even now be hurrying down to the landing area to greet him.

To his disappointment, though, he saw not a single familiar face when he stepped out of his ship in the broad clearing. In fact, except for the pair of New Republic guards who patrolled the base of the stone pyramid, no one seemed to take any notice of Zekk's arrival.

Shrugging off his disappointment, Zekk started toward the ancient temple building to find his friends. At the young man's approach, the two New Republic guards--a human and a fish-headed Calamarianmconferred briefly.

One pointed behind Zekk at the Lightning Rod, while the other consulted a datapad in his hand.

Apparently satisfied, the two nodded. The Calamarian offered Zekk a courtesy salute with a broad, webbed hand before the guard's split up and resumed their patrols.

With a pang of guilt, Zekk wondered if Master Skywalker still objected to the military force Chief of State Organa Solo had stationed on the jungle moon, or if he had become resigned to them by now. Zekk himself was partly responsible for the soldiers being assigned to Yavin 4.

He had led the Shadow Academy's Dark Jedi in their attack against Skywalker's students.

High above, on the upper levels of the Great Temple, a few engineers and stoneworkers continued the final stages of the pyramid's reconstruction.

The upper floors had been blasted away by an Imperial saboteur's bomb.

Zekk also felt responsible for the damage the Shadow Academy had inflicted on the ancient Massassi buildings.

Suddenly, as if summoned by Zekk's thoughts, the Jedi Master himself appeared at one of the Great Temple's exterior staircases. With gliding steps, Luke Skywalker came toward him.

Zekk stopped short and struggled to compose himself. He'd expected the Jedi Master to be away on one of his frequent missions. He would have preferred not to face Luke right now. Zekk still had a great deal to atone for.

Master Skywalker had forgiven him for his part in the Shadow Academy now that Zekk had turned away from the dark side of the Force.

Even so, it was difficult for Zekk to look the Jedi Master in the face without remembering that he had once been prepared to kill this.man and destroy everything he had worked to build....

A warm smile curved the Jedi Master's lips as he clasped Zekk's hand in welcome. But his blue eyes, though kind, held a serious look. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you," he said.

"It's been a busy day of arrivals and departures for us. I only returned from Coruscant a few hours ago, and already I've had to send Tionne and ArtooDetoo off on a special assignment. After the fall of the Second Imperium, I expected the galaxy to be a quiet place... but now it seems too quiet; I can sense dark undercurrents, secret plans being drawn against us. I have to be watchful."

Motioning for Zekk to follow him, Luke went back up the broad stairs and into the Great Temple. Once Zekk had stepped into its cool interior, Master Skywalker spoke again.. "You have a strong purpose in coming here today, Zekk. Is the Lightning Rod in need of repairs again?"

"No, my ship is fine," Zekk said. As they walked along the dim corridors, he tried to tell which parts of the outside walls were original, ancient stone and which had been replaced by skillful craftsmen after the great battle.

Luke Skywalker may have forgiven him, Zekk thought, but did the Jedi trust him? "Actually, I need to speak with Raynar Thul, and Jaina and Jacen."

Luke Skywalker turned to Zekk with a look of surprise. "They didn't send you a message? I only had a couple of hours to speak with Tionne before she left today, but she told me that Tenel Ka received some disturbing news from home several days ago. It must have been something pretty important, because Jacen and Jaina left with her in the Rock Dragon to investigate. They took Raynar with them, too."

Zekk was filled with a sense of dismay. "So they're on Hapes, then?

Or somewhere on Dath-omir, maybe?"

Luke's eyebrows drew together in a frown of concern. "Tionne didn't say.

I don't think she spoke with them directly before they left."

Zekk decided to throw caution to the wind. He wasn't sure if Master Skywalker trusted him yet, but if what Zekk suspected was true, then there was no time to agonize over the Jedi Master's opinion of him. He squared his shoulders and plunged ahead.

"I need your help, Master Skywalker," he said.

"I've got to find Raynar in the next few days. It may be a matter of life and death--for all of us.

It has to do with his father... and the Diversity Alliance."

Luke looked probingly into Zekk's emerald-green eyes. Knowing the Jedi could read all of his past guilt and see that the destruction and death he had caused still haunted him, Zekk felt a need to flinch and avert his gaze. But this was too important, so he stood fast and looked steadily back at Master Skywalker.

Finally, the Jedi Master gave a slow nod.

"Lusa was the one who told Tionne that the others had left in the Rock Dragon. She's an old friend of Jaina's, and recently she and Raynar have become rather close. If anyone knows exactly where they went, it's Lusa."

"Can I speak with her?" Zekk asked. "It's important."

"No one has seen her around the Jedi academy since early this morning,"

Luke said, but I'm pretty sure I know where to find her. There's a special place she likes to go."

THE QUARTERS THE Diversity Alliance assigned to Lowie were decorated in a style that Raaba had termed "austere opulence." No frills or unnecessary adornments cluttered the area, but the cave chamber and its furnishings were of the highest quality. The rooms were heated to a temperature almost comfortable for Wookiees, and the insulfoam that covered the rock walls had been painted to simulate the dark green-and-brown shadows of a thick forest canopy.

The solid Wookiee-sized sleeping pallet bolted halfway up one of the room's walls was as comfortable a bed as Lowie had ever slept in. The unobtrusive lighting could be adjusted to stimulate various conditions, from bright sunlight, to starlight, to pitch black. The sturdy worktable held a state-ofthe-art computer station at the perfect height for a full-grown Wookiee. In the corner opposite the sleeping pallet, a massive simulated tree bole swung aside to reveal a fully equipped refresher unit. Nolaa Tarkona had certainly gone out of her way to provide him with Pleasant accommodations, Lowie mused.

But for him, these things only served to emphasize that it was all aificial. The underground warren dove deep into the rock of the planet Ryloth. The thin veneer of artificial tree bark merely masked the reality of solid rock beneath solid ground.

The more he learned of the Diversity Alliance, the more these headquarters seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Recruits were shown a thin and civilized veneer of what they most wanted to see--but the true foundation of the Alliance could only be revealed by looking underneath.

Unfortunately, Lowie was not as certain of what lay beneath the Diversity Alliance as he was of the stone in the walls of this room.

Lately, - it seemed even Raaba was hiding something from him. He could sense that she was holding back when she spoke to him, but she brushed aside all of his probing questions.

Lowie swung himself up onto his sleeping pallet. Then, restless, he swung down again and paced the confines of the room, which seemed smaller to him with each passing day. He could not simply go outside and climb high up to the peaceful safety of the treetop canopy. In fact, there were no trees at all on Ryloth, only agricultural chambers that raised fungus and mosses that were converted into bland but nutritious food.

The closest approximation to forests on this barren planet were the clusters of tall windmills dotting some of the crags. Twi'leks used the turbines to harvest the strong winds and convert them into energy.

But most of the wind farms were located on the fringes of the hot or cold zones, in climates so extreme Lowie would have had to wear an environment suit to climb them.

Knowing the room was soundproof, Lowie let out a frustrated roar. If he could not ask 1aaba for the answers he needed, who could he ask?

Angered, he stopped pacing, turned toward one wall, and pounded a large, hairy fist against it.

The cushiony insulfoam absorbed the impact with a soft, unsatisfying thump.

Snarling, he snatched the lightsaber from his belt with the vague intention of slicing away the offending insulation. The moment the hilt was in his hand, however, a calm clarity flooded his mind. A flick of his thumb ignited the molten bronze blade.

Lowie gave an urf of surprised laughter that, in his anger and frustration, he had been ready to attack a wall with his lightsaber!

Such was the influence the Diversity Alliance had on him.

He hefted the blade, tossed it experimentally from hand to hand. The saber hummed and sizzled as he sliced the air. Its light shone like a beacon in his mind, illuminating a truth he had known from the beginning: he did not need a Diversity Alliance to fight his battles for him or to defend his rights.

He drew a bright arc in the air. He did not need 'friendswho couldn't accept the friendships he already had. He swung the lightsaber again.

He did not need to blame one group for all the misfortunes Wookiees had suffered through the centuries. His species was flexible, strong, capable.