Book 12

Under a Black Sun

Return to Ord Mantell

by Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta

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To Angela M. Kato, whose hard work and charming personality helped us to find more time to write

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thanks to Sue Rostoni, Allan Kausch, and Lucy Autrey Wilson at Lucasfilm Licensing for their valuable input on this new story are; Ginjer Buchanan and Jessica Faust at Berkley for putting their full support behind this series; the Star Wars fans at Dragon*Con's Matters of the Force panels for their enthusiastic brainstorming; Dave Dorman for his marvelous cover art; Dan Wallace and Rich Handley for their research and resource materials; the work of Brian Daley, Al Williamson, and Archie Goodwin for providing fodder for our imaginations; Catherine Ulatowski, Sarah Jones, and Angela Kato at WordFire, Inc for keeping everything running smoothly; and Jonathan Cowan for being our first test-reader.

The tree stood in the middle of a small jungle clearing, its gnarled, woody tentacles wrathing through the air in search of prey.

As Zekk approached, the tentacles twitched, sensing his movement.

The sinuous vines were ewnouflaged, deceptively lush and green. He took another step forward. The ground around the tree's warty trunk was littered with bones-broken grayish-white remnants of previous victims, stripped of flesh, now decaying in the humid air of Yavin 4: Zekk moved even closer, and the hungry tree trembled in anticipation.

He told himself he had nothing to fear. Of course he would have been much more comfortable had he been carrying a lightsaber, a Jedi weapon that could counter any attack from this plant-thing-but that would have been too easy. Much too easy.

Zekk wasn't interested in a simple end to this exercise.

Instead, he conied only a plain staff. He had found the length of dried wood in the jungle and stripped off its bark. It was all the weapon he would allow himself to use in this important test.

He stepped forward, faced the wrathing tentacle tree, and prepared to do battle. "I will let the Force guide me," he murmured to himself, "allow it to direct my Jedi reflexes to respond to any tricks the enemy may devise."

The carnivorous tentacle tree reached toward him, its deadly branches whispering together in a leafy sigh.

"Most of all," he went on in a hushed voice, "I must not let myself be tempted by the easy power I can unleash through the dark side."

Zekk had already traveled the dark paths of the Force when he trained at the Shadow Academy. Now he was a new student learning to use the light side-but at the same time, he was an old student... with many scars on his conscience.

He raised his stick. The tree's tentacles quivered as it prepared for this easy prey.

"The Force is with me," Zekk said, and stepped in among the dangling branches, his staff held high.

Three of the whipping vines thrashed at him, making the stick their primary target. Zekk snapped his wrist downward. A loud crack rang out as the staff beat back two of the tentacles.

Another serpentine appendage crackled and wrapped itself around Zekk's right wrist. Without hesitation, he tossed the staff to his left hand, swung it up, and battered the offending tentacle as he yanked his hand free.

His skin burned and tingled as the clutching vine tore away from his wrist. He realized then that this plant-thing exuded some kind of irritating acid through its tiny spines. His hand began to swell, but Zekk turned his concentration back to the vines that still lashed at him.

He could deal with the pain later.

He struck left and right, knocking the thrashing vines away. His hand turned red and throbbed; he could barely bend his fingers. A forest of tentacles now whipped and clawed at him. He could have severed them all with a single sweep of a lightsaber blade, but Zekk drove them back one-handed, using only his staff.

Simple victories were not worth fighting for. Without a challenge, victory was meaningless. He had come here to learn a new lesson-and unlearn an old one.

To begin Zekk's training in the light side of the Force, Master Skywalker had told him to start with simple exercises to test his most basic skills. Somehow, Zekk didn't think that venturing out into the jungles to battle this carnivorous tree was quite what the Jedi teacher had in mind.

Perspiration trickled down Zekk's face and neck. His long dark hair clung in damp strands around his emerald-green eyes.

Zekk smiled.

He gritted his teeth and drove inward. He had fought many times before.

The Dark Jedi Brakiss had trained Zekk to become the Second Imperium's darkest knight. Together, they-along with many other followers of the Emperor's ways-had battled Luke Skywalker's students at the Jedi academy.

But Zekk and the other Dark Jedi had been soundly defeated, and Brakiss killed. Broken, Zekk had turned away from the dark side. Even though he had formerly been a close friend of the Solo twins, Jacen and Jaina, Zekk could not easily grant himself forgiveness. He couldn't just join his friends and begin training as a Jedi of the light side as if nothing had happened.

Instead, Zekk had gone off on his own to search for meaning in his life.

He trained to become a bounty hunter and used his Jedi prowess to hunt down difficult bounties that no one else could capture. But in those months Zekk had learned something important about himself: although he had the skills, he didn't have the mind-set that would allow him to find any quarry for whatever reason and simply turn the victim over to anyone who happened to pay the price.

When Nolaa Tarkona, head of a subversive political group called the Diversity Alliance, had set an open bounty on the merchant Boman Thul, Zekk had at first gone on the search, hoping to prove himself to Boba Fett and all the other bounty hunters. But Zekk had realized in time that the information Nolaa Tarkona wanted from the human merchant concerned a deadly human-killing plague-and that if he succeeded in his task, the entire human race might become extinct.

Such consequences had forced him to change his mind and join forces with the young Jedi Knights after all. After they defeated the Diversity Alliance and the Emperor's plague was destroyed, Zekk had decided to start all over again, to become a true Jedi Knight. This time he would do his training in the right way.

If only this tree would let him.

Shorter, spikier tentacles emerged from the hole of the tree, thrashing, grasping at him, but again Zekk drove them back with his staff. He could have pulled back at any time, but instead he pushed closer. Then, although the irritant chemical in his swollen right hand bothered him, he gripped the stick with both hands again. He would not let the pain slow him down.

Zekk didn't have any clear idea of how he would define "victory."

He did not intend to kill the tree, but as his battle fever picked up, he fought more furiously, pounding the tentacles with his hard staff.

Another whiplike vine snapped sharply and struck him in the forehead just above his eye, drawing a trickle of blood. He reeled backward, blinking his eyes against the stinging tears and red droplets.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, two of the vines wrapped themselves around his stick, twisted hard, and yanked it from Zekk's hand, tearing the flesh on his palms. Then, as if sensing victory, the relentless tentacles also grabbed at his arms and legs. Zekk stood trapped in a blizzard of grasping strands.

A black static of anger overpowered his fear. Zekk used the Force to reach out and locate his stolen staff. He jerked the stick back toward him-so furiously that two vines ripped away from the central mass of the tree and began oozing clear sap.

With the dying tentacles still dangling from his staff, Zekk swung around, using it as a flail against the others. He used the Force again to tie several of the strands into knots and laughed out loud at how easy this battle was becoming.

Then, in a flash of comprehension, Zekk realized that he was not truly succeeding; he had unleashed his anger and tapped the dark side as a conduit to his Jedi skills.

"No!" he said through gritted teeth. He refused to win against the plant-thing in this way. Zekk threw the retrieved staff aside and stood unarmed as the stinging tentacles drew back, then poised themselves to attack with renewed force.

But Zekk kept his mind clear, his thoughts calm. "I am not your prey," he murmured.

The tree had no intelligence, just a rudimentary mass of vascular plant fiber with reflexes that responded like muscles. Hungry tentacles lashed at him-only to slide harmlessly away, as if his entire body were coated with some invisible super lubricant.

"I wn not your prey," Zekk repeated.

The ineffective vines reached toward him, but they could not touch his skin. Sinuous appendages danced in frustration around his amns, his head, his back.

Zekk turned away from the tree and walked slowly beyond the reach of the grasping tentacles. He knew he had temporarily let down his guard, a failure of sorts. But he had seen the dark side, recognized it, and rejected it! He would put it behind him now. He felt as if he had emerged from a raging storm with only a few drops of water clinging to him. The storm was past. A sense of warmth and peace came over him.

At the edge of the clearing, standing beside the thick bushes, he saw Master Luke Skywalker watching him with a quiet smile on his face.

"I'm proud of you, Zekk," he said. "It took courage to turn away from your old instincts. Sometimes it's harder to unlearn bad teaching than it is to learn new skills. It will be hard to forget what Brakiss taught you."

"Yes," Zekk said. "I've got to learn it the right way now. I feel like a kid learning to walk again-and I thought I already knew how.

It's... intimidating." He said the word in a small voice, as if reluctant to admit it. "All the tests and exercises here remind me of what I learned at the Shadow Academy. I'm afraid to do things the same way. I mean, what if I do them wrong again?"

"There's no single way to become a Jedi," Luke Skywalker said.

"If it makes you more comfortable, we'll find a different path. Try a new assignment. Take something you're already good at-somethirg you enjoy-and use the Force, little by little, to enhance your abilities.

It doesn't have to be fighting with a staff, or levitating rocks, or sensing danger. The Force is in all things. Find a task that feels right.

Enjoy it, but let the Force guide you. You need to learn to accept your Jedi abilities, not fear them."

"I can try anything?" Zekk said. "Anything I enjoy?"

"I'm sure you can think of something, Zekk," Luke said.

The dark-haired young man just smiled.

Jedi trainees dragged a few more dried branches and pieces of dead wood from the surrounding jungle and piled it high in the courtyard.

Master Luke Skywalker readied a bonfire while his students gathered to hear him speak.

Jacen Solo ran a hand through his tousled hair, scratched an itch on his scalp, and settled down on the ledge beside his friend Tenel Ka.

They had found seats on one of the stone blocks of the rebuilt pyramid's lower levels; from there they would have a good view of the fire and Jacen's uncle Luke.

Jacen's twin sister Jaina, who loved to tinker with machines, had spent the afternoon with their Wookiee friend Lowbacca and his miniaturized translating droid, Em Teedee. They had worked beneath the Hapan passenger cruiser's navigational consoles, upgrading its starmaps and position-finding capabilities. As Princess of Hapes, the warrior girl Tenel Ka actually owned the Rock Dragon, but she preferred to let Jaina and Lowie pilot it.

Now the two tinkerers and the tiny, silver droid hurried up to sit beside Jacen and Tenel Ka as four new students prepared to light the bonfire.

Jaina still had a few smudges of grease on her cheeks and chin.

Lowie's ginger-colored fur was ruffled, but they both looked satisfied.

"So, the ship's up and working again?" Jacen asked. "There's no telling when we might need to grab it and go rescue somebody. We're Jedi Knights now, you know."

Jaina gave an unladylike snort, as if insulted at the suggestion that she might not have left the ship in perfect working order. "Of course it's working. Rock Dragon's ready whenever we are."

"Oh, my," Em Teedee said. "I do hope you aren't planning any emergencies.

In future, I suggest that we avoid any adventures that might involve emergencies. Far too dangerous, if you ask me."

"Come on, Em Teedee," Jacen said. "We've upgraded your capabilities.

Don't you want to test your limits?"

"Indeed not," the little droid said from his place at Lowbacca's belt.

The Wookiee chuffed and patted the droid good-naturedly.

Tenel Ka's face remained solemn during this exchange-then again, she usually was serious, Jacen thought, even though he constantly tried to make her laugh. "I am ready for whatever circumstances dictate," she said. "We are now required to look at the fire and listen to Master Skywalker."

"This is a fact," Jacen said with a chuckle, repeating Tenel Ka's own oft-used phrase.

Earlier that afternoon, a ship had come in bearing a pair of Jedi Knights who had been trainees when Luke Skywalker founded his Jedi academy here.

The two Jedi visitors, exhausted from a dangerous mission they had just completed, had gone quickly into the temple to refresh themselves. Not long afterward, Luke had announced a celebration for that evening. Jacen wondered eagerly what his uncle intended to talk about.

Now the fire blazed high. Orange flames crackled through the pile of dead wood; spicy-smelling smokb waited upward from the burning lichens and mosses that clung to the underbrush. While the last few Jedi trainees made their way to their seats, Jacen played with a small bluishgreen frill lizard he had found making a nest out of a mound of dry leaves in a crevice between the Great Temple's stone blocks.

The lizard appeared content to sit on Jacen's left fist, but seemed much less comfortable with Jacen's opposite hand. Every time he brought his right forefinger close to the lizard's nose, the creature flared out an intimidating scarlet frill around its neck and flapped its scales in self-defense. When Jacen pulled his finger away, the frill went back down. He moved his finger close again; the frill reappeared, and the lizard's eyes opened wide.

Tenel Ka watched with interest. The lizard-skin armor she wore clung to her body and glittered in the firelight. Though the night would be cool, the warrior girl never seemed to require any more warmth than the supple armor provided.

As a hush fell over the crowd gathered by the ancient pyramid, Master Skywalker stepped in front of the bonfire. The flames blazed higher behind him. He stood silhouetted in warm light, just a normalsized man, despite the fact that he had changed the fate of the entire galaxy.

"We're all here because we are-or want to be-Jedi Knights," Luke said.

"Except for me, of course," Em Teedee said primly, and Lowie shushed him with a growl.

"Jedi Knights protected the Republic... but it is important for us to think about whether being protected is always, good." He paused to let that sink in. Tenel Ka frowned, and Jacen tried to think of a circumstance where protection might not be desired.

"We learn from our mistakes," Luke continued. "And sometimes, if we shelter people from all the bad things that can happen, they don't learn to protect themselves... and even greater tragedies may occur."

During this speech, Zekk quietly joined his friends on the ledge.

One arm was bandaged. Lowie rumbled a question, but Zekk just gave a secretive smile and focused on Master Skywalker.

"I grew up on Tatooine," Luke said. "A desert planet with two suns. I was the foster son of my uncle Owen, a poor moisture farmer who had little happiness in a life filled only with hard work. Aunt Beru spent days at home watching the farm while my uncle and I checked our moisture vaporators, or went into Anchorhead or Mos Eisley to get supplies we couldn't buy from Jawa traders.

"Uncle Owen knew who I was: the son of Anakin Skywalker, whom most of you remember as Darth Vader. My uncle knew I had the potential to be a great Jedi, but he wanted to protect me. He tried to keep me from my dreams because of the risks I might encounter along the way. He was doing what he thought was best for me.

"My uncle was a sad man, with great guilt on his shoulders. He knew what Darth Vader had done, and-because he was afraid for me-he spent his life protecting me on that desert planet. His heart was in the right place...

but if he had succeeded, think of the outcome: I would still be a moisture farmer on Tatooine, the Empire might still be in power, and there would be no Jedi Knights."

Luke looked up. His eyes glittered in the firelight, though most of his body was cast in shadow. Perched on the stone blocks beside Jacen, Tenel Ka nodded. He sat closer to her as his uncle's point became clear to him.

"Challenges and diversity make us strong. Too much protection can prevent us from learning, from reaching our potential. We can learn from others, but we must also learn from our own experiences... and our own mistakes,"

Luke said. He smiled. "Just try not to make too many of them before you learn."

Another figure emerged from the base of the temple, a young man with dark hair and squared shoulders dressed in a black jumpsuit and a cape.

The sleek Jedi outfit looked comfortable, serviceable, and wellworn.

"Master Skywalker is right. And some of us certainly made huge blunders before we managed to come back to the right course," the young man said.

"This is Kyp Durron," Luke announced with a broad grin, "one of my first students here at the Jedi academy, many years ago. Han Solo rescued him from the spice mines of Kessel, and he came here to learn the ways of the Force."

Kyp nodded at the audience with a grim smile. Firelight splashed across his face. "I came here to learn, but I was impatient. I listened too closely to the spirit of an old Dark Lord of the Sith, Exar Kun, and I'm sorry to say I caused quite a bit of trouble for the new Jedi Knights."

"Like me," Zekk murmured.

"So did I," another voice said as a second man emerged from the temple.

A nimbus of wild white hair floated around his head and fluttered above his thin beard. He wore a vest and breeches with so many pockets that Jacen thought he probably could have carried all the components for his own starship engine inside them.

"That's Streen," Jaina whispered, and Jacen immediately recognized the man. Once a cloud prospector on Bespin, the old hermit had developed an affinity for controlling the weather and the winds.

Luke said, "These two have been Jedi Knights for well over ten years now.

They learned from their mistakes and their successes, and they've served the New Republic admirably." Kyp Dutton and Streen looked both powerful and exhausted, as if they had come through some terrible ordeal that had made them stronger-though neither seemed ready to tell the story.

"Looks like they've had some interesting adventures," Jaina observed.

Lowie rumbled thoughtfully. Zekk nodded.

"I, for one, do not wish to hear about them," Em Teedee said. "I've heard quite enough horrifying stories about Jedi adventures in Mistress Tionne's legends." The silvery-haired instructor was a Jedi scholar and minstrel, and had also been among Luke's first trainees.

"Then I guess Tionne'll just have to make up some songs about the new Jedi Knights," Jacen said.

Tenel Ka nodded. "Soon there will be many Jedi Knights; we must remember our heroes."

Jacen brought his finger close to the lizard again. It flashed its scarlet frill and raised up on its forelegs. The frill spread about the creature like a tiny cape. A sudden thought occurred to Jacen. He glanced over at his sister and knew she was thinking the same thing: Kyp Durron had been a very close companion of Han Solo's.

"Think Dad knows Kyp is on Yavin 4?" Jaina said.

Jacen gave his sister a sly grin. "Well, there's no reason we can't send him a message. Hey, you never know - Dad might even come for a visit." As it turned out, Han Solo was already en route to Yavin 4 to visit his children when he got word of Kyp Dutton's arrival on the jungle moon.

Since he had just finished his business on Kashyyyk, he calculated the fastest possible route for the Millennium Falcon and, with a bit of fancy piloting, got there in record time.

With a ths cerning eye, Jaina watched the battered light freighter descend. She had spent plenty of time honing her own engineering skills and studying the mechanics of how starships worked. By now, the Falcon was one mass of repairs and replacement parts. Sections of new hull plating had replaced old blaster-scarred shields. She wondered how many-or how few-of the ship's original components remained. Many fancier ships were available to Han Solo, but the Falcon held such a special place in his heart that Jaina knew her father would never get rid of it.

Jaina noted that the repulsorjets seemed stronger on the starboard side than on the port side, causing the Falcon to sway as it landed.

Fortunately her father was a superb pilot and knew full well how to compensate for any eccentricities of his beloved craft.

A flock of stubby-winged avians swept above the overgrown temple ruins toward the deep jungles. They flew in a triangular formation, emitting deep hooting sounds, like a broken Kloo horn. Jacen watched them pass.

Jaina could tell that he was trying to identify the species of birdand probably wondering if he had ever caught one for his menagerie.

When the boarding ramp extended, Jacen and Jaina rushed across the weedy clearing, and Han Solo emerged from his ship wearing a big grin.

Jaina expected to see Chewbacca standing behind him, the tall, hairy form that her mother had once reportedly called a "walking car pet."

Instead of the huge Wookiee, though, only her little brother came out.

Anakin was slight of build, quiet, and dark-haired, a year and a half younger than the twins. Their brother did not usually attend training sessions at the Jedi academy at the same times Jacen and Jaina did.

"Anakin!" Jacen said, and their younger brother beamed.

Jacen and Jaina hugged their father. At sixteen they both felt a bit old for such displays of affection, but Jaina got little enough time to see her father, and she enjoyed every moment of it.

"Hey, kids," Han Solo said. "I was on my way here when I got your message. Your mom couldn't break away from the Senate, but I got an interesting assignment and figured it was a good excuse for a Solo family outing."

"Aw, and I thought you came just to see me," Kyp Durron called, walking from the temple to the landing field and waving. The darkhaired Jedi Knight looked thoroughly refreshed now after a night's rest and a change of clothes.

Streen had gone off by himself to enjoy the solitude of the jungle.

Jaina remembered that the old cloud prospector liked peace and quiet more than anything else.

Upon seeing his friend, with whom he'd gone through so many adventures back when the twins were just small children, Han Solo's face lit up.

He came forward to clasp Kyp Dutton in an enthusiastic embrace. "How you doin', kid?" He pounded Kyp on the back.

Kyp smiled. "Not so much a kid anymore, Han."

"Yeah, Dad-you've got kids of your own," Jacen pointed out.

"And we're hardly kids anymore either," Jaina said.

Han gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "You'll always be kids to me.

All of you. Even your uncle Luke." He seemed barely able to contain his excitement at seeing Kyp as they walked from the Falcon back toward the Great Temple. "What've you been up to? I haven't seen you in... since, ah..."

"It's been a long time, Han," Kyp said. "I've been off saving colonies, slaying monsters, rescuing the universe... you know, the usual. Master Skywalker sends most of the Jedi he's trained out on missions, while our friend Tionne stays here and helps him handle the youngsters." He jerked an elbow toward Jaina. "Like these."

Jaina flushed, and her brothers both laughed.

"Heard about your fight with the Leviathan of Corbos," Han said.

"That was a tough one," Kyp answered. "Kirana Ti, Dorsk 82, Streen, and I really had our hands full on that mission. But Jedi Knights expect to face challenges like that."

Han smiled. "I know some younger Jedi Knights who've run into quite a few challenges of their own." He tousled Jacen's hair, and the young man flinched.

"Dad, I'm not a little boy anymore."

"Uh-oh. That mean you're too old to go with me to the Blockade Runners Derby on Ord Mantell?" Han raised his eyebrows at his twin children.

" You mean the race?" Jaina said. She had heard of the annual spectacle, one of the grandest, most daring races a pilot could enter.

It was an honor just to compete in the Derby.

Han nodded. "The Falcon won it three times already during my smuggling days. But this time I'll be going as a representative of the New Republic. Folks running the Derby sent in an official request, asking for me as their Grand Marshal." He gave his wry grin. "How could I refuse?"

Jaina laughed. "I doubt they could've kept you from that race if they put a few Imperial Star Destroyers in the way."

Han Solo squared his shoulders. "Hey, my wife and kids aren't the only ones who enjoy facing some challenges every now and then."

"I wish I could go with you, Han," Kyp said, stopping at the base of the looming stone temple. "But Streen and I may have to leave again in a few days. Even though Master Skywalker trains more Jedi every year, the New Republic is a big place. There are lots of missions to send Jedi Knights on and not enough of us to handle all the situations that need our attention."

Han turned to his three children with mock sternness in his expression.

"Well, I'm not letting you kids go on any missions for the time being.

You're coming with me in the Falcon, and your assignment is to have some fun. Some... quality time together, a family vacation.

You're gonna love the Blockade Runners Derby."

Lowbacca, walking down one of the Great Temple's exterior stairways, let out a loud Wookiee bellow of greeting. Perplexed, Jaina bit her lower lip and turned back to the Falcon.

"I know Mom couldn't make it, Dad, but where's Chewie?"

"Ah. Chewie'd been talking about visiting his family, you know.

And I'd been talking about spending some time alone with you kids.

So when this Derby thing came up, I suggested now might be a good time for Chewie to take that vacation back to Kashyyyk. Dropped him off on my way here," Han answered, then lowered his voice and gave her a conspiratorial wink. "Besides, that means I need a good copilot for a while. Know anybody I might be able to use?"

Jaina perked up. "Me? You'd let me help fly the Falcon at the Derby?"

Han gave her an appraising look. "You've certainly got plenty of experience. I'm awfully proud of you, you know. If it's not too much of an imposition..."

"What are we waiting for?" Jaina asked.

"It's a deal then?"

"Does that mean we're entering the race?" Jacen said.

"Naw, I'm not a contestant this time," Han said. "I'm strictly at the Derby in an official capacity. My hotshot days are well behind me, since I'm, well... respectable now. Anyhow, your mother sure wouldn't want me taking any chances with you kids."

"No. Of course not," Jacen said with mock seriousness.

Kyp gave Han a curious glance. "You've got that look in your eye again."

"I think he's got a plan," Anakin said quietly.

Han gestured toward himself, his face the picture of innocence.

"Me? How can you think such a thing of your father?"

"He's got a plan," Jacen and Jaina said in unison.

Han shrugged. "Least I've got a good copilot. We'll stay here for a few hours while you kids pack. Kyp and I have a lot to catch up on.

Did we ever tell you about the time he stole the Sun Crusher and went after the Imperials, as if he could take on the whole Empire with his bare hands?"

"Yes," Jacen answered quickly.

"You told us," Anakin said.

"Plenty of times," Jaina added.

" Well, it's a good story-about what not to do," Kyp said hurriedly, his cheeks turning red. "I've learned a lot since then."

"That's a relief," Han joked. "I'd rather not have to chase you again from one end of the galaxy to the other." He turned back toward his children and draped his arms across their shoulders as they all walked into the cool shadows of the temple's interior. With flashing lights and a bleeping sound Artoo-Detoo trundled forward to meet them.

Han reached around Anakin and patted the droid's domed head in greeting.

"It'll be good to spend some time alone with the family. Just my kids and me," Han said. "A quiet, relaxing vacation."

"Oh, I doubt that, Dad," Jaina said. "From what I hear, there's always something interesting happening on Ord Mantell."

Even if Jacen wasn't entirely thrilled about leaving his close friend Tenel Ka behind for a few days, Jaina reveled in the chance to fly beside her father as his genuine copilot. Although she felt dwarfed by the huge seat that normally accommodated a burly Wookiee, she handled the Falcon with as much expertise as she did the Rock Dragon.

So far it was one of the best times she had ever shared with her father.

Young Anakin, with his ability for grasping problems and solving complex puzzles, studied the navigational charts and considered various paths through hyperspace, until he announced that he had found a perfectly safe shortcut to Ord Mantell.

After Han Solo double-checked Anakin's calculations, he announced that he saw no reason not to try the new route. If his son was right, the new path would cut a full six standard hours off their transit time.

Once the Falcon was in hyperspace, Han said to his children, "Ord Mantell's in the middle of nowhere, but that's not necessarily a disadvantage. A lot of smuggling traffic goes through there. Its position makes the planet about equally close to anyplace else along certain hyperspace paths. So even though it's not exactly convenient, Ord Mantell makes a good way station or stopping point."

"If it's a smugglers' hangout, you probably spent some time there between Derbies-right, Dad?" Jacen asked. "Before you became respectable, I mean."

Han Solo laughed. "Plenty of times, Jacen. I never tried to hide my checkered past from you all. Doesn't seem to bother your mother anymore.

After all, I learned some of my most useful skills when I was a smuggler and a crack pilot-even studied at the Imperial Academy for a while. All that stuff in my past is part of who I am; the things I learned made me a vital asset to the Rebellion when we fought the Empire. I don't spend time regretting what I've done in my life, so long as I can use it now to help the people I love."

Jaina raised her eyebrows. "So if we ever do anything you think is dumb, you'll understand, right? You'll just accept it as part of our growth and training?"

Han knitted his brows. "Uh, that's not exactly what I meant."

Jacen stood leaning against the back of his father's chair in the Falcon's cockpit. "Tell us what you did on Ord Mantell, Dad."

"I ended up there pretty often when I was a smuggler. Seems like every time I went to Ord Mantell I ran into one bounty hunter or another, and every one of 'em meant trouble. One of the worst was an insect creature named Cypher Bos, a mercenary, as vile and selfcentered as they come. He was impersonating his identical hatch-mate brother, who was a Rebel sympathizer. But all those bug-people look alike, and I couldn't tell the difference. Cypher Bos sold us out and almost captured your mom and Luke and me. Then the three of us nearly got fed to the Imperials by a cyborg bounty hunter named Skoff. They just never learn." He shook his head.

"But one of the worst pinches I ever got into was against a tough smuggler named Czethros, and his Rybet henchman Brim. They were licensed bounty hunters, as well as black-marketeers in the Ord Mantell system, and had some connection to Black Sun. When Chewie and I were in a tight situation once with the Falcon, we had to land on Ord Mantell and get repairs. The system was crawling with Imperials, but we made it without getting stopped.

"When Czethros found out I was on Ord Mantell, he and his pal set up a trap, kidnapped Chewie." Han gave a halfhearted grin as he relived the memory of his bygone adventure. "Told me to give myself up for the reward, or he'd kill my Wookiee friend."

"So how did you get away?" Jacen said.

"Turned the tables on 'em, of course. I'd been keeping an eye on Czethros through some smuggler friends and found out he and Briff were taking an unmarked skimmer out to the place where I was supposed to give myself up.

I stole Czethros's own ship from its hangar bay, did a few things calculated to make the Imperials mad, then led them on a merry chase on my way to the exchange point."

"Must've been quite a ride," Jaina said.

Han grimaced. "Not one I'd like to repeat. I made it to the rendezvous with just enough time to hide before the stormtroopers showed up and nabbed Czethros along with his Rybet buddy. He claimed total innocence, of course, but the ship obviously belonged to him.

The stormtroopers searched the ship and found plenty of...

irregularities.

Weapons, drugs, and so on. While they were busy, I managed to sneak over and free Chewie. Next thing we heard, the Imperials had carted Czethros and Briff off to the spice mines on Kessel. I think his henchman worked some kind of deal a year later with Moruth Doole, a Rybet who worked on Kessel. From what I've seen in recent reports, Czethros is actually something of a respectable businessman on Ord Mantell these days. 'Course I'd bet my left repulsorpack module that he's still heavily into the smuggling business."

"Aren't you afraid he might try to cause trouble for you while we're there?" Jaina asked. "He could still be holding a grudge."

Han blew air through his lips. "Not a chance. Been too many years.

It's all lava under the bridge by now." But Jaina noticed a twinge of concern on his face.

She turned toward the navigation controls. "Time to drop out of hyperspace. We should be pretty close to Ord Mantell."

Han looked over and smiled at his youngest son. "Well, Anakin, let's see how your calculations worked out."

Jaina was pleased to see, as they dropped out of hyperspace, that the Falcon was already so close to the correct position that they were able to slip into orbit with only minor course modifications.

Ord Mantell was a bland planet of average size, with average gravity, and an average atmosphere. Its topography showed the usual landscape variations-mountains, forests, and swamps. Skeins of clouds embroidered white patterns in the sky below. However, for orbital convenience and launching maneuvers, much of the equatorial band across the continents had been settled and converted into spaceports that boasted large docking bays and no-questions-asked cargo-handling policies.

Ord Mantell had some of the most lenient banking laws in the New Republic, famous for their flexibility. Banks there would accommodate anyone, in any line of business. As long as customers didn't cause trouble, or at least didn't get caught-and remembered to pay the appropriate landing fees, tariffs, and permit taxes-bankers never interfered.

Han looked over at his daughter. "Ever piloted a ship down from orbit all the way into a docking bay?" he asked.

Jaina brightened. "Nothing as big as the Falcon. I've done it with the Rock Dragon quite a few times, though."

"Well then, this'll be no problem for you," Han said, but his lop sided smile twitched slightly, as if he were nervous. Jaina pretended not to notice. "Go ahead and take her down."

Jaina used the copilot controls to alter their vector and plow into the atmosphere at a shallow angle. While they descended, Anakin helped her to locate a landing beacon from the docking bay at which Han had reserved a berth for the Falcon. He programmed in their landing coordinates.

The atmosphere shone blue on the equator as they dove closer to the surface. Jaina watched the silver-white belt of development that girdled the world resolve itself into a bustling metropolis filled with blocky prefab buildings, large flat rooftops, and countless balconies that extended out far enough for small private craft to launch secretly in the dead of night.

"Most of those buildings don't have addresses," Han Solo explained.

"On this planet, if you don't know where you are and where you're going, then you don't belong there."

"How do people find their way around?" Jacen asked.

"It looks challenging," Anakin said.

"Except for the Derby, Ord Mantell's no place for tourists," Han went on.

"People don't come just to hang around. You can get a lot of things done here if you happen to be willing to bend a few rules-but sightseeing isn't one of them. This planet's mainly for passing through, a place to pick up cargo or get a new assignment. Imperials used this system for fleet training maneuvers because the outer planetary orbits are so hazardous. The cometary cloud's pretty thick-that's where the course is for the Blockade Runners Derby."

While Han rambled on, Jaina sweated. She gripped the controls in preparation for landing the big Corellian ship. She didn't know why she suddenly felt so anxious, but her hands grew damp with perspiration as she brought the Falcon in. Maybe she just wanted her father to be proud of her. Gusty winds swirled around the tall blocky building in the center of her scope. Far below, red, blue, and green ground cars crawled along; illuminated skimmers soared between the buildings in skyward alleys.

"Just take it easy, Jaina. You're doing fine," Han said.

"Yeah, don't sweat it," Jacen said. "We trust you."

Jaina paused and let her confidence build, despite the warble of uneasiness she had heard in her twin brother's voice. She took a deep breath.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she muttered to herself, and brought the Falcon down toward the big flat rooftop outside the landing bay.

As she approached, running lights illuminated a rectangular slit that yawned open, wide and dark. "Those're the docking doors, Jaina. You have to float down below. Our berth is in the upper bay."

Jaina swallowed. She had thought just landing the light freighter on the rooftop would be challenge enough; now she had to slip through this narrow hole that, from this height, looked barely a meter wider than the Falcon's hull. She couldn't let anything happen to her dad's ship.

"May the Force be with you," she heard Jacen whisper. Then she remembered that her uncle Luke always told them to use their Jedi senses in addition to their training in any skill.

She was a good pilot. And she was a Jedi. She drew a deep breath, let her body relax into the seat.

The Millennium Falcon became part of Jaina, an extension of her mind, and she could sense the distance to the outer walls. She slipped the light freighter between the opening doors without so much as a wobble or a jitter.

Han looked at her in proud amazement. "That's very smooth, Jaina."

"Just tell me where to land," she said. Her fingers danced across the repulsor engine controls. Her calm voice betrayed none of her uneasiness.

"Over there." Han gestured, and she saw a broad docking bay where a group of people stood waiting to greet them. Amber lights flashed, and someone holding bright laser torches directed the Falcon to its landing place.

With a final hiss, the landing pads touched down on the deck plates.

Jaina felt a thrill of exhilaration. What had she been so worried about?

Han hugged her.

As they all unbuckled their crash restraints and stood up to head for the landing ramp, Han said, "Wonder who's in our welcoming committee."

"They could've hired musicians... maybe some kind of a band," Jacen said.

"You are an official representative of the New Republic."

"Not only that," Han said, brushing the front of his vest. "I'm Grand Marshal of the Blockade Runners Derby. That's a pretty big honor around these parts."

Han Solo, along with Anakin, Jacen, and Jaina, hurried to the landing ramp-only to find a group of armed soldiers blocking their exit.

Looming in front of them was a tall, broad-shouldered man who wore a cape and blasters at his hip. Close-cropped moss-green hair covered the top of his head. A band of metal, inset with lights and sensors, encircled his head like a ring around some pale-green planet. The front half of the silver metal band was a visor that completely covered his eyes. The rest of the metal band appeared to be permanently affixed about his ears and the back of his skull. He seemed to be receiving a continuous flow of information through the apparatus, and his lips curled in a sneer. A constantly moving cyberoptical laser sensor burned through a thin slit in the narrow visor, glaring at all of them.

Han Solo stopped in his tracks. His confident expression quickly faded.

"Czethros!" he said, a look of disbelief in his eyes.

The sinister-looking man lifted his chin, his gaze frozen in a metal glare. "Han Solo," he said in a rough, gravelly voice. "I knew if I waited long enough, you'd return to Ord Mantell."

Though Han fought to keep a calm expression on his face, Jacen sensed the sudden wave of apprehension rippling through his father.

The guards looked tense, ready to fire.

Han had long since stopped carrying a blaster at his hip-a good thing, Jacen supposed; otherwise they'd probably be in the middle of a shoot-out right now. His father had been hoping for a calm family outing while he did a bit of official work for the New Republic as a special guest at the famous race. They hadn't been prepared for anything like this.

Then Czethros stepped forward and surprised them all by extending his thickly gloved hand. The skin on his face rippled as his lips twisted in a smile. "Welcome back to Ord Mantell, Solo. A lot has changed since you and I were... opponents those many-years ago."

Eyes narrowing just a fraction, Han Solo reluctantly slid his hand into the former smuggler and bounty hunter's grip. "Uh, yes... that's right,"

he said, still cautious. Jacen felt the thick uneasiness in the air.

He, Jaina, and Anakin looked at each other in confusion.

"Back then, I was an officially licensed bounty hunter. You were a posted Imperial target," Czethros said. "Nothing personal, of course.

No hard feelings."

"Of course." Han flashed the metal-visored man one of his most charming lopsided grins. "I thought after all those years in the spice mines you might, uh, hold a grudge."

"It's the nature of the bounty-hunting business," Czethros said. His laser-red cyber-eye drifted left and then right. "I used every trick to apprehend you, and you used every trick to get away. You just happened to have one more trick in your repertoire than I did-at the time, at least."

He stepped back toward the gathered guards. "But I!m no longer in that line of work. I have a thriving business here on Ord Mantell. In fact, I pulled a few strings to get you selected as Grand Marshal for the Blockade Runners Derby. Since you'd settled down and weren't likely to be one of our contestants this year, I thought you might want to participate in some small way... if only to see what you're missing."

"Thanks, Czethros," Han said, polite but uncertain. "I appreciate the gesture." Moving in unison, the formal guards spun about on their heels.

Their machine precision reminded Jacen eerily of trained stormtroopers.

"I've assigned this honor guard to escort you to your quarters, Solo.

Tomorrow is the big opening rally, and the Millennium Falcon will be the

'pace craft." You'll run through the course before any of the actual contestants. The honor is always given to a pilot who has demonstrated great bravery and skill... in the past." Shoulders back, head held high, Han walked close to the former bounty hunter.

"Well, it's all just a bunch of show, if you ask me. Limp gun dark noodles."

"But the spectators love it," Czethros said, without looking at him.

"Remember your old glory days, when you were one of those hotshot pilots.

.. a long time ago?"

Han stiffened, but said nothing as Czethros continued. "The course changes each year due to orbital mechanics, and we've mapped out a particularly convoluted obstacle path. I think it will make this year's Derby the most exciting ever."

"I'm familiar with the routine," Han said in a clipped voice. "I've won the race three times, remember."

Jaina and Han Solo spent the next morning in the docking bay facilities fully reconditioning the Falcon's hyperdrive and coolant systems, as well as its maneuvering jets.

When Jaina assured her brothers that the repairs were under control, they retired to a corner of the docking bay. Jacen produced a programmable holoprojector puzzle and tried to concoct intricate designs to stump the younger boy, but Anakin managed to solve each 3-D maze before Jacen could come up with a new one.

Han stubbornly resisted most of his daughter's attempts to recalibrate the systems, but she won out eventually, after demonstrating to him that the ship really would be safer and would fly more precisely.

????? 't quite manage to conceal his proud smile.

????? inally, when the time had come for their exhibition run through the space course, Jaina signaled for her brothers to join them in the ship.

In less than a minute, Jacen and Anakin were fastening themselves in with crash restraints as Jaina sealed the boarding ramp and Han powered up the repulsor engines. From the Falcon's cockpit, Han informed the Derby officials they were ready.

"Hang on, kids," Han said. He was clearly not comfortable to be the center of so much attention as Grand Marshal of the Blockade Runners Derby, but he was also just cocky enough to want to show off for all the spectators.

"It's just a little practice trip," Jacen said. "No big deal." Both Jaina and Han turned to look at him with mischievous glints in their eyes.

"We might have to execute a few fast turns," Jaina said.

"Just to make it more realistic," Han added.

" 'Execute,' " Jacen said. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

Anakin gave his brother a teasing look. "Nervous?"

"Don't worry, we've got everything under control," Jaina assured her twin.

Together, she and her father worked the Falcon's systems, moving like an experienced team. Jaina could sense what her father intended to do, and she realized she might indeed have the makings of a great copilot.

"Hey, where does a full-grown bantha sit?" Jacen asked.

Jaina groaned and rolled her eyes, but Anakin played along. He answered in a serious voice, as if this topic had been of a lifelong concern to him. "I've always wondered about that-where does a fullgrown bantha sit?"

Jacen chortled. "Anywhere he wants to!"

Jaina reached behind her seat to give her twin a good-natured swat as the comm speakers crackled to life.

"This is Ord Mantell docking control to Millennium Falcon," a voice announced. "We are ready for you to begin."

"We're coming," Han said as the Falcon drifted up through the rooftop hatches. The bright sunlight in Ord Mantell's open sky splashed across the hull, gleaming through the cockpit windowports.

As Jaina's eyes adjusted, she saw that the blocky, drab buildings were now festooned with colorful banners. Bobbing repulsorspheres floated in the air, trailing narrow metallic streamers. Rainbow-hued tassels, like levitating balls of tangled ribbon, flitted about in flocks.

Jacen cried out with delight. "Hey, they're alive! I've heard of them-Ord Mantellian flutterplumes."

Jaina could see that the tiny ribbons were indeed alive, drifting like clusters of colorful worms in the air.

The voice over the cockpit speakers grew louder, as if shouting to millions of other listeners. "The Ninety-Third Annual Blockade Runners Derby is about to begin! Please welcome the Millennium Falcon, piloted by General Han Solo, three-time winner of the Derby!"

The cheers drifting up from the rooftops below sounded like a distant avalanche. Small one-person fliers drew close to the Falcon, shoving holocams to the viewports and taking pictures as the ship cruised along.

Han grinned and waved at the nearest HoloNet news reporter.

"Didn't expect such a big send-off," Jaina muttered.

Han grinned at her. "Guess we'd better give them a show worth watching."

He punched the sublight engines, and a blue-white glow flared from the rear of the Millennium Falcon, pushing them forward.

They arrowed up into the sky, leaving the holocams and the crowds behind.

Their journey would be broadcast, though, by remote observer cams planted in buoys all along the route to record the race.

Jaina called up the course diagram and displayed it in three dimensions so that Anakin and Jacen could study it to find any potential points of difficulty Han and Jaina might have missed. The Blockade Runners Derby ran up out of the orbital plane into the tangled, diffuse cometary cloud that surrounded the Ord Mantell system like a distant bubble made up of mountains of ice and rock.

Frequently, gravitational perturbations from nearby star systems or planetary alignments would knock some of these tenuously held comets loose from their holding patterns, and the comets would fall down toward the sun. As they heated up, the gases would evaporate, stretching out into wispy tails of dust and ionized gas, making beautiful sights in the Ord Mantellian sky. But out here, in the deep cold of space, the comet chunks were dark, erratic navigational hazards, as dangerous as a swarm of piranha beetles.

During the Blockade Runners Derby, ships weaved through the tumbling ice cloud, ducking around and through protocomets. Speed and skill counted for everything... including a ship's survival, of course.

Leaving the planet's atmosphere, Han Solo increased the Falcon's speed.

He roared up at full acceleration, straight out of the ecliptic and into the cometary cloud. Jaina felt the skin on her cheeks pulled back by gravitational force as the engines labored. She was glad they had just tuned them up.

"Why so fast, Dad?" Jacen said from his seat in the rear. "We're just a slow, sedate pace craft, not an official contestant."

Anakin said in a level voice, "I think Dad's just trying to get some of the frustration out of his system."

"Not exactly," Han said to his sons. "We're running through the course, but"-he raised his forefinger-"they're also recording our time.

So wouldn't it be wonderful if the old Falcon happened to do better than any of the actual contestants? How could the real winner ever live down his shame?"

"Or her shame," Jaina said.

"Or its shame," Jacen added.

"I get the point," Han said. "I intend to beat even my last speed record, when I actually won this thing."

"Is that breaking the rules?" Anakin asked.

"Naw. But it'll give the crowds something to talk about for years."

Han worked the controls, increasing speed again. "Hang on, everybody.

Comet cloud ahead."

Jaina adjusted the controls, activating the newly installed windowport filters. "I'm increasing infrared pickup," she said. "There's not much reflected sunlight out here, but this way we'll be able to detect the comets a little better."

Suddenly the view changed color as they hurtled forward. Glinting, tumbling specks became visible like a cloud of sparks drifting toward them. In the holographic projection of the cometary cloud, a dotted line wove like a needle and thread through the loosely packed cluster of ice fragments.

"All right," Han said. "Get ready for some tricky maneuvers."

Almost before Jaina realized it, they exploded into the blizzard of ice chunks. Some were nearly round, some blocky and geometric, others spiny with crystalline formations.

Han gave a howl of delight as he spun the Falcon around. Jaina watched the engines while Anakin monitored their course. They skimmed low over one ice field, then looped around. The comets were so small and light that their weak gravity had little effect on the ship's navigation.

A tiny fragment of ice too small to be detected on their sensors evaporated against their deflector screen in a sparkle of light. More bright flashes appeared as the Falcon continued without slowing.

"Hey, it's like we're in a snowstorm," Jacen said.

"More like a hailstorm," Jaina said. "Those little bits of ice would poke holes right through us at our speed if the deflector shields weren't working."

"You did tune them up, didn't you?" Jacen asked.

"Naturally. Nothing to worry about."

Han focused ahead and plowed through a gaping cave in a fragile ice latticework, a comet that looked like crystal straws melted together.

One of the tiny shafts struck the deflector shield and snapped. The entire cave opening began to collapse as the Falcon soared through and burst out the other side. But the comet's gravity was so low that it would take well over an hour for the avalanche to complete itself "I'm increasing speed," Han said.

"Dad, you're already close to the red lines," Jaina warned.

"And close to beating my record, too. Let's keep on with it, but keep your Jedi senses alert for anything unexpected."

"We will," Jacen said with conviction.

"We always do," Anakin added.

The ice boulders spun around as they whipped through a denser orbit.

Jaina spotted holocam buoys mounted on some of the ice chunks, and she knew that thousands of spectators on Ord Mantell were even now watching their flight. By now everyone would see that Han Solo was recklessly trying to break his speed record, and that his kids were helping him.

Jaina smiled to herself. She would just have to make sure her father didn't get embarrassed.

"Let's tighten the course," she said, looking at the projection.

"Gravity calculations show we could come even closer to that next comet, make a sharper turn to shave off a bit of distance here and increase our speed, whip around this hazard, come out in a backward spiral, and pull up."

"Yeah. That might make just enough difference," Han said with a grin.

They soared so close to the rotating ball of ice that Jaina could have extended the landing ramp and scraped a long gouge across the ice field.

"This is just like when we ran through the rubble field of Alderean,"

Jacen said.

Ahead, four large fragments drifted close together where one comet had broken into loosely attached boulders. Han narrowed his eyes, and Jaina scanned the motion of the chunks.

Anakin watched them intently. "I see the patterns" he said. "We can go straight through-if you time it right."

"At full speed?" Han said.

"You're going to have to," Anakin answered.

Han roared ahead, straight toward the apparent blockade, but Jaina could see the comets moving, opening up. She saw the gap spreading and wondered if it would be wide enough to allow their ship to pass through.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Jacen said. Jaina thought her brother was making a joke with their father's oft-used phrase, but as they approached the broken comet, she felt uneasiness herself.

"Yes, something's wrong," Anakin said.

Jaina watched the fragments moving, plotted their course again. It would be tight, but it seemed clear they would make it. The ship entered the slowly opening gap between rocky mountains of snow. Their deflector shield sizzled, vaporizing some of the snow and ice away from the broken comet.

"If you're worried about something, kids, tell me now."

"It's not the comet, Dad," Jaina said. "It's..." Then she looked up at the enhanced infrared filter and saw an array of small artificial objects, a matrix of tiny spheres, hovering just outside of the broken cometary hulk.

"Hey, what are those?" Jacen said.

"Space mines," Anakin answered in a maddeningly calm voice.

"Punch it, Dad!" Jaina cried. Han Solo reacted instantly, hammering at the emergency thrusters. The Falcon was already sailing at twice the expected speed for the pace craft, and now it went into an overdrive launch.

Jaina grabbed the navigation controls herself and yanked the ship to one side, putting the Falcon into a tight corkscrew that plowed through the array of space mines like a drill bit. They zoomed by so fast Jaina barely caught a glimpse of the deadly explosive devices as the cluster detonated.

The Falcon roared away as fast as the shock wave accelerated toward them.

Fourteen of the space mines blew up behind them. Jaina could count them through the rear sensor screens. When it struck, the shock wave knocked them about, but they were already tumbling. The Falcon narrowly missed another large comet as Jaina regained control in the copilot's seat.

"Space mines!" Han cried. "How did they get out here? This is the Derby course! It's supposed to be completely mapped and checked out before anyone ever flies it."

The Falcon slowed, recovering, and Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin all looked at each other. Han gasped, "If we hadn't been traveling so fast, and you kids hadn't warned me in time, we would've been right in the middle of that cluster when it exploded. But you dodged it, Jaina. Good piloting.

And our speed helped us outrun most of the shock wave."

"But the course should have been clear and safe," Jacen insisted.

"That's why they have a pace craft, isn't it, Dad?" Anakin said suddenly.

"To prove that the course is safe for the contestants?"

"Sure... but it's always been just a formality. Until now."

Jaina shivered and gripped her crash restraints tightly. "You mean maybe somebody put the explosives there on purpose-knowing the Falcon would be the first ship to fly through."

After the "accident," Han Solo circled back to collect debris from the space mines and deactivate two unexploded duds. The pieces would serve as evidence of the explosions and help them to find out who had set the trap.

"I guess this ruined your chance at a record-breaking time," Jacen said as the ship headed back toward Ord Mantell. Jaina and Anakin scrutinized the exploded bits of metal and the unmarked casings, careful not to contaminate the pieces so that they could be analyzed more thoroughly later.

"Hey, we're alive," Han said. "That's more important than any speed record."

When the Falcon landed back on the rooftop receiving area, Czethros and several other concerned representatives rushed forward to help the Solo family disembark. The crowds of spectators who had witnessed the explosion were in an uproar, and the people sent up a cheer as Han Solo and his children gave a confident wave to show that they were all right.

A nervous-looking race official approached Han, bowing and stammering.

"Oh, I'm most sorry, sir! This is terrible! We have, of course, postponed the Blockade Runners Derby at least until tomorrow. We've already sent a crew of freelance inspectors up to comb through the obstacle course in search of any other hidden traps."

"This was a near-tragedy. We must not risk anything worse happening,"

said a second official.

Czethros stood tall, sunlight making his green hair look like a mosscovered boulder. "I doubt the inspectors will find anything," he said grimly. "My guess is those mines were originally being taken to An obis, a planet in the next system that has been engaged in a civil war for decades now. They frequently order weapons from black-market dealers on Ord Mantell." The Derby officials flushed in deeper embarrassment.

"Hey, how could space mines from some civil war land right in the middle of the racecourse?" Jacen asked.

"The war's still going on, and has been for almost thirty years.

Many of Ord Mantell's smugglers work as gun runners to supply the war effort." Czethros shrugged. "Those mines could have been part of a dropped shipment, or even a trap set for former space authorities before Ord Mantell became more enlightened and allowed freer trade."

"Uh-huh," Han said.

The following day, after the brief and frantic postponement, racing officials attempted to relaunch the Blockade Runners Derby with renewed fanfare. Looking forward to the day's festivities with subdued eagerness, Jacen, Jaina, Anakin, and their father ascended a tall observation tower above the docking buildings.

Bald, pink-skinned Bith band members followed them, playing stirring and dramatic music to mark the beginning of the Derby. The crowd cheered. The ever-present HoloNet news reporters made repeated references to the Solo family's miraculous escape from deadly explosives the previous day.

Inside the observation tower, Jacen sat next to his sister and younger brother, while most of the reporters focused their attention on General Solo. The huge windowscreens were transparent to allow the gathered VIPs an unobstructed view across the landing centers and docking bays of the Ord Mantell strip. Once the Blockade Runners Derby began, most of the screens would turn opaque and show images transmitted from the holocam buoys. This would let everyone follow the haphazard progress of the contestants in their assorted souped-up ships as they roared through the tangle of the outer cometary cloud.

Several lavishly dressed racing officials hovered near Han Solo, preoccupying themselves with insignificant details. Han looked somewhat out of his element, uncomfortable in his formal clothes.

"Since I already flew the course once, what exactly do you want me to do here as Grand Marshal?"

"Well, whenever you're ready," one of the bureaucrats said, fluttering perspiration-damp hands in the air and indicating a single red button on a panel, "we need you to push this button."

"That's it?" Han said.

"It's a very important task," the bureaucrat answered, blinking in surprise. "It's how we start the race."

Han gave him a lopsided grin. "Well then, I'll be sure to do my best."

"No need to worry, sir," the bureaucrat said. "So far, in the ninetythree-year history of the Derby, only two Grand Marshals have failed to do it correctly."

Jacen couldn't imagine how anyone could possibly manage to push a single button incorrectly, but then he'd seen some pretty disastrous bungling of simple matters in the course of his adventures.

"All right then, let's get this over with," Han said, his finger hovering near the button.

"No, no! Not yet," the bureaucrat insisted.

"You said, whenever I was ready," Han reminded him.

"But we have to send the thirty-second warning to the contestants first.

And the HoloNet reporters need to get into position." The bureaucrat frantically twiddled some dials and punched codes into a small yellow touchpad.

In the observation tower several of the broad windowscreens dimmed, now displaying transmitted images of spacecraft up in orbit.

Other contestants remained on landing pads as a second wave in the breakneck race through the cometary obstacle course. All ships would be clocked, and the winner would be determined by the fastest time through.

Han grinned. "Did I ever tell you kids how I made the Kessel run in under-"

"Yes," Anakin broke in.

"How could we not know, Dad?" Jacen said. "It's one of the most famous things you've ever done."

Han brushed his fingers down his vest. "I wouldn't say that, exactly.

I mean, saving your uncle Luke countless times, infiltrating the Death Star, freeing your mom from an Imperial prison chamber, helping defeat the entire Empire, exploring unknown worlds-" The bureaucrat interrupted him. "Now you may proceed, sir," he said. "All ships have been informed and are ready to begin."

Han stepped forward to the red button and extended his finger.

"This button, right?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"You're sure I'm doing this properly?"

The bureaucrat did not pick up on his sarcasm at all. "You seem to be performing most admirably."

"Good," Han said. He pushed the button. The Blockade Runners Derby began.

Ships roared off pell-mell, choosing their own preferred routes to the cometary cloud, some swinging around the planet for a gravitational boost, others heading in a straight-line path, still others taking an incomprehensibly convoluted course.

The holocam buoys captured some of the contestants as they streaked by, an odd assortment of supercharged vessels, modified so that the pilots could withstand excessive acceleration; some ships had heavily reinforced shields to allow them to rip through the course without worrying about ramming into a few comets along the way.

Jaina stared at the viewscreens, her face filled with fascination.

"Look at the range of spacecraft!" she said. "Skimmers, freighter's, courier vessels... Dad, I don't even recognize some of those vehicle types."

"Anybody with a few spare parts and some ingenuity can create their own new vehicle type," Han said. "Done it myself a few times."

A new ship flashed across the screen so rapidly that though Jacen thought for just a moment that he recognized the configuration, he decided it must be just his imagination. After all, he'd been daydreaming about Tenel Ka. It was only natural. Even though he was glad about being able to spend some time with his father, he also missed the young warrior girl.

And Lowie, too, of course...

Since the discovery of the space mine cluster on the course, several contestants had dropped out. Han had commented that they must have been too fainthearted in the first place and it was no great loss. Now only the toughest, most seasoned pilots remained in the race.

The ships jockeyed for position, jostling each other and nearly causing a few collisions as they tried to find the best routes that didn't intersect each other. The vehicles scraped by far closer than their collision-avoidance systems should ever have allowed, but most of these crack pilots had probably shut off their warning systems anyway.

One viewscreen showed a graphical representation of the race. Blips with code numbers traveled through the obstacle course on the grid.

Jacen could watch the progress of the contestants by tracking the colored lights. Some blips moved forward; others fell behind. The holocam buoys, while an ingenious idea to cover the race, nevertheless provided only infrequent snapshots at discrete points-not enough images for anyone to follow the entire spectacle.

A Sullustan Vector-class spaceskimmer went slightly off course, and careened into the comet field. The buoy holocams caught the image as the skimmer struck an icy protrusion, then went into a spin. Enhanced deflector shields protected the pilot from instant death, but the ship was knocked completely awry, and the Sullustan pilot, disoriented, zoomed away in the wrong direction.

A pair of Corellian single-occupant fightercraft swept along opposite sides of a comet and nearly collided with each other at the other end.

They spun out. One ship crashed in the ice field, its pilot ejecting in a lifepod at the last moment and sending out a distress beacon. To their credit, race officials reacted instantly, dispatching medical droids and rescue craft that waited just outside the cometary cloud.

"I wish Lowie were here to see this," Jaina said, still fascinated by the dazzling images of the great race.

"And Tenel Ka," Jacen said, narrowing his eyes. "She must be thinking of us. I feel like I'm sensing them somehow-as if they're closer than we think."

On the gridmap of all the racing ships, Anakin pointed to one blip that was slowly passing every competing vessel. "This one will win," he said.

"I can tell by the piloting, by the speed. It has already overtaken most of the others that were launched first, and this ship entered the race near the end. It won't crash, either. I'm sure of it."

Outside in the streets of Ord Mantell, spectators watched the flat unmarked walls of square buildings that had been turned into transmission screens to carry images from the buoys scattered along the racecourse.

Elsewhere in the New Republic-particularly in gambling casinos such as those in Cloud City on Bespin, cantinas on Borgo Prime, and various other legal and illegal meeting places-people placed bets on the Derby's outcome.

If Jacen had ever decided to gamble, he would certainly have taken his younger brother's recommendation. Anakin had an uncanny ability to predict things such as this. He watched the blip creep past several other racers as the ship zoomed through the cometary debris.

"Who is that contestant?" Jacen asked. He looked down at the code number, but it meant nothing to him.

The bureaucrat came over, all smiles. "That one qualified at the last minute." He rubbed his hands together in a nervous gesture. "And it looks as if we were correct to let them enter so late. The pilot seems most skillful."

The mysterious ship passed two more competitors, swooped around a large comet, then zigzagged through the toughest part of the course.

The craft moved in time with the broken icy space debris, reminding Jacen of an intricate dance. The ship and the comets seemed to be cooperating, moving as one connected system. He had never before seen anyone fly with such sensitivity to the surrounding environment and obstacles.

The ship hurtled around the last comet and then looped back toward Ord Mantell and the finish line. The time displayed on one of the screens was better than any of the other competitors had clocked. No one would be able to beat it.

As the craft zoomed past the last holocam buoy, Jacen and Jaina watched the blur. Jaina recognized it almost immediately, but took a moment to put her thoughts into words. "That... that's a Hapan passenger cruiser. I recognize the design."

"It's Tenel Ka!" Jacen said. "And Lowie. They must have a great pilot."

"I've never seen Lowie fly that fast," Jaina said.

"Well," Han said, "they certainly won the race."

The bureaucrat stood up. "Come, Han Solo. You are the Grand Marshal.

You must be on the upper platform to greet our winners as they arrive back from the cometary cloud. The other ships will straggle in, but you must be there to wave and shake their hands... or appendages."

"Well, somebody's got to do the job," Han agreed.

"We're going along," Jacen replied. "If that's Lowie and Tenel Ka in the Rock Dragon, I want to be the first to see their faces."

The bureaucrat glanced at him after checking the race contestant records.

"I'm afraid you may be mistaken. No one by the name of 'Lowie' or "Tenel Ka' is registered as the pilot of this vessel."

"We'll just see for ourselves," Jaina said.

A turbolift took them to the top of the observation tower, and then a floating platform shuttled them across the crowded rooftops. The hastily erected grand stadium stood by itself, garlanded with beautiful feathers, flowers, and the colorful flutterplume creatures that Jacen had identified.

Jacen shaded his eyes and looked up at the azure sky until he saw a glint of the ship appearing from high orbit, cutting through the gusty winds.

The pilot unerringly found the reception platform and the waiting celebration. Jacen and Jaina waved, recognizing the Hapan passenger cruiser that Jaina herself had flown so often with Lowie at her side as copilot.

"You're right, kids," Han Solo said. "That's the Rock Dragon. No doubt about it."

When the small ship settled down, dozens of new floaters surrounded the stage and platform, holocams and curiosity seekers. In the distance, cheering crowds of humans and aliens stood on rooftop landing pads, in ship hangars, and on balcony flight decks, waving banners and shouting.

Jacen could already see other contestants coming in to land, now fighting for second or third place.

But when the Rock Dragon's hatch opened and a figure emerged, Jacen was astonished to find that it was neither Tenel Ka nor Lowie.

"Zekk!" Jaina cried. Behind Zekk, her other two friends stepped out and stood next to their new dark-haired pilot.

Tenel Ka gave only the faintest smile upon seeing Jacen-then again, she never gave more than a faint smile about anything-but Lowie bellowed loudly, raising a ginger-furred fist in victory. He seemed immensely pleased that the Rock Dragon had won the prestigious daredevil race.

Zekk's emerald eyes flashed, and he gave his friends a warm smile.

"Just following Master Skywalker's instructions," he said. "He told me to find something I was already good at, and try to use my Jedi skills to become even better. I've always enjoyed piloting, so I thought a hotshot race might just be a good test."

"And it was indeed quite a challenge for us all," Em Teedee chirped, sounding exhausted.

Jacen looked around at his friends. The crowd cheered the winners, but all that mattered to Jacen was having the young Jedi Knights back together again.

Together again, the young Jedi Knights learned how to deal with being celebrities. Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin had already spent a lot of time with their father in his duties as Grand Marshal of the Blockade Runners Derby, but now that Zekk, Tenel Ka, and Lowie had actually won the race, publicity seekers and HoloNet reporters pestered them constantly, taking their images, interviewing them, asking them what it was like to receive such an honor.

In the history of the Derby, no crew so young had ever won the challenge.

Upon discovering that these were Jedi trainees, some of the losers cried

"foul," claiming that the use of the Force gave an unfair advantage-though the Rock Dragon had not taken advantage of the permitted mechanical modifications, as most of the other contestants had.

Fortunately the controversy died down quickly. The newspeople had other planets in the galaxy to dash off to, and Ord Mantell preferred to keep media attention to a minimum. Large groups of organized smugglers-some of them rivals, some allies-were a powerful political force, and they managed to shoo away the reporters shortly after the Derby ended.

Some of Ord Mantell's most prestigious "businessmen" (important smugglers, Jaina presumed) had invited Han Solo to a banquet to thank him for his work as Grand Marshal, no doubt in an attempt to curry favor with the husband of the New Republic's Chief of State. Jaina smiled as she thought of this possibility: her father had nothing to gain by taking bribes, but she doubted the smugglers would realize this. Jaina wondered if Czethros would be there.

Meanwhile, the Solo children spent the afternoon with their friends in the docking bay where the Falcon was berthed. At Han Solo's request, Zekk had been allowed to dock the Rock Dragon in the same secure V.I.P bay where Jaina had landed the Falcon, so that the Grand Marshal's ship and the Derby winner were isolated and protected in the same security area.

When the twins told their friends about their adventure during the trial run of the obstacle course, Tenel Ka immediately suspected an assassination attempt. The warrior girl tossed her red-gold braids and squared her shoulders, obviously ready for action. She'd had plenty of experience with political intrigues in the tough environment of the Royal House of Hapes.

Lowie expressed concern and Em Teedee dutifully translated, though Jaina could already make out many of the ginger-furred Wooklee's words.

"Master Lowbacca suggests that we look at the space mine debris.

Perhaps with some attentive analysis, we can determine the mines' origin.

"

"Good idea, Em Teedee," Jaina said absently, then looked up into Lowie's golden eyes. "I mean, Lowie."

The little translating droid detached himself from Lowie's fiber belt and floated in the air on his microrepulsorjets, bobbing about the docking bay. They went to the storage locker near the Falcon, where Han had insisted on keeping the evidence, believing that only he and his New Republic technicians could be trusted to perform a thorough analysis.

"For some reason," Jaina said, "Dad isn't too confident that the people on Ord Mantell will give us an honest answer."

Jacen said, "They're probably more interested in keeping their smuggling records secret."

"Secrets are fine," Zekk said, "except when one of those secrets holds the key to who tried to kill you."

On a worktable mounted to the docking bay wall, Jaina spread out the twisted fragments that had been scooped up by the Falcon's tractor beam.

The young Jedi Knights pressed closer. Not much remained after the mines'

detonation and vaporization in space, but Anakin scrutinized the shrapnel carefully and began to sort the pieces into piles he knew went to individual mines. Jaina let her younger brother work, knowing how well he was able to solve puzzles and visualize the way pieces fit together in three dimensions.

In short order, Anakin had several partial mines reassembled. Lowie and Jaina helped him with the wiring, finding parts of serial numbers and determining the initial configuration using the two duds as a reference.

The duds were dangerous, though they had been defused. If the mines had not detonated as programmed, Jaina didn't trust them to behave properly when deactivated either.

Lowie growled as he picked up some of the pieces with his long fingers.

Zekk studied the shrapnel as well. "I think these are contraband war materials," he said. "So much smuggling goes on through Ord Mantell, this could have come from a black-market weapons merchant."

Jacen suggested, "Didn't Czethros say something about a civil war on a nearby planet? Anobis? The smugglers are supplying them with munitions."

"But were those mines out there just dumped by a gun runner who was about to be caught," Jaina asked, "or were they intentionally set up to take us out of the picture?"

Jacen sighed. "With all those HoloNet news reporters here covering the race, you'd think some of them would want to do a story about that terrible war everybody's talking about."

"That would be too dangerous," Zekk said with a snort. "They'd rather do a nice, fun story about a space race." Jaina set down one of the broken space mines and shook her head.

"We're not going to find out anything else unless we learn who some of the weapons dealers are. But for now... I'm hungry!" She smiled at Zekk, then turned to Tenel Ka. "Don't suppose you upgraded the food-prep units on the Rock Dragon yet?"

Tenel Ka nodded. "This is a fact. They are now progrwnmed to provide the best Hapan cuisine."

"Sounds good-I'm starved." Jacen said, then looked over at the warrior girl. "In fact, let me push the buttons so I can say I made you a fine lunch."

"That would be most appreciated, friend Jacen."

Ducking inside the Rock Dragon, Jacen tinkered with the food-prep units until they produced some kind of meal whose name he couldn't pronounce.

Tenel Ka called it "authentic" and "delicious"; Jaina found it

"interesting."

They laughed and talked, sharing food and friendship. Jaina especially enjoyed having Zekk as a close friend again, rather than an enemy or a guilt-ridden young man. Zekk was rapidly becoming the person she had known for so many years. No, not the same person-better. More mature.

Around a mouthful of food, Jacen said, "Hey, stop me if you've heard this one. A bounty hunter, a Jedi Knight, and a Jawa trader walk into a cantina-" A resounding chorus of "We've heard that one!" rang through the cabin.

In the middle of a swirling gelatinous dessert that insisted on crawling around the plates by itself, Tenel Ka sat up straight and alert, her eyebrows raised as if something was wrong. Lowie also growled.

"what's up?" Jacen asked.

"I sense something," Tenel Ka said. "I would like to investigate."

She stepped out of the Rock Dragon, moving with feline grace, reaching out with her senses. Jaina watched the warrior girl, admiring the smoothness of her actions. Although she had lost her left arm in a lightsaber battle with Jacen, Tenel Ka had not allowed the handicap to slow her down.

The docking bay was silent, except for the hum of machinery, the ventilation system, and the distant sky traffic overhead through the rooftop doors. The bay walls were smooth gray metal. The Millennium Falcon sat unattended in shadows.

Tenel Ka froze for a moment, then stepped away from the Rock Dragon, flicking her granite-gray gaze from side to side as she walked deeper into the docking bay. Jaina stood beside Lowie at the hatch. The young Wookiee's fur bristled, and she could feel his uneasiness.

Tenel Ka stood stock still in the middle of the large room, her shoulders rigid, her arm partially bent at her side. She scanned the wall and studied the shadows, the old lubricant stains and smoke smears from hundreds of landings and takeoffs. She took three steps closer to the small workbench where the recovered space mine fragments had been spread out.

Tenel Ka waited, narrowed her eyes, listened, and finally pulled out her rancor-tooth lightsaber. Jaina couldn't figure out what the warrior girl was doing. The walls remained gray and featureless.

Tension hung thick in the air. Finally, when the warrior girl held up and switched on the glowing turquoise blade... the shadows on the wall began to move!

Jaina gasped. Lowie surged past her and ran to help. Figures on the walls shifted, and Jaina could make out gray-skinned creatures, vaguely humanoid. They moved like spiders with angular arms and legs that allowed them to crawl up the metal walls. The colors on their smooth, clwnmy skin shifted, patterns of stains on the walls reflected in their body pigmentation. When they held still, the chameleon-like creatures were almost invisible-but now that Tenel Ka had startled them, they were more easily seen. These shadows might be identical in color to the walls, but the play of light exposed them.

Em Teedee cried, "Oh, dear! What are those creatures? I'm certain they're not at all friendly."

One of the gray-skinned things scuttled down, snatched up an intact dud space mine, and scrambled back up the wall toward an air vent near the ceiling. Another chameleon-thing grabbed two more fragments.

"They're stealing the evidence!" Zekk said.

Then all the young Jedi Knights charged toward the docking bay wall to join the fray. Lightsabers ignited: Lowie's molten-bronze blade that was nearly as wide as Jaina's arm, her own electric-violet sword, and Jacen's emerald green. Zekk, who had forsaken his lightsaber upon returning to the Jedi academy, now drew a handy old blaster.

Thinking fast, Anakin raced to the Rock Dragon's communications console and sounded an alarm, calling for the authorities.

One of the chameleon-skinned creatures dropped from above to land on Tenel Ka's shoulder, driving her to the ground, its hands around her neck. Jacen tackled the thing and knocked it off his friend. Tenel Ka recovered quickly. Soon she and Jacen stood side by side with their lightsabers, driving the creature back.

Several other creatures ran back to the wall, pressed themselves against it, and vanished in front of Jaina's eyes. But she knew they were there.

Zekk reached up with his blaster, turned the setting to "stun," and fired at the blank spot on the wall. Circular blue arcs rippled out to illuminate the lumpy form of a chameleon creature. It dropped like an insect sprayed with poison and curled up on the floor.

Jaina could hear the movement of soft gripping hands and feet as more of the creatures moved along. She had no idea how many of them there were, only that the young Jedi Knights were greatly outnumbered.

But they were Jedi, so the odds were fairly even.

One of the unseen creatures struck Jaina from behind. She whirled about, still holding her lightsaber. With a sizzle, the violet blade connected with something solid, and one of the creatures let out a hollow wail. She saw it clearly in the flash of her energy blade, its lips smooth, its mouth toothless. Patterns on its skin shifted like a thunderstorm of colors in its pain.

Zekk fired his blaster again, and a second chameleon creature fell, this time from the ceiling, a great enough height that Jaina could hear the sharp sound of hollow bones cracking from the impact.

Lowie fought in a mass of muscular, ginger-furred arms. Em Teedee cried out, "To your left, Master Lowbacca. I sense a distortion! To your left!"

Lowie turned as one of the chameleon creatures leapt.

With his free hand the Wookiee smacked its soft smooth skin and belted the thing aside.

Suddenly, at the peak of the battle, Jaina saw a stranger charge into the docking bay-a young woman in her mid-twenties. She was wiry and moved like a whip. Her hair was dark, but streaked with lines like honey, as if she had woven strands of pale blond hair through her thick mane; a patterned leather band was wrapped around her forehead, holding her hair in place. Her face was narrow, her almond-shaped eyes large and dark and sad.

But what most astonished Jaina was that the young woman carried a blazing lightsaber!

The newcomer uttered a howl of challenge and ran into the fight, slashing from one side to the other, wielding her acid-yellow blade like a club.

All the young Jedi Knights paused in shock, as did the chameleon creatures.

The stranger took advantage of the hesitation and attacked. She seemed able to see the camouflaged creatures, or perhaps in the young woman's wild frenzy, she struck at everything in sight and happened to get lucky several times.

Two of the creatures rippled into visibility, clutching their smoking wounds. They fell with the now-familiar hollow cries of pain before they died.

"Don't just stand there-keep fighting!" the woman snarled, and the young Jedi Knights resumed the battle.

But with the appearance of the newcomer, the creatures' fighting resolve broke. They began to flee, a flicker of barely seen shadows.

"Hey, they're getting the space mines!" Jacen cried. Jaina raced toward the workbench as the surviving creatures grabbed the last components and swarmed up toward the air vent near the ceiling.

Jaina watched the dark shaft swallow the shadowy creatures. The young woman ran ahead with a burst of speed and leapt up at the wall, sweeping with her lightsaber and striking the last chameleon creature in the back.

It fell with another wordless wail as the rest of its companions escaped.

Jaina frowned at this last needless slaughter. "You didn't have to do that. It was running, not attacking us."

"They all need to be dead," the young woman said bitterly.

Zekk and Lowie knelt over one of the fallen bodies, looking at the fading colors in the skin tone. Jaina knelt beside the one she had struck, gasping its last breaths.

"Who are you? Who sent you?" she said, but breath only rattled in the creature's inhuman face, and it died. Then she saw emblazoned in its fading multicolored skin a mark, a solid dark circle with designs around it.

She recognized the symbol. Zekk stood next to her, looked at the tattoo and then at Jaina. "That symbol reminds me of Black Sun."

Jaina swallowed hard. She knew of the legendary underworld criminal organization run by vile gangsters and evil crime lords such as Prince Xizor in the days of the Rebellion. Many other cruel leaders had also had far-reaching claws that extended into numerous activities, controlling a large portion of the most insidious crimes in the galaxy.

"But Black Sun's been quiet for years," she said.

Zekk frowned. "I wonder if they're starting up again. Or if this is something else."

Jacen turned to their unlikely helper. The wiry young woman stood there, large eyes wide, pupils dilated, body still trembling. Her arms jittered as if she were a barely contained mass of energy searching for another target to fight. Her comfortable, form-fitting shirt left her arms bare, displaying a tattoo on her right shoulder that looked to Jacen something like a piranha beetle with a lightning bolt on its back, but definitely not Black Sun.

"These creatures don't know anything. They're only henchmen, sent here to remove your evidence. Those space mines were a setup to destroy the Millennium Falcon."

"Yeah, we guessed that too," Jaina said. "But what I can't figure is who you are. Are you a Jedi Knight?"

The woman snorted. "Just because I can use a lightsaber doesn't mean I'm a Jedi. I don't need all that elite training mumbo jumbo. I can fight just fine on my own."

"We could see that," Jacen said, enthralled.

Tenel Ka narrowed her eyes. "Fighting with finesse is a greater challenge than indulging a simple battle frenzy."

The woman scowled. "Yeah? I seem to remember taking out more targets in this little skirmish than you did."

At that moment, Han Solo came rushing in, accompanied by several members of the Ord Mantell security forces. He looked around, taking in the carnage and the sight of the young Jedi Knights standing with their lightsabers still blazing. "We came as soon as we got Anakin's alarm! Are you kids okay?"

Jaina switched off her weapon. "We handled it, Dad," she said.

"I can see that." Then he noticed the young stranger, who was now staring at him, her dark eyes ablaze with fury. She stepped forward in a tense, threatening posture, her yellow lightsaber held out in front of her. "Han Solo!" she said, her voice dripping with anger.

Han looked at her, but his face showed no recognition.

"Han Solo," she repeated. "You killed my father!"

Upon hearing the stranger's shocking and sinister announcement, Jacen instinctively moved with his sister to stand beside their father.

Anakin came out of the Rock Dragon, lifting his chin high.

"I don't know what you're talking about, young lady," Han said.

"I don't even know who you are."

"You'd better explain yourself," Jacen said. "Sure, we're glad you helped us out, but how dare you go accusing my father of murder?"

The young woman did not tear her gaze away from Han Solo. Her dark, sad eyes narrowed, as hard and glassy as chips of obsidian. Tenel Ka, Lowie, and Zekk also stood beside Han, but the young woman did not seem to care a whit about being outnumbered. She still held her flickering lightsaber as if ready to take them all on.

"My name is Anja," she said, her voice cold and even. "Anja Gallandro.

" Jacen watched his father flinch and draw back. His expression fell, and he swallowed hard. Jacen blinked, surprised at the guilty reaction his father had shown. Was there something to what this young woman had -

said?

"You... you're Gallandro's daughter?"

"In the flesh," Anja said. "I was just an infant when you murdered my father."

"Wait a minute." Han held up a hand. "I didn't kill Gallandro."

"I'm surprised you even remember him," Anja said bitterly. "With a career like yours, the way you stepped on your competition, cheated people, dumped your spice loads at the first sign of Imperial patrols, no wonder you've had a price on your head for most of your life."

"Of course I remember Gallandro," Han spluttered. He looked around nervously at the Ord Mantell security troops who had come with him to investigate the alarm, at the dead chameleon creatures that lay strewn on the floor. Han didn't seem to notice that the space mines had been stolen.

He said to the troops, "Clean up this mess and... report everything to the authorities. I want to file an official complaint." He tossed his dark hair back. "My kids were threatened. They could have been hurt."

"How touching," Anja said.

Han marched briskly toward the Millennium Falcon with a strong gesture.

"Come with me. We'll talk inside the Falcon, where we can have a bit of privacy." He strode up the boarding ramp and did not look back.

Jacen turned to his sister, and they shared a hard glance. Then all the young Jedi Knights quickly followed Han into his beloved, battered ship.

Anja sniffed, drew a deep breath, and switched off her lightsaber.

She clipped it at her side. After waiting for them all to board the Falcon ahead of her, she followed them up, wary, as if suspecting a trap.

Han slumped heavily into a seat in the small recreation lounge, with its scratched and dented hologame table in the center. Equipment, spare parts, and leftovers from various cargo trips hung in the supply bins and nets. The ship looked lived in, comfortable and messy, like a familiar bedroom that wasn't cleaned up any more than it had to be.

Jacen knew that their mother Leia never made any demands on Han Solo's upkeep of the Falcon. This was his private area, and he could do what he wanted here, so long as it was safe.

"You can't lie to me, Solo," Anja said, preferring to stand despite the empty seats available. Instead, she watched him, then paced around the room looking at Han's mementos and trophies of missions he had flown.

"I've spent my life learningabout my father. My mother told me some stories before she died, and there are plenty of records in the Corporate Sector Authority archives."

"Well, your father was a hard one to forget," Han Solo admitted.

"He was reputed to be the fastest draw in the galaxy. Challenged the clan leader to a duel on the planet Ammuud, but when I was picked as his opponent, Gallandro declined to fight me."

Anja snorted in disbelief "There was more to it than that. My father was working for the Corporate Sector Authority to break a slaving ring.

Slavers you were involved with, Solo."

"I didn't know!" Han said. "Anyway, I'm the one that got all the records the Corporate Sector needed to convict the ringleaders."

"But then you overwhelmed my father, humiliated him, and fled justice so you couldn't be charged for the crimes you had committed."

Han looked at his children, who stared back with questions in their eyes.

"Hey, that was a long time ago-and I didn't really do anything wrong."

Anja laughed bitterly. "Nothing wrong? How about when you killed my father?"

"But," Han insisted, "I didn't kill him. I wasn't even there. He had stunned me, and then went off-"

"Hah. You were in the buried derelict Queen of Rangoon, searching for the lost treasure of Xim the Despot.

My father and you had agreed to work together to find the hoard that had been hidden thousands of years before the rise of the Old Republic.

But when you finally discovered the treasure vaults, you double-crossed him. Shot him in the back, from what I hear."

"No. That's not true," Han Solo said, his face drawn and angry now.

Jacen looked back and forth, from the stern, troubled anger of the young woman to his father's baffled yet clearly guilt-ridden denial.

"It wasn't my fault," Han said.

"And a few years later, I was left an orphan on war-torn Anobis.

My father had come through Ord Mantell many times. He met my mother on nearby Anobis just as the civil war was starting. They fell in love, but he wasn't home much because he had his missions to accomplish. My father did great work as an agent for the Corporate Sector.

"But from one mission he never returned home. My mother was devastated.

My planet was being ripped apart by a civil war caused by the Imperials and the Rebellion-and she died in despair, a widow. You took my father away."

"Hey, I didn't kill your father. Gallandro was responsible for his own death. He made a choice, and let down his guard...... Han struggled to find the right words. "He set himself up for what happened."

"Yeah. And you shot him," Anja replied.

Han Solo spread his hands but seemed to see the futility of making any further protestations. Jacen wondered why his father couldn't just convince her, why he didn't haul out proof of what had actually happened, why he didn't even explain himself fully. What did he have to hide?

Anja sniffed the recirculated air inside the Falcon's enclosed spaces.

Jacen suddenly noticed the sour smell of Ifibricants, old upholstery, numerous meals from Corellian food packs, and the metallic tang from air that had gone too many times through the oxygen scrubbers.

"You've done well for yourself, Solo," Anja said, her eyes huge and tired. "Married to the New Republic's Chief of State, three kids training to be Jedi, Grand Marshal of the Blockade Runners Derby. I'll bet you're pretty proud. But at what price did you gain all this?

Everyone you stepped on along the way can see full well how you got where you are." Anja abruptly turned and marched toward the boarding ramp.

"This isn't what I expected. I had hoped for a fight. I wanted you to argue.

But you, Han Solo... you're nothing. Compared to my father, what he was and what he did, you're too insignificant for me to kill."

"Wait!" Han Solo said with no conviction in his voice whatsoever.

"There's a lot I can tell you about your father. He and I weren't always enemies, you know. More like rivals, just competitors."

"I don't want to hear it, Solo. Especially not from you." She strode out.

The young Jedi Knights followed her to the boarding ramp, and Han Solo joined them as Anja stalked away from the ship.

Outside, the Ord Mantell guards and cleanup crew had nearly finished restoring the docking bay to a reasonably tidy appearance. They paid no attention to the angry young woman who hurried away from the battered spaceship.

Suddenly Anja stopped, as if gathering her nerve, and turned around to flash another angry glance at Han. "If you're such a champion of goodness and righteousness, Solo," Anja said, her voice laced with venom, "and if you and the New Republic really have the best interests of the galaxy in mind, why is it that for about twenty-five yearsthroughout the Rebellion and now during the growth of the New Republic-you have simply ignored my war-torn world? Why has Anobis been completely passed over by all of your peacekeeping and reparation efforts? Why have we received no help?" Her voice was choked with emotion.

Jaina turned to her father. "I never even heard of Anobis before we came to Ord Mantell," she said.

Anja continued, hurling the words at him like weapons. "Anobis began to fight with itself in the last days of the Empire when the agricultural plains villages took up the cause of the Rebellion, hoping to overthrow Imperial rule. The mountain mining villages, though, required interstellar trade to survive and wanted to maintain the stability of the Empire. Thus a civil war began, with Rebel sympathizers and Imperial sympathizers tearing each other apart. It's never stopped, and our world is now one big scar."

"But the Rebellion's been over for decades," Jacen said. "How could it still be an issue? The Emperor's long dead."

"And my people are still fighting. Only now they're fighting for a cause rather than for reality. You should go to Anobis, Solo. Take a good look at what's happening there. If you can tear yourself away from such important diplomatic duties as watching space races or waving banners in the winner's circle."

She glanced one more time over her shoulder. "Why don't you find out where your help is really needed? If you're brave enough to accept the challenge." Then Anja marched away, leaving Han Solo and the young Jedi Knights behind, flustered and disturbed.

Putting the despised Han Solo behind her, Anja hurried away from the docking bay, moving faster than she had expected. Emotions surged through her, and adrenaline flooded her body. She had been warned that the encounter might affect her strongly, but she now found herself relishing the moment she had anticipated all her life.

The setup had been perfect, and Solo's reaction was priceless. Guilt had been written like a brilliant holographic billboard across his face.

Even his own children would have to doubt him now.

Oh, how she hated the man. Anja gripped the lightsaber hilt that hung at her waist. Her fingers spasmed. She stretched out her hand in front of her and watched her fingers tremble until she forced a calm upon them.

Calm... calm.

She stepped into a turbolift that took her down to the lower levels of the tall, nondescript warehouses. She paced inside the enclosed lift, feeling like a trapped animal. With a clenched fist she pounded on the metal wall, but the slow repulsor engines took no notice of her frustration. She gritted her teeth and breathed deeply, but the cold air held a tart and metallic smell. Sweat trickled down her temples and leaked out from under the leather headband.

Han Solo's face kept flashing in front of her mind's eye, taunting her with the thought of all the unfair advantages he had in his life-his three delightful children, his beautiful quarters at the old Imperial Palace...

After an eternity, the lift doors opened, and Anja dashed out onto the midlevel connecting walkways. She glanced at her wrist chronometer.

It was late. She would miss her meeting unless she ran. A feral grin spread across her face. She could handle it. She had plenty of excess energy to burn off, so she sprinted. Her small feet made light clanging sounds on the metal walkways as she turned, descended a hollow-sounding staircase, and ran between a pair of large buildings in search of the right entrance.

Because of the privacy and secrecy requirements on Ord Mantell, most buildings were not numbered or identified in any way. That proved a detriment only to people who didn't know where they were going.

And Anja Gallandro knew where she was going.

Inside the echoing, complicated enclosures, she saw a host of shadylooking creatures. Some were bounty hunters or scavengers, criminals of various sorts huddling in the alleyways. Suspicious eyes gleamed at her, some on swiveling stalks, some with faceted insect eyes that captured multiple images of her figure as she flitted down one narrow alley into another. When she finally reached a sealed door with a hidden keypad, Anja punched in the code, then paced and fidgeted for the two seconds it took for the door to acknowledge her presence and slide open.

She ducked inside, hot, anxious, burning with inner energy. The door sealed behind her with a thunk. Inside, the room was dark. Anja waited, refusing to be intimidated. Her heart still pounded, and her head seemed to crackle with static from the fading aftereffects of the dose she had taken.

Suddenly all the chamber lights blazed on. Anja stood blinking, unmoving.

She knew this couldn't be a trap, because her employer had had ample opportunity to kill her before-and now she had information he needed.

"So what have you learned, little velser?" Czethros said from his comfortable seat. His single cybernetic eye blazed red behind his visor.

Velser. At first, Anja had hated the nickname Czethros gave her after taking her under his wing and training hell - to be his tool, his weapon.

But then Anja had learned that velsers-:re fearsome, fastflying predatory creatures from Bespin. They were sleek, deadly attackers.

She could think of worse things to be called.

"I learned quite a bit. I met Han Solo," she said. "I told you those old space mines you set as a trap wouldn't fool him for an instant.

Now he's on his guard. I hate the man, but I respect his abilities.

His children have excellent skills as well-I watched them fight." She tossed her streaked hair back, adjusted her headband, and raised her chin. "Not as good as me, of course, even though they're using Jedi skills. They don't have quite the... enthusiasm." Czethros laughed.

"Enthusiasm? You go into a berserker rage when you've had too much."

"It's useful sometimes," Anja said. "And I managed to drive back most of those clumsy chameleon attackers. Your work, I presume?"

"Did they get away with the evidence?"

"Easily. I hope you didn't mind losing a few of them. We had to kill about seven."

Czethros shrugged. "They're cheap. I can always buy more."

"Now it'll be harder to kill Solo," Anja said. "The one thing I'm after.

You might have screwed up my chances."

Czethros laughed, though his pale, sickly-looking face showed no humor at all. He ran one hand over his moss green hair. "Solo is cocky.

His easy escape from the space mines, and your resounding defeat of the chameleon creatures, will probably only make him more willing to jump into peril, not less. He doesn't know how to be careful. And his children seem to have even greater potential for getting into trouble than he does."

"Well, I've planted the suggestion in his mind," Anja said, getting down to business. "I taunted Solo with the desperate situation on Anobis. If he rises to the bait and blunders happily into the war there, he's doomed."

"Excellent," Czethros said. "That way my overall plan can proceed without his interference. He's one of the few people in the galaxy who can expose the enterprises we're trying to build through Black Sun."

"And, if you help me get rid of him, there can be no greater payback for me than to avenge my mother and father."

"Be patient, Anja. The time will come," Czethros said. "You've waited this long. Let's do it right."

She bit her lip and nodded. She tapped her fingers on the metal surface of the nearest table, stood up and fidgeted, looked around. "I... may need to go with Solo, in order to nudge a few things along." She hesitated.

Czethros watched her with his cybernetic red laser eye, waiting.

The cruel streak was coming out in him. He had to know what she wanted, but he twisted the screws, making her ask for it. For what she needed.

She drew herself up again, trying not to look weak. "But in order to be at my peak performance, as this mission requires, I'll need..

She trailed off. He knew what she meant.

Czethros continued watching her. "Yes?"

Anja felt a flash of anger, and pounded her fist on the metal wall with a dull clang. "I need my supply! I used my last dose of spice in order to fight your clumsy henchmen."

Czethros laughed and then made a taking sound. "You seem so desperate.

Don't worry, little velser. You can count on me." From his pocket he withdrew a sealed black case and held it aloft, just far enough away that she would have to step forward and reach out to take it from him.

He tried to toy with her, pulling it back, but Anja moved too quickly.

Still in the aftereffects of her hypersensitivity, she snatched the case before he could play his little trick. Czethros covered his surprise at the speed of her reactions.

"There's your supply of andris spice," he said. "You're taking too much of it, you know. I can't keep up this rate of payment without further results. "

"You'll get results," Anja said, checking the contents of the tiny carbon-freeze box. Each of the small cylindrical containers inside was wrapped in an insulated covering. Exposing the andris fibers to deep cold intensified the effect of the spice. But she didn't need another dose now-though she wanted one very, very badly. She would keep the samples, hoard them, take them only when she needed the spice.

When she needed it more than she did now.

Without a word of thanks or goodbye, Anja turned and slipped back out of Czethros's hidden warehouse. She would keep a close watch on Han Solo, and insinuate herself into his journey to Anobis. She was almost certain he wouldn't be able to resist going there now that she had challenged him.

And once he got there, he would be very surprised indeed.

Back in the diplomatic suite of Ord Mantell's most luxurious hotel, the Ord Ambassador, Jacen could not get his mind off the girl Anja.

Her sad, pain-filled eyes had seemed so out of place. Her features were delicate and beautiful... and there had been such a strength in her whip-thin body that Jacen had expected her gaze to be as steady and cool as Tenel Ka's. But her personal pain-perhaps even a slight madness-had been all too apparent in the looks sho had given Jacen and his friends.

Zekk had felt it too, because Jacen had seen the older boy's sympathetic nod when Anja spoke of her father's death, and about having been raised as an orphan. Who would understand better than Zekk how such events could change a life?

But Jacen didn't have Zekk to talk to right now. The tonner Dark Jedi had returned with Tenel Ka and Lowie to the Rock Dragon for the night.

Jacen sighed and ran his hands through his tousled curls. Why couldn't he stop thinking about Anja? He paced restlessly about the central chamber of the suite. After the long day today, Jacen had taken a hot sonic shower, but his mind did not feel refreshed. Something was bothering him, and he couldn't quite, put his finger on it. When his brother Anakin entered the room, hair still damp from his own shower, the younger boy's ice-blue gaze stopped Jacen in his tracks.

"Something's wrong," Anakin said. A statement, not a question.

Startled, as always, that his younger brother could sense things so quickly, Jacen hunched his shoulders and plopped himself down on a stone repulsor bench beside the ornamental firepit in the center of the room.

Anakin perched himself on a bench opposite Jacen and stared into the flames. "She was a very interesting person, wasn't she?" he said quietly, then waited for Jacen to answer.

Jacen glanced sharply at his little brother and stared at him for a full minute before the reason for his inner turmoil clicked into focus.

"Dad never really explained what happened to her father," he finally blurted. "He just evaded her questions with vague answers."

"Well, he said he didn't kill Gallandro. What more do you want to know?"

Jaina asked, gliding into the room and helping herself to a seat between her two brothers. She wore a loose robe, and droplets of moisture still sparkled on her cheeks from her recent bath.

Jacen set his chin stubbornly. "I want to know what happened."

Anakin shrugged. "Then let's ask Dad."

"Ask me what?" Han said, entering the room, a white sheet of absorbent material draped around his neck so that it hung down his bare torso.

He took a seat opposite Jaina and between his two sons; the four Solo family members were like points of a compass, with the artificial fire at their center. Jacen glanced at his sister. She bit her lower lip.

Anakin gestured to him, as if to say, This is your question; ask it.

Jacen knew he might sound rude, but he wanted an answer and he didn't know how else to put it. "Anja said you killed her father. You denied it, but you never explained what happened to Gallandro."

Han nodded slowly. "That young lady took me by surprise. She reminded me of an incident from my past... a time I'm not too proud of. " Jacen wondered if guilt was the source of the hesitation he heard in his father's voice.

"So, what happened?" Jaina prompted, her brandy-brown eyes alight now with interest.

"We were looking for an ancient treasure, a lost legacy of Xim the Despot," Han began. He paused, then sat up straighter. He spread his hands as if backing up to provide more explanation. "Gallandro was a smuggler, you see. A quick draw, a sharpshooter and, uh"-a corner of Han's mouth quirked in a lopsided smile-"a fellow scoundrel. We found where Xim hid his treasure, but Gallandro betrayed the rest of our team.

Decided he wanted it all for himself. Challenged me to a blaster fight."

Jacen was instantly alert. His father had always been one of the best shots in the New Republic. "And?"

His father lifted one shoulder for a second, then gazed down into the flames. "And I lost."

All three young Jedi stared at him in disbelief "But you're not dead,"

Jacen pointed out.

"How did Gallandro die, then?" Anakin asked.

"His aim was good, but not fatal. He drew first, hit me in the shoulder.

My shot went wide, and I dropped my blaster as I fell.

While I was down he put binders on me and went off to chase one of the other members of our team, a Ruurian."

"They look kind of like miniature Hutts, don't they?" Anakin asked.

"Only furry, and with legs?"

Han nodded again. "I wasn't even there when Gallandro caught up with the Ruurian. But the treasure vaults had been booby-trappedrigged so that if you drew a weapon in certain areas, the automated defenses would take you out. There were warning lights in those areas, but the Ruurian had removed them. Gallandro never realized he was walking into a trap."

Han grimaced. "I don't know. Maybe I'd've done the same thing.

The Ruurian explained it to me afterward: he figured Gallandro had nothing to worry about-so long as his intentions were peaceful. But if the guy drew his blaster... well, then he'd get what he deserved.

Could be that Gallandro only meant to injure the Ruurian, like he did me.

In any case, the vault's defenses did the rest."

Jaina squeezed her eyes shut. "How awful."

Jacen remained skeptical. "If that's the way it happened, then why didn't you just tell Anja?"

His father's eyes clashed with his. "Tell her what? That her father was a traitor? A man who turned on his own team once the treasure was found and took it from them? A hotshot blaster jockey who got fried because he thought with his weapons instead of his brain?"

Han drew a deep breath, let it out with a slow shake of his head.

"Besides, I had no idea before today that Gallandro had a daughteror that she's blamed me for his death all these years. With the resentment she's built up in her life, if I told her what really happened, she might just take it into her head to go after the Ruurian, Skynx, because he disabled the glow signals that would've warned her father not to draw his blaster."

Han's eyes filled with doubt, and he looked back into the artificial firepit. "Still, I do feel a kind of responsibility toward her. I wish there was something I could do."

Jacen wondered if there was some additional reason why his father should feel responsible. Had he told them everything?

"Maybe there is something we can do," Anakin said.

Han sat back, a thoughtful look on his face. "Her planet, you mean?"

Jacen brightened at this idea. "That's right. Anobis isn't too far from here. And that civil war sounds terrible."

"It wouldn't hurt to go check it out," Han admitted. "In my official capacity, of course-see if there's anything the New Republic could do to help. "

"Kind of a diplomatic mission, you mean?" Jaina said.

"I'm sure Mom would agree to that."

A slow lopsided grin spread across Han Solo's face. "Yeah. I think she would," he said, getting to his feet.

He reached out to ruffle both of his sons' hair, then walked around the circle, leaned down, and kissed Jaina on the cheek. "You kids get some sleep now. I'm gonna get dressed, go down to a comm center, and put in an official call to the Chief of State of the New Republic."

Jacen nodded with satisfaction. It was the least his father could do.

After a strangely restless night populated by images of unbearably sad eyes and flowing dark hair streaked with blond, Jacen woke to find his sister standing beside the cushioned pallet on which he slept. She tossed a clean jumpsuit at him.

"Time to get up, sleepyhead. We want to get an early start."

Jacen, groggy from his lack of rest, blinked up at her. "What for?"

Just then Anakin appeared in the doorway, a travel satchel slung over one shoulder. "I'm all packed," he announced.

"For the fact-finding mission to Anobis," Jaina explained. "Mom said it was a good idea. She sent Dad a transmission this morning of everything the New Republic knows about the planet and their civil war.

Unfortunately, it's not much."

The impact of his sister's words finally sank in, and Jacen came fully awake. Untangling himself from the cushions and blankets, he leapt to his feet. "Where's Dad now?"

"Went down to the docking bay to start preflight checks on the Falcon,"

Jaina said.

"We leave in less than an hour, Jacen-if you're ready," Anakin said, running a skeptical eye over his older brother. "Zekk, Lowie, and Tenel Ka are already there waiting."

As he scrambled to get dressed, Jacen felt miraculously energetic.

They were going to do something to help Anja's planet, he thought.

Maybe they could find a way to banish the sadness from her eyes forever.

The young Jedi Knights were going on a true rescue mission, just like the ones Tionne used to tell them about from Jedi legends.

He flashed his siblings a cheerful grin. "Don't worry. I'll be ready."

By the time Jacen reached the docking bay, Anakin was already at work at the navigation controls and Jaina was examining the external sublight engines. Tenel Ka, Zekk, and Lowie were gathered around Han Solo, being briefed on the upcoming mission.

Seeing Jacen, Han gestured for him to join the other young Jedi Knights.

"So, if this planet is as torn up from the war as Anja says it is," he concluded, "we might just need a few extra helping hands. I think we should all stick together on the Falcon, though. Got plenty of room and there's less chance of running into trouble if we don't slip up." Jaina looked up from her work on the sublight engines.

"But what about the Rock Dragon?" she protested.

Han glanced at the Hapan passenger cruiser. "I think we can station an extra guard or two here without much difficulty."

Tenel Ka's lips curled in a hard smile. "And the vessel has its own...

security systems."

"Indeed, yes," Em Teedee said. "And they are most efficient. I had a fine conversation with them just this morning."

"It's settled then." Han clapped his hands and began giving out assignments.

Jacen was glad to know that all of his friends would be coming along.

They worked well as a team, and he had no doubt that together they could handle anything that happened on Anobis.

He had no sooner begun his task of exwnining the Falcon's lower hull than a familiar figure sauntered into the docking bay. She held herself straight and proud, and her dark, streaked hair trailed behind her like the tail of a comet.

"Hey, what are you doing here, Anja?" Jacen asked, managing to sound brash, if not outright rude. He felt himself turn red with embarrassment as he realized his blunder.

The young woman seemed not to notice. She bent to look at him beneath the Falcon's hull, her big eyes serious. "After what happened yesterday, I wanted to make sure that your ship had come to no harm."

"Hey, that's kind of a coincidence," Jacen said. He started to stand to get a better look at her, but only succeeded in smacking his head on the belly of the Falcon. He quickly ducked down again. "What I mean is, we're all on our way to Anobis-to help your people, like you suggested."

Anja cocked her head slightly as she digested this information, then shrugged as if this were no more than she had expected. "I'm on my way back there myself."

"Hey, Jacen. Don't forget to check those two rear struts when you're finished," his father's voice called from inside.

"Uh, Dad?" Jacen called back. "Do we have room for another passenger?"

"Depends. Who-?" Han jumped off the ramp to land beside the ship, and his question ended in a wordless whistle of surprise.

"Anja needs to go to Anobis, too," Jacen hastily explained, seeing the strained look that passed between his father and Gallandro's daughter.

Anja backed away from the Falcon, drew herself to her full height, and folded her slender arms across her chest. Her attention remained on Han Solo while Jacen continued.

"I thought maybe we could give her a ride. She can probably show us the safest places to land, maybe even introduce us to a few important people."

His father returned the girl's challenging stare. "Would you be willing to do that?"

Anja gave a curt nod. "Maybe not to help you-but to help my people, yes."

Han gave her a hard look, as if he didn't quite trust her motives.

"All right. You're welcome on the Falcon, then. You can tell us more about your planet's war once we're under way."

Jacen listened with fascination as Anja recounted the tale of the strife that had been raging among her people for decades, since the days of the Empire.

. "And so," Anja continued, "the people of the valley who worked all of the rich farmlands declared war on the mountain people simply because we traded with the Empire. They stopped trading with us or selling us food.

What else could we do?" She looked earnestly around to her circle of listeners.

"In the mountains we had no way to make a living except with our mining.

If we hadn't agreed to trade with the Empire, the Imperials would have come and taken the raw materials from us by force. We had very few herd beasts, and no croplands. We would have starved."

Seeing the skepticism on the faces of his father and his sister, Jacen could not help but come to Anja's defense. "The valley people should have been helping you. After all, it wasn't a crime just to trade with the Empire. A lot of current members of the New Republic did that."

Anja gave a sad sigh and nodded. "Not only did the farmers declare war on us, they also sabotaged our mines by booby-trapping the tunnels.

They continue to do so even today. The tunnels collapse, our people are killed, and our work becomes ever more difficult."

"Yeah, well, there are two sides to every story, kid," Han said.

"Maybe more than two."

Jacen thought about the story his father had told Anja about Gallandro's death, and what he had told Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin the night before. He wondered if there might not be more than two sides to that story as well....

"We're on a fact-finding mission here," Han went on. "And we'd like to get the story from as many points of view as we can before we decide how the New Republic can help."

Anja gave him a haughty look. "Of course, I just have to hope you know the truth when you hear it."

Jacen wondered.

As they cruised away from Ord Mantell, Anja sat stiffly against a bulkhead wall facing the Falcon's cockpit, where Han Solo and Jaina sat at the ship's controls. Anja's face was hard, her arms folded over her chest.

Across from her, Jacen smiled. "Why don't you relax," he said.

"We'll find a way to help your planet."

Anja closed her big, sad eyes and gave a mirthless laugh. "Right.

A few pampered kids and one former smuggler will fix everything. I feel better already."

Lowie gave a soft growl, turning in the passenger seat to look at Anja.

Tenel Ka sat stiffly beside Jacen, as if ready to protect him. "This is not a fact. We are not children," she said. "We are Jedi Knights.

We have all faced hardship."

"And war," Jaina added. "And the death of friends and family."

Zekk spoke up from beside Lowie. "And General Solo here has some real influence with the New Republic fleet."

Anja looked skeptical. "It's just hard to believe, since nobody in the New Republic has ever bothered to think of us before, much less offer us help. "

"Give us a chance," Jacen said. "We're your friends-at least we'd like to be."

"With the past history between our fathers, I'm not certain becoming friends is possible," she said in a flat voice. No anger, no hope... no emotion at all now. Jacen watched her, wondering deep in his heart exactly what had happened between Han Solo and Gallandro so many years before the twins were born. "Besides," Anja continued, "the flight to Anobis is brief enough that there's little point in getting comfortable."

"The hyperspace route to the Anobis system is short," Anakin said.

"We'll arrive in less than a day."

"Then that's when the fun starts," Anja murmured.

She removed her lightsaber and began playing with it, looking at the intricate knobs and buttons. Every lightsaber was different, made from various raw materials. Jacen, Jaina, Tenel Ka, and Lowie had built personal energy blades using their skills and their imaginations. Anja was not a Jedi trainee, yet she had a sophisticated-looking lightsaber, apparently an ancient one.

Jacen tried again to strike up a conversation. "Hey, that's an interesting weapon. Have you had any Jedi training?"

Anja threw her head back and looked at him with scorn. "I don't have time to sit around in the jungle and concentrate at rocks and leaves."

She made a rude noise. "No. I bought this lightsaber from an old trader.

He said it's some sort of Jedi relic. Who cares? It works.

That's all that matters to me."

"But you used it well against the chameleon attackers," Tenel Ka observed.

Han Solo turned in his pilot's seat. "You don't need to be a Jedi to use a lightsaber, kids," he said, still trying to make a gesture of peace toward Anja. "Fact is, I used your uncle Luke's lightsaber on Hoth, to cut open a tauntaun so we'd have a place to keep warm until I could set up a snow shelter." Anja looked at her weapon again, studied the ancient carvings and scrollwork on its handle. She shrugged. "I can fight with reckless enthusiasm and enough skill to overpower any opponent I've encountered so far. It doesn't matter whether the Force is with me or not."

Fifteen hours later, the Falcon dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the Anobis system.

In the cockpit Jaina sat with Zekk looking over her shoulder at the copilot controls. The dark-haired young man seemed intrigued by the systems of the modified light freighter.

"I can fly this ship," he,aid.

"No you can't," Han answered.

"In theory, I meant," Zekk said. "The Lightning Rod's very similar, only a little smaller and designed to be flown by only one person."

He looked down at the sensor array that scanned space in front of them.

He pointed to the small blip just as Jaina herself noticed it.

"There's another ship sharing our course," Zekk said.

"We're approaching pretty fast. That ship doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry," Jaina said. "Must be a cargo hauler."

Zekk nodded. "It has smaller engines, a bulky design. Not built for speed. It's a cargo hauler all right."

"Better let them know we're here." Han Solo leaned forward to the comm unit and opened a hailing frequency. "Ship ahead, this is the Millennium Falcon. Looks like we're on the same heading. Please identify yourself "

Instead, the small hauler released a cluster of metallic spheres that drifted in space for a few seconds before exploding in a blossom of multicolored fire. Then the ship jinked to the right, altered course, and swept downward using its low-power engines. The Falcon dodged the debris and rapidly closed the distance.