Book 11

The Fall of the Diversity Alliance

The Emperor's Plague

by Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta

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AFTER DAYS OF recuperation, Jaina Solo steadied herself on the edge of the bacta tank, dripping. Programmed to be courteous, the Too-Onebee medical droid helped her out. Slippery fluid from the healing tank trickled from Jaina's hair and bare skin onto the floor, where it gathered in iridescent puddles before flowing into a drain by her feet.

The bacta smelled healthy. Even beneath the brief strips of medical wrap she wore, every square centimeter of her flesh tingled with renewal.

Cautious at first, she planted her feet on the floor and tested her strength before letting go of the droid's green metal arm. Her legs had not supported her full weight for several days now and she wasn't quite sure they would hold her.

Confident at last, Jaina stretched luxuriously, then looked down at herself. Her skin was pink and new, showing no indication of the bums and injuries she had recently suffered during their escape from the Twi' lek homeworld of Ryloth.

For a moment Jaina wondered if the whole ordeal had merely been a nightmare-the capture of the young Jedi Knights, laboring in the spice mines, the mad flight from Diversity Alliance guards through winding catacombs, the brutal heat of Ryloth's dayside. But it was all real.

Definitely real.

"Glad to see you're feeling better," a warm voice said close behind her.

Jaina whirled.

"Zekk!"

"In the flesh-more or less, that is," he said. He held out a sheet of white absorbent cloth and helped Jaina drape it around her shoulders.

"You looked like a roasted nerf sausage when I picked you up a few days ago," he said, snugging the soft material around her. "Now I can hardly tell you were burned."

Jaina smiled at her friend. His long hair, a shade lighter than black, hung at the nape of his neck neatly tied with a thong. His dark clothing was rumpled, as if he had slept in it; the shadowy smudges beneath his emerald-green eyes attested to a lack of sleep.

"I thought you were part of my dream," Jaina said. "I kept thinking that I was waking up, and I would see your face, kind of distant and blurry...

but always there."

The centaur girl Lusa wrapped a sheet around the dripping form of Raynar at another bacta tank nearby. She remarked, "Zekk hasn't left the medical center since all of you went into the tanks."

Jaina smiled at Zekk. He shrugged, as if embarrassed.

"I don't get out much these days. Training to be a bounty hunter kind of puts a crimp in your social life. Besides," he added, "old Peckhum's been off on a supply run, so I didn't see much point in going home for a visit."

Raynar toweled off his spiky blond hair and blinked groggily at Lusa.

Zekk continued, "Anyway, I'm not the only one who's been haunting the medical center. Lusa was here practically around the chrono. Your parents and Master Skywalker came in every couple of hours. And Threepio kept bustling in to check on us and to bring us meals." He smiled. "I remember when he wanted to fit me with a fancy new suit for that important state dinner your mother hosted."

"That was a long time ago," Jaina answered softly, tugging her own clothes on. "That was the same night I was captured by the Shadow Academy," he added, then paused a moment as a troubled expression crossed his face. The centaur girl Lusa offered Raynar a clean set of garish colorful robes that displayed the scarlet, purple, orange, and gold colors of the noble Thul family from Alderaan. Of late, Raynar had been wearing more drab and serviceable Jedi clothes, but now he accepted the fresh garments gratefully.

"Lowie and your little brother were here, too," Lusa said.

"Anakin wasn't a bother, was he?" Jaina asked.

Zekk looked amused.

"Far from it. I learned a thing or two from watching him. With the Force, he looked inside the controls of each of your bacta tanks, then made some suggestions to Lowie on how to improve their performance." Zekk's voice sank to a whisper as he glanced over at Lowbacca, who was helping the warrior girl Tenel Ka out of her bacta tank, while the medical droid assisted Jacen. "Lowie and Anakin spent hours optimizing the diagnostics relays on each of the bacta units. They ran a physiology-specific calibration on all the bacta regulators, while Lusa and I overhauled the nutrient monitors."

"Are you sure all that was really necessary?" Jaina said, shaking her head. Her bacta-wet hair hung close against her face. "I feel fine."

He gave a wry grimace.

"I think Lowie feels guilty you all got hurt on Ryloth, since he was the reason you went there in the first place."

"I'm just glad that we're all back together and safe," Jaina said. Then she smiled ruefully. "Guess I owe you another one, huh?"

"Maybe you'll get a chance to even up the score," Zekk said. "Our battle with the Diversity Alliance isn't over yet."

Tenel Ka dried herself with the absorbent cloth Lowie handed her, then let the damp material drop to the floor. By now she had learned how to do just about everything quickly and efficiently, even with only one arm.

She felt energized and alert, and she couldn't wait to get out of the medical center and do some calisthenics or go for a run across the rooftops of Coruscant. Her thick red-gold hair clung in damp clumps around her bare shoulders, but it would not take her long to tame it into her customary warrior braids again. Turning her cool gray gaze to inspect Jacen, she was relieved to see that the frostbite, cuts, and bruises her friend had sustained on Ryloth's frozen nightside had left no lasting damage. Jacen's unruly brown curls were plastered flat to his head by bacta fluid, and his brandy-brown eyes told her that he was rested and strong again. He flashed Tenel Ka a lopsided grin that made him look like his father, Han Solo.

"I'm glad to see that we're all bacta normal again," he said. He raised his eyebrows at the pun, as if waiting for her response. Tenel Ka kept her face expressionless, though deep inside she was glad that their ordeal had not changed Jacen's sense of humor.

"This," she said, "is a fact."

Later, Zekk tinkered with the Lightning Rod, readying it for his continuing search for Bornan Thul. Running diagnostics gave him something to do while Raynar and his mother Aryn Dro Thul-who had just arrived on Coruscant with the entire Born - aryn fleet-spent some long-overdue time talking in private. Tenet Ka had gone to see her parents Isolder and Teneniel Djo, newly arrived from Hapes. Her wily grandmother Ta'a Chume, who was also on Coruscant, had been using her spies to uncover further disturbing evidence about Diversity Alliance activities. At the same time, Lowie and his sister Sirra had gone to visit with their uncle Chewbacca, while Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin were enjoying a private family meal with their parents. That gave Zekk a few hours to himself.

He could hardly begrudge the families some time alone together. He knew how difficult it was for General Han Solo and Chief of State Leia Organa Solo to find the time to relax with their Jedi-trainee children. Even so, Zekk thought as he cleaned the life-support recirculation modules, he couldn't help being a little jealous. He was left out of all those warm family gatherings, since he had no relatives of his own. Zekk sighed.

Just then a gruff voice drifted up the Lightning Rod's boarding ramp from outside.

"I hope you're taking good care of this fine ship, boy. Not giving you any trouble, is she?"

Zekk dropped the replacement intake filter and bounded toward the entry hatch as a grizzled old spacer trudged up the ramp.

"Peckhum!" Zekk exclaimed. The older man returned Zekk's greeting with a bear hug, and Zekk's spirits soared. Now he was truly at home; this was his family. Raynar still couldn't believe that his mother had risked coming out of hiding. Now both he and Aryn Dro Thul stood on the highest balcony of the Bomaryn headquarters building, overlooking a broad plaza that bustled with people.

"This view was one of the reasons Boman and I chose this building for our headquarters."

His mother wore her midnight-blue gown shot with silver and belted with a sash in the colors of the House of Thul. Her fingers toyed with the sash and her lips curved in a faint smile.

"Somehow I feel closer to your father just standing here."

At the heart of the plaza, a fountain with hundreds of tiers burbled, trickled, gushed, and spouted. The spectacular display reminded him of the Dro family's Ceremony of the Waters, a tradition from their Alderaanian heritage. For the millionth time since his father's disappearance, Raynar found himself wishing that his whole family could be together again, and that he had remembered to enjoy those times more in the past....

"He's in danger, you know," Raynar said.

Without looking away from the fountain, Aryn nodded.

"Tell me what you've learned."

Raynar took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "It all started with the Twi' lek leader, Nolaa Tarkona. Dad was negotiating some trade agreements with her when he disappeared."

Her gaze still fixed on the fountain, Aryn nodded.

"Boman was planning to meet with her at the Shumavar trade conference...

but he never arrived."

"Dad decided to disappear, but he had a good reason. Nolaa Tarkona's interplanetary political movement, the Diversity Alliance, was supposed to bring nonhuman species together to right the wrongs of the past.

Unfortunately, Nolaa decided that the only way to right those wrongs was to destroy all humans."

"But why should she have singled out Borran?" Aryn asked.

"An alien scavenger named Fonterrat discovered an Imperial storehouse that held a plague that could kill humans specifically. Fonterrat offered to sell the information to Nolaa Tarkona, but he refused to deal directly with her. Instead he insisted that she send a neutral party to meet with him on an ancient planet called Kuar."

"And so Nolaa Tarkona sent Boman?" Aryn said.

"Right. As far as we know, Dad traded a time - locked case full of credits for a navicomputer module that had the location of the plague store-house in its memory. Just a simple exchange. Dad was supposed to deliver the navicomputer to Nolaa Tarkona at the Shumavar conference.

He'd probably never have known what he was carrying-but at the last minute I guess Fonterrat confessed it to him."

Still looking down at the bustling plaza far below, Aryn Dro Thul shook her head.

"That scavenger could have been exaggerating about the plague."

"He wasn't," Raynar said. "Early in his negotiations with Nolaa Tarkona, Fonterrat gave her at least one sample. Nolaa used that sample to booby -

trap his payment. At Fonterrat's next stop, an all-human colony on Gammalin, the plague killed everyone. The colonists locked him up before the plague killed them, and Fonterrat died in a tiny jail, since no one was left alive to take care of him. If Nolaa Tarkona ever gets her hands on that plague, the entire human race will be destroyed. So, ever since he got the navicomputer from Fonterrat, Dad has been on the run, trying to keep it from her."

Aryn's shoulders drooped. "That sounds like your father-but why didn't he simply destroy the module, or bring the information here to Coruscant?"

"It's not that easy," Raynar said. "We know that some members of the Diversity Alliance have infiltrated the New Republic government. A Bothan soldier wearing a New Republic uniform even tried to kill Lusa on Yavin 4. Maybe Dad suspected the information wouldn't be safe if he delivered it here."

"Yes, your father has always had good people instincts," Aryn agreed.

"Then he probably also guessed that Nolaa Tarkona would stop at nothing to get that plague-with or without the navicomputer. When Jacen, Jaina, Tenel Ka, and I were prisoners on Ryloth, we learned that she wants to release that plague and infect every last human in the galaxy."

"I wish I were there to help your father," Aryn said.

"I wish I could help him too," Raynar said, taking his mother's hand a bit awkwardly. It felt strange at first, but he had come to realize in the past months how easy it was to lose the things and the people that you cared about. "I'm glad you came out of hiding, Mom," he said.

Aryn Dro Thul stood tall, straightened her shoulders, and looked into Raynar's eyes.

"Sometimes we simply have to face our worst fears," she said. "You've shown so much courage since your father disappeared. I'm very proud of you, you know."

Raynar sighed.

"I guess facing our fears is a part of growing up."

His mother raised her eyebrows at him.

"Maybe. Even so, it never gets any easier."

With a contented smile, Leia Organa Solo gazed slowly around the meal table in the Solo family's quarters of the Imperial Palace. It was still hard to believe that her husband and three children were here at home, all at the same time. She allowed herself to enjoy the moment, though it had taken a galactic crisis to bring them together.

"More nerf sausage, Master Jacen?" See-Threepio offered. "It is a particular Corellian favorite."

"Maybe just one," Jacen answered. Leia noted that Jacen was taller than she had remembered. It amazed her to see how the twins and Anakin changed each time they returned from their studies at the Jedi academy. After serving Jacen, the gold protocol droid turned to Jaina. She held her hands over her plate, as if to protect it from Threepio's enthusiastic service.

"Couldn't eat another bite," Jaina protested.

"Over here, Goldenrod," Han said, holding out his plate for more. "These are just like the ones Dewlanna used to make for me when I was a kid."

Anakin smiled sympathetically at his brother and sister.

"I have a feeling you're going to need all your strength when you speak to the New Republic Senate tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?" the twins asked in unison.

Leia nodded.

"I've scheduled a special meeting of the New Republic Senate. I'd like you and your friends there to present your findings. I think the whole galaxy needs to know what the Diversity Alliance has been planning."

THE NEW REPUBLIC Senate chambers were full to overflowing. Jaina looked uncertainly through the door into the immense, crowded room and then back at her mother.

The Chief of State shrugged.

"We had a vote coming up on several major issues, so I requested full attendance today. I haven't seen some of those senators and delegates in months."

Tenel Ka said, "Perhaps they heard of our intention to discuss the Diversity Alliance."

"More than likely," Leia admitted. "I know you all understand how much is at stake here."

"If you want, I could loosen up the crowd with a joke."

Jacen waggled his eyebrows. Leia turned toward him with a startled look, but Jacen held up his hands in a placating gesture.

"Hey, I was just kidding!"

Beside him, Lowie and his sister Sirra both rumbled deep in their Wookiee throats.

"Okay - bad timing, I admit," Jacen said. "It's just that we all seem so tight and edgy."

"You're right," Jaina said, drawing a slow deep breath and letting the Force flow through her. A wave of calm clarity washed the worry from her mind. Around her, the other companions also used Jedi relaxation techniques, with varying degrees of success. Her father and Chewbacca, along with her uncle Luke, the Jedi historian Tionne, and Kur, the Twi'lek politician rescued from exile on Ryloth, had already taken their seats toward the front of the Senate chambers.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Jaina asked.

Much later, an hour after they had finished telling of their adventures and delivered their alarming news, it still wasn't over. Jaina grew defensive as yet another representative stood up to take the floor. She could sense her brother's bafflement at the response with which the Senate had greeted their announcement. Tenel Ka, as usual, was stolid and alert, probably scanning the crowd for any signs of trouble. Only Chief of State Leia Organa Solo seemed perfectly calm, as if she had expected the reactions of the senators and delegates. She looked around the room with a practiced ease, seeing everything, listening to everyone, gauging the reactions of her audience.

Jaina bit her lower lip, willing herself to be more like her mother, ordering herself to listen with an open mind to the squeaking Chadra Fan senator.

"And so, it is not the members of the Diversity Alliance who should be censured-rather, these willful human children need to be taught respect for legal governments," Senator Trubor concluded, triumphantly swiveling his triangular batlike ears.

Alarmed, Jaina looked over at Luke Skywalker, hoping the Jedi Master would react to these accusations. But already it seemed as if too many humans had spoken out. Luke met Jaina's gaze, giving her his silent support.

Without comment, Leia nodded and announced the name of the next speaker.

"Senator J'mesk Iman."

The small cherub-faced Tamran steepled his fingers at chest level and bowed slightly. J'mesk Iman's expressive brows rose as he spoke.

"Forgive me if I have misunderstood the situation, but it is not the habit of the New Republic to meddle in the affairs of local governments, is it?" Fmesk Iman spread his hands in a traditional gesture his people used when offering peace. "Perhaps this could all be viewed as a cultural misunderstanding. From an objective point of view, what these young Jedi did might be described as well-intentioned but ill - advised. There should be no need to consider it an act of outright espionage."

Jaina shifted uncomfortably at the ambassador's benign condemnation. Her brother flinched, and she sensed rather than heard a growl forming deep in Lowie's throat. The black streak of fur over his eye bristled.

"Since the children's arrival was neither announced nor authorized-since it was, in fact, covert," Iman continued, "the government of Ryloth had ample reason to view it as an act of aggression."

"But we explained what we were doing there," Jacen objected. "The Diversity Alliance was holding Lowie against his will. And they still threw us into their spice mines."

Iman fixed them all with a serious look and cocked his head to one side.

When he answered, though, his voice was not unkind.

"Yet had any of you requested their government's permission to enter its headquarters?"

"No," Jaina answered truthfully. "But we never intended any harm. We just wanted to get our friend back."

"Even so, since your mission was not a diplomatic one, and not sanctioned by any government, you placed yourselves under the jurisdiction of local laws by trespassing as you did. I do not believe even the New Republic could allow such an intrusion without punishing the perpetrators. It is only natural that any government should want to deter others from doing what you did."

Jaina bit her lower lip. She knew there was no way to refute the ambassador's logic...

"But what about the spice mines?" Raynar asked. "We were taken prisoner, turned into slaves."

"Very well, then. How long did you spend in the spice mines?" Iman asked.

Jaina answered, "We didn't have chronometers with us."

"Very well, a few days, then? A harsh punishment perhaps for highborn youngsters such as yourselves, but not outside the realm of reason. Were you denied food or water or sleep?"

Jaina grimaced at the memory of the fungus they had been expected to eat and the foul-tasting water they had been offered, but she shook her head.

Raynar took a sudden interest in studying the floor near his feet and said nothing.

"But they never released us," Jaina pointed out. "Lowie had to help us escape."

The ambassador steepled his fingers at his chin and smiled. "And yet here you all are, alive and well. So allow me to summarize. You broke into the headquarters of a well-respected political movement. The legal planetary government sentenced you to a short term of unpleasant yet not unjustifiable punishment-long enough for you to learn a valuable lesson, we can hope. Then, before you had served your complete term, your friends, who at the time were working for the Diversity Alliance"-at this, Iman's brows rose expressively-"released you from captivity and assisted you in departing from Ryloth without further punishment. And during all that time, the only true injuries you sustained were as a result of the ill-advised paths you chose when leaving."

Jaina drew in a deep breath and held it for a long moment before releasing it. It wasn't fair when the story was presented that way. At this point Lowie spoke up in a series of rumbles, barks, and growls. Em Teedee made a throat-clearing sound to be sure he had the attention of the entire assembly and then provided a translation.

"Master Lowbacca does not choose to dispute your interpretation of the events surrounding his associates' arrival and departure from Ryloth. He does, however, wish to clarify two facts. First: the current government on Ryloth does not necessarily represent the Twi'lek people"-at this point, the overthrown leader Kur stepped forward and nodded his confirmation - "And second: during the time they were held by the Diversity Alliance, Master Lowbacca, his sister Mistress Sirrakuk, and the centaur girl Mistress Lusa all noted a distinct antihuman sentiment that had the potential for expressing itself with some violence."

A salmon-colored Mon Calamarian female with glossy blue-silver robes approached the floor, her large round eyes swiveling to study the audience. J'mesk Iman yielded his position, and Leia announced the new speaker with a sense of relief.

"Ambassador Cilghal, please speak."

Cilghal, one of Luke Skywalker's first Jedi students, nodded to Leia and stood tall.

"I do not believe any government is sacred. It may well be, as my colleague has said, that nothing more happened on Ryloth than a juvenile infraction of local laws and the punishment of that infraction."

A murmur of approval ran through the Senate.

"However," she continued, "if the government of Ryloth and the Diversity Alliance are peaceful and do no more than work in the interests of their members, then they should have no objection to a visit by diplomatic inspectors. This would, of course, be prearranged and approved through appropriate channels with their government. Some of the charges against the Diversity Alliance are indeed troubling and warrant our attention.

Therefore, I propose a simple fact-finding mission. The delegation should consist of a representative mixture of species and include a few members familiar with the government of Ryloth" - Cilghal nodded to the Twi'lek Kur - "and the Diversity Alliance."

Here she gestured with a broad flipper - hand toward the Wookiees and Lusa.

"If we find no evidence of wrongdoing, as some of my colleagues expect, then this inspection will be the simplest method of putting the matter to rest."

From the corner of her eye Jaina saw her mother relax considerably.

Taking a cue from her, Jaina ordered her muscles to unknot themselves.

The Chadra Fan senator Trubor approached the floor again, but from the small smile of triumph on Leia's face, Jaina knew there was no longer any doubt of the outcome: a team of investigators would soon be on its way to Ryloth. Then they would find undeniable proof of Nolaa Tarkona's schemes.

ZEKK HAD NOT expected it to be so easy, especially not after the debacle in the Senate hall.

"What?"

"I said, Òf course.' When do we leave?" Raynar answered. Zekk had anticipated several tedious meetings with Aryn Dro Thul, explaining why her son should accompany him on the dangerous quest to find Borran Thul.

Zekk already knew how to find the fugitive, since he had placed a tracer on Thul's ship a week ago, but he had no reason to believe Borran Thul would willingly return with him, or even listen to reason. That was why Raynar had to come along. The Alderaanian boy clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing up and down the length of the battle-scarred Lightning Rod. His bootsteps echoed in the large repair bay.

"I can be ready in a few hours, if that's not too long," he said with an eager expression. Zekk shook his head and tapped a hydrospanner against the ship's hull. "It'll take me at least that long to finish here. Less than that if Jaina can help us-and if I know Jaina, wild gundarks couldn't keep her away."

As it turned out, Jaina also recruited her twin brother, as well as Tenel Ka, Lowie and his sister Sirra, and of course Em Teedee. In addition, she offered to accompany Zekk and Raynar on their rescue mission to serve as navigator, copilot, or anything else they might need.

"No, Jaina," Zekk told her in a gentle but firm voice. "Raynar's one of two people in the galaxy that Boman Thul is likely to trust. I need him with me, but I'm not risking anyone else."

Jaina tried to hide her hurt by turning toward the navigational console and double-checking Em Teedee's connections.

"Run the usual diagnostics, Em Teedee," she said. "And don't forget the special ones I asked for."

"Certainly, Mistress Jaina," the little droid replied. "But do you believe it's absolutely necessary to-"

"Just do it, Em Teedee," Jaina broke in with an edge of impatient urgency. Then she turned back to Zekk. "I understand exactly how dangerous this situation is. Whether you find Raynar's father or not, you're probably on the Diversity Alliance's most-wanted list by now. And you're definitely considered fair game for bounty hunters, since you turned against them and helped Bornan Thul escape before."

A pair of Wookiee voices bellowed from the cargo bay, and Jaina yelled back,

"I think Tenel Ka and Jacen have the sealant patches. They're outside working on the hull."

Zekk placed his hands on Jaina's shoulders, shook her gently.

"There's a chance Raynar and I won't make it back. He has to go, and so do I-but I won't put you in that kind of danger."

Jaina looked past him out the cockpit viewports, pretending an interest in the Sorosuub ion skimmer that had just cruised into the docking bay.

What gave Zekk the right to decide whether or not she could put herself in danger? Her hands clenched and unclenched a few times.

"If that plague gets loose, none of us will be safe anyway," she pointed out, still trying to make him see reason. "There's a lot at - stake, and everyone's taking risks. Lusa and Sirra and Uncle Luke are all going on the inspection team headed for Ryloth. They'll all be in danger. So will you. You'd stand a much better chance of coming out of this alive if I came along, you know."

A long silence stretched between them.

"I don't know if you can understand this," Zekk said at last. He pulled her closer to him-a move that surprised Jaina. His voice was tight with emotion. "I made some choices back when I joined the Shadow Academy-the wrong choices. I was willing to put the whole New Republic at risk just to prove to myself that I was as good as you and your family. All I managed to prove to myself was how wrong I was.

"I came close to killing you once, because Brakiss had convinced me-or I had convinced myself-that you thought I was unworthy. Now the New Republic is in jeopardy again, and I'm one of the few people who can do something about it." He gave a mirthless laugh. "Funny thing is, this time I don't feel like I have anything to prove. I just need to know that you're safe, that your family's safe, that old Peckhum's safe. I want to make sure that humans, Wookiees, and all other species are safe from anyone who rules by murder and hate... or because they have something to prove." Zekk pulled back, and his emerald eyes bored into Jaina's. "I'm going to try to save Raynar's father. But if I can't, I'll do whatever I can to keep the galaxy safe-whether it means blowing up his ship, or my ship... or everything."

Jaina sensed the fierce determination in Zekk. Her eyes filled with tears, and she tried to blink them away. Yes, she understood. She understood only too well, and she knew there would be no changing Zekk's mind. She unclenched her fists, slid her arms around his back, and squeezed him tightly.

Jacen's upside-down face appeared in one of the side viewports. He dangled from the roof of the Lightning Rod, making faces at his sister, and pointing to where Raynar and Lusa stood in front of the ship, also sharing a goodbye embrace. Jacen's upside-down eyebrows raised and lowered comically.

"Well then," Jaina said, somewhere between a laugh and a choke, "what are we waiting for? We have a ship to get ready for its most important flight ever. You got everything we need, Em Teedee?"

"Yes, indeed, Mistress Jaina." Zekk pressed his cheek against hers.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Raynar leaned over the navicomputer console and fine-tuned his lock on the tracer frequency.

"Looks stable this time," he reported. "The beacon hasn't cut - out or faded."

Zekk nodded.

"Good. Your father's not making any more hyperspace jumps right now.

Let's hope he decides to stay put for a while."

"Should I calculate a route to these coordinates?" Raynar asked.

Zekk had spent the past day filling in the gaps in Raynar's star-piloting education. The blond-haired boy now felt competent to set a course, calculate hyperspace jumps, and operate some of the weapons systems. Zekk had even let him fly the Lightning Rod for a couple of hours.

"Go ahead," Zekk said as he watched the boy enter the coordinates and plot the route. "You're not a half-bad copilot, you know?"

Raynar flushed with pride at Zekk's expression of confidence.

"Thanks for taking the time to teach me. I guess I've always been so used to people doing this stuff for me that I never thought to learn it for myself. Actually, I'm surprised Jaina didn't insist on coming along to be your copilot."

Zekk grimaced.

"She did." He paused for a long moment, as if considering how to say something unpleasant. "I told her I didn't want her along... because we might not make it back."

"We have to make it back," Raynar said with a stubborn optimism he hadn't known he possessed. "I promised Lusa. Besides," he added, flashing Zekk a calculating glance, "you don't expect Jaina to stay out of trouble just because you're not around, do you? Who'll come to her rescue?"

As Raynar leaned forward to fiddle with the navicomputer, he heard a soft chuckle from Zekk.

"You're right. We will have to make it back."

With that the the dark-haired young man flicked a few switches and plunged the Lightning Rod into hyperspace.

They traveled in companionable silence for a few hours. Finally, Zekk shook himself from a deep reverie.

"Speaking of convincing people not to come along, how did you talk your mother out of trying to come with us?"

"It was easier than I expected," Raynar said. "I told her that if a couple of Jedi couldn't bring my father back safely, then two Jedi and a businesswoman wouldn't be any more likely to succeed."

Zekk's eyebrows raised slightly when Raynar said two Jedi.

Raynar added, "She knows that if anything happened to my father and me, she's the only one who can run Bornaryn Trading. She has a responsibility to all of those clients and employees. Anyway, I think it made her a bit happier just to learn that my father had a good reason for running. He was trying to protect us all."

"And now we've got to protect him," Zekk said, looking down at the navicomputer. "Here we are."

He nodded to Raynar when the Lightning Rod dropped out of hyperspace.

Raynar's breathing sped up, and his heartbeat pounded in his ears. After a long, long search, he was finally going to see his father again.

"Uh-oh," Zekk said as normal space resolved into clear focus around them.

"Looks like your father's not just taking a break-he's got uninvited guests."

Raynar swallowed hard as he surveyed the scene before him. His father's ship was here, all right. But so were two other ships: Boba Fett's vessel Slave IV and another craft he didn't recognize. He flicked on the comm system.

"Dad, it's me, Raynar. Zekk and I are here to rescue you." A split second later, both bounty hunter ships fired on Borran Thul.

EVEN THOUGH HE recognized the Lightning Rod as the ship flown by ambitious young bounty hunter Zekk, Bonnan Thul decided he couldn't be choosy - not anymore. With both Boba Fett and the other bounty hunter Shakra firing on him, he either had to trust Zekk or sacrifice himself and blow up his ship. But Bonnan wasn't ready to self-destruct. Though it would obliterate the deadly knowledge he carried, the plague storehouse itself still existed; Nolaa Tarkona would keep searching for it. For him, the deciding factor was hearing his son's voice. Raynar was traveling with Zekk!

He toggled the comm system to SEND. "I'll come over in the escape pod, Raynar. But I can't leave anything behind here. Just give me a minute...

and stay clear of my ship." Boman swallowed hard and, with trembling fingers, engaged the destruction subroutines he had hoped he would never need. Cutting the time as close to the edge as he dared, he set the countdown.

Inside the claustrophobic ship, he could hear his damaged engines whining as they looped energy overloads back into themselves. The cockpit temperature gauges crept into the red with astonishing speed. Without wasting a second, Boman Thul grabbed the precious navicomputer Fonterrat had given him and ran for his ship's single escape pod. The module that had caused so much distress contained the coordinates for the Emperor's munitions storehouse, the laboratory asteroid where Evir Derricote had developed plague organisms specific to races the Emperor had found troublesome. Derricote had created many diseases-including the one that would kill only humans. But even the Emperor had not dared to release the horrific scourge. Palpatine wanted to destroy only troublesome groups of humans, such as the Rebels-not the entire race.

Nevertheless, the Emperor had left an immense storehouse filled with plague canisters. This navicomputer module held those coordinates, and Nolaa Tarkona desperately wanted that knowledge. Boman Thul had vowed to die before letting such a terrible weapon fall into the hands of the Diversity Alliance. He had flown to the abandoned storehouse himself and seen that it was indeed as terrible as he had imagined. More terrible, in fact. He hadn't found a way to destroy the place single-handed, and he couldn't risk approaching the New Republic.

Nolaa Tarkona had too many converts, too many spies, among the alien members. It would take only one stolen vial of the plague released into a major spaceport... and the New Republic would be lost. No, Boman Thul knew that until the entire storehouse was destroyed, he had to keep the location of the biological weapons depot a secret from everyone. And so he had taken the navicomputer module-and vanished. It had worked... until now. Red lights flashed in the cockpit, and klaxons squawked.

He cradled the module, knowing that everything else would become space dust in a few minutes, including his ship's own computer. As he clambered into the escape pod, Borran Thul glanced over his shoulder for one last look around the little ship that had served him so well during his months on the run. But he was startled to see activity lights flashing on his systems console-more than just the self-destruct sequence. His ship's memory banks were being split open remotely. Someone was slicing into his computer! Thul paused in dismay. Certain illegal technology allowed illicit users to rip data directly from other computers.

He had intended to destroy his vessel before anyone could get close to it-but it might already be too late. Too late.

"I hope you're ready for me, Zekk," he muttered. His escape pod should take him to safety before Boba Fett or the other bounty hunter could latch onto him. He sealed the hatch and hit the launch button.

Acceleration threw him back against the small padded seat, and Boman Thul held on while the lifepod ejected. As the predatory bounty hunters moved into position, he looked out the small round porthole, hoping the right ship would retrieve him first.

While Boba Fett's Slave IV raced after the dwindling escape pod, the bounty hunter Shakra sat in her bare cockpit considering another alternative, another way to achieve her goal. Her reptilian frill plumped with excitement and her large slitted eyes narrowed as she made her choice. She accelerated toward Boman Thul's newly abandoned ship. She would get aboard and tear out his computer banks with her own sharp-knuckled hands. Most of all, Shakra hoped to find something Boba Fett might have neglected. The bounty and the fame she'd receive from Nolaa Tarkona were the incentive that drove her ambition-but the reward of knowing she had outsmarted Boba Fett would be nearly as sweet.

She docked her little craft against Boman Thul's empty vessel and used robotic grapplers, magnetic sealers, and powerful blasters to rip her way into the abandoned ship. She didn't care about. causing damage. All that mattered to her was the information she might find inside. Shakra came aboard like a predator stalking a wounded creature. She looked from side to side, scanning the decks, observing the cockpit, tasting the air with her forked tongue. Through the front windowports she watched Fett's ship closing in on the escape pod, while the newly arrived Lightning Rod raced to intercept. They had left Shakra alone with this craft, and she hoped to make a killing.

Alarms flashed in the cockpit. The engines groaned, rumbled, and whined as power built up. Her hard lips expressed her distaste in a scaly frown.

Her slender black tongue flicked out. The air tasted hot, angry.

Apparently, this craft had sustained more damage during the attack than she had expected. But anything that remained was now hers. She let out a long hissing laugh, and her slit pupils widened as she contemplated which files to steal first. Abruptly her attention fixed on the engine diagnostics, the power levels, the heat exchangers that blazed a silent warning: a countdown. Her frill shot up in astonishment and alarm.

Thul had set his ship to self-destruct! She whirled about, her fanged jaws wide open as she gasped in the hot recycled air. The timer showed only seconds remaining. Crying out like a coward, Shakra fled toward her ship, glad that none of her brood-mates could see her reaction. If only she could get far enough away from the blast zone! Her clawed feet scrabbled on the deckplates. Through the hole in the hull up ahead she saw her own ship, her escape...

Just as she reached the opening, Borran Thul's craft exploded like a supernova, obliterating Shakra, her ship, and itself, along with any residual information its computers might have carried....

As Zekk jockeyed into position to cut off Boba Fett's ship, he looked grimly at the Lightning Rod's weapons systems. He had shot at and chased the masked bounty hunter before, but in each case Zekk had had the element of surprise, and he had fled before the firefight could get too intense. Fett outgunned him by a significant margin.

"Get the tractor beam on that escape pod," he said to Raynar. "We don't have much time."

"Which is the tractor beam?" Raynar said, looking frantically at the control panels. "We haven't covered that one yet."

Zekk dodged and rolled the Lightning Rod, skimming past a volley of laser fire from Boba Fett.

"That one!" he said, jabbing quickly at a control panel in front of the copilot's chair. He fought his impatience with Raynar's lack of training.

The blond-haired young man was just as interested in rescuing his father as Zekk was in surviving this encounter. Slave IV came in shooting. Boman Thul's voice came over the comm system.

"If you're going to rescue me, you'd better do it quickly."

"I got him!" Raynar yelled as he successfully locked on the tractor beam.

Boba Fett cruised toward them, ready to snatch the escape pod directly from their grip. At that moment, without warning, Borran Thul's ship exploded in a nightmare of blinding white that washed across space in an expanding sphere.

"Hang on!" Zekk swung the Lightning Rod around to shield the escape pod just as the shock wave struck. Fett's ship was knocked into a dizzying spiral. Zekk barely held position, nudging his thrusters to keep the Lightning Rod balanced.

"We're still here. We're still intact," he said.

"So am I," Boman Thul shouted over the comm system. "But I won't be for long unless you get me aboard."

Fett recovered quickly and came after them again, angry now. Zekk fired, but his weapons were much weaker than the bounty hunter's. He fed all available power to his shields but still felt the pounding of Boba Fett's blasts. He checked to see if Raynar had drawn the escape pod into the cargo bay yet.

"What's this alarm light mean?" Raynar asked.

"It means our shields are failing!" Zekk said. Suddenly, another ship soared out of hyperspace, emerging from the glare of Bornan Thul's self-destructed vessel. Without pausing to take aim, the new ship fired immediately upon Boba Fett. Bright streaks of fire sprayed space and struck Slave IV.

"Yee-ha!" Jaina Solo's voice crowed over the comet system. "Take that, Boba Fett-and don't mess with our friends!"

Zekk fired his own weapons again in tandem with the Rock Dragon's second full-powered volley. Fett, seeing himself clearly at a tactical disadvantage and not knowing if other ships might soon arrive, broke off his attack. He sent one brief comm burst as he wheeled about.

"I have what I need." Then he vanished into hyperspace.

"Nice turnabout, Jaina," Zekk said, with a tense smile. "About time you came to rescue me for a change!"

The Rock Dragon pulled alongside, and Jaina's chuckle came through the comm system.

"Kind of a family tradition. Dad did the same thing for Uncle Luke at the Death Star, you know. Anyway, couldn't let you keep thinking you're the only one who can pull off a surprise rescue."

Raynar was relieved, nervous, and exhilarated all at the same time. At the moment, nothing was more important to him than getting down to the cargo hold, where the retrieved lifepod rested. He ran to be reunited-at last-with his father.

THE SHARP SCENT of ozone and metal drifted up from the escape pod, along with a crackle of static electricity from the recently disengaged tractor beam. Raynar could hear the chugging of the pod's life-support systems mixed with the whine of the Lightning Rod's sublight engines as Zekk maneuvered to dock with the Rock Dragon. He had never heard or smelled anything so wonderful. The harsh glare of the cargo hold's glowpanels was cheering, welcoming. Everything seemed brighter, sweeter, fresher to him than it had for nearly a year. The galaxy would soon be set to rights.

His father had returned. With shaking fingers Raynar pressed the hatch release, and the heavy top panel popped open with a whoosh of depressurization. Giving a joyful cry of welcome, Raynar leaned into the pod-only to find a blaster aimed straight at his heart.

Jaina was the first to stumble through the airlock from the Rock Dragon.

Setting his external sensors to full alert to keep an eye out for unwanted visitors, Zekk threw aside his crash webbing and bounded out of the Lightning Rod's cockpit and into the crew cabin. He twirled Jaina in a happy hug while they both laughed with relief, but then he growled,

"I thought I told you you couldn't come with me!"

Jaina knew he was trying hard to sound stern, but she could hear the pleasure in his voice. She pulled back and favored him with a Solo grin.

"Since when have you ever done anything I wanted you to do?" She gave an unladylike snort. "I'm just as worried about your safety as you are about mine, you know."

"All right," Zekk admitted, "I'm glad you came. But I still don't know how you found us."

Jaina shrugged and grinned again.

"Trade secret."

"Hah!" Jacen said, appearing in the airlock with Tenel Ka behind him.

"Some trade secret. More like a sneaky droid, if you ask me."

Lowie also emerged from the airlock in a flurry of ginger fur and full-throated Wookiee bellows.

"Why, if you're referring to me, Master Jacen, I'll take that as a compliment," Em Teedee said, zipping past him into the crew cabin on his microrepulsor jets.

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka said. "You are an excellent `sneaky' droid."

Zekk looked accusingly at Jaina.

"What did Em Teedee do?"

"When we were helping you with your preflights," she stammered, "I kind of, um, had Em Teedee download the frequency and encoding for the tracer you used on Boman Thul's ship."

"Hey, it was a good thing, too," Jacen picked up where his sister left off. "After we saw the delegation off to Ryloth, we all had this feeling that something was about to go wrong."

Lowie woofed and brushed at the back of his neck to indicate the tingle of danger they had sensed.

"Mom must have felt it too," Jaina said, "because when I told her you were going to need our help, she didn't even try to argue. She was glad she had some Jedi she could send on such an important mission-even if two of them were her own kids."

Tenel Ka nodded.

"Her one stipulation was that we send her a message if we required reinforcements." She raised an eyebrow and looked around at her friends.

"Do we require reinforcements?"

"Not if Boman Thul made it out intact with his navicomputer."

"Or managed to destroy it," Zekk added. "We'd better go down to the hold and find out."

"Don't shoot, Dad-it's me!" Raynar said. His father, looking haggard and wary, glanced around but did not lower his blaster. "Are you a hostage?

Have you been coerced into helping a bounty hunter or the Diversity Alliance?"

"No, Dad. Zekk may have worked as a bounty hunter, but he's a... a friend." Raynar was surprised to note as he said it that this was true.

Zekk was a friend, and the dark-haired young man had risked his life more than once for each of them. "He believes what you told him about all humans being in danger. He wanted to help you, so he came to get me-he figured you wouldn't trust him alone."

Borran Thul's haunted eyes closed for a moment, and he nodded.

"Your... friend was right. I wouldn't have trusted him." Raynar's father lowered the blaster and extended a hand for his son to help him out of the escape pod. Raynar had thought about this too long to be embarrassed anymore, although his family had rarely engaged in physical contact when he was growing up. Even before his father's feet were firmly on the deckplates, Raynar threw his arms around Borran in a fierce hug. And his father, perhaps because he was unsteady, or perhaps because he'd also had months to reflect, did not hesitate in returning the embrace. Only the sound of his friends' footsteps descending into the cargo hold brought Raynar bask to reality. His father flinched and reached for his blaster, instantly suspicious again.

"These are my friends, too," Raynar said, and introduced them one by one.

"They're all Jedi trainees, except of course for Em Teedee, who is the best miniaturized translating droid ever to be retrofitted on Mechis Ill-and a pretty good navigator to boot."

"Speaking of navigators," Zekk said, "what about the module Nolaa Tarkona wanted so badly? Was it onboard your ship when it blew up?"

Bornan Thul pointed into the emergency pod.

"No, I brought it along. It's here with me."

Raynar felt giddy with relief.

"Then you don't have to run anymore," he said. "All we have to do is destroy the information."

His father's mouth formed a grim line. All the blood seemed to drain from his once-round cheeks. He shook his head.

"It's not that simple. Before I got into the escape pod I noticed that the computers on my ship were all being accessed at once. I don't know how, but someone was slicing into them remotely."

"Ah. That would probably be Boba Fett," Zekk said.

"He did that to the Rock Dragon when we were in the rubble field of Alderaan," Jaina explained, then looked questioningly at Boman Thul. "But you have the navicomputer with you. Boba Fett couldn't have sliced into it."

"You don't understand." Boman's voice rasped as if it were painful for him to speak. "I knew that even if I destroyed this navicomputer Nolaa Tarkona would never stop looking for the weapons depot. That's why I went there myself, hoping to destroy it. I couldn't find a way, though, so I left again, planning to buy supplies and weapons so that I could return to blow up the storehouse." Raynar blanched. "But that means that the location of the plague storehouse - "

"-was in your ship's own automatic navigation log before it blew up,"

Jaina finished for him.

"In that case," Zekk concluded, "Boba Fett has the information. And he won't hesitate to give it to Nolaa Tarkona."

NOLAA TARKONA GRITTED her sharpened teeth when she learned of the impending arrival of the New Republic inspection team. Her hirelings had failed to find either Bornan Thul or the location of the Emperor's plague storehouse. And now she was being pushed against the wall. Her glorious political movement was in grave danger. Her finest plan, her highest expectations, had been thwarted-so far. The Diversity Alliance might never be able to unleash its storm of vengeance to obliterate the human race in punishment for the evils of the past. She had tried, and she had failed, because of one missing piece of information. Her hopes of liberating all oppressed species had collapsed like an imploding star.

Even so, Nolaa did not intend to give up willingly.

She would make her mark in blood if nothing else. When pushed to the wall, some creatures turned very vicious indeed. She summoned Rullak, the Quarren representative, and Kambrea, the Devaronian female whose wily ways had allowed her to move up quickly in the ranks of the Diversity Alliance. Kambrea had recruited many members, both from her own race and from other downtrodden species. Nolaa also sent for Corrsk, her reptilian Trandoshan general wounded in combat by the young Wookiee who had betrayed them and fled back to his cronies in the New Republic.

She looked stonily at her three generals as they came forward. All had increased in rank since the untimely death of her wolfman Adjutant Advisor, Hovrak.

"The New Republic is sending a team to inspect Ryloth," Nolaa said, "and we must choose whether to surrender meekly, or fight to the death. We can either be cowards or martyrs-and I know which I must choose."

She didn't ask for their decision. She knew Corrsk would fly into a battle frenzy, but Rullak and Kambrea were not quite as determined to lay down their lives for a dream. They had come to the Diversity Alliance to gain personal glory, and Nolaa doubted they would sacrifice their own blood for the cause.

"We've gathered arms, weapons, explosives," Nolaa pointed out. "We have a few fighting ships, enough for a small armada. And we have sufficient weaponry and devoted soldiers to make a stand here. We can fight! We will lure the unsuspecting New Republic team into our catacombs and slaughter them. Then we declare Ryloth neutral-exempt from human law-and refuse to grant them any further access."

Kambrea looked astonished.

"But they will never let you get away with that. They will force their way in, howling for revenge!"

Nolaa stiffened. Her tattooed head-tail lashed back and forth.

"We have the power of righteousness on our side. If we become martyrs, the whole galaxy will see how humans treat any resistance to their domination. "

Kambrea took a step backward. The Quarren fidgeted, his face tentacles quivering. Corrsk stood like a towering statue.

"Kill humans," he said in his gargling voice. A signal alerted Nolaa, and she felt cold inside. She hadn't expected the human team to arrive for another day, at least-but it would be just like them to attempt to catch the Diversity Alliance unawares. One of the Duros command system operators signaled her.

"Esteemed Tarkona, Boba Fett's ship has arrived. He bears urgent information for you."

"Boba Fett!"

She did not allow herself to hope. The masked bounty hunter had already reported failure too many times. Still, he would not have come without good reason. She waited for the Slave IV to enter the landing bay and for Fett to be escorted into her presence. Ignoring the guards, the masked bounty hunter strode directly up to Nolaa Tarkona, his shoulders squared.

In one gauntleted hand he carried a data cylinder. The slitted visor showed nothing of his face.

It was difficult to read his body language, but Nolaa thought she detected a swagger of pride that had been missing the previous times he had come to her.

"We cornered Bornan Thul," Fett said without any greeting. "He escaped in a small lifepod and triggered his ship to self-destruct."

Nolaa wanted to strangle something, someone nearby.

"So he got away again? You dare to report another failure?"

"No," Fett said. He held up the data cylinder. "Before his ship exploded, I sliced into his computers and drained the files. I sorted through them during my flight here." He handed the cylinder to her. "Thul took Fonterrat's navicomputer with him, but he went to the place you seek-five days ago. His ship's own log carried the precise coordinates."

Barely able to contain her excitement, Nolaa snatched the cylinder, raised her clawed fingers, and motioned for a data reader to be brought to her. A Talz guard hustled up with the apparatus. She inserted the cylinder and began scanning files. Her rose-quartz eyes flicked from side to side. Finally Nolaa bared her sharp teeth in a broad grin.

"Yessss," she said. "It is here. This changes everything."

Leaping out of her stone chair, she called the other generals to her side. Then she instructed her Sullustan clerks to pay Boba Fett the full bounty from the Diversity Alliance coffers.

"Our business is finished then, Nolaa Tarkona," Fett said.

"Yes. Yes, of course." She waved impatiently to get rid of him so that she could discuss Diversity Alliance plans with her generals in privacy.

When Fett was gone, she gathered Corrsk, Kambrea, and Rullak around her.

"Assemble the armada-all the ships we have. Nothing will stop us now.

Corrsk, you and Rullak come with me. We'll go directly to the storehouse and take as many plague samples as we want. Kambrea, you will remain here to deal with the New Republic inspectors. Delay them until we can unleash our final solution."

"Me?" the Devaronian said in alarm. She lifted her pointed chin so that her curved horns tilted backward. "But what can I say to them? How will I answer their questions?"

Nolaa scowled at her.

"Use your imagination. Clear away anything that might arouse suspicion.

Remove the slaves from the spice mines and find volunteers to work there.

Hide all the weapons storehouses. Make sure the team spends most of its time in our happy, tame Twi'lek cliff cities. That should convince them everything's in order."

"But - how long will I have to keep them distracted?" Kambrea said.

"Not long," Nolaa Tarkona answered, gesturing for Corrsk and Rullak to follow her. "Once we reach the plague storehouse and get what we need, we'll never have to worry about humans again."

JAINA' S MIND KICKED into high gear as the implications of Bornan Thul's words struck home. Somewhere in the galaxy was a secret storehouse that held a plague lethal to humans. Raynar's father had actually been there, but hadn't managed to destroy it. And very soon the asteroid's location would no longer be a secret. If Boba Fett already had the information, Nolaa Tarkona would have it, too.

"Hey, I don't get it," Jacen said. "If you found the plague, why couldn't you destroy it?"

"Was the facility heavily guarded?" Tenel Ka asked.

All eyes turned back to Boman Thul. He looked down at the deckplates, as if ashamed.

"From what I could tell, the weapons depot was an old Imperial research facility. It was completely abandoned. But I couldn't blast through its outer domes with the weapons I had on my little ship."

"Ah. Aha," Tenel Ka said. "Then you were unable to enter."

"No... I got in," Thul said, "as Fonterrat had before me. I don't think the Imperials expected many intruders-its location was highly classified.

Inside, though, I found the facility's vaults locked. I've no idea how Fonterrat got into any of them to get his samples." He sighed.

"Unfortunately, the only weapon I had with me was my blaster, and I was all alone." He ended with an apologetic shrug. "Not much chance destroying an entire munitions depot that way."

Jaina shook herself and stood up straighter.

"Well, you're not alone now," she said. Lowie roared his agreement and then woofed a few times for emphasis.

"Master Lowbacca wishes to point out that you now have several trained Jedi to assist you. And, if I might be so bold," the little droid added,

"I myself am quite accomplished at interfacing with strange computers, analyzing cyberlocks, retrieving encrypted data, and so forth. And, now that I have been upgraded, I am fluent in over sixteen forms of communication."

The forlorn expression on Raynar's face wrenched Jaina's heart.

"But we can't go to that asteroid, Dad. We were supposed to bring you back to Coruscant as soon as we found you. Mom's waiting for you there, and the Chief of State needs to hear what you found."

"No time for that anymore," Zekk said. "As soon as Nolaa Tarkona gets a report from Boba Fett, she'll be on her way to the plague storehouse."

Raynar set his mouth in a stubborn line.

"I'll have to figure out a way to get a message to Mom, then. And we promised to signal for reinforcements right away if we needed them."

"They'll have to meet us at the plague storehouse," Zekk said. "There's no time to waste."

Jaina nodded to Borran Thul.

"We've got to download the coordinates from your navicomputer module right away into both the Lightning Rod and the Rock Dragon. Then we'll let our mom know where we're going."

"Wait. Even if Nolaa Tarkona already knows the location of the storehouse," Zekk said, "we can't just broadcast it over the hypercom."

"Then encrypt the message and send it immediately," Tenel Ka said.

A look of hope dawned on Bornan Thul's face. He looked at Raynar.

"Did anyone manage to break our family's proprietary codes while I was in hiding?"

"I don't think so," Raynar said. "Tenel Ka says it's one of the best encryption systems she's ever seen."

"If anyone else had broken that code, I'm sure I'd have heard about it by now," Zekk added. "After all, I couldn't break it when you had me send those messages for you."

"Then we'll transmit to your mother through Bomaryn headquarters on Coruscant," Boman said, rubbing his hands briskly together. "First we send a message. Then we blow up a weapons depot."

"Hey, just another day's work for a bunch of Jedi trainees," Jacen said.

Lowie barked a call to action.

"But what if we can't do it by ourselves?" Raynar asked.

"Then we'll just have to hope the New Republic reinforcements arrive in time," Jaina said.

In a blur of activity, Borran Thul composed his message while Raynar entered coding subroutines with Em Teedee's assistance. Jaina and Zekk downloaded the coordinates to their respective vessels' navicomputers and calculated hyperspace routes to the isolated depot. Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Lowbacca made a quick check of each of the ships' subsystems. In no more than five minutes, the message was sent, the Rock Dragon and the Lightning Rod were decoupled in space, and the ships made the jump to hyperspace. As it turned out, it took six separate hyperspace jumps and twice as many hours to get to the weapons asteroid. There was no more direct route available. Fonterrat had found the place by accident, and they had to follow his wandering path.

"I can see why no one just stumbled on this place," Jacen commented as Jaina brought the Rock Dragon in toward the lumpy asteroid on a parallel approach with the Lightning Rod.

"Looks like a wormy piece of half-eaten fruit," Jaina observed.

Beside her Lowie woofed and pointed with a furry arm to a cluster of transparisteel blisters on the surface of the asteroid.

"Rock Dragon, this is the Lightning Rod," Ray - nar's voice came over the comm speakers. "My father says there are several single-ship docks on the outer edge of the central dome. We can land without being seen by any other visitors."

"Automatic laser cannons or anything else we ought to know about?" Jaina asked.

"Thul says no," Zekk replied. "I guess this asteroid's secrecy was the best security system the Imperials thought they'd ever need. Just pick an airlock and dock to it."

Lowie gave a suspicious rumble, but did not comment further as he guided the Rock Dragon toward the cluster of domes.

"All right then," Jaina said, "we'll meet you inside."

THE NEW REPUBLIC inspection team arrived in a heavily armed escort frigate, flanked by ceremonial squadrons of X-wing and B-wing fighters.

The starfighters were supposedly just for show, but Leia Organa Solo wanted to make it clear that she meant business and would tolerate no delays or resistance from the Diversity Alliance. Given the serious nature of the charges that had been brought, Leia refused to waste time on political games.

Standing on the bridge of the escort frigate, Luke Skywalker looked down at the harsh, mountainous planet of Ryloth. The Twi'leks lived in excavated tunnels and cliff cities in a band of twilight between the baking day and the frozen night. The inspection team would tour Ryloth's cities, searching for any evidence of Nolaa Tarkona's misdeeds. Beside the Jedi Master, Lusa stamped a forehoof nervously. The centaur girl had twice escaped from the clutches of the Diversity Alliance. They had brainwashed her, taught her to hate all humans. She was loath to return, but believed it was her responsibility.

Lowbacca's sister Sirrakuk growled quiet encouragement; she herself had been taken in by the Diversity Alliance before she broke away and helped the young Jedi Knights escape. Kur, the exiled Twi'lek leader, kept silent watch at the bridge windowports. As he stared down at the swirling coppery colors of the blazing daylit hemisphere, his head-tails twitched.

Luke sensed that for Kur there could be no happy homecoming. Kur had been defeated by Nolaa Tarkona, though she had refused to let him die, as was the tradition of vanquished head-clan members. Instead, she had sent him out to survive in the glacial cold of night. Now, he was returning, accompanied by humans and New Republic soldiers.

The small bat-faced Chadra Fan senator, Trubor, marched haughtily up to Luke, his squeaky voice indignant.

"Jedi Master Skywalker, you had best hope we find substantial evidence to back up the accusations of those young troublemakers." He put his small hands on his narrow hips. His triangular ears swiveled from side to side to pick up subsonic vibrations. Wide nostrils flaring, he blinked his tiny black eyes. "I've long known that Chief of State Organa Solo was concerned about the agenda of the Diversity Alliance, but it is not for the New Republic to make judgments on what beliefs people should or should not hold."

"I agree," Luke said, "but we must take action if an extremist group has kidnapped innocent hostages, taken slaves, and threatened to spread a plague so powerful it could wipe out an entire species."

With a tiny furred hand, Trubor rubbed his forehead in disbelief.

"That story is as ridiculous as the propaganda the Empire used to spread.

"

"We'll see soon enough," Luke answered in a mild tone that nonetheless held power and conviction. He turned to find even-tempered Ambassador Cilghal, whom he had trained at the Jedi academy, by his side. A Mon Calamarian like Admiral Ackbar, Cilghal had huge fishlike eyes and a salmon-colored head. She spoke calmly, looking down at the Chadra Fan senator.

"I intend to keep an open mind. I will observe with my own eyes, and no one-not you, not Master Skywalker-will tell me my opinion. I will decide for myself, as I hope you will do."

"Of course, of course," Trubor said. He waved his hands, then scurried off the bridge, somewhat flustered. A signal chimed on the escort frigate's comm system, and the glowering image of a female Devaronian flickered to life on the hologenerator. Her horns were polished and decorated with what appeared to be golden glitter. Though she spoke with forced amiability, her eyes were hard and suspicious.

"Welcome, representatives of the New Republic. I am Kambrea. Although your worries are completely groundless, we will bow to your demands and allow you to scrutinize our private cities."

Luke stepped forward into the range of the hologenerator.

"When may we schedule an audience with Nolaa Tarkona? We would like to discuss certain matters with her."

"The Esteemed Tarkona was called away on urgent business, and I have been left in charge." She huffed. "An important political movement such as the Diversity Alliance cannot grind to a halt simply because a handful of human children decided to make up stories about us."

Cilghal now stepped forward and spoke in quiet, calming tones.

"It is the nature of justice that we must investigate any accusation of such magnitude."

"Perhaps you should investigate crimes committed by humans with the same zeal," Kambrea snapped. "A crime is a crime, no matter who commits it. I assure you we will be impartial and study the facts. Will you escort us, or shall we find our own way around Ryloth?"

Cilghal said, sliding smoothly into a change of subject.

"I'll transmit a homing beacon to one of our main cities,"

Kambrea said. "I will meet you there. Follow the beacon precisely, or you risk activating our planetary defense systems." Immediately on the heels of this veiled threat, she switched off.

Luke piloted the transport shuttle from the escort cruiser. The shuttle bore an equal mixture of humans and aliens acting as New Republic escort guards. Lusa, Sirra, and Kur went with him, as did Cilghal, Senator Trubor, and the other members of the inspection team. When he passed from the daylight side over into the dark, cold night, Luke fought against the turbulence caused by extreme temperature variations. Around him, team members peered out the viewports, awed by the dramatic landscape, where hot, blurry whirlwinds of heat storms whipped across the border into the night and blasted ice from cracks in the frozen mountains. The peaks looked like a dragon's spine. The beacon directed Luke's shuttle to the mouth of a vast cave in one of the main cities the Twi'leks had built in ancient times. By Ryloth's standards, the cliff city was a huge metropolis.

The shuttle landed in a high-ceilinged grotto where various other ships were docked: unmarked supply craft, small personal vehicles, massive ore haulers for ryll mining activities. Kambrea came out to meet them, surrounded by a cadre of heavily armed and surly-looking guards-piglike Gamorreans, white-furred Talz, and a brutish, one-eyed Abyssin.

Odd, Luke thought. Nolaa Tarkona's group includes no Twi'leks, even though this is their own world. Perhaps in her takeover, Nolaa Tarkona had killed most. of those who had previously wielded power. People like Kur.

"We're here to cooperate." Kambrea's brittle voice broke into Luke's thoughts. "But this is not a holiday outing. Simply tell us what you need to see, and we will show you. You'll quickly realize that your government's accusations are baseless. We view this visit as a form of harassment - a punishment because our politics do not agree with those espoused by your Chief of State."

"Believe me," Trubor said, "we will be open - minded and fair to the Diversity Alliance. Not everyone agrees with the former Princess Leia of Alderaan." Cilghal kept her own counsel.

Lusa and Sirra came out of the shuttle behind the honor guard. Kur emerged last, blinking his eyes and sniffing the air of the tunnels with apparent unease. Kambrea studied the group, and a storm crossed her face.

"The New Republic insults us. Are these to be our judges? Lusa, who was cast out of the Diversity Alliance because her incompetence caused three of our ships to crash, killing all aboard?"

Lusa reared up in astonishment. "That's a lie!"

Kambrea looked next at Sirra. "And this Wookiee sabotaged our supply storehouses. She destroyed medicine and food containers being sent to refugee worlds, while her brother Lowbacca meddled with our computer files!"

The alien guards beside her shifted restlessly and let their hands stray toward their weapons. Sirra bristled and growled. Luke laid a hand on her furry arm. Finally, Kambrea looked at Kur.

"And this-the greatest dishonor by far. A humiliated Twi'lek, defeated and exiled during the liberation of Ryloth."

Cilghal said, "Then it's true that Nolaa Tarkona sent him to die in the cold wastes?"

Kur hung his head in shame at hearing his disgrace spoken of so openly.

Luke could sense the resentments boiling in each of his fellow team members. Kambrea lifted her pointed chin.

"Surely you know the Twi'lek custom: if any member of the head clan dies, or is overthrown, the remaining members sacrifice themselves by going out into the Bright Lands to die. That is the way it has been for centuries.

After Kur's defeat, he proved himself a coward. He insisted on fleeing out to the cold wastes in hopes of surviving. You offend us by bringing him back here, where he has no place." The Devaronian snorted.

"Saboteurs, incompetents, and cowardly exiles-is this the best team you could find to investigate us?"

"We chose the members we felt were necessary," Luke said. "Show us the areas we've asked to see, and we'll make our own observations."

Kambrea spun about, shoulders rigid. Her guards clustered close around her. "Very well-follow me. You are about to see one of the most wonderful cities the Twi'leks ever built."

THE SILVER SPECKS in Aryn Dro Thul's gown swirled around her like a spiral galaxy as she rushed into the comm center at Bornaryn headquarters.

"Are you certain the message is for me?"

"No doubt about it," the comm officer said, standing up and making way for her at the console. "The proprietary encryption is layered," he said.

"I was only able to decode the first level that addressed it to Lady Aryn Dro Thul."

Aryn did not allow her hands to shake as she deftly input her authorization to decode the message. It was trilevel-encrypted, which meant that it must be from either her son or her husband. Not even Boman's brother Tyko Thul possessed authorization for the third level of encryption. The comm officer discreetly activated his console 's privacy field. Aryn barely noticed when the soundproof and light-scattering security field formed around her.

Realizing that this message might contain news she did not wish to hear, she cued it up to play immediately. Her husband's voice was accompanied by a sphere of light that pulsated with a variety of ever-changing colors and an audible pattern of harmonics from which Aryn's musically attuned ears gleaned more information than Boman's words could possibly have expressed in so short a time.

"My dearest wife. I greatly regret that my work here is not finished and I cannot return to you. I received two shipments that will delay my return."

The sphere of light pulsated with two colors side by side, representing Bornan and Raynar together. The vividness of the hues meant that they were both in good health. Around the edges, bright splashes of color indicated the presence of other friends. At the same time, the music told her through a series of harmonizing tones that her husband and son were happy-but the music skipped a beat or two, then paused on an open chord that symbolized something missing from that happiness: her presence.

"There is no urgency to this message. I am completely alone and need no help,"

Boman's voice went on. Pastel colors wove through the sphere of light, intertwining and then reversing their colors. So, Aryn thought as she recognized the code, the exact opposite is true. Someone was already there helping, but Raynar and Boman needed reinforcements. Urgently. An undulating low tone warned of danger and the possibility of traitors around her.

"You are a strong-willed woman, my love, and I cannot tell you what to do-but I believe you know what I ask."

Squiggles of alternating color indicating friends and enemies alike began at the outer edges of the sphere and rippled inward to converge on a single point. It meant that he needed her to bring help to a single location, and that the enemy might already be on its way. The music became a precise arpeggio, and in her mind each individual note became distinct, relaying to her a series of numbers. Coordinates-a map that would take her to her husband.

"Until I see you again, remember that I love you," Boman ended.

Light-swirls of sincerity and regret surrounded a bright core of love. A musical note of tenderness rang out a single time. And suddenly the message was gone-music, lights, words... everything. Aryn Dro Thul did not waste time replaying the entire message. She fixed the notes of the arpeggio firmly in her mind, deleted the message, and switched off the privacy field. Coming to a swift decision, she stood and nodded thanks to her comm officer. Then she swept out of the room and headed toward the Imperial Palace. She had to see Leia Organa Solo.

"So you believe your husband found the source of the plague, and he needs our help immediately?" Leia said, leaning forward to study Aryn Dro Thul's serious expression.

The two women sat together in the Chief of State's private office.

Aryn nodded.

"From the way his message was formatted I would guess he already has several people helping him in addition to our son-your children perhaps?"

Leia nodded.

"It sounds like they all found each other."

"He indicated that they need even more help," Aryn said. "But Boman seemed to be concerned about spies and traitors."

Leia smiled grimly.

"Don't worry. We'll send them some trustworthy reinforcements, if I have to hand-pick every member of the team myself. And my husband, General Solo, will lead the mission personally."

THE EMPEROR'S OLD weapons depot was a labyrinth of pressurized domes, tunnels, and sealed chambers where unimaginable mechanisms of death lay stored. Since the isolated asteroid station had, as far as they knew, no large docks or entrance points, the Rock Dragon and the Lightning Rod were forced to dock against separate domes. The cargo hatches sealed against the airlocks, and the seven companions gathered inside the silent, abandoned station. Low rock ceilings and tunnels plated with metal made the confined chambers feel like a prison. Jacen looked all around, sniffing the air, which was none too fresh. Other than the scavenger Fonterrat and Boman Thul, he guessed that no one had set foot here for decades.

Now Thul looked sickened.

"I wish Fonterrat had never stumbled on this place."

Raynar stood close to his father.

"I wish the Emperor had never even thought of making this asteroid into a weapons storehouse."

The older man looked down at him with a sympathetic smile.

"Well, what are we gonna do about it?" Jaina asked. Zekk stood next to her, his face grim.

"We'll destroy the depot, of course. Isn't that why we're here? Nolaa Tarkona's probably on her way already."

"First, we must find where the plague itself is stored," Tenel Ka said.

"Then we can neutralize it."

Jacen nodded vigorously to show that he agreed with the warrior girl. But then, he usually did. Bornan Thul took a step forward, placing himself in the lead.

"Follow me. I found it before, but I couldn't get inside." He swallowed hard. "At the time, there didn't seem much chance Nolaa Tarkona would ever get here. I thought there might be another solution."

"We're here to help you this time," Raynar said consolingly. "We can solve this problem if we work together."

Squaring his shoulders with determination, he marched beside his father through the enclosed corridors. The artificial gravity generators still functioned on the tiny rock in space. The companions passed through a central complex where curved transparisteel domes overhead showed a sprawling view of an endless starfield, studded with the occasional floating mountains of asteroids in space around them. At one time, Jacen knew, Star Destroyers had come here to stock up on weapons. They carried stormtroopers and munitions to oppressed worlds so that the Empire could squeeze its iron fist even tighter. Here in this station, Evir Derricote had tested and stored his most deadly creations, diseases against which no blaster could defend. Derricote had released the Krytos plague on Coruscant just after the capital world had fallen to the Rebels. Because the disease struck only nonhumans, its spread caused a great deal of friction among the member races in the Rebel Alliance.

Now, in a frightening turnabout, it seemed the opposite was about to happen. In order to get her revenge against humans, Nolaa Tarkona wanted to release the ultimate plague-a disease even the Emperor had considered too terrible to use-so she could strike down all of humanity. But the young Jedi Knights would never let that happen. Jacen picked up his pace.

After hesitating at an intersection of corridors, where half-open bulkheads seemed ready to crash down on them, Bornan Thul said, "This way to the central chamber."

He led them through another dome to a large blast-shielded airlock that blocked their way. Though the door was closed, the controls were not passworded. Boman Thul worked the keys easily, sliding the long-silent airlock door open. The next corridor held more secure airtight interlocks. Thul operated door after door, until finally they entered a central hub, the core of the asteroid depot.

"This is the chamber of horrors," he said.

Jacen hovered near Tenel Ka's shoulder, gasping in awe as he stared through broad panels of transparisteel that looked down into the main room. Raynar remained beside Bornan Thul. Zekk and Jaina stood next to each other, while Lowie, taller than the rest, peered over their heads.

Behind the sealed windows, Jacen saw a vast room where row after row of tanks and cylinders stretched to the far side of the chamber: small canisters, large tubes, vats, gurgling spheres. Each was filled with bubbling, evil-looking liquid. Refrigeration racks full of tiny vials and flasks covered one entire wall, floor to ceiling. Every last container held a colorful mixture that was deadly to one species or another.

Jacen could hardly believe his eyes.

"There's enough contamination in there to wipe out every living creature in the galaxy!"

Lowie growled in agreement.

Em Teedee chirped, "I do believe you're right, Master Jacen. I could make a reasonably precise estimate, if you like. Given the rate at which the human plague organism spread on Gammalin, and assuming each of the plagues could as easily be passed from one member of a targeted life-form to another, I should venture to guess that-"

"We understand, Em Teedee," Jaina cut him off, but she could not tear her eyes away from the transparisteel window. "We understand all too well."

Doors marked with an ominous skull and DNA symbol to denote the deadly virus gave access to the chamber. The two-way intercom system would have allowed for communication between Imperial workers inside the sealed chamber and stormtrooper guards on the outside. But Boman Thul did not go near the entry.

"We shouldn't risk setting foot inside just yet," he said. "If any one of us were exposed to that human plague... we could all die before we have a chance to destroy anything."

Zekk frowned.

"No. We didn't come here to die. Any ideas on how to demolish the storehouse? The place looks pretty secure. Could we use blasters to break all of the cylinders?"

Boman Thul shook his head.

"No, that would merely spread the plague. We'll have to expose it to space."

"To accomplish that, we must turn this entire asteroid to dust," Tenel Ka said.

"Hey, sounds reasonable to me," Jacen said.

"Shouldn't we get started before Nolaa Tarkona arrives?"

"We don't know how much of a head start we have on her," Raynar pointed out. "We've got to hurry."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jaina said. "Any suggestions?"

Borran Thul raised his eyebrows.

"This is a weapons depot. The Emperor stored munitions here as well as biological weapons. The plague canisters are in this central chamber, but I'm fairly certain that some of the other bunker rooms contain thermal detonators, explosives, space mines, heavy demolitions equipment."

"Yeah... we could use stuff like that," Jaina said with a twinkle in her eye.

Jacen let out a low whistle. "Sounds just like what we saw Nolaa Tarkona hiding in the tunnels of Ryloth."

Tenel Ka gave him the faintest of smiles. "Those stockpiles produced rather gratifying explosions."

Jacen looked at her and flashed a grin, remembering how they had escaped from the ryll mines.

"If we wipe out every speck of this plague," Raynar said, "Nolaa won't pose much of a gallactic threat anymore."

Borran Thul strode to a side doorway, unsealed it, and led the way to a tangential corridor inside the asteroid. Jacen paused for one long moment, feeling a shiver down his spine as he looked at all the cylinders filled with the deadly plague, then turned to hurry after his companions.

Thul took them to where a heavy, blaster-shielded door blocked his way.

"I think this is one of the main weapons vaults," he said. "All the munitions should be in there, but..." His shoulders slumped.

"Unfortunately this one has security coding. I was never able to get in to see if I was correct."

Tenel Ka snatched at her lightsaber handle and flicked on the turquoise energy blade.

"A Jedi Knight could find a way in."

"Excuse me," Em Teedee said quickly, "but perhaps I could manage the code? I have had some experience with Imperial systems."

Jacen paused, his hand on his lightsaber handle.

"Let him try, Tenel Ka. We can always use our lightsabers later."

The warrior girl agreed.

"I will save my weapon for the real battle."

Jaina hooked up the leads in Em Teedee's case to the door control systems. The little droid's golden optical sensors glowed and pulsed as his computer brain worked through the encryption levels. With a thunk and a hum, the locks unsealed themselves and the door slid open.

"Quite masterful, if I do say so myself," Em Teedee stated, sounding insufferably pleased with himself. The young Jedi Knights drew together.

Bornan Thul and Zekk moved closer as they gazed into a room filled with explosives, detonation packs, sonic grenades, and every form of compact destruction Jacen had ever heard of. The shelves of demolition equipment seemed to go on and on.

"I think that'll be quite enough firepower," Zekk said, crossing his wiry arms over his chest. Tenel Ka nodded and whispered, "This is a fact."

WHEN NOLAA TARKONA'S armada arrived at the plague storehouse, the Twi'lek leader could barely contain her excitement. She gripped the bridge rail and leaned forward as the Wookiee woman Raabakyysh guided the flagship into orbit high above the small asteroid. Nolaa's single head-tail thrashed from side to side, while she observed the expressions of her crew through the optical sensors in the stump of her other head-tail. She saw anticipation, eagerness for battle, and a bloodthirsty desire for vengeance upon the cursed humans.

The asteroid depot itself was small and nondescript, studded with pressurized domes. Slash marks showed where excavation had shaped the giant rock. The place looked abandoned, though the numerous domes and airlocks and hollow bays offered plenty of hiding places for small ships.

She had feared she might encounter an entire guardian fleet of New Republic warships-but she had beat them all. She had arrived first.

"The human-killing virus is down there," she said. "It is the only weapon we need for our ultimate victory. Raaba, you will command my armada while I go down personally to make sure we get everything we need. Corrsk, Rullak, come with me. Bring guards... and plenty of weapons. I'm not in the mood for further delays."

Nolaa spun about as Raaba proudly took her seat in the flagship's command chair.

The Diversity Alliance guards suited up, belted blasters to their waists, and prepared to go down to secure the Emperor's plague. After docking to an isolated dome at the pole of the asteroid, Diversity Alliance guards stormed out of their ships. They marched through mazes of interconnected corridors, weapons raised and ready to shoot anything that moved. Nolaa fervently hoped her soldiers wouldn't blast any of the plague cylinders in their enthusiasm. She didn't want to waste the precious deadly substance. She walked with brisk footsteps, her dark robe swirling, her body armor confining but protective. This place stank of humans. It had been built by the human Emperor, used by human scientists, guarded by human stormtroopers. The twisted biologist Evir Derricote had worked here-also a human.

But in a way he hadn't been so terrible.... Derricote had, after all, devised the means for bringing about the extinction of his own race.

"Spread out," Nolaa said sharply. "This is a small asteroid. It shouldn't take long to find what we need."

Directing Rullak and Corrsk each to take a team of guards, she herself took charge of the third group.

"And remember, this was a munitions storehouse." She turned back with a smile, flashing teeth that had been filed to delicate points. "Keep an eye out for anything else we might find useful to our cause."

They split up, each choosing a different hallway. As Nolaa's group passed through pressurized doors, she saw how foolish the Imperials had been for not installing better security or identification locks. It made her task almost too easy. She and her soldiers marched down the stone-floored corridors, casting a critical eye at the metal walls, the interlock doors, the decades-old technological enhancements. Someone with less finely attuned senses might have thought this place similar to the comfortable Twi'lek tunnels on Ryloth-but to Nolaa Tarkona it had an entirely different feel. This had been made by humans, dug out as a pit in which to store weapons, not a civilized place for a species to grow and expand.

The soldiers fell into step with her; the pounding of their hard boots echoed in the chill, sluggish air. They explored each alcove and side passage under the pressurized domes, searching for the place Fonterrat had described-the chamber that contained the plague. It held the future of the Diversity Alliance, and the death of the human race. They came to a series of small cells. Each had been sealed and marked as contaminated and hazardous.

Curious, Nolaa peered through the thick transparisteel windows at what seemed to be secure pens, each with a cot and a refresher unit but few amenities. Inside lay the desiccated, plague-ridden corpses of various aliens. She saw the remains of a Quarren, a Wookiee, a Twi' lek, and many other species that were unidentifiable because of the advanced decomposition. Test specimens for other genetically engineered diseases, targeted at specific alien species. Here, before her eyes, was clear-cut evidence of the horror Evir Derricote had intended to inflict upon nonhuman species.

Any glimmer of pity that might have remained in her for all humans who were about to die faded in an instant. Nolaa Tarkona could not wait until the murderous species was eradicated entirely.

"Pick up the pace," she said. "Let's find that plague and get out of here. The Diversity Alliance has important work to do."

On the flagship, Raaba growled orders, insuring that the other ships in the Diversity Alliance armada into line. The asteroid field was sparse but still held hazards for clumsy navigators or inexperienced pilots.

Raaba wanted their cluster of ships to act like a military fleet, to Pull together like a well-trained force. Attitude was essential. They cruised above the weapons depot, and she growled for two outlying vessels to tighten up the formation. While Nolaa Tarkona was on the asteroid, Raaba intended to keep the armada alert. They had no reason to anticipate any resistance, of course-or that New Republic forces might come after them-but Raaba would not be taken by surprise.

Lowbacca and Sirra had already done that to her.... Leaning back in her command chair, Raaba scanned the asteroid below. She used the ship's high-resolution sensors to study the pockmarked surface, analyzing the structural refinements Imperial engineers had added: the blister domes and bunker outcroppings, the fuel station, the numerous small docking ports. Then, as she focused in on what seemed to be an anomaly, she sat up with a growl and stared at the image before her eyes, unable to believe what she saw.

In an instant she recognized two small craft nearly hidden in the rocky shadows beside the domes: the Rock Dragon and Zekk's ship, the Lightning Rod. She leaped up from her command chair with a startled roar.

The young Jedi Knights were already here! They had arrived at the weapons depot before the Diversity Alliance.

Raaba toggled the communications system, sending a tight-beam transmission directly to Nolaa Tarkona. She had to warn her leader that she might be walking into a trap.

THE YOUNG JEDI Knights emerged from the munitions bunker, each carrying a pack that held enough explosives to blow up a substantial portion of the depot. As they'd realized what they were about to do, their lighthearted camaraderie had turned to grim determination. When Bornan Thul narrowed his eyes, inspecting the companions, Jacen was worried the man might dismiss them as a bunch of kids caught in a dangerous situation. But instead, Raynar's father saw bravery there, and a dedication to purpose.

He obviously considered them all, including his own son, to be real Jedi Knights. Jaina dug in her pack to take inventory of the explosives, the detonators, and the space mines she had stashed there.

"We'll have to find strategically vulnerable areas on the asteroid. It'll take plenty of explosives, carefully positioned at specific structural weak points, to bring this place down."

"We will find the weaknesses," Tenel Ka said.

"Let's split up into teams," Zekk suggested. "We can go off in different directions and plant more explosives in less time. I want to slag this depot and get out of here before anything goes wrong."

"If anything does go wrong, though," Jacen said, "we'd better agree to rendezvous in our ships out in space."

"An excellent suggestion, Master Jacen," Em Teedee said at Lowie's side.

"I, for one, will be glad to have this Diversity Alliance business over with so that we can get on with more pleasant pursuits."

Lowie patted the little translating droid as if in commiseration. He barked and chuffed an alarming suggestion, which Em Teedee passed along.

"Master Lowbacca suggests that since he is the only nonhuman in this group, he should be the one to plant explosives inside the plague chamber." Jaina exclaimed, "We can't let you go in there by yourself, Lowie!"

"Lowbacca is correct," Tenel Ka said. "If the rest of us are exposed, we are doomed. He may be immune because he is not human."

"Hey, I think we'll all encounter sufficient dangers in setting our own explosives," Jacen said, understanding the grim truth behind Lowie's realization. Somberly, they went in separate directions, carrying their explosives. Lowie trudged toward the central plague chamber, Em Teedee clipped to his belt. Zekk and Raynar stayed with Bornan Thul, who was still loading up at the munitions storage room, while Jacen, Jaina, and Tenel Ka went off to disperse their detonators at structural weak points in the domes and tunnel junctures.

As they hurried, Jaina scrutinized the tunnel walls, corridor intersections, and pressurized domes. She hesitated outside the doorway to one of the overhead domes, unslung her pack, and withdrew a heavy disk, a space limpet mine. Holding the mine against one of the metal walls, she pushed a button to activate its magnetic seal. With a clank, the mine attached itself to the wall. She looked over at her brother and Tenel Ka, raising an eyebrow.

"These limpet mines used to be sent out like a cloud into space. If one attached itself to the hull, it could blow up an entire Corellian corvette."

Tenel Ka grunted in appreciation. "Devastating," she said. "The only problem was, they clung to anything metal in the vicinity. They used no discrimination routines, and several Victory-class Star Destroyers ended up victims of their own space mines."

"Serves them right," Jacen said.

"It is always tragic when warfare causes unintended casualties," Tenel Ka pointed out. "Even Imperial ones."

"Well, if we destroy this depot, the Emperor won't cause any more casualties," Jaina said. She activated the space mine, and its lights winked green: READY FOR DETONATION. She went farther down the wall of the dome and planted another mine on the opposite wall. "That should take care of this dome," she said.

"Now let's move on to the next one." Jacen followed, planting detonators at the branchpoints of corridors.

Once they set off all this destruction, nothing would remain of the asteroid but a rock as dead as it had been before the Empire set foot on it. Lowbacca hesitated outside the doorway to the central plague chamber.

This airtight room contained more death than he had ever seen in one place: sealed transparent cylinders filled with multicolored liquids, vials of plague solutions, nutrient baths teeming with virulent organisms. It was his responsibility to destroy them all, and he carried high-temperature incinerating explosives to do the job. It wouldn't do just to crack open the vials and disperse the liquids. He had to make sure the explosion was hot enough, with incandescent heat from a dozen thermal detonators, to annihilate the virus that had been created to kill human beings.

"Well, Master Lowbacca, it does no good to wait," Em Teedee scolded.

"It's high time we went inside and plant the detonators. The others are counting on us."

Lowie growled something, and Em Teedee huffed.

"I am not being impatient. Just because I'm a droid and can't get a plague doesn't mean I don't understand the dangers. I can well imagine computer viruses, you know." Rather than endure more of the droid's talk, Lowie worked the airlock controls, assisted by Em Teedee's rapport with the computer systems. The air within the pressurized chamber was kept sterile, and backup systems and fail-safes prevented any possible leaks.

Lowie stepped inside, his fur bristling with apprehension. The metal floor felt cold against his feet, and the air smelled harsh and disinfected. He looked around at the tubes and spheres of deadly solution and planned his strategy. He left the pressure door open behind him, not relishing the prospect of being trapped inside the lethal chamber.

Then he cautiously walked in among the towering cylindrical tanks. He moved slowly, carefully, until he finally snapped himself out of his daze and removed the thermal detonators from his pack. He was a Jedi Knight, and he had a threat to wipe out. He placed his first set of heat explosives under the largest of the bubbling tanks in the center of the room; then he spiralled outward, ducking down, moving like a machine as he planted one detonator after another.

He didn't want to think about the swarming virus behind the thin walls of transparisteel. He didn't want to smell the reprocessed air. He just wanted to be out of here and destroy it all behind him. As he planted another set of detonators, though, he noticed a marking near the base of the tube labeling the solution inside-KRYTOS PLAGUE, MULTIPLE SPECIES, SLOW-ACTING.

Lowie stiffened, recognizing this disease that had harmed so many aliens, including Wookiees, just after the fall of the Empire. So... this plague storehouse held far more than just the human-killing plague after all!

Lowie now turned his attention to the other tanks and vials, inspecting their labels. The colored solutions contained numerous deadly agents.

Label after label made his blood run cold. GAMORREAN, SLOW - ACTING.

QUARREN, FAST-ACTING. WOOKIEE, SLOW-ACTING. TWI'LEK/CALAMARIAN, VARIABLE

VIRULENCE.

Lowie realized that if Nolaa Tarkona got her hands on all of this, not only could she destroy humans, but she could also threaten every other race in the galaxy! The leader of the Diversity Alliance could assert her power over any species in a way that even the Emperor had not dared to do. Lowie planted his remaining detonators as fast as he could, then rigged up a central explosive controller, which he placed near the main containers in the middle of the room. He would be very glad to get out of this place.

Not even he was safe in here.

After the other young Jedi Knights went on their way, Raynar stayed beside his father inside the munitions bunker. Zekk put his hands on his hips and looked up at the remaining explosives, blasters, and detonators.

"Still plenty left here to cause quite a bit of destruction," he said.

Boman Thul went to work opening cases and linking detonators, preparing to trigger the remaining explosives.

"If we set off all these," Thul said, "we'll put this entire asteroid into a spin."

"I'd rather not be here when that happens," Raynar said.

His father looked down at him with an understanding smile.

"We won't be, Raynar," he said. "I'll make sure you get out of here safely."

Borran Thul worked hard to arrange boxes, linking up blast points for sympathetic explosions. His son dutifully opened more cases, while Zekk moved from one to another, making connections, checking timers, and setting the stage for the biggest explosion he could imagine.

"If Jaina can find enough structural weak points to booby-trap, then this should take care of the weapons depot once and for all," Zekk said, confident in his friend's abilities.

Borra sighed.

"I should have found a way to do this myself a long time ago."

"We're finished here," Zekk said, impatient to get moving again. He grabbed several explosive packs to take with him. "We'll plant these along the way," he said, "then pick up Lowbacca back at the central chamber."

WITH EACH EXPLOSIVE she planted, Jaina felt the metal-lined hallways seem to close in on her. At her direction, Jacen set timed explosives in alternate places, while Tenel Ka drew her lightsaber and sliced partway through support beams or disabled safety interlocks.

"Blaster bolts! When this place blows, it's really going to blow," Jacen observed. "Hey, how many thermal detonators does it take to blow up an Imperial weapons depot?"

"Ah. Aha," Tenel Ka said, responding to Jacen's attempt at humor as if the question were a serious one.

"The answer is obvious." Jaina finished setting the time delay on her detonator, moved farther down the corridor, and began setting up the next one. "Okay then," she said, rising to the bait, "how many thermal detonators does it take?"