SIXTEEN

Far below the Falcon, the golden expanse of Qoribu’s largest ring swept past, a vast river of sparkling rubble that curved under the purple moon Nrogu and faded into the twilight murkiness of the planet’s dark side. In the distance, just beyond the ghostly green crescent of the moon Zvbo, the first tiny darts of Chiss efflux were tracing a crazy lacework against the star-flecked void.

“We’re coming into visual range now,” Leia reported. “It looks like the search is spreading. I see ion trails to all sides of the ring—some up to thirty degrees above.”

“Wonderful.” Han’s tone was sarcastic. “The Chiss are going to be in a great mood.”

“What leads you to believe that?” Juun asked. He was in the port-side passenger’s seat, annoying Han by constantly peering over his shoulder. Fortunately, Tarfang had been sent back aboard the Shadow, where Tekli would be able to tend to his wounds. “Because they’re having trouble finding survivors from their starship?”

“How’d you guess?” Han’s voice was even more sarcastic.

“Procedure,” Juun answered proudly. “They’ve increased their search radius, and why would Chiss search protocols be any different from our own?”

“You’re one smart Sullustan.”

“Thank you.” Juun beamed. “Coming from Han Solo, that is an enormous compliment.”

“Yeah,” Han said. “Sure.”

He pulled back on the yoke, and the Falcon began to climb away from the ring. Immediately, Leia felt the curiosity of their escorts—Jaina, Saba, Alema, and Zekk—rise in the Force.

“Our StealthXs are wondering what you’re doing,” Leia reported. “To tell the truth, so am I.”

“We don’t have stealth technology,” Han explained. “And as bad as things are going for the Chiss, if they catch us trying to sneak in, they’re liable to blast first and not bother with questions.”

“Like the Talu insertion in the Zsinj campaign,” Juun declared. “The Falcon will act as a decoy while the StealthXs penetrate the enemy’s perimeter.”

“Not really,” Han said.

“No?” Juun sounded crestfallen. “Why not?”

“Because you can’t stuff a Wookiee into a StealthX cargo compartment,” Han said. “So we’re just gonna fly in there and fetch Lowbacca ourselves.”

“And the Chiss are going to permit that?” Juun gasped.

“Sure.” Han glanced over at Leia, then said, “Leia is gonna talk ’em into it.”

“I am?” Leia waited for Han to elaborate, then finally realized he was counting on her to come up with a plan. “This should be interesting.”

“Very,” Juun said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how you do it.”

“Me, too,” Leia said.

Leia set her doubts aside and reached out to Jaina and the others in the Force, trying to lay out Han’s plan without the benefit of words. Though she had participated in a handful of battle-melds toward the end of the war, she was not very practiced in the sort of empathic broadcasting used to communicate with StealthX pilots, and the sentiments she felt in reply ranged from confusion to concern. Growing more frustrated with each failure, she finally stopped trying and concentrated on two words: Trust me.

The four pilots seemed instantly reassured and spread out behind the Falcon, flying along the dark bands in the ring so their craft would not be silhouetted against the glittering rubble. Leia shook her head, thinking that she needed to spend more time practicing.

The Force filled with encouragement.

“Jaina and the others seem okay with the new plan,” Leia reported. Though Saba was in charge of the Jedi in the StealthXs, Leia’s bond with her daughter was so much stronger that the clearest communication came from her. “I think.”

“Good.” Han leveled off ten kilometers above the planet’s ecliptic and took the Falcon into the gray dusk of its penumbra. “But doesn’t all this seem a little easy to you?”

“Not really,” Leia said. “We still haven’t seen how the Chiss are going to respond, and—”

“Not them,” Han said. “Jaina. She doesn’t give up that easily.”

“I’m sure she just realized you were right,” Juun offered. “Any daughter would listen to a father of your experience.”

“I’m afraid humans are more complicated than that,” Leia said before Han could respond. Sooner or later, even a Sullustan would recognize the sarcasm in Han’s voice, and she did not want to see Juun crushed again. It had been bad enough when they had shut off the tractor beam and let the XR808g float free. “And Jaina is more complicated than most. She’s as stubborn as her father.”

“Thanks.” Han sounded genuinely proud. “She’s got something up her sleeve, I know it.”

“Probably,” Leia agreed. “But at the moment, all that matters is recovering Lowbacca. After we’ve kept our end of the bargain, we can take her home by force, if necessary.”

“By force?” Han looked down his nose at her. “We haven’t had that option since she was ten. This is Jaina, remember? Sword of the Jedi?”

“I remember,” Leia said. “But I’ll always be her mother. I can still do what needs to be done.”

Han studied her for a moment, then grinned and nodded. “Yeah, Princess, I’ll bet you can.”

“We can,” Leia corrected. She could sense that Han did not entirely agree with her; that now he was the one hiding something up his sleeve. “We’re in this together, nerf herder. This won’t be like the time you left me to deal with that unwashed vent crawler she brought home.”

“Honey, that was Zekk,” Han said.

“I know who it was,” Leia said. “If not for me, Jaina would have ended up living in the undercity with him. It was all I could do to get him into the Jedi academy so she’d stay there.”

“Okay,” Han said. “But Jaina’s not thirteen anymore. She’s older than you were when I met you, and twice as bantha-headed. If she doesn’t want to go—”

“You’re not suggesting we let her stay,” Leia said. “I know you better than that.”

“I’m suggesting we might not have a choice.” Han took a breath, then spoke again in a calmer voice. “I don’t get it, either. Why anyone would risk their neck to save a bunch of overgrown anthills is way beyond me. But Jaina really wants this. I saw it in her eyes when Luke asked her and the others to return home.”

“Saw what?” Leia asked, wondering what Han was up to. This did not sound like the same man who had just flown across half the Unknown Regions to prevent his daughter from becoming a “bughugger.” “Because all I saw was disappointment and defiance.”

“Exactly,” Han said. “She’s not going to give this up. She’s probably never felt anything this pure.”

“You’re not making any sense, Han.”

“Look, Jacen and Jaina were raised on deals,” Han explained. “They grew up watching us struggle to hold the New Republic together, making bargains and playing politics.”

“Because we were the established order,” Leia said, feeling a bit defensive. “It’s more complicated to preserve the status quo than to overthrow it. You write your plans in shades of gray.”

“That’s what I mean,” Han said. “Everything was a compromise for those kids. They never had anything simple to fight for.”

“They had the Dark Jedi and the Diversity Alliance,” Leia countered. “They had the Yuuzhan Vong. That was all pretty clear.”

“And all of it was stuff to fight against,” Han said. “I’m talking about something to fight for, something pure to build. None of these young Jedi Knights has ever had that.”

Leia was beginning to see what Han was driving at. “You mean they didn’t have the Rebellion.”

“Right,” Han said. “The Killiks are peaceful underdogs, minding their own business in neutral territory, and the Chiss are trying to starve them out. I can see how Jaina might think that’s a pretty clear-cut case of the weak needing protection from the strong. Heck, it almost makes me want to fight for them.”

Leia frowned, wondering if her husband was showing the first signs of becoming a Joiner. “But you don’t, do you?”

Han rolled his eyes. “I said almost.” His tone was a little sharp and defensive. “I’m just talking about how Jaina might see things.”

“What a relief,” Leia said. “I thought for a minute you were going to say we had to let her and the others stay with the Colony.”

“When black holes shine,” Han scoffed. “What I’m saying is we have to make them think it’s their choice. I don’t want to take that spark away. Jaina finally has the same look in her eye that you did when I rescued you from the Death Star.”

Trying not to read anything into the word did, Leia objected, “You didn’t rescue me.” The debate was an inside joke with them, a way of reliving their past, when their own dreams had been so pure and uncomplicated. “You fell for Darth Vader’s trick and led the Imperials straight to Rebel base at Yavin Four.”

“No,” Han corrected. “I lured the Death Star into the Rebel trap. If not for me, that thing would still be flying around the galaxy.”

“Really?” Juun gasped from the navigator’s seat. “They didn’t mention that in Special Delivery.”

Han blinked slowly, then twisted around in his seat. “Are you still here?”

“Of course,” Juun replied to Han. “A crew member never leaves the flight deck without permission.”

“You’re not a crew member,” Han said.

Outside the forward viewport, Leia noticed a cluster of tiny blue halos beginning to swell in the darkness of Qoribu’s shadow. She checked the tactical display and found two flights of Chiss starfighters heading their way.

“Han!” Leia grabbed Han’s shoulder. “Company!”

By the time Han turned around, the halos were large enough to show the spidery silhouette of the clawcraft cockpits and weapons-arms.

“Finally.” Han gestured at Leia’s comm microphone. “What are you waiting for? Talk to ’em.”

In the dream, Lowbacca was down in the Shadow Forest with his uncle Chewbacca, racing along the dark wroshyr branches toward the green wall that was the Well of the Dead. Though the Well’s tangled boundary of foliage was no farther than two hundred meters ahead, the two Wookiees never reached it. They just kept running, tearing through curtains of sloth-moss, jumping the long kkekkrrg rro claws that swung up to slash at their ankles. Every dozen meters, Chewbacca would lay a mighty hand on Lowbacca’s shoulder and rumble encouragement. But the words were never clear, and the only comfort came in the familiarity of his uncle’s heavy touch.

But this time, the touch was not Chewbacca’s. It was just as familiar, but lighter, and on the inside and it did not feel like a Wookiee at all.

It felt like a human. Like a female human.

Jaina.

When did she learn to climb wroshyr trees?

“You’ve what?” the Chiss voice demanded over the comm.

“I repeat,” Leia answered, “we’ve come to assist your search for survivors.”

“Jedi survivors?” the voice asked.

The six clawcraft had taken up escort positions behind the Falcon. With Leia occupied on the comm, Han had barely persuaded the Noghri not to hand-crank the as-yet-unrepaired cannon turrets around to face the starfighters.

“Negative,” Leia replied. “All Jedi are accounted for. We’ve come to assist in the search for Chiss survivors.”

“Really.” The officer sounded disbelieving. “The Chiss Ascendancy has adequate resources in place. You may return to your own base at once.”

Leia took a deep breath. She glanced over at Han and pointed at the throttles, signaling him to be ready to make a break for it, then said, “That’s clearly not true.”

There was a long pause, during which time the Falcon passed by Zvbo’s ghostly crescent and slipped into the full darkness of Qoribu’s umbra.

Finally, the Chiss asked, “Did you just call me a liar, Falcon?”

“We can see the search operation is going poorly,” Leia said. “You’ve expanded your radius to an area your flotilla couldn’t cover properly in a week, and the situation is rapidly growing worse. So please don’t insult me by telling us you have the situation under control.”

“Very well.” The officer’s voice turned icy. “Then I will simply instruct you to leave the area at once. Your assistance is not desired.”

Han made a turning motion, but Leia shook her head. She was just getting started.

“Negative,” she said. “We’re continuing on to assist.”

“Now you are the one insulting me,” the officer said. “Whatever your interest is here, I doubt it is Chiss casualties. Turn back, or you will be fired upon.”

“I really doubt that,” Leia said. “If you don’t know who flies the Millennium Falcon, I’m sure your superiors do. The Chiss are not going to fire on a former New Republic Chief of State and Luke Skywalker’s twin sister—not over a few moons that aren’t even inside their own territory.”

A flurry of red cannon bolts flashed past and lit the Falcon’s canopy.

“Shouldn’t we ob-b-bey?” Juun stammered. “He s-seems very serious!”

“You’ve got a lot to learn about security patrols,” Han said. “If he had been serious, we’d be sucking vac right now.”

“I see.” Juun’s tone was one of sudden enlightenment. “You have a copy of their procedural manual!”

Han let his chin drop and shook his head.

A moment later, the officer finally grew tired of waiting for Leia’s protest. “That was your only warning. The next time, we fire for effect.”

“Just how many Jedi would you like in this system?” Leia retorted. Her threat was far more empty than the officer’s, since even if there had been enough Jedi Knights to carry it out, Luke would never use the Jedi in retaliation. “This is no longer an unauthorized operation. Master Skywalker has already taken half of our Jedi Knights and started back to the Galactic Alliance. I’m sure your superior wouldn’t want my brother’s report to the Jedi Order and Chief of State Omas to be influenced by another unfortunate incident. Wouldn’t it be better to allow us to assist, as a gesture toward continuing to resolve this thing?”

There was a short silence, then the Chiss asked, “Which Jedi Knights departed with Master Skywalker?”

Leia smiled. It was an obvious honesty test, with the Chiss asking for information their spies had probably already supplied.

“Luke and Mara took Tesar Sebatyne, Tekli, my son Jacen, and Tahiri Veila,” Leia said. “We plan to take the rest with us when we go.”

“You give your word?” the Chiss asked.

“Certainly, if your commander will give his word that the Chiss will cease their attempts to force the Colony to depart Qoribu,” Leia answered. She doubted the standoff would be resolved so easily, but it was worth a try. “In any case, we will be leaving a senior Jedi to monitor the situation.”

There was another pause, then the Chiss said, “Obviously, I lack the authority to negotiate on behalf of the Ascendancy.”

“Obviously,” Leia said.

“But the offer will be passed to the appropriate Aristocra. Until then, we are honored to accept your offer of assistance. Please proceed to the coordinates I transmit and begin a two-kilometer grid search.”

“Copy,” Leia said. “And thank you for allowing us to help.”

“My commander asks me to express his gratitude for your assistance,” the officer replied. “Out.”

The coordinates appeared on the navigation display.

“We’re not going to find anyone up there,” Juun complained. “That’s practically out of orbit!”

“Juun,” Han said. “You’re supposed to be a smuggler.”

“I am a smuggler.” A catch came to Juun’s voice. “At least I was until I lost the XR-eight-oh-eight-g.”

“Then you should know we’re not going anywhere near there.” As Han spoke, he was swinging the Falcon away from Qoribu’s dark mass onto a heading that would carry them generally toward the area they had been assigned. “We just gotta make it look good.”

Lowbacca opened his eyes to a vast banded darkness and was instantly back above Qoribu, shivering inside the cold stink of his EV suit, anchored to a ronto-sized hunk of ice and dust in the planet’s ring system. The blackness around him was filled with blue needles of ion discharge—Chiss rescue ships still searching for survivors—and a steady rain of battle debris was plunging into the gas giant’s thick atmosphere, igniting a spectacular display of crimson cloud-blossoms.

Jaina continued to touch Lowbacca through the battle-meld, helping him push back the loneliness and despair that she herself had experienced when she went EV at Kalarba. Alema assured him they would reach him soon. Zekk worried about his life-support status. The heads-up display inside Lowbacca’s helmet showed low batteries, no water, and thirty minutes of air—three times that if he returned to a hibernation trance. Another presence urged him to stay alert and be ready.

Lowbacca thought for a moment this last presence was Tesar, but it felt older, fiercer, less familiar…Saba!

Be ready! There would be only one chance.

Lowbacca disengaged his tether-line safety sleeve and poised his thumb over the quick release gate. He was ready.

With his other hand, he pulled himself down to the iceball, then grabbed the anchoring bolt and used it to slowly spin around, looking for the telltale halo of an approaching vessel. He saw only the ion trails of craft passing on the oblique, and that puzzled him. Jaina and the others would be coming in StealthXs, but they were even more cramped than standard XJs. How were they going to pick him up…

The question vanished from Lowbacca’s mind. There was a dark shape about a hundred meters ahead, its canopy and one weapons-arm protruding above the sea of iceballs that formed Qoribu’s ring system.

It was probably just an empty wreck. Or maybe Lowbacca was seeing things. His EV suit was automatically holding his oxygen consumption at a minimum, feeding him just enough air to keep him functional, and hallucinations were common under such circumstances. Jaina had told him she spent several hours talking to Yoda when she went EV. Unfortunately, she had not been able to understand anything he said because he spent the whole time speaking in Gamorrean.

Lowbacca slowly spun himself toward Qoribu, keeping a careful watch at ring level. He found another dark shape about the same distance away, this time pointed in his direction, standing on edge with two weapons-arms protruding above the surrounding surface. A flash of entry fire on Qoribu briefly lit the cockpit, silhouetting a helmeted head.

The cold suddenly began to seep into Lowbacca’s bones. He reached out with the Force, extending his awareness in all directions, and found himself surrounded by living presences.

Chiss presences.

Leia set their new waypoint and transferred it to Han’s display. “There, I think.”

Han glanced down at his screen. “You think, or you’re sure?”

“Sure?” The word emerged from Leia’s dry throat in a high-pitched croak. “What do you think? The coordinates just popped into my head.”

The navigation schematic showed a yellow destination icon hanging on the inner edge of Qoribu’s ring, about as far from the Falcon’s assigned search area as it was possible to get.

“Sorry for asking,” Han said. “But we’re only going to get one shot at this.”

When Han continued on their current trajectory, Leia sighed and reached out to her daughter, then began to recite the coordinates in her mind.

But Jaina was in no mood to be bothered. Leia sensed only an overwhelming urgency and determination—and perhaps an irritated admonishment to stop wasting time.

“Han, just go. Something’s not right.”

“Okay.” Han swung the Falcon toward the new waypoint, then pushed the throttle forward and activated the intercom. “Battle stations back there. This might get rough.”

“Battle stations?” Juun gasped. “Do you remember that your cannon turrets are nonfunctional? Your gunners won’t be able to hit a thing!”

“Have some faith, Shortwave,” Han said. “You’d be surprised what Noghri hit when they can’t aim.”

“This has happened before?”

“Sure,” Leia said, only half listening. “It seems like something’s always broken down just when you need it most.”

To her surprise, the Chiss did not immediately demand to know why the Falcon had drifted off course. In fact, she detected no sign they had even noticed. Thankful that Raynar had not felt threatened by their sensor dish, Leia locked it on their destination and began a passive analysis of the vicinity.

“The Chiss are being awfully quiet,” Han said. “Better take a sensor reading on our destination—but don’t go active. We don’t want to give away where we’re going.”

“Good idea,” Leia said, vaguely affronted that Han had felt it necessary to tell her the copilot’s job. “There are some unusual mass concentrations in the vicinity, but no EM or propulsion emanations.”

Han glanced over and gave her a crooked grin. “You’ve been reading my mind again, haven’t you?”

“Princess Leia does that?” Juun sounded worried—or embarrassed. “She reads minds?”

“Sure,” Han said. He frowned at the Sullustan’s reflection in the cockpit canopy. “All the best copilots do.”

Leia found the Juun’s embarrassment a little disturbing, but decided it was better not to contemplate the source. The Sullustan had probably been admiring her procedure or something.

“Speaking of mind reading, I can’t get that infrared reading you were thinking about,” Leia said. “Too much background radiation from Qoribu.”

“Not good,” Han said. “And the Chiss aren’t sending—”

C-3PO clumped onto the flight deck. “Captain Solo, you seem to have forgotten about the cannon turrets when you declared battle stations,” the droid said. “We should probably turn around now, before anything unfortunate happens. It would be much safer.”

“Juun!” Han barked. “Do you know where the circuit breaker is on a threepio droid?”

“Of course.”

“If he says another word about turning around or being doomed, trip it.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Please don’t,” C-3PO said. “My poor circuits have already been overstressed by the deterioration of Captain Solo’s reflexes, and the current folly isn’t helping matters.”

Juun stood on his chair.

C-3PO stepped away. “There’s no need for that,” he said. “I’ll be the routine of bravery, I assure you. Go ahead. Fly us straight into that planet, and you won’t hear another word from me.”

“Tempting offer,” Han grumbled.

Finally noticing the Falcon’s direction—or bothering to address it—the Chiss flight controller opened a channel.

“Millennium Falcon, this is Rescue One. Explain your course deviation.”

Leia reached forward to open a reply channel, then thought better of it and lowered her hand. “Let’s see if they’re serious.”

“The Chiss?” Han asked. “You want to see if the Chiss are serious?”

“I have a feeling,” Leia said. “Just—”

“—trust me,” Han finished. “I know.”

Juun’s eyes widened. “Does everyone on this ship read minds?”

“Why, no,” C-3PO confessed. “I don’t.”

The Falcon continued toward the web of ion trails crawling across Qoribu’s dark face for another second, then the Chiss controller’s voice came over the comm again.

“Millennium Falcon, I ask again. Explain your course deviation.”

Leia glanced over. Finding Han’s eyes narrowed in thought, she knew they were thinking the same thing.

“They’re afraid of scaring us off,” she said.

Han nodded. “It’s a setup.”

“Millennium Falcon, if you fail to reply—”

“Sorry about that,” Han said, activating his own microphone. “We’ve been kind of busy up here.”

“Doing what?”

Before replying, Han glanced over and mouthed their daughter’s name. Leia nodded and, allowing her alarm and suspicion to rise to the surface, reached out to Jaina.

“Uh, we think we’ve spotted some survivors,” Han said into the comm. “That’s why we weren’t answering—been busy getting the recovery equipment ready.”

“We haven’t detected any survivors on your course,” the Chiss said.

“We’re closer,” Han said. “And, uh, you don’t have a Jedi on board.”

“A Jedi found them?” There was a short pause, then the Chiss said, “Very well. Carry on with our gratitude.”

Han closed the channel. “That does it—they’re playing us,” he said. “Did you warn Jaina?”

“She already knew.” Leia’s stomach felt as empty and cold as the darkness outside the canopy. “She doesn’t care.”

Lowbacca could not see the StealthXs, of course, but he could feel them. They were no more than a thousand kilometers away, converging on him from four sides, coming in fast and hard.

No! Lowbacca thought into the meld. He fixed his gaze on the nearest of the clawcraft, then imagined its laser cannons flashing to life as his rescuers swooped in to pick him up. Ambush!

Jaina’s laughter echoed in his mind. But Saba seemed more curious. Lowbacca’s meld-connection was not as strong to the Barabel as it was to Jaina and the other strike team members, but he felt sure she was wondering how many clawcraft there were, whether the StealthXs could take them all. Lowbacca had never wanted to lie more than he did at that moment, to see a friendly face smiling down at him from a StealthX cockpit. But his rescuers had no chance of success. There had to be an entire wing of clawcraft hiding in the rubble around him, all waiting for a shot at the Jedi rescue team.

Jaina wished he would stop exaggerating, but Saba seemed sorry, and it was clear she did not like the thought of abandoning him. Lowbacca wasn’t worried. Clearly, the Chiss knew where he was.

Jaina’s frustration filled the Force, and Saba’s anger rose in reply. But Lowbacca could sense Jaina still approaching, feel her arming her weapons and selecting targets, determined to draw the Chiss off en masse. The Sword of the Jedi was not one to give up easily, not while there remained one sliver of hope.

Lowbacca knew what he had to do. He turned his wrist up, then opened the safety cover on the inside sleeve of his EV suit and revealed the emergency beacon activator.

“This is going to be bad, Han,” Leia said.

“How bad?” Han armed the concussion missiles.

“Worse than that.”

Jaina had lost too much during the war—Anakin, Chewbacca, Ganner, Ulaha, and on and on. She was determined to lose no more.

Then the steady ping of an emergency beacon sounded from the Falcon’s emergency speaker, and Leia looked down to see a bright yellow EV designator blinking over their waypoint. The tactical display instantly grew white with clawcraft, and Jaina’s frustration changed to shock.

“Lowie!” Leia gasped, saddened and relieved at once. “Thank you.”

She experienced a brief moment of warmth through the Force, then the feeling was lost as Lowbacca grew distracted and broke contact.

Han looked over expectantly. “Well?”

“It’s over,” Leia said. She reached out to Jaina and sensed her daughter’s disappointment—and Saba’s lingering fury at having had her orders disobeyed. “They’re on their way back.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Han swung the Falcon around to join them, then added, “The rescue team did everything it could. I hope Jaina knows that.”

“Me, too, Han,” Leia said. “But I don’t think—”

She was interrupted by the Chiss flight control officer. “Millennium Falcon, what is the status of your survivors?”

“Survivors?” Leia was confused for a moment, but that confusion quickly turned to anger as she recalled the excuse Han had made and realized she was being mocked. “I’m sure you’ve figured that out, Rescue One.”

There was a slight pause, then a deep and familiar voice sounded from the comm speaker. “My apologies, Princess Leia. I just wanted to confirm my understanding of the situation.”

Leia’s jaw fell, and she looked over to find Han having trouble keeping his own mouth closed.

“Jag?” she gasped. “Jagged Fel?”

“Indeed,” the reply came. “It wasn’t our intention to gloat.”

“Jag!” Han cried. “What are you doing here?”

“That would fall under the heading of military intelligence, Captain Solo,” Jag replied. “But rest assured, the Jedi Wookiee has been recovered. He’ll be treated with all the rights and privileges due any enemy combatant—as will the rest of your rogue Jedi, when we capture them.”