TWENTY-TWO

The shadow bomb had opened a velker-sized hole in the hull of the nest ship, but the blast had penetrated only as deep as the second deck, where Luke now stood amid a tangle of devastation. The Force was too filled with ripples to tell where Lomi Plo had gone, but he knew by the cold knot in his stomach and the ache in his limbs that she was somewhere nearby, watching and waiting for the right moment to attack again.

Luke could sense Tarfang about thirty meters ahead, slowly moving away. Hearing the Ewok was even easier. Tarfang was chattering angrily into his suit comm, though it was anyone’s guess whether he was cursing his captors, or Luke and Han.

Then Han’s voice came over the comm as well. “All set here, Luke.”

Luke looked up and saw Han and Juun two stories above, dimly silhouetted against the star-flecked void of space. C-3PO and R2-D2 were nowhere in sight; Han had left the damaged droids on the exterior of the ship, where they would be easy to retrieve on the way out.

Luke grasped Han and Juun in the Force and lowered them through the hole, being careful to keep them well away from any jagged edges or sharp protrusions. DR919a’s escape pod vac suits were about as flimsy as space suits came; one tear would be the end of the person inside. Once they were down, Mara’s StealthX appeared in the breach and descended on its repulsorlifts, slowly spinning in a circle.

Luke kneeled at Juun’s side and touched helmets so they could converse. “Did you see Lomi Plo up there, when she tried to sneak up on me?”

“I aw omeding,” Juun said. Sound waves never carried well through helmets, and his nasal accent made the situation worse. “I did na know it wah her until you had the li-saber fight.”

“Good enough,” Luke said. He stood and turned toward Mara’s StealthX, now settling onto the deck next to them, and activated his comm unit. “We’re a little short on weapons.”

Mara nodded inside the cockpit. A moment later the canopy opened, and she passed Luke the E-11 blaster rifle from the survival kit attached to her ejection module.

“What about destroying the hyperdrive?” she asked over her suit comm. “We can’t let this nest ship leave the Choke.”

“I know,” Luke answered. “But we have to get Tarfang back first. I dragged him into this, and now I have to drag him out.”

This drew an affirmative Ewok yap over the suit comm.

“We don’t have much time,” Mara warned. “And we’re only going to have one chance to hit that thermal vent you and Han found. I’m down to my last shadow bomb, and the Falcon can’t do this.”

Luke nodded. He had felt Leia’s relief as she and Saba escaped the Ackbar’s captors aboard the Falcon, and now they were on their way to the Gorog nest ship to retrieve him, Han, and the others. But the Falcon’s concussion missiles would not be accurate enough to reach the nest ship’s hyperdrive—or powerful enough to destroy it even if they did.

“What about Kyp and all the other Jedi I sense out here?” Luke asked. “Maybe I should call them over to help.”

“You could,” Mara said. “But you’d have to countermand Admiral Bwua’tu’s orders. He has them targeting the hyperdrives of the other nest ships. This one is my responsibility.”

Luke raised his brow. “Kyp has been helping with this blockade?”

“Hardly,” Mara scoffed. “It’s complicated, but it all started when Leia and Saba were captured by the Ackbar on our way back to Woteba.”

“An Alliance vessel arrested Jedi?”

“It gets worse,” Mara said. “From what I’ve been able to pick up eavesdropping on comm traffic between the Ackbar and the Mothma, the Chiss have been holding the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance responsible for the Killiks’ return to their border. Chief Omas tried to appease them by blockading the Utegetu nests, and to keep the Jedi from interfering, he placed Corran Horn in charge of the order.”

Luke frowned. “Chief Omas doesn’t choose Jedi leaders.”

“That’s what Kyp and his team thought,” Mara said. “So they commandeered a squadron of StealthXs to free you and Han from the Killiks, and Leia and Saba from the Ackbar. It’s a mess.”

“That’s an understatement.” Luke shook his head in frustration. He had always taught that Jedi should act in accordance with their consciences, trusting that the Force would lead them to do what was best for the order, the Alliance, and the galaxy. Clearly, his faith had been misplaced somewhere along the line. “Then why is Kyp—and everyone else—following Bwua’tu’s orders now?”

“Because Leia urged us to,” Mara said. “Nobody wants Killiks loose in the galaxy with these nest ships.”

“At least everyone agrees on that much.”

Luke had a terrible, hollow feeling in his stomach. In his efforts to build an order of self-directing Jedi, he had left the order itself adrift. No one had made a selfish or wrong decision—not even Chief Omas—but there had been no one to make them work together, no one to channel their energy in a single direction.

In short, there had been no leadership.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Skywalker,” Mara said. “You were stuck on Woteba.”

“I remember,” Luke answered. “But it shouldn’t have mattered—not if I had prepared the other Masters properly.”

Mara shook her head. “This is on Kyp and Corran and the rest of them. You can’t be there every minute.”

“No, but I can provide direction . . . and vision,” Luke said. “If I had been doing that, the Masters would never have let Omas split them.”

Han came over to stand beside the StealthX. “Maybe you two can talk command theory later,” he said. “If we don’t reach Tarfang before the bug queen drags him into a pressurized area, we’ll never get him back.”

“Sorry.” Luke reached up and rested his glove on the sleeve of Mara’s vac suit. “We’ve got to do this. I can’t leave him.”

Mara sighed. “I know—and so does Lomi Plo. She’s trying to draw us in.”

Luke smiled. “Her mistake.”

“It better be,” Mara said. “I’m not going to raise Ben alone.”

“You won’t have to.” Luke patted her arm, then stepped away from the cockpit. “I promise.”

Han started to follow Luke away from the StealthX, but Mara motioned him back toward the cockpit.

“Take this.” She passed her lightsaber to Han. “If things get close, it will do you more good than a blaster.”

Han’s faceplate remained turned toward the weapon for a moment, then he nodded. “Thanks. I’ll try not to cut up anything I shouldn’t.”

Mara smiled inside her helmet, but her eyes betrayed her concern. “After you three get Tarfang, jump on my wings,” she said. “I’ll lift you out of here fast, then go drop a shadow bomb down that thermal vent.”

“Sure,” Han said. “It’ll be just like my swoop-riding days.”

Once Han had stepped back, Mara closed the canopy and lifted the StealthX off the deck again. She turned in the general direction of Tarfang’s presence, then activated the external floodlamps and began to creep forward.

Luke waved Juun to his side, then leaned down and touched helmets. “Stick close to me.” He gave the blaster rifle from Mara’s survival module to the Sullustan. “And when you see Lomi Plo, don’t hesitate. Start blasting.”

Juun’s eyes widened inside his faceplate. “Me?”

“You want to save Tarfang, don’t you?”

“Of course.” Juun flipped the safety off. “I’d wo anywing.”

“Good,” Luke said. “Just remember: stick close.”

He motioned Han to the StealthX’s other flank, then started to follow the starfighter forward on his own side. The deck seemed to have been little more than a storage level. There were a few Gorog bodies, their eyes burst from sudden decompression, but most of the debris looked like broken waxes of black membrosia.

“These bugs are really starting to scare me,” Han said over the comm. “This ship design is sturdy . . . really sturdy.”

“Even with no shields?” Luke asked.

“Doesn’t need ’em,” Han said. “Every deck is a shield layer itself. Blast through one, and there’s another just like it right below. Given the size of these bug haulers, you might have to go down a hundred decks before you hit anything important.”

Luke had a sinking feeling. “What about Bwua’tu’s plan?”

“Oh, that’ll work,” Han said. “All ships are weak in the stern—even these monsters. But those shadow bombs better go right down the thrust channels. If they hit a wall and detonate before they reach the hyperdrive itself, all they’ll do is throw the bugs off course when they jump.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

Luke opened himself to the combat-meld, trying to impress on Kyp and the other pilots how important it was to be accurate when they targeted the other nest ships. He perceived a variety of emotions in response, from joy at sensing his presence, to gratitude for the advice, to frustration that the warning had come so late. The StealthXs were in the middle of their runs; some had already launched their bombs and were turning back to join the Falcon in coming after Luke and Han.

Luke poured reassurance into the meld; then the light from Mara’s floodlamps fell on a section of spitcrete wall. A band of about twenty pressure-suited Gorog were nearing one of the leathery membranes Killiks used as air locks. They were holding—struggling to hold—a small, kicking figure in a vac suit.

Mara touched Luke through the Force, wondering if she should take a shot.

He gave her a mental nod, then warned Han, “Watch your eyes! Cannons!”

Luke averted his own gaze and reached down to cover Juun’s faceplate, then Mara fired the StealthX’s laser cannons. The flash was so bright that Luke’s eyes hurt even looking at the floor.

When the light faded an instant later, he raised his gaze and found that the blast had destroyed not only the membrane, but much of the wall around it as well. Dozens of Gorog were spilling out through the gap, their limbs and bristly antennae flailing as they suffered swift but painful decompression deaths.

Many of the bodies tumbled into Tarfang’s captors, knocking some off their feet and turning the band into a tangled knot. One of the Ewok’s arms came free, and he began to thrash about so violently that the tangle became a snarl of whirling carapaces and flailing limbs.

Han rushed forward, firing half a dozen times before he traded the blaster pistol for Mara’s lightsaber. When he ignited the blade, the gyroscopic effect of the arc wave caught him off guard, and he spun in a complete circle before bringing the weapon under control and slashing through a Gorog’s midsection.

By the time Luke and Juun arrived, the Gorog had recovered from the initial shock of Han’s attack and were turning to fight, their shatter guns rising to fire. Luke used the Force to sweep the barrels aside, then ignited his own lightsaber and opened four pressure suits in a single slash. Juun clung to his back, firing point-blank into any insect that made the mistake of trying to close from the sides.

With their mandibles and pincer-hands enclosed inside their carapace-like pressure suits, the Killiks were reduced to simple blows or using their shatter guns. Luke concentrated on the weapons, defending himself, Juun, and Han with his lightsaber and the Force, lopping off gun hands and deflecting aims.

That left Luke and his companions vulnerable to hand-to-hand attacks, and several times Luke was almost knocked off his feet when a carapace slammed into him or a flailing limb smashed into his legs. But Mara was watching their backs from the StealthX, using the Force to seize any bug wielding anything that looked sharp enough to tear their flimsy vac suits, then sending it crashing into a jagged stub of broken wall.

When they had carved the band down to the last half a dozen insects, Mara’s lightsaber began to trace a frenzied, twirling, rolling pattern through the middle of the fight. Luke thought Han must have locked the blade on by accident and dropped the weapon. But then he caught a glimpse of orange vac suit behind the handle, and the lightsaber began to slice through Gorog pressure suits, dropping four insects in half as many seconds.

“Han?”

“Not me,” Han answered over the suit comm. He appeared a couple of meters away from the lightsaber, picking himself up off the floor. “I got knocked over.”

The lightsaber dropped another Gorog, then Luke cut the legs out from under the last insect as it spun around to fire its shatter gun.

Clinging to the lightsaber handle with both hands, being tossed around like a rag in sandstorm, was Tarfang. He was chattering in mad delight, swinging his legs around like a rudder, vainly attempting to counterbalance the weapon’s gyroscopic effects.

Luke stepped in and blocked, bringing the wild ride to a sudden halt and allowing Tarfang’s feet to drop back to the deck. He used the Force to deactivate the blade, then summoned the weapon out of the Ewok’s trembling hands.

Tarfang stood wobbling for a moment, then drew his shoulders back, chittered something grateful sounding over the suit comm, and held his hand out for the lightsaber.

“Sorry,” Luke said. “You’d better take the blaster.”

Tarfang placed his gloves on his hips and snarled.

Then the StealthX’s floodlamps began to dim, and Luke felt Mara’s confusion through their Force-bond. Tossing the lightsaber to Han, he whirled toward the StealthX and saw nothing but the fading glow of the floodlamps.

Han stepped to Luke’s side. “What is it?”

“Trouble!” Luke said. He gave Mara’s lightsaber back to Han. “Lomi Plo is draining the energy from Mara’s flood—”

He stopped in midsentence as Juun opened fire with the blaster rifle, aiming for a dark area just behind the StealthX’s cockpit. A trio of bolts passed only a meter above Mara’s canopy, then abruptly reversed course and came streaking back toward Juun.

The chill ache in Luke’s joints was slowing his reflexes, so he would have never have been quick enough to save Juun had he not known that Lomi Plo would deflect the attack. But when she did, his lightsaber was already dropping into position, and one after the other he intercepted the bolts, batting them back toward their original target.

The first bolt was deflected toward the ceiling. The other two simply passed over the StealthX and vanished into the darkness beyond.

Mara twisted around in her seat, trying to see what they had been attacking, but the StealthX’s floodlamps were already returning to their normal brightness. Lomi Plo had been forced to retreat.

“It’s okay,” Luke commed. “We’re coming!”

He grabbed Juun by the shoulder and started toward the StealthX, but the Sullustan suddenly stopped and dropped to a knee, trying to look under the craft.

Luke knelt beside him and touched helmets. “Where is she?”

“Behind de strut.” Juun’s voice was muffled. “Don’t you see her leg?”

“No,” Luke said. “I can’t see her.”

“You can’t see her, Madter Skywalker?”

“No, Jae,” Luke answered. “You’re the only one who can see her.”

“But when you foughd her, you blocked her addacks.”

“The Force was guiding my hand,” Luke explained.

Juun was quiet for a moment, then asked, “And when she dent my shots back at me?”

“The Force was guiding my hand,” Luke repeated.

Juun remained silent a moment longer, then exclaimed, “Madter Skywalker, you set me up!”

“I knew she would deflect your attacks,” Luke admitted. “But I did block her attacks . . . and you said you’d do anything to save Tarfang.”

“I suppose I did.” Juun sounded disappointed in himself. “All wight. What now?”

“Start shooting again. We need to chase her away from the StealthX before she does any more damage.”

Juun shouldered the blaster rifle, but did not open fire.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

“I can’t dee her, either.”

Luke’s heart rose into his throat. “What do you mean? Did she move?”

Juun shrugged. “I don’t know. Her leg just dort of disappeared—right in front of my eyes.”

Han and Tarfang came and knelt beside them.

“Let’s climb on that StealthX and get out of here!” Han urged over the suit comm. “If Lomi Plo darkened those lamps, it’s because she doesn’t want us to see the reinforcements coming up behind us.”

“You’re right.” Luke rose and started to lead the way forward, circling out of the StealthX’s line of fire. “But we need to be careful. She’s still up there, and now Juun can’t see her, either.”

“Why not?” Han demanded.

“I don’t know,” Luke said. “When he realized we couldn’t see her, he stopped . . .”

He let the explanation trail off, for he suddenly understood why Juun had lost sight of Lomi Plo.

“Doubt!” Luke turned to Han. “Cloud your vision, doubt will. Blast it! How many times did I hear that from Yoda?”

“Probably about as many times as I’ve heard that from you,” Han said, sighing.

Luke ignored the barb. “That’s how she’s doing it, Han. She’s using our doubts against us!”

“Only one problem with that theory,” Han said. “I believe in her, and I can’t see her, either.”

Tarfang added a positive yap.

“It doesn’t have to be doubt in her,” Luke said. They drew adjacent to the StealthX, and Mara began to back the starfighter toward the opening on its repulsor drive. “If Lomi Plo can sense any doubt in a mind at all, she can hide behind it.”

Han fell quiet for a moment, then said, “That might explain why Alema was trying so hard to make you doubt Mara.”

“I’m sure it does,” Luke said. “And now that I know what she was trying to do, I know that it’s without basis.”

He glanced in the StealthX’s direction and saw . . . nothing.

When Luke remained silent, Han seemed to sense his disappointment.

“It won’t be that easy, kid,” Han said. “Nobody knows how to twist up a guy inside better than a Twi’lek dancer. And Alema’s got the Force to help.”

Although Mara could hear their discussion over her own suit comm, she limited her response to the sharp sense of curiosity—it was almost suspicion—that Luke felt through their Force-bond. The idea of anyone, especially Alema Rar, sowing doubts about her in Luke’s mind angered Mara, but she was trying not to be hurt—at least until they reached someplace where Luke could explain himself in private.

One of the StealthX’s floodlamps suddenly exploded in a brilliant burst of light, then sparks began to flash off the starfighter’s dark armor. A dozen forks of lightning lanced down from under the fuselage, and the repulsorlift drive began to emit a steady shower of sparks. The StealthX started to wobble

Luke glanced back to see a line of pressure-suited Gorog swarming after them, pouring shatter gun fire into Mara’s craft.

Mara opened fire with her laser cannons, filling the chamber with flashing light. The shatter gun fire dwindled off as the Gorog pursuers dived for cover or were blasted apart. Deciding the time had come to chance a meeting with Lomi Plo, Luke grabbed Juun by the shoulder and started toward the StealthX.

Then the cannon fire began to dim and grow erratic, and he knew that Lomi Plo had returned to the starfighter. She was somewhere on the StealthX, draining its power again—or worse.

Luke pushed Juun toward the hole through which they had entered the nest ship, then said, “Han, run for the breach!”

He activated his lightsaber and Force-leapt onto the upper wing of the wobbling StealthX. He advanced behind his whirling blade, trying to force an attack from his unseen foe.

The tactic succeeded almost too well. As he reached the engine next to the fuselage, Luke felt the Force moving his lightsaber down to block a knee strike. Then a loud thunk sounded in his helmet as a kick or elbow or something sent him cartwheeling off the nose of the craft.

He reached out and caught hold of the engine cowling, then swung down in front of the lower wing.

To his astonishment, Han was crawling onto the lower wing with Juun and Tarfang.

“What are you doing?” Luke demanded. “I said run.”

“You run,” Han said. “I’ll take the cover.”

A series of shatter gun pellets punctuated Han’s point by sparking off the engine mount next to Luke’s head. He glanced back and saw that the Gorog swarm had renewed its charge. With the StealthX’s laser cannons out of commission, the Killiks were firing blindly around the starfighter, hitting whatever they could.

Mara shut down her last functioning floodlamp and accelerated backward toward the hull breach, the StealthX wobbling wildly and nearly dragging its overloaded wing on the deck. Tarfang filled the suit comm with howls of fear—or maybe it was excitement. Juun simply stared wide-eyed at Luke, his legs flapping off the wingtip like a pair of orange streamers until Han pulled him the rest of the way up.

Luke used the Force to do a twisting flip up onto the top of Mara’s canopy, then began to advance behind his whirling lightsaber again. It took only an instant before his blade intercepted Lomi Plo’s in another flurry of sparks. He pirouetted into a spinning hook kick that may as well have connected with pillar of durasteel. His foot stopped cold. Something hard smashed into his inner knee and sent pain lancing up his leg.

Still unseen, Lomi started to push Luke off the other side of the canopy. Then Luke saw Han’s helmet and shoulders pop up behind her, and Mara’s lightsaber came sweeping across the fuselage at ankle height.

Lomi stopped pushing. Sparks flashed as she blocked Han’s attack and sent Mara’s lightsaber skittering off the tail of the StealthX.

Luke sprang forward, slashing for the place where Lomi’s midsection was sure to be, knowing that this was the death strike—then suddenly the StealthX was bucking and shuddering beneath him, and it was all he could do to Force-stick himself to the starfighter’s fuselage.

“Hang on!” Luke yelled over the suit comm. “We’re going up!”

The edge of a ruptured deck flashed past, followed by the breach in the vessel’s hull, and suddenly the StealthX was out in space, wobbling and listing a dozen meters above the nest ship.

Han was still clinging to the wing with both hands, his legs floating free now that they had escaped the artificial gravity. Tarfang was clasping the barrel of a laser cannon with both hands, yowling wildly and fluttering his legs as though he were swimming.

But Juun was spinning off into space, his arms grasping at the void, his feet kicking at nothing. Luke caught the Sullustan in the Force and began to pull him back toward the wobbling StealthX.

Then his lightsaber began to flicker and fade, and a cold knot of danger sense formed between his shoulder blades. Luke did not even take the time to turn around. He simply stepped into a powerful back-stomp kick that caught his invisible attacker square in the chest.

Even with the Force reinforcing it, the kick was not powerful enough to launch Lomi off the StealthX—but it did save Luke’s life. Her blade scraped across the equipment pod on the back of his vac suit, and he pivoted into the attack, bringing his arms around in a double block that first slammed, then trapped both of Lomi’s arms.

Juun was still five meters from the StealthX, reaching for Tarfang’s fluttering boots.

“Tarfang, hold still!” Luke ordered, using the Force to pull the Sullustan the rest of the way back to the wing. “My hands are full, and Juun needs . . . help!”

Tarfang continued to kick, but Juun caught hold of a boot anyway. The Ewok glanced back, saw his captain hanging on to his boot, and finally obeyed.

Something sharp and powerful smashed into the pit of Luke’s stomach, taking him by surprise, since he still had both of Lomi Plo’s arms trapped.

Mara wheeled the StealthX around, going for the thermal vent, and Luke almost lost his balance. C-3PO and R2-D2 flashed by below. They were still standing where Han had left them, C-3PO’s photoreceptors following the StealthX as it passed overhead. One of Tarfang’s hands came loose, and for a moment the Ewok and Juun were hanging from the cannon barrel by one hand.

Again, something sharp and powerful smashed Luke in the stomach—could it be a third elbow?—and this time it drove the air from his lungs. He kicked one of Lomi’s legs, twisting the two arms he did have under control, trying to wrest her lightsaber free.

The third elbow slammed Luke another time. When he tried to fill his lungs again, it felt as if he were trying to suck down a chestful of gauze.

Luke was out of air.

He glanced at the status display inside his helmet and found only darkness. The slash across his equipment pod might have killed him after all. He tried one more time to wrench the lightsaber from Lomi Plo’s hands, but he was losing his strength.

Then the gentle clunk of a launching shadow bomb pulsed through the fuselage. The StealthX bucked as they shot through the heat plume above the thermal vent. Lomi Plo immediately released her lightsaber and slammed Luke with a powerful Force shove, trying to rid herself of his grip so she could divert the bomb.

Luke almost came free . . . until he hooked a leg around one of Lomi’s and slammed down on top of Mara’s astromech. He used the Force to stick himself in place, then saw Han across from him, holding on with one hand and aiming Tarfang’s blaster with the other. His lips seemed to be moving inside his helmet, but whatever he was saying remained unheard. Lomi’s slash had disabled Luke’s comm unit as well as his air recycler—or perhaps he was just slipping into unconsciousness.

A brilliant flash lit space behind them, then Mara banked the StealthX around and Luke saw Tarfang and Juun, still hanging onto the cannon barrel, silhouetted against a huge column of flame. It died down for a moment, then suddenly shot up again as a secondary explosion shot out of the thermal vent. Had there been any air left in Luke’s lungs, he would have cried out in joy. At least they had disabled the Dark Nest’s hyperdrive.

Mara stretched out to him through the Force, ordering him to hold on just a little longer. Luke was already doing just that. He could feel Leia and Kyp and the rest of the Jedi pilots touching him through the battle-meld, assuring him that help was close by. He began to calm his mind and his body, to slow his heartbeat and other natural processes in preparation for entering a Force-hibernation.

Then an unseen weight settled astride his chest and invisible fingers began to scratch at his helmet, attempting to open the faceplate or break a seal. Luke lashed out as best he could, but he was starting to grow dizzy, and his reactions were slow and weak. He heard an ominous click behind his ear, near the faceplate hinge, and reached out with the Force, trying to shove his attacker off.

Lomi shoved back, slamming his helmet into the top of Mara’s canopy. Energy bolts streamed past his head as Han opened fire with the blaster, and finally Lomi turned her attention to deflecting the attack.

Mara urged Luke to hold on tight, and Han suddenly stopped firing. The StealthX flipped upside down, and Luke found himself looking down at the knobby hull of the nest ship, less than three meters away. He used the Force to pull himself even tighter to the fuselage, then glimpsed the blocky shape of a heat sink swelling in front of him. He tried not to waste his last breath on a scream.

Whether Lomi Plo jumped or was scraped off as they passed, Luke could not say. But in the instant beforehand, he saw two bulbous green bug eyes staring down at him through the transparent face panel of a Killik pressure suit. They were set in a melted female face with no nose and a pair of stubby mandibles where there should have been lower jaws. Luke would have sworn that when the mandibles opened, he could see a smiling row of human teeth . . . or maybe his oxygen-starved mind was merely beginning to hallucinate.

Then the weight vanished from inside his chest, too, and he was suddenly free of Lomi Plo, still using the Force to pin himself against the StealthX. He turned his head and saw Han wedged between the fuselage and the engine cowling, clinging to the shield generator mount with both hands, screaming something inside his helmet that Luke was just as glad he could not hear.

Mara suddenly flipped the StealthX right-side up again. A flight of dartships went streaming past overhead, then wheeled back around to attack. A dozen propellant trails streaked from their bellies. Mara ducked behind a boulder, and an instant later a series of orange flashes lit the heavens on the other side.

Luke’s vision began to darken around the edges. He glimpsed the Falcon streaking past above, her repulsor beam already stabbing out to send the dartships tumbling on their way, then felt Leia and Saba touch him through the Force, urging him to hold on just a little longer, telling him that the Falcon was coming right behind him. Finally, Luke’s vision went completely black.

But he did not fall unconscious. He reached out to Mara and Leia and Kyp and all of the other Jedi, even to Han and Juun and Tarfang, and their strength held him out of the abyss.

EPILOGUE

Outside the viewport hung eleven distant nest ships, a string of dark dots silhouetted against the sapphire curtain of the Utegetu Nebula. They were blocking the Murgo Choke, as though the Killiks believed that the small task force of cruisers and frigates with which the battered Mon Mothma had returned actually intended to launch an assault. Han fancied that he could even see a dark blur where the screen of dartfighters was deployed in front of the bug fleet. Their caution was somewhat reassuring, suggesting as it did a certain military naÏveté. No commander in his right mind would attack the bugs’ fleet with anything less than a three-to-one Star Destroyer advantage, and it would be weeks before the Alliance could assemble a battle group of that size.

Han only hoped that some genius on the general staff did not get the bright idea of trying to hold the bugs off with a couple of StealthX squadrons. So far, there was no indication that either Jaina or Jacen was anywhere near this mess—and that was just fine with him. They had both faced more death and treachery in their young lives than any ten Jedi should ever have to.

The door to the briefing room whispered open, and Han turned to see Gavin Darklighter emerging, his dress whites slightly rumpled after the long session inside. He paused long enough to run a hand through his dark hair, then he let out a deep breath and came to stand with Han.

When he didn’t say anything, Han asked, “Any word?”

“Bwua’tu is still asking questions,” Darklighter said. “He’s fair for a Bothan, and your statement did a lot to exonerate them both. But I couldn’t get a read on how he’s going to handle having the Ackbar commandeered. Juun and Tarfang are a pretty convenient-looking pair of scapegoats.”

Han nodded. “I figured that, but I was asking if you had heard anything about Luke.” He gestured toward the guards at the lift station. “They won’t let me leave the deck until I’m dismissed by Bwua’tu, and medbay is too busy—”

The lift doors started to open, and Luke’s voice said, “We’re fine, Han.” He stepped into the corridor with Mara at his side. He looked as pale as a shaved wampa, but seemed alert enough and steady on his feet. “I told you that aboard the Falcon.”

“No, what you said was ‘ooormmgg fffff,’ ” Han said, flashing a crooked smile. “Then you passed out.”

“Did I?” Luke asked half seriously. “I don’t remember.”

“Yeah, you did,” Han said. “I don’t suppose the EmDee droids let you see Leia before you came up here?”

“Better than that,” Mara said. She stepped aside, and Leia and Saba emerged from the rear of the lift. “They told us they needed the bed.”

After the fight with Alema and her bugs, Leia’s face was still swollen and so swaddled in bacta wrap that she looked like a Tusken bride. But the sight of her lifted Han’s heart as it had not been lifted since the births of Anakin and the twins, and he went to her and took her hands—at least the one that wasn’t in a cast—in his.

“Hello, beautiful.”

Leia smiled—then winced. “You need to get your eyes checked, flyboy.”

“Nope.” Han kissed her on the lips . . . very, very gently. “I’m seeing better than ever.”

Saba slapped her tail against the deck, then rolled her eyes and walked away sissing.

“Yes, well, we’re glad to see both of you well again,” Darklighter said. He motioned Leia toward a couch near the viewport, then turned to the guards stationed in front of the briefing room. “Inform Admiral Bwua’tu that Master Skywalker is available to make a statement.”

The guard acknowledged the order with a salute, then disappeared through the sliding door.

“Thank you, Gavin,” Luke said. “Juun and Tarfang risked their lives trying to warn the fleet about what was in those statues. I owe it to them to make certain Admiral Bwua’tu understands that.”

“Han has already made a report,” Darklighter said. “But hearing your account will certainly add weight to it.”

Luke nodded, then went to the viewport and looked out at the string of nest ships. “How bad is it?”

“Not as bad as it could have been,” Darklighter said. “The Killiks got out with four nest ships and the Ackbar, but the Dark Nest’s ship is still here—along with ten others. I’ll do what I can to make sure that the Jedi receive the credit they deserve in the official report to Chief Omas.”

“Thank you,” Luke said. “That will go a long way toward rebuilding the trust between us. We’re going to need that, if we’re going to prevent this from erupting into a full-scale war.”

Darklighter looked uncomfortable. “I’m afraid we’re running out of time for that, Master Skywalker.”

“Chief Omas has already decided to go to war?” Leia asked.

“Not Omas,” Darklighter said. “A courier arrived for Admiral Bwua’tu a short while ago. The Chiss are claiming that a group of Jedi launched a preemptive strike against one of their supply depots.”

“That’s impossible,” Luke said quickly. “Jedi don’t launch preemptive strikes!”

“Then a handful of Jedi loaned their StealthXs to some Killiks,” Darklighter said. “The Chiss sent along a security holo from one of the ammunition dumps that was taken out. It shows a pair of StealthXs pretty clearly. And Jagged Fel seems convinced that one of the pilots was Jaina. He claims he recognizes her flying style.”

“Jaina?” Han slapped his forehead. “Why would she do something like that?”

“That’s what the Chiss would like to know,” Darklighter replied. “Nobody was killed—and that convinces me that it was Jedi—so the Chiss aren’t treating the attack as an act of war. But they are taking it as proof that they need to handle the Killiks themselves. They’ve declared the Qoribu Truce violated and are preparing to launch an assault to push the Colony back.”

Han shook his head. “Jaina knows the Chiss better than anyone,” he said. “She’d know how they would respond to a preemptive strike. Something stinks about that report.”

“Actually, the preemptive strike can be a very sound tactic,” a gravelly Bothan voice said. “Especially if you are trying to provoke a response.”

Han looked over to see Bwua’tu stepping out of the briefing room. Juun and Tarfang followed a pace behind, their chests puffed out and smug grins on their faces.

“That’s what I mean,” Han said. “Jaina and Zekk are practically bugs themselves! She’d never do anything to make the Chiss launch a major attack against the Colony.”

“I’d like to take your word for it, Captain Solo,” Bwua’tu said, going to the viewport. “After all, you know your daughter better than I.”

The admiral stared out at the nest ships in contemplative silence, then spoke without looking away from the viewport.

“Commodore Darklighter, have the task force launch all fighter squadrons and deploy in attack formation.”

Darklighter’s jaw dropped even farther than Han’s. “Attack formation, sir?”

“You may choose which one, Commodore,” Bwua’tu said. “I don’t believe it will matter.”

Darklighter made no move to obey. “May I remind the admiral that we barely have a ten-ship advantage over the Killiks, and that most of our vessels are significantly outclassed?”

“You just did.” Bwua’tu turned to glare at Darklighter. “After the Ackbar’s capture, I may not be in command of the Fifth Fleet much longer. But until I am relieved, you will obey my orders. Is that clear, Commodore?”

Darklighter jerked to attention. “Sir!”

“Carry on,” Bwua’tu said. “Report back when you are finished.”

Darklighter pulled a comlink and stepped away to carry out the admiral’s orders. Han, Luke, and the rest of their group exchanged nervous glances, clearly wondering what the Bothan could be thinking. Only Leia did not seem convinced that he had lost his mind; her expression was one more of curiosity than apprehension.

Either oblivious to their expressions or pretending not to notice, Bwua’tu turned to Luke.

“Captain Solo gave a glowing account of Juun’s and Tarfang’s actions once they learned the true nature of the statuary they delivered to my fleet. Would you concur?”

“I would,” Luke said. “They aided our escape from the Saras rehabilitation house, lost their own vessel while investigating the Killik plans, and fought valiantly on the Gorog nest ship. It’s unfortunate that my Artoo unit was damaged, or we would be able to provide documentation.”

“That’s quite unnecessary,” Bwua’tu said. “The word of a Jedi Master is documentation enough.”

An uncomfortable silence followed while the admiral continued to stare out the viewport—and while Han, Luke, and the others silently considered what they might be able to do to stop the attack on the nest ships and prevent the loss of yet more Alliance lives.

Finally, Darklighter returned and reported that the admiral’s orders had been issued.

“Very good,” Bwua’tu said. “I was very impressed with Captain Juun’s and Tarfang’s knowledge of our enemy. Sign them on as intelligence affiliates and see to it that they’re assigned a scout skiff. Make certain it’s stealth-equipped. I imagine they’ll be doing a lot of work behind the lines.”

Han and Luke exchanged surprised glances, then Luke asked, “Admiral, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Tarfang stepped over to Luke and let loose a long, angry string of jabbering—to which Bwua’tu replied in kind. After a short exchange, the admiral looked back to Luke with a scowl.

“Tarfang doesn’t understand why you’re trying to undermine him and Captain Juun,” Bwua’tu said. “And frankly, Master Skywalker, neither do I. You seemed quite impressed with them a few moments ago.”

“Captain Juun and Tarfang are very earnest,” Luke responded. “But that doesn’t mean they would make good intelligence agents. They can be, uh, rather naÏve. I worry about their chances of survival.”

Tarfang started to yap an objection, but Bwua’tu silenced him with a soft chitter, then turned back to Luke.

“So do I, Master Skywalker.” Bwua’tu looked back out the viewport, where the task force frigates were beginning to move out toward the flanks. “I worry about us all.”

Luke frowned, clearly at a loss as to what he could say to make Bwua’tu change his mind. Han caught Leia’s eye, then nodded toward the admiral and raised his brow, silently asking if he was crazy. She flashed a reassuring smile, then gave a slight shake of her head.

“Trust me, Captain Solo,” Bwua’tu said, speaking to Han’s reflection in the viewport. “Your friends are capable of more than you think. They usually are.”

“Uh, actually, I was worried about your attack orders,” Han said. “You don’t think that seems a little crazy?”

“I do,” Bwua’tu said. “But right now, these bugs are unsure of themselves. More importantly, they are unsure of us.”

“And we need to keep them that way,” Mara said, approvingly.

“Precisely,” Bwua’tu replied. “You Jedi tossed a hydrospanner into the Killiks’ plan. They’ll be wondering what else you can do, and I intend to use that doubt to make them believe they lost this battle.”

Luke’s brow went up. “And force a negotiation!”

Bwua’tu shot Luke a impatient frown. “Not at all, Master Skywalker. I expect them to retreat.”

“And if they don’t?” Luke asked.

“Then I will have miscalculated . . . again.” Bwua’tu turned to Han. “I’ve been thinking about your daughter’s preemptive strike. By all accounts, she’s a sound tactician. What do you think she would do if she knew the Chiss were preparing a major attack?”

Han’s stomach sank. “How could she know something like that?”

Bwua’tu shrugged. “I have no idea. But if she did, a preemptive strike would be a stroke of genius. It would force the Chiss to attack before they were ready—or risk having their preparations disrupted completely. It might well be the Colony’s only hope of survival.”

“Survival?” Leia asked. “Didn’t the Chiss message say they were only going to push the Killiks away from the frontier?”

“Yes, and their previous message said that they were going to let the Jedi handle the problem,” Bwua’tu replied. “That’s the trouble with Chiss messages, isn’t it? You never know when they are telling the truth.”

“Wait a minute,” Han said. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing—didn’t want to, anyway. How many times would he face his children flying off to war? How many times could he? “You think this war is already starting?”

Bwua’tu nodded. “Of course. It started before their messenger left Ascendancy space.” His gaze remained fixed on the viewport, where the task force cruisers were moving out in front of the formation. “The irony of it is, I believe the Chiss are worried that we’ll side with the Killiks. Their message may be just a ruse to reassure us, to keep the Alliance from taking action until it’s too late to save the Colony.”

“This is just nuts!” Han said.

“Not nuts—scary,” Mara said, her face falling. “What are the Chiss going to think when the Admiral Ackbar shows up on the Colony’s side? It’ll only confirm their suspicions. They’ll think the Alliance gave it to the Killiks.”

“Exactly,” Bwua’tu said. “If I am right, this is going to be a very interesting war.”

Leia closed her eyes for a moment, then reached out and squeezed Han’s hand. “I’m afraid you are right, Admiral,” she said. “Jaina and Jacen are in the middle of something bad. I can feel it.”

Han’s heart sank. Not again, not so soon.

Bwua’tu sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that, Princess.” He turned to Darklighter again, then said, “Commodore . . . have all batteries open fire.”