Star Wars

New Jedi Order

Edge of Victory

book 1

Conquest

by

James Luceno

PROLOGUE

Dorsk 82 ducked behind the stone steps of the quay, just in time

to dodge a blaster bolt from across the water.

"Hurry on board my ship," he told his charges. "They've found us again."

That was an understatement. Approaching along the tide embankment  was  a

mob of around fifty Aqualish, jostling each other and shouting hoarsely.  Most

carried makeshift weapons×clubs, knives, rocks×but a few had force  pikes  and

at least one had a blaster, as the smoking score on the quay testified.

"Join us, Master  Dorsk,"  The  3D-4  protocol  droid  close  behind  him

pleaded.

Dorsk nodded his bald yellow × and × green mottled head. "Soon. I have to

slow their progress across the causeway, to give everyone time to board."

"You can't hold them off yourself, sir."

"I think I can. Besides,  I  need  to  try  to  talk  to  them.  This  is

senseless."

"They've gone mad," the droid said. "They're deístroying droids all  over

the city!"

"They aren't mad," Dorsk averred. "They're just frightíened. The  Yuuzhan

Vong are on Ando, and may well conquer the planet."

"But why destroy droids, Master Dorsk?"

"Because the Yuuzhan Vong hate machines," the  Khommite  clone  answered.

"They consider them to be abominations."

"How can that be? Why would they believe that?"

"I don't know," Dorsk replied. "But it is a fact. Go,  please.  Help  the

others  board.  My  pilot  is  already  at  the  controls  with   the   flight

instructions, so even if something happens to me, you'll be okay."

Still the droid hesitated. "Why are you helping us, sir?"

"Because I am a Jedi and I can. You don't deserve destruction."

"Neither do you, sir."

"Thank you. I do not intend to be destroyed."

He raised his head up again as the droid finally followed its clattering,

whirring comrades to the waiting ship.

The crowd had reached the ancient stone causeway  connecting  the  atoll-

city of Imthitill to the abandoned fishing platform Dorsk now crouched on.  It

seemed they were all on foot, which meant all he had to do was  preívent  them

from crossing the causeway.

With a single bound, Dorsk propelled his thin body up onto the  causeway,

forsaking the cover of the step down to the fishing platform. Lightsaber  held

at his side, he watched the mob approach.

/ am a Jedi, he thought to himself. A Jedi knows no fear.

Almost surprisingly, he didn't. His training with Masíter  Skywalker  had

been fretted with attacks of panic. Dorsk was the eighty-second clone  of  the

first Khommite to bear his name. He'd grown up on a world well satisífied with

its own peculiar kind of perfection, and that hadn't prepared him for  danger,

or fear, or even the uníexpected. There were times when he believed  he  could

never be as brave as the other Jedi students or live up to the standard set by

his celebrated predecessor, Dorsk 81.

But watching the large, dark eyes of the crowd that was drawing close, he

felt nothing but a gentle sadness that they had been driven to this. They must

fear the Yuuízhan Vong terribly.

The destruction of droids had begun small, but in a few days had become a

planetwide epidemic. The govíernment of Ando×such as it  was×neither  condoned

nor condemned the brutality, so long as no non-droids were killed  or  injured

in the mess. Without help from the poílice, Dorsk 82 was the only  chance  the

droids had, and he didn't plan to fail them. He had already failed too many.

He ignited his lightsaber and for an instant saw everyíthing  around  him

at once. The setting sun had spilled a glorious slick of orange fire into  the

ocean and lit the high-piled clouds on the  horizon  into  castles  of  flame.

Higher, the sky faded to gold-laced jade and aquamarine and then the  pale  of

night. The lights in the cylindriícal white towers of Imthitill  were  winking

on, one by one, and so, too, were the lights of the fishing platforms floating

in the deeps, spangling the ocean with lonely constellations.

His own planet hadn't any such untamed spectacles. Khomm's weather was as

predictable and homogenous as its people. Likely he, Dorsk 82,  was  the  only

person of his entire species who could  appreciate  this  sky,  or  the  iron-

dressed waves of the sea.

Salt air buffeted around him. He lifted his chin. Someíhow, after all  of

these years, he felt he was doing the thing he had dreamed about at last.

One of the Aqualish stepped before the rest. He was  smaller  than  many,

his tusks incised in the local style. He wore the dappled slicksuit of  a  tug

worker.

"Move, Jedi," he commanded. "These droids are none of your business."

"These droids are under my protection," Dorsk reíplied calmly.

"They are not yours to protect, Jedi," the  Aqualish  shouted  back.  "If

their owners do not object, you have no say in the matter."

"I must disagree," Dorsk replied. "I also plead with you to  see  reason.

Destroying the droids will not appease  the  Yuuzhan  Vong.  They  are  beyond

appeasing."

"That's our business," the self-appointed spokesman of the group shouted.

"This isn't your planet, Jedi. It's ours. Didn't you hear?  The  Yuuzhan  Vong

just took Duro."

"I had not heard," Dorsk replied. "Nor does it matter. Go  back  to  your

homes in peace. I don't want to hurt any of you. I'm taking these droids  with

me. You will not see them on Ando again. I swear it."

This time he saw the blaster lift×held by an Aquaílish deep in the crowd.

Dorsk grasped it with the Force and whisked it through the air until  it  came

to rest in his left hand.

"Please, "he said.

For a long moment, neither side moved. Dorsk felt them wavering, but  the

Aqualish were a stubborn and violent lot. It was easier to stop a nova once it

had started than to calm a whole mob of Aqualish.

He heard a sudden hum and saw a security speeder apíproaching. He stepped

back and allowed it to settle beítween him and the crowd. He did not relax his

guard, even when eight Aqualish troopers in bright yellow body armor piled out

and started motioning the crowd back.

The officer stepped forward. "What's going on here?" he asked.

Dorsk motioned slightly with  his  head.  "These  people  are  intent  on

destroying a group of droids. I am proítecting them."

"I see," the officer said. "That's your ship?"

"Yes."

"Are there any other Jedi on board?"

"No."

"Very well." The officer spoke into a small comlink, too low for Dorsk to

hear, but the clone suddenly sensed what was about to happen.

"No!" he shouted. He spun on his heel and ran toward the ship,  but  even

as he did so, several flares of light too bright to look  upon  struck  it.  A

column of white flame leapt toward the sky, carrying with it the fragments and

ions that had once been his ship, his pilot Hhen, and thirty-eight droids.

Dorsk was still watching, mouth  working  soundlessly  at  the  pointless

destruction, when the stun baton hit him.

He fell, turning that same uncomprehending stare on  his  attackers.  The

officer he'd been speaking to stood there, holding the baton.

"Stay down, Jedi, and you'll live."

"What? Why?..."

"I suppose you haven't heard. The Yuuzhan Vong  have  proposed  a  peace.

They will stop their conquest with Duro, and leave Ando, so long  as  we  turn

you Jedi over to them. They will take you dead, but they would rather have you

alive."

Dorsk 82 summoned the Force, washed away the pain and  paralysis  of  the

blast, and stood.

"Drop your lightsaber, Jedi," the officer said.

Dorsk straightened himself and looked into the muzízles of the  blasters.

He dropped the one he had taken from the crowd. He hooked his lightsaber  onto

his belt.

"I will not fight you," he said.

"Fine. Then you won't mind surrendering your weapon."

"The Yuuzhan Vong will not keep their word. Their only desire is that you

rid them of their worst enemies for them. With the Jedi out of the  way,  they

will come for you. If you betray me, you betray yourselves."

"We'll take that chance," the officer said.

"I'm walking away from here," Dorsk said with a slight wave of his  hand.

"You will not stop me."

"No," the officer said. "I won't stop you."

"Nor will any of the rest of you."

Dorsk 82 started forward. One of the troopers, more  strong  willed  than

the others, lifted his blaster in a shakíing hand.

"Don't," Dorsk pleaded. He held out his hand.

The blaster bolt grazed Dorsk in the palm, and he stepped back,  but  the

action shook the other troopers from the suggestion he  had  placed  in  their

minds. The next shot seared a hole through his thigh. He dropped to his knees.

"Stop," the officer said. "No more mind tricks."

Dorsk torturously pushed himself back to his feet. He took  another  step

forward.

I am a Jedi. A Jedi knows no fear.

The dusk lit with blasterfire.

Help.

The automated signal was weak but faint.

"Got 'em," Uldir said. "I told you, didn't I?"

Dacholder, his copilot, clapped him on the back. "No doubt about it, lad.

You're the best rescue flier in the unit."

"I have good hunches, that's all," Uldir replied. "See if you can contact

them."

"Sure thing." Dacholder  activated  the  comm  unit.  "Pride  ofThela  to

injured vessel. Injured vessel, can you hear me?"

The answer was static×but modulated static.

"They're trying to answer," Uldir said. "Their comm unit must be damaged.

Maybe when we get closer. Hey, there they are now."

Long-range sensors showed a craft dead in space, meídium transport-sized.

It ought to be the Winning Hand, a pleasure craft that had made  a  jump  from

the Corellian sector and vanished somewhere en  route.  The  Hand's  jump  had

taken her dangerously near Obroa-skai, which was now in  Yuuzhan  Vong  space.

Though they hadn't moved overtly on any planets since the fall  of  Duro,  the

Yuuzhan Vong had been setting up  occasional  dovin  basal  interdictors  near

their space, yanking from hyperspace ships bold or careless enough to approach

their someíwhat fuzzy borders. Most were never found again,  but  the  Winning

Hand had managed to get off a garbled  transmission  placing  them  along  the

Perlemian Trade Route not far from the Meridian sector. That was still  a  lot

of space, but search and rescue had been Uldir's busiíness for  the  past  six

years. At the ripe old age of twenty-two, he was one of the best fliers in the

corps.

"Dead-on," Dacholder said. "Congratulations. Again."

"Thanks, Doc."

Dacholder was a little older than Uldir, his hair premaíturely shot  with

gray and receding from  his  forehead  so  fast  Uldir  could  almost  see  it

redshifting. He wasn't a great pilot, but he was competent enough,  and  Uldir

liked him.

"Say, Uldir," Dacholder began, in an inquisitive  tone,  "I  never  asked

you×when the Vong came along, why didn't you request transfer  to  a  military

unit? The way you fly, you could be an ace."

"Too hot for me," Uldir replied.

"Carbon flush. Rescue is twice the danger with a tenth of the  firepower.

During the fall of Duro I heard you picked up three stranded pilots under fire

from four coral-skippers with no backup at all."

"I was pretty lucky," Uldir demurred.

"You sure it's not something else?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I heard you attended that Jedi academy of Skywalker's."

Uldir could only laugh at that. "Attended isn't the  right  word.  I  was

there, caused a systemful of trouble in a real short time, and had  no  talent

for the Jedi thing at all. Still, maybe you're right. I guess I figured  if  I

couldn't be a Jedi, I could at least emulate 'em.  Search  and  rescue  seemed

like the best way. And we're needed in wartime just as much as the flyboys."

"And you don't have to kill."

Uldir shrugged. "That sounds about right. When  did  you  start  thinking

about me so much, Doc?" He flipped the magnification up on the  visual.  "Look

there," he said, as the derelict ship came on-screen. "She doesn't  look  half

bad. Maybe they didn't have any casualties."

"We can only hope," Dacholder said.

"See anything else out there?"

"Not a thing," Dacholder replied.

"That's good. We're outside of Yuuzhan  Vong  space,  but  not  that  far

outside. Even with all the tinkering I've done on this baby, I don't  want  to

run up against one of their interdictors."

"I noticed you coaxed another twenty percent from the inertial dampeners.

Good work."

"Shows what you can do when you've got no life but the service, I guess,"

Uldir replied. He  adjusted  their  trajectory  a  bit.  "Looks  like  they're

limping, but life supíport seems to be okay."

"Yeah."

Uldir gave his copilot a sidewise glance. Doc seemed  a  little  nervous,

which was odd. Not that he had the steadíiest nerves in the unit, but  he  was

no coward. Maybe it was because they were out so far without backup.  The  war

had forced everyone to spread resources thin.

"Uldir," Dacholder asked suddenly.

"Uh-huh?"

"Do you think we can beat them? The Vong?"

"That's a crazy question," Uldir replied. "Of course we  can.  They  just

got a jump on us, that's all. You'll see.  Once  the  military  gets  its  act

together and brings the Jedi into the equation, the Yuuzhan Vong  will  be  on

the run soon enough."

Dacholder was silent for a moment, watching the ship grow larger.

"I don't think we can beat them," he said softly. "I don't think we ought

to be fighting them in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, they've kicked our butts  right  from  the  start.  If  they  make

another push, they'll have Coruscant before you can blink."

"That's pretty defeatist."

"It's pretty realistic."

" Then what?" Uldir asked, a little heatedly. " You  think  we  ought  to

surrender?"

"We don't have to do that, either. Look, there  aren't  that  many  Vong.

They already have as many planets as they need, they've  said  so  themselves.

They haven't made a move since Duro, and they won't×"

The console got Uldir's attention, so he didn't hear  the  rest  of  what

Dacholder was saying. "Hold that thought," he snapped, "and hail that ship."

"Why?"

" Because she's playing dead, that's why. All her sysítems just came  on,

and she's trying for a tractor lock." He quickly began evasive maneuvers.

"Let her have us, Uldir," Dacholder said. "Don't make me use this."

To Uldir's astonishment, this was a blaster his copilot  had  pointed  at

his head.

"Doc? What are you doing?"

"Sorry, lad. I like you, I really do. I hate  doing  this  like  drinking

acid, but it has to be done."

" What has to be done?"

"The Yuuzhan Vong warmaster was very specific. He wants all of the Jedi."

"Doc, you fool, I'm not a Jedi."

"There's a list, Uldir, and you're on it."

" List? What list? Whose list? Not a  Yuuzhan  Vong  list,  because  they

couldn't possibly know who went to the academy and who didn't."

"That's right. Some of us are in high places."

Uldir narrowed his eyes. "Us? You're Peace Brigade, Doc?"

"Yes."

"Of all the×" Uldir stopped. "And that ship. That's what's going to  take

me to the Yuuzhan Vong, isn't it?"

"It wasn't my idea, lad. I'm just following orders. Now,  slow  her  down

like a good boy, and let them have their lock."

"I'm not a Jedi," Uldir repeated.

"No? I always thought your hunches were a little too good.  You  seem  to

see things before they come."

"Right. Like this, you mean?"

"Doesn't matter anyway. What matters is they think you're Jedi. And  I'll

bet you know things they would be interested in."

"Don't do this, Doc, I'm begging you. You know what the Yuuzhan  Vong  do

to their victims. How can you even think  of  making  deals  with  them?  They

destroyed Ithor, for space's sake!"

"The way I hear it, a Jedi named Corran Horn was reísponsible for that."

"Bantha fodder."

Dacholder sighed. "I'm giving you a three-count, Uldir."

"Don't, Doc."

"One."

"I won't go with them."

"Two."

"Please."

"Thr×"

He never got it out. By the time he got to the end of the word, Dacholder

was in vacuum, twenty meters away and still  accelerating.  Uldir  sealed  the

cockpit back up, ears popping and face tingling  from  his  brief  brush  with

nothíingness. He glanced at the missing acceleration couch.

"I'm sorry, Doc," he said. "You didn't leave me much of a choice. I guess

it's just as well I never told you about all of my modifications."

He opened the throttle, gaining quick ground on the yacht.  By  the  time

they overcame their inertia and  started  to  gain,  Uldir  had  punched  into

lightspeed and was gone.

To where, he didn't know. If he survived the hyperspace jump, would he be

safe?

And if he wasn't safe, what about the  real  Jedi?  His  mends  from  the

academy?

He couldn't hide from  this.  Master  Skywalker  had  to  know  what  was

happening. He could think about himíself after that was done.

Swilja Fenn tried to stay on her feet. Such a basic thing, standing.  One

rarely gave it a thought. But the long  purísuit  on  Cujicor,  copious  blood

loss, and a foul, cramped incarceration on a Peace Brigade ship rendered  even

such basic things a struggle. She drew on  the  Force  for  her  strength  and

lashed her lekku in helplessness.

The Peace Brigade goons had dumped her, bound and half senseless, on some

nameless moon and hauled gravity out of there. Not  much  later,  the  Yuuzhan

Vong had shown up. They had cut away her bonds and then replaced them  with  a

living, jellylike substance, all the while spitting at her in a language  that

seemed made entirely of curses.

After that, more travel in dark places and finally here, rarely  able  to

keep her feet under her, in a vast chamber that  looked  as  if  it  had  been

carved inside of a chunk of that meat. Smelled that way, too.

Swilja squinted at someone approaching from the murk and shadows  at  the

far end of the room.

"What do you lylek-dung-grubbers want with me?" she snarled,  momentarily

forgetting her Jedi training.

The lapse got her a cuff in the face hard enough to  knock  her  off  her

feet.

When she rose, he was standing over her.

The Yuuzhan Vong liked to scar themselves. They liked  cut-up  faces  and

tattoos, severed fingers and toes. The metier up the food chain they were,  it

seemed the less there was of them. Or at least,  what  had  started  as  them,

because they liked implants, too.

The Yuuzhan Vong standing above her must have been way up the food chain,

because he looked like he had fallen into a bin  of  vibroblades.  Scales  the

color of dried blood covered most of his body, and some  sort  of  cloak  hung

from his shoulders. The latter twitched, slowly.

And like the other Yuuzhan Vong, he wasn't there. If he had been  Twi'lek

or human or Rodian, she might have stopped his heart with the Force or snapped

his neck against the ceiling. Dark side or not, she would have done it and rid

the galaxy of him forever.

She tried to do the next best thing×hurl herself at him and claw his eyes

out. He was only a meter away; surely she could take just one of these gravel-

maggots with her.

Unfortunately, the next best thing was exponentially less effective  than

the best. The same guard who had struck her a moment before lashed out  faster

than lightíning, grabbing her by the lekku and yanking her back. He  held  her

up to the monster confronting her.

"I know you," Swilja said, spitting out teeth and blood. "You're the  one

who called for our heads. Tsavong Lah."

"I am Warmaster Tsavong Lah," the monster confirmed.

She spat at him. The spittle struck his hand, but he ignored it,  denying

her even the minor victory of irriítating him.

"I congratulate you on proving yourself  worthy  of  honored  sacrifice,"

Tsavong Lah said. "You are far more  admirable  than  the  cowering  scum  who

delivered you to us. They will merely perish, when their time comes.  We  will

not mock the gods by offering them in sacrifice." He suddenly showed  more  of

the inside of his mouth than Swilja ever wanted to see. It might have  been  a

grin or a sneer.

"If you know who I am," Tsavong Lah said, "you know what I want. You know

who I want."

"I have no idea what you want. Given what I know of you it would probably

make even a Hutt sick."

Tsavong Lah licked his lip  and  twisted  his  neck  slightly.  His  eyes

drilled at her.

"Help me find Jacen Solo," he said. "With your help, I will find him."

"'Eatpoodoo."

Tsavong Lah shredded a laugh through his teeth.

"It is not my job to convince you," he  said.  "I  have  specialists  for

that. And if you still cannot be convinced, there are others, many others. One

day you will all emíbrace the truth×or death." With that he seemed  to  forget

she existed. His eyes emptied of any sign that he saw her  or  had  ever  seen

her, and he walked slowly away.

"You're wrong!" she screamed, as they dragged her from the chamber.  "The

Force is stronger than you. The Jedi will be your end, Tsavong Lah!"

But the warmaster didn't turn. His stride never broke.

An hour later, even Swilja didn't believe her  brave  words.  She  didn't

even remember them. Nothing existed for her but pain, and eventually, not even

that.

PART ONE PRAXEUM CHAPTER ONE Luke Skywalker  stood  steady  and  straight

before the gathered Jedi, his face composed and stronger than dura-steel.  The

set of his shoulders, his precise gestures, the weight and timbre of each word

he spoke all confirmed his confidence and control.

But Anakin Solo knew it was a lie. Anger and fear filled the chamber like

a hundred atmospheres of pressure, and beneath that weight something in Master

Skywalker crumpled. It felt like hope breaking.  Anakin  thought  it  was  the

worst thing he had ever felt, and he had felt some  very  bad  things  in  his

sixteen years.

The perception didn't last long.  Nothing  was  broken,  only  bent,  and

whatever it was straightened, and Master Skywalker was  again  as  strong  and

confident in the Force as to the eye. Anakin  didn't  think  anyone  else  had

noticed it.

But he had. The unshakable had shaken. It  was  someíthing  Anakin  would

never forget, another of the many  things  that  had  seemed  eternal  to  him

suddenly gone, aníother speeder zooming out from underneath his feet, leavíing

him flat on his back wondering what had happened. Hadn't he learned yet?

He forced himself to focus his ice-blue eyes  on  Masíter  Skywalker,  on

that familiar age - and  scar-roughened  face.  Beyond  him,  through  a  huge

transparisteel winídow, flowed the never-ending light and life of Coruscant.

Against those cyclopean buildings and  streaming  trails  of  light,  the

Master seemed somehow frail or distracted.

Anakin distanced himself from his heartsickness by concentrating  on  his

uncle's words.

"Kyp," Master Skywalker was saying, "I understand how you feel."

Kyp Durron was more honest than Master Skywalker, in some ways. The anger

in his heart was no stranger to the expression on his face. If the Jedi were a

planet, Masíter Skywalker stood at one pole, radiating calm. Kyp Durron  stood

at the other, fists clenched in fury.

Somewhere near the equator the planet was starting to pull apart.

Kyp took a step forward, running his hand through  dark  hair  shot  with

silver. "Master Skywalker," he said, "I submit that you  do  not  know  how  I

feel. If you did, I would sense it in the Force. We all  could.  Instead,  you

hide your feelings from us."

"I never said I  felt  as  you  do,"  Luke  said  gently,  "only  that  I

understand."

"Ah." Kyp nodded, raising one finger and shaking it at  Skywalker  as  if

suddenly comprehending his point. "You mean you understand intellectually, but

not with your heart! The Jedi you trained and inspired are hunted  and  killed

throughout the galaxy, and you 'understand' it the way you might an  equation?

Your blood doesn't burn to do something about it?"

"Of course I want to do something about it," Luke said. "That's why  I've

called this meeting. But anger is not the answer. Attack is  not  the  answer,

and retribution most cerítainly is not. We are Jedi. We defend, we support."

"Defend who? Support what? Defend  those  beings  you  rescued  from  the

atrocities of Palpatine? Support the New Republic and its good people?  Shield

the ones we have all shed blood for, time and again in the cause of peace  and

the greater good? These same cowardly beings who now defame us, deride us, and

sacrifice us to their new Yuuzhan Vong masters? No one wants  our  help.  They

want us dead and forgotten. I say it's time we defend ouríselves. Jedi for the

Jedi!"

Applause smacked around  the  chamber×not  deafíening,  but  not  trivial

either. Anakin had to admit, Kyp made a certain amount of sense. Who could the

Jedi trust now? Only other Jedi, it seemed.

"What would you have us do, then, Kyp?" Luke asked mildly.

"I told you. Defend ourselves. Fight evil, in whatever  guise  it  takes.

And we don't let the fight come to us, to catch us in our homes, asleep,  with

our children. We go out and find the enemy. Offense against evil is defense."

"In other words, you would have us all emulate what you  and  your  dozen

have been doing."

"I would have us emulate you, Master Skywalker× when  you  were  battling

the Empire."

Luke sighed. "I was young, then," he pointed out. "There was much  I  did

not understand. Aggression is the way of the dark side."

Kyp rubbed his jaw, then smiled briefly. "And  who  should  know  better,

Master Skywalker, than one who did turn to the dark side."

"Exactly," Luke replied. "I fell, though I knew better. Like you, Kyp. We

both, in our own way, thought we were wise enough and nimble enough to walk on

the laser beam and not get burned. We were both wrong."

"And yet we returned."

"Barely. With much help and love."

"Granted. But there were others.  Kam  Solusar,  for  inístance,  not  to

forget your own father×"

"What are you saying, Kyp? That it is easy to return from the dark  side,

and that justifies the risk?"

Kyp shrugged. "I'm saying the line between dark and light isn't as  sharp

as you're trying to make it, or exactly where you want to put it." He steepled

his fingers beíneath his chin, then shook them with an air of  contemíplation.

"Master Skywalker, if a man attacks me with a lightsaber, may I defend with my

own blade, that he not take my head off? Is that too aggressive?"

"Of course you may."

"And after I defend, may I press my attack? May I reíturn  the  blow?  If

not, why are we Jedi taught lightsaber battle techniques? Why don't  we  learn

only how to deífend, and back off until the enemy has us in a corner  and  our

arms grow tired, until an attack  finally  slips  through  our  guard?  Master

Skywalker, sometimes the only deífense is an attack. You know this as well  as

anyone."

"That's true, Kyp. I do."

"But you back down from the  fight,  Master  Skyíwalker.  You  block  and

defend and never return the blow. Meanwhile the blades  directed  against  you

multiply. And you have begun to lose, Master Skywalker. One opporítunity lost!

And there lies Daeshara'cor, dead. Another slip in your  defense,  and  Corran

Horn is slandered as the destroyer of Ithor and driven to seclusion. Again  an

atítack is neglected, and Wurth Skidder joins Daeshara'cor in death. And now a

flurry of failures as a million blades swing at you, and there  go  Dorsk  82,

and Seyyerin Itoklo, and Swilja Fenn, and who can count those we do  not  know

of yet, or who will die tomorrow? When will you attack, Master Skywalker?"

"This is ridiculous!" a female voice exploded half a meter from  Anakin's

ear. It was his sister, Jaina, her face gone red with  internal  heat.  "Maybe

you don't hear all the news, running around playing hero with your  squadíron,

Kyp. Maybe you've started feeling so self-important that you think your way is

the only way. While you've been out there blazing your guns, Master  Skywalker

has been working quietly and hard to make sure things don't fall apart."

"Yes, and see how well that's gone," Kyp said. "Duro, for  instance.  How

many Jedi were involved there? Five?  Six?  And  yet  not  one  of  you×Master

Skywalker included×smelled the rank treachery of the situation  until  it  was

too late. Why didn't the Force guide you?" He paused and then smacked  a  fist

into his palm for emíphasis. "Because you were  acting  like  nursemaids,  not

Jedi warriors! I've heard one of you even refused to use the Force." He looked

significantly at Jaina's twin, who sat stone-faced halfway around the hall.

"You leave Jacen out of this," Jaina snarled.

"At least your brother was honest in his refusal to use his  power,"  Kyp

said. "Wrong, but honest, and in the end when he had to use it,  he  did.  The

rest of this group has no excuse for its ambivalence.  If  saving  our  galaxy

from the Yuuzhan Vong is not a good enough cause to flex our true  might,  let

self-preservation be!"

"Jedi for Jedi!" Octa Ramis shouted, still in  the  clutches  of  renewed

grief over losing Daeshara'cor.

" It's both ourselves and the galaxy I'm trying to preíserve," Luke said.

"If we win the fight against the Yuuízhan Vong at the price of using dark-side

powers, it will be no victory."

Kyp rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. " I knew it was  a  mistake  to

come here," he said. "Every second I waste talking with you  is  a  torpedo  I

might be firing at the Yuuzhan Vong."

" If you knew that, why did you come?"

" Because I thought even you must see the pattern on the Huj mat by  now,

Master Skywalker. After months of  doing  nothing,  of  watching  our  numbers

dwindle, of lisítening to the lies circulating about the Jedi from the Rim  to

the Core, I thought now, at last, you had decided it was time to act. I  came,

Master Skywalker, to hear you say enough is enough, to lead the Jedi,  united,

in a just cause. Instead I hear only the same vacillating I've grown tired of.

"

"On the contrary, Kyp. I called this meeting to make some real  decisions

about how we should face this crisis."

"This isn't a crisis," Kyp sputtered. "It's a  massacre.  And  I  already

know what to do. I've been doing it."

"The people are frightened, Kyp. They're living in a nightmare,  just  as

we are. They only want to wake up."

" Yes. And in hopes of waking up, they feed the dream  monsters  whatever

they ask for. Droids. Cities. Planets. Refugees. Now Jedi. By refusing to  act

against  this  treachíery,  Master  Skywalker,  you  come   dangerously   near

conídoning it."

"Bantha fodder!" Jacen snapped, finally  breaking  his  silence.  "Master

Skywalker hasn't been complacent. None of  us  has.  But  the  sort  of  naked

aggression you condone is×"

"Effective?" Kyp sneered.

"Is it?" Jacen challenged.  "What  have  you  and  your  squadron  really

accomplished? Harried a few Yuuzhan Vong supply ships? Meanwhile  we've  saved

tens of thousands×"

"Saved them for what? So they  can  flee  from  planet  to  planet  until

there's nowhere else to  go?  Jacen  Solo,  who  denied  the  Force,  are  you

lecturing me on what is and isn't effective?"

"What isn't effective is this  argument,"  Luke  interíjected.  "We  need

calm. We need to think rationally."

"I'm not sure that's what we need at all," Kyp  shot  back.  "Look  where

your rational policies have gotten us. We're alone, now,  don't  you  all  see

that? Everyone has turned against us."

"You're overstating."

Anakin switched his gaze to the new speaker, Cilghal. The Mon  Calamari's

fishlike head bobbed as her bulbous eyes searched around the chamber.

"We still have many allies," Cilghal said, "in the seníate and among  the

peoples of the New Republic."

"If by allies you mean people without the guts to actu - ally turn us in,

yes," Kyp said. "But wait a bit. More Jedi will be killed  or  captured.  Stay

here, meditate, and wait for them. I won't. I know what the fight is and where

it is." With that he turned on his heel and started from the chamber.

"No!" Jaina whispered to Anakin. "If Kyp leaves, he'll take too many with

him."

"So?" Anakin said. "Are you so sure he's wrong?"

"Of course I×" She stopped, paused, started again. " It won't help any of

us if the Jedi split. We have to try to help Uncle Luke. Come on."

Jaina followed Kyp from the  chamber.  After  a  second  or  two,  Anakin

followed. The debate began again behind rhem, in much more muted terms.

Kyp turned as they approached. "Anakin, Jaina. What do you want?"

"To talk some sense into you," Jaina said.

" I have plenty of sense," Kyp said. "You two ought to know better.  When

did either of you flinch from battle? It's not  like  you  two  to  sit  while

others fight."

"I haven't been," Jaina flared. "Neither has Anakin, or Uncle Luke, or×"

"Spare me. Jaina, I have the greatest respect for Masíter Skywalker.  But

he is wrong. I can't see the Yuuzhan Vong in the Force any more than  he  can,

but I don't need that to know they're evil. To know they have to be stopped."

" Couldn't you just hear Uncle Luke out?"

" I did. He didn't say anything I was interested in, and he wasn't  going

to." Kyp shook his head. "Your uncle has changed. Something  happens  to  Jedi

Masters as they grow older in the Force. Something that isn't going to  nappen

to me. They become so concerned with light and dark they can't  act,  but  can

only be acted upon. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi×rather than act  himself,  he  allowed

himself to be struck down, become one with the Force, so Luke could then  take

all of the moral risks."

"That's not how Uncle Luke tells it."

"Your uncle is too close to it. And now he's become Kenobi."

"What are you saying, exactly?" Jaina said. "That Uncle Luke is a coward?

"

Kyp shrugged and flashed a little smile. "When it comes to his life,  no.

But when it comes to the Force..." He gestured with the back of his hand. "Ask

your brother Jacen×seems to me he's going gray early,  in  that  respect.  The

whole galaxy is falling apart around him, and he's dithering over  theoretical

philosophy."

"He did use the Force, though, as you pointed out," Jaina retorted.

"To save his mother's life, from what I heard, and alímost not then.  How

long was she in a bacta tank?"

"But he did save her, and me, too."

"Of course. But would he have called on the Force to save some  Duros  he

didn't know? Given the fact that he had ample  opportunity  to  do  so  before

that, the answer is self-evidently no. So it wasn't some universal respect for

preserving life or anything of that sort that  led  him  to  break  his  self-

imposed ban, was it?"

"No," Anakin murmured.

"Anakin!" Jaina snapped.

"It's true," Anakin replied. "I'm glad he did it, and I'm  glad  he  hurt

the warmaster, even if he did call for the heads of all the  Jedi,  but  Kyp's

right. If you and Mom hadn't been there..."

"Jacen was going through a hard time," Jaina said.

"Like the rest of us aren't," Anakin returned.

"I've got to go," Kyp told them. "Any time either of  you  wants  to  fly

with me, find me. Other than that, I sinícerely hope  Master  Skywalker  comes

around. I just can't wait for it. May the Force be with you."

They watched him go.

"I wish I didn't more than half think he was right,"

Jaina whispered. "I feel like I'm somehow betraying Uncle Luke."

Anakin nodded. "I know what you mean. But Kyp is right, about  one  thing

anyway. Whatever else we do, we're going to have to look out for our own."

"Jedi for Jedi?" Jaina snorted. "Uncle Luke  knows  that.  I'm  not  sure

where he sent Mom, Dad, Threepio, and Artoo, but it's got something to do with

setting up a netíwork to help Jedi escape before  being  turned  over  to  the

Yuuzhan Vong."

Anakin shook  his  head.  "Fine,  but  that's  what  Kyp  meant  by  only

defending. We'll never  win  this  war  by  being  reactive.  We  have  to  be

proactive. We need intelliígence. We need to  know  which  Jedi  are  at  risk

before they come for us."

"How can we know that?"

"Think logically. Any planet  already  taken  by  the  Yuuízhan  Vong  is

obviously dangerous. The planets  near  ocícupied  space  are  the  next  most

dangerous, because they're desperate to strike a deal."

"The warmaster said he would spare the rest of the galaxy,  but  only  if

they turn all of us over to them. That sort of spreads the desperation out, at

least for people dumb enough to believe him. We saw what Yuuzhan Vong promises

meant on Duro. Don't cooperate with them and they mow  you  down.  If  you  do

cooperate with them, they mow you down, laughing about how stupid you've been.

"

Anakin shrugged. "Obviously a lot of people would rather believe  Yuuzhan

Vong lies than take their chances. The point is×"

"The point is, what are you  two  doing  out  here  rather  than  in  the

meeting?" Jacen Solo asked from the end of the corridor.

"We were trying to talk Kyp into staying," Anakin told his older brother.

"It'd be easier talking a siringana into a box."

"True," Jaina said, "but we had to try. I guess we ought to  go  back  in

now."

"Don't bother. A few minutes after Kyp walked out, Uncle  Luke  called  a

recess. Too much angst and confusion."

"It's not going well," Jaina said.

"No. Too many people think Kyp is right."

"What do you think?" Anakin asked.

"He's wrong," Jacen said without hesitation. "Aníswering naked aggression

with naked aggression can't be the solution."

"No? If you hadn't used that particular solution,  you,  Mom,  and  Jaina

would be dead right now. Would the universe be better off?"

"Anakin, I'm not proud of×" Jacen began.

Jaina cut him off. "Don't you two start again. Anakin and I were  talking

about something constructive when you joined us.  Let's  not  degenerate  into

bickering, like the others. We're  siblings,  after  all.  If  we  can't  talk

through this without losing it, how can we expect anyone else to?"

Jacen held his gaze on Anakin for another few heartíbeats, waiting to see

who would flinch first.

It was Jacen.

"What were you discussing?" he asked softly.

Jaina looked relieved. "How to figure out where the worst hot spots  are,

which Jedi are in the most immeídiate danger," she said.

Jacen quirked his mouth as if tasting a Hutt appetizer. "With  the  Peace

Brigade out there, that's an open quesítion. They aren't tied to the interests

of a single system. They'll hunt us from the Rim to the  Core  if  they  think

it'll appease the Yuuzhan Vong."

"The Peace Brigade can't be everywhere at once. They can't  follow  every

rumor they've heard about Jedi."

"The Peace Brigade has plenty of allies, and good  inítelligence,"  Jacen

countered. "Given what they've maníaged already, they must have  more  than  a

few insiders, maybe even in the senate. They don't have to chase ruímors. More

often than not, from what I can tell, they don't even make half  the  captures

they boast about. They're just the flesh merchants who turn Jedi over  to  the

Yuuzhan Vong."

"I still have a bad feeling about the senator  from  Kuat,  Viqi  Shesh,"

Jaina muttered.

"My point is this," Anakin said. "It's hard to predict which single  Jedi

might be next on their list. But if they could get a  package  deal,  wouldn't

they jump at it?"

Jaina's eyes widened. "You think they'll  move  against  us  while  we're

gathered here?"

Anakin drew a negative arc with his chin. "Things aren't  that  bad  yet,

and who would want to face all of the most powerful  Jedi  in  the  galaxy  at

once? That would be crazy×us they'll pick off one at a time. But×"

"The praxeum!" Jacen interrupted.

"Yes," Anakin agreed. "The Jedi academy!"

"But they're just kids!" Jaina said.

"Have you noticed that makes any difference to the Yuuzhan  Vong,  or  to

the Peace Brigade, for that matíter?" Jacen  asked.  "Besides,  Anakin's  only

sixteen, and he's killed more Yuuzhan Vong in hand-to-hand combat than any  of

us. The Yuuzhan Vong know that."

"What about the illusion the Jedi have  been  mainítaining  around  Yavin

Four? That's been keeping strangers away."

"Not since almost all of the  Jedi  Knights  have  left,"  Anaíkin  said.

"They've either come to Coruscant to this meetíing, or gone off to try to help

comrades who've disappeared. Last I heard, only the students  Kam  and  Tionne

are left, with maybe Streen, and  Master  Ikrit.  They  might  not  be  strong

enough. Where did Uncle Luke go? We should talk to him about this, right away.

It may already be too late."

"That's a good call, Anakin," Jacen admitted.

"Thanks."

What Anakin didn't mention to his siblings was how he had awakened in the

night, heart thrumming, gripped by a nameless dread. And  though  he  couldn't

remember the dream that had torn him from sleep, one image had  remained  with

him: the blond hair and green eyes of Tahiri, his best friend.

And Tahiri was at the academy.

CHAPTER TWO Luke Skywalker sank into a chair in his study, ran  his  hand

across his brow, and stared out at  the  night,  or  what  passed  for  it  on

Coruscant, the hundred shades of nightglow, shimmering lanes  of  aircars  and

transports, bright-studded  skyhook  tethers  lancing  toward  the  uníseeable

stars. How many thousands of years had passed since anyone had seen a star  in

the night sky of this city world?

On Tatooine the stars had been hard, glittering promíises to  a  boy  who

wanted more from life than to be a moisture farmer. They had been  everything,

and yearníing toward them was the seed of everything Luke had beícome. Now, at

the heart of the galaxy he had fought so long to save, he  couldn't  even  see

them.

Something drifted in the Force, an embrace waiting to happen. Waiting for

permission to happen.

"Come in, Mara," he said, rising.

"Stay there," his wife answered. "I'll join you."

She settled into the chair next to him and took his  hand.  He  felt  her

touch move closer, and found himself flinching away.

"Hey, Skywalker," she said. "It's not like I'm here to tall you."

"That's a comforting thing to say."

"Yeah?" Her voice took on an edge. "Don't think it hasn't occurred to me.

Like when I couldn't hold down breakfast, or when I take one of these  twenty-

minute lightspeed tours of every emotion I've ever had plus a few that I never

knew really existed×and then start over. When my ankles  start  ballooning  up

like a Gamorrean boar's and I'm well on my way to  Hutthood,  I'd  advise  any

responsible parties to start watching their backs."

"Hey, wait a minute. I don't recall the two of  us  coníspiring  in  this

matter. I was just as surprised as you. Beísides, your last plan  to  kill  me

started this whole thing, pregnancy included. Keep it up, and we'll  be  ahead

of Han and Leia in no time."

Mara clucked. "Darling," she said in disingenuous tones. "I love you, you

are my life and my light. If you ever do this to me again,  I  will  vape  you

where you stand." She squeezed his hand fondly.

"As I was saying," Luke said. "How can I please you, sweetheart?"

"Tell me what's wrong."

He shrugged and turned his face back to  the  cityscape.  "The  Jedi,  of

course. We're breaking apart. First the galaxy turns against us, then we  turn

against each other."

"It's too bad I didn't take care of Kyp years ago," Mara said.

"Don't even joke about that. And it isn't Kyp's  fault×  ultimately  it's

mine. You explained as much to me once, remember?"

"I remember setting you straight about a few things.  That  doesn't  make

Kyp right now."

"No, he isn't right. But when children stray, doesn't that say  something

about the parents?"

"This is a fine time to tell me you're going to be  a  lousy  father.  Or

maybe you don't think I'll be a good mother?"

She was joking, but he felt a sudden wave of fear, deípression, and anger

from his wife.

"Mara?" he asked. "It was just a metaphor."

"I know. It's nothing. Just go on."

"It's not nothing."

"It is nothing. Hormones. Mood swings. Very annoy  -  ing,  being  jerked

around by chemicals, and not your prob-aem, Skywalker. Go  on  with  what  you

were saying. Sans the parenthood metaphor."

" Fine. What I mean is, my teachings weren't durable  enough,  or  strong

enough, or satisfying enough, if the others look to Kyp for their answers."

"We've been betrayed and we're  being  slaughtered,"  Mara  said.  "Kyp's

given them an answer to that. You haven't."

"Wait. Now you agree with Kyp?"

"I agree we can't just sit and wait. I know you don't  want  to  do  that

either, but you aren't expressing it well enough. Kyp has  given  the  Jedi  a

vision, as clear and simple as it is wrong. All we've done  is  give  a  muddy

nimble of assurances and prohibitions. We need to tell them what  to  do,  not

what not to do."

"We?"

"Of course we, Skywalker. You and me. Where you go I go."

Her Force presence kissed lightly against his again, and for  an  instant

he trembled. It felt good, a warmth against the cold hard nest of  his  doubts

and pain. How could he afford to doubt? How could he let anyone else  see  it,

when it might mean the end of everything?

The touch eased, as if retreating, and he relaxed,  and  it  came  again,

stealthier and stronger. He gave up, opening himself to her so they mingled in

a bright stream. He took her in his arms and let her stroke away the worst  of

his doubts with her hand and the radiance within her.

"I love you, Mara," he breathed, after a time.

"I love you, too," she replied.

"It's hard to watch it all fall apart."

"It's not falling apart, Luke. You have to believe that."

"I have to be strong for them. I have to be an example. But today×"

"Yes, I saw it. You had a moment of weakness. I think I'm  the  only  one

who noticed."

"No. Anakin noticed. It upset him, a lot."

"You're worried about Anakin?" she asked, picking up on  the  subtext  of

his spoken word. "He adores you. If there is someone he's always wanted to be,

it's you. He wouldn't side with Kyp."

"That's not my worry. He's more like Kyp than he thinks, but  he  doesn't

see it. He's been through so much, Mara, and he's too young to  easily  absorb

what he's had to deal with. He still carries the blame for  Chewbacca's  death

with him, and in the back of his mind part of him still thinks Han blames him,

too. He watched Daeíshara'cor die. He blames himself for  the  destruction  of

the Hapan fleet at Fondor. He's carrying around all that pain,  and  some  day

that's bound to add up to something he's not  experienced  enough  to  handle.

Grief and guilt are only a micron away from anger and hatred. And  he's  still

reckless, still thinks he's immortal despite all of the death he's seen."

"That's what upset him about your  weakness  today,"  Mara  guessed.  "He

thinks you're immortal, too."

"He did believe that. But now he knows if he can lose Chewie, he can lose

anyone. That's not making things better. He's losing faith in everything  he's

counted on his whole life."

"I didn't have exactly a normal childhood," Mara said, "but doesn't  that

happen to most children at a certain point?"

"Yes. But most children aren't Jedi  adepts.  Most  chilídren  aren't  as

strong in the Force as Anakin, or as iníclined to use it. Did you know when he

was a boy, he once killed a giant snake by stopping its heart with the Force?"

Mara blinked. "No."

"Yes. He was defending himself and his friends. It probably  seemed  like

the only thing to do at the time."

"Anakin is a pragmatic lad."

"That's the problem," Luke sighed. "He grew up  around  Jedi.  Using  the

Force is like breathing for him, and for Anakin there is nothing very mystical

about it. It's a tool he can do things with."

"Jacen on the other hand×"

"Jacen is older, but he grew up like Anakin. It's two different reactions

to the same situation. What they have in common is that neither of them thinks

I really have it right. And what's worse, I think at  least  one  of  them  is

correct. I've seen×" He broke off.

"What?" Mara gently urged.

"I don't know. I've seen a future. Several futures.  Howíever  this  ends

with the Yuuzhan Vong, it won't be me that ends it, or  Kyp,  or  any  of  the

older Jedi. It will be someone new."

"Anakin?"

"I don't know. I'm afraid to even talk about it. Every word spreads, puts

ripples in the Force for every  person  who  hears  it,  changes  things.  I'm

starting to know how Yoda and Ben felt. Watching, trying to guide, hoping  I'm

not wrong, that I'm seeing clearly, that there is such a thing as  wisdom  and

that I'm not just fooling myself."

She laughed softly and kissed his cheek. "You worry too much."

"Sometimes I don't think I worry enough."

"Worry?" Mara said softly. She took his hand and placed  it  against  her

belly. "You want worry? Listen."

Once more she enfolded him in the Force, and once more they merged toward

one another and the third life in the room, the one growing  inside  of  Mara.

Tentatively, hesitantly, Luke reached in to touch his son.

The heart was beating, a simple beautiful rhythm, and around  it  drifted

something like a melody, an awareness both alien and familiar, sensations like

taste and smell and sight but not like them at all, a universe with  no  light

but with all of the warmth and security in the world.

"Amazing," he murmured. "That you can give him that. That you can be that

for him."

"It's humbling," she said. "It's worrisome. What if  I  make  a  mistake?

What if my sickness comes back? And worst of all×" She paused, and he  waited,

knowing she would get to it in time. "It's easy, in a way. To protect him now,

all I have to do is protect myself, and I've been doing that  my  whole  life.

Right now, my life is his life. But after he's born, it  will  never  be  like

that again. That's the part that worries me."

Luke wrapped his arm around her and hugged. "You'll do fine," he said. "I

promise you."

"You can't promise that, any more than you can hold the young Jedi inside

of you or keep them safe. It's the same. It's the same fear, Luke."

"Of course," he replied. "Of course it is."

They sat and watched the skies of Coruscant,  and  spoke  no  more  until

someone came to their door.

"Speak and they will come," Luke murmured. "It's the Solo children."

"I can send them away."

"No. They need to talk to me." He raised his voice. "Come on in."

He stood and brightened the lights. Anakin, Jaina, and Jacen entered.

"Sorry we left the meeting," Jaina said.

"I knew what you were doing, and I thank you  for  trying.  Kyp×Kyp  must

walk his own path for a while. But that's not why you came, is it?"

"No," Jacen said. "We're worried about the Jedi academy."

"Right," Anakin joined in. "It occurred  to  me  that  if  I  were  Peace

Brigade, and wanted to catch a bunch of Jedi all at once×"

"You'd go to Yavin Four. Good thinking."

Anakin's face fell visibly. "You already thought of it."

Luke nodded. "Don't feel bad. It was only a few  days  ago  that  we  had

enough  reports  to  spot  the  trend  and  realize  just  how  seriously  the

warmaster's promise has been taken. Trying to deal with all the  local  fires,

trying to find government support to put a stop to this or at  least  slow  it

down, I didn't realize that there are no longer  enough  mature  Jedi  in  the

system to maintain the illusion we were projecting."

"So what do we do?" Jacen asked.

"I requested the New Republic send a ship to evacuate them,  but  they're

dragging their heels. They might conítinue to for weeks."

"We can't wait that long!" Jaina said.

"No," Luke agreed. "I've been trying to find Booster Terrik. I think  the

best thing for the moment would be to not only evacuate the academy  but  keep

the kids on the move, in the Errant Venture. If we just move them to  aníother

planet, we don't really solve the problem."

"So they're with Booster?" Anakin said.

"I can't locate him, unfortunately. I'm still working on it."

"Talon Karrde," Mara said softly.

"Perfect," Luke said. "You know where to find him?"

"What do you think?" Mara said, smirking.

"But what if the Peace Brigade is already at Yavin Four, or on the  way?"

Anakin asked.

"It's the best we can do, for the moment," Luke told him.  "Besides,  the

danger is still hypothetical. The Peace Brigade  might  not  even  know  about

Yavin Four. And even if they did, Kam and Tionne and Master Ikrit  are  there.

They aren't exactly defenseless."

"It's not the best-kept secret in the galaxy," Jacen said. "And with  the

illusion gone, what could Kam do against a warship? Let us go."

"Out of the question," Luke replied. "I need you all here, and  with  the

bounty on our heads×especially your head, Jacen×it's too dangerous for you  to

go off alone. Your parents would never forgive me if I sent you into that with

them away."

"Ask them, then," Jaina said.

"I can't. They're out of contact now, and could be for sometime."

"Shouldn't we at least go check on the  praxeum?"  Jaina  persisted.  "We

could just hide at the edge of the system until Karrde shows up, keep  an  eye

on things, run back here to report if things go wrong."

Luke shook his head. "I know you're all restless, espeícially you, Jaina.

But your eyes still haven't fully healed×"

"Not to Rogue Squadron specs, maybe," Jaina proítested, "but  I  can  see

well enough to fly."

"Even if your vision were fully restored," Luke went on, "I  still  don't

think sending any or all of you to Yavin Four is the most  productive  course.

There's important work to do here. Weren't you just telling Kyp  that,  Jaina,

Jacen? "

"Yes, Uncle Luke," Jacen said. "We were."

"Anakin? You haven't said much."

Anakin shrugged. "There isn't much to say, is there?"

Luke detected something a bit dangerous in that, but it quickly passed.

" I'm glad the three of you are thinking about the situaítion.  We  agree

that the academy is one of our most vulínerable spots. Help me find the  rest.

Don't think for a second I've  thought  of  everything,  because  obviously  I

haven't. And don't forget, we'll reconvene the meeting tomorrow morning."

The three of them nodded and left.

When they were gone, Mara clucked. "They might be right."

Luke sighed again. "They might be. But I have  a  feelíing  that  whoever

goes to Yavin Four must go in force, or they won't be leaving it  again.  I've

learned to trust feelíings like this."

"You should have told them that, then," Mara said.

He flashed her a sardonic smile. "Then they would have gone for sure."

Mara took his hand. "No rest for the weary. I'll  conítact  Karrde."  She

touched her belly again. "Meanwhile, Skywalker,  find  me  something  to  eat.

Something big and still bleeding."

Anakin checked over the systems indicators. "How do we look,  Fiver?"  he

asked quietly, studying the cockpit readout display.

SYSTEMS WITHIN OPTIMUM VARIANTS, the R7 Unit 3S - sured him.

"Good. Just hang on while I get clearance. Meanwhile calculate the  first

jump in the series to get me to the Yavin system."

That took a certain amount of finagling, including forgíing a  code  that

would allow him to fly without a check that might alert Uncle Luke  or  anyone

else who would try to stop him.

Because Uncle Luke was wrong, this time. Anakin could feel it in his very

center. The Jedi trainees were in grave danger; Talon  Karrde  would  not  get

there in time. It might already be too late.

It was strange that Uncle Luke still insisted on thinking of Anakin as  a

child. Anakin had killed Yuuzhan Vong. He had seen friends die and caused  the

deaths of others. He was responsible for the destruction  of  countless  ships

and the beings who crewed them, and that only scratched the most  recent  skin

of the matter.

It was a blind spot the adults in his life had,  an  ambivaílence  and  a

denial. They didn't understand who he really was, only what he appeared to be.

Even his mother and Uncle Luke, who had the Force to help them.

Aunt  Mara  probably  understood×she  had  never  really  been  a  child,

either×but even she was blinkered by her relationship with Uncle Luke; she had

to take his feelings into account, as well as her own.

Well, there would be anger. He could explain  to  Uncle  Luke  about  the

feeling he had in the Force, but that might only alert the Master to  Anakin's

certainty in this matter. Even if  Uncle  Luke  could  be  convinced  to  send

someone now, it might be someone else, someone older. But Anakin knew  it  had

to be him, he had to go. If he didn't, his best friend was doomed  to  a  fate

much worse than death.

It was the only thing in his life he was really sure of right now.

"Cleared for takeoff," the port control said.

"Power it up, Fiver," Anakin murmured. "We've got someplace to be."

CHAPTER THREE When the stars rushed back into existence, Anakin  put  his

XJ X-wing into a lazy tumble and cut power  to  everyíthing  but  sensors  and

minimal life support. Ordinarily he wouldn't play it so cautious;  after  all,

someone would alímost have to be watching for the hyperwave ripples of  an  X-

wing entering the system to have any chance of deítecting it.  But  given  the

feeling in his gut, there might just be someone doing that.

The roll and yaw he'd put the X-wing in wasn't ranídom, but was  designed

to give his instruments a full acícounting of the  surrounding  space  in  the

least possible time. While the sensors did their job, Anakin reached out  with

the sense he trusted most×the Force.

The planet Yavin filled most of his view, its vast orange oceans  of  gas

boiling into fractal, elusive patterns. Its familiar face had marked the  days

and nights of much  of  his  childhood.  The  praxeum×his  uncle  Luke's  Jedi

academy×was located on Yavin 4, a moon of the gas  giant.  He  could  remember

watching Yavin in the night sky, a colossal mirage of a planet, wondering what

could be there, pushing his evolving Force senses to explore it.

He'd found clouds of methane and ammonia deeper than oceans, hydrogen  so

stressed by pressure it became metal, life  crushed  thinner  than  paper  but

still thriving, cyclones heavier than lead but faster than the  winds  of  any

world habitable by humans. And crystals, sparkling Corusca gems climbing those

titan winds, spinning in an ancient dance, capturing  what  light  they  could

find in the thinner upper atmosphere and gripping it tight in their molecules.

He saw none of this as one might with  eyes,  of  course,  but  over  the

nights, through the Force he had felt them, and with references to the library

gradually underístood them.

In his imagination he had seen more. Pieces  of  the  first  Death  Star,

which had met its end in these very skies, pounded into monomolecular foil  by

fierce pressure and gravity. Older things, relics of Sith,  and  species  even

more lost and distant in time. Once a planet like Yavin swalílowed  a  secret,

it wasn't likely to give it up again. Given the other secrets that had  turned

up in the Yavin system× and the  Sun  Crusher  Kyp  Durron  himself  had  once

maníaged to pull from the belly of the orange giant×that was for the best.

Just beyond the vast rim of Yavin, a bright yellowish  star  winked×Yavin

8, one of the three moons in the system blessed with life. Anakin had a friend

there, a naítive of that world who had trained  briefly  at  the  academy  and

returned home. He could feel her, very faintly. Yavin 4 was  just  around  the

rim, where he had other friends. In  a  way,  the  whole  system  was  like  a

familiar room to Anakin, the sort he could walk into and immediately  know  if

someíthing was out of place.

And something felt very out of place.

In the Force he could feel the Jedi candidates, for they were all  strong

with it. He could feel Kam Solusar and his wife Tionne, and the ancient Ikrit,

not students but full-fledged Jedi.  These  were  seen  as  through  a  cloud,

suggesting they were at least trying to maintain the illuísion that hid  Yavin

4 from the casual eye.

But even through that, one presence shone  brilliant,  made  brighter  by

familiarity and friendship. Tahiri.

She felt him, too, and though he could not quite hear  any  actual  words

she might be trying to send, he did feel a  sort  of  rhythm,  as  of  someone

talking quickly, excitíedly, without pause for breath.

One corner of Anakin's mouth turned up. Yes, that was Tahiri, all right.

What felt wrong was a little nearer and much weaker.  Not  Yuuzhan  Vong,

for they could not be felt in the Force, but someone who shouldn't  be  there.

Someone slightly confused, but with a growing sense of confidence.

"Hang on, Fiver," he told his astromech. "Get ready to run or fight in  a

hurry. It might just be Talon Karrde and his crew here ahead of schedule,  but

I'd sooner bet against Lando Calrissian in sabacc than to count on it."

affirmative, the display blinked.

They tumbled into sensor range, and his computer built a silhouette  from

the magnified image.

"That's not so bad," he murmured. "One Corellian light  transport.  Maybe

it is one of Karrde's bunch." Or maybe not. And maybe  there  were  a  hundred

Yuuzhan Vong ships on the other side of the gas giant or Yavin 4, invisible to

his Jedi senses and hidden from his sensors. Whatever the case, waiting around

wasn't going to imíprove matters. He powered up,  corrected  his  tumble,  and

engaged the ion engines.

He activated  his  comm  system  and  hailed  the  stranger.  "Transport,

acknowledge."

For a few moments, he got nothing, then the audio crackled. "Who is this?

"

"My name is Anakin Solo. What are you doing in the Yavin system?"

"We're Corusca gem miners."

"Really. Where's your trawler?"

Another pause, then words underlined with a bit of anger.

"We can see the moon now. We knew  it  was  here  all  along.  Your  Jedi

sorcery has failed you."

THE TRANSPORT IS ARMING WEAPONS SYSTEMS,  Fiver  noticed.  Anakin  nodded

grimly as the other vessel swung toward him.

"I'm only warning you once," Anakin said. "Stand down."

For an answer, he got a blast from a laser cannon, which at that distance

he managed to avoid as easily as he might deflect  a  blaster  shot  with  his

lightsaber.

"Gee," Anakin muttered. "I suppose that says it all." He  opened  his  S-

foils. "Fiver, give me evasive approach six, but I still want the  stick  just

in case."

ACKNOWLEDGED.

He dropped toward Yavin 4 and the transport at full thrust, spinning  and

dancing as he went, and when he felt his target firmly enough in the Force, he

sliced the night of vacuum with ruby red.  The  transport  returned  fire  and

began its own evasive maneuvers, but that was like a bantha trying to dodge  a

mace fly.

They had good shields, though. As Anakin completed his  first  pass,  his

opponent was still essentially unítouched. To make matters  more  interesting,

four winks of blue flame and his instruments agreed that  the  transíport  had

just fired proton torpedoes at him. Anakin had  been  preparing  to  turn  for

another pass; instead he conítinued his noseward plunge toward the moon.

"Four proton torpedoes. These guys really don't like us, Fiver."

the transport seems hostile, Fiver acknowledged. Anakin sighed. Fiver was

a more advanced astromech than  R2-D2,  but  he  missed  his  uncle's  droid's

personality at times. Maybe he ought to do something about that.

Two laser blasts hit his shields in quick succession, but they did  their

job. On his tracker, the proton torpedoes continued to  close  as  Anakin  met

resistance from the atímosphere. He plunged on, and the ship began to  vibrate

faintly. His  nose  and  wings  were  starting  to  heat  up  from  the  upper

atmosphere. If he didn't time this exactly right, he would  scatter  all  over

the jungle kilometers below.

When the lead torp was almost on him, he cut his enígines and yanked  the

nose up. The atmosphere, still thin, was nevertheless able to give the  XJ  X-

wing a good strong slap, hurling him away from the  moon.  Servos  whined  and

something somewhere made  a  startling  ping.  Using  the  momentum  from  the

atmospheric skip, Anaíkin turned further spaceward,  blood  rushing  from  his

head as the g's mounted, then he kicked in the engines again.

Behind him, the proton torpedoes didn't fare as well. They tried to  turn

after him, of course. Two didn't make it, and continued plunging moonward. The

other two skipped along wildly different courses than Anakin and  would  never

find him again before running out of fuel.

"Nice try," Anakin said grimly. Now he was climbing uphill,  out  of  the

gravity well, his lasers pumping a steady rhythm. He took another hit from the

enemy's more powerful gun, and  for  an  instant  the  lights  dimmed  in  the

cockpit. Then they flared back to life as Fiver rerouted, and  Anakin  took  a

hammer to the transport. Their shields faltered, and he slagged their  primary

generator. Loopíing around them  nose  to  tail,  he  drilled  laser  turrets,

torípedo ports, and engines.

Then he tried the comm again. "Ready to talk now?" he asked.

"Why not?" the voice  from  the  other  end  replied.  "  You  can  still

surrender if you want."

"That's×" Anakin began, but Fiver interrupted.

HYPERSPACE JUMP DETECTED. 12  VESSELS  HAVE  ARíRIVED,  DISTANCE  100,000

KILOMETERS.

"Sith spit!" Anakin muttered, bringing his sensors to bear.

They weren't Yuuzhan Vong ships, he saw that immeídiately, just a  motley

collection of E-wings, transports, and corvettes.

They were hailing him. He opened the link.

"Unidentified vessel, this is  the  Peace  Brigade,"  a  voice  crackled.

"Stand down and surrender, and you won't be harmed."

They were too far away to hit him. Soon they wouldn't be.  Anakin  closed

his S-foils, rolled,  opened  the  throttle,  and  raced  toward  the  distant

viridian of Yavin 4.

Anakin vaulted from the cockpit of the X-wing into silent near  darkness.

A twilight line of illumination in the distance was the entrance he had  flown

through into what had once been a part of an ancient Massassi temple  complex,

much later the central hangar for the Rebel fleet, and which  now  saw  little

use at all, since most ships landing at the academy set down outside.

Anakin's flight boots scuffed the ancient stone surface,  and  the  sound

grew around him into the hushed beating of enormous wings.  He  smelled  stone

and lubricant and more faintly the musky jungle outside.

Someone was watching Anakin from the darkness.

"Who is that?" a voice asked, each word stretching to fill the abyss.

"It's me, Kam. Anakin."

A faint glow appeared, and then a bank of light panels came on. Some  ten

meters away Kam Solusar stood, hooking his lightsaber back into his belt.

"I thought it felt like you," Kam said. "But there's been an unknown ship

in orbit for several standard  days  now.  We've  been  trying  to  keep  them

confused."

"Peace Brigade," Anakin explained. "And the one  ship  has  friends  now,

about twelve of them. And they aren't confused anymore."

He'd been walking toward Kam while he spoke, and suddenly his old teacher

swept forward, clasping his arm. "It's good  to  see  you,  Anakin.  And  you?

You're alone?"

Anakin nodded. "Talon Karrde is on the way with a flotilla. He's supposed

to evacuate you and the  students.  Uncle  Luke  wasn't  expecting  the  Peace

Brigade to show up so soon, I guess."

Kam's eyes narrowed. "But you were, weren't you? You  came  here  without

permission."

"I  came  against  orders,  actually,"  Anakin  corrected.  "That's   not

important now. Getting the students to safety, that is."

"Of course," Kam agreed. "How long before the Peace Brigade can land?"

"An hour? Not long."

- And Karrde?"

"He could be days."

Kam grimaced. "We can't hold out here that long."

"We might. We're all Jedi."

Kam snorted. "You need a sense of your limitations. I  have  a  sense  of

mine. We might do very well, but we'll lose kids. I  have  to  think  of  them

first."

They were approaching the turbolift when the door hissed open and ejected

a blond-and-orange blur. The blur smacked  Anakin  at  chest  height,  and  he

suddenly found surprisingly  strong  arms  wrapped  around  him  in  a  fierce

embrace. Bright green eyes danced centimeters from his own.

He felt his face go warm.

"Hi, Tahiri," he said.

She pushed back from him. "Hi, yourself, great hero-irom-the-stars  who's

too good to keep in touch with his best friend."

"I've×"

"Been busy. Right. I know all about it×well, not all about it because  we

get the news so late here, but I heard about Duro, and Centerpoint, and×"

She stopped suddenly, either because she saw it in his face or felt it in

the Force. Centerpoint Station was a senísitive subject.

"Anyway," she went on, "you won't believe how boríing it's  been  without

you. All the apprentices have gone off, and that just leaves these kids×"  She

stepped away, and for the first time, he really saw her.

Whatever she detected in his eyes cut her off  in  midsen-tence.  "What?"

she asked instead. "What are you lookíing at?"

"I×" Now his face felt like it had been grazed by blasterfire. "You look.

.. different."

"Older maybe? I'm fourteen now. Last week."

"Happy birthday."

"You should have thought of it then, but thanks anyway. Dummy."

Anakin found himself suddenly unable to meet her  eyes.  He  dropped  his

gaze. "You're, uh, still barefoot, I see."

"What did you expect? I hate shoes. I only wear  them  when  I  have  to.

Shoes were invented by the Sith to keep  our  delicate  toes  in  anguish  and

misery, I'm sure of it. Did you think just because I grew a centimeter or  two

I'd start torturing my feet?"

She looked up at Kam suspiciously. "What's he doing here, anyway? I  know

he didn't come to see me."

Anakin flinched at the hurt he heard in that.

"Anakin's come to warn us of trouble," Kam replied. "In fact, you'll need

to do your catching up later."

"Really? Trouble?"

"Yes," Anakin said.

Tahiri put her hands on her hips. "Well, why didn't you  say  so?  What's

going on?"

"We need to talk to Tionne and Ikrit," Kam told her,  continuing  forward

into the turbolift.

"Now," Anakin added, following him.

"But what's going oë?"  Tahiri  shouted  at  their  sudídenly  retreating

backs.

"I'll explain on the way," Anakin promised.

"Fine." She ducked into the lift just as the door was closing.

"The Yuuzhan Vong warmaster basically put a price on our  heads,"  Anakin

said. "On all our heads, all the Jedi. He announced that if what's left of the

New Re - public will turn over all of its Jedi to him×and Jacen  especially×he

won't take any more planets."

"Boy, that sounds like a lie," Tahiri said.

"Doesn't matter. People  believe  him.  Like  the  people  in  the  ships

approaching right now."

"They want to turn us over to the Yuuzhan Vong? Let them try!"

"Don't worry, they will."

The door opened and they emerged onto the second level. Kam started  down

the main corridor and then through a series  of  passages  that  were  utterly

familiar to Anakin, though they all seemed somehow narrower than when  he  had

last seen them. The Massassi temple that housed the academy  had  once  seemed

impossibly huge. Now it seemed merely large.

They reached the central area, and twenty-odd faces turned  toward  them.

Human, Bothan, Twi'lek, Wookiee× more than a dozen species  were  represented.

All were quite young except one×Tionne, Kam's wife, a  graceful  silver-haired

woman with pearl-white eyes. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise and her  lips  in

pleasure.

"Anakin!" she said.

"Tionne," Kam said gently but urgently, "we need to talk."

"Anakin!" Sannah, a girl of thirteen with brown  hair  and  yellow  eyes,

waved at him. Even younger Valin Horn was waving, though he wasn't shouting.

"He's busy!" Tahiri told them. But when Anakin went to talk with Kam  and

Tionne, Tahiri came along.

"Tahiri×" Kam began.

"Oh, no," she said. "You aren't leaving me out of this."

"I wasn't going to," Kam said gently. "I was going to  ask  you  to  find

Master Ikrit and meet us in the conferíence room."

"Oh. Okay."

She whirled off down the corridor on bare feet.

Tahiri was back with Ikrit only moments later. The old Jedi Master padded

into the room on all fours, his long floppy  ears  dragging  the  ground.  His

normally bright  eyes  seemed  a  little  dull  to  Anakin,  and  he  felt  an

inexpliícable pang.

"Master Ikrit."

"Young Anakin. It is good to see you," Ikrit replied. "Though  you  bring

troubling news."

"Yes." He raced through the details once again, for Ikrit and Tionne.

"They would take our children?" Tionne murmured, more darkly than was her

wont.

"The Peace Brigade? Absolutely. Tionne, it's bad for Jedi out there right

now."

"I  understand,"  she  said,  then  clenched  her  fist.  "No,  I   don't

understand. Has the galaxy gone mad?"

"Yes," Kam said softly. "It's an old madness, war."

"You don't have any ships, do you?"

"No. Streen went with Peckhum in the supply ship."

"Whereto?"

"Corellia. He should be back soon. Though I suppose they won't, now."

"We'll have to hide them here, then," Anakin said. "Where?"

"Down the river! The cave beneath the Palace of the Woolamander,"  Tahiri

offered. "Master Ikrit's cave."

Anakin raised his eyebrows. "That's a good idea. They'd be really hard to

find there, especially if the Peace Brigade doesn't start looking right away."

"What do you mean by that? " Kam said, his voice sudídenly cautious. "Why

would they delay the search?"

"I'll stay behind," Anakin said. "I'll make it look as if we're still  in

the temple trying to make a stand.  They'll  waste  time  shooting  their  way

through while you and Tionne get the kids to safety."

"You're leaving out one little detail," Tahiri  said.  "What  about  yow?

What keeps you safe?"

I'll hide the X-wing. I know a good place. I can slip through them.  Then

I'll play hide-and-seek until Talon Karrde shows up. Once he's mopped  up  the

Peace Briígade, I'll lead him to you."

"You've been thinking about this," Tionne said.

"All the way down," Anakin admitted. "It's the best way."

"He's right," Kam said.

"Kam×" Tionne began.

"He's right," Kam went on, "except that he's not the one staying behind×I

am."

"I'm the better pilot," Anakin said bluntly. "I'm the only  one  who  can

pull it off."

"Anakin is correct," Ikrit said in his scratchy voice. "It is part of his

destiny. And mine."

"Master Ikrit×"

"You will say I am no warrior. That may be true×it has been long since  I

wielded a lightsaber, and it was not what I preferred even then. But it is not

lightsabers that will prevail here today, not weapons. Not  all  uses  of  the

Force are aggressive."

Anakin pursed his lips, but he couldn't bring himself to  contradict  the

ancient Master.

Kam gnawed his lip for a moment. "Very well," he said at last.  "I  don't

like it, but we don't have time for a debate. Tahiri, come along. Help me  and

Tionne get the students on the boats."

"Fine," Tahiri said, "but I'm staying with Anakin."

"No," Anakin said.

"Yes!" Tahiri retorted. "I've been stuck on this  mud-ball  while  you've

been out fighting the Yuuzhan Vong. I'm sick of it! I'm ready to do something!

"

"You're too young for this," Tionne said.

"Anakin's only two years older than me! He was fifíteen at Sernpidal!"

"That's right," Anakin said, "and I got Chewbacca killed. Tahiri,  please

go with Kam."

Her eyes widened in shocked betrayal. "You don't want me with you!  After

all we×you think I'm a kid, just like they do!"

No, Anakin thought. / just don't want to see you killed, too.

"Come on, Tahiri," Tionne said gently. "There's no time to lose."

"Fine. That's just fine," she said, and without another glance at  Anakin

she darted from the room.

Kam placed his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "It's been hard on her  without

you here."

Anakin nodded. "Anyway," he said gruffly, "I'd better get to work."

" Be careful, Anakin. You don't have to buy us a lot of  time.  When  you

need to go, go. We need you alive."

"I don't plan to die," Anakin assured him.

"Most people don't. It happens anyway. Trust the Force, listen to  Ikrit.

May the Force be with you."

CHAPTER FOUR "It will burn you, Anakin," Ikrit's pleasant, familiar  rasp

solemnly pronounced.

Anakin looked up from his work on the intercom. He and the old Jedi  were

in what had once been the comímand center when the Great  Temple  had  been  a

Rebel base. Most of the wartime equipment  was  gone,  but  some  remained×the

various communication systems, including an intercom  that  piped  information

throughíout the temple and its surrounds.

"Master?"

" Your anger. You have built yourself a vessel to conítain  it,  but  the

crucible itself will one day melt from the  heat.  Then  you  will  burn,  and

others with you. Many others, possibly."

Anakin slipped the modified data chip in  place  and  straightened.  "The

Yuuzhan Vong make me angry, Masíter. They're  destroying  everything  I  know,

everything I love."

"No. You make you angry. People die; you are angry because you could  not

save them."

"You mean Chewbacca."

"And others. Their deaths are inscribed on you."

"Yes. Chewbacca died because of me. A lot of people have died because  of

me."

"Death comes to call," Ikrit replied. "You  cannot  hold  water  in  your

hands for long. It leaks away, goes where it is meant to go. To the  soil  and

sky. To ions, and then space, where stars are born."

Frustration hijacked Anakin's lips. "That's  poetic,  Master  Ikrit,  but

it's not an answer. My grandfather was Darth Vader, and  he  killed  billions.

But that was after deícades of the dark side. I'm only sixteen, and look  what

I've done. Darth Vader would be proud."

Ikrit fixed him with luminous blue eyes. "It is to your credit  that  you

feel those deaths, that you mourn. But you did not kill those people. You  did

not wish them dead and then bring it to pass."

"No," Anakin said. "But at Centerpoint I wished the Yuuzhan Vong dead.  I

wanted to kill every last one of them. If my  brother  hadn't  stopped  me,  I

would have. I think×often×that I should have."

"Your brother didn't stop you."

"You weren't there, Master Ikrit. I would have done it."

"I was there, Anakin. In every important way, I was. Anakin, you must let

your anger go. Angry steps have worn a rutted path to the dark side. It is  an

easy path to follow, difficult to avoid."

Anakin turned to the power generator remote panel and fiddled with  it  a

bit. "This might work," he murímured. "I wish I had time  to  go  out  to  the

generator."

"Anakin." The Master's voice carried a note of command.

Anakin didn't look up from his work. "You know, Master Ikrit,"  he  said,

"I used to dream every night that I would turn to the  dark  side,  become  my

name, what my grandfather became. Now that seems silly. The Force doesn't make

a person good or evil. It's a tool, like a lightísaber. Don't worry about me."

"Listen to me, young Solo," Ikrit said. "I never  said  the  Force  would

lead you to evil. I warned you your feelíings might."

"Feelings are tools, too, if you don't  let  them  control  you,"  Anakin

said.

Ikrit clucked his soft laugh. "And how are you to  know  when  a  feeling

controls you? When anger guides your hand or guilt stays it?"

Anakin sighed. "With all due respect, Master Ikrit, we  don't  have  time

for this discussion. The Peace Brigade will be here any moment."

"This is the perfect time for it," Ikrit replied. "Perhaps the only time.

"

"What do you mean?"

Ikrit blinked, very slowly, then scratched out a long breath.

" I am centuries old, Anakin. I came here  to  Yavin  Four  to  free  the

spirits of the imprisoned Massassi children, or so  I  thought.  Now  I  think

there was another reason, an even greater one."

"Master? What could that be?"

"The task that drew me here was beyond  my  power  to  complete.  It  was

beyond the power of any adult Jedi. You and Tahiri  were  the  only  ones  who

could have done it."

"With your help and advice. Without you, we  never  could  have  released

them."

Ikrit ruffed his fur. "With or without me you would  have  done  it,"  he

purred. "That is why I say I was drawn here  for  another  reason,  slept  for

centuries for another cause."

"What reason?"

"To see something new born in you and Tahiri. And to  give  you  whatever

small help I am able to give to see that birth arrive."

A chill spidered up Anakin's back. He couldn't say why, but Ikrit's words

struck something in his core.

Ikrit walked to the window. "They are here," he said.

Anakin bolted over. Peace Brigade ships were settling everywhere.

"I'm not ready!" Anakin said.

"You are ready," Ikrit replied.

"Not as ready as I would like. Ten more minutes would have been  nice.  I

could have brought the automated deífenses of the power generator on-line."

"Tell me what you have done."

"Well, I've got an energy shield up, though not much  of  one,  and  it's

only over the compound.  A  little  poundíing  will  bring  it  down."  Anakin

switched on the inítercom. Faint sounds of speech and movement bustled  around

them. "It'll sound like a bunch of us are in here. And this×" He went to  what

had once been the local sensor control panel.  "×I'm  using  the  old  sensory

array to generate the illusion of small, local movements in the temple."

"Scurrying," Ikrit said. "As if we're running about."

"Right. Of course, they won't see anything, if they get close, but  their

instruments will tell them we're all over the place."

"They will see also," Ikrit said. "Come."

The Great Temple was a ziggurat with three giant steps. The  old  command

center was on the second tier. The anícient structure had five  openings  that

led out to the flat, paved surface that was  the  roof  of  the  lowest  tier.

Anakin and Ikrit made their way to the one that faced the landing clearing and

peeked out.

Beyond the vague distortion of the energy shield, Anaíkin saw five  ships

settled in the clearing. Two were alíready disgorging armed Peace Brigaders.

"I hope they go for this," Anakin said. "I hope  they  believe.  If  they

start a search for Kam, Tionne, and the kids now, they might find them."

"They will believe," Ikrit assured him. "They will beílieve the  children

are here because they want to, and beícause  they  are  weak.  Do  not  worry,

Anakin. As I said, a warrior I may not be, but the Force is not weak with me."

"I'm sorry, Master Ikrit," Anakin said. "I should not doubt you."

"Then do not doubt my  words.  Search  your  feelings,  every  day.  Keep

careful watch. The worst monsters are not those from without." Then the Master

closed his eyes, humming faintly to himself. Anakin felt a surge in the  Force

as Ikrit's will went out to touch the beings below, to nudge  their  credulity

over the edge.

Anakin lifted a remote comm unit and keyed into the outdoor speakers.

"You are trespassing on the  grounds  of  the  Jedi  academy,"  he  said.

"Please leave immediately."

At the sound of his amplified voice, some of the  Peace  Brigaders  dived

for cover. A moment later, the exterior speakers of one of  the  ships  boomed

on.

"You inside the temple," the voice said. "This is Lieuítenant  Kot  Murno

of the Peace Brigade. We have been empowered to take control of this facility.

"

"On whose authority?"

"The Alliance of Twelve."

"Never heard of it," Anakin replied. "Whoever they are, they  don't  have

any jurisdiction over this system."

"They do now," Murno answered. "We are their auíthority.  Surrender,  and

you won't be harmed."

"Really? You don't think that the Yuuzhan Vong  will  harm  the  children

you've come to kidnap when you hand them over to them?"

There was a pause this time before Murno answered. "It is  the  price  of

peace," he said. "I regret it, but it is the case. Weighed  against  what  the

Yuuzhan Vong could do to every inhabited world in this galaxy,  a  handful  of

Jedi isn't much to ask. You brought this disaster upon us. You  must  pay  the

price."

"You're blaming the Yuuzhan Vong invasion  on  the  Jedi?"  Anakin  asked

incredulously.

"Jedi have provoked this war at every stage, hoping to use it as a way to

embellish their own power. Your plans for the domination of this  galaxy  have

long been known. This time, your tactics have reverse-throttled on you."

"That's the biggest trough of bantha fodder I've ever heard  anyone  spit

up in my life," Anakin said. "You are cowards and traitors. You want us?  Come

and get us."

He fired his blaster through the narrow window and ducked as return  fire

heat-spalled the ancient stone. Paríticle shields like the one he had  erected

did nothing to stop energy blasts. The thick jungle air filled with  the  hiss

and whine of blasters as the fire  expanded  to  other  parts  of  the  temple

complex.

"What are they shooting at up there?" Anakin wonídered aloud.

"Ghosts of mist and madness," Ikrit told him.

"They don't notice no one is shooting back?"

"Not yet. They believe they see the bolts of energy weapons."

"How long can you keep that up?"

"Longer if the occasional bolt is real."

"Got you," Anakin said, leaning around the door frame. Aiming  carefully,

using the Force, he blew a blaster rifle out  of  a  hooded  man's  hands.  He

continued that way for about twenty minutes, picking his shots carefully. Each

second felt like a burden lifted from his  shoulders;  each  movement  of  the

chrono took Tahiri and the rest farther from danger.

"They've found the generator," Ikrit murmured. "Your shield will be  down

soon."

"It's okay," Anakin said. "We're almost done here. Even after  it's  down

they'll come in cautiously. We'll have plenty of time to get to the hangar and

get my X-wing out. Then all we have to do is run their little blockade."  He'd

noticed three of the five ships had landed facing the closed hangar doors.  No

surprise there, but what they didn't know was that one of the ion cannons that

guarded the hangars was  still  operational×and  had  a  self-contained  power

supply good for at least a blast or two.

He leaned out for a parting shot.

A blaster bolt seared by over his shoulder, lanced down  into  the  Peace

Brigaders. Anakin jerked his head around.

"That shot came from above us!"

" Yes," Ikrit said. "Didn't you notice? Didn't you know sue would come?"

"Notice who?" But in a flash he knew. Tahiri was up there, Tahiri and two

other people. All Jedi.

"Hutt slime!" he swore. "Just what I need!" He turned  to  Master  Ikrit.

"There won't be room for all of us in the X-wing. Meet me in the deep  grotto.

I'll think of some-thing on the way."

With that he raced down the corridor, blaster in one hand and  lightsaber

in the other.

He found them in the refectory×Tahiri, Valin Horn, and Sannah.  They  had

barricaded the outer door with tables and had two blasters  between  them,  no

telling where they had gotten them. When Anakin entered, Taíhiri waved the gun

at him.

"What are you doing?" Anakin exploded.

"Helping you," Tahiri said with a grin.

" How did you×"

"Kam thought we were on Tionne's boat, Tionne thought  we  were  on  his.

Simple, with a little planning."

"But Valin? Valin's only eleven!"

"Twelve!" Valin said very seriously. "I can help."

"This is insane."

"Fine one you are to talk, Anakin," Tahiri snapped. You're  the  one  who

left Coruscant without permission, aren't you? You get to do everything  while

we just run away and do nothing? I don't think so, best friend."

"Yeah? Well, my plan was to get away in the X-wing. Now we have too  many

people for that. What does the brilliant Tahiri propose we do, exactly?"

"Oh." Her green eyes went round. "I hadn't thought that far."

"No, I guess you didn't."

The floor suddenly vibrated like the shell of a Haípan lute.

"What's that?" Sannah asked.

Valin, peeking out the window, answered. "The shield is down. Now they're

shooting at the doors. Some men are coming up the stairs, too."

"No more time," Anakin said. "We'll have to think as we go. I told  Ikrit

to meet us in the grotto."

"Then we'll be stuck underground."

"I didn't have much time to put this together, Tahiri."

"You mean there's more to your plan than hiding in the grotto?"

Anakin blew out a deep breath. "Sure. We'll take a Peace Brigade ship."

Tahiri smiled. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

They reached the turbolift just as a clump of Peace  Briígaders  appeared

at the end of the corridor facing onto the outside stairs.

"Hey! Stop!" one of them shouted.

Two blaster shots pinged against the doors as they closed. Anakin let out

a breath as the lift started to deíscend, then sucked it back in.

"It's going to stop," Anakin said. "At the second level."

"Override it."

"I can't," he said, activating his lightsaber with a snap-hiss. "The door

will stay open for a few seconds. If they're out there..."

The door opened on the muzzles of six blasters. Anakin didn't think. He'd

already slapped the "down" button× now he leapt into the midst of his enemies,

blocking the first two blaster bolts with his weapon and sending them  burning

back through the press. He cut a blaster rifle in half and spun.  Shouting  in

alarm, his attackers gave ground, trying to find a range where they could  use

their weapons. Two came at  him  with  stun  batons.  He  leapt  and  whirled,

disarming one with a cut that took several fingers and  another  that  sheared

the baton in half. He felt another blow  coming,  one  he  wasn't  quite  fast

enough to avoid.

When he landed, he was facing another lightsaber,  its  blade  a  vibrant

blue.

Behind it×gripping it  and  grinning  fiercely×was  Taíhiri.  She'd  just

slashed the force pike in half that had alímost impaled him.

He didn't let his astonishment faze him. The turbolift  with  Sannah  and

Valin was long gone. Find Master Ikrit, he sent after  the  young  candidates,

hoping that if they could not make out actual words, they would at  least  get

the sense.

Then he squared his shoulders and faced the  Peace  Briígaders  who  were

warily regrouping about two meters away. "You don't stand  a  chance,"  Anakin

told them. " I've been trying not to hurt you. That ends with the next  person

who fires a weapon at me."

"They can't get all of us," a woman in front said. She had a seamed brown

face and dark eyes.

"Of course we can," Anakin said.

"All of us?" She smirked. From behind her came the sound  of  what  could

only be reinforcements.

Anakin hit the woman, hard, with a telekinetic shove that took all of her

companions down, too. Then he whirled and made four quick slashes that  opened

a gapíing hole into the turbolift shaft.

"Go," he told Tahiri. "You say you're ready for all this? Jump."

Tahiri nodded and without the slightest hesitation leapt down the  shaft.

Anakin followed her, bolts flashing above him. Together, they  hurled  through

darkness.

CHAPTER FIVE Anakin reached to Tahiri  through  the  Force,  and  for  an

instant met a wall as hard as the stone of the temple. Then she reached  back,

and they clicked as if they  had  never  been  apart,  so  intensely  that  it

actually frightened him. They fell in a sort of acrobatic dance, Anakin  using

the Force to slow Tahiri's fall and she slowing his  as  they  spun  around  a

common fulcrum somewhere between them, like two children  clasping  hands  and

leaning back, turning around on their feet. If either let go, the other  would

go whirling off, out of control An old game, one they had invented long ago.

He noticed something was falling with them×a pair of  glop  grenades.  He

sent them humming back up the shaft and out the hole he had cut.

The two young Jedi touched down, feather light, on top of the turbolift.

"Wow!" Tahiri said. "It's been a long time since we did  that.  That  was

terrific. And the way you got the greníades, too×that was artl"

"I-"

The car of the lift suddenly started again.

Desperately Anakin  cut  into  the  power  couplings  and  superconductor

casings in the walls. The lift jarred to a stop. Meanwhile, Tahiri sliced into

the roof of the car itíself and jumped back, in case there was blasterfire.

But there was none.

"I don't feel anyone on the lift," Tahiri said.

"No. I sent it down to the third hangar level below the temple.  I  think

Valin and Sannah got off, and then someíone called it back up×probably someone

on the ground level. Judging by our drop, we're probably somewhere between×"

An explosion six meters above him cut him off as one of  the  outer  lift

doors blew in.

"'There's the ground floor, right there," Anakin said. ÕCome on!"

He jumped down into the car. With his lightsaber, he cut through the  car

and the wall beyond, revealing an uníderground hangar that  hadn't  been  used

since the battle against the first Death Star.

" You block their shots," Anakin told Tahiri.

As bolts rained down and Tahiri deflected them, Anaíkin cut the fail-safe

magnetic bolts that had locked the turbolift in  place.  He  flicked  off  his

lightsaber.

"Cut your lightsaber, now!"

"But×"

"Quick!"

She did, flattening against the lift walls as blasterfire poured  through

the hole above them. Another grenade plinked against the lift floor.

"There. Throw that back at them," Anakin said.

The grenade whizzed back up the hole. "Why  didn't  you  do  it?"  Tahiri

asked.

"Because I'm holding the lift car up."

Above them, the glop grenade went off, and Anakin let  gravity  have  the

car.

It dropped like a stone.

"Remember to jump up just before we hit bottom," Anakin gritted,  as  the

lift hurled down through the layers of hangars and Massassi caverns below  the

temple.

"Somebody wasn't paying attention in physics lec-rures," Tahiri said.

"Nope. Mind the roof." And then they did jump,  pushíing  away  from  the

lift floor with the Force, up through the  jagged  hole,  into  the  turbolift

shaft. Below them, the car hit bottom with a terrific  din.  Once  again  they

drifted each other down upon it, but this time the car wasn't exíactly  level.

It had wrenched the lowest doors from their hinges, and they were able to step

through.

The Rebel Alliance had converted square kilometers  of  Massassi  caverns

into hangars, but below that there were chambers  and  caverns  more  or  less

untouched. The turbolift went down only as far as the Alliance  had  used  the

caverns. After that it was stairs, winding corridors, and secret panels.

"They'll look up there  first,"  Anakin  said.  "They'll  think  we  went

through into the hangar where I cut the wall. By the time they think  to  look

down here×in fact, hang on." He activated his wrist comm.

"Fiver."

affirmative. Fiver's response scrolled across the small display.

"I need you to fly the X-wing out of the hangar. Avoid all pursuit  until

I call you again. Got that?"

AFFIRMATIVE.

"Good luck, Fiver," Anakin whispered.

After a long descent, Anakin stopped in front of a blank wall.  "Remember

this?"

"Is Dagobah up to its neck in mud?" Tahiri pushed a patch in the wall and

it swung open. The two stepped through and closed it behind them. Anakin  felt

around in the rocks and came up with one of  the  two  glow  lamps  that  were

usually secreted there.

"Master Ikrit has already  been  here,"  he  murmured.  "With  Valin  and

Sannah."

"Yeah. I can feel them."

"That was, umm, good back there," Anakin admitted. "Where did you get the

lightsaber?"

"Anakin Solo. You don't think I can build a lightsaber?"

"I didn't say that. I just didn't think×"

"Right. You didn't think, and you're still not thinking, and you'd better

fix that before you say anything else. Now, let's find Master Ikrit."

The pungent, rotten-egg scent of sulfur would  have  led  them  to  their

destination if their memories had not. Ikrit, Valin, and  Sannah  sat  on  the

edges of an underground hot spring, just outside of a shaft of light that fell

from a hundred meters or more above, where some  long-ago  force,  natural  or

artificial, had cut through the soft stone.

"I've never seen it in daylight," Tahiri murmured.

When they were younger they had come here with Kam and Tionne to drift in

the warm water and turn from iníward to outward in the Force,  to  contemplate

the stars above and the person within. It was a place all the  students  knew,

but which was never spoken of to anyone else.

"Good that you have come," Ikrit sighed.

"You knew I would," Anakin said.

"Yes. Still, it is good."

"What will we do now?" Valin asked. He was  trying  to  look  brave,  but

Anakin could feel his fear.

"Now? You guys will keep waiting here. It  should  be  safe  enough.  I'm

going to climb up there×" Tahiri elbowed Anakin in  the  side.  "I  mean,"  he

corrected, "Tahiri and I will climb up there while we have light  to  see  by.

Then we'll hide until dark and stea×er, commanídeer one of  their  ships,  one

big enough for all of us."

"And small enough to bring down here," Tahiri added.

"Right. There's a light transport I think might fit the bill."

"Do you remember the way up?" Tahiri asked.

"You two did this before?" Ikrit asked. "Climbed up to the  surface  from

here?"

"Um, yes," Anakin replied. "When we were bored, once."

"I thought I always had my eye on you," Ikrit said. "I  must  be  getting

old."

Somehow, the Jedi Master looked old, older than Anakin had ever seen him.

He sounded old, too.

"Are you ill, Master Ikrit?"

"Ill? No. Sad."

"Sad at what?"

Ikrit ruffled his fur. "It is inappropriate, my sadness. It  is  nothing.

Go, succeed as you  always  do.  Remember×"  Ikrit  paused,  then  began  more

strongly in a voice that made Anakin feel, suddenly, that he was eleven again.

"Remember. You two are better than the sum of your parts.  Together,  you  two

could×" He paused again. "No. Enough. I've said enough. Together,  that's  the

imíportant thing. Now go."

They reached the top by nightfall and took shelter in a small cavern just

under the lip of the pit. It was a tight fit, but impossible to see unless you

were hovering right in front of it. They sat shoulder to  shoulder,  breathing

deeply and working the cramps from their muscles.

"You thought I was going to mess things up," Tahiri said suddenly.

"What brought that up?"

"There hasn't been time to talk about it until now."

"Well, keep your voice down. It's not exactly the brightíest thing for us

to be talking."

"We'll feel them in the Force long before they hear us."

"Unless they have Yuuzhan Vong with 'em.  You  can't  feel  them  in  the

Force."

"Really? Is that true?"

"Yeah."

"So?"

"So what?"

Tahiri punched his shoulder lightly. "So you thought I was going to  mess

things up. Get us all caught."

"I didn't say that."

"No, of course not. Wouldn't want to upset baby Tahiri."

"Tahiri, now you're acting like a kid."

"No, I'm not. I'm acting like someone whose best  friend  has  completely

forgotten she exists."

"That's ridiculous."

" Is it? When you left the academy with Mara, did you even bother to  say

good-bye? And since then, have you sent me a single message, or  even  reached

out in the force? And just a while ago, when we did our old falling  dance×you

didn't like it. I almost had to catch myself!"

"You're the one who resisted," Anakin said. "We were tailing like  rocks,

and you resisted me."

"That was you, you big dumb gundark."

"That's crazy. You×" But the whole scene flashed suddenly though his mind

again. Maybe it had been him. When  he  and  Tahiri  worked  together  it  was

sometimes hard to tell who was feeling what.

"See?" she said frostily.

Anakin was silent for a moment, and so, miraculously, was Tahiri.

"I did miss you," Anakin finally said. "No one  knows  me  the  way×"  He

broke off.

"Right," Tahiri said. "No one knows you like I do,  and  you  don't  want

anyone to. You want to keep all of that stuff in you, where no one  can  touch

it. Chewbacca× even last time you were here you wouldn't talk about  him.  Now

you pretend you're past it. And the thing at Centerpoint×"

"You're right," Anakin said. "I don't want to talk about that. Not  right

now."

Tahiri's shoulders began to shake, just a little, and Anakin realized she

was crying.

"Come on, Tahiri," he said.

"What are we, Anakin? A year ago you were my best friend in the world."

"We're still best friends," he assured her.

"Then the way you treat your other friends must really stink."

"Yeah," Anakin admitted. Almost without  thinking,  he  reached  for  her

hand. For a few seconds, she  didn't  reíspond.  Her  fingers  were  cold  and

motionless in his, and he suddenly believed he had made some kind of  mistake.

Then she gripped back, and warmth rushed around  him  like  a  whirlwind.  She

nodded her head over onto his shoulder,  still  weeping,  and  silence  folded

around them again. But this time it was an easier silence. Not happy  or  even

quite content, but easier.

After a while her breathing became regular, and Anaíkin realized she  was

asleep. By the faint orange light of the gas giant outside, he could make  out

traces of her feaítures, so familiar and yet somehow different. It was as  if,

below the girl's face he had always known, something else was pushing up, like

mountains rising, driven by the internal  heat  of  a  planet.  Something  you

couldn't stop, even if you wanted to.

It made him want to hang on and run away at the same time, and in a  mild

epiphany he realized he had felt that way for some time.

As children they had been best friends. But neither of them was  a  child

anymore, not exactly.

His arm had gone numb from her weight, but he couldn't bring  himself  to

shift, for fear of waking her.

Anakin woke Tahiri an hour before the orange planet set. The sun was  not

yet out.

"It's time, "he said.

"Good," Tahiri mumbled. "It's getting cramped in here." She shifted  into

a crouch. "Are the others still okay?"

"I haven't heard or felt anything. Are you ready?"

"Ready as rockets, hero boy."

Carefully they climbed from the pit and padded through  the  jungle.  The

spicy scent of bruised blueleaf shrubs sug - gested a  lot  of  searching  had

been done in the area, but for the moment it was quiet. Anakin and Tahiri made

it to the ship landing clearing without incident.

"I like that one," Anakin whispered, pointing  at  a  light  transport  a

little apart from the rest. "I don't think I'll have trouble flying it, and we

can get it down the pit."

"You're the captain, Captain."

Anakin peered more closely at the ship and then began sneaking across the

clearing. A guard several hundred meters away glanced in their direction,  but

it took only a faint suggestion to turn Anakin  and  Tahiri  into  shadow  and

planetlight.

They found a guard in front of the ship, too, sitting on the  open  ramp.

He came quickly to his feet when they saw him.

Õ'You're needed around the other side of the temple,"  Anakin  told  him,

with a slight wave of his hand.

The fellow  hesitated  an  instant,  scratching  his  chin.  "I'm  needed

elsewhere," he allowed. "I'll go, then."

"See you later," Anakin said as the man started away, pace quickening  as

he went.

"What the×?" A young man's face stuck around the corner. He looked as  if

he had just awakened. Seeing Anakin and Tahiri, the fellow's  eyes  went  wide

and he reached for his blaster. He stopped  with  the  snap-hiss  of  Anakin's

lightsaber igniting, probably because the glowíing purple tip was  centimeters

from one of his gray eyes.

"Easy," Anakin said.

"Hey," the fellow said. "I'm always easy. Ask anyone. Would you, uh, mind

getting that a little farther from my race?"

" You have restraining cuffs here somewhere?"

"Maybe."

Anakin shrugged. "I can cut your arms off and get more or less  the  same

effect."

"In the locker over there," the fellow said, pointing.

"Get them, Tahiri. What's your name?"

"Remis. Remis Vehn."

"You pilot this thing?"

"Sure."

"Any surprises I need to know about before I fly her?"

Vehn winced as Tahiri pulled his arms back and snapped them in the cuffs.

"Not that I can think of," he said.

"Good. I'll keep you aboard though. If any occur to you, let me know."

Anakin shut his lightsaber down, made his way to the controls, and looked

them over. They weren't that different from those on  the  Millennium  Falcon,

his faíther's ship.

Vehn cleared his throat.  "I  just  remembered.  Before  you  engage  the

repulsorlift you have to enter a clearance code."

"Really? Or what happens?"

"The cabin will sort of electrify."

"I'm glad you remembered that," Anakin said dryly. "The code, please?"

Vehn recited it while Anakin entered it. Then the young Jedi turned  back

to his captive. "Let me explain something to you," he said. "My name is Anakin

Solo, and this is my friend Tahiri Veila. We are Jedi  Knights,  some  of  the

people you came here to betray to the Yuuízhan Vong. If you lie to  us,  we'll

know it. If you try to keep something from us, we'll find  it  out.  The  only

unícertain factor is how much we'll have to damage you to do so."

Vehn snorted. "They were right. You Jedi and your high-minded ideals×it's

all smoke screen."

Anakin shot him a withering glance. "Next  time  I'm  trying  to  capture

children for Yuuzhan Vong sacrifices, I'll be sure to have a talk about 'high-

minded ideals' with you. Until then, or until you  have  something  useful  to

say, you keep your garbage lock cycled shut."

He turned back to the controls. "Hang on, Tahiri. This might go a  little

rough until I get the feel of it. And pay attention to Vehn. If you  feel  the

slightest twinge from him, dig it out."

"Yes, sir, Captain Solo."

Anakin engaged the repulsorlifts, and the ship began to rise.  Before  he

closed the ramp, he heard someone shoutíing outside.

"Call out to Master Ikrit," Anakin told Tahiri. "Use the force to let him

know we're coming."

And it's going to be tight, he finished, to himself.

CHAPTER SIX Talon Karrde clasped his hands beneath his goatee and studied

the scene on the Wild Karrde's command deck viewscreen through pale blue eyes.

"Well, Shada," he told the striking woman at his right hand, "it  appears

that our baby-sitting chore  has  become  somewhat  more...  interesting  than

anticipated."

"I would say so," Shada D'ukal replied. "The sensor shroud shows at least

seven ships in orbit around Yavin Four and another six on the surface."

"None of them are Yuuzhan Vong, I take it."

"No. A mixed bag, but I'd lay odds that they are Peace Brigade."

"Gambling is a foolish occupation," Karrde said. "I want to know.  And  I

want to know what they're doing." He ticked his finger against the armrest. "I

knew we should have found some way to leave sooner. Skywalker was  right."  He

sighed and leaned forward, studying the long-range sensors.

"There's some sort of firefight on the surface, yes, H'sishi?"

"Looks like it," the Togorian mewled.

"Solusar?" Karrde wondered. "Maybe. How long beífore we can be there?"

"They outnumber us badly," Shada pointed out. "We should call the rest of

our ships before we do anything."

"We should certainly call them, but we can't wait for them. Someone  down

there is fighting for his life, most likely one of the people I told Skywalker

I would protect. What's more, the fact that  there  are  still  ships  on  the

suríface suggests they haven't finished what they came here to  do.  That  is,

they don't have the Jedi children yet. If we wait until they have them aboard,

in space, the job of resícuing them will become much more complicated."

"I see that," Shada said. "But it will be more compliícated yet  if  they

blow us out of the sky."

Karrde laughed. "Shada, when will you learn to trust my  instincts?  When

have I ever gotten you killed?"

"You have a point there, I suppose."

Karrde pointed at Yavin 4, at the moment a dark disk silhouetted  against

the larger orange profile of its priímary.  "So  I  want  to  be  there,  now.

Dankin, keep full cloak, but let me know when they notice us."

"Of course, sir."

That point came an hour later, when  they  were  almost  sitting  on  the

nearest of the orbiting ships.

"They're hailing us, sir," Dankin told him. "And powíering up weapons."

"Put them on."

A moment later, a thick-featured  human  male  with  thin,  graying  hair

appeared on the communication holoscreen.

"Transport,  identify  yourself."  He  chopped  the  words  out  in  even

syllables.

"My name, sir, is Talon Karrde. Perhaps you've heard of me."

The man's eyes pinched warily. "Yes, I've heard of you,  Captain  Karrde.

It's rude to sneak up on someone like that. And dangerous."

"And it's rude to be given a name and not offer one," Karrde returned.

A look of annoyance crossed the fellow's face.  "Don't  try  me,  Captain

Karrde. You may call me Captain Im-satad. What do you want?"

Karrde favored the man with a wan smile. "I was going to ask you the same

question."

"I don't follow you," Imsatad said.

"You seem to be having some sort of trouble. I'm ofífering my assistance.

"

"We need no assistance, I assure you. And to be blunt, Captain Karrde,  I

don't believe you. I remember you as a smuggler, a pirate, and  a  traitor  to

the Empire."

"Then perhaps you remember, as well, what became of those who treated  me

with disrespect," Karrde said icily. "But if we are  being  blunt×and  perhaps

that is best here, since you seem to lack the education  for  more  civiílized

discourse×I am undoubtedly here for the same reason  you  are×to  collect  the

bounty on the young Jedi below."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Karrde leaned toward the screen, eyes glittering danígerously. "You are a

liar, Captain, and a poor one. I see no reason for us to play games."

"I trust you've noticed you're outnumbered."

" I trust you noted I was able to drop in on you in,  shall  we  say,  an

unannounced fashion. Do you really think I brought only one ship?"

Imsatad glared at him, then  cut  his  visual.  Karrde  waited  patiently

until, a few moments later, the image returned.

"This is none of your business," the man said.

"Profit is always my business."

" There is no profit here, and if there were, you would  already  be  too

late."

"Oh, I don't think so. Why are your ships still on the suríface?  Why  do

my sensors show what seems to be proítracted search activity? You've let  your

quarry slip through your fingers, Captain." Karrde smiled and leaned  back  in

his chair. "Consider my offer of help. I ask little in return, and I could  be

a nuisance if you spurn my kindness."

" That sounds like a threat."

Karrde spread his hands. "Take it however you please.  Shall  we  discuss

this further or not?"

"You say you ask for little. What, exactly, would that be?"

"A few kind words in the ears of the Yuuzhan Vong. An  introduction.  You

see, Captain, for some years now I've been retired from my chosen  profession.

But these are very interesting times,  exactly  the  sort  of  times  my  kind

thrives on, if you know what I mean. I'd like to come out of retirement."

"Go on."

Karrde  stroked  his  mustache  thoughtfully.  "The  Yuuízhan  Vong  have

promised a truce if the Jedi are delivered to them. I would  like  to  bargain

for passage through Yuuízhan Vong space, once the borders are established."

"Why should they allow a smuggler to use their space?"

"There may be things they need. I can get them. If not, I would be  doing

them no harm; all of my activities would be aimed at the scattered remnants of

the New Republic. But those remnants are separated, at times, by Yuuzhan Vong-

occupied  systems.  The  cost  of  circumventing  them,  frankly,   would   be

prohibitive."

Imsatad nodded, and a brief look of disgust  wrinkled  his  features.  "I

see. You realize I can promise none of that."

"I only asked for a mention of my help in this affair.  You  can  promise

that."

"I could," Imsatad acknowledged. "What exactly can you offer me?"

"Better sensors than you have, for one thing. Detailed knowledge of Yavin

Four that I believe you lack. A crew  that  is  very,  very  good  at  finding

things. Certain special defenses against Jedi×and the means of finding them."

Imsatad stiffened, and his voice dropped  low.  "I  was  with  Thrawn  at

Wayland. You still?..."

"Ah. You know what I mean, then."

"I know you betrayed him."

Karrde rolled his eyes. "How tiresome. Very well, Captain, if  you  don't

wish my services, there are others who will."

"Wait!" Imsatad chewed his lip for a moment. "I need to consult  with  my

officers on this."

"Take a few moments," Karrde said, lifting a finger. "But do not bore me.

" He cut the transmission.

CHAPTER SEVEN "Hutt slime!" Remis Vehn snapped, as the transport  scraped

along the wall of the pit. "Watch my ship!"

"The controls have too much play in them," Anakin complained.

"No, you're flying like a Twi'lek on spice," Vehn replied.

"Quiet," Tahiri said, "or we'll restrain your mouth, too."

Vehn yelped again as they scraped stone. The fit was tighter than  Anakin

had thought it would be.

Still, a moment later, they  settled  into  the  steaming  water  of  the

underground pool. Anakin dropped the landing ramp, and an instant later  Ikrit

and the two Jedi children were on board.

"Strap in, everyone," Anakin told them. He hit the lifts and back up they

started.

An instant later, the whole ship shuddered and  their  ears  were  filled

with the screech of metal.

"The landing ramp, you vac-brain!" Vehn screamed. " You  didn't  pull  up

the ramp!"

Belatedly Anakin flipped the appropriate switch, but all  he  got  was  a

grinding noise.

"Great," he muttered.

"Anakin," Tahiri said, "I think we may have trouble."

"We'll make it, even with the ramp down. We'll  figure  out  what  to  do

about that later."

76 "That's not what I meant." She pointed up through the cockpit.

Something dark was eclipsing the morning light.

"Sith spawn. They've moved one of the big freighters over the hole."

"Continue," Master Ikrit murmured.

"But×"

"Continue." The diminutive Master was crouched on the floor, eyes closed,

his voice a serene purr. Anakin felt a powerful surge in the Force.

"You should strap in, Master."

"No time."

Anakin nodded. "As you say, Master  Ikrit."  He  throttled  up.  Banging,

sparking, and shaking, they shot up toward the belly of their enemy.

"He's pushing it up," Tahiri said in awe. "Master Ikrit  is  pushing  the

freighter up."

And indeed, when they emerged, rather than sitting right over  the  hole,

the freighter was some eighty  meters  off  the  ground.  Its  thrusters  were

burning, pushing it down, but it wasn't budging. Anakin darted his gaze about.

The other ships and people on foot had sidled in on all sides but one,  so  he

cut toward the hole as a brutal barrage struck them.

"My ship!" Vehn howled, as the deck pitched wildly. Not blinking,  Anakin

took them through the storm, just as two more ships closed in, completing  the

trap.

"Help Master Ikrit," Anakin told the Jedi candidates. "Push the freighter

up farther."

"Master Ikrit is gone, Anakin," Valin said. "He jumped out of the hatch."

"He what?" "There he is!" Tahiri shrieked, pointing ahead of them.

There Ikrit was indeed, walking toward the blocking ships, a corvette and

a light freighter. As he approached them,  they  were  parted  as  if  by  two

gigantic hands. "I don't believe it," Anakin said. But he gunned for  -  ward,

nevertheless, aimed at the gap the Jedi Master had created for  them.  Blaster

bolts and laser beams sizzled and hissed in the air, but every shot that might

have hit either Ikrit or the ship bent away, missing by centimeters, and still

the small Jedi strolled sedately along.

They were almost free now, passing over Ikrit.

"He can't keep that up," Anakin said. "Tahiri, use the Force. Snag him as

we go by."

"You bet," she answered. Her confidence rang false; Anakin heard a tremor

in her voice.

That was when the first bolt slipped through  and  struck  Master  Ikrit.

Anakin felt it in the Force, a spike of clarity. No pain, no fear, no remorse,

only... understanding.

Two more shots hit Ikrit in quick succession, and then fire was  pounding

their ship again. With a sob of aníguish, Anakin jetted the ship  through  the

hole and spun. At the same moment, with an inarticulate  growl,  Tahiri  leapt

from the open hatch, lightsaber glowing, and ran toward the downed Master.

" No!" Anakin howled. He brought the forward guns× the  only  ones  under

his direct control×to bear, and opened up on  the  ships  that  were  suddenly

closing between him and Tahiri. They returned fire. He  caught  a  glimpse  of

her, Ikrit's body in her arms, dodging back toward him.  Abísurdly,  his  eyes

were drawn to her bare feet, white against the brown soil.

The transport turned halfway over under a barrage, and every light in the

ship went out. Cursing, Anakin started furiously trying to reroute,  and  then

the power whined back on. The shields were gone.

"Valin, Sannah, one of you!" he shouted. "Get to the laser turret! Now!"

He did the only thing he could. In seconds they would be  cooked.  If  he

stood any chance of getting Tahiri back on board, he needed a plan.

He spun and fired the jets, leaping above the other ships, strafing  them

as he went. He was absorbed now, his senses in the Force  stretched  to  their

limits, dodging shots before they were fired, sensing  the  weakest  spots  to

place his own rounds, pinwheeling and jagging above them.

The ships came up with him. He fought for altitude, all  the  time  aware

that Tahiri was farther and farther below him. He could still  feel  her.  She

was still alive.

Master Ikrit was not. Anakin felt the old Jedi's life go,  felt  it  pass

through him like a sweet wind.

/ am proud of you, Anakin, it seemed to say. Remember×together,  you  are

stronger than the sum of your parts. I love you. Good-bye.

Gritting his teeth against another concussion, Anakin clenched the  tears

in his skull. Cry later, Anakin, he thought. Right now you have to see.

One of his engines was limping. He couldn't win this, not here, not  now.

With a curse that bordered on being a sob, he flipped, slid between two  ships

that collided an instant later, and punched toward the upper atmosphere.

Below him, Tahiri's presence dwindled.

Like Chewie. Just like Chewie.

He jerked the ship back around and  aimed  it  at  the  nearest  ship,  a

corvette, and went to full throttle.

"What the×" Vehn gasped. "You're going to kill us!"

Anakin fired. The other ship held steady, steady.

Anakin pulled up, just slightly, and skipped off the top of the  corvette

the way a hurled stone might skip across a lake. The collision tossed them  up

with a terrible shriekíing of metal.

The counterforce hurled the corvette down, not far,  but  far  enough  to

slam it nose-first into the Great Temple. An orchid of flame uncurled from its

engines.

A gasp later, the turbolaser in the turret began talking as  Sannah  took

control of the gun. Anakin put the ship into a climb,  fighting  for  distance

though every meter he put behind him tore another stitch from his heart.

"I'll be back, Tahiri," he said. "That I swear. I'll be back."

Kam Solusar gasped and sagged against the damp stone wall  of  the  cave.

Tionne, nearby, stifled a cry of aníguish. Some  of  the  children,  the  more

sensitive ones, beígan to cry, probably not even sure what  they  were  crying

about.

He groped through the darkness until he found Tionne and took her in  his

arms. He could smell the salt on her cheeks, feel the torn place in her.

Tionne felt things so deep, so strong. She had no fear of the  pain  that

such openness could cause. It was one of the things he loved about her.  While

he put on armor against the universe, she took it all in and gave it  back  as

something better. Her wound would heal, and from it a song would come.  Others

thought she was weak, beícause her powers in the Force weren't so great.

Kam knew better. Ultimately, she was stronger than he.

"Master Ikrit," she whispered.

"I know," Kam replied, stroking her silver hair. "He knew all along."

They stood that way for a few  precious  seconds,  drawing  strength  and

comfort from each other. It was Tionne who moved away first.

"The children need us," she said. "We're all they have, now."

"No," Kam whispered back. "Anakin is still out there."

CHAPTER EIGHT Talon Karrde was a hostage, but he wasn't supposed to  know

that. Imsatad probably thought  himself  clever  and  subtle  for  maneuvering

Karrde into joining the search party on the moon's surface and equally  clever

to make certain that there were twenty of his own people to Karrde's four.

Karrde was quite content to allow him that illusion of shrewdness.

"We've already searched here,"  Maber  Yeff,  the  leader  of  the  Peace

Brigade segment of the team, said in his shrill little voice, waving his  hand

at a long row of vine-smothered ruins.

"I'm sure you did," Karrde replied. "But not with vornskrs."

Yeff's pale, ax-nosed face turned dubiously toward the long-limbed beasts

loping ahead of the group. "How do you know they don't just smell womp rats or

someíthing? " he asked.

"If they could do that, they would be valuable inídeed," Karrde  replied.

"As there are no womp rats on Yavin Four, it would require hyperwave noses  to

sniff them out all the way over on Tatooine."

"You know what I mean."

"Vornskrs sense the Force, and especially those creaítures that  use  the

Force. They are particularly suited for hunting Jedi."

"Yeah? Where can we get some? That would be useful in our line of work."

"Alas, mine are the only tame ones in existence. You don't want to meet a

wild one, I promise you."

"Still. We've got plenty more of these Jedi to hunt down, and with all of

the advantages their sorcery gives them×and if these things do what you say×"

"Observe," Karrde said. The beasts had pricked up  their  ears  and  were

panting eagerly. They darted through a crumbling entranceway.

"But we looked in there," Yeff repeated.

"How many Jedi  do  you  estimate  are  hiding  in  there?  Based  on  my

information, at least two adults and períhaps thirty children.  Do  you  think

you could see them if they didn't want to be seen? Or that you would reímember

them if you did see them?"

"Can they really do that?"

"They can really do that."

"That's what Captain Imsatad said. He also said you  have  a  way  around

that."

Karrde smile thinly. "Indeed. A certain creature from the same planet  as

the vornskrs. It projects a bubble that repels the Force."

"That's what your pretty lady has in the covered cage."

From the corner of his eye, Karrde saw Shada's brows  lower  dangerously,

but she continued to play her part. "Exactly. My sweet Sleena is  as  delicate

as they are. She understands their needs."

"Yeah." Yeff spared "Sleena" another leer. "Can I see it?"

"Sunlight harms them, and they are easily agitated. If  you  wish,  after

the hunt, I'll show them to you. For the time being, I suggest you  have  your

people ready their weapons. The children shouldn't put up much of a fight, but

the adults will be formidable, even without their Jedi powers."

They followed the vornskrs into the ruins,  through  crumbling  galleries

incensed with the crushed-spice scent of blueleaf and the grainy, wormy  smell

of rotting wood. At first the light was dim but sufficient, falling in  shards

through gaps in the wall and roof,  diffused  by  mist,  leaves,  and  stringy

mosslike stuff. But as  they  followed  the  vornskrs,  it  grew  darker,  and

eventually they reached the opening to a stairwell that dropped  steeply  down

into the bedrock foundations of the place.

Karrde drew his blaster and nodded to Shada, on his right. Most  everyone

else already had theirs out.

"After you," Karrde suggested.

"Your beasts," Yeff told him. "You go ahead."

"As you wish."

The tunnel took them down through ages of stone scribed now and  then  in

alien figures and script. Eventuíally it debouched into a  large  cavern.  The

vornskrs stood snarling and spitting at the darkness.

"Sit," Karrde commanded, the hair on his neck prickíing up. Had  he  just

seen a motion, part of a face, or was he just fooling himself?  His  own  life

depended on the answer.

He looked again at the vornskrs, at the  way  their  eyes  moved.  As  if

watching something walking, very near.

"Where are they? I don't see anything." Yeff swung his lamp around.

"No," Karrde said. "Neither do I." He raised his blaster and stunned  the

Peace Brigader.

He managed to nail another one before the return fire came, and  by  then

he was already diving for the rocks. Team members Halm and Ferson,  alert  for

his signal, were already doing the same. Shada,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a

gyroscoping blur in the midst of their  enemies.  Too  bad  Yeff  was  already

stunned; otherwise he would be learning  a  whole  new  appreciation  for  the

"pretty lady" right now.

When they had allowed him only three  of  his  crew,  they  hadn't  known

exactly how good Shada was. How could they? Now it was too late.

The air went thick with energy, and the cave strobed.

By his count it was now four to fifteen.

He heard Halm cry out, and regretfully amended his own forces  to  three.

He pulled his other blaster and leapt up, both weapons blazing, searching  for

better cover.

"Come on, come on," he shouted. "I know you're here!  Regards  from  Luke

and Mara's wedding!"

A bolt singed across his arm, and he stumbled on the  uneven  floor.  I'm

getting too old for this, he thought, rolling on his back.  Without  cover  he

would last a few seconds, maybe long enough to shoot  two  more.  Shada  might

still manage to kill them all, but that would leave the galaxy short one Talon

Karrde, which would be a terírible tragedy.

Grimly, he raised his weapons and pointed over his feet. Muzzles flashed.

And suddenly a glowing wand of energy appeared above him, cutting complex

hieroglyphs in the air. The blaster bolts that had meant to end  the  glorious

career of Talon Karrde whined off into the cavern.

Karrde blinked up at the  man  standing  over  him.  "Nice  to  see  you,

Solusar. What took you so long?"

Then he opened up on the Peace Brigaders, climbing to his feet as he  did

so. Solusar was his cover now, deflecting the fire directed at them with  that

eerie Jedi certainty.

Another lightsaber flashed into existence across the room. That would  be

Tionne.

Karrde now counted five for his side, an estimated ten on the other.

When the Peace Brigaders were down  to  three,  they  fled  back  up  the

passageway.

"We can't let them get away," Karrde said.

"They won't," the shadowy figure beside him promíised. Then he was gone.

And somewhere behind him in  the  cavern,  Karrde  heard  the  voices  of

children.

Kam Solusar returned a few moments later. Karrde made out his stern  face

and receding hairline in the dim light of a glow lamp. Solusar  walked  up  to

Karrde and regarded him for a moment.

"You're lucky I didn't cut you down," he said. "Bringíing those men  down

here where the children are. Using your vornskrs against us. What if they  had

attacked the students?"

Karrde cocked his head. "My pets are very well trained. They attack  only

on my order. Look, Solusar. I had to find you. I couldn't do  it  without  the

interference of those fools, and when I did find you I had to get rid of them.

They thought I had an ysalamiri with  me,  that  your  Jedi  powers  would  be

blocked."

" But you didn't bring one."

"It's an empty cage."

"So you turned on them, not knowing if we were really here or not."

"I know my pets. I was certain you were down here, and I didn't  want  to

cripple you by actually bringing an ysalamiri."

"That was quite a risk."

"I told Luke Skywalker I would take his students off of  Yavin  Four.  If

keeping my word requires risk, that's acceptable."

Solusar nodded impatiently. "Understood. But how  am  I  to  know  you're

telling the truth? I know you, yes, and you've been on the right side.  But  a

lot of people are joining the Peace Brigade, and you've changed coats beífore,

Karrde."

"So have you. Have you ever wanted to put the old one back on?"

Solusar's  eyes  narrowed,  then  he  chopped  his  head  in   a   single

affirmation. "I'll trust you. What now?"

"Now I suggest we get out of here, before they send reinforcements."

Unfortunately, Captain Imsatad had not underestimated Karrde as badly  as

he might have. When they reached the surface,  the  forest  was  teeming  with

Peace Brigaders.

"Perfect," Kam Solusar muttered, ducking a  blaster  bolt  that  vaped  a

fist-sized hole in the stone near him. * At least before, we were hidden."

Karrde straightened the front of his outfit and glanced casually  at  his

chrono. "Solusar, I'm injured. Don't you have any faith in me?"

"Faith is blind, unquestioned belief. What do you think?"

"I think I would cover my ears if I  were  you."  He  raised  his  voice.

"Tionne, children. Cover your ears."

"Wha×" Solusar began, but was drowned out by what  might  have  been  two

hands the size of Death Stars dapping.

Karrde grinned with  fierce  satisfaction  as  turbolaser  fire  set  the

surrounding jungle ablaze. It was good to have  a  crew  he  could  trust.  He

stepped from behind cover and, carefully aiming and picking off the few  Peace

Brigaders who were still paying  attention,  trotted  toward  where  the  Wild

Karrde was landing. When the landing ramp came down, Kam  Solusar  and  Tionne

shepherded the children on board as Karrde and his crew provided  cover  fire.

In moments, they were all inside.

Karrde was the last aboard, and even  as  his  feet  hit  the  deck,  the

modified Corellian transport pirouetted and tossed itself at the sky.  Through

the closing hatch, Karrde saw several enemy ships already on their trail.

He had known it would be a near thing. He almost  couldn't  believe  they

had pulled it off.

Of course, he would never say that aloud.

Humming, he went at a brisk but dignified pace to his bridge.

By the time he got there, the sky was already a deep blue bruise  getting

blacker by the second.

"Well, gentlebeings," Karrde said  as  he  took  his  seat.  "What's  the

situation?"

H'sishi shot him a harried look from the sensor staítion.  "We  did  some

damage to our watchdogs in orbit, but they're all still flying.  Now  we  have

the ships from the surface to deal with as well."

"Well. Deal with them."

"Yes, sir."

The ship shuddered, and the inertial dampeners whined.

"Opur," Karrde shouted at one of his  security  men.  "Make  certain  the

children are secured somewhere. I don't want one hair  on  their  little  Jedi

heads harmed."

"Yes, sir," Opur said, hurrying off.

"Now." Karrde studied the layout. "They've got us penned in, don't they?"

"Unless we can make the jump to lightspeed."

"With big Yavin right there?" Karrde mused. "No, not today. I think we'll

punch through the cage instead." He tapped the console. "Here."

"That's their most heavily armed ship," Shada observed.

"When a pack of vornskrs comes for  you,  always  kick  the  biggest  and

meanest one right in the teeth. It will cerítainly get their attention."

"I believe we already have their attention."

"One can never have too much good wine, beautiful women,  or  attention,"

Karrde said. "Go, and keep the throttle open."

"We won't get their shields down before we reach them," Shada said.

"No, we won't. Buy we'll certainly see who blinks  first."  He  reflected

for an instant. "Give me the controls."

"I thought you said gambling was a foolish occupaítion," Shada  remarked,

as the frigate grew larger on their screens.

"Indeed I did," Karrde replied. "But  I'm  not  gamíbling.  On  my  mark,

release proton torpedoes. Don't fire them×just release them."

"As you wish, sir," the gunner replied, sounding puzzled.

"They're trying for tractor lock," Shada said.

" Yes. Let them have it."

"What?"

"Drop the shields."

This time the dampeners couldn't absorb all of the shock; the  deck  felt

as if it was buckling beneath their feet as  the  tractor  beam  caught  them,

killing their foríward motion.

"Torpedoes. Now," Karrde said.

"Torpedoes released." Shada looked up. "The tractor beam has them."

"Good. Arm them and put our shields back up."

"Sir, they've commenced fire on the torpedoes."

"Have they released the tractor beam?"

"No, sir."

" Detonate the torpedoes, then."

He reengaged the drive as the screen went white.

CHAPTER NINE Treetops snapped as Anakin  wrestled  with  gravity.  Vehn's

complaints had  deteriorated  to  a  steady  moan.  Vaílin,  strapped  in  the

copilot's seat, looked very ill. Sannah was still firing the turbolaser;  from

her, Anakin could sense both  frustration  and  anger.  Tahiri  had  been  her

friend, too.

Was still her friend.  Tahiri  was  alive.  Anakin  could  feel  that  as

certainly as he could feel his own skin.

The transport cut a smoking swath across the tree line  for  a  kilometer

before Anakin saw what passed for a clearing. He  dropped  in,  straining  the

inertial dampeners well beyond their parameters, fetching up against a wall of

vines and secondary growth×dense, but without much mass. If he hit a big tree.

..

He tried not to think about it. Instead he dumped a torpedo and  reversed

direction, traveling into the more open forest beyond on  repulsors,  drifting

back toward the treetops, hiding in the canopy.

The torpedo went, taking a hundred square meters of the forest with it in

a carbon-rich plume.

"Come on, you vultures," Anakin muttered.

"Got them," Sannah called softly.

"No," Anakin replied. "Wait."

He could make it out through the smoke, a Sentinel-class shuttle.

"They think we've crashed," Valin said.

"Yes," Anakin replied, punching the engines back on.

The modified shuttle tried to swing around as he rose out of  the  trees,

but it was too late. He fired his last proton torpedo, and the  Peace  Brigade

ship became a ball of fire, sinking into the already burning jungle.

"Anakin!" Sannah shrieked.

Instinctively, Anakin threw the ship skyward,  but  not  before  multiple

impacts ripped through the failing transport.

"There you are," he muttered. "After you, I'm done."

Of the three ships that had chased him halfway around the moon, only this

one×an E-wing×remained. Unforítunately, while Anakin's commandeered  transport

was limping so badly it would soon go down  on  its  own,  the  speedy  little

fighter was undamaged.

"You only have to hit it once, Sannah," Anakin said. "Maybe twice."

" I can't get a bead," she shouted back.

The little ship made a pass, and the  air  suddenly  smelled  sharply  of

ozone and vaporized metal as the transport tremored.

" Let me have a shot!" Vehn demanded.

"What?"

"Look, I don't wanna die. This is my ship, those are my guns. I know  'em

better than that kid back there. She's never even handled a gun  before,  that

much is clear× yii!" Vehn blanched as Anakin  put  the  ungainly  craft  in  a

barrel roll.

"You think I trust you?"

"Use your poodoo-stinking Jedi powers. Can't you tell I'm serious?"

To Anakin's surprise, he really didn't sense deception from the fellow.

" You'd shoot down your own friends?"

"They're not my friends."

Again, no deception.

Anakin made his decision. "Valin, uncuff him. Take him to the gun.  Vehn,

I promise you, if this is a trick, no matter  what  else  happens,  you'll  be

sorry."

"Sorrier than I am now? I doubt it."

Anakin dropped low again, trying to buy a few more seconds. He  had  only

one engine left on-line, and one more hit would finish that quickly enough.

"I'm on it," Vehn reported from the turret. "Give me a  little  altitude,

that's all I ask."

"You've got it," Anakin said. Once more he put the ship in a  climb.  The

E-wing saw its opportunity then, darting in and chewing what was left  of  the

engine to shreds. It coughed off-line,  and  for  an  instant  the  transíport

seemed to hang suspended a hundred meters above  the  treetops.  In  that  in-

between moment, Vehn needled red lines across the sky, stitching  through  the

E-wing. It spun wildly out of control. Then the transport  was  fallíing,  and

Anakin hit the repulsors, and the sound of tearing metal deafened him.

Anakin came to with the taste of blood on his tongue. He didn't  know  if

he had been out for seconds or days, and a glance at the controls didn't help.

Through the cockípit transparisteel he could see only crushed vegetation.

"Sannah! Valin!"

"They're okay," Remis Vehn said from behind Anakin. "A  little  battered,

but no worse for the wear."

Anakin twisted in his seat and found himself conífronting the muzzle of a

blaster. He blinked, then looked up at the young man's cool gray eyes.

"You want to put that down, don't you?" Anakin asked,  pushing  with  the

Force.

"Well...," Vehn considered.

"You'll put it down," Anakin commanded.

"Sure," Vehn replied. "I'll put it down."

"Great." Anakin unfastened himself from the flight harness. He  took  the

blaster and stuck it in his belt.

"Vaping moffs!" Vehn swore. " You Jedi are sorcerers."

"Keep it sealed," Anakin warned him, turning to Sannah.

Sannah was unconscious but breathing evenly. Valin  was  awake,  but  the

hull near him had crimped in such a  way  that  Sannah's  harness  was  stuck.

Anakin sliced through it with his lightsaber. The Melodie girl moaned softly.

"Vehn, carry Sannah out," Anakin told the Peace Bri-gader. "The ship  may

have a few surprises for us yet."

"My ship," Vehn said. "I can't believe what you did to my ship."

"Your buddies did it," Anakin said. "The same budídies who just  murdered

a Jedi Master and took my best friend captive. Don't  expect  me  to  cry  any

tears for you."

"First of all," Vehn said, "they aren't my buddies.  I  was  strictly  in

this business for the money, and I thought we were taking on adult  Jedi,  not

little kids. Second of all, I don't expect you to get all weepy,  but  without

my ship, how do you plan to get off this snarly jungle?"

Anakin didn't answer Vehn, but examined Valin inístead. "Are  you  okay?"

he asked. "Can you walk?"

"I'm fine," Valin answered.

"Good. I want you  to  go  outside  and  find  cover  in  the  trees.  Be

careful×the jungle isn't exactly safe, though the crash probably  scared  most

everything off."

He then examined Sannah. She was bruised, but he  didn't  sense  anything

seriously wrong with her.

"Take Sannah out," he repeated to Vehn. "I'm right behind you."

On his way out, he picked up the stun cuffs.

"This isn't right," Remis Vehn complained.  "You  just  finished  talking

about how dangerous the jungle is and you not only won't  give  me  a  weapon,

you've restrained me. What if something comes along wanting lunch?"

"It would have to be a carrion eater to stomach the likes of you," Anakin

replied.

"Very funny. I helped you."

"You really think you're going to get thanks from  me?"  Anakin  snorted.

"You were saving your own skin, nothing more. Now, quiet."

"Is she going to be all right?" Valin asked, staring down at Sannah.

"I think so." Anakin  touched  the  Melodie  girl's  foreíhead  and  very

lightly brushed her with the Force, strengthíening her  where  she  was  weak,

gently tugging her toward consciousness.

With a faint sigh she opened her eyes, blinked at Anaíkin,  then  started

violently.

"Tahiri!" she gasped.

"Shh," Anakin said. "We crashed. You're banged up, some. How do you feel?

"

"Like I've been poisoned by a purella and hung up in its  web.  Is  Valin

okay?"

"I'm right here," Valin answered.

"We're all okay," Anakin assured her.

Tears started in the girl's yellow eyes. "No, we're  not.  Master  Ikrit,

and Tahiri..."

"Master Ikrit sacrificed himself for us," Anakin said, around the gall in

his throat. "He wouldn't want us to grieve.  He's  one  with  the  Force  now.

Tahiri×"

"She's dead, too, isn't she?" Valin asked.

"No." Anakin shook his head. "I can hear her in the Force."  Calling  me,

he added. He could feel her fear, mixed liberally with anger.  He  didn't  get

the sense that she was in immediate danger.

Anakin turned toward Vehn, who sat a few meters  away,  his  arms  cuffed

around a young Massassi tree. "What will they do with her,  Vehn?  Where  were

you supíposed to take the children you kidnapped?"

"I told you,  I  didn't  know  our  targets  were  children,"  Vehn  said

sullenly. "And I don't know where we were supposed to take them."

"But you were supposed to turn them over to the Yuuízhan Vong."

Vehn studied the leaves above his head. "Yes," he said at last.

"Where? Where is the rendezvous?"

"I don't know."

"You're lying."

"Look×"

"I can make you tell me," Anakin warned. "You won't like it." It occurred

to him that his brother, Jacen, wouldn't approve of that sort of  threat,  nor

would Uncle Luke. At the moment, Anakin didn't care.

Vehn fidgeted, but said nothing. Anakin suddenly surged to his  feet  and

stalked toward the Peace Brigader.

"Hold it! Just wait a second, Jedi. Don't slag my  brain!  I  don't  know

much, but I can tell you something I overíheard. Something I  wasn't  supposed

to hear at all."

Anakin took another step, then squatted  until  his  ice-blue  eyes  were

millimeters from Vehn's dark gray. "Well?" he prompted.

"I'm not supposed to know this, but×the Yuuzhan  Vong  were  planning  to

come to this miserable hole alíready. The Peace Brigade decided  to  head  'em

off, capíture you guys before they arrived."

"What, to save them the trouble?"

"Exactly. A present, of sorts. These Peace Brigade guys, they're serious.

They really think everyone in the galaxy is doomed unless  we  give  the  Vong

what they want, and then some."

"Why do you say 'these Peace Brigade guys' as if you aren't one of them?"

"They hired me to pilot. That's all."

Anakin frowned, but let that pass. "What will the Peace  Brigade  do  now

that they've botched the job?"

"How do you know they've botched it? They figured out you hid  the  other

kids someplace. They have some pretty good trackers and search equipment  with

them."

"They won't find anyone," Anakin said. "What will they  do?  The  Yuuzhan

Vong might assume the Brigade really came here to hide the kids. At  the  very

least they'll be upset that you were so inept you let thirty or more Jedi slip

through your fingers and caught only one."

Vehn looked thoughtful. "They might cut and run. They might try to  bluff

it out with their one captive. I don't know them well enough to say."

"Anakin," Sannah said softly. "You and Tahiri saved my  people.  I  can't

let anything happen to her. I can't."

"Why didn't you think of that earlier?" Anakin snapped. "You three should

have gone with Kam and Tionne. You thought this was all some sort of game.  It

isn't."

"Anakin!" Sannah's eyes widened further, then  dropped.  "You're  right,"

she whispered. "It is our fault. My fault. I could have told Kam, and none  of

this would have hapípened. Master Ikrit would still be alive." Tears  streamed

down her face, and for a second Anakin was happy she was crying, satisfied she

finally saw how stupid she had been. He wanted to agree with her.

Grinding his teeth, he quickly stood and walked into the woods.

He didn't go far, but leaned against the bole of a giant tree,  breathing

heavily, composing himself. Then, when he thought he could do it, he want back

into the clearing, where Sannah sat, still crying. Valin was  wiping  his  own

silent tears.

"That was wrong of me," he said quietly. "None of you is  to  blame.  You

were only trying to help. The Peace Brigade is to blame. The Yuuzhan Vong  are

to blame. You guys aren't. Feeling guilty isn't going to help  us  right  now.

There are plenty more ships on this planet.  For  all  we  know  they  have  a

perfect lock on us already, so we need to get ready. If they don't, we need to

figure out how to get this ship running again."

Remis Vehn vented a bitter laugh.

"We have parts from three ships here," Anakin said evenly. "We  ought  to

be able to cobble something toígether. Besides that, help is on  the  way,  so

maybe all we really have to do is hold out for  a  little  while.  Valin,  I'm

putting you in charge of taking inventory of what food and medicine  we  have.

Vehn, you'll tell him where to find it on your ship×all  of  it.  Sannah,  I'm

giving you the blaster. I want you to watch the camp, while I go do  recon  at

the other wreck sites. If you hear anything×I mean  anything×coming  from  the

sky, you both hide and stay hidden. Understand?"

"Yes," Sannah replied. Valin nodded dutifully.

"Good. And ignore everything Vehn says. Don't touch his restraints, don't

go near him. I'll be back soon."

CHAPTER TEN Karrde didn't black out, but time stretched  weirdly  as  his

harness tried to cut him in half and his ship spun madly,  power  blinking  on

and off, finally settling on off before minimal emergency systems  kicked  in.

The inerítial compensator started up, and gravity reasserted itself,  but  the

screen was a confusing jumble.

"Report!" he snapped. "What's going on?"

H'sishi looked up reluctantly. "Minimal damage to the frigate," she said.

"We took a pretty hard bounce, and we're limping a bit."

"Limp away from them, at least," Karrde said. "Head for the outer system.

"

"The hyperdrive core took some of the worst damage," Dankin pointed  out.

"I don't think we can jump."

"Well, we certainly can't here, not in the hole Yavin's dug for itself."

"The big ships we can still outrun, at least for  a  while.  The  frigate

will catch us eventually, but we've got a lead it will take them at  least  an

hour to cut down. We've got a couple of E-wings  that  will  be  harassing  us

shortly."

"Good luck to them," Karrde grunted.

"We do have some weak points in the hull, now," Shada pointed out.

"That's why we'll shoot  them  out  of  space,  Shada  my  dear,"  Karrde

answered.

"And our shields×"

"Will hold up long enough."

"Long enough for what?" Shada said. "Without hyperdrive×"

H'sishi suddenly grated out a yowling snarl.

"What's the matter, H'sishi?"

"I can give you something better than a working hyperdrive, Captain," the

Togorian said.

"And what might that be?"

Her toothy grin nearly split her head in half. "The rest  of  our  fleet,

sir."

"You asked what I was waiting on, Shada? Don't ever doubt that  the  gods

favor me. How far out are they?"

"Umm, urr." H'sishi was suddenly more sober. "Two hours at least, sir."

"Well," Karrde said cheerfully. "Then I'm taking sugígestions on  how  to

stretch the×it's what, eight minutes now? Into the two hours we need."

The hull suddenly rattled.

"E-wings on us, sir," Dankin reported.

"Well, don't  keep  them  waiting.  Show  them  what  this  helpless  old

transport has in store for them. Shada, you have the bridge."

"You're leaving in the middle of a fight?"

"It won't be a long one. When that capital ship catches  us,  give  me  a

call. I need to talk to Solusar."

Four hours later, a weary Imsatad appeared on Karrde's screen.

"You're a fool, Karrde," he opined.

"What does that make you, Captain?" Karrde replied. "In  any  event,  our

positions are now reversed. I  have  considerably  more  firepower  than  your

little flotilla."

"And yet, as you once observed of me, you're still here, which means  you

aren't finished," Imsatad said. "What do you want?"

"By my count, four of the young Jedi are still missing. You wouldn't know

anything about that, would you?"

"As a matter of fact, I wouldn't."

Karrde stood and locked his hands behind his  back.  "I  can  be  a  very

serious man, at times, Captain Imsatad. This is one of them. I gave my word to

deliver the Jedi students and their teachers safely from  the  hands  of  scum

like you, and I intend to do that. Not in part, but in full."

"You're endangering our work here," Imsatad said. "The Yuuzhan Vong  will

not stop until they have all the Jedi. If we do the work for  them,  show  our

good faith×"

Karrde cut him off with  a  mordant  chuckle.  "The  Yuuízhan  Vong  have

conquered half of our galaxy  in  an  uníprovoked  crusade.  What  about  this

obligates us to show them good faith?"

"Listen, Karrde. I was at Dantooine, with the military. I saw  what  they

can do. We can't stop  them.  We  can't.  This  is  simple  self-preservation.

Besides, they weren't unproívoked. It was the Jedi who started this  war,  and

it's the Jedi who continue to provoke it."

Karrde sighed and returned to his seat. He  tapped  his  fingers  on  the

armrest. "I don't know if you really believe that sump muck, and I don't care.

But it's good you bring up self-preservation, because you are now faced with a

crisis in that department."

Imsatad lifted his chin defiantly. "If you suppose I  have  your  missing

Jedi, you won't destroy my ships."

Karrde gestured, and Kam Solusar strode into view.

" Let me introduce you. This is Kam Solusar, one of the teachers  at  the

Jedi academy whose curricula you have so rudely interrupted. He is a Jedi, and

they can sense one another. Did you know that?"

Imsatad's eyes flicked back and forth between the two. "I've  heard  such

things."

"None of the children are on your ship,  Captain,"  Soílusar  said  in  a

voice that could saw through bones. " Nothíing prevents us vaping you."

Imsatad blinked, twice. " I do what I do for the good of the galaxy,"  he

said.

"Yes, you've said that already," Karrde said. "Personíally, I  think  you

might best serve the galaxy as star food."

Imsatad massaged his forehead. "What do you want?" he asked wearily.

"I want all of your ships  grounded  so  I  can  conduct  a  ship-to-ship

search."

Imsatad shrugged. "I don't have the children you seek. You may search  my

ships. Give me eight hours to get them all on the ground."

"You have five." Karrde signed for the connection to be severed.

"He's hiding something," Solusar said. "I can't sense what."

"He doesn't think he's beaten?"

"No, that's the strange thing. He feels utterly defeated. But he is being

deceptive about Anakin and the others."

"You really think they're still alive?"

"Anakin is, I'm certain of that much. And  Tahiri.  If  they  are  alive,

Sannah and Valin must be. After all, the Peace Brigade  didn't  come  here  to

kill them, but to capíture them."

Karrde nodded thoughtfully. "I'm going to have  the  Idiot's  Array  come

alongside. She's a corvette and her captain is one of my best. I want  to  get

these children we have aboard safe on Coruscant, now."

"An excellent idea, though they won't be  safe  on  Coruíscant,  not  for

long."

"No. Luke Skywalker has another plan in the works for that."

"I'm staying until we find the rest," Solusar said.

"I imagined you would. And Tionne?"

"The children need one of us."

"Very good. I'll arrange the transfer, now."

Solusar nodded and held out his hand. "I didn't  thank  you  before.  I'm

glad I didn't kill you."

Karrde grinned wryly and took the proffered hand.

"The perfect gift for the perfect occasion, that's you, Solusar."

"Sithspawn," Shada snarled from across the bridge.

"What? What is it?"

"Karrde, if you're going to get those children  out  of  this  system,  I

suggest you hurry."

"What? More Peace Brigade?" He stared at the  long-range  sensors.  Blips

were appearing×lots of them. "H'sishi, what do we have there?"

The tactician looked up grimly. "Yuuzhan Vong,  sir,  lots  of  them.  At

least two warship analogs and a whole lot of smaller ships."

Karrde gripped the back of his chair until  his  knuckles  turned  white,

cursing inwardly, trying to keep his face calm.

"How long?"

"No more than an hour, sir."

"Long enough to get the Idiot's Array away.  Do  it  now,  and  have  the

Demise run with her."

"What about us?" Shada asked.

"We can't fight them head-on," Karrde said.

"Anakin and the rest are still down there," Solusar snapped.  "If  you're

thinking of leaving them×"

Karrde cut him off with a wave of his hand. " I'm thinkíing  of  no  such

thing. If we leave this system, they'll butíton it up so tight  only  the  New

Republic Fleet could get in here. But our tactics will have to change. And  we

need reinforcements. Shada, I want  you  on  the  Idiot's  Array.  Bring  back

whatever it takes."

" You're crazy if you think I'm leaving you here."

"We'll be fine. It's a big system, and we're not  without  resources.  If

the Yuuzhan Vong plan on occupying  Yavin  Four,  we  can  makes  things  very

unpleasant for them. You ought to know by now, Shada, that if there's anything

I'm good at, it's surviving. Now go. We have no time to argue about this."

"I'll be back," Shada promised. "Of course you will. And I'll be here  to

meet you. Now get going."

CHAPTER ELEVEN Anakin watched the distant dots buzzing around  the  crash

site. They'd been there for hours, but in the last  few  minutes  they'd  been

leaving, one by one. He felt a conístriction in his belly. If he  had  one  of

those fliers, he could get back to the temple and find Tahiri.

And do what? Leave Valin and Sannah with Vehn and a sky full of flitters?

Try to drag them all along on aníother aerial battle and then a rescue?

No. He couldn't pin all of their hopes on that.

He felt a tremor in the tree, and his hand went to  his  lightsaber.  But

then he felt Valin, below him, climbing up.

The younger boy reached  him  and  settled  in  the  crotch  between  two

branches. As he watched, the last of the flitíters seemed to be moving off.

"You should have stayed in the cave," Anakin told Valin.

"Maybe," Valin replied. "But I didn't." He nodded at the departing craft.

"I thought they would search longer," he said.

Anakin shook his head. "Two days is longer than I thought they would give

it. They're after the bigger prize× the rest of the students.  They've  got  a

time limit, rememíber? When the Yuuzhan  Vong  show  up,  they've  got  to  be

successful or gone. The last thing the Peace Brigade would want  the  Vong  to

know is that they were the ones who spoiled their mother  lode."  He  motioned

down. "Get back in the cave, though. They might make a last-minute sweep."

"Anakin, why do the Yuuzhan Vong want us so bad?"

Anakin blew out a breath. "I'm not sure. Mostly beícause  they  hate  us.

The fact that they don't seem to exist in the Force cuts both ways.  We  can't

sense them or  afífect  them  directly,  but  we  can  do  things  they  can't

underístand. And we're the ones who have hurt them  most.  I  guess  the  last

stroke was when Jacen humiliated their warmaster."

" But those guys with Vehn weren't Yuuzhan Vong."

"No, they're worse. They think by turning us in they'll get  the  Yuuzhan

Vong to stop their conquest at the planets they have."

"Will they?"

Anakin snorted. "Senator Elegos A'Kla turned himself  over  to  them.  He

hoped he could come  to  understand  them,  forge  a  common  bond  of  trust,

something to begin the process of finding a peaceful solution."

"They killed him," Valin said quietly. "I heard about that."

"And sent his polished bones back to us."

" But then my dad killed the Yuuzhan Vong who killed Elegos."

Anakin hesitated. He hadn't thought through where his example might lead.

"Yeah, "he said briefly.

"But now everyone hates my dad, and not the Yuuízhan Vong."

Anakin shook his head. "No. It's not like that. It's just×it's  politics,

Valin."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. I hate politics. Ask my brother, next time you see him, or

my mom."

"But×"

"What it means," Anakin interrupted, "is that your father,  Corran  Horn,

is a good man, and everyone with even a little sense knows that.  The  problem

with people is that a lot of them don't have any sense, and a  lot  of  others

are liars."

"You mean they would say my dad was bad even if they didn't think so?"

"You got it, kid."

"I'm not a kid."

Anakin looked into the determined young face, and suddenly saw what  Kam,

Tionne, Uncle Luke, Aunt Mara×all the adults  in  his  life×must  be  used  to

seeing by now on his face.

"Maybe not," Anakin replied. "But here's what I was trying to get  around

to saying a minute ago. The Yuuízhan  Vong  have  never  shown  the  slightest

tendency to keep their word. I don't think they even believe lying  is  wrong.

And Elegos×well, it was a worthy try, and I honor him. But  what  the  Yuuzhan

Vong want from us is our worlds and our people as  slaves.  They  believe  our

machines are  abominations,  and  they  won't  rest  until  they've  all  been

destroyed. The only way to avoid fightíing them is to surrender and  let  them

do whatever they want with us.  That's  the  only  terms  of  peace  they  can

understand. The Peace Brigade think they can do someíthing in between.  Elegos

was brave, noble×and wrong. It cost him his life, and that was his  to  spend.

The Peace Brigade are cowards and they're stupid, and they want to  spend  our

lives. Our lives are not for them to spend."

Valin nodded, then smiled a little. "You talk  more  than  you  used  to.

Tahiri said she would rub off on you eventually."

It  struck  Anakin  that  Valin  was  right.   He'd   been   pracítically

pontificating, something he wouldn't have dreamed of doing  a  few  years  ago

except maybe in an argument with his siblings or Tahiri. It was  something  he

wasn't good at, didn't like, avoided like raw  cobalt.  His  father  had  once

joked that it was easier to drag a neutron star with a landspeeder than it was

to drag two words out of him.

But more and more, people seemed to want something like  this  from  him.

Some of the things he had done had  gotten  around,  and  he  guessed  he  had

something of a reputation. That part was fine, and though he wouldn't  say  so

out loud, he sort of liked it. It made him feel that he could  be  like  Uncle

Luke, back when he was young and fighting the Empire×like a  hero,  though  he

knew he wasn't really that.

He felt a pang, and suddenly knew where these thoughts were taking him.

"Why did you and Sannah and Tahiri come to help me, Valin? Why didn't you

go on with Kam and Tionne?"

Valin looked up at him with guileless eyes. "We  want  to  be  like  you,

Anakin. We all do. And you×you would never have run from a fight."

Anakin's lips tightened and his eyes felt gritty and  hot.  That  settled

that. He'd lied when he told Sannah and Valin that the Yuuzhan  Vong  and  the

Peace Brigade were responsible  for  this  mess.  Like  Chewie's  death,  like

Centerípoint, this was his mess, Anakin Solo's mess.

But this time he would clean it up. Somehow.

"Doesn't look like they took  much,"  Sannah  observed,  as  they  picked

through the wreck of Vehn's transport. Four days had come and gone  since  the

crash, and a day since they had seen the last of the flitters.

"Why should they?" Valin asked. "There's not much left they would want."

"No," Anakin said. "There's plenty. It would have taken too much time  to

salvage it, that's all."

"But you think you can?" Vehn sneered from where  he  sat,  cuffed  hands

resting on his knees.

"I can fix it," Anakin replied. "The hyperdrive is fine."

"That's great. We'll just go to lightspeed from here.  At  least  no  one

would have to worry about disposing of our remains. And we sure wouldn't  have

to worry about the Vong anymore."

"If Anakin says he can fix it, he can fix it," Valin snapped.

"Shut up, you smelly little Hutt," Vehn grunted. "I may be your prisoner,

but that doesn't mean I have to listen to your smart mouth all day. I×hey! Ow!

"

Vehn was suddenly scratching furiously at his legs, then thrashing on the

ground.

Anakin straightened. "Stay away from him. It's a trick!"

"Trick?" Vehn screamed. "I'm being eaten alive!"

That's when Anakin noticed Valin was laughing. So was Sannah, but she was

hiding hers behind her palm.

"Valin, are you doing that?"

"He deserved it."

"Stop it. Right now. Immediately."

"I just×"

"Now."

"Yes, sir," Valin said. And he didn't sound sarcastic.

Anakin knelt by Vehn. A swarm of multisegmented  worms  a  centimeter  in

length were detaching themselves from  the  pilot's  arms  and  face,  leaving

purplish welts beíhind. Vehn pushed at them frantically, but when Anakin moved

to help him, he jerked away with a hoarse rasp of anger.

When they were all finally off, Vehn turned his head  toward  Valin.  His

chest was heaving.

"You did that, didn't you?  With  some  kind  of  Jedi  magic."  He  rose

clumsily to his feet. "I hope the Vong do get you. The whole lot of you."

"Yeah?" Valin started. "Well×"

"Valin!" Anakin said a little sharply. "Keep quiet and listen.  You  know

better than that. I know you know betíter than that, because we had  the  same

teachers." He turned on Sannah. "And you were laughing. You think  it's  funny

to use the Force to torture a helpless captive for no better reason than  that

he called you a name? "

Sannah reddened. "No," she said.

"Valin?"

"No," the boy said. "I guess not."

" There are times to use the Force in self-defense, Valin, and there  are

times when defense means attack. And if I have  to  squeeze  Vehn's  brain  to

learn what we need to rescue Tahiri, I might even do that. But torture for the

sake of torture×never."

Valin nodded and sat down. To Anakin's surprise Valin didn't look so much

sullen as reflective. In fact, like a flash, for an instant, he looked  almost

impossibly like his father, Corran. It was so  bright  and  true  that  Anakin

wondered if it was a real  vision  of  an  older  Valin  or  just  a  striking

resemblance.

He cleared his throat. "Let's just get to work,  shall  we?  The  engines

aren't as bad as they could be. I think with parts  salvaged  from  the  other

ships we can get it limping, and that's all I need×a way to orbit. At the very

least we can get the comm unit fixed."

Anakin actually had his  doubts  about  this,  but  it  would  give  them

something to do while he figured out how he was going to  get  halfway  around

the moon to find Tahiri. If they were occupied, they wouldn't worry  as  much.

Meanwhile, Talon Karrde must have arrived by now.

And Tahiri×she was still here, and he was pretty sure she was even  still

on Yavin 4, not in orbit.

Still, it galled him. It made his very bones ache not to set off on foot,

though in his head he knew  that  it  would  take  him  months  to  cross  the

wilderness separating him from the Great Temple. Maybe he needed the  work  as

much as Valin and Sannah.

With a sigh, he went to see what the power cell couíplings looked like.

Something beeped and whistled. His hand was  already  on  his  lightsaber

before he realized the sound was comíing from his wrist  comm.  He  was  being

hailed.

He stared at the comm for a moment. It could be  a  trick  by  the  Peace

Brigade, an attempt to triangulate his location. It  might  be  Talon  Karrde,

trying to find them.

Reluctantly, he acknowledged,  and  words  began  to  scroll  across  the

display.

PURSUIT EVADED. X-WING BADLY DAMAGED. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.

"Fiver!"

AFFIRMATIVE.

"Fiver, lock on this signal and come straight here. Where are you?"

252.6 KILOMETERS FROM YOUR PRESENT POSITION.

"Great. How long will it take you to get here?"

20 STANDARD HOURS.

"What? Why?"

REPULSORLIFT MOTIVATION ONLY. SHIP BADLY DAMAGED.

"But you're okay?"

OPERATIONAL.

"Good. Good going, Fiver. Get here as soon as you can. We need you."

AFFIRMATIVE, ANAKIN.

"Anakin?" Despite everything, Anakin grinned. The asítromech hadn't  been

memory-wiped lately. He was starting to develop a few quirks. Flying the X5 X-

wing alone×a task Fiver wasn't really built for×had probably conítributed.  In

fact, Anakin couldn't believe the  little  droid  had  really  done  it.  He'd

thought he was sacrificing his ship and Fiver as a diversion. Finding that  it

hadn't worked out that way was an unexpected break. He now not only  had  more

parts to work with, but an astromech droid to help with repairs.

Things weren't exactly looking up, Anakin thought,  but  maybe  he  could

take his eyes off his feet, at least.

CHAPTER TWELVE Darkness wrapped around Anakin like a cloak and  whispered

to him like a mother. It promised him a face  of  durasteel  and  a  heart  of

ferrocrete. It offered him superínovas of power and the  unflinching  will  to

use it.

He had been to this place before, often. It was his oldest dream, perhaps

dreamed for the first time when the clone of the Emperor Palpatine touched him

through his mother's womb. And  when  he  learned  about  his  nameísake,  his

grandfather Vader, the dreams grew stronger, more detailed. He saw futures  in

which he was grown, his blue eyes gone as gray as hull plating. He saw himself

in Darth Vader's mask, the Knight of Darkness reborn.

He had made a sort of peace with his dreams in the cave on  Dagobah,  the

same cave where his uncle Luke had faced his own dark  side  and  failed.  But

peace did not mean silence, and here, on a moon as deeply stained by the  dark

side as the Sith themselves, the dreams were paríticularly troubling.

But now, something broke, a dam holding back ebon waters that hit him  so

cold and strange that the tattoo in his chest stopped, as if a fist had closed

on his heart.

Soft laughter began, familiar yet strange;  the  pitch  and  timbre  were

wrong, but the cadence was as known to him as his father's speech.  A  woman's

laughter, throaty and sardonic. It made the hair on his neck prickle up.

He turned and saw her.

Her hair was gold, the gold of a vein in a sunset on Coruscant or of  the

sudden spark from an inferno. One of her eyes was jade and the other obsidian.

Her lips were fringed by a hundred incisions, and a white scar  ran  from  the

top of her forehead to her chin. Armor of  a  black-and-gray-banded  chitinous

substance fit close to her body, a very adult, very  human  body,  though  the

armor was plated and jointed like an insect's. Knobs and spurs stuck out  from

her shoulders and elbows.

She smiled at him through those split lips and held up  something  baton-

shaped, which flexed in her grip like a sluggish  pupa.  Sudden  light  blazed

from one end of it and resolved into a blazing blue  blade.  Dark-side  energy

crackled around her, calling to him, and he felt a sudden terrible  attraction

to her, every part of him yearning for her in a way he had never even begun to

feel before.

She grinned more widely and laughed again, and with sudden  understanding

Anakin realized that she wasn't looking at him at all, but at someone else  in

the vision, someone Anakin couldn't see.

"The last of your kind," the woman said, her voice made whispery by  what

had been done to her mouth. "The last of my kind." And she raised  the  blade,

and Anakin recognized her.

"Tahiri!" he shrieked. She paused, as if she might have  heard  something

very far away. Then she came forward, sweeping the  weapon  down,  and  Anakin

choked on the look in her eye, the  mixture  of  glee  and  despair,  joy  and

sickness.

He awoke still choking. A strong hand was  clamped  over  his  mouth.  He

squirmed, but the grip on him was sure and strong. He tried to  get  his  feet

under him and failed.

Calm. No fear, he thought. Get it together, Anakin. You're supposed to be

on watch. They won't even hear this, in the cave, if you die.

He used the Force to twist the hand away from his  mouth  and  shove  his

attacker sprawling, and in the next instant got his feet  under  him  and  his

lightsaber in hand. In its sudden light he made out a bearded face, a blaster.

He leapt forward.

"Wait! Jedi! I'm×I'm a friend."

"Yeah? Why did you attack me?"

"Didn't know×didn't×" He wheezed off, his voice sounding  strange,  weak,

as if he rarely used it. "Name's Qorl. I have been a friend to Jedi. I  didn't

know who you were."

"Qorl? My brother and sister knew a Qorl. He made them fix  his  ship  at

blasterpoint."

"Jacen. Jaina," the old man said. "Qorl also saved them from  the  Shadow

Academy."

"You were a TIE fighter pilot, stranded here  when  the  Death  Star  was

destroyed. You went off×"

"And came back. I left as an enemy to your brother  and  sister.  I  came

back their friend. You're really their brother?" He squinted.  "Can't  see  so

well anymore."

"What are you doing here?"

"Saw some ships fly over, fighting. Thought I  saw  one  go  down,  so  I

followed to see." He shrugged. "Seven days later, here I am."

"So you are." Anakin struggled  to  remember  what  he  knew  about  this

grizzled old man. Jacen and Jaina had found his wrecked TIE  fighter  and  set

about fixing it, not realizing its pilot  was  still  around,  hiding  in  the

jungle, unaware that the war was over. Qorl had  forced  them  to  finish  the

repairs and left them to die, but had later  helped  them  escape  the  Shadow

Academy. Anakin remembered that Qorl had ended up back on Yavin 4, but none of

the details. He did know that Jacen and Jaina counted him a friend, and  Uncle

Luke had been content to leave the old man alone.

Qorl gestured at the lightsaber. "Could you put that away, please?"

"Oh. Sure."

"Who were you fighting?"

"Peace Brigade."

"Who?"

"Er×how long since you've had news from the outíside, Qorl?"

"I don't know. Old Peckhum dropped off some supíplies for me,  maybe  two

or three years ago. I told him not to come back."

"Oh. Well, this will take some explaining, then. A lot of explaining."

"Will it explain the new ships I've seen? The strange ones?"

Anakin felt his chest constrict. "What ships?"

"They look like×growths of some kind. Ugly."

"Oh, no," Anakin whispered. "Okay, I'll have to tell this as  fast  as  I

can, and then×" He remembered his viísion, that future  Tahiri,  a  dark  Jedi

with Yuuzhan Vong scarring and implants. "And then there's something I have to

do, no matter what."

"I need to talk to you, Vehn." Anakin settled down across from the man.

"So talk. Hey, who's the old guy?"

"A hermit of sorts. I'm putting him in charge of you."

"What do you mean?" Vehn asked suspiciously.

Anakin drew a deep breath and plunged into it. "Okay. Here's  the  thing,

Vehn. I need your help."

"I've been telling you that for a while."

"And you were right."

"Yeah, well×too bad. You've treated me like Hutt slime. Why  shouldn't  I

return the favor?"

"The Yuuzhan Vong are here."

That got his attention. Vehn's face closed  over  his  fear,  but  Anakin

could still feel it.

"Qorl's seen their ships."

"They'll find us," Vehn said flatly.

"Why should they? They aren't looking for us. Unless  the  Peace  Brigade

tells them about the crash×but I don't think they will.  It  would  only  show

their incompetence, right? So the Yuuzhan Vong see us only if they  notice  us

on a random patrol, and the odds of that×"

"Depends on how many ships they have patrolling," Vehn interrupted.  "You

don't know the one, so you don't know the other."

"True. The thing is this×I'm going after my friend, back at  the  temple.

I'm going now. I want you and Qorl to get Sannah and Valin off of this moon."

"What? Have you got some kind of fever?"

"You can finish the repairs on your ship, can't you?"

Vehn continued to stare at him as if he  was  crazy.  "No.  The  sublight

drive×"

"Is nearly repaired. I'll show you."

"Impossible."

"Nope. You still need some parts, but Qorl knows where you can get  them.

And you have Fiver. I've proígrammed him with everything you'll need."

"And why should I do this again? I keep missing that part."

"Because it's your only chance, too. You think the Yuuzhan Vong are going

to hail you as an ally when they find you? I doubt it very much. You  say  you

were only in the Peace Brigade for the money, you say you don't  really  share

their cause×let's say I'm going to take you on your word about that. Get these

kids to safety, and I can guaríantee you a profit."

"How do you know I won't just fly straight to the Vong and turn Valin and

Sannah over to them?"

"A couple of reasons. The first is that Qorl will blast a very large hole

in you if you try it. I don't completely trust  the  man.  He  was  an  Empire

stalwart twenty years after the death of the Emperor. By the  same  token,  he

would never turn humans over to the Yuuzhan Vong× or let you do it.  He  might

take off for the Imperial Remínant the instant he gets the chance, but the way

I see it, that's parsecs better than staying here.

"The second is that I think you'll do whatever gives you the best  chance

of getting out of this with a whole skin×and you're smart enough not to gamble

on the milk of Yuuzhan Vong kindness. The third×" He leaned close. "Third,  if

you bring any harm to Valin or Sannah, you'd better pray I'm dead. Because  if

I'm not, no matter what, I will find you. That I swear."

"Ease up, Jedi. I'll do it. Anything has to be better than hanging out in

the jungle waiting to die of a lizard bite. But I don't want you  to  threaten

me again. I'm really sick of that."

"I've said what I meant to say. I won't say it again." Anakin raised  his

voice. "Qorl. Could you come here, please?"

The old pilot shuffled over and treated Vehn to a thoríough once over. He

knelt on creaky joints and shook his finger in Vehn's face. "I know  you,"  he

muttered.

"You're crazy," Vehn said. "I've never seen you before in my life."

"Oh, no. Even if you saw somebody like old Qorl, you  wouldn't  recognize

him. You don't have the database. On the other  hand,  old  Qorl  has  seen  a

hundred like you. You won't give Qorl any trouble. You'll do what he says."

"Right," Vehn said. "Just... stay away from me, yeah? Or take a bath,  at

least. You smell like a Wookiee's armpit."

Qorl laughed brusquely, put his hands on his thighs, and  rose  painfully

to his full height. He looked squarely at Anakin. "You sure about this, then?"

he asked.

"I've got to do it," Anakin said. "The Force is pulling me to do it."

"The Force. Huh. Will the Force get you halfway around the moon  in  less

then a year? Because that's how long it will take you to walk it, if you don't

get gobbled by piranha-beetles or die of creek fever. You might as  well  wait

until we have the ship fixed."

"I don't have to walk," Anakin said. "The repulsorlift system in  the  E-

wing was salvageable. I cobbled  together  something  that  will  pass  for  a

speeder."

"Already?"

"Days ago. But until you came along, I couldn't really talk  myself  into

going. I couldn't take Valin and Sanínah, and I couldn't leave  them  behind."

But now I have two signs, he finished to himself, Qorl, and my dream. It  felt

right to go. It felt terribly wrong not to. It felt× Chewbacca's face  flashed

in his mind, as he had last seen it, and Tahiri, alone, surrounded.

Tahiri, grown, wearing Yuuzhan Vong armor and wielding dark-side Force.

It was a risk he had to take.

"I'm going to explain this to Valin and Sannah now," Anakin  said.  "I'll

leave in the morning."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Commander Tsaak Vootuh aimed his opalescent eyes at  the

trembling human, restraining the part  of  himself  that  wanted  to  put  the

pathetic creature out of its misery.

Which was most of him.

"You are Imsatad?" he asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Straighten yourself," Vootuh snarled. "The mewling  of  a  Yuuzhan  Vong

infant in a creche has more fierceness than  your  whine."  As  he  spoke,  he

cherished the thin hiss of breath through the deep chevrons that  cut  through

his cheeks. He clasped his hands behind his back so that  the  cloak  gripping

into the flesh of his shoulders fell open to reveal  the  full  glory  of  the

tattoos and burn puckers that adorned his  torso.  He  silently  praised  Yun-

Yuuzhan for not condemning him to be one of these smooth, honor-less infidels.

"Yes, sir," Imsatad replied, his voice slightly firmer.

"You explained to my subordinates that you are an ally of  ours?  One  of

the×" He frowned, trying to reímember the name of the group  in  Basic.  "Peez

Brigade?"

The tizowyrm in his  ear  translated  the  first  word  as  "willing  and

appropriate submission from the submisísive to the conqueror."

"Yes, sir."

"I wonder how you will confirm that," Tsaak Vootuh said. "Our information

was that this moon was home to many young Jeedai. And yet I find none at  all.

This is peículiar, and I suspect you are to blame."

"No!" Imsatad said. "We came here in good faith, to keep the terms of the

peace your warmaster Tsavong Lah proposed."

"And failed miserably to do so. Where are the Jeedai? "

Imsatad hesitated. "We have one. The others are with Karrde."

"The commander of the flotilla that fled our approach?"

"That's him. He tricked us into×"

"I have no interest in the details of your failure. Two of this  Karrde's

ships made the jump to hyperspace. I asísume those ships contained  the  prize

you let slip through your fingers."

"With all respect, Commander, if it weren't  for  me  and  my  crew,  you

wouldn't have even one Jedi. Karrde would  have  taken  them  all  before  you

arrived."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. But tell me×why does he reímain in this system?"

Imsatad frowned. "Does he?"

"Yes. He has withdrawn to the edge of the system, but remains there. I do

not complain, for it will give me and my warriors combat when I feared we must

sit idle. But I wish to know his reason. I do not imagine that he  would  stay

for the sake of a single immature Jeedai." He leaned close, dropping his voice

to a whisper. "What have you failed to tell me?"

The human cleared its throat. "There×I think there are perhaps a few more

Jedi here on the moon. I think one of them might be Anakin Solo."

"Solo?"

"Brother to Jacen Solo, whom Tsavong Lah so desires."

"Interesting, if true."

" I would like to offer my ships and crew to help find him and any others

who might still remain on Yavin Four."

Tsaak Vootuh fixed a venomous stare on the creature. "You have helped  us

quite enough. As for your ships, they are abominations and will be destroyed."

" But what×how will we return home?"

Tsaak Vootuh allowed himself a grim smile.  "How  inídeed,  Imsatad?"  he

said. "How indeed?"

"Now, wait a minute×" Imsatad began, but Tsaak Vootuh cut him off with  a

look.

"I wish to see the captured Jeedai," he told the human.  "You  will  take

me, now."

" I'll do no such thing until you×"

Tsaak Vootuh nodded in a certain way, and Imsatad was suddenly staring in

astonishment at the head of an amphistaff poking out of his belly.  He  looked

question-ingly at Tsaak Vootuh, coughed blood from his  mouth,  and  died.  Vo

Lian, Tsaak Vootuh's lieutenant, withdrew the amphistaff he had struck through

the man's back.

Tsaak Vootuh gestured at the human who had been standing behind  Imsatad.

"You. Take me to see the Jeedai."

"Oof course," the creature stammered. "Whatever you wish."

Tsaak Vootuh nodded and stood. Before leaving the room, he turned  to  Vo

Lian. "Supervise the landing and make secure the space  around  this  moon.  I

want the damutek on the ground within the next cycle. I will give the  shapers

no cause for complaint."

Vo Lian snapped his fists against his opposite shoulíders.  "Belek  tiu,"

he said. "It will be done, Commander."

PART TWO THE SHAMED AMD THE SHAPERS CHAPTER FOURTEEN Borsk Fey'lya, Chief

of State of the New Republic, ofífered an apologetic expression that looked as

false to Luke as it was well-practiced. His words followed suit.

"I'm sorry," he demurred, violet eyes unblinking. "I can be of no help in

this matter, Master Skywalker."

Luke fought down the urge to shout  and  sought  the  calm  he  so  often

implored of his students. "I beg you to reconsider, Chief Fey'lya.  Lives  are

at stake." Grief over Ikrit's death was still raw.

The Bothan nodded. "I am  painfully  aware  of  that,  Master  Skywalker.

However, whereas  you  are  concerned  with  the  lives  of  four×count  them,

four×Jedi, I must consider a great many more. I must  consider  the  lives  we

will lose in an attempt to retake the Yavin system, a sysítem with no tactical

or strategic advantage. I must conísider,  further,  that  this  action  would

quite effectively end the truce with the Yuuzhan Vong and cost even more lives

in renewed warfare."

"They've already broken the truce," Luke replied, still  trying  to  keep

his voice even. "They promised not to take any more of our worlds if Jedi  are

turned over to them, something that the whole galaxy seems eager  to  do.  And

yet they've now taken Yavin Four."

"Of course, neither I nor the senate sanction  the  puríported  purge  of

Jedi."

"Purported?" Luke allowed the word to absorb all of  the  incredulity  he

felt at Fey'lya's implication.

"And as for Yavin Four," the chief continued evenly, "it is  not  one  of

'our worlds,' not if by the use  of  the  plural  pronoun  you  mean  the  New

Republic. Yavin Four is your pet project, Master Skywalker. You Jedi have made

it clear that you are not bound by the laws and deícisions of the senate.  You

fight unsanctioned battles and provoke needless dissent.  And  now,  suddenly,

after spurníing our wishes, you desire our aid?  Really,  can't  you  see  the

hypocrisy in that?"

"Chief, putting aside for the moment that you are conífounding the action

of a handful of Jedi with our order as  a  whole,  these  are  children  we're

talking about. They've done nothing, and they don't deserve to suffer for  the

mistakes of others."

"But you would ask me to jeopardize millions, períhaps billions for those

same mistakes? Your mistakes? Listen to yourself."

"That's the most×" Jaina Solo exploded. Luke was surprised she  had  kept

silent for so long.

"Quiet, Jaina," he said.

" But he's twisting×"

"Child, you have all of your mother's fire and none of her common sense,"

Fey'lya said. "Listen to your Master."

"There's no need to insult my niece," Luke said. "Her brother is  one  of

those missing."

"Would this be Anakin Solo, who forged a  fake  deparíture  authority  in

order to leave Coruscant surreptitiously?"

"Anakin is a little... overeager."

"He did not proceed under your authority?"

"No, Chief Fey'lya, he did not, but  he  thought  the  stuídents  at  the

praxeum were in imminent danger. As it turns out, he was correct."

"Another example, however, of what I'm talking about. Young Solo ran  off

against orders, breaking several laws in doing so, with no say-so from anyone.

This, so far as I can tell, is the essence of what the Jedi have become."

"I'm coming to you now, Chief Fey'lya."

"Yes. Now that the matter is too large for you to handle on your own. And

I note that you did not come here first.  At  the  very  least,  you  went  to

General Antilles×and, I susípect, to others. And they all sent you here."

"I was inquiring into  what  was  possible,"  Luke  said.  "  Not  making

requests."

"How diplomatic. And where is your sister in all of  this?  She  and  her

husband also seem to have disappeared."

" That's not relevant to this," Luke said.

"Oh, isn't  it?  Are  they  engaged  in  yet  more  unsancítioned  covert

activity? Are they a part of the little govíernment you're trying  to  run  on

the side, as if the elected officials of the New Republic are  incompetent  to

do their jobs?"

"We're following our Jedi mandate, Chief Fey'lya. We protect.  We  serve.

I'm sorry if these goals are incomípatible with yours."

"The arrogance," Fey'lya said. "The sheer arrogance. And you  wonder  why

you are disliked."

Luke felt matters rushing to a heated conclusion and knew part of it  was

his own fault. Perhaps the rage he  felt  pulsing  from  Jaina  was  partially

responsible, but he was dangerously near losing his own head in the matter. He

placed his palms together. "Chief Fey'lya,  if  you  won't  consider  military

action, at least consider a diplomatic solution."

The Bothan reclined in his chair. "The matter has alíready  been  brought

to our attention. Negotiations have been and are occurring."

"Brought by whom?"

"The Yuuzhan Vong, of course. The Yavin situation has already generated a

good deal of tension."

"What? You knew?"

"The Yuuzhan Vong assure us  that  their  occupation  of  the  system  is

temporary. They went there in search of raw materials, not captives. They knew

nothing about your Jedi praxeum."

Luke bore down on the chief of state with his gaze. " I  ask  again,"  he

said softly. "You knew the Yuuzhan Vong were going to Yavin,  and  didn't  see

fit to warn me?"

"Don't be absurd," Fey'lya snorted. "Do you think I could keep that  from

your Jedi spies? No. The Yuuzhan Vong entered  the  Yavin  system  peacefully.

There was already some sort of scuffle between smugglers going  on  when  they

got there, and some of those smugglers  remain  and  continue  to  harass  the

Yuuzhan Vong water-mining  activities  on  Stroiketcy.  It  took  considerable

dipílomatic effort to convince them that these outlaws have nothing to do with

the New Republic." He cocked his head. "You know nothing of these pirates,  do

you, Masíter Skywalker? This wouldn't be yet another example  of  unsanctioned

Jedi activity, would it?"

Luke narrowed his eyes. "You sold my students out. I won't  forget  that.

Ever."

"I see. Instead of answering my question, you threaten me." Fey'lya waved

the back of his hand. "You've taken up enough of my time,  Skywalker.  Let  me

just leave you with a warning. I'm formally  cautioning  you  that  the  Yavin

system is off-limits to you and your followers. If the forces there are in any

way connected with you, you will recall them. Under no circumstances  are  you

to go there yourself or send Jedi in your stead. If you make any move in  that

direction, you will  be  placed  under  arrest.  You  are  already,  I  rather

needlessly point out, under close observation. Is that clear?"

"Oh, it's clear all right," Luke replied. "Suddenly, a lot of things  are

very clear indeed." He felt Fey'lya's mind snap  down  and  vacuum  seal.  The

interview was over. He turned to go×and stopped when  he  noticed  that  Jaina

wasn't moving, was standing stock-still, tears of  anger  streaming  down  her

face.

"Chief Fey'lya," she said in a quiet voice. "You are a poor excuse for  a

sentient being. I hope one day you really smell the stink in  your  heart  and

choke on the fumes."

Fey'lya returned her gaze. "You're very young,"  he  said.  "When  you've

accomplished a fraction of what I have for the people  of  this  galaxy,  come

back and we'll talk again."

" It makes a certain amount of sense from his perspecítive,"  Jacen  said

later, when Luke and Jaina had returned to the Jedi  Master's  quarters.  Luke

had just finished reílating the substance of his talk with the chief of  state

to Shada D'ukal, Tionne, Mara, and Jacen.

"I do not believe you said that," Jaina snapped. "This  is  Anakin  we're

talking about. It's the praxeum!"

"You don't have to remind me who my brother is," Jacen said. "But  that's

the point, don't you see? We can hardly be impartial in this case."

"Vape impartiality!" Jaina replied. " Fey'lya's not impartial."

"No, he's not. But his concerns are different."

"Yeah. He's more concerned about the  Vong  than  he  is  about  his  own

citizens."

"That's not true," Luke said gently. "To be honest, I  never  thought  he

would send ships to the Yavin system. I had to ask, though, and we  did  learn

some things."

"Right. Like Fey'lya sent the Vong there in the first place."

"I doubt that very much," Luke said. "I think things happened pretty much

as he said. When the Yuuzhan Vong showed up they  found  Karrde  fighting  the

Peace Brigade, and when they took occupation, Karrde turned on them. They then

contacted the New Republic.  And  Fey'lya's  right×I  should  have  seen  this

coming, long ago. The Yavin system has been at risk for months now.

Only the concentrated effort of the Jedi there even alílowed us to  think

it was safe."

"That's perfect, Luke," Mara said. "Blame yourself."

Luke lifted his eyebrows, surprised at the brittle  anger  in  her  tone.

"I'm not trying to allocate blame, Mara."

"Then spare us your apologies for Fey'lya and the  senate.  What  are  we

going to do?"

"What Anakin did," Jaina said. "Talon Karrde  is  out  there  right  now,

fighting a holding action for help that will  never  come.  He'll  stay  there

until they pick all of his ships off, one by one. Won't he, Shada?"

"Yes."

Luke fixed her with his gaze. " I understand your  conícern,  Jaina,  but

what good will one more X-wing do Karrde or Anakin?"

"More good than sitting here. And we can contact Mom and Dad,  have  them

bring the Millennium Falcon."

"First of all, Han and Leia are still out of contact. More important, you

heard what Fey'lya said."

"Oh, please let them try arresting us," Mara grunted.

"You think I care even faintly what that scruffy  Bothan  said?  "  Jaina

chimed in. "Uncle Luke, we can't do nothing."

Luke placed his hand on Mara's arm. "Listen to me, all of  you.  I'm  not

worried about arrest as such, and I think you all know that. But things aren't

good for the Jedi now. If we have any friends left in high  places,  we  can't

afford to alienate them. We're  already  considered  rogues.  We  can't  allow

ourselves to be cast as enemies of the state."

"If they're stupid  enough  to  think  that,  let  'em,"  Jaina  snarled.

"They're hopeless."

"Right," Jacen said sardonically. "That's really what we need right  now,

Jaina×a civil war within the New Republic, as if the war with the Yuuzhan Vong

isn't alíready enough. Besides, Uncle Luke is right. I don't think the  weight

we could add to the battle would help, not considering the situation as  Shada

outlined it."

"What, then?" Shada asked. "Karrde can't do it alone."

"What if we added a Star Destroyer to the equation?" Luke said.

Shada looked thoughtful for a  moment,  then  nodded  slightly.  "If  the

Yuuzhan Vong don't get more reinforcements×maybe."

"Terrik," Mara said.

"Terrik," Luke agreed.

"I thought you said you couldn't find him?" Jacen asked.

"No, but I have some ideas about where to look. All I need is someone  to

look for him."

Jaina stared. Jacen nodded. "Yes," he said.

"No, now wait a minute," Jaina said. "You want us to chase halfway around

the galaxy for a Star Destroyer we might never find×"

"Jaina," Jacen interrupted. "Do you think Anakin is dead?"

She hesitated fractionally. "No. I know he's not."

"Right. I don't think he's dead either. I don't even think they've caught

him. Anakin knows Yavin Four as well as we do, maybe better. The Yuuzhan  Vong

don't know it at all. If they didn't catch him when they landed, it would take

a miracle for them to find him."

"Unless he ran right up to their ships, lightsaber  swingíing,  which  is

just what Anakin is likely to do," Jaina said.

"He's headstrong," Jacen said, "but he isn't stupid. He knows help is  on

the way. He probably knows Karrde is there already. The problem is,  he  can't

get to Karrde or Karrde to him because the Yuuzhan Vong are in the way.  Uncle

Luke is right×a couple more X-wings or  even  the  Falcon  won't  change  that

equation much. The Errant Venture would."

Jaina's nostrils flared. "Uncle Luke, you aren't just trying  to  get  us

out of the way, are you?"

Luke shook his head. "How do you plot that course? No. Jacen's  laid  out

the situation perfectly. Let me add to that  the  fact  that  since  Valin  is

Booster Terrik's grandson, Booster will be more than happy to help."

"And Terrik isn't tied directly to the Jedi."

"What are you talking about?" Mara interrupted. "Corran Horn  is  Valin's

father, and last I heard, he was with Booster."

"Corran distanced himself from us after Ithor," Luke replied.  "  Fey'lya

might suspect something, but he won't be  able  to  prove  it.  Which  reminds

me×Shada got here without revealing she has most of the Jedi  candidates  with

her. If they turn up here on Coruscant,  with  us,  Fey'lya  will  know  we're

behind Karrde being there. That may or may not be a situation I  can  control.

But they aren't safe here anyway. When you go to find Terrik, I  want  you  to

take the candidates with you."

"What, in an X-wing?"

"We have Shada's ships×" Jacen began.

"Oh, no," Shada said. "They aren't my ships,  they're  Karrde's,  and  he

needs them. I'm returning to the Yavin system, and I'm doing it very soon,  no

matter what you work out here."

"We'll take the Jade Shadow," Mara said. "I can conívert some  space.  It

may still be a little cramped, with all of the kids, but she'll do the job."

"You and I can't leave Coruscant," Luke said bluntly.

Mara's eyes flashed. "Skywalker, if this is about  my  'delicate  state,'

you can shove×"

"It's not, Mara. We can't attract suspicion. Fey'lya's watching us. It'll

be hard enough to get Jacen and Jaina out without raising eyebrows,  but  that

can be done."

Mara seemed to roll that around in her mouth. / don't like playing  these

games, she practically hurled at him.

/ don't either, he replied.

The room was silent for a score of heartbeats,  during  which  time  Luke

realized that everyone else in the room was staring at them. Their mouths were

admirably closed, but their read in the Force was purely gape-jawed.

No, not all of them are surprised, Luke suddenly knew.

It was typically Jaina who broke the silence. "Mara? You're?..."

"Bright kid," Mara said. Her eyes narrowed a little.

ÕJacen?"

Jacen seemed to be trying to see the individual atoms in the  floor.  His

face was redshifting.

"You peeked," Mara accused.

"I, uh, didn't mean to," he mumbled. "But when I started using the  Force

again at Duro..." He looked around helplessly for support.

'We were going to tell you soon, anyway," Luke said.

"That's wonderful!" Jaina exploded. "Mara, congratu-lations."  Her  brows

scrunched a bit. "I guess? I mean, I didn't think×"

"What?" Mara said, nailing the younger woman with a pointed gaze. "Didn't

think what?"

"Oh, I×nothing," Jaina replied, her face suddenly twinning her  brother's

in hue.

"It's just suprising," Jacen said, for her. "You were sick for so long."

Mara nodded. "Yeah. Well,  the  universe  surprises  you  sometimes.  And

sometimes×on rare occasions×in a good way."

Õ'In the best way," Jaina burbled. "Congratulations. To both of you."

"Thank you," Luke said.

" 'Cousin Jaina.' I like the sound of it."

"So do I," Mara replied, lips twitching in a  smile.  "But  that  doesn't

solve the immediate problem. So, 'Cousin Jaina'×why don't you  take  the  Jade

Shadow and go find Booster, already?"

Jaina's eyes widened. "You're offering me your ship?"

"Loaning it for a good cause. Just don't get her dinged up, understood?"

"Understood," Jaina replied. "But if  we  don't  find  Booster  within  a

standard week×"

"We will find him," Jacen interjected.

"Either way," Jaina warned, "you won't keep me away from Yavin Four.  Not

if I have to fly there on a repulsorsled."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN Anakin sped over what might have  been  the  billows  and

curls, thunderstorms and circlestorms of a  vast  sea  of  green  clouds.  The

illusion was nearly perfect as the sun reddened, puddled, and  shrank  against

the horizon like a fusion explosion going in  slow  reverse,  condensing  back

into the bomb that had released it.  The  real  clouds  were  orange-and-umber

lace, and the gas giant was just dipping under the horizon  as  well.  A  rare

true night was settling, the first in the three standard days since he'd  left

the crash site.

But the green clouds were an illusion, a  potentially  deadly  one.  They

were really treetops, and if he passed through one at this speed, he  wouldn't

experience the slight dampness and negligible turbulence that flying through a

cloud produced; he would shatter his makeíshift speeder and possibly  his  own

bones against them.

And so he closed his eyes and used the Force, feeling the life below him,

watching for it thrusting too high.

It was exhilarating to be flying again, so much so that for moments at  a

time Anakin nearly forgot what he was doing and where he was  going.  He  kept

reaching for the throttle, to really open her up, to feel the wind in his face

rum into a fluid, cheek-biting sheet of speed.

But the throttle was already open; the  "speeder"  quite  simply  wasn't.

He'd tinkered with it as much as he could, but no amount of jury-rigging could

transform a cannibalíized A-wing repulsorlift welded to an awkward  strut-work

chassis into a fleet steed of the  winds.  The  pilot  seat  from  his  X-wing

perched atop the improbable cagelike thing, and before him were  exactly  four

controls×an on-off switch, a throttle and lift control circuited  to  the  re-

pulsor, and a tiller that wagged a large aluminum rudder behind him.  Not  the

most wieldy craft he'd ever flown, and his maximum speed  was  a  poky  ninety

klicks an hour. Still, it would get him there faster than walking  or  waiting

for the repairs on the transport.

He stretched out farther in the Force, touching Tahiri again. She was  in

a dark place and he felt pain, or the fading of pain. He couldn't tell where.

Anakin.

That startled him. His name rang like an H'kig chime, nothing fuzzy about

it.

"I'm coming, Tahiri," he whispered.

Anakin... But the sense of words dissolved into  emoítion.  Fear,  grief,

hope. Wordlessly, he reached for her, to give her the equivalent of a  squeeze

on the hand, and found himself instead in a tight, desperate embrace.

/'// find you, he projected to her. Just hang on.

No! He couldn't tell if she was warning him away  or  responding  to  the

blade of pain that suddenly cut beítween them, tore her away from him, leaving

him once more alone with the treetops.

He searched for her again, but found nothing, not even a faint presence.

"You're okay, Tahiri," he mumbled. "I know you are."

He did sense someone else, however. It was like seeing a faint star,  the

faintest star in the sky.

"Jaina," Anakin said. "Hello, Jaina."

But he couldn't tell if she felt him back.

Days passed,  blurred  and  monotonous.  The  forest  broke  into  narrow

savannas and sparkling stretches of marsh and then ocean that  shimmered  like

planished copper be - neath Yavin and liquid gold by sunlight. He watched  the

crawling, V-shaped wakes of behemoths he had no names for and could  make  out

only as shadows in the deep. He flew day and  night,  sleeping  only  in  tiny

naps, drawing on the Force to replenish  himself.  He  ate  the  last  of  his

rations after ten days, but even two days later did not feel hungry.  He  felt

light and humming, like a flash of lightíning given human form.

Water he did need, and stopped to distill it when his body required more.

But mostly he flew, and lost himíself in the life around him. He searched  for

Tahiri, trying to understand what was happening to her,  trying  to  give  her

hope.

Yavin eclipsed the sun and then rolled  under  the  sky,  and  once  more

Anakin found himself in full darkness.  He  was  slipping  into  the  arms  of

fatigue, considering a short nap. when he heard an  odd  noise.  At  first  he

thought he was imagining it, for he felt nothing in the Force, but as it  grew

louder, he opened his eyes, turning carefully to see what it might be.

Pacing him, perhaps fifty meters away,  was  something  large  and  dark.

Something that did not exist in the Force at all.

"Oh, Sithspawn," he muttered  under  his  breath.  Otheríwise  he  froze,

watching the thing. It was flying perfectly parallel to him, which couldn't be

an accident. It wasn't as big as a coralskipper, but not much smaller, either.

A speeder analog, maybe? Something better designed for atmospheric flight than

the ships he had thus far seen? He couldn't make  out  a  silhouette,  only  a

tactile impresísion of size. And there, again, he could be wrong.

Did they think he hadn't seen them yet,  or  were  they  soil  trying  to

figure out what he was?

He got his answer a few moments later,  when  the  craft  subtly  changed

course and their flight paths began to converge.

"This is no good," Anakin muttered.

He turned the lift control down two-thirds and dropped through what  felt

like a small gap in the treetops. A branch caught  under  one  corner  of  the

speeder and flipped it over,  and  with  no  gyro  to  correct,  Anakin  found

himíself hurling toward the ground. Desperately, he wrenched at the craft with

the Force, flipping it back over with a very raw, unsubtle  use  of  strength,

exactly the kind of thing his brother was always berating him for. "The  Force

isn't a torch for you to weld plating with," Jacen might say.

Of course, without that macrofuser, Anakin would be a bag of broken bones

on the forest floor right now. The Force was about everything, wasn't it?

Stabilizing in the midlevel canopy of the forest,  Anaíkin  was  in  more

complete darkness than before, deprived even  of  starlight.  He  dropped  his

speed a little; his rudder was too crude to allow him the kind of  hot  flying

that might take him between the great boles at full throttle. He let the Force

guide his hands on the rudder and used his gaze to track the dark for any sign

of his pursuer.

But it was his ears, again, that alerted him. Something  crashed  through

the treetops behind him, and all of the hairs on his neck stood up.  What  was

he facing? A living ship? A beast?

He dropped and cut a sharp turn, slipping between two trees, scraping one

of them. For an instant, he thought it had  worked,  but  then  he  heard  the

whirring turn to follow him.

How does it see? he wondered. Infrared? Or, given that the  Yuuzhan  Vong

used only living technology, maybe it  smelled  him.  Whatever  the  case,  it

certainly had a lock on him. It was faster, too, though less  maneuverable  in

the trees due to its greater size.

He thought he was evading it pretty well until someíthing hissed past his

ear×not a branch, not anything he could feel  in  the  Force.  Desperately  he

increased his eva - sive tactics, spinning and rolling,  coming  as  near  the

trees as he dared, slipping through the narrowest spaces he was able to.

Dark things licked past him, hissing in the leaves,  and  then  something

caught the speeder in a grip that stopped it dead in the air.

Anakin didn't stop, however. With all of the forward  momentum  that  had

just been stolen from his craft, he was hurled into the  night,  a  rocket  of

blood and bone. He tucked and  spun,  slowing  himself  with  the  Force,  and

dropped onto a branch bigger around than he was.

He turned and found himself facing a hole in the night.

A thin tendril whipped out from the thing and wrapped around  his  waist,

cinching painfully tight. With a hoarse cry, he snapped on his lightsaber  and

cut, just as the strand started to tighten further,  as  if  reeling  him  in.

Incredibly, the strand×it seemed no thicker than his thumb×resisted the  first

cut, though it yielded to the second.

By then he had been jerked off the branch, and once again he was falling.

Closing his eyes, he nudged his course to another branch  and  used  it  as  a

springboard to propel himself toward the next unseen landing place.  He  never

made it. Another of the strands caught him in midíair.  He  managed  to  twist

himself and chop it, but by that time another had fastened on him. He  managed

to cut it, too, but noticed the  severed  pieces  weren't  dropping  off,  but

retained their grip on him. If this kept up...

He saw pretty clearly what he had to do. The next time  his  feet  hit  a

branch, he hurled himself up and out, feeling the breath  of  several  strands

passing beneath and by him. He aimed himself at the hole in the Force.

The problem with that, of course, was that he couldn't  sense  a  landing

place. He came down on top of the craft, but the surface was  uneven,  and  he

slipped, bounced once on the rear of the thing, and  slid  off.  He  caught  a

projection as he fell, and for a brief moment felt an odd  disorientation,  as

his inner ear suddenly told him that down was in two different directions,  as

if he stood on the dividing line between two different gravities.

In a flash, he knew what that must mean. Whatever this thing was, it was,

like other Yuuzhan Vong craft, proípelled by a dovin basal, the creatures that

somehow geníerated gravitic anomalies. He was  hanging  next  to  the  craft's

lifts.

The craft jerked and spun over. Anakin lost his grip, but he had a fix on

the gravity source now. The Yuuzhan Vong and their creatures might  not  exist

in the Force, but gravity did.

As he fell, he hurled his lightsaber up, guiding it with  the  Force.  It

struck at the heart of the gravitic anomaly, and sparks  showered  the  canopy

below. As Anakin fell through the first layer of leaves he saw his  lightsaber

rupíture into a bright purple flare.

Concentrating on the weapon, Anakin glanced off a branch, falling like  a

rag doll. Trying to focus through the pain, he found the forest floor,  pushed

against it, pushed...

Until it pushed him back. All of his breath coughed out in a rush, and he

folded around his gut, sucking for wind that would not come.

The morning sun found Anakin turning blue and  black  over  much  of  his

body, but still functional. In the dim light, he cautiously climbed  from  his

hiding place in the hollow of a tree and looked around.

The Yuuzhan Vong craft was down, perhaps eighty meíters away. It reminded

Anakin of some sort of flat, winged sea creature, though it looked  as  if  it

were grown from the same stuff as the coralskippers. It was fetched up against

a tree. The cockpit was a transparent bubble  exítruding  from  the  top.  The

pilot inside looked quite dead.

Anakin found he'd been right about the dovin basal. It looked roughly the

same as the larger ones he'd seen, exícept it had a huge, oozing gash  in  it.

His lightsaber lay - nearby. When he picked it up and tried  to  activate  it,

his fears were confirmed×nothing happened.

"Perfect," he murmured aloud. "No weapons at all. Perfect."

He found the remains of his speeder, still attached to the cable  snaking

from the Yuuzhan Vong craft. It didn't take much of an inspection to tell  him

that this time he wouldn't be salvaging anything.

From here on out, he was walking.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Nen Yim watched the  damutek  ships  settle  amongst  the

alien trees, with a giddiness she tried hard to conceal. No reward could  come

from  a  display  of  emotion,  espeícially  childish  ones.  A   shaper   was

circumspect; a shaper was analytical. A shaper did not stare in wonder and joy

and wave the tendrils of her headdress in abandon.

So Nen Yim did none of that. But by the gods, she  felt  like  doing  it.

This was a planet! Perhaps technically a moon, but a world, an unknown  world!

The unfamiliar smells of the place, the unanticipated movement of the air, the

unimagined oddness of a gravity that  wasn't  exactly  right  had  her  senses

buzzing. But the real exícitement came from within her. Like the thick-trunked

damutek, she was a seed, finally come to the right soil to sprout in.

Soil. She reached down, bent, and scratched up a  fistíful  of  the  rich

black dirt. It smelled like nothing she had ever known×a bit like the  sluices

beneath the mernip breeding pools, or the exhalations of the maw luur  of  the

great worldships. The latter took in waste through its vast capillary  network

and digested it into nutrients, metals, and air. As a child, she'd often stood

where the maw luur exhaled; until now, it was  the  only  wind  she  had  ever

known.

"Your first time on a true world, Adept?"

Nen Yim turned, thinking to find one of her  fellow  adepts  speaking  to

her, but suddenly arranged the tenta - cles of her headdress into genuflection

when she saw it was no such lowly creature, but her new master, Mezhan Kwaad.

The master let her finish, then beckoned her to face her. " You may  turn

your eyes on me, Adept."

"Yes, Master Mezhan."

Mezhan Kwaad was a female nearing the final edge of youth.  If  she  were

not a shaper, she might yet bear a child, but of course that was the one  form

of shaping foríbidden to masters of their caste. She was lean but  still  wore

the form of a mature  female,  despite  her  high  status.  Her  broad,  high-

cheekboned face bore the ritual foreíhead scars of her domain, and  her  right

hand was an fight-fingered master's hand. Her other  alterations,  in  keeping

with the aesthetic of the shapers, were  more  disícreet.  The  marks  of  her

sacrifices were not external, as they tended to be for the other  castes.  She

wore the body-hugging oozhith of a master, its tiny cilia rippling  in  subtle

waves of color as it sought and  captured  the  alien  microorganisms  in  the

atmosphere to feed itself.

"And answer my question," the master went on.

" Yes, Master. I  have  never  before  known  a  world  outíside  of  our

worldships."

"And what are your impressions?"

"Our worldships are built for centuries, perhaps milílennia.  Yun-Yuuzhan

created planets and moons for millions and billions of cycles.  The  resources

in the moon's interior are released slowly, by tectonic processes, or by  life

adapting to lack." She looked back down at the dirt beneath her feet. "But  it

does feel so strange, the un-imaginable wealth I'm standing on. And the  life!

Dif-ferent from our own, and varied, and none of it made to serve us!"

The master shaper narrowed her eyes. " It is made to serve us," she  said

quietly. "It is the will of the gods that life  serves  us.  You  were  taught

this."

"Of course, Master," Nen Yim said. "I only meant we have  not  shaped  it

yet. But we shall."

"Yes, we shall," Mezhan Kwaad agreed. "And I emíphasize we. Do  you  know

why you are an adept, Nen  Yim?  Do  you  know  why  you  are  here,  and  not

correcting the mutations of methane-fixing recham forteps in a  deícaying  maw

luur?"

"No, Master."

"Because I saw your work on the endocrine cloister in the worldship Baanu

Kor.n Nen Yim knotted her headdress in a humble  posture.  "I  only  did  what

needed to be done," she said.

"You did it optimally. Many would have stopped short at  the  molding  of

tii, but you went beyond that. You applied the Vul Ag  protocol,  though  such

has never been used in an endocrine cloister."

"I thought it would make the outer osmotic  memíbranes  more  efficiently

transpire×"

"Yes. Tradition and propriety are of absolute imporítance  to  our  task,

and yet immersion in those qualities can lead to hidebound  thinking.  I  need

adepts who are resourceful, who can use the sacred, unchanging  knowlíedge  in

new ways. Do you understand?"

"I believe so, Master," Nen Yim answered cautiously. A small lump of fear

formed in her throat. Did the masíter know") But she  couldn't.  If  she  knew

that Nen Yim had dabbled in heresy, she would never have promoted her.  Unless

she herself× No. Not a master. That was impossible.

"Don't believe," the master said. "Know, and you shall  go  far.  Do  you

see? As you say, after generations we have a whole new galaxy of life  at  our

fingertips. It is time to demonstrate exactly  what  Yun-Yuuzhan  intended  us

for."

Nen Yim nodded, watching the damuteks again. They were already  splitting

from their protective skins and be - ginning to expand, to  grow  into  highly

specialized shaper compounds.

"Come, Adept," the master said. "It is time to receive your hand."

"So soon?" Nen Yim asked.

"Our work begins tomorrow. We have one of the Jeedai, you know. Only one,

but we shall have more. Supreme Overlord Shimrra himself is watching  what  we

do here most carefully. We will not disappoint him."

Nen Yim stepped from the ceremonial bath into a darkened oozhith. At  her

touch it wrapped itself firmly about her,  and  she  felt  the  tingle  as  it

inserted cilia into her pores. It was not a full-skin oozhith, but a shortened

garment that left her arms and most of her legs bare. She  smoothed  back  her

short dark hair and held out her right hand, looking at it as if for the first

time rather than the last. Then she allowed the attendant to escort  her  into

me darkened grotto of Yun-Ne'Shel, where the master waited.

The grotto smelled of brine and oil. It was close and  damp  and  reacted

faintly to the touch. The grotto was a distant relative of the  yammosk;  what

you felt in the chamber came back to you, enhanced.

And so now both  her  eagerness  and  her  trepidation  -  ad  her  pulse

hammering as she knelt at the mouth of the grotto, a hole the size of  a  fist

surrounded by a massive bulge of muscle. Without  pausing  or  flinching,  she

placed her hand through the opening.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the teeth slid out of their sheaths,

eight of them, and pricked into her wrist.

Sweat started on her brow as she surrendered to the pain, as  the  teeth,

with glacial slowness, sank through tissue, grated into bone. The lips  closed

occasionally to sock away the blood.  The  grotto  gave  her  back  her  pain,

amplified, and her breath went choppy. She lost her sense of time; every nerve

ending in her body was raw, as if the  cilia  of  her  garment  were  writhing

needles.

Until, finally, the teeth met in the center of her wrist; she  felt  them

click together. She tried to take a long, calming breath to prepare  for  what

was to come next.

It happened quickly. The mouth suddenly rotated ninety degrees.  Her  arm

twisted with it no more than a degree or so, and then the hand came off with a

wet snick. Nen Yim held up the stump of her wrist and stared  at  it  in  dull

astonishment. She barely noticed the attendant taking her  by  the  shoulders,

guiding her toward the dark basin in the center of the grotto.

"I can do it," she whispered. She knelt by the basin, her head  spinning.

Dark things moved in the waters, five-legged things that came to the scent  of

her blood eagerly. She pushed her gushing stump into the water.

She had thought her body could feel no greater pain than it already  had.

She was wrong. She didn't feel it in her hand at all, but  in  a  great  spasm

that arched her body like a bow and kept it cramped there.  She  couldn't  see

the creature grappling with her wrist. For a horrible moíment, she didn't want

to. A great flash of light exploded in her head,  and  for  a  time  she  knew

nothing.

She awoke, and tears of shame started. Through them she  saw  the  master

standing over her.

"No one has ever endured it without a brief lapse the  first  time,"  she

said. "There is no shame, on this occaísion. If you ever receive your master's

hand, it will be difíferent. But you will be ready."

Hand. Nen Yim raised it before her.

It was still seating itself, a thick greenish secretion marking the  line

between it and her wrist. It had four narrow fingers and  a  thumb  protruding

from the thin but flexible carapace that now served as the top  of  her  hand.

Thousands of small sensor knobs covered the fingers and palm. The two  fingers

farthest from her thumb ended in small pincers. The finger nearest  the  thumb

had a thin, sharp, retractable claw.

She tried to wiggle the fingers; nothing happened.

"It will take some days for the nerve connections to complete themselves,

and some time  after  that  for  your  brain  to  become  used  to  the  finer

modifications," the master said. "Rejoice, Nen Yim×you are now truly an adept.

You will join me in shaping the Jeedai, and will bring glory to our caste, our

domain, and the Yuuzhan Vong."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Anakin sank farther  beneath  the  roots  of  a  marsh-

grubber tree and submerged himself  up  to  his  mouth,  peering  through  the

twisted growths at the elusive sky. For long moments he thought perhaps he had

been mistaken, that the noise from above had been his imagíination,  but  then

he saw a shadow much too large to be any native bird pass across the fetid  U-

shaped lake that concealed him.

His hand went to his useless lightsaber and then fell away.

For three days he had been avoiding the Yuuzhan Vong speeder analogs.  It

helped that he knew the sounds of the jungle  moon;  the  irritated  cries  of

Woolamanders in the distance or a flight of a group of  lesser  kitehawks  had

become his best allies, warning him of approaching  fliers  kilometers  before

they passed overhead. Still, as he approached the site  of  the  academy,  the

searchers came with greater regularity.  He  didn't  think  they  were  random

flights, but rather that they were part of some sort of expanding  search  net

spiraling out from the flier he had brought down with his lightsaber.

Well, at least now he knew better than to cut into a  dovin  basal.  From

what he could tell, his weapon had passed through or very near the part of the

thing that warped gravity; the crystal in his weapon had been  subtly  warped,

then fused by the energy it generated.  That  was  both  good  news  and  bad;

focusing crystals had been found on  Yavin  4  before,  in  the  old  Massassi

temples, and they  could  be  used  in  lightsabers.  Unfortunately,  Massassi

temples had been in short supply lately.

Sighing, he renewed his grip on the makeshift staff he had managed to cut

with his utility knife. He doubted very much that  it  would  be  of  any  use

whatsoever against Yuuzhan Vong armor, but it was better  than  nothing.  He'd

run across some explosive grenade fungi earlier×a local plant that, when  dry,

could generate a respectable  bang.  At  the  moment,  however,  they  weren't

available. He'd stashed them on dry ground before hiding here.

So he sat, waiting for the shadow to return, and tried not to think about

what would happen when he finally reached Tahiri and  her  captors.  How  many

Yuuzhan Vong were there? Why were they still here?

All good questions, all totally moot if Anakin Solo died or was  captured

on the way.

He would have to  face  the  answers  soon  enough,  of  course.  By  his

calculations, he was only about twenty kilometers away from the academy.

He was so busy watching the sky that he didn't notice ripples of  a  wake

approaching him until it was nearly too late.

Even then he first thought it was a large crawlfish, one of the  harmless

crustaceans that had been furnishing him with food since he came to ground. He

caught a glimpse of mottled chiton as it approached.

But crawlfish got to be only a meter or so long, and he suddenly realized

that this creature was more on the order of three meters.

He quickly lowered the sharpened end of his  staff,  which  was  promptly

yanked from his hands by someíthing very strong. The  head  surfaced  then,  a

nightmare of mandibles and hooked feelers reaching for him.  For  an  instant,

fear and shock got the better of him, then he grabbed its mass with the  Force

and pushed. As it blew back and up, he got a good view of it: flat, wide,  and

segímented with thousands of legs.

It splashed down, milled about, and started for him  again.  Quickly,  he

clambered out of the water.

Someone called behind him, in a language he didn't  understand.  He  spun

and saw one of the Yuuzhan Vong craft, side  extruded  open.  A  Yuuzhan  Vong

warrior was just stepping out.

The warrior hesitated for a second, then stepped back into the craft.  As

it rose into the air, Anakin uttered a brief curse and  ran.  He  paused  only

long enough to grab his pack.

The flier stayed with him, but kept its distance. Adírenaline  hummed  in

Anakin's blood, but his  mind  was  curiously  calm.  He  dodged  through  the

undergrowth, looking for a cave, temple ruins, any place to  remove  him  from

his observer. His fatigue sloughed from him like dead cells in a  bacta  tank,

and the Force flowed through him like a river, wild, almost frightening in its

sheer, joyous strength.

It was not a state he had quite ever achieved before, an utter  awareness

of everything around him. Yavin 4 was so alive. And in that matrix of  living,

pulsing Force, the fliers were bubbles of nothing. The  Jedi  had  learned  to

detect the Yuuzhan Vong by not detecting them, but beífore it had always  been

a matter of focus. He would look at a suspected Yuuzhan Vong, and if  he  felt

nothing, that was likely what he had.

But this was different. It was like suddenly noticing the spaces  between

words. It was a fragile thing, probably something he could never have achieved

if he had tried for it, something that might go away if he  thought  too  hard

about it.

But for the moment he wasn't doing  much  thinking.  He  knew  before  he

should have that the first Yuuzhan Vong he came across on foot was there.  The

warrior sprang from behind a tree, long, snakelike amphistaff held in a  guard

position. He was missing two fingers at the knuckle, and his ear had been  cut

into fringe. He wore the  usual  vonduun  crab  armor  and  an  expression  of

gratification.

Anakin snapped a heavy tree  bough,  already  rotten  and  fatigued,  and

yanked it with more than the force of  gravity  down  upon  the  warrior.  The

Yuuzhan Vong was quick and nearly dodged, but nearly wasn't enough as  half  a

metric ton of tree crushed him into the ground.  Anakin  didn't  know  if  the

warrior was dead or alive, injured, or merely compromised. He didn't care, but

changed beats, aiming himself away from the bubbles of nothing crawling at the

edges of his expanded senses, tightening themselves around  him  like  a  vast

noose.

The next Yuuzhan Vong caught him by surprise, teleíscoping his amphistaff

across the path so it caught Anaíkin just below the knees. Pain was  a  bright

line across his shins, but he wrapped himself in the life of  the  forest  and

lifted himself up, returning to ground three meters away. The Yuuzhan Vong was

charging by then, weapon reítracted but ready to flip out  once  more.  Anakin

spun to face him, dancing back from the attack, until his  enemy  whipped  the

weapon out with a peculiar snap of the wrist. Not entirely limp or stiff,  the

amphistaff arced over Anakin's shoulder, poisonous fangs aimed at some spot on

his lower back.

Anakin didn't try to parry; the staff would only wrap around  his  weapon

and find its target anyway. Instead he leapt toward and to  the  left  of  the

warrior, closing the distance so quickly  that  the  staff  slapped  painfully

against his shoulder. The head, however, snapped short, and by then Anakin was

ducking, driving the point of his weaípon up into  the  warrior's  armpit.  He

pushed his own body and the staff away from the forest floor with  the  Force,

resulting in a blow that sent the warrior  hurling  almost  vertically,  three

meters in the air.

Again, without waiting to see what the effect  was,  Anakin  hurried  on,

opening his pack and tossing out the dried fungi he had gathered  earlier.  He

didn't let them fall, but held them gently aloft with the  Force,  spread  out

around and just ahead of him. Two exploded because  his  Force  grip  was  too

tight, but then he was in the zone again, one with everything but the  Yuuzhan

Vong.

A pair of warriors hit him next, but he hardly slowed down. Each got  two

explosive grenade fungi. One of the Yuuzhan Vong managed to block one  of  the

spheroids with his amphistaff, but the resulting explosion broke the warrior's

concentration, and the next hit him in the head. His companion  went  down  as

well, venting a hoarse cry of anger.

The net was tightening, but there was a way out.  Anaíkin  could  feel  a

hole in their search pattern. He lunged on ahead, lifting a virtual  cloud  of

stones and sticks to join his remaining fungi. He was like a  strange,  strong

wind, rushing through the trees.

Then something thudded dully into his left shoulder, and he stumbled, his

legs refusing service. He hit the forest floor, wondering what  had  happened.

The forest resounded with the sounds of his explosive grenade fungi  rupturing

on the ground.

He tried to sit up, then he saw the blood, spattered on the  dead  leaves

and along the sleeve of his flight suit.

A Yuuzhan Vong stepped from out of the bushes, holdíing  something  about

the size of a carbine, a tube that swelled into a sort of stock or magazine.

Grunting, Anakin struggled to his feet. The whole left side of  his  body

felt curiously numb. He reached back and found that a hole had been gouged  in

his shoulder. He felt something hard in the hole and pulled it out.

It was a mass of cracked chiton.

His legs threatened to buckle again.  The  Yuuzhan  Vong  was  advancing,

weapon trained on him. All around him, Anakin could hear more enemies  rushing

toward him.

Oddly enough, he still didn't feel frightened or angry.  He  didn't  feel

much of anything, except the Force.

And a familiar presence, something not too far away.  Not  one  presence,

really, but one that was legion.

"Two can play that game," Anakin whispered.

He dropped his weapon and held his hands up. "Nice going,"  he  told  the

Yuuzhan Vong. "You shot me in the back with a bug. Very brave."

He could see three or four of them now, with his peíripheral vision.

He hadn't expected the warrior to answer, but he did, in Basic.

"I am Field Commander Sinan Mat. I salute your bravery,  Jeedai.  I  must

deny you the embrace of death in battle. For this I apologize."

A little closer, Anakin thought. If they don't mean to kill me...

"Will you fight me, Sinan Mat? Just you and me?"

"That is my desire. It cannot be.  I  am  to  bring  you  living  to  the

shapers."

"I'm sorry to hear that. And... well, I'd feel worse about  this  if  you

hadn't shot me in the back, but... forígive me."

Mat frowned and touched his ear. "The tizowyrm doesn't  know  that  word,

forgive. What×" Then his eyes widened. The forest  was  screaming  a  song  of

death.

The piranha-beetles fell upon the Yuuzhan Vong  in  a  cloud.  Sinan  Mat

dropped his weapon and clawed at his face  as  it  disintegrated  beneath  the

fierce mandibles. The piranha-beetles didn't spare  the  other  Yuuzhan  Vong,

eiíther, and a chorus of pain and rage rose counterpoint to the strident  song

of the insects.

Anakin picked up his staff and hobbled away, knowíing his  legs  wouldn't

carry him much farther. He needed to find a place to hide.

Ten minutes later, he leaned heavily against a tree. In the distance  the

ravenous piranha-beetles had finished their task,  and  now,  finally,  Anakin

felt his control of the Force slipping. His shoulder at last  understood  what

had been done to it, and the pain was like burning liquid, dripping  down  his

ribs, drooling across his chest and  the  side  of  his  head.  Each  footstep

brought a new wave of dizziness and nausea.

He tried to take another step and found he couldn't. With a sigh, he sank

down onto the moss. Just a little rest, and then× A shadow fell across him. He

looked up to find two Yuuzhan Vong warriors looking down at him, obviously not

a part of the group he had just killed.

He called on all of his energy, trying to find the piranha-beetles again,

but they were a distant presence and gorged now, not as easily attracted to  a

meal by Anaíkin's will.

A third warrior appeared from the forest behind the first two. He  looked

different, somehow×mutilated like every other Yuuzhan Vong  Anakin  had  seen,

but he was more strikingly grotesque. Unlike  the  other  two,  this  one  was

empty-handed.

The newcomer snarled something in his language, and the other two turned.

Anakin wondered, then, if he had slipped into  a  dream.  The  first  two

warriors grunted and spat words at  the  third.  Anakin  had  heard  the  tone

before×when the Yuuízhan Vong spoke of machines, or  other  things  that  they

considered abominations. It was a tone of pure contempt.

For a moment the newcomer seemed to cringe beneath this abuse,  but  then

he grinned, all needle teeth and malíice. Then he slashed one of the  warriors

in the neck with the edge of his gloved hand. The other warrior gave a  hoarse

cry of outrage, lowered his  amphistaff,  and  thrust  at  the  attacker.  The

unarmed warrior caught the shaft, leapt high in the  air,  kicking  with  both

feet and striking the staff-wielder in the face.

The first warrior down was coming back  up,  clutching  his  throat.  The

unarmed one grabbed him by the hair and drove stiffened fingers deep into  his

eyes, lifting him from the ground by the sockets. The warrior went rigid,  and

when the newcomer let him drop he fell to the forest floor, twitching.

The warrior who had been  kicked  in  the  face  didn't  get  up.  Anakin

suspected his neck was broken. The unarmed Yuuzhan Vong was the only one still

standing. He squatted next to Anakin and peered at him with eyes  like  algae-

infested pools of water.

He looked×sick. The Yuuzhan Vong showed their rank by  scarification  and

the sacrifice of body parts, but this one looked like an example of that  gone

horribly wrong. His hair hung in dank patches, and  his  face  and  neck  were

covered with scabs and open wounds. His scars looked  swollen  and  unhealthy.

Spiky growths that  looked  like  dead  or  dying  implants  moldered  on  his

shoulders and elbows. He stank of putrefaction.

After observing Anakin  for  a  long  moment,  the  Yuuízhan  Vong  rose,

approached one of the bodies, and dug into its ear. He pulled out what  looked

like a worm of some  sort  and  fed  it  into  his  own  ear×or,  rather,  the

fesítering hole that might once have been an ear. He shudídered, and his  body

spasmed as if in great pain. A thin drool of blood leaked from the orifice.

He turned back to Anakin and held out his hand.

"I am Vua Rapuung, Jeedai. You will come with me. I will help you."

CHAPTER  EIGHTEEN  The  young  Jeedai  fell,  her   body   gripped   with

convulísions. A strangled cry filled the vivarium.

"Interesting," Mezhan Kwaad said, watching the reíaction.  "Do  you  see,

Adept Yim, that×"

"I fail to see what interests you, Master Mezhan  Kwaad,"  a  voice  said

from behind.

Nen Yim turned and immediately  supplicated.  Aníother  master  had  just

entered the vivarium, one so inícredibly ancient the signs of his domain  were

entirely obscured. His headdress was a fragile, cloudlike mass, and both hands

were those of a master. Both of his eyes had been replaced by yellow  maa'its.

He was accompaínied by an adept aide.

"Master Yal Phaath," Mezhan Kwaad said. "How good to see you, Ancient."

"Answer me, Mezhan Kwaad. What so interests  you  about  this  creature's

agony? She is an infidel and cannot embrace the pain. There is no surprise  in

that and nothíing interesting in it."

"It is interesting because the provoker spineray  causing  her  pain  has

been designed to do so selectively," Mezhan Kwaad replied, "one nerve array at

a time. What we have just seen is a reflex unknown in Yuuzhan Vong. We may now

confidently map a part of the human nervous system that has no counterpart  in

our own."

"And this is of what use?" Yal Phaath asked.

"We cannot shape what we do  not  know,"  Mezhan  Kwaad  answered.  "This

species is new to us."

"It strains the protocol," the older master said. "What can be discovered

that is not codified already?"

"But, Master," Nen Yim said, supplicating as she did so. "Surely in a new

species×" She broke off when the master flicked the gaze of his maa'its toward

her.

"Are all of your adepts so insolent?" he asked dryly.

"I should hope not," Mezhan Kwaad said stiffly.

Yal Phaath turned back to Nen Yim. His headdress writhed slightly in  the

air, turning a pale blue. "Adept, if knowledge is  not  to  be  found  in  the

archives and sacred memories, what then does a shaper do?"

Fear glittered in Nen Yim's nerves. What could he see, with those strange

eyes? The maa'its probed the hidden regions of the spectrum,  of  course,  and

the domain of the microscopic, but did they peer farther yet,  into  the  sins

crouched beneath her skull? She contracted the tendrils of her headdress  into

a ball, a deep supplication. "We peítition the Supreme Overlord, Master,  that

he might ask of the gods."

"Correct. There are no new species, Adept. All life comes from the  blood

and flesh and bone of Yun-Yuuzhan. He knows  them  all.  Knowledge  cannot  be

created; that is the stuff of heresy. If the gods do not grant  us  knowledge,

it is for good reason, and to seek further is an attempt to steal from them."

"Yes, Master Yal Phaath."

"I suspect this is not your fault, Adept. It is your own master who  uses

the provoker spineray so. You are susíceptible to her influences."

Mezhan Kwaad smiled gently. "The protocol of Tsong specifies the  use  of

the provoker in just such a manner."

" I am aware of that. But you strain the intent of that protocol. Not  to

breaking, perhaps. And yet who knows what I might have observed had I  arrived

a little later?"

"Are you accusing me of something, Master?" Mezíhan Kwaad  asked  mildly.

"If not, one might believe you are merely jealous because Lord  Shimrra  chose

Domain Kwaad for the honor of this shaping."

"I accuse you of nothing, nor am I jealous. But danígerous heresies  have

surfaced in recent years, most often among Domain Kwaad."

"I have never been accused of heresy, nor have any of  my  subordinates,"

Mezhan Kwaad said. "If you try to bathe me in the filthy secretions of slander

in a pitiable atítempt to regain the favor of your domain with  Lord  Shimrra,

you will discover I can be a most unresting foe."

The old shaper drew himself very erect. "I do not slander. But  I  watch,

Mezhan Kwaad. Rest assured, I watch. And now×"

He broke off suddenly and staggered. His aide caught  him.  Nen  Yim  was

still wondering what had happened when she suddenly  felt  something  pressing

her entire body, as if she were deep under water. Her lungs  labored  to  draw

the syrupy air and her pulse hammered.

Through flashes of blue and black, she saw that  Mezíhan  Kwaad  and  Yal

Phaath's aide were also struggling to breathe.

The pain increased sharply. Soon her eyeballs would  collapse,  then  her

heart. Striving for calm, she spun her failing gaze around the room.

The young Jeedai stood at the side of the vivarium, hands pressed against

the transparent membrane. Her green eyes blazed and her teeth were drawn  back

from her lips in a rictus of fury. Nen Yim  saw  murder  there,  and  suddenly

understood.

She staggered toward her master. Mezhan Kwaad had already collapsed.  The

ol-villip that controlled the proívoker spineray had fallen  from  her  hands.

Nen Yim took it up and stroked the variable tissues, all of them at once.

The Jeedai screamed and pounded on the membrane, and for an  instant  the

pressure actually increased, crush - ing so hard that Nen Yim couldn't breathe

at all. Then, more suddenly than it had come, the uncanny  pressure  relented,

and her lungs jerked in a much-needed breath.

The Jeedai writhed on the floor of her  chamber.  Nen  Yim  watched  her,

reaction starting to set in.

An eight-fingered hand fell on Nen Yim's shoulder.

"Adept," her master said, in a strained voice.  "The  ol-villip,  please.

Before the specimen dies."

Nen Yim nodded dumbly and handed Mezhan Kwaad the organism. Mezhan  Kwaad

adjusted it  until  the  Jeedai  stopped  her  contortions  and  succumbed  to

unconsciousness.

"That was well-wrought thinking, Adept," Mezhan Kwaad told her.

"What happened? Tell me," Yal Phaath demanded impatiently.

"The Jeedai did it," Mezhan Kwaad replied. "Surely you've heard of  their

powers."

"Do not  insult  me.  I  am,  of  course,  current  on  the  iníformation

concerning the Jeedai. They can move objects, communicate with one another  as

villips do, even influíence the minds of weaker creatures. But there has never

been any evidence that they can affect Yuuzhan Vong. Quite the contrary."

"I beg the master for permission to speak," Nen Yim said.

Yal Phaath gave her a reluctant glance. "Speak."

"The Jeedai did not affect us, not directly. She affected  the  molecules

of the atmosphere, compressing them."

"She tried to crush us with our own air?"

"And would have succeeded but for my adept," Mezhan Kwaad observed.

"Amazing. And this power×it is not generated by imíplants of any kind?"

"She   has    no    implants,    either    biological    or"×her    voice

lowered×"mechanical. From our earlier interrogation, she believes that she  is

manipulating a kind of energy produced by life."

"Ridiculous," Yal Phaath said. "If such a power exíisted, why  would  the

gods deny it to the Yuuzhan Vong?"

Mezhan Kwaad smiled a carnivorous smile. "The gods have not denied it  to

us, they merely withheld it for a time. And now they have delivered  it."  She

stepped to the vivarium membrane and parted it with  a  flick  of  her  fourth

finger. She knelt by the unconscious Jeedai and stroked her face.

"She is young, her body and mind still pliant to shapíing.  The  warriors

promise us more like her, soon." She stood, looking down at the creature for a

few moments, then stepped away and resealed the membrane.

The old master shrugged. "For the glory of the shapers  and  the  Yuuzhan

Vong, I wish you success." He sounded doubtful.

"You may observe anytime you wish," Mezhan Kwaad  said.  To  Nen  Yim  it

seemed as if her master was taunting Yal Phaath.

But the old master ran a negative ripple  through  his  tendrils.  "Among

other things, I've come to take my leave. The new project awaits me, a shaping

that will end this Jeedai threat forever."

Mezhan Kwaad stiffened a bit. "Oh?" she said politely.

"Indeed. Under interrogation, the infidels who  serve  us  admitted  that

they were tricked by those who presíently harass our ships in space. From this

information came a most interesting item, about a certain sort of  beast,  one

that can sense and hunt these Jeedai."

"The infidels knew where to find these beasts?"

"No," Yal Phaath said. "Not those on this moon, at any rate. But we  have

sources in their senate, and one of them was able to discover and provide  the

information. As it turns out, the beasts are native  to  a  world  already  in

possession of our Lord Shimrra, a planet the infidels  call  Myrkr.  I  am  to

oversee the shaping of these beasts."

"Interesting, about these beasts, if true," Mezhan  Kwaad  allowed.  "For

the glory of the Yuuzhan Vong, I wish you well. I also  wish  you  success  in

leaving the system. Apparently the infidels have  been  quite  successíful  in

preventing outgoing traffic."

"I have no fear," the ancient master replied. "If  Yun-Yuuzhan  wants  my

life, it is his to take. But I suspect he has many tasks for me yet."

"Captain, one of the Yuuzhan Vong warships  has  broken  orbit,"  H'sishi

said. "It has a substantial escort."

Karrde stroked his mustache.  "Get  Solusar  up  here.  Meanwhile,  close

distance, and have the Etherway and the Idiot's  Array  lay  down  a  barrage.

Let's keep her in the gas giant's mass shadow for as long as we can."

"Yes, sir," Dankin, the pilot, returned.

"And get Solusar up here," Karrde repeated. "We'll need him for this."

"I'm already here, Captain Karrde."

Indeed, Solusar was standing just behind him. "Ah. Perfect.  The  Yuuzhan

Vong are trying to punch a ship through our defenses, presumably to leave  the

system. My question is, should I let them go?"

"You haven't let any others go," Solusar pointed out.

"True. But none of those tried in such force. If we fight here, I'll lose

ships, more than we can spare. If I thought relief was on  the  way,  I  might

risk it. As it is, I need to know×are there Jedi on that ship?"

For an instant, Karrde saw a twinge of what might pass for  fear  in  the

Jedi's eyes.

"I can't be certain," Solusar said stiffly.

"Why not?"

"I can't sense the Yuuzhan Vong in the Force. Their ships might  as  well

be lifeless asteroids as far as my senses are concerned."

"Then I should think the children would stand out in quite a  spectacular

manner."

"They should, and they don't. If it weren't important, I would say  there

are no non-Yuuzhan Vong on any of those ships. But it  is  important.  If  I'm

wrong, we might end up letting them go×then we'd be fighting here for nothing.

"

"How might you be wrong? I don't understand."

"The Yuuzhan Vong not only don't exist in the Force×they make me doubt my

Jedi senses altogether. They make the whole area... murky,  somehow.  I've  no

better way to explain it."

Karrde looked  back  at  the  screen.  The  Yuuzhan  Vong  had  scrambled

fighters.

"I can't wait much longer, Solusar. I have to decide. Forget  the  ships;

try to sense them on the moon. If they're still there, they can't be  on  that

warship."

"I'll try," the Jedi said. He closed his eyes.

Karrde watched the enemy fighters race closer. So  far,  he  had  managed

hit-and-run operations at minimal risk to his people. He'd made  good  use  of

mines and asteroids and other classic guerrilla weapons of intrasystem war.

But if he had to stop that ship, he would  have  to  comímit  to  a  real

stand-up-slug-it-out battle, a battle he could win×at the cost of the war.

Maybe that was all they wanted. His instincts cerítainly  told  him  that

this was a decoy of some kind, not what he was fighting for. Solusar seemed to

concur. But if they couldn't be sure...

"First fighter wave in thirty seconds," H'sishi said tonelessly.

"Get ready, people."

A good crew. They would die if he asked them to.

"Tahiri," Solusar breathed. His face was beaded with sweat.

"What's that?"

"Tahiri. And Valin. Sannah. Anakin. They're all down  there."  His  voice

dropped lower, into a register of aníguish, "Tahiri's been tortured."

"But they're down there."

"Yes. I'm sure of it."

"Thank you, Jedi Solusar. Dankin, break off the  atítack.  We're  letting

this one go. Lay down minimal cover fire and tell  the  other  ships  to  burn

jets. We'll fight aníother day, people×when it really counts." Karrde  took  a

deep breath, trying to release the pent-up tension in his neck and shoulders.

"And hope those Solo kids find that rogue Terrik beífore we have to fight

that fight. After this, I'm  definitely  looking  into  getting  my  own  Star

Destroyer."

CHAPTER NINETEEN Anakin arched his back and  tried  not  to  cry  out  as

whatever the Yuuzhan Vong put on his wound sent cosímic flares of pain through

his body.

"You hate pain," Vua Rapuung said with evident disgust.

Anakin couldn't and didn't disagree. He just gritted his teeth and waited

for it to pass. He knew the Yuuzhan Vong  venerated  pain  in  themselves  and

others. It was one of many unlikable tenets of their unhealthy religion.

"What hit me?" Anakin asked instead.

"A nang hul," the warrior grunted. "Thud bug."

"Poison?"

"No."

The two sat in a damp cave behind a waterfall. It was slick  with  fungus

and moss. The Yuuzhan Vong had evidently been hiding in the cave for a day  or

two, for various of his possessions were already in it, including the patch he

had just applied to Anakin's shoulder. He'd  peeled  it  from  a  pale  green,

roughly rectangular pad sevíeral centimeters thick. The pad consisted of  many

thin layers, like leaves of flimsiplast glued together.  Rapuung  had  pressed

one of these detached skins over Anakin's  wound.  Like  everything  else  the

Yuuzhan Vong used, it was alive. Anakin could feel it squirming, digging  into

his wound. It occurred to him that the  warrior  might  be  poisoning  him  or

something even worse. But if Vua  Rapuung  wanted  him  dead,  he  could  have

accomplished that anytime. After all, he had made short work  of  two  Yuuzhan

Vong warriors, and Anakin didn't have the strength to fight off a wokling.

"You saved my life," Anakin said reluctantly.

"Life is nothing," Vua Rapuung said.

"Yeah? Then why take the trouble?"

Vua Rapuung's black eyes glimmered murkily. "You, Jeedai. You fight  your

way toward the shaper comípound. Why?"

" Your people have a friend of mine. I'm going to get her back."

"Ah. The female Jeedai. You wish to save her life. How  pitiful.  What  a

pitiful goal."

"Yeah? Well, I didn't ask for your help, you offered it.  So  explain  or

kill me. I haven't got time to waste."

"Revenge," Vua Rapuung said, his voice low, his eyes  slitted.  "Revenge,

and to prove that the gods×" His eyes suddenly went hard  and  glittering.  "I

need not tell you,  human.  I  need  explain  nothing  to  you,  unsancítioned

offspring of machines." He spat the last word out as if it  were  poison  he'd

suddenly discovered in his mouth.

"You need know only this," he continued. "I will stand at  your  side  or

your back. Your foes  are  my  foes.  We  will  kill  together,  embrace  pain

together, embrace death together if such is Yun-Yuuzhan's wish."

"You'll help me rescue Tahiri," Anakin said dubiously.

" It's a stupid goal, but finding her will serve my puríposes well."

Anakin searched that black diamond gaze, trying to understand. There  was

nothing there, nothing. The Yuuízhan Vong was more like a holo than a  person,

an image,  an  appearance.  How  could  such  a  thing  have  feelings  to  be

understood? Without the Force, how could he hope to comprehend such  an  alien

creature?

"I don't understand," Anakin said. "What did your people do to  you?  Why

do you hate them so?"

Vua Rapuung slapped him, hard, and bounded to his feet, chest heaving.

"Do not mock me!" he shrieked. "You have eyes! You see! Do not  mock  me!

The gods did not do this to me, they did not!"

As the Yuuzhan Vong started toward him again, Anakin hefted a  rock  with

the Force and sent it straight for the warrior's sternum.  It  caught  Rapuung

completely by surprise, smacking him against the side of  the  cave.  He  sank

down, looking a bit dazed.

Anakin hefted the rock again and poised it over Raípuung's head.

The Yuuzhan Vong looked up at the stone and sudídenly started hacking  as

if he had the Dagobian swamp cough.

It took half a minute of this before Anakin recognized it as laughter.

When he calmed down, Vua Rapuung fixed the  young  Jedi  with  a  curious

gaze. "I saw what you did to the hunters, but still, to have it turned on me×"

His face hardened again. "Tell me the truth, one warrior to aníother,  if  you

can. In the warrior caste there are rumors. It is said your Jeedai powers come

from machine implants. Is this true? Are your people that sick?"

Anakin returned the challenging stare.  "Our  powers  do  not  come  from

machines. Furthermore, some of your people must know that, because they've had

ample opíportunity to dissect some of us. Your rumor is a lie."

"Yes? Then the Jeedai Master does not have a machine hand?"

"Master Skywalker? He does, but×" He broke off. "How do you know this?"

"We hear many stories from converts and spies. So it is true,  then.  The

leader of the Jeedai is part machine." Raípuung's face probably couldn't  have

shown more disgust without being surgically altered.

"One has nothing to do with the other. Master Luke lost a hand in a great

battle. He had it replaced. But his power, like mine, flows from the Force."

"Do you have implants like your master?"

"No."

"Will you receive them as you attain rank?"

Anakin laughed briefly. "No."

Vua Rapuung nodded. "Then it is as I said. We will fight together."

"Not if you keep flying off course like you did  a  minute  ago,"  Anakin

replied. "I may be injured, but as you've seen, I'm not without resources."

"I see," Rapuung growled, "but do not challenge me. I dislike it."

"You keep the same thing in mind, pal. Now. You say we're going to  fight

together but you won't tell me why. Can you at least tell me how?"

"The shapers have planted five damuteks on this moon. That is where  your

Jeedai companion is held."

Anakin let pass the precise definition of damutek for the  moment.  "Why?

What will they do to her?"

Murder flashed in Rapuung's eyes again, but  this  time  he  mastered  it

without an outburst. "Who can know the mind of a  shaper?"  he  said,  softly.

"But you can be sure they will shape."

"I don't understand. What is a shaper?"

"Your ignorance is×" Rapuung stopped, blinked  his  eyes  slowly  closed,

open, closed, and started again. "The shapers are a caste, the  caste  nearest

the great god, Yun-Yuuzhan, who shaped the universe from his body. It is  they

who know the ways of life, who bend it to our needs."

"Bioengineers? Scientists?"

Rapuung stared at him for a second. "The tizowyrm that translates for  me

makes no sense from those words. I suspect they are obscene."

"Never mind. There was a Jedi named Miko Reglia.  Your  people  tried  to

break his will with a yammosk. They tried to do the same to another Jedi named

Wurth Skidíder. Is that what you think they'll do to Tahiri?"

"I do not care what they do to your Jeedai. But what you describe is×" He

grimaced. "I once knew a shaper who spoke of  such  things,  of  warriors  who

thought they could do the task of shapers, as you describe. But  breakíing  is

not shaping. It is a child's parody of it. Understand, the  shapers  make  our

worldships.  They  make  the  yamímosk.  They  will  not  try  to  break  your

Jeedai×they will remake her."

A chill seeped into Anakin's veins, and he remembered his  vision  of  an

older Tahiri.

He knew what they would make of her. And they would  succeed,  if  Anakin

failed.

What Rapuung offered might be a cruel trick, a part of some devious plan;

Anakin would have to take that risk. Without the Force to guide him, he  could

never be cerítain the Yuuzhan Vong wasn't telling the truth. Now was  no  time

to dither. Any course that would take him closer to Tahiri was worth plotting,

even if he had to let someone he didn't trust do some of the figures.

"Okay," he said. "Let's go back to an earlier vector. You said  something

about damuteks?"

"The sacred precincts within which the shapers live and work."

"How many of them? How many shapers?"

"I don't know for certain. Around twelve, if initiates are included."

"That's all? That's all the Vong on this world?"

Rapuung spat something Anakin didn't understand. He didn't seem to be  so

much angry as in genuine shock.

"Do not×never refer to us in that way," he sputtered. "How can you be  so

ignorant? Or do you wish to insult?"

"Not that time," Anakin said.

"To use the word Vong alone is an insult. It implies that the  person  so

addressed does not have the favor and kinship of gods or family."

"Sorry."

Rapuung didn't answer, but stared out into the forest.

"We should go," he said, "I have hidden our scent from the trackers,  but

they will find us soon enough if we stay still."

"Agreed," Anakin said. "But first×how many Yuuízhan Vong  on  this  moon,

total, would you think?"

Vua Rapuung considered briefly. "A thousand, períhaps. More  warriors  in

space."

"And we'll fight our way through all of them? "

"Was that not your plan?" Rapuung asked. "Does the number  we  face  mean

anything to you?"

Anakin shook his head. "Only in terms of tactics. Taíhiri is there.  I'll

find her and get her out, no matter how many  Yuuzhan  Vong  I  have  to  walk

through."

"Very well. You can walk, now?"

"I can walk. Soon I can run. It might hurt, but I can do it."

"Life is suffering," Vua Rapuung said. "We go."

CHAPTER TWENTY Vua Rapuung gnashed his  teeth.  "No,  ignorant  one,"  he

growled. "Not that way."

Anakin didn't look at him, but  kept  his  gaze  wanderíing  through  the

whispering Massassi trees, searching for shadows that did not agree  with  the

wind in their motion.

The two stood at the divide of the ridge top; one stone spine snaked down

and away to Anakin's right, the other continued up and to his left. Anakin had

started up the steepening trail.

"Why?" he asked. "The search craft are over there." He waved  toward  the

lowlands off the left ridge.

"They are not 'craft,' " Rapuung snapped.

"You know what I meant."

"How do you know where they are, when you cannot sense  Yuuzhan  Vong  or

the life shaped for us?"

"Because I can sense everything native in this forest,"  Anakin  replied.

"Every whisper bird and runyip, every stintaril and Woolamander. And the  ones

over there are agitated. I get flashes."

"This is so? How many fliers? Five, yes?"

Anakin focused his concentration. "I think so."

"They will split into a lav peq pattern, then. First  the  lowland,  then

arcs tightening to the highest point. If they  find  us  up  here,  they  will

converge and release netting beetles."

"What are netting beetles?"

"If we do not isolate ourselves on an elevation, you will not  find  out.

This is not air warfare, Jeedai, and uníless you plan  to  fortify  this  high

spot and fight all of the warriors on this moon, altitude is of no use to you.

"

"I want a look at the lay of the land."

"Why?"

"Because you've gotten us lost, that's why. You no more  know  where  the

Vo×the Yuuzhan Vong base is than a mynock knows how to play sabacc."

"I can find the shaper damutek. But if we slash a  straight  line  toward

them, they will snare us."

"I know this  moon,"  Anakin  said.  "You  don't."  He  stopped,  staring

suspiciously at the warrior. "How did you find me, anyway?"

"I followed the search parties, infidel. You  were  slashing  a  straight

path, weren't you? Yes. Without me, you would have been captured ten times  by

now."

"Without you, I would have been in your shaper base by now."

"Yes. I just said  that,"  Rapuung  said.  He  closed  his  eyes,  as  if

listening to something. "What do your Jeedai senses tell you now? "

Anakin frowned in concentration. "I think  they've  split  up,"  he  said

reluctantly.

"I can hear them," Vua Rapuung said. "Not as well as I once  could.  Once

my ears were..." He reached and lightly touched  the  festering,  oozing  scar

tissue on the side of his head. He snarled and dropped his hand.

"We go down," he said.

"I go up," Anakin replied. He started up the trail. He didn't look  back,

but after he had gone perhaps thirty strides, he heard what he guessed to be a

Yuuzhan Vong profanity and the sound of footsteps pacing up beíhind him.

"Gee," Anakin breathed. Tears stung his eyes.

He stood at the crest of the height, where  he  could  see  the  familiar

meander of the Unnh River. He'd seen this spot from the air maybe fifty times,

and knew it as well as he knew any place.

Except that things had changed. The Great Temple×  which  had  stood  for

untold thousands of years, watchíing the passage of the people who  built  it,

of Jedi dark and brilliant, the destruction of the Death Star×was gone without

a trace.

In its place near the river were  five  spacious  compounds  formed  like

many-rayed stars. The walls were thick  and  perhaps  two  stories  high,  and

probably had chambers in them. The inner courtyards were open to the sky.  Two

seemed to be filled with water, another with a pale yellow fluid that probably

wasn't  water.  Another  had  structures  in  its  central   space×domes   and

polyhedrons of various shapes, all the same color as the larger structure. The

fifth was full of coralskippers and larger spacegoing ships. Lots of them.

It looked like canals  had  been  dug  from  the  river  to  connect  the

compounds.

"We must descend before they scent us," Vua Raípuung insisted again.

"I thought that stuff you rubbed on us fools the snifífers,  or  whatever

they are."

"It causes confusion. It gives us time to hide. There is no place to hide

here, and they will see us. There is no fooling that."

There is for Jedi, usually, Anakin thought. But he could no more cloud  a

Yuuzhan Vong mind than he could dance on the surface of a black hole.

"There's cover," he said. The hill was  blanketed  mostly  in  scrub  and

lacked the high canopy that grew over most of the moon's land surface, but the

bushes were usually more than head-high.

"Not from heat-pit sensors," Rapuung demurred. "Not from netting beetles.

No water."

Anakin nodded thoughtfully, but he was really  still  ex  -  amining  the

shaper base, barely paying attention to the Yuuzhan Vong beside him.

"Outside of the big compounds×all of those little  structures  that  look

like somebody just threw them down and let them grow×what's all that? It looks

like a shantytown."

"I don't know that word, shantee. That is where the  workers  and  slaves

and Shamed Ones live."

"Support colony. They do the drudge work."

"If the tizowyrm translates correctly, yes."

"Workers and slaves I know. What are Shamed Ones?"

"Shamed Ones are cursed by the gods," Rapuung said. "They work as slaves.

They are not worth speaking of."

"Cursed how?"

"When I say they are not worth speaking of, how do my words confuse you?"

"Fine," Anakin sighed. "Have it your way."

"My way is to leave this ridge, work  spiralwise  toward  where  the  gas

giant sets. Quickly."

"That's the wrong direction! We're only a few kiloímeters away!"

"All the forest below is trapped," Rapuung said. "The river,  too.  There

is only one way in for us, and I know it."

"Tell me what it is, then," Anakin  said.  "Convince×"  But  he  stopped.

"Listen."

Rapuung nodded. "I hear them. They are weaving the lav peq. I was foolish

to trust you. You think with someíthing other than your brain." He pressed his

frayed and ulcerous lips together in an expression of contempt.

"We aren't caught yet. Is there a weak spot in this search pattern?"

"No."

"We'll make one, then. These fliers they're using×"

"Tsik vai."

"Right. Are they the same as we've seen before? "

"Yes."

"They're just atomospheric fliers, right?"

Rapuung looked wary. "How do you know that?"

"They look like they have some sort  of  air  intake  vents×gills×on  the

side."

"Correct."

"Come on, then." Anakin started down the  hill.  Raípuung  started  after

him, for once without objection.

Anakin was feeling considerably better today. Jedi healing and relaxation

techniques had drained much of his weariness,  and  Vua  Rapuung's  artificial

skin×or whatever it was×seemed to have done its part  with  his  shoulder.  He

loped down the hill in a series of long, flat, Force-aided leaps. Rapuung kept

up, barely, winding  nearly  soundlessly  through  the  dense  underbrush.  It

acítually raised the hackles on Anakin's neck to look at him. It was  hard  to

believe something so deadly looking could be sentient at all.

Most of the trees were gone, no doubt burned  off  in  one  of  the  many

battles that had occurred on the jungle moon since the Rebel Alliance  located

its resistance here before the battle  against  the  first  Death  Star.  What

reímained was waist-high scrub. Farther down, the trees began again,  a  green

necklace around the hill, and Anaíkin suddenly  understood  what  Rapuung  was

concerned about. Fire burned up.  Anything  caught  up  here  when  the  blaze

started had probably died. If these netting beetles were anything like fire...

He realized, reluctantly, that Rapuung was  right.  Anaíkin  thought  too

much like a pilot, where the high ground was everything.  He  wasn't  a  pilot

right now; he was prey.

But dangerous prey×a feral rycrit, not a tame one, he  reminded  himself,

when the first tsik vai flier came over.

Anakin didn't hesitate; he knew what he wanted to do.  He  reached  in  a

ten-meter radius and lifted everything that wasn't fastened down×leaf  litter,

twigs, stones× and hurled them in a cyclone at the intake slits on the side of

the flier.

"Fool!" Rapuung shouted. "That was your plan?"

The tsik vai swooped in low, and the tentaclelike  cables  fired  out  at

them. Anakin dodged, keeping up his barrage. Undeterred,  the  flier  followed

close, dropping lower. A tentacle caught Rapuung. The warrior  leapt,  gripped

the upper part of the tentacle in his hands,  and  started  climbing,  a  grim

expression on his scarred face. Getting the idea, Anakin tried to do the same,

but withíout the Force to give him certainty×without being able  to  feel  the

tentacles as well as see them×he missed.

The flier suddenly made a peculiar whine, and its flexible wings began to

shiver as if in spasm. The tentacle  holding  Rapuung  released  him,  and  he

instantly leapt for the ground. The flier hung there, shaking itself.

"Run," Rapuung shouted. "It will clear its lungs quickly. These tsik  vai

were not shaped by idiot children, as you seem to think."

Anakin fell into step with him. "Where are the other fliers?"

"They know where we are now. They will seed the netting beetles into  the

lowland, as I told you."

"I wish you had told me what these things do."

"They draw fibers from tree to tree, from bush  to  bush.  They  come  in

waves that overtake one another, the first wave weaving and the  waves  behind

feeding to reíplenish their fiber. They move very quickly."

"Oh. That's not good." A  sudden  thought  occurred  to  him.  "You  were

climbing toward the flier when it had you. Did you think you could capture it?

"

"No. I thought I might die gloriously rather than igno-miniously. My bare

hands are not capable of forcing open the cockpits."

" But if we can get above the net, somehow..."

"Some of the beetles will draw strands up into the  air  and  cross  them

above our heads. If we could fly at this very moment, we might escape."

Anakin came to a halt. "Why are we running, then?

Whichever way we go, we're only coming nearer to the net."

"True. And if we go uphill, we will only delay  our  conífrontation  with

it. Do you have your Jeedai blade-that-burns? It might cut the fibers."

"No." Anakin was peering downhill. The trees started  perhaps  a  hundred

meters away, but he had enough eleívation to see their swaying tops stretching

off to the horizon, bending this way and that in a fickle wind.

Except in a strip, where they weren't moving at all. Following the strip,

he saw it curving around the hill.

"That's it, isn't it," he murmured. "The net is holding them together."

"Yes. The fibers are very strong, the net very fine."

Even as Anakin  watched,  more  trees  froze  in  place,  and  the  strip

deepened.

"Will the netting beetles eat us?"

"They will attach to our flesh and draw fiber, using some of our cells in

the process. It will not be fatal."

"Right. Because it's not going to happen."  Anakin  stopped,  knelt,  and

took off his pack. After an instant of  rummaging,  he'd  found  what  he  was

after: five phosphoírous flares.

"Are those weapons? Machines?"

"Not usually," Anakin said. "Don't look directly at this." He struck  one

alight, then, using the Force, hurled it in a long arc downhill.

He struck another and hurled it similarly, along a difíferent vector.

"I don't understand," Rapuung said. "How will the light stop the  netting

beetles?"

"The light won't. The fire will. The beetles can't attach  to  trees  and

bushes that aren't there."

He struck another flare. As he cocked his  arm  back  to  throw  it,  Vua

Rapuung backhanded him in the face.

Anakin's nostrils filled with the iron scent of  blood,  and  he  fetched

hard against the ground before he could react to cushion himself. Rapuung  was

all over him, snarling like a  beast,  fingers  curled  around  his  neck.  He

smelled sour and sick.

Spots dancing before his eyes, Anakin did the only  thing  he  could.  He

found a stone with the Force and hit the crazed warrior right between the eyes

with it. Raípuung's head snapped back and his hands came away. Anakin hit  him

in the chin so hard that sparks of pain exíploded in his knuckles. The Yuuzhan

Vong fell off of him, but by the  time  Anakin  had  scrambled  to  his  feet,

Rapuung was up, assuming a martial stance.

"Sithspawn!" Anakin snapped. "What are you doing?"

"Combustion!" the Yuuzhan Vong roared. "The first abomination is the  use

of fire from a machine!"

"What?"

"This is forbidden, you  stinking  infidel!  Don't  you  understand  what

you've done?"

"You're  insane!"  Anakin  shouted  back,  rubbing  knuckles  that   felt

shattered, drawing breath through an aching windpipe. "You were just asking me

if I could use my lightsaber! You think that's not a machine?"

A look of what might have been horror dawned  on  Rapuung's  face.  "I...

yes, I prepared myself for that, But fire, the first of all sins×"

"'Wait," Anakin snapped. "You're not making any sense. The  Yuuzhan  Vong

have used fire breathers against as in the past."

" Living creatures producing flame is another thing  enítirely!"  Rapuung

shrieked. "How can you possibly imagíine it is the same as  what  you've  just

done? As well say that the hand of a Yuuzhan Vong warrior and the  metal  grip

of one of your made-thing abominations are the same because either can hold an

amphistaff."

Anakin took  a  deep  breath.  "Look,"  he  said.  "I  don't  pretend  to

understand your religion. I don't even want to. But  you've  chosen  to  fight

with an infidel against your own  people,  haven't  you?  You  were  perfectly

willing for me to use my abominable lightsaber. Now you deal with this  or  go

your own way. Unless you've got another way out."

"No," Rapuung admitted. "It's just the shock..."  He  dropped  his  head.

"You really don't understand. The gods don't hate me. I know they don't. I can

prove it. But if I soil myself like this, they will have reason  to  hate  me!

Ah, what have I become?"

The wind shifted, and the charred pepper scent of burníing  blueleaf  set

Anakin to coughing. The last flare had gone only about three meters,  and  now

the bushes upíwind of them were blazing merrily. It was the  dry  season,  and

jungle burned very well in the dry season.

"You'd better get a grip fast, Vua Rapuung, or the first  abomination  is

going to eat you alive."

The Yuuzhan Vong stood there for a long moment, head cast down, but  when

he raised his head, his eyes were beacons of rage. Anakin tensed, preparing to

fight again.

"She has driven me to this," the warrior said. "These sins will settle on

her. I leave it to the gods to judge."

"Does that mean we can go?" Anakin asked, watching the fire sweep  toward

them. Down the hill, smoke poured thickly from  where  the  other  flares  had

lodged.

"Yes. Let us go. We still embrace pain together, Jeedai."

The fire drove them around the side of the hill and up it; the change  in

the wind seemed to be a lasting one. Smoke  boiled  and  crept  close  to  the

ground.

The jungle burned fast.

"My opinion of you as a strategist improves," Raípuung  said.  "The  fire

drives us directly into the other side of the net. We have our choice of being

burned to death by the first abomination, or being captured and then burned."

"The wind shifted. My plan was to follow along the fire's  exhaust,  walk

on the ashes. The net will collapse where the fire  burns  through,  and  then

we're clear."

"Then perhaps the gods have spoken after all," Raípuung said. He  coughed

violently on the smoke, which was becoming so thick  that  Anakin  was  seeing

spots in front of his eyes. He remembered most people who died in a fire  were

dead before the flames ever reached them.

"Keep low," he said. "The smoke rises."

"Low. Crawling like a tso'asu."

" If you want to live, yes."

"I do not fear death," Rapuung choked out. "But my revenge  will  not  be

thwarted. I..." He convulsed in  aníother  series  of  racking  coughs,  fell,

climbed back to all fours, and collapsed again.

"Get up!" Anakin exhorted him.

Rapuung quivered but did not move.

Through the smoke, the yellow teeth of the fire apípeared, chewing toward

them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Everything went pale gold as  Anakin  dropped  to  his

knees next to Vua Rapuung. His breath felt like broken shards  in  his  lungs,

and his head rang like an alarm.

He lay flat, trying to find sweeter, cooler air, but if it was there,  it

was traveling in disguise. If he was going to find something he could breathe,

it would be somewhere above him. Sure, it would be smoky up there, too, but it

was worth a shot.

Anakin reached up and pulled, creating a  tube  that  sucked  higher  air

straight down on him and the Yuuzhan Vong. His breathing eased immediately.

The fire liked it, too. The underbrush exploded like a bomb. Anakin  felt

the heat briefly, heat he knew would blacken and crack his flesh  in  seconds.

He had not tried to alter energy before, but Corran Horn could  do  it.  Their

lives depended on his success. Anakin opened  himíself  again  to  the  Force,

focused his efforts, and leached the fire's heat from  a  radius  around  them

both.

How long he kept this up, Anakin did not know. He slipped into a sort  of

fugue state, each breath pulling life from the sky, each  exhalation  bleeding

heat into the crust of Yavin 4. But eventually he blinked and realized it  was

over, that the fire had burned past him and he knelt in ashes.

Vua Rapuung still lay motionless. Anakin shook him. Where did  one  check

for vital signs on a Yuuzhan Vong?

Did they have hearts like humans, linear pumps, someíthing stranger?

He slapped Rapuung, hard, and the warrior's eyes flickered open.

"Are you okay?" Anakin asked.

" Pray me you are not one of the gods," Rapuung mutítered. "If  you  are,

death will be tedious."

"Yeah, you're welcome," Anakin replied. "Can you  walk?  We  need  to  go

before the fliers think to look here."

"Smoke and heat will confuse them," Rapuung said. He sat  up  and  looked

around. "The fire×it passed over us."

"It did."

"And we live."

"We do," Anakin assured him.

"This was your doing? Another Jeedai sorcery?"

"Something like that," Anakin admitted.

"Then you saved my life. How disgusting. How unfortunate."

"No, don't gush on so," Anakin said. "It was nothing, really." He offered

his hand to help Rapuung up. After a long moment of staring at  it  as  if  it

were nerf dung, the warrior took it.

"Come on," Anakin said. "Now all we have to do is follow the fire."

Under cover of the smoke, they slipped through the ruins of  the  netting

beetle web. The strands  themselves  had  not  burned,  but  lay  silvery  and

glistening in the ashes, draped like shrouds on the smoking trunks  of  trees.

When Anakin's foot tangled in some, he found that it had cut into his  boot  a

little. None of the web had broken, and he didn't try  to  tear  it  with  his

fingers, but instead gently untangled it. After that he was more careful where

he stepped.

The fire had burned on past the end of the web. Anaíkin could see  fliers

nosing around in front of it. One made a pass back, far to their left.

They pushed right, eventually cutting out of the path of  the  fire  into

unburned, unnetted woods, and though they  did  not  slacken  their  pace  for

another two hours, Anakin felt suddenly safer, surrounded by the living  pulse

of the forest.

But in that pulse was a raw edge of pain.

Only then did it strike him what he had done. To  save  himself,  he  had

burned countless square kilometers of  foríest.  He  had  felt  beasts  dying,

peripherally, but in the moíment his own pain  had  been  paramount.  Now  the

forest's anguish hit him like a hard slap in the  face.  He  was  a  swarm  of

stintarils, clustered in the top of a tree,  the  fire  climbing  after  them.

Their fur was beginning to singe. He was a big, harmless runyip, too  slow  to

outrun the flame, trying to nose its calves ahead to safety, but  not  herself

knowing where that was. He was charred flesh and scorched lungs. He  was  dead

and dying.

"You were right," he told Rapuung later,  when  they  stopped  to  splash

water on themselves, to clear the ash from their eyes, nostrils, and lips.

"About what, infidel?"

"What I did with the fire. It was wrong."

The Yuuzhan Vong's eyes narrowed. "Explain."

" I killed innocent life to save us."

Rapuung laughed harshly. "That is nothing. Killing and dying are nothing;

they are the way of the world, part of the embrace of pain. What you  did  was

wrong beícause it was an abomination, not because  you  killed.  Do  not  fool

yourself. I see now how determined you are to rescue your Jeedai companion. If

you could reach her only by filling in a chasm with corpses to walk over,  you

would do it."

"No," Anakin said. "I wouldn't."

"A goal desired so lightly is not a goal at all."

Anakin sighed. "We'll get her. But I don't like to kill."

"Then the warriors will kill you."

"Warriors are different," Anakin said. "I will defend myself with extreme

prejudice. But the forest did nothing to me to deserve what I did to it."

"You make no sense," Rapuung said. "We will kill who and what we must."

"And I say no."

"Indeed. So you would have me pollute myself with the  first  abomination

in order to achieve your purposes, and yet you will force me  to  cling  to  a

childish fear of killing? All life ends, Jeedai."

Anakin felt that one. Did the Yuuzhan  Vong  really  think  nonbiological

technology was as wrong as the Jedi philosophy taught  indiscriminate  killing

was? Intellectuíally he supposed  he'd  understood  that,  but  it  had  never

reached his gut. Only now, when they both agreed someíthing terrible had  been

done×but for absolutely differíent reasons×did it make any kind  of  sense  to

him at all.

If only he could feel Rapuung in the Force. If only he could tell if  the

Yuuzhan Vong were of the light or of the dark side.

Or was that even a relevant question, without the  Force?  Were  Jedi  so

dependent on their Force-given  senses  that  without  them  they  were  moral

cripples?

Rapuung had kept a stinging gaze on Anakin as the  Jedi  searched  for  a

response. Now he suddenly looked away toward some middle distance.

"You make no sense," Vua Rapuung said. "But...  I  acknowledge  you  have

saved my life. My revenge will owe to you, when it is complete."

"You've saved me a couple of times," Anakin replied. "We're not even yet.

"

"Not what? What is that word?"

"Never mind. Vua Rapuung, what is this revenge you seek?  What  has  been

done to you that would make you turn against your own people?"

Rapuung's eyes hardened. "Do you really not know? Can you really not see?

Look at me!"

"I see your scars fester. You have implants that seem dead or dying.  But

I don't have the faintest idea what that means."

"It does not concern you," Rapuung said. "Do not presume, infidel."

"Fine. Then tell me this plan of yours, the  one  that  will  get  me  to

Tahiri."

"Follow and see," Rapuung answered.

They crouched in a tangle of roots at the water's edge on a tributary  of

the great river.

"We're farther away from the shaper base than we were yesterday,"  Anakin

complained.

"Yes, but in the right place, now," Rapuung said.

"Right place for what?"

"Wait. See."

Anakin's mouth twitched around a retort but didn't form it. Was this what

people were complaining about when they accused him of being tight with words?

Raípuung was as stingy with facts as a Bothan courier. Six  days  running  and

fighting together, and Anakin still knew nothing about the warrior except that

he was mad about something. Maybe even crazy. He'd mentioned  some  "she"  and

seemed to have an obsession with his worthiíness before his gods.

But maybe all Yuuzhan Vong were like that. It was  not  like  Anakin  had

chatted with a lot of them. Maybe Raípuung was as normal as normal  could  be.

Maybe he kept his motives and plans secret because that's just the way Yuuzhan

Vong were.

Or maybe he was afraid×afraid that if Anakin knew what he was  up  to  or

knew how to get into the shaper base, Anakin would kill him or abandon him.

He sneaked a glance at the fierce, flat-nosed  visage  and  gave  that  a

silent negative. He couldn't imagine Vua Raípuung being  afraid  of  anything.

Maybe prudent was a better word.

So Anakin waited, quietly, and found himself gradu - ally  mesmerized  by

the gentle flow of the stream. He stretched out tentatively to the life around

him, feeling again the shadow of the pain and death he had caused.

I'm sorry, he told the forest.

How close was he to the dark side? Was Rapuung right?

He'd argued with Jacen that the Force was a tool that  was  neither  good

nor evil, but that could be used, like any tool, to  do  good  or  evil  with.

Could evil be as simple as not thinking? He supposed so. Corran Horn had  once

told him that selfishness was evil  and  selflessness  good.  In  that  light,

selfishly causing death to save himself was evil, regardless of the fact  that

he simply hadn't considíered the consequences of his actions at the time.  And

yet he wasn't just fighting for himself, was he? Tahiri's life was  at  stake.

Maybe more than her life, because if the Tahiri of his vision ever came to be,

it could mean the end of a great many people.

If he was honest, he had to admit he hadn't been  thinkíing  about  those

larger consequences, either. He'd had a problem to solve, and he'd solved  it,

the same as he might solve a mathematical  equation  or  a  problem  with  the

hyperdrive motivator in his X-wing. He just hadn't thought about the  problems

his solution might cause, which seemed pretty typical of him lately.

Mara Jade had pointed out this tendency of his ages ago, when  they  were

camping together on Dantooine. Apparently he hadn't learned anything. Maybe it

was time he started to.

Which brought him back to Vua Rapuung. The man  was  self-admittedly  out

for revenge, and if there was one thing that had  been  drilled  solidly  into

Anakin, it was that revenge was of the dark side.  If  he  continued  workíing

with Rapuung, would he be implicated in that reívenge?  What  tragedy  was  he

helping to bring about by cooperating with this half-crazed Yuuzhan Vong?

Something stirred the life of  the  forest.  A  thousand  voices  changed

slightly as they  smelled  and  heard  someíthing  unfamiliar,  something  not

included in their limited vocabulary of predator and prey, hunger and danger.

Something new to Yavin 4 was approaching, on the river.

"Are you expecting someone?" Anakin asked.

"Yes."

Anakin didn't ask who. He was tired of asking  quesítions  that  he  knew

wouldn't be answered. Instead he sharpened his senses and watched.

Soon something appeared on the river, coming upstream.

At first he thought it was a boat, but reminded himself that if it was  a

Yuuzhan Vong boat, it was something oríganic, as well. Studying it, he  picked

out the details that proved him right.

The major visible portion was a broad,  flat  dome  poking  up  from  the

water, banded with scutes or plates. Whatever moved it was below  the  surface

of the water, but it did move. Now and then something that might be the top of

a head broke the water in front of it. If it was a head, it  was  a  big  one,

nearly as wide as the visible porítion of the shell, and scaled and dull olive

in color.

Sitting on top of it was a male Anakin could not feel in the  Force,  but

the closer he came, the less he looked like a Yuuzhan Vong.  At  first  Anakin

didn't understand why he got that impression; he had the same sharply slopíing

forehead, and his nostrils were set nearly flat into his face just like  every

other person of that species Anakin had seen.

But he had no scars. Not one. Not  a  single  tattoo  that  Anakin  could

detect, and he could see most of the fellow because he wore  only  a  sort  of

loincloth.

Now and then he touched something on the surface of the carapace, and the

boat creature altered course slightly.

"Stay hidden," Rapuung said, and stood.

"Qe'u!" he called.

Through the concealing roots, Anakin saw the other man's head snap around

in surprise. He uttered a string of words Anakin didn't  understand,  and  Vua

Rapuung replied in kind. The floater began turning in  their  direcítion,  and

Anakin dug himself lower.

The two Yuuzhan Vong continued their conversation  as  the  floater  drew

nearer to shore.

Anakin took several deep, steadying breaths. He'd been thinking about Vua

Rapuung's prudence; it was time to start thinking of his own. When  would  the

Yuuízhan Vong stop needing him? Now? When they reached the shaper  base?  When

he'd exacted whatever revenge he was after? It could be anytime. He remembered

what he had told Valin about the Yuuzhan Vong and their promíises.  Was  there

any reason to believe Rapuung would keep his?

Anakin suddenly noticed that the two had stopped talking. Just as he  was

thinking about taking a look, he heard a loud splash.

"You may come out from cover now, infidel," Raípuung said in Basic.

Anakin rose warily from his hiding place. Rapuung stood on  the  floater.

Alone.

"Where did he go?" Anakin asked.

Rapuung gestured toward the water on the other side of the  floater.  "In

the river."

"You threw him in? Will he drown?"

"No. He is already dead."

"You killed him?"

"A broken neck killed him. Mount the vangaak and let us depart."

Anakin stood there for a moment, trying to master his anger.

"Why did you kill him?"

"Because to leave him alive was an unacceptable risk."

Anakin almost retched. Instead, he climbed up onto  the  floater,  trying

not to look at the corpse floating beyond.

That was one innocent, unarmed sapient  being  dead  because  Anakin  had

saved Rapuung's life. How many more would there be?

Rapuung began manipulating several knobby projecítions on  the  carapace.

Anakin assumed they were nerve clusters or something of the sort.

"Who was he?" he asked, as the floater turned slugígishly downstream.

"A Shamed One. A person of no consequence."

"No one is of no consequence," Anakin said,  trying  to  keep  his  voice

steady.

Rapuung laughed. "The gods cursed him at birth. Every breath he drew  was

borrowed."

"But you knew him."

"Yes."

They continued down the river at a leisurely pace. "How did you know him?

" Anakin persisted. "What was he doing up here?"

"Trawling the stream. It was his usual route. It used to be mine."

"You're an angler?" Anakin said incredulously.

"Among other things. Why so many questions?"

"I'm just trying to understand what happened."

The warrior grunted and held his silence for five miníutes. Then,  almost

reluctantly, he turned to Anakin.

"To find you, I had to disappear, I faked  my  death  out  here,  on  the

water. I made it appear as if some water beast had eaten me. They gave Qe'u my

route. I will reíturn and tell a story of how I survived, lost on this strange

world, until I came across the  vangaak,  pilotless.  I  will  not  know  what

happened to Qe'u. Perhaps a Jeedai killed him, perhaps he met the  same  water

beast I did."

"Oh. And they'll let us through the security on the river. But why should

they believe that story?"

"They will not care. He was a  Shamed  One.  His  death  will  be  of  no

concern. Even if they suspect I killed  him  for  some  reason,  no  one  will

question my story."

"And how will you explain me?"

Rapuung grinned nastily. "I won't. They won't see you."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Nen Yim found her master staring into  the  waters  of

the succession pool×the heart, lungs, and liver of the  damuítek.  It  rippled

slightly as the native food fish of  the  moon  investigated  her  shadow.  It

smelled faintly of sulfur, iodine, and something oily and burnt,  almost  like

singed hair.

Master Mezhan Kwaad's headdress was woven  into  an  expression  of  deep

contemplation, so Nen Yim stood behind her, waiting for her attention.

A drop of something plunked into the  succession  pool,  just  below  the

master's feet. Another followed, and another.

When Mezhan Kwaad finally turned, Nen Yim saw  it  was  blood,  drizzling

from her nostrils.

"Greetings, Adept," the master said. "Have you come in search of  me,  or

of the succession pool?"

"Of you, Master. But if you would speak at another time..."

"There will be no better time until my cycle of sacrifice is complete and

my Vaa-tumor is removed. You had your first implanted yesterday, did you not?"

"I did, Master. I cannot feel it yet."

"Bear it well. It is one of the oldest mysteries." She cocked  her  head,

focusing her regard on Nen Yim's face. "You wish to know  what  it  does,  the

Vaa-tumor?"

"I am content in the knowledge that the gods desire this sacrifice of our

caste," Nen Yim replied dutifully.

"Once passing to adepthood, you enter the mystery,"

Mezhan Kwaad said, as if speaking in a dream. "As waríriors take  on  the

outward aspects of Yun-Yammka, so we take  on  the  inner  qualities  of  Yun-

Ne'Shel, she-who-shapes. The Vaa-tumor is her most ancient gift  to  us.  Yun-

Ne'Shel plucked a fragment of her own brain to make it. As it grows, it models

our cells, changes our very thoughts, takes us nearer the mind and essence  of

Yun-Ne'Shel." She sighed. "The journey  is  painful.  It  is  gloírious.  And,

regrettably, we must return from it, excise her  gift  from  our  bodies.  But

though we return to a semíblance of who we were, each time that we are vessels

for that pain and glory we are forever changed. Something of it  remains  with

us. Until..." Her words seemed to fail her.

"You shall see," Mezhan Kwaad finally said. "And now×what have  you  come

to tell me?"

Nen Yim glanced around, making certain no one was within hearing.

"It is quite safe here, Adept," Mezhan Kwaad assured her. "Speak freely."

"I believe I have finished mapping the Jeedai's nervous system and  brain

structure."

"That is good news. Very commendable. And how would you proceed now?"

"It depends on what results we want. If we wish her  obedience,  then  we

should use restraint implants."

"Why, then, have we mapped her nervous system?"

Nen Yim felt her headdress fidgeting and tried to calm it. "I don't know,

Master. It was your command."

Mezhan Kwaad tilted her head and smiled faintly.  "I  am  not  trying  to

trick you, Adept. I chose you for very paríticular reasons. I  have  told  you

some of them; about others I have remained  silent,  but  I  suspect  you  are

bright enough to know what they are. Suppose, just for a moíment,  that  there

are no protocols to be followed. In the abísence of direction, what would  you

do? Hypothetically."

"Hypothetically," Nen Yim said. She felt as if she were poised  over  the

digestive villi of a maw luur. She could alímost smell the sour scent  of  the

acid. If she answered this question truthfully, she might  be  revealed  as  a

heretic. If what she had come to suspect about  her  master  was  wrong,  this

conversation would be her last as a shaper, and one of the last in her life.

But she could not surrender to fear.

"I would modify the provoker spineray to  fit  our  expectations  of  her

nervous system, to give us very fine control."

"Why?"

Nen Yim did not hesitate this time. It was already  too  late,  whichever

way it went.

"Despite the assurances of the protocol we followed, what we have now  is

only an educated guess concerning how her nervous  system  functions.  All  we

have done is to map unknowns onto knowns. But the 'knowns' are  Yuuízhan  Vong

norms, not human ones, and we know alíready that she lacks analogs to some  of

our structures and  has  others  that  have  no  comparable  configuration  in

ourselves."

"Are you saying, then, the ancient protocol is meaningless?"

"No, Master Mezhan Kwaad. I am saying it is a startíing point. It asserts

certain things about how the Jeedai's brain works. I suggest that we now  test

those assertions."

"In other words, you would question the protocols given us by the gods."

"Yes, Master."

"And you understand this is heresy of the first order?"

"I do."

Mezhan Kwaad's eyes were oily pools, utterly unreadíable. Nen Yim met her

gaze steadily, without flinching, for a very long time.

"I have searched for an apprentice like you," the master  shaper  finally

said. "I have asked the gods to send you to me. If you are not what you appear

to be, you will not be forgiven. You will not profit from any betrayal of  me,

I promise you that."

That gave Nen Yim a start. The thought that the masíter might  be  afraid

of her had never crossed her mind.

"I am your apprentice," Nen Yim said. "I would not betray you. I have put

my life and my position in your thirteen fingers."

"They are well placed, Adept," Mezhan Kwaad said softly. "Proceed as  you

have just suggested. Do not speak to anyone but me about this. If our  results

are to the liking of our leaders, I assure you they will not look  closely  at

our methods. But we must be discreet. We must move with caution." She  glanced

once more at the pool and touched her head.

"When the pain of the Vaa-tumor reaches its peak,:here are colors  to  be

seen that have never been seen  be-rore,  thoughts  to  be  had,  strange  and

mighty... Well, you will see.  At  times  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  have  it

reímoved, to retreat from the final embrace of it. I should like to know where

it would take me." She gave Nen Yim a rare genuine smile. "One  day  the  gods

shall ordain it. Until then, I have much work to do for them." She draped  her

eight slender fingers on Nen Yim's shoulder.

"Let us go see our young Jeedai, shall we?"

The Jeedai watched them come in. Only her  green  eyes  moved,  following

them closely, like one beast seeking the soft throat of another.

"I would advise you not to attack us with  your  Jeedai  tricks,"  Mezhan

Kwaad told her. "The provoker has been told to stimulate you to great agony if

we are af-flicted in any way. Though in  time  you  will  come  to  understand

agony, at the moment you seem to dislike it,  and  it  clearly  disrupts  your

concentration. There are worse things we could do to you."

The Jeedai's eyes widened. "I can understand you,"

she said. Then she stopped, looking even more confused. "I'm not speaking

Basic. This is×"

"You speak our language now, yes," the master shaper said. "If you are to

be one of us, you must speak the saícred tongue."

"Be one of you?" The Jeedai sneered. "Thanks, but I'd much rather be  the

slime under a Hutt."

"That's because you perceive yourself  an  infidel,"  Mezhan  Kwaad  said

reasonably. "You do not underístand us, and there are things that confound  us

about you and the other Jeedai. But we  will  understand  you,  and  you  will

understand us. You will become a tissue connecting the Yuuzhan  Vong  and  the

Jeedai, nurturing both. You will make it possible for  understanding  to  flow

both ways."

"That's what you want from me?"

"You are the path to peace," Mezhan Kwaad asísured her.

"Kidnapping me won't get you peace!" the Jeedai shouted.

"We did not kidnap you," Mezhan Kwaad said.  "We  rescued  you  from  the

other infidels, remember?"

"You're twisting things," the Jeedai returned.  "The  whole  reason  they

captured me was to give me to you."

The master's headdress rearranged itself  into  an  exípression  of  mild

anger.

"Memory is a most malleable commodity," Mezhan Kwaad said. "It is  mostly

chemical. For instance, you now know our language. You did not learn it."

"You put it there," the Jeedai said.

"Yes. Your memory of the words, the grammar, the syntax.  All  introduced

to you."

"So you can implant memories. Big deal. We Jedi can do that, as well."

"Indeed. I have no doubt those Jeedai abilities could do much to  confuse

one as young as yourself. How  many  of  your  memories  are  real?  How  many

manufactured? How could you tell the difference?"

"What's your point?"

"My point is this. Right now you think you are×what is it,Taher'ai?"

"My name is Tahiri."

"Yes. Tahiri, a young Jeedai candidate, raised  by  a  tribe  strange  to

her×"

"Sand People."

"Of course. But soon enough, you will remember. After we've stripped away

the false memories and undone the disgusting modifications made to your  body,

you will reímember who you are."

"What are you talking about?" the Jeedai exploded.

"You are Riina of Domain Kwaad. You are one of us. You always have been."

" No! I know who my parents were!"

"You know the lies you were told, the memories you were given. Fear  not.

We will bring you back."

Mezhan Kwaad signaled, and Nen Yim bowed and folílowed her from the room.

Behind them, the young Jeedai wailed in the first sign of  true  despair  that

Nen Yim had heard from her.

"Do not wait for tomorrow," Mezhan Kwaad said. "Make  your  modifications

and begin your trials. We must show results, soon."

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Anakin rode in the belly of the beast.

Literally. And it stank. The Yuuzhan Vong equivalent of an organic  gill,

the gnullith Anakin wore did nothing to buffer the confused and odious  smells

of river crawlífish, silman eel,  rotting  wetweed,  the  viscous  mucus  that

coated the inside of the vangaak like jelly×or of the breather  itself,  which

insisted on reminding him, by slowly and constantly writhing, that  he  had  a

live animal shovíing its tentacles down his throat and nostrils.

The only bright spot was that he hadn't eaten anything for a  day  and  a

half.

It had been better, earlier, when the trawling-boat creaíture  was  still

making its catch, swimming with its mouth expanded into a flattened funnel ten

meters across. The water passed through and out the filtering membranes in its

posterior, acting as the underwater equivalent of a fresh breeze. Now that the

belly was bloated, the lips had sucked in on themselves, and  water  flow  was

cut to the minimum necessary to sustain the live catch  squirming  all  around

him.

He was reminded of the story of how his mother and father had met, on the

Death Star, a story he'd heard far too many times. Seconds after  seeing  each

other for the first time, they'd ended up fleeing stormtroopers into a garbage

hold.

"What  an  incredible  smell  you've  discovered,"  his  fa  -  ther  had

sarcastically told his future wife. He hadn't been very happy with her at  the

time.

I've found a better smell than you did, Mom, he thought.

The thought of Rapuung above, in the warm breezes of Yavin 4 and no doubt

delighted over the discomfort of his infidel  ally,  did  nothing  to  improve

Anakin's mood. If he'd had a  working  lightsaber,  he  would  have  long  ago

slashed his way through the vangaak even if it meant facing a hundred  Yuuzhan

Vong warriors. Some things made death seem pretty.

He immediately regretted that thought. There were beings  in  the  galaxy

who endured misery that made what he was going through look like a  day  in  a

garden on Ithor.

Well, back when Ithor had gardens.

Still, he was more than ready to get out. He passed the time  by  getting

to know his bellymates, gently convincíing the more adventurous ones he wasn't

something to nibble on. He  tried  to  relax  and  forget  his  body  and  the

unpleasant sensory data it was processing. He found Tahiri×in pain, but alive.

He thought he briefly found Jaina, then lost her  again.  Time  stretched  and

ceased to have meaning.

Some strange motion jarred him. Had he been asleep? It was  difficult  to

tell.

The motion came again, a sudden contraction that squeezed  water-dwellers

against him.

Then a stronger contraction hurtled him forward, blastíing into the light

in a stream of fluid and fish, then plungíing into new water. Something strong

caught his arm and hauled him up, and he found himself staring  blearily  into

the face of Vua Rapuung.

The warrior set him down on his feet and detached  the  gnullith.  Anakin

coughed up water and then  took  deep,  grateful  breaths.  He  looked  up  at

Rapuung.

"I've just been vomited by a fish," he said.

Vua Rapuung cocked his head. "Obviously. Why are you telling me?"

"Never mind. Where are we?" The vangaak had disígorged its  prey  at  the

narrow end of a wedge-shaped pool. The larger end of the wedge,  about  twenty

meters away, opened into an even larger  aquatic  space.  Anakin  and  Rapuung

stood on a landing, of sorts, bounded  by  slightly  uneven  coral  walls  six

meters high. Every six meíters or so, the walls were marked by ovoids the size

of doorways, obvious because of their darker shade. The vangaak had apparently

entered this complex through one canal opening at the end of the wedge. Anakin

could see daylight and swaying Massassi trees beyond.

He could see the sky above, too.

"I see," Anakin said. "We're in one of the×what did you call them?"

"Damuteks."

"Right. They're shaped like rayed stars. We're at the end of one  of  the

rays. This is one of the compounds filled with water."

"Each damutek has a succession pool. Some have covíerings  over  them  so

the space can be used for other things."

Anakin pointed at the canal. "We came up that.  It  goes  to  the  river,

right?"

"Correct again."

"Why is the water in the canal flowing toward the river, then?"

"Why ask after such irrelevancies? The succession  pool  is  filled  from

below. Its rooting tubes seek water and miníerals. The  outflow  goes  to  the

river. And that is enough talk."

"You're right," Anakin agreed. "Let's find Tahiri and get out of here."

Rapuung glared at him. "It isn't so simple. First we must  disguise  you.

An unbound human, walking free? Then we must locate your other Jeedai."

"I can find her."

"I surmised as much, from what I have heard of Jeedai. You can sniff each

other out at a distance, yes?"

"Something like that."

"Then you will be my hunting uspeq. But not yet. Even when we know  where

she is×"

"We have to chart the course. I get it. You'll figure the layout  of  the

place. And your revenge? What about that?"

"When we find the other Jeedai, we will find my revenge."

The coldness in Rapuung's voice touched a worry in the back  of  Anakin's

mind. "Your revenge is not against Tahiri, is it?" he asked. "Tell me  now  if

it is."

Rapuung showed his teeth in grim humor. " If I  wanted  revenge  on  your

Jeedai, I need only to let the shapers nave her. Nothing could be  worse  than

to be in Mezhan Kwaad's fingers." Mezhan Kwaad?"

"Don't repeat that name," Rapuung snarled.

" But you just said it."

" If you repeat it again, I will kill you."

Anakin drew himself taller. "You're welcome to try," he said softly.

Rapuung's muscles bunched and tensed and his mauled lips twitched.  Again

he seemed more like a dangerous, poisonous animal than a person. But  then  he

rasped a sigh. "Here, / know what is best. You must learn to listen to me. How

else would you have entered the perimeter of the  base?  But  from  here,  the

dangers we face  have  increased.  You  must  make  peace  with  my  commands.

Furíthermore, the longer we argue, the more likely  it  is  that  we  will  be

thwarted here and now. We're lucky no one has yet chanced by. You have  passed

through the nostrils of this beast, but you will not live to find the  beating

heart without me."

That was probably true, Anakin reflected. Pride was not the  way  of  the

Jedi. Rapuung kept pricking at  his  pride,  and  he  kept  twitching  like  a

Twi'lek's lekku. He could alímost hear Jacen and Uncle Luke scolding him now.

"I apologize," Anakin said. "You're right. What do we do now?"

Rapuung nodded curtly. "Now we make you a slave."

Anakin had thought he'd been through some hard things before; but nothing

had prepared him for the orídeal of letting  Vua  Rapuung  implant  the  coral

growth on him. It looked exactly like the  sickening,  ulcerous  growths  he'd

seen on more Yuuzhan Vong slaves than he could count. He'd watched and  sensed

sentient beings lose their reason, grow thin and vanish in the Force,  beícome

mindless drones for the Yuuzhan Vong, because of just such infections.

"It is not real," Vua Rapuung told him, "but you must respond as if it is

real. You must follow certain commands."

How do I know this isn't a trick? Anakin's brain screamed at him. How  do

I know this wasn't the plan all along, to march me into the  shaper  base  and

have me willingly give up my very being?

Again he felt as if his eyes had been struck out, his tongue cut off, the

nerves of his fingers numbed. He had absolutely no way  of  knowing  what  Vua

Rapuung was thinking.

But it seemed somehow unlike the mutilated warrior to play  out  such  an

elaborate charade.

"So I have to act like a mindless drone?"

"No. We do not use that form of restraint on most work slaves anymore. It

proved too debilitating to them. What use is a  slave  that  dies  or  becomes

stupid? The imíplant merely insures you can be restrained if need  be.  If  it

tingles, pretend pain and paralysis. If it actually gives you pain, pretend to

die."

"Got it."

So Anakin let the Yuuzhan Vong warrior prick the thing  into  his  flesh,

tried not to wince as it rooted. He  concentrated  on  recognizing  the  first

sign×any sign× that his will was being taken from him.

When Rapuung was done, he felt violated, as if his own flesh had become a

hateful thing, but he still felt in control. For the moment.

"Where can I hide my lightsaber?" Anakin asked.  Raípuung  had  made  him

shed his clothes and gear back in the jungle. The broken weapon was  the  only

possession he retained.

" It does not work."

"I know. Where can I hide it?"

Rapuung hesitated for a moment. "Here," he said. "In the  far  corner  of

the succession pool. It will be unnoticed  in  the  organic  material  on  the

bottom."

Anakin reluctantly followed Rapuung's advice. It  was  a  hard  thing  to

watch the lightsaber he had built with his own hands sink into the water.  But

right now, it could only get him caught.

Moments later, Anakin was suddenly surrounded by Yuuzhan  Vong,  hundreds

of them. They'd exited the larger compound at the same point the boat creature

entered it, walking along the quay that ran parallel to the canal. The  latter

he could see curved off to join the river.

Between the river and the damutek complexes was  the  shantytown  he  had

observed from the ridge. Unlike the  orderly  compounds,  the  dwellings  here

seemed placed alímost at random, a series of organic domes and hollow cirícles

pierced by openings. Most seemed barely large  enough  to  sleep  in,  and  he

didn't see many people coming in or out of them. Most of the Yuuzhan  Vong  he

saw were like the angler Rapuung had killed. They were unscarred or  had  very

few scars. Some had malformed or festering scars like Vua  Rapuung,  and  they

wore the same sort of loincloth that Rapuung and now Anakin had donned.

Of course it wasn't a cloth at all, but something alive.

If he pulled it away from his flesh, it slowly sealed itself there again.

He also had a tizowyrm secreted in his  ear,  and  the  speech  of  those

around him reached him in little starts and flurries. But almost  no  one  was

talking. They went about their business quietly, rarely making eye contact.

He wasn't the only non-Yuuzhan Vong either, he saw.  There  were  a  fair

number of them, all with the coral reístraining implants. Their expressions he

readily recogínized; they ranged from utter hopelessness to mere  misery.  Now

and then he caught a glimmer from one that sugígested he or  she  still  hoped

for escape. Like the Yuuzhan Vong, none gave him more than a glance.

"You!" a voice called from behind. Rapuung turned toward it,  and  Anakin

shambled around more slowly, trying to keep the expression of  the  humans  he

had seen.

The Yuuzhan Vong who had addressed them was a warrior, the  first  Anakin

had seen here. He struggled to keep still; up until now being this close to  a

warrior meant a fight to the death, and he had had  more  than  his  share  of

those.

The warrior twitched when he saw Rapuung's face, and for a  brief  moment

he looked almost as if he were about to genuflect. Then  his  eyes  turned  to

obsidian.

"It is you. They told me at the port you had returned."

"I have," Rapuung answered.

"Many thought you had fled your shame. Many were glad not to have to look

upon it."

"The gods know no shame is on me," Rapuung answered.

"Your flesh says otherwise," the warrior answered.

"So it may be," Rapuung replied. "Do you have a command?"

"No. What task has your executor given you?"

"I go to speak to him now."

"The trawling schedules are filled for another four days. Perhaps you may

spend that time in sacrifice and penitence begging Yun-Shuno to intercede  for

you. A word could be planted in your executor's ear."

"That is most generous, Hul Rapuung. But I do not reíquire favor."

"It is no favor to be given time to beg, even of the gods,"  Hul  Rapuung

answered. "Go." He turned brusquely and started to leave,  then  turned  back.

"The slave. Why does it accompany you?"

"I found it wandering aimless. I take it to my executor for assignment."

"Aimless, you say? You know that in the wilderness several Jeedai skulk."

"This one was here before I was lost. He has always been of  a  forgetful

nature."

Hul Rapuung lifted his chin. "Is it so?" His voice lowíered. "There is  a

story×a rumor, really, that one of these Jeedai is not a Jeedai at all, but  a

Yuuzhan Vong, driven mad somehow by their powers."

"I know nothing of such rumors."

"No. They began only a short time ago." He spat. "Go to your executor."

"I go," Vua Rapuung said.

"Vua Rapuung. You are a Shamed One," Anakin said, as soon as the  warrior

was out of earshot. He kept his head down and tried not to move his  lips  too

much.

Rapuung looked briefly around, grabbed Anakin's arm,  and  propelled  him

into the nearest structure. Inside, it was cozy,  but  smelled  sour  like  an

unwashed Bothan.

"Did I tell you to hold your tongue?" Rapuung snapped.

"You should have told me," Anakin replied. "If you want me to keep quiet,

then make it so I'm not surprised every ten seconds."

Rapuung clenched and unclenched his fists several rimes. He  gnashed  his

teeth.

"I must act the part of a Shamed One. I am not."

" First of all, what is a Shamed One? And don't give me that 'they aren't

worth speaking of fodder."

"They aren't×" Rapuung began, then stopped. He closed his  eyes.  "Shamed

Ones are cursed by the gods. Their bodies reject proper scarring. They do  not

heal well. The implants of utility and rank that set us apart  as  castes  and

individuals are rejected by their feeble bodies. They are useless."

"Your scars. Your sores. Your implants have rotted out."

"I was a great warrior," Rapuung said.  "A  commander.  None  doubted  my

ability. And then one day, my body beítrayed me." He started pacing  suddenly,

slamming his palms on the coral, cutting them. "But it was  not  the  gods.  I

know who did it. I know why. And she shall pay."

"The female whose name you told me not to repeat again."

"Yes."

"And she's the one you want to kill."

"Kill?" Rapuung's eyes widened, then he spat. "Inífidel. You think death,

which comes to all, is punishment in itself. My revenge will be to  force  her

to admit what she has done, so everyone will know that Vua Rapuung  was  never

shamed! So the Yuuzhan Vong will know her crime. My revenge will  be  to  know

that when she does die, however she dies, it will be  in  ignominy.  But  kill

her? I would not give her the honor."

"Oh," Anakin said. That was all he  could  think  of.  Despite  Rapuung's

secrecy, Anakin had at least thought he knew what the Yuuzhan  Vong  meant  by

revenge. In two quick reversals, everything he knew about Rapuung fell apart.

"Is that enough of my blood in your ears for the moíment? " Rapuung asked

in a low, strange voice.

"One more question. The warrior we just met. Part of  your  name  is  the

same as his."

"As it should be. He is a sibling of my creche."

"Your brother?"

Rapuung inclined his head slightly in the  affirmative.  "We  go  to  the

executor now. I will suggest you  once  worked  clearing  fields  for  growing

lambents. Those slaves live the longest. We will meet when  I  can  manage  it

withíout suspicion. Play your part. Do not falter. Use your powers  to  locate

the nearest point where the other Jeedai is. I will see you in seven  days  or

so. Until then we will not speak another word. Watch the other  slaves.  Speak

as they speak or not at all. Now, come."

He glanced outside, then walked out, towing Anakin by  the  arm.  No  one

seemed  to  notice.  Together,  they  walked  toward  the  largest   building,

unnoticeable among the other slaves and Shamed Ones.

Or so Anakin hoped.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR A spike of pain drove through Anakin's  forehead,  so

unexpected and strange that his legs buckled and he fell to his knees  on  the

black jungle soil, grasping for the wound in his forehead. It felt  as  if  it

had been gashed from his hairline to the bridge of his nose. The  blood  stung

his eyes and brimmed his nostrils.

But when he brought his hands down, they were clean. Chapped,  blistered,

and friction-burned from days of pulling tough weeds from the  soil,  but  not

bloody.

Cautiously he felt his head again. The pain still throbbed,  but  now  he

felt only unbroken flesh.

"You! Slave!" the tizowyrm chittered in his ear, apíparently  translating

the brutal shout from one of the guards. The coral growth on his neck gave him

a faint shock, and he knew he was being given the force of comímand.  He  went

rigid and fell to the ground, jerking spasímodically. It was easy,  given  the

agony already creeping into his head.

When he thought he'd played that role long enough, he climbed back to his

knees and went back to work, knotting his chapped, raw hands around plants and

upírooting them.

The Yuuzhan Vong did not care for  machines  even  as  complicated  as  a

lever. They had biotic methods of clearíing fields other than slaves, but they

seemed determined to go through the slaves they had, first.

Grab weed, wriggle, pull. For the ten billionth time.

The pain reverberated behind his eyes, fading a bit, and he began to pick

out details through the static.

Not his forehead, not his blood, not his senses. It was  Tahiri  who  had

been cut. Scarred like a Yuuzhan Vong.

It was almost too much. He had been feeling her pain  sporadically  since

her capture. Sometimes it was like an itch, sometimes  like  burning  methanol

poured down his nerves. But this time it was somehow real, intimate. He  could

smell her breath and taste her tears. It was like holding her,  in  that  last

moment of peace they had had together.

Except she was bleeding, and here he was pulling weeds. If his lightsaber

was working...

But that was the problem, wasn't it? Or one of  them.  And  it  was  days

before he would see Rapuung again.

"Slave." An amphistaff lashed  lightly  across  his  back,  and  it  took

everything in him not to leap up into the guard's face, take  his  amphistaff,

and kill every Yuuzhan Vong in sight.

What are they doing to you, Tahiri?

But he didn't. Instead he stood compliant, arms at his side.

"Go with this Shamed One," the guard told him.

He then turned to the person indicated, a young feímale with  no  obvious

scars. She had a deeply  worn  look  to  her,  but  her  eyes  had  a  certain

brightness many of the other Shamed Ones' did not. "Go to  the  third  lambent

field, nearest the perimeter. Show him how to harvest."

" I will need more than one faltering slave to make my quota," she said.

"You feel it is your place to argue with me?" the warírior snapped.

"No," she replied. "I think it is a prefect's place to asísign workers."

"The prefect is busy today. Would you rather make your quota alone?"

She  maintained  an  expression  of  defiance  for  another  beat,   then

grudgingly hung her head. "No. Why are you doing this to me?"

"I treat you as I treat everyone."

She narrowed her eyes, but did not reply. Instead  she  beckoned  Anakin.

"Come along, slave. We have a long walk."

He followed her, trying to reestablish  contact  with  Taíhiri.  She  was

still alive, he could get that much, but more distant than the stars.

Almost as if she was fighting contact.

"What's your name, slave?" the woman asked. It so shocked Anakin that his

step actually faltered. "Well?"

"Begging your pardon, but when did any Yuuzhan Vong  care  to  dirty  her

ears with the name of a slave?"

"Where did a slave get the idea that insolence would go unpunished?"  she

responded.

"My name is Bail Lars," he replied.

"What's wrong with you, Bail Lars? I saw you nearly collapse. So did that

filth-bather, Vasi. That's why he sent you with me, so I'll fail  to  meet  my

quota."

"He has something against you, personally?"

"Puul. It's what he couldn't get against me that bothers him."

"Really? I would think×" He suddenly thought better of what he was saying

and didn't finish the sentence.

The female did, however. "Would think what?  That  I  wouldn't  refuse  a

warrior?"

"No, that's not it," Anakin said. "I suppose I thought they×the  rest  of

the Yuuzhan Vong, I mean×were... well, that  they  didn't  think  Shamed  Ones

were, you know, desirable."

"We aren't, not by normal people. Not even by each other. But Vasi is not

normal. He likes sick things. He can command a Shamed One to do things that no

true caste would ever do, or want to do, or want done."

"But he commanded you and you didn't?"

"He knows if he commands me, I will  make  him  kill  me.  So  he  didn't

command me. He wants me to come to him." She stopped and dropped her eyeridges

angrily. "And this is not your business. Never forget×what I am to  them,  you

are to me. One day Yun-Shuno will grant me redemption, and my body  will  take

the scars and imíplants. I will become true caste, while you will  forever  be

nothing."

"Do you really believe that?" Anakin asked. "I don't think you do."

She slapped him then, hard. When he did not react to the pain, she nodded

thoughtfully. "Stronger than I thought. Maybe we can meet my quota," she said.

"If you help me do it, I will find some reward for you."

" I would do it for no other reason  than  to  disappoint  Vasi,"  Anakin

replied. "Though I may feel differently if you keep slapping me."

"You say filthy things, and don't expect to be punished?"

"I didn't know it was filthy."

"I have heard you slaves are infidels, but even infidels  must  know  the

gods and their truths."

" I would think that not  knowing  that  is  exactly  what  makes  me  an

infidel," Anakin said.

" I suppose. It makes no sense, and  I've  never  spoken  to  an  infidel

before, not like this." She hesitated. "It is... interesting.  Perhaps  as  we

work, we can pass the time. You can tell  me  of  your  planet.  But  restrain

yourself× Shamed I may be, but I have not abandoned myself to shame."

"It's a deal," Anakin said. "Will you tell me your name?"

"My name is Uunu." She pointed ahead, to a low coral wall. "We're  nearly

to the lambent field now. They are just past there."

"What is a lambent?"

"Another moment, and you shall see. Or, rather, you shall hear them."

"Hear?"

But suddenly he did, a faint, buzzing rattle, like the  voices  of  small

animals.

And yet this didn't come from the Force, not exactly. It didn't have  the

familiar touch, the depth. It was more like having a staticky comlink  in  his

head.

They rounded the wall. Beyond was a field tilled into concentric circular

ridges. On them, spaced perhaps a meter apart, grew plants  that  resembled  a

nest of short, thick, green knives. From the central clump two, three, or four

short stalks grew, and at the end of each  of  these  was  a  sort  of  hairy,

bloodred bloom. The blooms were roughly the size of his fist, and it was  from

these that the telepathic murmur seemed to come.

"What are they?"

"Start working now. I'll explain what they are later, if it looks  as  if

we are approaching our quota."

"What do I do?"

"You will follow me. I will stroke the down from the  blossoms×like  so."

Almost tenderly she rubbed away  the  red,  hairlike  petals  until  all  that

remained was a yelílowish bulb. "This attunes it. Once that is done, you  must

harvest it.  That  is  more  difficult.  Hold  still,  please."  She  withdrew

something curved and black from a pouch in her garment.

"Place it on your thumb."

He looked at it. It resembled a spur, about eight cenítimeters  long.  It

looked very sharp. It was hollow, and when  he  slipped  his  thumb  into  the

hollow he winced as what felt like many small teeth bit into him.

"It's alive," he muttered.

"Of course it is. Who would use a dead×" Then her eyes narrowed. "I  told

you not to talk like that, didn't I?"

"I didn't say anything wrong," Anakin objected.

"No. You just implied it and let my mind do the dirty work. Stop that."

Anakin held up his newly spurred thumb and looked at it.

"Don't get airs," she said. "It's not a real implant. Even I can wear one

for a little while before the reaction sets in. It's  not  permanent.  And  in

case you're getting any  unslave-like  ideas..."  She  took  his  wrist  in  a

surprisingly strong grip and jabbed her palm at the sharp tip of the spur.

It immediately went flaccid.

"You might cut another slave with it," she said softly.  "I've  heard  of

such things, done for the amusement of the guards. But  you  will  not  cut  a

Yuuzhan Vong with such a tool."

"I would have taken your word for it."

"Good. You're learning. So, you take your  spur  and  split  the  lambent

casing at the top. Go ahead."

He knelt by the plants and pressed the sharp tip into the yellow bulb. It

split, and a pale milky substance oozed out.

"Now cut down the side. It will be difficult."

It was. The husk was tough. When he had scored three sides, he managed to

peel the skin away. The entire time he did this, he was acutely aware  of  the

thing's  telepathic  voice,  a  quiet  peeping  somehow  different  from   its

comípanions, probably because of Uunu's "attunement" of it.

The big surprise was the inside. When he had cut it free, Anakin held  it

up, fascinated.

It looked very much like a gem of some sort.

"What is it?" he asked again.

"Later. Go, now. You will be slower at cutting them than I am at attuning

them. You must work to keep up with me. Normally two  or  three  huskers  come

after the attuner. When you have a rhythm, and I am certain you are not losing

ground, then we will try talking. Not before."

It didn't happen that day. While Anakin eventually caught the  rhythm  of

the work, it was only after he was far behind Uunu.  The  lambents  distracted

him. They could tickle his mind and he could touch them, but not  through  the

Force, not in the conventional sense. He was told that Wurth Skidder had had a

similar  experience  with  a  Yuuzhan  Vong  yammosk,   the   creatures   that

coíordinated  the  actions  of  Yuuzhan  Vong   warcraft.   Yamímosks   bonded

telepathically with their daughter ships and with the crews of its  fleet.  It

then protected them as it would its own offspring, directing their battles  to

miniímize loss. Skidder had  apparently  achieved  some  sort  of  metalinkage

between the Force and yammosk telepathy, at least according to  his  surviving

companions.

Were these lambents yammosk relatives? Uunu was doing something to  them;

they changed as she stroked them, became more distant to Anakin.  Because  she

was bonding them to herself? Could Anakin bond with one? Maybe if he  did,  he

would find out what their function was. Were they what they  looked  like  and

felt like? They couldn't be exactly, of course, because they were  alive,  but

still!

He hadn't realized how much hope he had lost until he started to get some

of it back.

He slept in a dormitory for slaves, a low-roofed, creepíing building with

four sleeping areas carpeted in a spongy, mosslike growth. A total of eighteen

slaves occupied the building, sleeping as thick as Stintarils. It  was  nearly

imípossible to sleep without being in contact with someone.

To Anakin's relief, they weren't  all  Peace  Brigade.  In  fact,  Anakin

gathered that while most of the  Brigaders  in  the  system  had  indeed  been

captured, most of those had been sacrificed to  the  Yuuzhan  Vong  gods.  The

slaves he shared his quarters with were from various points along the route of

conquest  and  seemed  to  represent  members  of  some  sort  of  slave  core

population,  one  that  the  malícontents  and  firebrands  had  been  largely

eliminated from. None of them had the old style of slave implants  like  those

Anakin had seen on Dantooine.

"They use those mostly for the ones they send  into  battle,"  a  Twi'lek

named Poy told him, when he asked about it. "The thing is,  if  they  fit  you

with the stuff, it takes a lot out of you. Makes you dumb. The  shapers  don't

want dumb slaves that keep  forgetting  directions.  The  warriors  just  need

bodies to absorb blasterfire, so it doesn't really matter  there."  His  lekku

twitched penísively. " But act up, or act stupid, and they'll fit you with  it

and send you to the front."

The most comforting thing about the slaves was  that  Anakin  could  feel

them in the Force, but other than that, he didn't see much hope  for  help  in

them, and indeed, enormous potential for betrayal if they had any hint of  who

or what he might be. He gave it out that he had  been  captured  on  Duro  and

suggested to the more inquisitive that they didn't need to know the details.

Uunu collected him for the second morning, while it was still dark.  He'd

slept sporadically, trying to locate  Tahiri  in  the  Force.  She  was  still

withdrawn, difficult to find, but he was pretty sure he knew which damutek she

was in.

He was a little groggy as he fell into step with the Shamed One.

"Here," she said a bit gruffly, holding out something in her hand.

"What?"

"Just watch, infidel."

A wisp of phosphorescence appeared in her palm and quickly sharpened into

a substantial light. As it fleshed out, Anakin could see that it was a lambent

crystal, like the ones he had been harvesting the day before.

It grew brighter until it was almost hard to look at, then faded away.

"You control the brightness with your mind," Anakin guessed.

She nodded. "Yes. We use these as portable light sources. They  can  also

be configured with photosensitive  biots  to  form  the  controls  of  various

superorganisms, especially of the spacegoing sort." She closed her hand on the

gem-like organism. "Come."

"It's still alive, though, right?" Anakin asked, as they continued toward

the fields.

"Yes, of course."

"What does it eat?"

"A lambent's substance is mostly silicon and metal fixed from  the  soil.

They transpire when gas is available, but most of their sustenance comes  from

the bioelectrical fields of the life around them."  She  stopped,  staring  at

him. "What is that expression on your face?"

Anakin realized suddenly that he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Nothing," he said. "It's just amazing, I suppose."

"As are all gifts of the gods," Uunu replied.  Anakin  thought  he  still

heard suspicion in her voice.

They worked for six hours without stopping, but  Anakin  had  his  rhythm

now. He told Uunu he'd been on a freighter crew, and described  Coruscant  and

Corellia. She was mostly disgusted by this, since it was  impossible  to  talk

about such high-tech worlds without  multiple  mentions  of  abominations.  He

changed the subject to lost Ithor and the  moon  of  Endor,  which  were  less

touchy subjects.

After six hours of work, they took a short break for water and to suck  a

pasty pap from something Anakin knew was an organism but preferred to think of

as a warm, distended bag.

"It's difficult to imagine all of those worlds, each  as  big  or  bigger

than this one," Uunu said between sips. "I grew  up  on  one  of  the  poorest

worldships. There was little room. We lived very close together.  Here,  there

is nothing but space."

"There are  plenty  of  uninhabited  worlds,"  Anakin  agreed.  "The  New

Republic would have been happy to make room for you."

Uunu gave him the puzzled expression he  had  come  to  expect  in  their

conversations. "Why should Yuuzhan Vong beg for what the gods have ordained we

may have? Why should we tolerate abominations in the  galaxy  Yun-Yuuzhan  has

decreed shall be the end of our wanderings?"

"How do you know the gods have decreed this, Uunu?" Anakin asked,  trying

to keep the edge from his voice.

Her lips tightened. "Your mouth will be the death of you,  Bail  Lars.  I

have come to understand you are igínorant rather than stupid, but others  will

not be so forgiving."

"I just want to understand. From what I can tell, the Yuuzhan Vong  spent

centuries if not millennia in space. Why now, why our galaxy? How did the gods

make their will known?"

A slight frown creased Uunu's face, but she did not  beírate  him  again.

"The signs were many," she said. "The worldships began to die, and  there  was

much unrest. Caste fought caste and domain fought domain. It  was  a  time  of

testing, and many thought the gods had abandoned us. Then Lord Shimrra  had  a

vision of a new home, of a galíaxy corrupted by heresy, of  a  cleansing.  The

priests first saw his vision was true, then the shapers, then  the  waríriors.

The time of testing gave way to the time of coníquest." She looked up at  him.

"That is all. It is how it must be. Ask no more about it, for there is nothing

else to say. The people of this galaxy will accept the will of  the  gods,  or

they will die."

Anakin nodded. "And the Shamed Ones? You didn't mention them. How do they

fit into this?"

Her gaze wandered away again. "We have our own prophecies.  In  this  new

galaxy, Yun-Shuno has promised us redemption."

"In what form?"

She did not answer but instead looked off at the horiízon. "Look how  far

it goes," she said. "On and on."

Anakin thought the conversation was over, but after  a  long  pause  Uunu

suddenly caught his gaze and held it. Her voice dropped almost below the range

of his hearing.

"Bail Lars," she said. "Are you Jeedai?"

CHAPTER TWEIXITY-FIVE "What?" Anakin sputtered around the yellowish paste

he was already having trouble swallowing.

"Are you Jeedai?" Uunu repeated. "The question is simple."

" But what makes you ask it?" Anakin said. "If I were Jedi, would I be  a

captive?"

"The shapers have one captive Jeedai. Rumor has it  others  are  on  this

moon. And you×no one seems to reímember you being brought here. As  well,  you

do not act like  a  slave,  somehow.  You  seem  too  unbent."  She  eyed  him

speculatively. "Rumor also says that Jeedai someítimes allow themselves to  be

captured."

"Well, I didn't allow myself to be captured,"  Anakin  said.  He  figured

that wasn't a lie, since he hadn't been captured at all.

He wouldn't be captured now, either. He was alone with Uunu, and she  was

no warrior. He readied himíself, trying  to  keep  his  breathing  normal.  He

didn't want to hurt Uunu. She'd treated him like more of a person than she had

to. That wasn't much, but he couldn't disícount it.

Then he noticed something about the set of her eyes. "You wanted me to be

Jedi, didn't you? I've disappointed you."

Uunu sighed and touched her gaze back to  the  disítance.  "If  you  were

Jeedai, you would have attacked me by now," she said.

"You believed that and you still asked me anyway? Why would you take such

a risk?"

"There is no risk. Warriors are hidden near here. I voiced  my  fears  to

them." Her expression crumpled into chagrin.

The hairs on Anakin's neck prickled  up.  Where  were  the  watchers?  He

couldn't see anyone. "Would turning in a Jedi  have  earned  you  out  of  the

Shamed Ones?"

"Not in and of itself," she said a little wistfully. "Only the  gods  can

change my condition. But I should like to meet one of these  Jeedai.  And  the

discovery of a Jeeídai might give Yun-Shuno much leverage to intercede for me.

"

"You've mentioned her before. She's your superior?"

"She's a goddess, infidel. The goddess of the Shamed Ones. The  only  one

who can make me a true Yuuzhan Vong."

"Oh."

"Return to your work."

They started again, she stroking the blossoms bald and he cutting out the

lambents.

"How does one become Shamed?" Anakin asked.

"Another impolite question," Uunu said, but her tone was  light,  belying

the chiding. "Some of us are born so. Others are cursed for misdeeds or sins."

"I've heard that some Shamed Ones do not think they deserve their status,

" Anakin said as casually as possible.

She barked a harsh laugh. "Deserve? What is deserve? We merely are."  She

looked back at him, her expression suddenly knowing. "Ah.  You  speak  of  Vua

Rapuung, the one who brought you to the prefect of clearing fields."

"That might be his name. I'm not sure. But he mutítered some things.  Not

to me×he hardly seemed to know I was there."

"He is insane, Vua Rapuung," Uunu said. "Once he was a great warrior. Now

he is nothing. He cannot bear it, so he invents lies. Perhaps he even believes

them."

"Lies?"

"He claims a shaper infected him with something to produce the  marks  of

Shame, from spite."

"Why? "Anakin asked.

"Because she loved him," Uunu said, "and he spurned her."

"Love?" Somehow it had never occurred to Anakin that Yuuzhan Vong fell in

love.

"Yes. But his story is impossible."

"How so?"

"More ignorance! Because the gods who govern such things×the Lovers  Yun-

Txiin and Yun-Q'aah×would never weave passions between a warrior and a shaper.

Yun-Yuuzhan eternally punishes the twin gods  for  their  own  transgressions;

they would never dare his wrath again. It is not possible,  and  so  Rapuung's

ravings are those of insanity. He is merely cursed, like the rest  of  us.  Of

late he has become even more erratic. I think the intendants will destroy  him

soon, if they have not already."

"Destroy him?"

"Shamed Ones must show usefulness and humility. We do the  work  no  true

caste Yuuzhan Vong may dirty their hands with. If we do not do  these  things,

we are not worth feeding." Her  head  came  up.  "You  have  concern  for  Vua

Rapuung?"

"I have concern for all living beings," Anakin said.

"And now you sound like a Jeedai again," she said.

How do you know so much about  the  Jedi  philosoíphy?  Anakin  wondered.

Where would a Shamed One get such information? Why would she be interested?

"Tell me," Uunu went on. "Would a Jeedai be conícerned about the fate  of

a Shamed One? As concerned as he would be for a person of high caste?"

"Yes. I have known Jedi. They protect all life."

"Not Yuuzhan Vong. Jeedai kill Yuuzhan Vong."

"Only when they must," Anakin replied. "Jedi do not like to kill."

"They are not warriors, then?"

"Not exactly, not from what I know. They are protectors."

"Protectors. And they protect everyone?"

"Everyone they can."

She chuckled again, a bit uneasily. "An amusing lie. The sort of lie that

gives hope to those who do not deíserve it. A  destructive  lie.  Some  Shamed

Ones even×" She broke off again, this time angrily. "How is  it  you  make  me

talk so, infidel? Work, and do not speak. Ask me no more questions."

That night Anakin crept from the slave quarters. It was  no  great  task.

For most slaves, there was no escape from the camp itself. If they  wanted  to

waste the precious hours of sleep they were allotted, the Yuuzhan Vong  didn't

prevent it.

Reaching the  fields  was  more  difficult,  but  Anakin  had  plenty  of

experience with stealth. In a few moments, by the  light  of  the  orange  gas

giant, he knelt in the  lambent  field.  The  plants  lisped  softly,  like  a

nighttime breeze through dark treetops. Beyond  the  perimeter  of  the  camp,

across the river, he faintly felt the life of the jungle. Somewhere inside  of

it, in a bed of aches and misery, he knew Tahiri's fading touch.

He found the last of the harvested lambents and knelt beside the first of

the next day's harvest, staring for a long moment at the  faintly  illuminated

stalk. Then, hardly daring to breathe, he reached for the swollen blossom  and

began to stroke exactly as he had seen Uunu do hunídreds of times.

The petals were as soft as silk, rubbing easily  from  his  fingers,  and

Anakin felt a faint touch, like an electrical shock traveling up his  arm.  It

was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, but more like the first taste of  a  food

so exíotic his tongue had no baseline for judging it.

As he stroked, the feeling deepened, and finally he  felt  not  just  his

fingers rubbing the flower, but also the blossom  being  rubbed.  He  was  the

lambent, for a moment,  and  not  only  felt  it  wakening  but  felt  himself

awakened.

He continued until the small hum in his head  was  louder,  more  obvious

than any impulse from the other plants, until the  pod  was  smooth,  then  he

blinked and carefully searched around him for movement. Here, in the camp,  he

was nearly blind and deaf. He couldn't even use the jungle moon's native  life

to sense what danger might be coming. If he couldn't see it and  hear  it,  it

wasn't there.

But his eyes found no shadows creeping, his  ears  regisítered  no  faint

susurrus of motion, and so, producing his spurred thumb, he cut into the plant

and stripped away the husk until he had the gem inside. He gripped it tight in

his fingers, and almost without him asking it, it flared into gentle radiance.

"Yes! "he hissed.

Willing it dark, he clenched his fist tighter around it in a  gesture  of

triumph.

Then it was back across the fields and through the houses. They were  not

silent at night; he passed the shrine of Yun-Shuno and heard  moaning  within.

Whispers drifted from other doorways, and here and there someone paced in  the

darkness, restless.

Anakin kept going until he reached the edge of the  star-shaped  compound

where he had exited the living boat. He slipped within.

The pool shone with a gentle phosphorescence that did not reach far below

the surface. Anakin felt with the Force, hoping desperately his lightsaber was

still there, where he had placed it days before.

The water was murky. He could sense it in the Force, but as if through  a

cloud. The crawlfish and their aquatic cousins were sensible, too, but somehow

diffuse. It took longer than it should have for him to feel the play  of  life

and current and energy in the heart of the shaper damuítek. But at last he had

it in his mind, wavering like a mirage, but there. The current had carried his

lightsaber to fetch at the edge of the compound, against a barrier  that  kept

the fish in. He exerted his will, and his lightísaber  shifted,  moved,  broke

the surface, and came to rest in his hand.

"Who's there?" a voice asked, from the shadows around  the  pool.  Anakin

stepped back quickly, heart running toward lightspeed, and withdrew  into  the

darkíness in the far corner of the compound.

"Your pardon," he rasped, grateful for the tizowyrm in his ear. He  tried

to make his voice sound as much like a Yuuzhan Vong's as possible.  "I  am  no

one, a Shamed One."

The figure in the darkness shifted, and he could sudídenly  see  more  of

her silhouette. Something was strange about her head. It wriggled like a  nest

of snakes, like nothíing he had yet seen among the Yuuzhan Vong.

"This is the compound of the shapers," the woman's voice said. "You  have

no business here, Shamed One."

"I beg pardon, great one," Anakin said. "I wished only×I  had  hoped  the

waters  of  the  succession  pool  would  inspire  me  to  beseech   Yun-Shuno

persuasively."

The silence stretched. "I should report you, you know. Only those  Shamed

Ones with passage pheromone are allowed here. I×" He heard a  little  gasp  of

pain.

"Is anything the matter, great one?"

"No," she replied in a strained voice. "It is only my suffering.  I  came

here to contemplate it. Go, Shamed One. I would not interrupt my reverie  over

you. Go, leave me in peace, and count yourself fortunate."

"Thank you, great shaper. As you will."

And with that, he withdrew. Sweat was coursing down  his  brow,  and  his

limbs trembled slightly, but triumph was a supernova inside  of  him.  He  had

what he needed, now.

The supernova cooled a little as he left the damutek and padded back into

the village of the Shamed Ones. He  needed  more  than  the  lambent  and  the

lightsaber. He needed time, and solitude, and even  the  lenient  Uunu  wasn't

likely to give him that. But he also couldn't wait for Vua Rapuung any longer.

Uunu was suspicious of him. Hul Rapuung had voiced a similar  suspicion,  that

very first day.

And Vua Rapuung might be dead.

So he needed to hide somewhere. Where?

Puzzling over that, he ran headlong into someone. A Yuuzhan Vong  cursed,

and a strong hand knotted in his  hair.  Startled,  Anakin  dropped  both  his

lightsaber and the lambent, which flared into sudden light.

In the illumination, a mutilated face stared down at him.

"Vua Rapuung!" he gasped.

"Yes," the other growled. "Quiet that lambent."

" Let go of me, then."

The Yuuzhan Vong did so, and Anakin dropped to one knee, retrieving  both

items. Be still, he thought at the lambent, picturing it dark.

The light paled and vanished.

"What are you doing with that?" Rapuung snarled.

"Never mind. I'm glad to see you. I've heard×"

"They tried to kill me," Rapuung said shortly. "We must act now. Tonight,

or never."

"We can't!" Anakin said. "There's something I still have to do."

"Impossible."

"No, listen. You said  one  reason  you  wanted  me  was  because  of  my

lightsaber, right?"

"It would help us a great deal," Rapuung growled  reíluctantly.  "Without

it I am not certain how we will cirícumvent the portals  and  safeguards."  He

cocked his head. " You lied to me? You have the weapon?"

"It doesn't work. But I can fix it. With the lambent I can fix it."

"Do so, then, and hurry."

"Even if I hurry, it could take a day or two."

"Again, impossible. We cannot hide for two days here, and if we go beyond

the perimeter, we will never come back in."

"I need two days," Anakin said stubbornly.

"Tomorrow they will realize I am alive," Rapuung said. "Unless you have a

Jeedai sorcery to make us invisible..."

"No," Anakin said, "but×listen. The temple that was here, the  one  built

of stone. How was it destroyed?"

"What? A damutek was landed on it. Its substance was dissolved  and  used

to nourish the coral."

"But did they fill in the caverns below it?"

"Caverns?"

"Yes," Anakin said excitedly. "If they just flattened the temple with one

of these damuteks, the caverns underíneath might still be  there.  Didn't  you

say the damuteks drive down roots, or something×for water and minerals?"

Rapuung swore. "Of course," he said. "If there  are  inídeed  caverns  of

size below, and if the gods are with us× but of course  they  are.  I  am  Vua

Rapuung."

He said this last as if repeating  a  mantra,  and  Anakin  felt  renewed

apprehension, remembering Uunu's opinion of Rapuung. If there had indeed  been

an official attempt on his life, he might have  gone  from  being  a  solenoid

short of a transformer to a fused mess of circuits.

But did it matter? Mad or not, Rapuung was the closest thing to  an  ally

Anakin had. Right now, he would take what he could get.

Rapuung kept talking, almost to himself it seemed. "They  will  think  we

have run into the jungle again. She will search for us  there,  never  in  the

very roots of her stronghold. Never below her very  feet.  But  we  will  need

gnullith breathers."

"You can get those, right?" Anakin asked.

"I can get them. But this is a risk," Rapuung  warned  him.  "If  we  are

noticed entering the roots, we will be sealed there to  die  very  long,  very

ignoble deaths."

"More ignoble than dying a Shamed One?" Anakin shot  back.  "Besides,  it

never occurred to me you were worried by risk."

He couldn't see Rapuung's face, but he could imagine the glare there.

"A good thing you never thought that,"  Rapuung  replied.  "A  very  good

thing. As I said. Wait here."

And he was gone, leaving only his putrid scent  and  the  shadow  of  his

anger. Anakin was once again alone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX "Adept Nen Yim?"

Nen Yim searched the darkened laboratory grotto for the sound of her name

and found it coming from a young  male  with  the  forehead  marks  of  Domain

Qel×one of the smaller minor shaper domains. He lacked a shaper's hands, which

placed him below her in rank.

"You have my name, Initiate," she said, letting a bit of irritation show.

"And my attention." Her head throbbed and occasionally spiked with the pain of

the Vaa-tumor thriving in it, but she  embraced  the  growing  discomfort.  It

would not interfere with her work, or this conversation.

The male's headdress was knotted in respect,  but  someíthing  about  his

face remained annoyingly bold, if not challenging.

"My name is Tsun," he said. "I have been assigned by Master Mezhan  Kwaad

to aid you today in our glorious work."

Nen Yim braided tendrils in  skepticism.  "The  master  said  nothing  of

assistants," she noted. "She was to meet me here herself."

Again, Tsun trod the outskirts of perniciousness in the studied  ease  of

his answer. "Mezhan Kwaad sent me, Adept, to explain that  she  will  meditate

today rather than labor. Her Vaa-tumor is to be removed next  cycle,  and  she

wishes these last periods to contemplate her pain."

"I see. Your message is delivered then. But how am  I  to  recognize  her

authority in it?"

Tsun's eyes flashed with a certain mischievous light. "I  must  say,"  he

purred, "I am honored. I have much wished to meet you, Adept Nen Yim."

That had a strange effect. She felt a slight warmth creep  up  her  neck.

Was this another side effect of her Vaa-tumor? She commanded her headdress  to

remain quiescent. "Oh?" she replied.

"Yes. I was once a companion to a friend of yours. Yakun."

This time she had to clench her tendrils to  keep  her  emotions  hidden.

This was suddenly a very dangerous and painful nestling of history  and  words

to be a part of.

"Yakun?" she said, as if just remembering that there was such a name. "He

was a Domain Kwaad initiate in Baanu Kor?"

Tsun nodded. "Yes. He introduced me to you  once,  when  you  tended  the

mernip breeding pools together."

"That was before his heresy," Nen Yim said.

"Yes," Tsun agreed. "Before they took him."

"We shall not speak of him, then, shall we?" Nen Yim replied. "For he  is

a heretic and not to be spoken of. I will forgive this mention of him. Once."

Tsun genuflected. "I knew him well, Adept Nen Yim, in the days after your

reassignment. He spoke of you  often.  He  often  wished  to  hear  from  you,

especially near the end."

She kept her tongue and tentacles as still as  unliving  stone,  but  she

remembered. Remembered hearing the news of Yakun's accusation  and  sacrifice.

She remembered priívate, forbidden moments  with  him  before,  and  her  vain

prayers to Yun-Txiin and Yun-Q'aah to protect him.

How she had tried not to think of him at all.

Perhaps Tsun understood her posture, or her headídress betrayed her,  for

through the sudden renewal of pain behind her eyes, she saw he knew.

"I do not mean to sadden you," he said. "It is only  that  Master  Mezhan

Kwaad asked me to tell you I knew him, that we were confidants."

The flash of agony released as suddenly as it had come. Mezhan Kwaad  did

send him, Nen Yim thought, her growing panic taking a step back. This  is  her

message I am to trust him. Yakun was a heretic. My master is a heretic. So  is

Tsun.

"Initiate Tsun," she said firmly. "I said we should  not  speak  of  that

person. I mean it. Now let me show you our work."

The Jeedai's eyes had lost much of their focus; she no longer glared like

a predatory beast. Instead she stared for long hours at  nothing,  a  look  of

puzzlement on her face.

"She seems stunned," Tsun noticed.

Nen Yim signaled the vivarium to become opaque to sound.  "She  can  hear

us, and she knows the tongue of  the  gods.  Even  in  that  state  she  might

remember anyíthing we say. Or nothing."

"She is being drugged?"

"Not precisely. We are altering her memories."

"Ah," Tsun said knowingly. "The protocol of Qah."

"No," Nen Yim corrected, "not exactly. That proítocol was ineffective  on

her human brain."

"How can that be?"

"It is a simple biotic protocol in which clumps  of  memory  neurons  are

introduced into a Yuuzhan Vong brain. The Jeedai's brain is too different."

"And yet you are modifying her memory."

"A bit at a time. Soon we will be able to do so much more efficiently."

"You have prayed for a new protocol?" Tsun asked slyly.

"No," Nen Yim replied. "Our approach  has  followed  two  axes.  We  have

mapped and remapped her nervous system. We have identified her memory networks

and are using the provoker spineray to discourage their use."

"You mean her old memories trigger pain?"

"Yes. Accessing her long-term memory extracts a pain sacrifice. The  more

connected memories she tries to bring to conscious thought,  the  greater  her

suffering."

"Why not simply wipe clean the centers of memory and begin again?"

"Because she retains the knowledge of  her  Jeedai  powers.  A  day  will

come×after we've shaped her× when we'll want her to remember how to use them."

Tsun studied the human. "I see you have scarred  her  forehead  with  the

Domain Kwaad sign."

"We will do more, in time. We  will  alter  her  face,  esípecially  that

strange nose of hers. But that is superficial. Attend."

Nen Yim squatted near the vivarium membrane, opened it  again  to  sound,

and spoke to the Jeedai. "What is your name?" she asked.

The Jeedai didn't react. With a sigh, Nen Yim stimuílated  a  minor  pain

center and cortical nerve with the proívoker spineray.

What would have once made the young Jeedai shriek in  agony  only  cycles

before now merely made her flutter her eyes and frown.

"Yes, Adept?" the Jeedai said, as if waking reluctantly from a dream.

"What is your name?" Nen Yim asked.

"My name?"

"Yes."

" It is×" She frowned, then suddenly her eyes bulged and she gripped  her

head. "My name is×" Her teeth clenched and her face went white. Then, as if in

sudden remembrance, the Jeedai's face cleared.

"My name is Riina Kwaad," she said.

"Very good, Riina," Nen Yim said. "You have learned. And today  you  will

learn more."

"I see now," Tsun said. "You trellis her  thoughts.  Uníwanted  responses

bring pain. Desired ones do not."

"No," Nen Yim replied. "That name came from an implanted memory."

"But you just said that the protocol of Qah was ineffective."

"Yes. But we can build a kind of Qah cell  using  her  own,  human  brain

cells."

A look of sheer delight crossed the initiate's face. "So it is true,"  he

whispered. "Here, you pursue  our  dream,  the  superprotocol×the  methods  of

finding new knowledge without asking the gods."

Nen Yim felt infected by his joy, but she drew her tentaícles into a mild

admonishment. "Here, in these chambers of  the  master,  such  things  may  be

spoken in security," she cautioned. "But outside of this room, have a care."

"Yes, of course. I know what happens to heretics as well as you. But what

am I to do? Command me, Adept Nen Yim. Make me a part of this!"

He was very like Yakun, Nen Yim  reflected.  How  had  she  not  seen  it

immediately, the passion in his eyes? It was almost as if her lover  had  been

reborn.

Keep to the task at hand, she counseled  herself.  "The  modified  memory

cells are weak," she told Tsun. "Most are rejected within a  matter  of  hours

and have to be reimplanted. My  task  is  to  understand  why;  it  is  not  a

biochemical matter, as I see it×difficult to explain, and perhaps connected to

her Jeedai powers. Your task, Iniítiate Tsun, is to grow new memories for her.

We are in the process of  transferring  a  complete  set  of  false  memoíries

developed in the Qah protocol to a human-cell equivaílent.  We  can  then  bud

them as many times as we wish. When I have found a way  to  condition  her  to

accept imíplanted memories permanently, we will then have a comíplete  set  to

transfer. Meanwhile, we modify the cells, try them out, and see how long  they

last. We might stumble on a biological solution in the process, or at the very

least learn more about how her memory works."

"I hear and obey," Tsun said eagerly. "But since there is no protocol  to

follow..."

"I  will  demonstrate.  The  trials  were  rigorous  and  reíquired  much

testing×"

"Testing," Tsun breathed. "A word I never thought to hear spoken aloud in

this context."

"Are you listening, Initiate, or will you comment on my every word?"  Nen

Yim remonstrated, trying to keep her voice stern.

"Apologies, Adept," he said. "I am all attention."

"Good.  I  was  saying,  Initiate,  that  developing  the  proícess   was

difficult, but the resulting protocol is simple, and as easy to follow as  any

of the god-given ones. If you come here, I will describe it to you."

He genuflected and followed her eagerly, but did not interrupt her  again

except with necessary questions.

Riina watched the two Yuuzhan Vong go about their work in confusion.  Who

were they? Why was she here?

Discontinuity. She came to, trembling, her  thoughts  drifting  in  angry

swarms, unwilling to associate with one another.  She  remembered  the  female

asking her name, and answering "Riina." That hadn't hurt.

But somehow it was wrong.

There were things she could see from the corner  of  her  eye  she  could

never see looking straight on. Her real name was like that, lurking  just  out

of sight. When she tried to stare straight at it, it bit her with  hot  needle

teeth.

That was true of a lot of things. The face that kept  apípearing  in  the

dark of her mind, the voice that sometimes rang in her head, the  memory  that

kept trying to surface of how she had gotten here×all were shifting trails  in

the sand, all led to agony.

But she couldn't give up. She wasn't supposed to be here.

Or was she? Brief flashes of color and sound came, now, of a world turned

inside out, with no sky but only land that curved up to meet itself. A creche-

mother with a sloped forehead and nearly  noseless  face.  The  prickly  sweet

scent of fuming omipal during the ritual of appelílation. The spicy,  slightly

rotten taste of von'u, a rare treat given her by her naming-father.

Riina they called her. Riina Kwaad.

She felt as if she were  drifting  down  a  stream  of  soothíing  water,

surrounded by comforting voices. She rubbed her forehead and felt the marks of

her domain, and even the raw pain of them felt good, in its own way.

Tahiri!

The voice again. Memories of her past splintered  like  crystal  and  cut

into her brain. Other images flashed, names. One name.

Anakin.

The stream became a river, raging, sucking her under, and Anakin  was  in

it with her. She held to the image, though paroxysms shook her body.

This was real. This happened! We were little, at  the  academy,  we  were

following dreams that drew us together× She screamed, leapt, and slammed  into

the barrier that separated her from the Yuuzhan Vong. She reached out  in  the

Force to try to choke them, but they weren't there, somehow. There was nothing

real behind their startled faces.

"My name is Tahiri!" she screamed at them. "I am Jedi! Tahiri!"

Then a tidal wave of dazzling anguish  crawled  up  every  single  nerve,

centipedes with legs of fire, and she lost consciousness.

"What did it say?" Tsun asked.

"That was Basic, the language of the infidels," Nen Yim told him.

"Should she be able to access that?"

"No. She still resists. We found that  she  somehow  reíroutes  to  nerve

clusters we have  not  mined.  However,  the  provoker  spineray  follows  the

reroutes and stimulates them, as well. In time, she will have no way  into  or

out of those memories save through the embrace of pain. By that time  it  will

not matter. She will be infidel no longer, and will welcome the challenge."

"Thank you for explaining," he said.

Nen Yim acknowledged him with a twist of her headídress, returning to her

work.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN The damutek root was a hollow tube, and when Anaíkin

and Vua Rapuung entered it, it was almost a meter in diameter. Close, but  not

claustrophobic.

As soon as  it  sensed  their  presence,  it  constricted,  hugíging  the

contours of their bodies with insistent strength. Anakin had to straighten his

arms in front of him and drag  himself  downward  with  the  strength  of  his

fingers.

He felt as if he was suffocating. He couldn't go backíwards, not with Vua

Rapuung behind him. To make matters worse, he was moving against a gentle  but

unreílenting current. When the pressure against him grew too  great  he  would

curl his body into a fetal position, someíthing that took almost every bit  of

strength he had. When he released and straightened his body, it took  sevíeral

seconds for the root walls to contract and conform to his body again. It  felt

like trying to crawl up the esophaígus of a snake intent  on  swallowing.  The

only problem with that analogy was that if he were doing  that,  he  would  be

assured of light at the end of the mucilaginous tunnel. Here he  was  crawling

toward darkness, maybe nothingness.  What  if  the  root  ended  in  a  sealed

aquifer? How long would the breather shoved  down  his  windpipe  continue  to

work? Until he starved, probably.

If he ever got off Yavin 4, he  promised  himself,  he  would  visit  his

uncle's homeworld, Tatooine, or some other similarly desiccated place. He  had

had more than enough of water and other  fluids  on  this  trip  to  last  him

decades.

Fighting a nattering little  panic,  Anakin  continued  dragging  himself

forward. Minutes piled into hours.

He thought of sunlight, wind, infinite space.

He thought of Tahiri. Was he wrong to  try  to  rebuild  his  lightsaber?

Should he have gone on charging  after  her  without  it?  The  strong,  early

contacts in the Force had faded to occasional brushes,  most  powerfully  when

she was in agony. Anakin had the clear impression that  Taíhiri  was  actually

avoiding contact, shoving him away.

Despite this, an image of her prison had assembled itíself in his  mind×a

small chamber divided from a larger one by a thin  but  unbreakable  membrane.

Her jailers were Yuuzhan Vong like the one he  had  seen  by  the  sucícession

pool, the one with the tentacled headdress. Sevíeral other cells like the  one

she was in were visible, but these were empty and dark, presumably waiting for

more young Jedi captives.

The other thing he was certain of was that Tahiri was in a great deal  of

confusion. Not only did she not respond to his  touch,  she  sometimes  didn't

even recognize it.

If he thought he could save her without his lightsaber...

But he couldn't. Even the insanely reckless Vua Raípuung thought  so,  or

they would never be squeezing themselves down a kilometer of small intestine.

Tahiri could hang in there for another two days. She had to. And to  save

her, he could crawl through anything.

Muscles trembling, even when he freshened them with the Force,  he  moved

on.

When he finally emerged into a space large enough  that  he  could  float

free and touch nothing, he silently celeíbrated  it  by  stretching,  bending,

kicking his arms, and waving his feet. It was the most  delicious  feeling  he

could imagine at that moment. For perhaps a minute he thought of  nothing  but

this simple jubilation, but then the darkíness lurking in  his  mind  reminded

him he would have to crawl right back up the Sith-spawned thing if this cavern

didn't go anywhere. He took out his lambent crystal and willed it to life.

Rapuung appeared, floating facing him, looking  like  a  reptilian  water

monster. Beyond him Anakin saw the tube opening extruding from a stone surface

that bent to envelop them in a cavern of  indeterminate  size.  Anaíkin  found

gravity's direction and started following the surface up, trailing one hand on

it. At the same time he stretched out with the Force, sensing  water  drumming

slowly through stone, searching for the sounding  boards,  the  hollow  places

where air held court.

Anakin thought he'd been happy to leave the tube.  Pulling  himself  onto

damp stone, yanking the gnullith from his mouth, was infinitely better. He sat

there, gaspíing and wet, as Vua Rapuung climbed out of the water behind him.

"I hope this was worth it," Rapuung growled.

"It will be."

"Heal your weapon so we can leave this skulking pit."

"I'll start in a moment," Anakin said. "But first, Vua Rapuung,  tell  me

something. Do you really believe that the marks of your shame  were  inflicted

upon you by a shaper? That she did this to you for rejecting her love?"

"Who have you been talking to?"

"The other Shamed Ones talk. They saw me with you."

Rapuung's face contorted as if he had swallowed the foulest thing in  the

world, but his head chopped affirmatively.

"Our love was forbidden. We both knew it. For a time neither of us cared.

We believed that Yun-Txiin and Yun-Q'aah had taken pity on us, dared the wrath

of Yun - Yuuzhan, and given  us  a  special  dispensation.  Such  things  have

happened before, no matter what ignorant things you may have heard."  His  lip

curled. "It did not happen with us. We were wrong."

"And you broke it off."

"Yes. Love is a madness. When my sanity began to reíturn, I knew  that  I

could not violate the will of the gods. I told her so."

"And she didn't like that."

Rapuung snorted. "She blasphemed. She  said  there  were  no  gods,  that

belief in them was superstition, that we are free to do whatever  we  dare  so

long as we are strong." His eyes turned away from Anakin. "Despite her heresy,

I would never have told anyone her words. She did not believe that. She feared

I would denounce her, or that one day our forbidden trysting would come to the

attention of her superiors. She is ambitious, Mezíhan Kwaad. She is  spiteful.

She made me appear Shamed because she knew no one would credit my words  then,

that anything I said would be taken as the ravings of a lunatic."

"Why didn't she just kill you?" Anakin asked. "Give you  some  poison  or

fatal disease?"

"She is more cruel than that," Rapuung snarled. "She would never give  me

the release of death when she could debase me instead."

Rapuung's eyes focused on the lambent. "What else did  the  other  Shamed

Ones say? They called me insane, yes?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact."

"I am not."

Anakin measured his words out carefully. "I don't care if  you  are,"  he

said. "I don't care about your reívenge any more than you care  about  Tahiri.

But I need to know how far you will go. You say you're reconciled to me  using

my lightsaber."

"I have said so."

"I'm going to rebuild it, as I told you. What I didn't  mention  is  that

I'm going to rebuild it using this." He held up the lambent.

The Yuuzhan Vong's eyes widened. "You would graft  a  living  servant  to

your machine?"

"A lightsaber isn't exactly a machine."

"It isn't alive."

"In a way it is," Anakin said.

"In a way dung is the same as food,  at  the  molecular  level,  perhaps.

Speak plainly."

"To do that, I have to tell you about the Force, and you have to listen."

"The Force is what you Jeedai kill with," Rapuung said.

"It's much mere than that."

"Why do you wish to explain this to me? "

"Because when I use my lightsaber, I don't want any  surprises  from  you

like I got when I lit the fire. I want to have this out here and now."

"Very well. Explain your heresy to me."

"You've seen me use the Force. You have to admit it is real."

"I've seen things. They may have been tricks. Talk."

"The Force is generated by life. It binds all things toígether.  It's  in

everything×the water, the stone, the trees in the forest. I am a Jedi  Knight.

We're born with an aptiítude for the Force, an ability to sense it, to control

it×to guard its balance."

"Balance?"

Anakin hesitated. How to explain sight to a  blind  man?  "The  Force  is

light and life, but it is also darkness. Both are necessary, but they have  to

be kept balanced. In harmony."

"Putting aside the stupidity of that whole idea," Raípuung said,  "you're

telling me you Jeedai Knights keep  this  'balance'?  How?  By  rescuing  your

comrades? By killing Yuuzhan Vong? Does fighting my people  bring  balance  in

this Force? How can it, when you admit we do not exist in it? You can  move  a

rock, but you cannot move me."

"That's sometimes true," Anakin admitted.

"Very well. If  your  superstition  demands  you  seek  to  balance  this

mysterious power, why are the Yuuzhan Vong your concern? Why bother with us at

all?"

" Because you've invaded  our  galaxy,  killed  our  people,  stolen  our

worlds. You don't expect us to fight back?"

"I expect warriors to fight, to embrace pain and death, to sing the  song

of slaughter with bloody lips. That is what Yuuzhan Vong do, and we do it  not

to bring balíance, but truth. What you describe makes no  sense.  Tell  me×are

the Yuuzhan Vong part of this 'dark side' you speak of?"

Anakin looked at him frankly. "I think so."

"Does your magical Force tell you this?"

"No. Because×"

" Because we do not exist in it. It is not a part of us or we a  part  of

it. So again, how do you judge us a part of your dark side?"

"By your actions," Anakin said.

"Actions? We kill in battle. You kill in battle. We kill in stealth.  You

kill in stealth. You fight for your people. I fight for mine."

"It's our galaxy!"

" The gods have given it to us. They have  commanded  we  bring  you  the

truth. This Force of yours is for lesser beings, those who  do  not  know  the

gods."

"I do not accept that," Anakin said.

"And yet you would have me  accept  something  I  cannot  see  or  smell?

Something you merely tell me exíists? Do you believe in the gods?"

Anakin hesitated, then tried again. "You've seen me use the Force."

"I've seen you do amazing things. I haven't seen you do anything that  we

Yuuzhan Vong could not accomíplish. Our dovin basals  can  move  planets.  Our

yamímosks and even the lowly lambent you hold there can speak mind to mind.  I

admit what I see×that you have powers I do not have. I need not  believe  your

superístitions as to where these powers come from."

"Then don't," Anakin said hotly.

"And what does all of this have  to  do  with  building  your  abominable

weapon?"

"A lightsaber is more than just an ordinary weapon. Each Jedi builds  his

or her own. The pieces are bound toígether by the Force and by the Jedi's will

and make someíthing greater than the sum of its  parts.  It  becomes  a  thing

alive in the Force."

"It is made of inanimate parts. It cannot be alive."

"All living things are made of inanimate parts, if you look small enough,

" Anakin pointed out. "Nothing is really inanimate. As I said, the Force is in

everything. There will be something of me in my lightsaber, and  something  of

this lambent in me."

Vua Rapuung nodded thoughtfully. " I begin to see the roots of your  foul

heresy, now. You make use of abomiínations  because  you  somehow  think  them

alive?"

Anakin stood abruptly. "I've explained what I'm goíing to  do.  Will  you

oppose me? Are you going to snap when I start fighting  your  people  with  my

lightsaber?"

Vua Rapuung glared at him in the dim light of the lambent.  Anakin  could

hear his teeth clicking together.

"The gods led me to you," he said at last. "Not Yun-Shuno, that many-eyed

mother of snivelers, but Yun-Yuuzhan himself. He told me in a vision that  the

Jeedai infidel with his blade of light  would  lead  me  to  my  reívenge  and

vindication. That is why I followed you down here, when my instincts  screamed

against it. It is why I did not kill you when you used the first  abomination.

Everything you say sounds to me as a lie. The  reasons  you  give  for  me  to

accept your weapon make no sense. But Yun-Yuuzhan has spoken to me."

"Then you accept what I told you about the Force?"

"Of course not. As I said before, I can admit that what my senses tell me

is true without believing your delirious justification of it. Your weapon  may

be acceptable to the gods; your heresy is not. Build your blade."

With that, Rapuung stalked off into the darkness.

"And you say I don't make any sense," Anakin sighed.

Disappointment edged at Anakin, but he fought it back.

He could feel the lambent, but not in the Force, not  the  way  he  could

feel everything else about his weapon. Everything was in place, fitted,  ready

to work. But what he had told  Rapuung  was  the  truth;  the  real  moment  a

lightsaber became a Jedi's weapon was when the first amperes of power trickled

through it, when each piece became a part of the other and a part of the  Jedi

buildíing it.

But the lambent was resisting that. Well, not resisting actually, but not

going along with the whole scheme, either.

And time was passing, each moment bringing  Tahiri  closer  to  something

terrible.

Concentrate, he thought. There is no try.

But there was failure, especially here. Master Yoda's words,  his  entire

philosophy, required the presence of the Force in everything.

But the Force wasn't in the Yuuzhan Vong. It  wasn't  in  their  biotech.

They could be fought only indirectly, with things that could be sensed in  the

Force.

Something slapped him, then, something that had  been  cocking  its  hand

back for a long time.

Master Yoda was wrong.

The Jedi were wrong, and Vua Rapuung was right. If  the  Jedi  stood  for

nothing but seeking balance in  the  Force,  then  he  did  have  no  business

fighting the Yuuzhan Vong. Oh, he could rescue Tahiri; after  all,  preventing

her from becoming a dark Jedi was at the core of  the  phiílosophy.  But  were

actions×However bad or evil they seemed×were the actions of the  Yuuzhan  Vong

in and of themselves worth opposing if they had no effect on the Force?

To be sure, the aliens were killing people, which alíways  disturbed  the

Force. But did it unbalance it? The Yuuzhan Vong weren't gathering dark energy

about themíselves. If anyone ran the risk of doing that, it was Jedi like  Kyp

and maybe even himself. Seen like that, fighting the  Yuuzhan  Vong  was  more

likely to unbalance the Force than any action they themselves might take.

Sure, that all made sense. It almost  sounded  like  something  Jacen  or

Uncle Luke would say. But that was all predicated on the  certainty  that  the

Force was in everything.

And it wasn't. And while the facts of the matter were staring them all in

the face, no Jedi had had the guts to confront the new reality.  Instead  they

were acting like spoiled children, complaining that the  Yuuzhan  Vong  didn't

play fair, weren't following those black-and-white rules. So Kyp went  out  to

shoot them, to try to make the problem go away by killing  it.  Jacen  huddled

away in inídecision. Maybe he was right.

No. It wasn't right for the Yuuzhan Vong to kill whole planets. It wasn't

right for them to enslave people. Those actions were evil,  they  were  wrong,

and they had to be fought. If the Force did not draw that line and  set  great

dark-side alarms wailing, then maybe Anakin didn't serve the Force. Or to  put

it more precisely, he served  someíthing  more  fundamental  than  the  Force,

something of which the Force was a manifestation,  an  emanation×a  tool.  Not

Rapuung's gods, or any  god,  but  some  fundaímental  truth  built  into  the

universe at a subatomic level. In his galaxy, the Force  was  the  servant  of

that truth. Wheríever the Yuuzhan Vong were from, some other mani -  festation

must prevail. But light remained light,  and  dark,  dark.  And  whatever  had

happened to the Yuuzhan Vong, they had turned to the dark side  long  ago.  If

the Empire of Palpatine had prevailed and traveled to  another  galaxy  on  an

errand of conquest, a galaxy where the Force  was  not  known,  what  evidence

would the people there have of the light side of the Force?  Could  they  know

that the Empire was an aberration of what ought to be? No.  Similarly,  Anakin

didn't know×couldn't know×what manifestation of the light the Yuuzhan Vong had

left beíhind them. But they had left it behind.

Maybe this was even the result of a whole people turning entirely to  the

dark side. Maybe the Force simply rejected them, or they it.

That didn't make them all evil, any more than everyíone  who  served  the

Empire was evil. But it made them worth opposing.  Without  anger  or  hatred,

yes. But they had to be stopped, and Anakin Solo would  never  turn  his  eyes

from that.

With a sudden surge of confidence,  he  reached  for  the  parts  of  his

lightsaber in the Force and then pressed deeper.

So he had to work indirectly with the  Yuuzhan  Vong  and  their  things.

Fine. But behind the seeming disunity, there must be unity.

And in a flash of epiphany he had it. The link between the  rest  of  his

lightsaber and the lambent was Anakin Solo. It was in him the changes  had  to

happen.

Power surged and crackled, and the cavern echoed with  a  snap-hiss,  and

somewhere Vua Rapuung snarled.

Anakin opened his eyes to the purple glow of his lightsaber  and  felt  a

grin slash his face in half.

"I am Jedi again," he said quietly.

Perhaps a new kind of Jedi altogether.

"Two cycles have come and gone,"  Vua  Rapuung  growled,  a  few  moments

later. His features were hollow in the violet glow.  "Your  abominable  weapon

works, it seems. Are we done with skulking? May we at last emíbrace our foes?"

" You embrace them," Anakin said. "I'm going to  knock  them  down.  Your

shapers want Jedi? One is coming to them."

PART  THREE  CONQUEST  CHAPTER  TWENTY-EIGHT  Mezhan  Kwaad  curled   her

headdress in recognition at Nen Yim as she entered the laboratory.

"Detail your progress, Adept," the master said. Her tone was curt and her

tendrils suggested irritation.

"We made good progress in your absence, Master," Nen Yim said cautiously.

"I think with only minor geínetic adjustments, the  memory  implants  will  be

permaínent. She resists them less than she did when last you were here."

"Yes," Mezhan Kwaad replied,  anger  twitching  her  tendrils.  "Valuable

days, missed." She turned to Nen Yim. " But at least you were here, my  adept,

and competent to carry on."

Nen Yim watched Mezhan Kwaad cross to the viívarium. The Jeedai still had

a blank look most of the time, but now  and  then  Nen  Yim  thought  she  saw

someíthing working behind those alien green eyes. Something more Yuuzhan  Vong

than human.

"Can you tell me your name?" Mezhan Kwaad asked the Jeedai.

Only a slight hesitation, this time. "Riina," the Jeedai said.  "My  name

is Riina."

"Very good, Riina. Did Nen Yim explain what has been done to you?"

"A little."

"Tell me what you remember."

"The infidels captured me as a child, at the rim of  their  galaxy.  They

made me look like one of them and gave me false  memories  with  their  Jeedai

powers."

"This seems right to you?"

"Not always. Sometimes I think I am×" She gasped and clenched her  hands.

"×someone else."

"The infidel conditioning was excellent.  Before  we  rescued  you,  they

tried to wipe your mind clean. There was much damage."

"I feel that," the Jeedai answered.

"There is something I need to know," Mezhan Kwaad replied. "You were born

with certain powers. You were taught lies  about  these  powers,  but  we  are

attending to that. What I fear, Riina, is that your injuries may have crippled

those powers."

"I cannot even think of them," the Jeedai said. Small droplets  of  water

formed in the corners of her eyes and ran down her face.

"I'm going to help you with that," the master said. She gestured to  make

the vivarium opaque to sound  and  spoke  to  Nen  Yim.  "Quiet  the  provoker

spineray."

Nen Yim started. "Master, that might not be wise. She still  has  moments

when she asserts her real identity. We have closed most of those neural paths,

but if we remove the promise of pain×"

"The new memories are in place for now, yes?  They  seem  to  be  working

quite well. They will keep her in check. This will not take long."

"This will confuse her," Nen Yim argued. "It might set us back."

"Who is master here, Adept?"  Mezhan  Kwaad  asked  brusquely.  "Are  you

seriously questioning my expertise?"

Nen Yim quickly genuflected. "I am pitiable, Master. Of course I shall do

as you say. I merely wished to voice my concerns."

"They are noted. Now, silence the spineray."

Nen Yim did so, and Mezhan Kwaad once again made the  membrane  permeable

to sound. She produced a small stone from her oozhith's pouch and placed it on

the chamber floor.

"Once you could lift a stone like this with  your  will,"  she  told  the

Jeedai. "I wish to see you do so now."

"I will have to call upon false memories," the  Jeedai  moaned.  "Painful

ones."

"We embrace pain," Mezhan Kwaad said. "Your reísistance to it is a  human

weakness implanted in you. Do as I say."

"Yes, Master," the Jeedai replied. She fixed her gaze on  the  stone  and

closed her eyes. She winced, but then her face smoothed, and the stone  lifted

from the floor as if grasped in an invisible hand.

Mezhan Kwaad barked a brief, victorious laugh. "Nen Yim," she  commanded,

"map the brain areas showing the most activity."

"Yes, Master."

"Riina, you may lower the stone, now."

Obediently, the stone sank back to the floor.

"It didn't hurt," the Jeedai said. "I thought it would hurt."

"You  see?  Your  cure  is  progressing  well.  Soon  you  will  remember

everything about your life as a Yuuzhan Vong."

" I wish..." The Jeedai trailed off wistfully.

"What?"

"I feel like I'm two halves of two different people, glued together," she

said. "I wish I were whole again."

"You will be," Mezhan Kwaad answered. "Before you know it, you  will  be.

Now, if you could lift the stone again, please."

"Clearly these abilities aren't located in a single brain center any more

than they are generated by an organ," Mezhan Kwaad said later, as they  looked

over the results of their experimentation.

"Her  Jeedai  powers  are  distributed  in  the   neural   net   somehow,

nonlocalized. The commands come from this lobe in  the  front  of  her  brain,

obviously, which is where most of her coherent thought occurs,  as  well.  And

yet there is also considerable activity in the hindbrain."

"Perhaps her control emanates from modified musícular systems,"  Nen  Yim

suggested.

"I see no evidence that this young female has been modified in  any  way,

and the infidels have shown only the most rudimentary knowledge of biology."

"I meant modified by selection from generation to generation."

"Selective breeding? Interesting. We know from our infidel  sources  that

this 'Force' runs more strongly in some families than others, and that  Jeedai

often mate with Jeedai." Her tentacles knotted in frustration. "We  need  more

Jeedai, a larger sample. The incompetence of warriors×" She suddenly  tremored

and reached her eight-fingered hand to her head. "It is time. I must have  the

Vaa-tumor removed. Yet another despicable delay."

Nen Yim gave her master a puzzled look. "I thought  that's  where  you've

been, having the Vaa-tumor removed."

Mezhan Kwaad's eyes went to slits. "What? Why did you think that?"

" You were gone for two cycles, Master."

"Indeed, engaged in  meaningless  political  exercises  with  Master  Yal

Phaath. He called via villip for a formal convocation of masters on the matter

of delegating reísponsibilities on the new worldship.  I  was  forced  into  a

ritual seclusion, and at a quite inconvenient time."

"But the assistant you sent said nothing of that. He  did  say  you  were

having your Vaa-tumor removed."

That had a remarkable effect on Mezhan Kwaad. Her tendrils fell limp, and

her tone went colder than frozen nitrogen. "What assistant?"

"Tsun."

"I know no one by that name," Mezhan Kwaad said.

"But he told me you sent him."

"And that I was having my Vaa-tumor removed?"

"Yes. But he knew things about me. About what we do here."

Mezhan Kwaad folded down to a sitting mat and rubbed her head.

"No," she sighed. "He guessed that we were engaged  in  heresy,  and  you

confirmed it. The convocation was a ruse to keep me busy. Yal Phaath  now  has

his evidence, thanks to you."

"No!"

"Oh, I'm afraid so," a voice from the doorway boomed. Nen Yim spun to see

Commander Tsaak Vootuh standíing in the doorway, an  escort  of  his  personal

guard just behind him.

Mezhan Kwaad drew herself to her full height.

"This is a shaper damutek. You do not have my perímission to enter it."

"I do not need it," the commander  replied.  "I  have  the  authority  of

Master Yal Phaath. I'm also afraid I must take both of you captive and  search

your chambers for evidence."

"Evidence of what? Accuse us!" Mezhan Kwaad snapped. "Do  not  insult  us

with captivity without challenging!"

"The  accusation  is  heresy,  of  course,"  Tsaak  Vootuh  replied.  "An

accusation readily born out by the evidence, I feel certain."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Going back up the root was much  easier  than  coming

down it; the current was with them. It was not one miícron more pleasant.

They emerged in the succession pool under orange Yavin light.

On the way up, Anakin had noticed an interesting thing.

Vua Rapuung existed for him now.

Not in the Force, not with the clarity that the Force  ofífered,  but  he

was there, a shadow of fury cast from the lambent to Anakin's mind.

That wasn't all. He also felt the confused, staticky hum of the  hundreds

of Yuuzhan Vong around him. The  noise  cut  in  and  out,  like  a  bad  comm

transmission, but it was undeniably there.

It wasn't the Force, but it was something, and he could see  their  works

with new eyes. His gaze was drawn to details in the living  structures  around

him he hadn't noticed×or cared to notice×before.

With Rapuung, Anakin slipped into the shadows.

" Your Jeedai is still in this damutek?" Rapuung asked.

Anakin concentrated. Tahiri  was  there,  but  every  day  she  became...

fuzzier, harder to pinpoint. Now he barely heard her at all.

"She hasn't moved," Anakin replied. "She's that way." He pointed.

Rapuung grimaced. "That's  not  the  core  laboratories  of  the  shaping

compound."

"It's where I feel her."

Rapuung rubbed his flat nose. "It makes sense. It's  where  her  quarters

are, her personal chambers. If she keeps the work on the Jeedai close to  her,

and hopes it will go unseen, she would do it there."

"Why would she want that?" Anakin asked.

"I don't know. I don't understand the way of shapers.  And  yet  she  was

always secretive in what she did. She was always nervous." His voice  softened

slightly. "Alíways doing things she shouldn't."

"Like having an affair with you."

Rapuung's nostrils contracted until  they  were  nearly  closed,  but  he

chopped his head once. "Yes. Speak no more of it. Come, infidel."

"Lead on. I know the direction, but not the way."

Without another word, Rapuung padded off. An opening in the  wall  parted

for him.

The shaper compound was an eight-armed star with the pool in the  center.

The corridor they entered took them up one of the arms. Within,  the  compound

was illuíminated by phosphorescence punctuated by the occaísional lambent that

sparked to life when Rapuung came near. A faint smell of  seaweed  and  lizard

permeated the  corridors,  which  were  at  turns  quite  regular  and  wildly

asymmetric. The pool  was  not  the  crosswalks  of  the  place;  a  torus  of

connecting corridors joined the rays of the star and served that purpose.

Anakin tensed as they met their first Yuuzhan Vong.  A  cluster  of  them

stood together, discussing something he couldn't quite catch.  When  they  saw

Rapuung and Anaíkin they stopped and stared, but didn't say anything.

"This is easier than I thought it would be," Anakin said, after they were

past the group.

Rapuung grunted. "I would have killed them if I thought  it  would  help,

but they sent the signal the instant they saw us."

"What are you talking about?"

"A Shamed One and a slave in a shaper compound? Unlikely."

" But they didn't×"

"Scream? Run? Shapers they may be, but they are Yuuízhan Vong. If we came

to kill them, they would be dead. They know that."

"So what do we expect now?"

But Rapuung didn't have to answer. Ahead of them, the walls,  floor,  and

ceiling of the corridor suddenly met one another.

"Whoops," Anakin managed. A quick look behind him showed the same thing.

"We have seconds," Rapuung said. "Do not inhale."

Anakin nodded  and  ignited  his  lightsaber.  The  fierce  purple  light

highlighted the mist emerging from the coríridor walls. Anakin approached  the

obstruction and cut into it with broad strokes.

Vonduun crab armor it wasn't. After the first  cut,  the  stuff  actually

flinched away from his blade. In moments he had carved a hole large enough  to

step through.

Beyond, the corridor continued another four meters and ended  in  another

dilation. This section was already full of mist.

Anakin cut through that, too, but his lungs were starting  to  hurt  now,

and black  spots  danced  before  his  eyes,  so  rather  than  attacking  the

inevitable barrier that had closed beyond the second one, he cut  through  the

wall to his right.

That spilled the pair into a large chamber  where  two  startled  Yuuzhan

Vong looked up from examining someíthing that resembled  a  twined  bundle  of

black vines as big around as Anakin's thigh. He couldn't tell if it was animal

or vegetable, and he didn't care.

"Which way now?" Anakin asked.

Rapuung stabbed a finger at the two shapers. "One of you. Take me to  the

personal laboratories of Master Mezhan Kwaad."

The shorter of the two frowned. "You're a Shamed One."

Rapuung reached him in two strides and struck  him  high  in  the  chest,

lifting the shaper from his feet and slamming him into the wall. He slumped to

the floor, blood spilling from his lips.

"You," Rapuung said to the other. "Lead us to Mezíhan Kwaad."

The second shaper looked at his unconscious comípanion.

"Come with me," he said.

"Can they fill this chamber with gas?" Anakin asked Rapuung.

"Of course. However, now that we've exited the coríridor they think we're

in they'll have to consult with the damutek brain to find us. That  will  take

time. By then, the warriors will be here."

"I was wondering why there weren't any guards."

"This is a shaper place. Warriors must be invited here, and then only  in

times of duress. Normally there is no need for  guards.  It's  been  centuries

since anyone invaded a shaper damutek. Who would wish to but an infidel?"

"Vua Rapuung, apparently," Anakin replied.

The shaper took them through a quick series of  turns  and  then  into  a

long, straight corridor that ended in  one  of  the  membranes  that  normally

served as doors.

"Through there," their captive said, "is the master's personal  chambers.

But the threshold will not open itself to any of us."

"That is why I have a Jeedai  with  me,"  Rapuung  told  him,  as  Anakin

thumbed the blade on and cut through the door. In doing so he nearly  bisected

the warrior just on the other  side.  The  Yuuzhan  Vong  blinked  at  him  in

astonishíment, then jerked his amphistaff to an attack position.

Rapuung charged past Anakin, lunged  beneath  the  warírior's  not-quite-

ready guard, and struck him under the chin with the deteriorating talon on his

elbow. The implant jammed in the being's mandible and tore out. Rapuung hardly

seemed to notice, turning his attention instead to  the  roomful  of  warriors

beyond.

Anakin leapt in behind him and turned aside an amphistaff slashing toward

Rapuung with the blade of his lightsaber. Rapuung's attacker, recognizing  the

new danger, twisted the amphistaff and let it go  limp.  Then  he  whipped  it

underhand toward Anakin's throat. Anakin did a quick circular parry,  wrapping

the limp staff around his blade, and did a jumping  front  kick.  The  Yuuzhan

Vong blocked that with his free  hand,  but  some  of  the  blow's  force  got

through. Anakin cut his blade, dropped in at close quarters, jammed the  blade

emitter under the warrior's armpit, and flicked it back on.

The warrior jerked and fell away, exhaling a cloud of steam.

Anakin sensed a blow from behind, and without thinkíing he ducked, did  a

behind-the-back block, and felt the sharp rap of an  amphistaff.  He  dropped,

swept his uníseen attacker's feet, and tumbled away from yet a third attacker.

Only when he was back in the clear, preparing to meet  the  two,  did  he

realize what had happened. He had sensed the Yuuzhan Vong behind him.  Not  as

clearly as he might in the Force, but it had been  good  enough  to  save  his

life.

They came at him with a certain caution, which gave Anakin time to notice

that Vua Rapuung had downed another warrior and was busily engaged with  three

more. That seemed to complete the count of warriors  in  the  chamber,  though

others might run in from the large openíing at the other end of the room.

One problem at a time.

One of the Yuuzhan Vong slashed at Anakin's left leg, while another did a

whip-over toward his right shoulder. He leapt over the low attack  and  sliced

his blade down the semirigid side of the high one. His blade hit the  Yuuízhan

Vong's fingers, and two of them came off. From there Anakin lunged toward  his

second foe's eye. The fellow jerked his head back and yanked his amphistaff up

to parry. Anakin disengaged, avoiding the parry, and finished his  blow  right

where a human sternum would be. The vonduun crab armor scorched  but  did  not

split, but the blow was strong. The Yuuzhan Vong was already off balance  from

avoiding the thrust to his eye, and now he sprawled heavily to the ground.

In those two or three  seconds,  Anakin's  other  oppoínent  whipped  the

amphistaff in such a way that it coiled around Anakin's head  and  blade,  the

latter of which he had just drawn to an inner  guard  at  his  shoulder.  Only

turning the blade off kept him from being cut by  his  own  weapon,  but  then

there was nothing to prevent the amphistaff from closing around his neck  like

a garrote. Anakin reached reflexively for his  throat,  dropping  his  weapon.

With a cry, the Yuuzhan Vong warrior turned his  back,  clearly  intending  to

heave Anakin in a hard shoulder throw and snap his neck in the process. Anakin

went with the throw and came down face-to-face  with  the  warrior,  his  neck

still intact.

Of  course,  he  couldn't  draw  the  tiniest   sip   of   air.   Alímost

contemptuously, the warrior lifted  him  from  the  floor,  both  hands  still

gripping the ends of the amphistaff.

The Yuuzhan Vong didn't see the lightsaber lift  from  the  floor  behind

him, but he did notice when the purple blade appeared in his neck. He  dropped

Anakin, then.

Unfortunately, the amphistaff continued with  the  busiíness  of  choking

Anakin, and his second foe had found his feet. Anakin managed to get his blade

in hand in time to block a dozen blows from the  warrior's  staff,  before  he

felt his lights going out. His blood screamed for air and his legs  felt  like

they were made of wood.

He fell away from the attack, dropped like a rag doll, and in the  minute

pause when his enemy thought he had really collapsed, he turned the fall  into

a roll that took him past the Yuuzhan Vong, where he cut both legs beíhind the

knee.

Then Anakin saw space.

"How long was I out?" Anakin asked Vua Rapuung. The Yuuzhan Vong  dropped

the amphistaff that had been coiled around Anakin's neck.

"Only heartbeats."

Anakin pushed himself up. "Are there more warriors?"

" None capable of fighting, not  in  this  chamber.  There  may  be  more

nearby."

Anakin gingerly massaged his neck. "I thought you said there wouldn't  be

warriors in here."

"I was wrong. But they must be here for some purpose."

"Maybe they knew we were coming."

"Perhaps. I do not think so. These are the commander's personal troops."

"Wonderful. We'd better hurry this up, then."

"Our guide fled, but we need him no longer. We must be near now."

Anakin looked around at the fallen warriors. "Not that you seem  to  need

it," he said, "but why not take one of these amphistaffs?"

"I have sworn an oath to the gods," Rapuung said. "Until  I  am  redeemed

before my people, I will not lift the weapon of a warrior."

"Oh. That makes sense." Anakin took a few steps and windmilled his  arms,

making sure everything worked.

"I don't like the warriors being here," Rapuung said.

" I'm not fond of it myself."

"That's not what I meant. If they are here without the permission of  the

shapers, it could mean they've come to arrest a shaper or  to  take  something

from them."

"Can they do that?"

Vua Rapuung rasped a laugh. "You know too little of  our  ways,  infidel,

and too little about Mezhan Kwaad."

"But what×" Anakin began, but then he got it. "Tahiri!"

"Come," Vua Rapuung said. "There is still time."

"This is the place," Anakin said. "This is where they had her." His  gaze

searched wildly about the room. It didn't resemble a laboratory so much  as  a

vivisectorium, each surface covered with internal organs×except some of  these

pulsed and mewled the way severed body parts didn't. Usually. A quarter of the

chamber was walled off by a transparent  membrane.  "She  was  in  there,"  he

clarified.

"Of course."

"Where would they have gone?"

" I don't see any other way out," Rapuung replied.

"Well, then×" But as before, he sensed something  at  his  back.  Another

section of the wall had just gone transíparent  and  permeable.  Yuuzhan  Vong

warriors were pouríing through it. Behind  them  Anakin  could  make  out  the

yellow of Tahiri's hair.

" Tahiri!" he shouted, and threw himself at the wave of enemies.

CHAPTER THIRTY Vua Rapuung howled. Anakin fought in grim  silence.  Their

initial charges carried them into the midst of the warriors,  but  unlike  the

group they had just bested, these weren't scattered around a room,  unprepared

for a fight. Anakin and his companion were soon forced back toward  the  first

vivarium by the six warriors who had enígaged them. The other six×one of  whom

was vastly more scarred than the rest, probably a leader×led Tahiri  and  what

appeared to be two female shapers back out the door  Anakin  and  Rapuung  had

entered through.

"No!" Anakin exploded. He tried to leap over the waríriors  blocking  his

way, but one snagged his ankle with the amphistaff and used  the  momentum  of

his leap to slam him into the floor. Anakin cushioned the fall with the Force,

but his enemy was still between him and the  door,  and  his  foot  was  still

caught. That is, until Raípuung hit the fellow on the back of the head so hard

that teeth flew out. Rapuung stood over Anakin, and for a moment, they weren't

under attack. The warriors merely stood there, watching  the  Shamed  One  and

Anakin warily.

"Vua Rapuung," one of them snarled finally. "What are you doing here with

this infidel? You should  be  in  the  Shamed  One's  village,  pursuing  your

redemption."

"I have nothing to be redeemed for," Rapuung said. "I have been  wronged.

You all know it."

"We know your claims."

"You, Tolok Naap. You fought beside me only a few tens of cycles ago. You

believe me cursed by the gods?"

The warrior he had addressed flared his nostrils, but did not reply.  The

one who had spoken before, however, lowered his  voice.  "Whatever  you  were,

whether you are cursed or not, you have clearly gone mad. You  fight  with  an

infidel against your own kind."

"I seek my vengeance," Rapuung said. "Mezhan Kwaad. Where is she going?"

"The shaper master has been taken up for her trials.  The  accusation  is

heresy."

"They're taking her outsystem?"

"I do not know."

"I cannot let her be taken, not until she admits she has wronged me.  Any

who stand in the way of that will leave this life on wings of blood."

"We will stop you," Tolok Naap said.  "But  we  will  fight  you  as  the

warrior you once were." He threw Raípuung his amphistaff. "Take up  a  weapon.

Do not make us kill a bare-handed man."

"Thus far I have triumphed without weapons," Raípuung said. "If the  gods

hated me, would this be so?"

" You have this Jeedai as your amphistaff," one of them sneered. "Lay him

aside, and we will lay down our weaípons. Then we shall see how the gods  love

you."

Rapuung turned a glaring eye on Anakin. "Stand away, Jeedai."

"Rapuung, I have no time for games. Tahiri×"

" Is with the object of my vengeance. If we lose the  one,  we  lose  the

other. I will make it swift."

Anakin stared at  Rapuung,  then  nodded  curtly.  He  stepped  back  and

switched off the weapon.

Eighty seconds later, stepping over the corpses, Anaíkin glanced sidewise

at Rapuung.

"What was it you needed me for?" he asked. "I'm forgetting."

They jogged down the corridor, gazes cutting right and  left,  alert  for

ambush from side corridors.

"When we have Mezhan Kwaad," Rapuung said, "you must keep death  from  my

back until I have forced her to speak. That is why I need you."

"I can do that."

"Swear it. Swear it by this Force you worship. Keep death  from  my  back

until she speaks×for no less a time and no longer."

"I swear it," Anakin replied. "If we ever get that close,  that  is.  How

long before reinforcements arrive?"

"Not long."

"Well. Then we're going about this all wrong. We're  just  going  to  run

into whatever ambush they have planned."

"And we will walk through them."

"Neither of us is made of neutronium," Anakin observed.

"I will hide no more."

"Hiding isn't what I had in mind," Anakin said. "Just a little change  in

tactics."

"Explain."

For answer, Anakin raised his lightsaber and sliced a  hole  in  the  low

ceiling. "Do you need a boost up?" he asked.

Moments later, from the roof of the star-shaped comípound, Anakin and Vua

Rapuung watched warriors staítion themselves at  the  ground-level  exits  and

entrances. Yavin was half-set, and it was darker now than  it  had  been  when

they emerged from the succession pool, but Anakin knew the  sun  would  be  up

soon.

"They will find our escape route quickly," Rapuung said.

"I know. I don't need long." Once  again,  he  reached  out  through  the

Force, searching for Tahiri. She was there, but her presence was still fitful,

hard to pinpoint.

Tahiri. Hear me. I must find you.

The response was rejection.

Tahiri. You know me. You're my best friend. Please.

This time he caught a faint hesitation and then someíthing like a step in

his direction. He saw a brief vision of coralskippers and larger Yuuzhan  Vong

ships he had no name for.

"Sithspawn!" he exclaimed. "They're going to board a ship."

Rapuung growled, deep in his throat. "No, they are not"  he  said.  "This

way."

They leapt down to the outside of the compound  beítween  the  rays,  far

from any entrances, and slipped past the most lightly guarded exit, apparently

without being noticed.  Another  hundred  meters  brought  them  to  the  ship

compound.

Like its cousin, this damutek was a sprawling  star  with  entrances  and

exits at the tips of the rays. Unlike it, its  succession  pool  was  covered,

surfaced with something alien to provide parking space for Yuuzhan Vong ships.

Tahiri and the group of warriors with her were walking up the ramp×or  tongue,

or whatever it was×of one of the larger ships.  Perhaps  fifty  other  Yuuzhan

Vong went about various tasks in the compound. Most looked like  Shamed  Ones,

though a few intendants were also at hand.  Stifling  a  shout,  Anakin  threw

himself into a run, Raípuung a silent shadow beside him.

When they were yet twenty meters from the ship,  a  cry  went  up.  Three

warriors guarding the ramp dropped to their knees and hurled thud  bugs.  Time

slowed for Anakin as he ignited his blade and brought it up to deíflect them.

Three snapped against  the  bright  blade  and  arced  off  on  divergent

tangents as embers. None of them hit Anaíkin, but Rapuung grunted.

He didn't slow, however. They hit the three guards like a  thunder  front

and sprang up the landing ramp into aníother hail of thud bugs.

This time Anakin was not as fortunate. One of the things went through his

thigh, and he dropped to one knee, blocking two more that  would  have  opened

his chest in unpleasant places. Rapuung yowled, twisted, and hit the ramp with

a damp, meaty thud.

Anakin struggled to rise.

"Stop, Jeedai," a cold voice said.

It was the commander. He stood next to Tahiri, with an amphistaff  curled

around her neck. His remaining three warriors gathered in front of him.

"Tahiri!" Anakin said.

"That isn't my name," Tahiri told him. "I am Riina Kwaad."

"You're Tahiri, my best friend," Anakin said. "Whatíever they've done  to

you, I know you remember me."

"You may be a part of the infidel lies implanted  in  her,"  one  of  the

female shapers×the older one×said. "But you are no more than that."

"Enough," the commander snapped. "This is to no purpose. You, Jeedai.  If

you have come to rescue this one, you have failed. I will kill her  where  she

stands if you continue to struggle."

"Is this the vaunted courage of the Yuuzhan Vong?" Anakin asked.  "Hiding

behind a hostage?"

"You misunderstand. I know who you are. You are Anakin Solo,  brother  to

Jacen Solo, he who is so much desired by Warmaster Tsavong Lah. I wish to have

your surrender. I wish to have you alive. If I do not get my wish×if you  take

another step in attack×then the feímale will die. After that, I  will  cripple

you if I can. Since the latter approach might lead to your accidental death, I

prefer the former."

"I'll go in her place," Anakin said. "Of my own will.  But  you  have  to

release her."

"How ridiculous," the commander said. "I will do  nothing  of  the  kind.

Your decision will decide whether she lives or  dies,  nothing  more.  She  is

ours."

"Jeedai," Vua Rapuung croaked, rising shakily to his feet. "Remember your

oath to me." Anakin saw with dismay that Rapuung had one hand stuffed  into  a

gaping hole in his belly.

What could he do? The commander would kill Tahiri. He was sure  of  that,

and in his present condition he would never be able to  stop  it.  But  if  he

surrendered, he betrayed Vua Rapuung.

But Rapuung was probably dying. How would regainíing  his  honor  now  do

anyone any good?

Anakin put his hand on Rapuung's shoulder.  "I  reímember  my  oath,"  he

said. "Which one is she?"

"The female with the eight-fingered hand."

Anakin looked back up at the commander. "All right, this one thing, then,

if you want me alive. It will cost you nothing."

"I doubt that. Speak."

"Compel the shaper named Mezhan Kwaad to speak the truth."

"About what?"

"The questions Vua Rapuung will put to her."

"I see no 'Vua Rapuung,' " the commander said stiffly. "Only a Shamed One

who does not know his place."

"It is not I who am shamed," Rapuung said. "Do as the infidel  says,  and

know the truth."

"There is no sense in listening to any  demented  lies  from  this  one,"

Mezhan Kwaad said. "He fights by the side of a Jeedai infidel. What more  need

be said?"

Behind  them,  the  square  was  gradually  filling  with  warriors   and

onlookers. A shout came from below.

"Do you fear the truth, Mezhan Kwaad? If he is mad, then  compelling  you

to speak will do you no harm."

Anakin looked over his shoulder and saw the warrior who had stopped  them

the first day×Hul Rapuung, Vua's brother.

A general murmur of approval went around with that.

"How many of you fought with him?" Hul continued.

"Who ever questioned the courage of Vua Rapuung?  Who  ever  doubted  the

gods loved him?"

"Mezhan Kwaad is correct, however," the  commander  said  dryly.  "He  is

self-evidently pronounced mad by his behavior."  He  glanced  at  the  shaper.

"However, having found one treachery in Mezhan Kwaad×the treachery of heresy×I

see no reason to doubt she is capable of others."  He  turned  to  the  shaper

master. "Master Mezíhan Kwaad, I compel  you  to  answer  truthfully  whatever

questions the Shamed One once known in  Domain  Raípuung  puts  to  you.  Your

truthfulness will not rest on your honor, but on the  truthhearer  I  procured

for your questioning in the other matter."

"I will not submit to any such indignity," Mezhan Kwaad replied.

"You do not have the right to refuse, and your domain will pay  the  full

price if you attempt to. Answer his quesítions and let us end this."

Mezhan Kwaad's eyes glittered curiously, and she  lifted  her  chin.  She

bared her teeth contemptuously at Vua Rapuung.

"Ask your questions, Shamed One."

"I have but one," Vua Rapuung said. "Mezhan Kwaad. Did you  intentionally

rob me of my implants, ruin my scars, give me the appearance of being  Shamed?

Did you do these things to me, or did the gods?"

Mezhan Kwaad stared at him with an unreadable  exípression,  then  lifted

her chin even higher.

"There are no gods," she said. "This miserable thing you are  is  what  /

made of you."

The crowd erupted in frenzy.

Mezhan Kwaad spread her eight fingers, as if  wavíing.  Faster  than  the

eyes could catch, those fingers elonígated, spearing out. Before the commander

could even blink, one went through his eye and out the back of his skull.  The

warriors around all  dropped  without  a  sound,  similarly  murdered.  Anakin

lurched forward, but a flick of the shaper's wrist, and  one  of  the  finger-

spears pierced his forearm and wrapped around  it.  Torment  contracted  every

muscle in Anakin's body, and his lightsaber went clattering down  the  landing

ramp. Vua Rapuung, a blur of motion, fell from a similar wound in the leg. His

face flopped next to Anakin's, eyes  fluttering  open  and  shut,  a  confused

expression on his face. His lips were wet with blood.

"Jeedai...," he croaked, but his words drowned in a fit of hacking.

Anakin's pain lessened, but he found he could move little more  than  his

eyes. He could see  Mezhan  Kwaad  held  something  in  her  other  hand  that

resembled some sort of nut.

"This is huun," Mezhan Kwaad shouted to the crowd. "It releases  a  nerve

toxin sufficient to kill each and every  one  of  you.  I  am  immune  to  its

effects. Your deaths will be useless; they will not serve  the  Yuuzhan  Vong.

Comímander Vootuh and these others are the real traitors. I am  Mezhan  Kwaad,

and I answer only to  Supreme  Overílord  Shimrra.  When  he  hears  of  these

incidents, he will set things right. In the meantime, I will take  this  ship,

to belter defend myself. I do not wish to harm my fellow Yuuzhan Vong. I  will

do so only if I must."

The crowd, led by Hul Rapuung, had started up the ramp. Now they stopped.

Mezhan Kwaad turned to her assistant. "Nen Yim. Drag those two on board."

She motioned toward Anaíkin and the fading Vua Rapuung.

The younger shaper hesitated, then started  toward  Anakin.  She  stopped

when she saw Anakin's lightsaber floating up from behind him.

Mezhan Kwaad saw it, too. She  sent  a  jolt  of  pain  coursing  through

Anakin's body that scrambled his thoughts into random impulses.

But the lightsaber continued on. Mezhan Kwaad reídoubled her  torture  of

Anakin.

Tahiri plucked the blade from the air and ignited it  with  a  snap-hiss.

Mezhan Kwaad's expression froze halfíway between puzzlement  and  the  sudden,

fatal underístanding that it hadn't been Anakin levitating the weapon at all.

Then Tahiri decapitated her.

Tahiri stood for a moment, looking at what she had done, and smiled. Like

heat lightning, Anakin's vision struck back into him, the  older  Tahiri,  the

dark Force around her, her pitiless, glacial laughter.

"Tahiri!" he managed.

She looked at him, then, and  took  a  hesitant  step  toward  him,  then

another. She let the point of the blade drop so it  was  almost  stroking  his

cheek.

"My friend," she said, her voice low and weird. "My best friend. You left

me." Her eyes were wrong. They were the same color they had always  been,  but

they had once been warm, full of laughter. Now they were chloírine ice.

"I've been trying to find you," Anakin said. "This whole time..."

"You aren't real," Tahiri said. "None of this is. You are a lie."

He held her gaze and saw the bleakness there, the  conífusion.  He  could

sense her turmoil. "It's not a lie, Tahiri. You are my  best  friend.  I  love

you."

The blade stroked off a lock of his hair, but he didn't flinch.

"I love you," he repeated, the seeds of his  vision  beginíning  to  take

root.

Tahiri closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they  became  the

green eyes he knew×or almost. "Anakin? Are you really×?" She looked around, as

if noticing the crowd for the first time. "Well, this doesn't look good,"  she

observed.

Anakin saw what she meant. With Mezhan Kwaad down, the  warriors  in  the

crowd had come to the fore - front. Armed to the teeth,  they  stood  watching

the strange spectacle only meters away.

They wouldn't just watch for long.

"We have to get out of here," Anakin said.

"And this is your plan?" Tahiri asked, in something like her old voice.

"Hey, I'm doing my best. I'll hold 'em off and you run into the ship."

"No. I don't care about dying, Anakin. Not after what  they  did  to  me.

Let's just take as many of them with us as we can." She lifted the lightsaber.

Her eyes were cooling again.

"Can I have that back?" Anakin asked softly.

She looked as if she would say no, but then shrugged  and  handed  it  to

him. "Sure. It's your blade. I lost mine."

Anakin took the weapon, stood shakily, and faced the gathered warriors.

CHAPTER THIRTY-DIME Hul Rapuung raised his amphistaff to guard.  "Jeedai,

you have proven yourself a great warrior. It will be my honor to kill you."

"No," a voice from behind Anakin grated.

Impossibly, Vua Rapuung rose to his feet. He took an amphistaff from  one

of the dead guards. "No. While I live, none of you shall fight the Jeedai."

"Vua Rapuung," his brother said, "we all heard what  Mezhan  Kwaad  said.

You are Shamed no longer."

"I was never Shamed. But now you know it is a warírior you face."

"Vua Rapuung, no," Anakin said. "This is over for you."

Rapuung turned to him. "I will die soon," he said. "I am able to give you

only a small chance. Take it. Now." He turned back to the crowd.

"A salute to the Jeedail" he shouted. "A salute of blood!"

With that he leapt at the front rank of warriors,  amphiístaff  spinning.

His first blow struck his brother, knocking him to the ground unconscious, but

still alive. The others he attacked with much more lethal precision.

"Anakin? "Tahiri asked.

"Into the ship," he shouted. If he could get her  safe,  maybe  he  could

come back for Rapuung.

No. His first duty was to Tahiri. If he  tried  to  help  Raípuung,  they

would all die.

"Can you fly it?" Tahiri asked.

"We'll worry about that once we figure out how to get the  boarding  ramp

up."

They ducked inside the hatch and started searching frantically  for  some

sort of control.

"What are we looking for?" Tahiri asked.

"A knob, a smooth place×a cluster of nerves. I don't know."

"I don't see anything like that! This is hopeless!" Tahiri said.

Anakin ran his hands over the spongy interior of  the  ship.  Tahiri  was

right. If they couldn't even get the ramp up,  what  chance  did  he  have  of

flying the stupid thing?

Next to none, probably, but he had to try. He couldn't have come this far

just to fail.

He saw Vua Rapuung die. Already surrounded by a pile of corpses, his feet

were trapped, forcing him to fight  without  footwork.  An  amphistaff  struck

Rapuung a downward blow in the neck and came out the small  of  his  back.  He

dropped his own amphistaff down like a blaster bolt and crushed the  skull  of

the one who had wounded him before collapsing. Then the other warriors were on

him, amphistaffs slashing, surging past him up the ramp.

"Sithspawn," Anakin snarled, planting himself in the doorway,  lightsaber

blazing, determined to go out at least as well as Rapuung had.

"Oh!" Tahiri exclaimed. "Tsii dau poonsi."

The tizowyrm translated it as the mouth, cause to close.

The ramp sucked in, out from under the feet of the charging warriors, and

the hatch shut.

"You have to know how to talk to it, I guess," Tahiri said.  She'd  tried

to say it lightly, but it was almost a parody of her old self.  She  knew  it,

too. Tears brimmed in her eyes. "They put things in my head, Anakin.  I  don't

know what's real anymore."

He reached for her shoulder. "I'm real. And I'm going to get you  out  of

this. Believe me."

She folded into him, suddenly, and his arms went around her  without  him

even telling them to. She felt warm, and small, and good against him.

Then his wounded leg refused to support him any longer.

They cut part of Tahiri's garment to make a tourniquet. The living fabric

worked even better than anticipated, because after the shock of being severed,

it contracted, períhaps dying. Anakin wished he had some of Rapuung's  healing

swatches. Maybe they could find some on the ship.

They found the controls just as the craft rocked to a tremendous blast.

"Boy, that didn't take long," Anakin said. "I wonder why they didn't just

open the hatch."

"I sealed it," Tahiri said "It won't listen to anyone outside."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. I mean, I'm sure they have someone who can open it,  but  not

before we get off the ground."

"Assuming we can get  off  the  ground,"  Anakin  said,  looking  at  the

controls and fighting a feeling of helplessíness. He recognized a  villip  and

an acceleration couch, and that was all. A wide array of not-quite-geometrical

shapes extruded from the  "console,"  along  with  a  variety  of  patches  of

differing color and texture. Nothing about any of them  spoke  to  him.  There

seemed to be no writing or numerals either, no gauges or readouts.  The  walls

of the room were opaque, as well. He couldn't even see what the  Yuuzhan  Vong

outside were doing, though it was obvious they had dragged up some sort of big

gun or explosives.

The ship rocked  again,  and  several  of  the  patches  emitted  a  dull

phosphorescence, which probably indicated damíage to something-or-other.

"Okay," Anakin said. "Maybe I can't fly anything."

Tahiri lifted a sort of loose bag from the  acceleration  couch.  A  thin

creeper attached it to the console.

"Put this on your head," she suggested.

"That's right!" Anakin said, remembering. "Uncle Luke tried one of  those

on. It's some sort  of  direct  brain  interface."  He  looked  at  the  thing

dubiously, then tried it on. Immediately he heard a distant  voice,  murmuring

something he couldn't understand.

"The tyzowyrm isn't translating," he said. "I guess it's  being  bypassed

by the hood."

He tried a few mental commands, with no result.

"This could be bad," he muttered. "It must be like the  lambent.  Without

attunement, our brains won't interíface directly with Vong technology."

"Yuuzhan Vong," Tahiri corrected absently.

"Right. Maybe it's just the language barrier. Maybe...  Tahiri,  you  try

it."

"Me? I'm no pilot."

" I know. Try it anyway."

Tahiri shrugged and placed the sack over her head.

It squirmed and shrank to fit.

"Oh!"she said. "Wait."

The  walls  became  transparent  as  another  concussion  set  the   ship

quivering. Anakin could now see what was  causing  this;  another  ship,  also

grounded, was firing on them with one of its plasma weapons. The Yuuzhan  Vong

had cleared out a safe lane for the shots. Anakin reflected that they probably

hoped to break through the hull× skin? ×without seriously damaging the ship.

"Okay," Tahiri murmured, her fingers caressing the various  nerve  nodes.

"Let's see what×yow!"

The ship jumped off the ground like a fleek eel from a  hot  pan.  Anakin

gasped and then whooped, slapping Tahiri on the back.

"We'll do this yet!" he shouted. "Let's burn out of here."

"Which way?"

"Any way! Just go!"

"You're the captain," she said. The damutek suddenly blurred away beneath

them.

"Not bad," Anakin said. "Now, if you  can  figure  out  how  the  weapons

work×"

Tahiri shrieked suddenly, clawing off the headgear.

"What's wrong?" Anakin asked.

"It's in my head! Telling me to turn back! In  another  second  it  would

have had me!"

"This isn't good," Anakin said, watching the ground rush up. It seemed to

him he had seen altogether  too  much  of  that  lately.  Gravity  was  highly

overrated.

By the time they found the hatch and crawled out, Anakin could  hear  the

drone of another Yuuzhan Vong ship approaching.

"Tahiri," he said, "run for it. I'll just slow you down with this leg."

"No," Tahiri said simply.

"Please. I came all this way to  rescue  you.  It  can't  have  been  for

nothing."

Tahiri brushed his cheek with her hand.  "It  wasn't  for  nothing,"  she

said.

"You know what I mean."

"I know we used to be in everything together. I know if this is the  end,

there's nobody I would rather be standíing with. I know that we can still make

them sorry they ever tried to mess with the two of us." She took his hand.

Anakin gripped it back. "Okay," he conceded. "Together."

It didn't take the ship long to find them; they hadn't made it more  than

a kilometer beyond  the  river.  This  was  no  speeder  analog,  either,  but

something more corvette-sized.

Tahiri touched Anakin in the Force, tentatively, and for the  first  time

he really felt what they had done to her×the pain and confusion, the sickening

nightmare sense of unreality. He poured his sympathy and  strength  back  into

her, and the bond strengthened. And as she gripped his fingers tighter, as  he

finally surrendered the last of  his  barriers  against  her×against  them×the

Force blew through him like a hurricane.

Tahiri laughed. It was not a child's laugh.

Together you are stronger than the sum of your parts, Ikrit had said.

Together.

They wrenched a thousand-year-old Massassi tree out  of  the  ground  and

launched it straight up. By the time it struck the Yuuzhan Vong  ship  it  was

traveling as  fast  as  a  speeder.  It  smacked  into  the  dovin  basal  and

splintered, twisting the ship half-around. Another  tree  jerked  out  of  the

ground, and another. The ship listed, firing gobs of molten  plasma  into  the

trees, not understanding exactly what was happening. One of the  trees  rammed

into the cannon structure, and flame burst out all along one side of the ship.

In theory, a Jedi could use the Force effortlessly, withíout  tiring.  In

practice, it seldom went that way.

Anakin and Tahiri had gone beyond their limits, and  now  their  strength

was ebbing.

The ship wobbled and molten fire dripped from its ruined weapon,  but  it

was still there, and there were plenty more where it came from.

Still, Anakin gripped Tahiri's hand. "Together," he said.

The air above them shrieked and strobed, and sharp  lines  of  red  light

carved into the Yuuzhan Vong ship as if it  were  a  root  vegetable.  A  too-

bright-to-watch ball of flame followed close after, striking the craft in  its

alíready bleeding wound, and then the Yuuzhan Vong ship was a corpse  hurtling

to the ground. Anakin looked up, mouth open.

Another ship was descending, a ship made of metal and ceramic, not living

coral.

It was Remis Vehn's battered transport, and it  was  the  most  beautiful

thing Anakin had ever seen.

It dropped on repulsorlifts, and the hatch swung open.

Qorl stuck his head out. "What are you waiting for?" the old man shouted.

"Come aboard."

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO Talon Karrde followed the pinpoint on  the  long-range

scanner with a raptor gaze.

Still, he was fully aware when Kam Solusar came silently up behind him.

"What is it?" the Jedi asked.

" Long-range sensors tell us  some  sort  of  transport  just  broke  the

atmosphere of Yavin Four," Karrde told him.

"Only moments ago, I felt an incredible  surge  in  the  Force,"  Solusar

said. "I'm sure Anakin was involved, and I think Tahiri, as well."

"Can you feel them now? Are they on that transport?"

" I think they must be," Solusar replied.

Karrde shook his head. "Not good enough. If I comímit  that  deeply  into

Yuuzhan Vong territory, there is every chance not a single ship  in  my  fleet

will come back out. I need to know. What if it's just a Peace Brigader or  two

who've been hiding on the far side of Yavin?"

"It's Anakin," Solusar replied.

Karrde let his shoulders relax. "Well. That's  better.  As  long  as  you

sound certain," he said. "Fine."

He turned to his crew. "This looks like  what  we've  been  waiting  for,

people. Our mission has changed. Up  until  now  we've  just  been  surviving,

picking off strays. From what I gather, the Yuuzhan Vong have  been  using  us

for target practice and to thin the stupid from their gene pool.

"They'll behave differently when we push to intercept the ship out there.

They'll probably hit us with everyíthing  they've  got,  and  we'll  be  in  a

position to get hit. We can forget backup from the New Republic; we're on  our

own. If there are any doubts about this course of action, I need to hear  them

now."

Silence, as he swept his gaze around the bridge and the screens depicting

the captains of his other ships.

"When have we ever not been with you,  Captain?"  Shada  asked  from  the

Idiot's Array.

A chorus of cheers punctuated Shada's remark.

Karrde's chest tightened with pride. "All right, people," he said. "Let's

go to work."

A series of bleeps and whistles greeted Anakin  as  he  came  aboard  the

transport.

"Hey, Fiver," he said. "I'm glad to see you, too."

"Get back to work, you lazy little droid," Vehn snapped over his shoulder

from the pilot's seat. "And you, hotíshot, pick a cannon. Let's see if we  can

shake this crud."

"I'd feel better at the controls," Anakin said, watching Yavin 4  dwindle

to starboard.

"After what you did to her last time?" Vehn said. "No, thanks. No  vapin'

thanks at all."

"Your ship," Anakin said.

"Ramming right it is."

Anakin looked over the pilot's shoulder at the screen.  "Nice  lead,"  he

remarked.

"Yeah. Those Vong ships take longer to pull out  of  an  atmosphere.  Out

here they're gaining, though."

"What's the plan?"

"Fly real fast until we get away."

"That's it?"

"Hey, I'm improvising. You gonna complain about me saving your butt?"

"No," Anakin said, "I was thinking about thanking you.  Now  I'm  not  so

sure."

"Stop it. You'll make me cry. If you have a plan, let me hear it."

Anakin looked at the starfield. He was weak, very weak, but he thought he

felt something.

"Give me long-range sensors," Anakin said.

"Sorry, no can do. We were working on those when the  creepy  twins  back

there told me they 'felt' you needed help. We cut the repairs short  and  hot-

jetted it."

"Sannah, Valin," Anakin said, gesturing them foríward.  "Concentrate.  Do

you feel something out there?"

"Sure," Valin said, after a minute. "Kam Solusar is out there, somewhere.

"

"Yes," Sannah said. "I feel him, too."

"I'm too weak to be sure, and so is Tahiri. Tell Vehn where."

Valin studied the space around him for a moment, then pointed  at  around

ninety degrees to starboard. "There."

" 'There'?" Vehn asked. "That's supposed to be a direction?"

"Do we have hyperdrive?" Anakin asked.

"No."

"Then I suggest you set course where Valin tells  you.  Otherwise,  we're

going to end up as star food."

"It's better than being captured again," Tahiri said.

"Well, fine," Vehn said. "The little  creeps  have  been  right  so  far,

today."

Anakin started to take the copilot's seat, but Vehn placed  his  hand  in

it. "That's Qorl's," he said.

"I'll give it up," Qorl said. "Every Solo I've ever known  was  a  better

pilot than me."

"Don't be silly," Anakin said. "Even if that were true, you're in  better

shape than I am to fly. Sorry to presume. You two seem to make a good team."

The two men glanced at each other.

"Qorl gave me a certain... perspective on things," Vehn said.

"With my boot, more often than  not,"  the  old  man  said.  But  he  was

smiling, too.

"Well," Anakin said awkwardly. "Thank you  both.  You  came  through  for

Tahiri and me when you could have just run."

"Are you kidding? And have the little creeps back there slag  my  brain?"

Vehn said.

"Anyway," Qorl reminded them, "we're not out of this yet. Twice I've been

shot down on Yavin Four. My luck's not so good when it comes to getting out of

this system."

"True," Anakin said, "but we're a lot nearer than we were."

"Speaking of which, we're gonna have words with some Vong in  about  half

an hour," Vehn said.

"They're catching up that fast?"

"No. These are already out here."

"I'll take the turret gun," Anakin said.

"Right. Give 'em an argument at least," Vehn said.

"The transport has been engaged by Yuuzhan Vong, sir," H'sishi  reported.

"They've taken a few hits, but they're still coming, right for us."

"How soon?" Karrde asked.

" If we plot a straight course, less than twenty minutes. But  if  we  do

that, we'll be perfect targets for the blockade that's forming up down there."

"Yes, but if we go around, we'll never reach them beífore that  destroyer

analog. Dankin, plot it straight in, and have the Idiot's Array,  the  Demise,

and the Etheríway escort us."

"Sir, they're hardly our best-armed ships."

"But they're the only ones who can keep up with us, aren't they? Keep her

steady."

"Very good, sir. We'll be in their range in ten minutes. Unless they have

something we don't know about, which seems to be almost a given with the Vong.

"

Anakin watched the  third  coralskipper  spin  off  to  port.  He  hadn't

destroyed it×his first two shots had been sucked in by the gravitic  anomalies

its dovin basal projected and the third had only  tapped  it×but  the  smaller

craft didn't have the speed to stay with the transíport. They were  more  than

nuisances, but not much more at this point.

It was the destroyer analog coming in from above staríboard that bothered

him, that and the fact that they couldn't see much beyond  it.  For  all  they

knew, there could be an entire fleet between him and Talon Karrde.  If  Karrde

was there at all. He tried once again to reach out for Kam Solusar's  familiar

presence and thought, briefly, that he had found it. But Kam might  be  light-

years in that direction×or it might be wishful thinking. He couldn't be sure.

What was sure was that very soon the destroyer was going to  catch  them.

He hoped Vehn had a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Direct hit on the Idiot's Array, sir," H'sishi reported.

"Shada, are you there?" Karrde asked, over the comm.

"Still here, boss. They tickled us, but we can still keep up."

"One more hit like that and you're ions," Karrde disíagreed.  "Peel  off.

You've done enough."

"Sorry, boss. Can't hear you. Something wrong with  my  comm  unit.  Hang

tight, we'll get you there."

The power on the Wild Karrde suddenly dimmed and reasserted itself, and a

distant vibration shivered the  hull.  The  two  ships  still  running  escort

weren't keeping everyíthing off of them; the Demise  had  flamed  out  in  the

first exchange, probably with all hands.

Good people. He would mourn them later, when he had time.

He saw the Idiot's Array take her final hit, right through  the  engines.

Plumes of plasma streamed from her, and atomic devils danced in the ruined aft

section.

"Get out of there, Shada!" he shouted into the comm.

No answer came.

"The Idiot's Array is still keeping  pace  with  that  deístroyer,  sir,"

H'sishi reported. "I don't understand it. Her  engines  are  gone,  and  their

reactor is building to critical."

Karrde blinked. "Shada!" he snarled. Then he snapped  at  Dankin.  "Alter

course two degrees to starboard and brace."

"What's she doing, sir?"

"She's got a tractor lock on them. She must have  diíverted  all  of  her

power to that. Everything."

An instant later the Idiot's Array vanished in a  sphere  of  pure  white

light, taking most of the Yuuzhan Vong deístroyer with it.

"Shada," Karrde murmured  again,  feeling  very  tired.  He'd  lost  more

friends than enemies through the years. He'd faced death himself enough  times

that he had no ilílusions; one day the game would go against him and he  would

die. But somehow, of all the people he knew, he'd imagined  that  Shada  would

outlive him.

"One destroyer down," he gritted, "and one to go."

"We've just lost the Etherway, sir," H'sishi said.

"Destroyed?"

"No. Her power grid is down."

"Then it's just us."

"Yes."

"Against all that."

"Unless you want to wait for everyone else, sir, I×sir, behind us!"

Karrde saw the ship appear on the screen; sheer  condiítioning  kept  his

heart from jumping up into his throat.

The ship that had appeared, almost on top of them, was an  Imperial  Star

Destroyer.

A red Imperial Star Destroyer.

"Message, sir," Dankin said.

"Put it on."

A bearded human face appeared. "Well, Karrde,"  he  growled.  "I  suppose

I'll be pulling you out of this mess, as  well.  I  hope  you  have  something

appropriate to comípensate me with."

"Booster Terrik!"

"None other."

"I'm sure I can dig something out of my warehouses."

"Never mind that. Where's my grandson?"

"We think he's on the transport that big Yuuzhan  Vong  ship's  about  to

swallow."

"That's all I wanted to know. See you on the other side, Karrde."

"The other side of what?"

"The nebula I'm about to make."

The screen went dark.

"All right, everyone," Karrde said. "We've got a  new  game  here.  Let's

play it well."

Anakin kept the turbolaser pumping steadily,  causing  plumes  of  molten

yorik coral to spew from the destroyer analog. It didn't seem to notice,  even

at extreme close range, which was where they were×a few tens  of  meters  from

its surface.

He had to admit Vehn wasn't doing a bad job of flying×dropping  in  close

to avoid the big guns, playing an elaborate spiral  dance  around  the  ship's

axis, dodging out from the gravitic  embrace  of  the  dovin  basal.  If  they

cleared the big ship by much, their luck would change. One good hit by one  of

those big plasma cannons would be the end of them.

"Heads  up,  back  there,"  Vehn's  voice  crackled.  "They're  launching

coralskippers."

Anakin saw. The Yuuzhan Vong didn't localize their fighters in bays,  but

kept them attached all over the outíside of the ship. Anakin had nailed a  few

of the inactive ones already. Now they were detaching in swarms.

"You'll have to keep them off, Solo," Vehn said, his  voice  tinged  with

desperation. "If I try  to  outrun  'em,  we'll  be  sitting  pretty  for  the

destroyer."

"Understood," Anakin replied. He didn't have time  to  talk  after  that;

everything in him focused on the weavíing, organic  forms  of  the  enemy.  He

couldn't begin to count them.

They came, and he shot them. He fell into  a  one-two-three  rhythm×first

shot to draw out a gravitic  anomaly,  second  shot  just  outside  its  event

horizon. It would move to intercept, and he would fire even wider on the other

side. Sometimes it managed to swallow all three shots, but often the  coherent

light blazed just far enough outíside the singularity to  merely  bend  around

it. Once he got the timing right, he could land that crooked third shot  where

he wanted it.

But he couldn't shoot them all. The transport bucked  and  complained  as

molten plasma did its damage. Igínoring the tremors, Anakin fought on in  grim

silence.

Vehn, too, kept his silence×the occasional curse  aside.  They  were  all

beyond talking now.

An enemy shot got through Anakin's barrage,  glancíing  from  the  turret

cockpit, leaving a molten streak on the transparisteel.  Anakin  traced  after

the offender, but  it  was  gone.  He  whirled  back  to  take  one  of  three

crissícrossing his  field  of  vision  and  hit  it  solidly.  It  spun,  then

straightened.

Toward him. With quiet calm Anakin fired at it, watchíing it come closer.

A singularity gulped his first shot, and the second bent wide. The third  beam

hit dead center. The skip flared out of existence, but  the  debris  came  on,

smackíing into the cockpit in a hundred meteoric shards.

Hairline fractures spidered everywhere.

One more hit, and I'm breathing vacuum, Anakin thought.

But he certainly couldn't leave the turret. He checked  to  make  certain

the lock behind him was sealed, closed off from the rest of  the  ship.  There

was no need to take everyone with him.

He took out two more skips, but then three dropped into  a  wedge  headed

straight for him. He took a deep, calming breath and began firing, but he knew

he wasn't going to get them all.

In fact, he had fired only two shots before the damaged laser  overheated

and went into temporary shutdown. Anakin  watched  impassively  as  the  skips

approached. He reached out in the Force, hoping to find  debris  to  throw  at

them.

He wondered what it was  going  to  feel  like  when  his  blood  started

boiling.

He felt them in the Force at the same time the coralískippers vanished in

a searing white haze, and two X-wings whipped around the  expanding  cloud  of

gas and molten coral. His comm crackled.

"Need a hand, little brother?"

"Jaina!"

"This is some mess you've gotten us  into,  Anakin,"  a  masculine  voice

replied.

"Jacen! Where... how..."

"Explanations later," Jaina said. "Who's flying that crate?"

"That's me," Vehn cut in.

"Get out of there, fast," Jaina said. "We'll keep  these  pups  off  you.

Corran Horn's out here, too. I almost pity the Vong."

"But if I clear..."

"Believe me," Jaina said, "you'll want to be clear."

Anakin breathed a sigh of relief as the  turbolaser  came  back  on-line.

"I've got the back door," he told his siblings. "You just clear a path.  Vehn,

better do what they want."

"Whatever you say," Vehn said sarcastically. And  then  he  just  gasped.

Anakin didn't see why until they were on the other side of the Errant Venture.

By that time, the Yuuízhan Vong ship was blazing like a newborn star.

Anakin stared through the  transparisteel  and  grinned  wide  enough  to

swallow a crescent moon.

Karrde wasn't grinning, a standard day later, when the Yuuzhan Vong ships

finally packed it in and jumped to hyperspace. He was  watching  the  drifting

ruins of ships, Yuuzhan Vong and otherwise, and grimly tallying his losses.

Yes, he was getting too old for this nonsense.

"Captain. Message for you, sir," H'sishi said.

He considered ignoring it, but at this point×so soon after the  battle×it

could be something critical.

"Put it on, H'sishi," he said.

A few seconds later a lean, middle-aged face appeared.

"Corran Horn," Karrde said. "It's good to see you. I asísume you were  on

your father-in-law's Star Destroyer?"

"When Jacen and Jaina found us, yes. I was one of the X-wings out  there.

I..." His face contorted very briefly, then returned to a neutral  expression.

"Karrde, I want to thank you for saving my son and the other children. I  know

what it cost you."

No, you don't, Karrde thought. "You're welcome," he told  Horn.  "When  I

make promises, I do my best to keep them."

"We're alike in that," Horn replied. "And I also pay my debts. I owe  you

a big one."

Karrde received the sentiment with a nod of his head. "I'm glad your  son

is well. Is there anything else I can do for you? I'm sorry to be  short,  but

I'm not much in the mood for conversation right now."

"I'll let you go in a second. This doesn't even come close to squaring us

up, but I do have something for you."

"What's that?"

"Someone, I should say." Horn moved  aside  and  was  replaced  by  Shada

D'ukal's wry features.

"Shada!"

"Come on, Karrde," Shada said. "You didn't think I was stupid  enough  to

stay on a flaming ship, did you? Once I got the lock, we went for  the  escape

pods. Horn ran across us in his X-wing, doing a slow  spiral  toward  the  gas

giant." She squinted at the screen. "Hey, boss, what's wrong with your eye?"

"The air unit has been blowing dust in  from  someíwhere,"  Karrde  said,

blinking away the suspicious moisíture. "Get your tail back over here,  so  we

can discuss how long it will take you to pay me back for the Idiot's Array."

Shada rolled her eyes. "See you soon, boss."

Then, despite his losses, Talon Karrde did allow himíself a small,  quiet

smile. Why not? They'd won.

EPILOGUE "We never thought we'd find Booster," Jaina confessed, around  a

mouthful of food. "I was ready to hijack the Jade Shadow and fly  straight  to

Yavin. When Booster doesn't want to be found, he can really disappear."

"What was he doing?" Anakin asked.

"Running weapons to the Hutt underground, actuíally," Jaina  replied.  "I

just asked myself where Booster would go if he wanted to help the  war  effort

and still turn a profit without feeling bad about it."

"You're kidding."

"It didn't hurt that Corran was with him," Jacen said. "We got  hints  of

him in the Force."

"Still."

"Jacen's being modest," Jaina said. "He spent  a  lot  of  time  in  deep

meditation, trying to find Corran. It was no accident."

"That's pretty impressive," Anakin allowed.

"Thank you, Anakin," Jacen said, as if surprised. His  brow  wrinkled  in

such a way that made him look briefly very much like their  father.  "Are  you

okay, Anakin?"

Anakin nodded. "Yes, actually. I mean, my leg still hurts, even with  the

bacta patch, but otherwise, I think I'm fine. In fact, better than fine."

"What do you mean?" Jacen asked, perhaps a little suspiciously.

Anakin chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Up until now," he said, "I  had

no way to think of the Yuuzhan Vong except as enemies."

"They are enemies," Jaina said.

"Yes," Anakin replied. "So was the Empire. But Palípatine aside, it  must

have been possible for Mom and Dad and Uncle Luke to at least conceive of  the

people they were fighting as possible friends. In fact, that's how Uncle  Luke

destroyed the Emperor, right? He was  able  to  imagine  Darth  Vader  as  his

father, as a friend. The Yuuízhan Vong×well, to be frank, I didn't  even  want

to coníceive of them that way."

"They don't make it easy," Jaina said. "Look what happened to Elegos when

he tried to understand them."

"So you think you succeeded where Elegos failed?" Jacen asked.

"Do  I  understand  them?  No,  not  completely.  But  I  have  a  deeper

understanding than I did. I can think of them as people now, and that makes  a

difference."

Jacen nodded. "You're right, of course. Does that mean you've decided not

to fight them anymore? Are you goíing to work for peace?"

Anakin blinked. "Are you kidding? We have to fight them, Jacen. / have to

fight them. I just know more about how to do it now."

Jacen's frown was fully developed now. "Are you  sure  that's  the  right

lesson to take away from all this?" he asked.

"No offense, Jacen, but I think I'll leave off worrying about what lesson

I might have learned if I had been someone else. Because  frankly,  if  I  had

been someone else, I don't think I would have survived to learn any lesson."

"Tell Booster we're going to have to evacuate the ship," Jaina said. "The

way Anakin's head is expanding, it'll split through the hull in no time."

"Believe it or not," Anakin replied, "I don't say what I just  said  with

pride. I'm just stating a fact."

"Pride is pretty sneaky," Jacen  warned.  "It  disguises  itíself  pretty

well. I hope you'll have a long talk with Uncle Luke at some point. Unless you

don't think even he has anything to teach you."

"Don't put words in my mouth, Jacen," Anakin said.

"And don't you forget who pulled your butt out of the fire there  at  the

end," Jaina replied.

Anakin let a grin creep across his face. "But that's what I meant,  don't

you see? When I said that no one but  me  could  have  survived  what  I  did.

Because no one else in the galaxy has you two for his brother and sister."

He picked up his tray, trying not to laugh at their gaping mouths.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," he said, "I have someone I need to go see."

Anakin found Tahiri's stateroom door open a crack. Through it he saw  her

lying on her bed, bare feet propped up on the wall. Her gaze was  fastened  on

the transpariísteel window and the distant spray of the core beyond.

Anakin rapped the door frame. "Hi," he said.

"Hi. Come in if you want."

"Okay." He took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"You didn't show up for dinner," he said. "I thought I  would  bring  you

some." He placed a food container on the bed. "Corran made it. Seems he's been

doing a lot of cooking these days."

"Thanks," Tahiri said. She turned her head and for the first time met his

gaze.

"What happened to it?" she asked. "The shaper base?"

"You sure you want to hear about it? Every time  someone  brings  up  the

subject×"

"I wasn't ready to talk about it then. Now I am."

"Okay. Well, Booster pretty  much  slagged  it.  Karrde  and  his  people

evacuated the slaves. We're going to drop them off someplace soon. Of  course,

the Yuuzhan Vong can come back, I guess, since we left the system pretty  much

without defenses, but there's nothing we can do about that."

"No," Tahiri said. "There isn't. I guess that's the end of the academy.

"Of course it isn't. The academy was never a  place.  It's  a  thing,  an

idea. We're just taking it on jets. Booster's going to let  the  academy  kids

stay on the Errant Venture. He'll make random jumps around  the  galaxy  until

it's safe to settle the kids down someplace."

"Safe?" Tahiri hissed. "How can it ever be safe? How  can  anything  ever

be×" Her words seemed to clot up in her throat, and she  turned  back  to  the

view of space.

"Tahiri, I know how you feel," Anakin said.

She closed her eyes, and two small tears squeezed from the  corners.  "If

anyone does, I guess you do," she said after a moment.

"What they did to you was horrible, I know, and×"

"What they did to me? Anakin, I cut Mezhan Kwaad's head oft."

"You had to."

"I wanted to. I liked it. I loved it."

"She tortured you. She tried to destroy everything you are. You can't  be

blamed for a moment of anger."

"I think she did destroy everything I am," Tahiri said.  "When  I  killed

her, it was the end of me."

"No," Anakin said, "that's not true. And I should know, shouldn't I?  The

best of you is still there, Tahiri." He reached his hand out. It hung there in

space for a long time before she reached back, taking it without looking.

"It was all my fault," she said.  "Master  Ikrit  died  beícause  of  me.

Karrde's people died because of me."

"Now this I'm pretty good at," Anakin said. "Blamíing myself for  things.

I can really teach you to do that right. In fact,  if  we  think  really  hard

about it, I bet we can find some way to blame you for the Yuuzhan Vong finding

this galaxy in the first place." He cocked his head. "No×I think  /  want  the

blame for that. We can blame Palpatine on you, though. How's that?"

Tahiri frowned at him. "When did you start talking so much?" she asked.

"I don't know. When did you start coughing up one word at a  time  as  if

three or four were going to break your mouth?"

The corners of her lips twitched up, not quite  forming  a  smile.  "Just

shut up, will you? I liked you better the other way."

"Me, too."

They watched the stars in silence for a while.

"Where will you go now?" Tahiri asked, when the siílence  was  too  thin.

"Back out to fight the Yuuzhan Vong?"

"Eventually."

"I want to go with you."

"That's why I said eventually. I'm staying on here  for  a  while.  Until

you've healed. Until I've healed. Then  if  you  still  want  to  go,  we  go.

Together."

She didn't say anything, but for the first time since they'd left  Yavin,

he felt something like hope in her.

"Adept Nen Yim. Step forth."

Nen Yim genuflected and then stood before the warímaster, Tsavong Lah.

"First I want your account of the fall of the shaper compound. After that

I have other questions."

"Yes, Warmaster. At your command."

"My command is given. Speak."

"Of the space battle I know nothing, Warmaster. Many of our ships died on

the ground or struggling  through  the  atmosphere.  Then  the  damuteks  were

attacked from above, and damaged beyond healing."

"So much is obvious. Go on."

"Then the bombardment ceased, and the infidels comímenced landing. We did

not understand why, at first. A more thorough bombardment would have killed us

all with no risk to the infidels. As it was, some of them were  slain  by  our

surviving warriors."

"You do not know these infidels as  well  as  you  might,  Shaper.  Their

attachment to their own kind leads them into pointless maneuvers."

"Agreed, Warmaster. In retrospect, it is clear that their intent  was  to

recover the slaves."

"And where were you during this?"

" I hid among the Shamed Ones, Warmaster. I thought they would take  true

castes captive."

"A cowardly thing to do, Shaper."

"I beg your indulgence, Warmaster, but I had more  than  selfish  reasons

for doing so."

"Explain them. Be brief."

"My master, Mezhan Kwaad, was slain by the Jeedai we were shaping."

"You did not shape the Jeedai well, I think."

"On the contrary, Warmaster, given a few more cycles, she would have been

ours. If not for the interference of the other Jeedai."

"Yes," the warmaster snarled. "The other. Solo. Aníother Solo." He  paced

violently away from her, then turned back. "Master Yal Phaath  disagrees  with

you, Adept. He claims that your master  conspired  in  heresy,  and  that  any

results you obtained were stained by ungodliness."

"Master Yal Phaath is a respected shaper. So was Mezíhan Kwaad.  She  was

never able to answer these charges, and I may not speak for her.  But  I  tell

you this, Warímaster. What we learned from the Jeedai  was  valuable.  It  has

worth to the Yuuzhan Vong. The records in the damuítek were destroyed, and  my

master is dead. Only I reímain to remember. That  is  why  I  secreted  myself

among the Shamed Ones, to protect that information."

"You did so for no reason. The infidels took no captives."

"No, Warmaster. But I could not know that at the time."

"Agreed. They are a strange breed.  They  keep  no  slaves  and  make  no

sacrifices. They do not appreciate captives. They do not make  war  to  obtain

them. They consider them burdens or currency  for  the  return  of  their  own

worthless kind. An ugly and godless motley of species."

"If I may ask your opinion, Warmaster×why then did they not slay us  once

they had what they wanted? Corpses are no burden."

"They are weak. They do not understand life  and  death."  He  waved  the

whole issue aside with the back of his hand, then returned his  stare  to  Nen

Yim.

"This was badly bungled by shapers and  warriors  alike,"  he  said.  "If

Tsaak Vootuh were not dead, I would kill him myself. And  I  should  have  you

sacrificed."

"If death is my lot, Warmaster, if  that  is  what  the  gods  desire,  I

embrace it. But I repeat×what we learned of  the  Jeedai  here  ought  not  to

perish with me. Give me at least a chance to record what I know in a worldship

qahsa."

The warmaster's cruel eyes did not waver. "You will have that chance.  It

has been given you. Do not squander it as your master did here."

"And if more Jeedai are captured? Will our work shaping them resume?"

"Your domain has failed. They will not be given a second chance with  the

Jeedai. Domain Phaath will conítinue the work on the Jeedai problem."

Then it will never be solved, Nen Yim thought to heríself.  She  did  not

dare say this to the warmaster, of  course.  "And  Domain  Kwaad?"  she  asked

instead.

"The worldships are failing. They must be maintained."

Nen Yim nodded solemnly, but in her belly  she  was  sick.  Back  to  the

worldships, to closed skies and rotting maw luur, to masters so mired  in  the

old ways they would let the  Yuuzhan  Vong  perish  rather  than  contemíplate

change.

So be it. But in her heart, Nen Yim still  considered  Mezhan  Kwaad  her

master. Nen Yim would continue the work they had begun, somehow.  It  was  too

important. And if Nen Yim must die for this, she  must.  The  glorious  heresy

would live on.

"I submit to your will, Warmaster," Nen Yim lied.

"One other thing before you go," Tsavong Lah said. "You spent  some  time

among the Shamed Ones before the reoccupation force arrived. Have you heard of

a new heresy amongst them, one concerning the Jeedai?"

"I have, Warmaster."

"Explain it to me."

"There is a certain admiration for them, Warmaster. Many  feel  that  Vua

Rapuung was redeemed from Shamed status by the Jeedai Solo.  Many  feel  their

own redempítion lies not in prayer to Yun-Shuno, but in the Jeedai."

"Can you name any who espouse this heresy?"

"A few, Warmaster."

"Name them. This heresy will die on this moon. If every Shamed  One  here

must perish in glorious sacrifice, it will end here."

Nen Yim nodded affirmation, but in her bones she knew the truth.

Repression was the favored food of heresy.