The doctor nodded again. "Remember the missing Jostrans?" Jacen blanched as Hegerty's point hit home. "You don't really think-?" She shrugged. "Maybe they're not missing after all."

"We'll let Tekli know," Luke said with a sinking feeling in his stomach that was nothing compared to what the stormtrooper would feel if he learned of their, suspicions. He filed through the cabin while the others took seats preparatory for launch, his thoughts turning over the whole Krizlaw/Jostran affair.

It all seemed to make sense now, as things often did in retrospect.

The pa.s.sage of Zonama Sekot through the system must have destabilized the local environment enough to encourage a warlike clan or subspecies of Jostrans to take over the Krizlaws, giving them a compet.i.tive edge.

Zonama Sekot had been responsible for helping that particular clan, but it had been at the cost of the previous Jostran civilization.

The pilot lifted off just as Luke reached the c.o.c.kpit. He strapped himself in, watching the ground scanner as he did so. Another group of Krizlaw/Jostrans was converging on the shuttle, and he silently gave thanks that they were no longer out there fighting. It would only have been a matter of time before they would have fallen to the creatures.

Luke was grateful that the shuttle offered no parting shots as it swept a comfortable distance over the heads of the eleven snapping aliens. Once upon a time the gunners aboard this craft might have strafed them as they launched, but Luke had repeatedly emphasized that their mission was a peaceful one and that there would be no unnecessary loss of life-human or otherwise. Thus far, the Imperials had accepted his terms happily enough, with Captain Yage and Lieutenant Stalgis backing him up.

Many of the crew, Stalgis included, had friends or family who were still alive because of the actions of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances around Orinda. Nevertheless, there was a definite undercurrent of resentment. To some, he would never be anything more than the Rebel boy who was responsible for the death of Emperor Palpatine. But regardless of their feelings toward him, he would never let their disrespect undermine his confidence or authority.

He turned away from the thoughts, settling back into his seat as the shuttle sped skyward, leaving Munlali Mafir behind him. He was relieved to be going home - or to the closest thing to home they had, anyway.

"Haiijade Shadow," he instructed the sensor officer.

To Luke's surprise, Danni Quee took the call. "I gather you had some trouble with the locals," the young scientist said.

"An argument over dinner, that's all. Is Mara there?"

"She's tied up at the moment, but she says not to worry. Can I pa.s.s on a message?"

"No, that's okay. But tell Tekli to take a shuttle over to Widowmaker. We have a patient for her."

"Who's injured?" she asked quickly. Luke could tell without her having to say anything that she was worried it might be Jacen.

"A stormtrooper," he explained briefly. "It's not so much that he's injured." He fought for the right word. "He's just... infected, I guess."

"I'll warn Tekli to be ready. Did you learn anything useful about Zonama Sekot?"

"It's been here, as we thought-but not for many years."

"Another hit and run?"

"I'm afraid so. If we only knew what it was looking for, it would certainly improve our chances of finding it."

"It's a big galaxy," Danni agreed.

"Excuse me, sir," the pilot interrupted. "You've got a communication coming in."

"Sorry, Danni. Got to go." Luke thanked the sensor officer and moved forward to where the holodisplay rested between the two forward seats. In the display, he saw the solid figure of Arien Yage, captain of the Imperial frigate Widowmaker, Jade Shadow's official escort through the Unknown Regions. Her hair was tied back in its usual severe bun and her expression businesslike.

"We have visitors," she said, wasting no time on pleasantries.

"Fifteen minutes ago, a Chiss corvette and two full squadrons of clawcraft entered the system. They are on a high-powered approach vector, clearly intending to lock on to our orbit."

"Communications?"

"None as yet, although we hailed them as soon as they appeared on the scopes. I've put the squadron on full alert."

"How long until they come within range?"

"Approximately thirty minutes."

"I'll make sure we're back by then," Luke said. "Keep an eye on them, Captain, and keep me informed." Yage's image nodded and fizzed out, then Luke sank wearily back into his seat. Two Chiss squadrons were more than a match for a dozen Imperial TIE fighters, but Jade Shadow with Mara at the controls was worth an entire squadron on its own. If it came to a fight, they would be evenly matched. He just hoped it didn't come to that. The last time he and Mara had entered Chiss s.p.a.ce, in Thrawn's day, their dealings had been conducted amicably, if cautiously. Fatigue washed through him, and he tapped the Force to sweep it away. He was tired of fighting, yes, but he wasn't about to give up. Besides, there was nothing yet to suggest that the Chiss were looking for a fight. For all he knew, this might be the way they normally approached unidentified vessels found wandering in the Unknown Regions. The Chiss were efficient and pragmatic, to the point of appearing cold to those unfamiliar with their ways. Until Luke was certain of their intentions, he could do little more than wait.

He moved back into the pa.s.senger cabin to check on the injured storm trooper. The man was unconscious. The upper half of his uniform had been removed to enable Stalgis to get at the wound on his shoulder, and there was a sheen to his skin from perspiration. Stalgis was leaning over the stormtrooper, holding a stim-shot,a look of concern on his face. He straightened when he saw Luke.

"He's going down fast," Stalgis said. "I don't have the facilities here to check for new poisons, so we're going to need to get him to Widowmaker's medical bay fast." Luke motioned Jacen to come forward. "See if you can hold his vital signs stable. We're moving as quickly as we can, but it might not be enough." His nephew bent down next to the stricken trooper and placed a hand on his forehead. Luke felt waves of healing energy pour off his nephew and into the stormtrooper. He placed one hand on Jacen's shoulder to lend him strength.

"Looks like we might have attracted attention to ourselves," Luke whispered to him?

"What sort of attention?" Jacen returned equally as softly.

"Chiss." The trooper's condition worsened steadily as the shuttle roared up toward the orbit occupied by the mission's two central vessels.

Luke could feel the man's immune system failing as the invader spread its chemical and genetic tentacles through his body, beating it into submission. Jacen didn't suggest using the Force to kill it, and Luke knew he wouldn't until the choice between it and the trooper became absolutely clear.

Hegerty watched with an expression of concern mixed with intense curiosity. Luke doubted whether the woman could ever not look worried; the lines in her face were permanently etched that way. For the sake of Stalgis, and in case their fear turned out to be unfounded, Luke refrained from asking the doctor if she'd ever seen anything like this before. They'd find out soon enough-or so he hoped, anyway.The sensor officer stuck his head out of the c.o.c.kpit. "Another communication, sir."

Luke returned to the c.o.c.kpit, leaving Stalgis and Jacen to care for the stormtrooper. Yage's hologram was back.

"We've had a reply," she said. "Commander Irolia of the Expansionary Defense Fleet wants to speak to the person in charge. I told her you were on your way back from the surface, but she said she wanted to speak to you immediately."

"I guess you'd better put me through, then," he said.

The copilot made way for him without having to be asked. Luke straightened his robes as he took the empty seat.

Yage's face dissolved from the holofield in a flicker of static; it was replaced a few seconds later with the image of the upper body of a blue-skinned woman dressed in a burgundy-and-black uniform. Her eyes were the deep red of her species, and her expression held nothing but blunt authority. Chiss matured quickly, but still Luke was startled by the fact that she looked no older than his niece, Jaina.

"You are Master Skywalker?" Her voice had all the warmth of a droid.Luke nodded curtly and said: "I am leader of a peaceful mission from the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. We are in the middle of an emergency. I lost two of my crew in a ground fight with the natives of the planet below, and a third is seriously injured. If we don't get back to orbit in time, he'll die. Your arrival into this system has put my squadron on full alert, and means our docking procedures will be that much more complicated. If I should lose another because of your interference, I will be extremely-"

"Please do not threaten us, Skywalker," the Chiss woman responded calmly, staring unblinking from the flickering holofield. "Our intention is not to impede your docking procedures, or any other of your procedures. I require only that you meet with me in person at the earliest possible convenience."

"Of course," Luke said. "We'll arrange it as soon as I return to the Widowmaker."

"When or how you arrange it is irrelevant. Know, however, that I will not remain in this system for long. Comply with my request, or face the consequences." The image winked out.

"Well, you heard the commander," Luke said to the pilot, who had watched the show with interest. "I guess we'd better get moving..."

"All X-wings," came Jaina's voice over the subs.p.a.ce combat channel, "lock S-foils in attack position. Claw-craft: arm and target approaching vessels. Battle plan A-seven. "

"Copy that," Jag returned on behalf of Twin Suns' Chiss pilots.

Leia watched as the formation of fighters split into three groups-two pairs and a triplet, Galactic Alliance and Chiss fighters flying alongside each other with perfect precision. The calm command in her daughter's voice made her proud; no matter how surprised by the sudden attack Jaina must have been, she didn't let it show. Neither was there any suggestion of concern for the fact that her squadron hadn't had any experience in combat against Ssi-ruuk fighters. Any sign of composure that General Panib had displayed earlier now evaporated totally in the face of this abrupt turnabout of events.

"Please, wait," he urged frantically. "There's been a terrible misunderstanding!"

"You bet there has," Han said. "One we intend to clear up for you very shortly. Those ships belong to the enemy, and we'll knock them out of your skies if they come anywhere near us. You got that?"

"More launches," Leia said, registering fighters coming from Defender. "A-wings and B-wings, this time; not Ssi-ruuk." Han glanced at the scanner board. "Those had better be coming to help us, Panib."

"Falcon, I beseech you not to order your ships to open fire!" All semblance of calm had left the general's voice; only panic remained. "All these ships comprise a peaceful envoy to ensure your safe pa.s.sage to orbit."

"All of them?" Han snorted. "Yeah, right. If entech-ing humans and using them to fly those fighters heading our way const.i.tutes peaceful behavior, then I don't think we're speaking the same language. Those fighters have precisely thirty seconds to turn around before we start opening fire."

"Han, look at this," Leia said, studying the display before her. It showed one of the Ssi-ruuvi vessels up close. The image was fuzzy but clear enough to make out some details. "Do those engine housings look familiar to you?" Han frowned at the image. "What about them?"

"They look an awful lot like ion jets to me."

"So?"

"Since when did the Ssi-ruuk start using standard engines on their fighters?"

"What are you saying, Leia?"

"That there's more here than meets the eye," she said. "You'll note also that our transmissions are not being jammed." Han's frown deepened as his instincts conflicted with what Leia was suggesting. "It has to be a trick," he said, shaking his head. "They want us to drop our guard."

Leia wasn't convinced. " It doesn't add up, Han. If they really wanted to do that, then why not just let us land first and then attack us?" She could almost see the thoughts behind his eyes racing through his mind.

What if Panib was telling the truth? A mistake could be extremely costly.

Then there was the matter of the mysterious intruder on the secure comm channels. He had been silent since the Ssi-ruuvi vessels had launched. If their intentions had been to stir things up between Panib and the visitors, in order to ensure the worst possible reception of the alien fighters, then they had certainly succeeded.

"The pilots of those ships aren't human," Tahiri said, breaking into the discussion softly. Leia turned to face the young Jedi; the girl's eyes were still closed, as though meditating. "They're definitely alien. And-" She hesitated for a second, then her eyes flickered open.

"Everyone's heard the stories about the Ssi-ruuk and how awful entechment is. It's supposed to be agony, right?" Leia nodded, still remembering the look on Luke's face when he had been rescued from the mighty Ssi-ruuvi vessel in which he'd been held captive, years ago.

Exposure to the perverted entechment technology, and to the life energy forcibly removed from those taken captive in battle with Bakura, had touched him profoundly.

"Well, these minds aren't suffering," Tahiri said. "They're clean."

"What are they, then?" Han asked.

"I don't know," Tahiri said. "I've never touched minds like these before. "When Leia stretched out her senses, she, too, could detect no trace of anything malevolent in the approaching fighters.

"I don't care if their minds are as serene as Alder-aanian snow,"

Han growled.

"They're still attacking us!"

"Are they?" Leia asked. It was all too easy to a.s.sume. "We don't want to start a war by accident-not if there's an alternative."

"And what if you're wrong, Leia? I don't want them to end up using Jaina as target practice out there."

"Nor do I, Han." She touched his hand in rea.s.surance, then spoke on the secure subs.p.a.ce comlink to the squadron: "Twin Suns, fall back to flank Selonia and Falcon. You are instructed not to fire unless we are fired upon. Understood?"

"Understood, Falcon." Apart from the slight hesitation in Jaina's voice, the order was accepted and acted upon immediately. In the face of the rapidly approaching swarm of Ssi-ruuvi fighters, the combined Chiss and Galactic Alliance squadron peeled away and swooped back to cover their command vessels.

Han squirmed in his seat but didn't say anything more. Leia shifted uneasily in her seat also. She felt reasonably confident that she was doing the right thing, but she couldn't help feeling nervous at the same time. The last time she had come face to face with Ssi-ruuvi fighters had been on a war footing. She remembered the strength of the fighters'

shields and their maneuverability in dogfights - and perhaps more vividly she remembered how the alien capital vessels would collect survivors with their "trooper scoopers" in order to suck out their life energies and hurl them back at their former allies...

"Gunners standing by," announced Captain Mayn on Selonia as the fighters came within range.

Leia held her breath.

On the scanner board, she saw the alien fighters break formation and scatter to adopt a defensive wall around the incoming vessels, just as an escort would do. No shots were fired, and they stayed a discreet distance from both Falcon and Selonia. When the second contingent of ships arrived, the A- wings and B-wings slotted into the existing pattern with only a small amount of jostling.

She exhaled with a heavy sigh.

"Thank the maker," C-3PO said from behind her.

"You can say that again, Goldenrod." Han leaned forward to trim the Falcon's course slightly, a motion designed to disguise the relief he was feeling, Leia knew. "We're not out of the woods yet. In case n.o.body has noticed, we're now effectively caught."

"But at least we didn't start a war," Leia said. "And this way, we just might get some answers."

"What if we don't like what we hear?" her husband asked wryly.

Leia shrugged. "We'll deal with that as it happens." Han turned to the comm. Panib, who had been frantically trying to attract their attention over the subs.p.a.ce channel, sounded like he was going to sob with relief.

"Thank you, Falcon. You won't regret this."

"We'll reserve judgment on that until we hear what's going on," Han said.

"I understand," the general responded. "But first I must once again ask that you state your intentions." Han put a weary hand to his forehead. Leia gave in.

"We'd like to set down at Salis D'aar," she said, "and meet with Prime Minister Cundertol."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Panib said. "The Prime Minister is unable to meet with anyone at the moment."

"I don't understand, General," Leia said. "Why-"

"Bakura is currently operating under martial law," he explained without allowing her to finish her question. "I shall be in charge until the crisis is over."

"Then perhaps we should meet with you," Leia said. "Whatever this crisis is, I'm sure we can do something to help you out of it."

"Your help would indeed be welcome," the general said, although he didn't sound overly enthusiastic. "However, Salis D'aar is unsafe for you at the moment. Dock with Sentinel and I shall take a shuttle to meet you within the hour. I'll explain everything then."

"Understood," Han said. Leia noted the look of skepticism on his face. "Just don't try and tell us that the Ssi-ruuk are now the good guys, though, because I can tell you now we won't believe you."

"Not the Ssi-ruuk," Panib said. "The P'w'eck." Realization dawned, then, for Leia-and from Han's face, she could tell it had for him, too.

"Okay, General," she said. "We'll see you within the hour." The comm went dead.