He watched with dismay as the Y-wing tried to dodge the incoming vessels, only to be jerked back in the clutches of seven combined tractor beams. The pilot went without a sound. Either her comm was down or she was sparing him her despair.

Jag vowed then and there that he would not share a similar fate. He would sooner blow his engines than allow his soul to be sucked out and squeezed into a battle droid. But how could he do that when there was a chance he and his pilots could escape? While there was life, there was hope.

Jag was so frustrated he wanted to scream to get it out of his system. He almost didn't feel the tractor beams as they wrapped around his struggling clawcraft and started to drag it back into captivity.

Jaina watched from the rear of the column of survivors as they moved along the tunnels under the stadium with only the red glow of emergency lighting to guide them.

Despite the ferrocrete around them, she could hear the sound of paddle beamers and screams from up above. Although her lightsaber was still attached to her belt, she kept one hand on the weapon at all times.

There was no evidence of immediate trouble, but she knew that pursuit wouldn't be far behind.

The Ryn led the way, retracing their steps quickly but carefully, with Tahiri's gurney never more than an arm's length away. Water trickled ahead of them in snake-like streams, washing dust and debris down into the depths of the building and making the floor slippery and treacherous.

"I don't think my circuits will stand another minute in this humidity, Mistress," C-3PO declared after slipping for the sixth time.

The complaint was directed to Princess Leia, but he'd made sure it was loud enough for all to hear.

"Stop your complaining, Goldenrod." Han clapped the droid on the back, producing a metallic echo in the damp tunnel-as well as nearly causing the droid to stumble again. "You've been through worse than this and survived. Remember the incident with the stormtrooper uniform, last time we were here?" If 3PO could have shuddered, Jaina was sure he would have done so from the top of his bronzed cranium to the base of his metal soles. "All too well, I'm afraid, sir," he said, his servomotors whirring with each step and his photoreceptor eyes glowing sharply in the gloom.

"Mine is not the kind of memory that allows me to forget easily." Jaina stopped listening when she heard a commotion ahead. Her lightsaber was out and ignited before she'd barely taken two steps through the stream of survivors in front of her.

"Princess Leia! Captain Solo! What are you doing here?" Jaina knew that voice. "Malinza?" she said, pushing forward. People made way for the buzzing, glowing blade. "You should've left long ago."

"The exit was blocked." The girl was at the front of the small group, blaster held down at her side. Vyram stood between her and their captives-a sullen Salkeli and a defiant Harris. Both were bound and gagged. "There are Ssi-ruuk everywhere out there!" Jaina turned to Goure.

"Is there another way out of here?"

"I'm not sure." The Ryn sounded calm and unflus-tered, but the lashing of his tail betrayed his nervousness. "But be might know," he said, pointing at Harris. "We followed him in here." She indicated for Malinza to remove his gag. "Well?"

"Well what? " he said, eyes blazing with anger.

"Is there another way out of here?"

"Why should I tell you anything? To help you?" He laughed lightly as he shook his head. "Don't imagine that I'll be doing that in a hurry."

"In case you hadn't heard, your plan went horribly wrong. The P'w'eck were just a smokescreen for the Ssi-ruuk. You may have killed the Prime Minister, but it didn't stop the consecration. Once it was completed, the invasion force moved in." Harris noticeably paled in the dim light of the tunnel. "Invasion?" He was at a loss for words, but not for long. "If Cundertol is dead, Bakura will need a strong leader. You might not like my methods, but I can get the job done. Set me free and-"

"It's too late for that," Jaina said. "There's a good chance you might not survive the next hour, let alone take the Prime Minister's job."

"So now you're in charge?" he sneered. "Is that the way it works, Solo?" He turned to Malinza and the other survivors. "Don't you think it's convenient that the Galactic Alliance is here just in time to save us from a crisis we never knew we had? At a time when - "Save it, Harris," Jaina cut in. "No one's listening to you. There's no mistaking what we all saw out there. The Ssi-ruuk are on Bakuran soil, and it's partly your fault they're here. You should have made sure of your new allies before selling your soul to them."

"It wasn't him who sold his soul," said a new voice from the shadows farther along the corridor.

A tall figure stepped into the light. At first Jaina didn't recognize him. His blond hair had been burned away; bruises and scorch marks blackened his skin. He wore the remains of ceremonial robes around him like rags, concealing his hands.

"The market for politicians," Prime Minister Cun-dertol said, "is, perhaps unsurprisingly, quite small."

"You?" Leia couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. "But you're-"

"Dead?" The big man smiled. "Not quite. Luckily, the blast only stunned me for a time. I woke up down here, disoriented and lost. I heard footsteps and saw Malinza, but I didn't want to reveal myself until I knew what she was up to-and what exactly she was doing with Blaine. I thought Freedom might have kidnapped him as well as set the bomb. But I guess I was wrong about you, Malinza-and for that I must apologize." The girl nodded a wary acceptance. "It was Harris," she said. "He set us up."

"This is impossible," the accused man said. "That bomb was-I mean, they said you were dead!"

"Well, they were mistaken." Cundertol pulled his right hand from beneath his robes to reveal a blaster. "As I was mistaken to put my faith in you, Blaine. I can't believe that you're responsible for everything that's happening to us today." Although the weapon pointed only at Harris, Jaina instinctively tensed. Her lightsaber rose slightly. Leia's Noghri bodyguards also moved, hissing in warning as they placed themselves between Cundertol and the Princess. Something about the Prime Minister wasn't quite right. Jaina could sense it, even if she couldn't define it. When she deep-probed him to see if he was a Yuuzhan Vong spy, she encountered a strange texture. His presence was unlike any she'd felt before.

As if her instincts, and those of her mother's bodyguards, weren't enough, she could feel Goure's unease radiating palpably from him. He knew something, she was sure of it, but he couldn't say anything with Cundertol there. She decided to keep her lightsaber activated until she knew exactly what was going on.

"You must forgive our surprise, Prime Minister," Leia said. "But the last hour has been confusing, to say the least. You may have gathered that the P'w'eck peace plan was a sham for a Ssi-ruuvi attack-" He nodded, keeping his eyes on Harris. "The Fluties have obviously been planning this a long time. I don't suppose you have any idea how we can force them back?" Jaina winced at the racist reference to the aliens.

She'd heard it before, but on the lips of the Prime Minister it sounded especially cra.s.s and offensive.

"No doubt the defense fleet and Selonia are working on something as we speak," Leia replied. "Unfortunately the comm channels are jammed, and there are Ssi-ruuk right behind us. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible. If we can get to the Falcon, that would be ideal." The Prime Minister nodded. "A sensible plan," he said. "Blame, you were about to tell us if you knew a way out of here, I believe, before I rudely interrupted."

"And I'll say to you what I said to her," the Deputy Prime Minister answered, inclining his head toward Jaina. "Why should I help? The way I see it, I have absolutely nothing to lose." He glared balefully at Cundertol as he raised his arms up in front of him and rattled his binders.

"You have your life to lose," Cundertol said simply. "Would you prefer entechment with the rest of us when the Fluties finally catch up?"

Harris's glare intensified. "I can't help you, I'm afraid. You see, there is no exit. They're all blocked. Our only hope is to hide in one of the equipment lockers until the Ssi-ruuk are gone, and then try to sneak out."

"I'm not really one for hiding," Cundertol said, with a regretful shake of his head. The blaster in the Prime Minister's hand fired and Blaine Harris fell back onto the floor, dead before he hit. "Sorry, my friend. But that was the wrong answer." Jaina stood, stunned, as the blaster came around. Harris had been guilty of ma.s.s murder, but she would never condone cold-blooded execution as punishment - and had never expected it from someone like Cundertol. Salkeli dropped to his knees in supplication, obviously antic.i.p.ating a similar fate. Jaina stepped forward to prevent another travesty of justice.

However, Cundertol's interest lay not with the Rodian. Instead, in one smooth motion he pressed the blaster directly against Malinza's temple.

"Now, seeing as there are no other options available..." Jaina froze. If she had thought she couldn't be more surprised than she already was, she was quickly proven wrong when the Bakuran Prime Minister opened his mouth as wide as it would go and called out in the Ssi-ruuvi language. It consisted of just three notes, but they were so loud even the echoes hurt her ears. An answering reply came almost immediately.

Her worst fears realized, Jaina cursed under her breath for allowing herself to be caught like this. She took a step forward, but stopped when Cundertol pushed the blaster even harder against Malinza's temple.

Cundertol grinned in triumph. He didn't have to move or say anything; he simply knew that Jaina wasn't about to risk Malinza's life.

One squeeze of the trigger and the girl would be dead.

Jaina lowered the lightsaber and tried another tack. "Let her go."

The mental command accompanying the words would have made an ordinary person instantly obey.

But the Prime Minister just shook his head. "I d6n't think so," he said, smiling.

"What are you?" Jaina asked.

The Prime Minister's smile widened, if that was possible.

"New," he said. "But we haven't got time for that right now. We need to go and meet your new masters." Rapid footfalls came down the corridors behind and ahead of them. Deep, fluting calls pa.s.sed back and forth between the two alien search parties as they converged on the m maintenance area. The survivors drew closer together, moving instinctively into a corner. Jaina planted herself protectively between them and Cundertol, her eyes on both corridor entrances. Behind her, she felt her father and mother, Goure, and two security guards doing the same. If only they'd rushed Cundertol when they'd had the chance, she thought. If only - She fought herself to stop such thoughts. They were nonproductive at best. There'd be time for regrets later. If there was a later, of course.

"You knew about the Ssi-ruuk," Malinza hissed, held tight in his grip. Her voice was steeped in disgust. "You betrayed Bakura. You're no better than Harris!"

"You're wrong on that score, I a.s.sure you," Cundertol said. "I am in every way better than Harris." There was no time for Jaina to wonder what he meant. Six Ssi-ruuvi warriors burst out of the corridor to her left, running with long, bounding strides and flicks of their mighty tails, paddle beamers held before them in taloned hands. Their eyes and scales gleamed red in the emergency lighting. They came to a halt, hissing and screeching, at the sight of the fugitives before them.

The leader directed a series of piercing notes at Cun-dertol, who responded fluently in the same language.

"Threepio?" Han prompted the droid from the corner of his mouth.

"I believe it is a standard welcome," the droid said, looking from Cundertol to the Ssi-ruu. The giant saurian indicated the body of Harris and swished its tail. "Now it is reprimanding the Prime Minister that he has wasted this one." The second party arrived before Cundertol could defend himself. At its head was the largest Ssi-ruu Jaina had yet seen-a beautiful red female warrior with p.r.o.nounced ridges running back along her snout and across the top of her skull. She wore a black harness adorned with silver medals that jingled with each step she took, and her nostrils flared when her gaze fell upon Jaina and the others.

Behind her came five more warriors of ordinary size, protected by four golden priest-caste Ssi-ruuk as well as the Keeramak itself, its brighter colors subdued in the dim light. The large party concluded with a group of P'w'eck warriors that fanned out to cover the entrances.

The Keeramak moved forward with muscular grace, its ma.s.sive jaws snapping as though at imaginary insects. Its gold-scaled servants eyed the Bakurans warily, daring them to speak. No one did.

A series of eerie, melodic notes then issued from the mutant Ssi-ruu's mouth.

" 'Surrender now,' " C-3PO translated, " 'and I will ensure that, once enteched, you will be put to productive tasks.' "

"We were told you no longer required entechment," Leia said, not attempting to hide the disapproval from her voice. "I suppose that was just another lie." The Keeramak executed a graceful bow. "One of many, Leia Organa Solo," it replied via C-3PO's translation. "The truth is, however, that we have indeed perfected the entechment process. It is now possible to sustain life energy indefinitely, reducing the need for frequent replenishment. Some energies, such as your own, are too strong to resist. You will enrich us for centuries!" Leia's lips tightened. From under her robes, she produced her own lightsaber-something she did only when all attempts at diplomacy had failed. It cast a red light across the face of the Keeramak.

"You shall never have my life energy," she said with menacing determination.

"Or mine," Jaina said, adding her voice-along with her blade-to her mother's vow.

The Keeramak backed away, fluting as the guards closed in.

"The Keeramak says, 'As you wish,' " C-3PO reported.

"Don't be fools," Cundertol said. "Don't you understand what you're being offered?"

"All too clearly," Han growled.

"You're hearing the words, but you're not understanding them!

Entechment isn't what you think it is. It's not the end; it's the beginning! It's liberation, not captivity!"

"You don't really believe that," Leia said.

Cundertol ignored her, addressing the others instead. "Imagine being the controller of your own droid ship, the heart of an interstellar drive, the overseer of an entire city! Imagine the freedom you will achieve when you've been cut loose from the shackles of flesh and blood.

You'll be able to live forever!"

"Freedom?" Jaina echoed. "We'll be slaves!"

"Immortal slaves! What are a few years of servitude in exchange for eternity? They will pa.s.s as though mere moments!" Suddenly it became all too clear why Cundertol had betrayed Bakura to the Ssi-ruuk.

"Is that what they've promised you?" Leia asked. "Immortality? You sold out your planet and people for a promise of longer life?"

Cundertol's smile was wide and amused. "Actually, Princess, they didn't promise me anything. I worked it out for myself. They didn't come to me seeking a bargain; we met halfway. From there, it was just a matter of working out the details." Jaina shook her head. "Surely you can't be that naive! If you think it's going to happen like-"

"Not going to happen-it's already happened! If you refuse to accept the truth of it, then I cannot help you. Your fate is already sealed."

The Keeramak clicked its claws, and half the P'w'eck moved forward through the ranks of Ssi-ruuvi guards. If there was going to be a fight, then clearly these were to be sacrificed first. Jaina felt sick to her stomach. As bad as it was to be facing captivity and entechment, it felt worse to know that her only hope of escaping would mean having to fight and possibly kill slaves.

Lwothin, even more fidgety than usual, led the contingent. He turned to the Keeramak and inclined his head in what Jaina took to be a gesture of respect and subservience. The mighty Ssi-ruu uttered a deep, powerful warble that she didn't require C-3PO to translate for her. As far as she was concerned, it could have meant only one thing: the Keeramak was ordering the P'w'eck guards to subdue the prisoners.

Lwothin nodded his long, reptilian head and raised himself to full height. Jaina tensed, her lightsaber igniting with a press of her thumb as she braced herself for the a.s.sault. With a cry that both surprised and terrified her in equal measures, Lwothin brought up his paddle beamer and fired point blank.

The engines of Jag's clawcraft were running hot. Despite that, it was still firmly tethered to the V'sett fighters that had captured him and being drawn inexorably toward a growing knot of captured Bakuran and Galactic Alliance vessels. Comprised of more than one hundred fighters, the knot was being drawn through a narrow hole in the shields of the ma.s.sive carrier Eninurfg'ka. Two Fw'Sen picket ships accompanied them, making certain there was no trouble. The vast, curving sweep of the carrier's bow loomed over him, making him and his fate seem powerfully insignificant.

Clicks came over the comm as he joined the formation of captured fighters. Bound tight by powerful tractor beams, all he and his squadronmates could do was signal each other as they were dragged to their doom. Nearby he could make out the pilot of the Y-wing in her c.o.c.kpit, hands visibly poised over her controls, a grim expression on her face. Jag had no doubt from the look in her eyes as she stared through her c.o.c.kpit canopy at him that, given the opportunity, she would fight back-to the death if need be. Her eyes held the same dark determination he felt in his heart.

Not that such an opportunity would eventuate. Once they were on the other side of those shields, that would be it. There would be no hope of rescue then.

I'm sorry, Father, he thought, wishing there was some way that Baron Soontir Fel could hear him. And his mother. They'd had such hopes for him. All his life he had struggled to prove himself worthy in their eyes. The slow-maturing child of aliens in a fiercely compet.i.tive society, growing up in the shadow of Thrawn and his father's ambition.

How could he ever have suspected that he would meet such a fate as this?

"This is Captain Mayn." The voice came clearly over the comm unit.

" I'm addressing you on an open frequency. The jamming has been interrupted to let me relay orders from the ground. All fighters must stand down or planetary bombardment will begin immediately. They have paralysis weapons that can knock out an entire city. Salis D'aar will be the first target. Therefore, in the best interest of innocent civilians, I am asking for all resistance to cease." Jag listened to the words with growing amazement. Could this really be Todra Mayn speaking? The thought of just giving in to the Ssi-ruuk turned his insides to water.

"If we stand down now, Captain, then they're as good as dead anyway," Jag said over the same frequency.

"We have an a.s.surance from the Ssi-ruuk that, once the planet is under Imperium control, we shall be treated fairly." Jag jerked the yoke of his ship to fight the dreadful tug of the tractor beams. "Like the P'w'eck were, you mean? As breeding stock for droid fighters?"

"Anything is better than dying." He could tell by the way his engines were shrieking that they weren't going to last much longer at full throttle. If he was going to blow them, to end it quickly rather than in the mental cage of a droid fighter, then he was going to have to do it soon-while he still had engines to do it with!

"You have to trust me, Jag." Captain Mayn's voice was thick with tension. "They have Jaina." So? he wanted to yell back at her. Is one life worth more than that of an entire planet?

But he couldn't say it. His heart tore at the idea that Jaina might be hurt. With numb fingers, he throttled back and let the alien shield slip over his craft. The shield itself was invisible to all but his instruments, but he imagined it as the maw of some mighty beast waiting to swallow him. Once ingested, fierce gastric juices would remove his soul and dispense with his useless carca.s.s afterward...

Then the barrier slammed shut behind them, and they were inside. In the awkward stillness and silence, it felt like an entirely different universe. Outside, beyond the barrier, skirmishes lit up the starry backdrop as pockets of resistance still fought the Ssi-ruuvi invaders.

The picket ships, once they had delivered their cargo, returned to patrolling the area. Inside the Errinung'ka's shield there was only stillness. Caught in the web cast by droid and V'sett fighters, the captives could do little more than curse their misfortune. And wait.

Everything suddenly stopped as the Keeramak, without a single noise of complaint, crumpled to the floor.

There was a split second during which the Ssi-ruuk were so stunned by Lwothin's actions that they did nothing at all. They simply stood there gawping at the Keeramak lying on the ground, oozing a gray, viscous fluid from the paddle beamer wound in its chest. The P'w'eck were quick to take advantage of the Ssi-ruuk's confusion, and other paddle beamers began to flash in the dimly lit tunnel. For a moment, Jaina was confused, too, but that didn't last. It was obvious what was happening: Lwothin and the P'w'eck were rebelling against their Ssi-ruuvi masters!

The Ssi-ruuk were better trained and better equipped than the P'w'eck, though, and they soon regained the advantage, fighting back with frightening ferocity. Jaina had no doubt as to whose side she was on, and when a Ssi-ruuvi warrior leveled his beamer at Lwothin, she quickly slashed out with her lightsaber and knocked the weapon from the creature's hand. It swung around, attacking her with three raking claws, and she barely managed to duck a decapitating blow. The saurian was huge-but she had sparred with Saba Sebatyne enough times to know the kind of things a tail could do in combat. And there was still the Force, guiding her every move, tweaking her instincts. Fighting the Ssi-ruuk, thankfully, wasn't like fighting the Yuuzhan Vong, whose every intention was hidden from view.

She ducked and rolled, kicking up into the Ssi-ruu's midriff. It whuffed explosively and staggered backward, It used its tail to keep its balance, swiftly regaining its footing and lunging at her again. But she was out of the way before it could strike out, rolling under its sweeping talons once again. She came around its side, two-handedly slicing across the creature's neck. It fell to the floor with a shriek, spraying blood.

Another warrior howled and tried to skewer her with a shot from its beamer. Her lightsaber was unable to deflect the beam as effectively as it would a laser shot, but she did manage to bend it harmlessly into a wall. A P'w'eck leapt onto the warrior's back and brought it down. Jaina pulled the beamer from its grasp and threw it over to Vyram, who deftly s.n.a.t.c.hed it from the air and aimed it at Cundertol's face.

He fixed the Prime Minister with an unflinching stare. "I won't hesitate to pull this trigger if that blaster so much as gives Malinza a bruise." Neither moved as the fracas around them came to a surprisingly quick conclusion. The shock of their leader's death seemed to eat at the Ssi-ruuk's initial confidence. As the last of the surviving warriors allowed herself to be subdued, the Prime Minister lowered his weapon to his side.

"You ruined it," he said, looking emptily down at the Keeramak.

"You ruined it for all of us!"

"Yeah?" Han said, looking around at the P'w'eck collecting weapons and distributing them among the Baku-rans. The paddle beamers were awkward to handle, but having something to fight with was better than nothing at all. "I don't see anyone else complaining." The advance leader of the P'w'eck Emanc.i.p.ation Movement spoke urgently in his lyrical voice.

"Lwothin asks that you contact our fighters immediately," C-3PO translated. "He says that the jamming has been interrupted to allow you to speak."