I-Five hesitated. "As you can imagine, I'm not usually p.r.o.ne to saying this. But something impels me-"Intuition?" she interrupted, with a smile.

"Perhaps. In any case-may the Force be with you, Jedi Offee."

She nodded in acknowledgment, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck in your quest, I-Five. May the Force be with you, as well."

He moved away, and she turned to look through the viewport once more. They were leaving orbit, she saw; already Drongar was receding, as the MedStar frigate, accompanied by the Resolution, moved away into interplanetary s.p.a.ce.

Her a.s.signment was over. In a couple of standard days, if all went well, she would once again stand before Master Unduli in the Jedi Temple-this time not as a Padawan, but as a full-fledged Jedi Knight. She wondered what new a.s.signments, what new adventures, awaited her after that.

Whatever they might be, Barriss Offee knew that she would face them, secure in the protective embrace of the living Force.

"Well," Den said to I-Five, "looks like your trip to Cor-uscant won't be costing you that much after all."

"All it took was the destruction of half a planet. Expensive, if you ask me," the droid replied. "And what of you, Den Dhur? What's your destination?"

Den fluttered his dewflaps thoughtfully. "I really ought to be on my way to Sull.u.s.t. I have a very attractive fern, and her warren-clan, waiting there,-you know. They think highly of me on the homeworld."

"So you've said-several times."

Den sighed. A life of patriarchal reverence and hushed esteem. It had been easy to be nostalgic about his home-world when he was sweating half his body weight away on Drongar.

But now he remembered a major reason why he'd left in the first place: Sull.u.s.t was boring.

"Then again, Eyar won't get there for a while yet. No hurry."

"One could make money in the Southern Underground on Coruscant, if one was, say, in need of a dowry," I-Five said. "And I wouldn't mind a partner to keep authorities from worrying over my ownership. Galling as I find such a subterfuge, it's sometimes necessary."

Den nodded. There were always easy marks to be found at the sabacc tables in places like the Outlander Club. No harm in making some creds while he thought about Eyar's offer some more . . .

He looked up at the droid. "I-Five," he said, "I think this could be the beginning of a profitable relationship."

EPILOGUE.

Later, after the others had left the room, Jos Vondar and Tolk le Trene held each other and watched the starfield through the viewport as the ship left the Drongan system.

"You're sure you want to do this?" she asked.

He nodded. "I'm sure. Are you?"

She grinned. "Where you go, I go. Just promise me that I don't have to be the cook or the maid."

"If it gets too tough, we won't stay," Jos said. "I won't make you live the life of a pariah. But I owe it to my family-and to you-to at least try."

A voice came from behind them. "You'll have one family member on your side, at least."

Surprised, Jos turned to see Great-Uncle Erel smiling at them from the doorway.

"I've requested rea.s.signment to Borellos Base on Corellia," he said. "If you can go back there and face this prejudice down, Jos, I can hardly do less."

Jos stared incredulously. "You're serious?"

"Absolutely. I've spent practically my entire life alone. Now that I've finally found some family, I'm not going to give it up."

Tolk hugged him. "Welcome home, then, Uncle Erel."

And, looking at the two of them, his betrothed and his uncle, Jos realized that, in one respect at least, all the fighting and hunting done on Drongar for the miracle drug of the age had been pointless. Because the real panacea for the troubles that plagued humanity or any other sentient species, organic, cybernetic, clone or otherwise, had already been discovered, millennia ago, back when sentients still peered suspiciously up at the stars.

Call it the Force, call it love, call it what you will-Jos knew that it could be found, not in the swamps of a distant world, but in the unexplored reaches of the heart.

The comm crackled. A voice warned them to prepare for the jump to hypers.p.a.ce. Jos took Tolk's hand as the ship's hyperdrive activated, and then they hurtled away from the Rim, toward the bright center of the galaxy.