"If Imperial Center actually allows such open defiance to occur," Vokkoli rumbled, the subsonics from his deep voice sending vibrations through the table. "The Freedonna Kaisu believe that Palpatine would respond instead by turning the full might of the Imperial Fleet against Shelkonwa."

"Which is precisely why an alliance with the Rebellion is vital to Ch.o.a.rd's success," Chivkyrie countered. "Simultaneous attacks by our forces elsewhere across the galaxy would tie down many of the Imperial forces that would otherwise be used against Shelsha sector."

[The Shining Hope agrees with Leader Chivkyrie that the political and psychological gains of such a move would be immense,] Slanni said. [But we do not agree that Ch.o.a.rd intends to actually join the Alliance.] He gestured to Vokkoli. [Nor do we believe, as Leader Vokkoli has suggested, that the Alliance possesses the military strength to sufficiently dilute Palpatine's response.]

"Whether or not our actions would be sufficient depends directly on the extent of Governor Ch.o.a.rd's preparations," Chivkyrie pointed out.

"I agree," Leia said, trying to sort through the implications of this unexpected bombsh.e.l.l. Slanni was right-the news that an entire sector had seceded from the Empire would be devastating to the illusion of unity that Palpatine had so carefully constructed around his New Order. It would create a natural rallying point for discontent and give the Rebellion a legitimacy the Alliance could never hope to achieve by itself. In fact, a breakaway sector could very well prove to be the beginning of the end for Palpatine's rule.

On the other, darker hand, it had been precisely the same sort of Separatist movement a generation earlier that had torn the Republic to b.l.o.o.d.y pieces. The last thing she and the other Alliance leaders wanted was a repeat of that era's ma.s.s chaos and death. "Do we know anything about Ch.o.a.rd's own plans?" she asked Chivkyrie.

"I know he is preparing and positioning forces to take control of key installations," Chivkyrie said. "Beyond that, I have no specifics."

"Specifics that are of primary importance," Vokkoli said.

"Indeed," Chivkyrie agreed, nodding to the Mungra. "That is precisely why I asked Princess Leia Organa to join us."

Leia felt her breath catch as she suddenly understood where the conversation was heading. Of course Chivkyrie hadn't talked directly to Ch.o.a.rd-a sector governor was vastly above him in tier rank, and for an Adarian that made a one-on-one conversation unthinkable. But Leia was a princess of royal Alderaanian blood, even if the world that had granted her that t.i.tle no longer existed. "Do you know whether or not the governor would be willing to speak with me?" she asked.

"Chief Administrator Disra has a.s.sured me the governor would speak with anyone of his own tier," Chivkyrie a.s.sured her. "With your permission, we will leave immediately for Shelkonwa."

"You haven't given him my name, have you?" Leia asked.

"Of course not," Chivkyrie said, looking rather scandalized. "For one thing, I was not certain whom the Rebel Alliance would send. For another, I would never have brought any name to him without permission." He looked across the table again. "But Chief Administrator Disra has warned me that the governor's preparations are nearly complete," he added. "If we are.

to be a part of this, we must move quickly."

"I understand the need for haste," Leia said. "Yet Leader Vokkoli and Planning Director Slanni are also correct in their concerns. This would involve great risk for the Rebel Alliance, yet might come to nothing."

"All of life involves risks that may come to nothing," Chivkyrie said, some impatience creeping into his tone. "You of the Alliance leadership claim you seek to draw all enemies of the Empire beneath one roof. If you are unwilling to accept Governor Ch.o.a.rd to that gathering, perhaps it is not truly unity that you seek."

[But is it our victory Governor Ch.o.a.rd seeks?] Slanni countered. [Or would he gain his independence only to turn and banish us from his territory?]

Thus turning Shelsha sector into a neutral zone, perhaps as part of a deal with Palpatine to allow Shelkonwa more freedom from Imperial rule?

Similar things had been done in the past, Leia knew, in the Corporate Sector and other places. If Ch.o.a.rd's new freedom was accompanied by public p.r.o.nouncements of his loyalty to Imperial Center, Palpatine might be willing to play along, especially if the alternative was to divert the military resources necessary to bring Shelkonwa back into fine. The end result would be that Ch.o.a.rd would gain the limited independence he apparently wanted, and the Alliance would have fought and died for nothing. Or it could be worse. Ch.o.a.rd could be a completely loyal Imperial, with all of this nothing more than an elaborate attempt to lure a few Alliance leaders into a trap.

"If we let this opportunity slip past unhindered, Governor Ch.o.a.rd will surely be defeated," Chivkyrie said into her thoughts. "His bid for freedom will become nothing more than a footnote to the dark history of Palpatine's rule." He c.o.c.ked his head toward her. "And the Republic Redux will need to consider whether the Rebel Alliance is truly the proper home for us."

So there it was. Mon Mothma had warned Leia that Vokkoli and Slanni had threatened to pull out of the Alliance if Chivkyrie's plan was accepted.

Now Chivkyrie was delivering the same ultimatum.

One way or the other, it seemed, the unity of Rebel forces in Shelsha sector was doomed.

But maybe she could postpone that doom, at least for a while. "I will not give in to blackmail," she warned Chivkyrie, putting a double helping of royal displeasure into her voice. "But neither will I dismiss out of hand any possibility of bringing about our ultimate victory against the Empire. I will return to my ship and communicate with my fellow Alliance leaders. If they agree, I will come with you to Shelkonwa to a.s.sess the situation."

She looked over at Vokkoli and Slanni. "I would also ask for your presence and counsel on this journey," she added.

Chivkyrie stirred in his seat but remained silent. Vokkoli looked down at Slanni, then back up at Leia. "We would be honored to accompany you, Princess," the Mungra said gravely. "May the Force be with you and your decisions."

"Thank you," Leia said, suppressing a grimace as she stood up. The Force.

If only she had the Jedi ability to tap into that source of power and wisdom. But she didn't. "I'll be back within the hour."

"I will await your return," Chivkyrie said gravely. "But be warned: within that same hour I return to my home. With you, or without."

Luke was playing lightsaber games with the practice remote when Han arrived from the c.o.c.kpit. "What, again?" he growled to Chewbacca, who was watching from just inside the room.

The Wookiee rumbled the logical question.

"No, I don't know where else he would practice," Han admitted. "But who says he has to practice aboard the Falcon at all? What happens if he slices through a wiring conduit or hydraulic line, or cuts off his own arm?"

Still, he had to admit that Luke was getting better with the ridiculous weapon. Those first few times old Ken.o.bi had run him through the drill, the kid had blocked maybe one attack in ten. Now, as Han watched, the remote launched a six-shot attack, only one of which got through. "He could still cut off an arm," he muttered.

Chewbacca warbled a reminder of Luke's ambitions and responsibilities.

"Yeah, and I'll bet that if he practices every day, he'll grow up to be a terrific Jedi Knight," Han said with only a little sarcasm. "Luke? Hey- Luke."

There was a slight pause, as if the kid had to readjust his attention to something besides the remote. "What is it?" he asked, turning to look at Han. "Oh-hi, Chewie. Didn't see you there."

Mentally, Han shook his head. Some all-seeing, all-knowing Jedi Knight Luke was. Simple tricks and nonsense, just like he'd always said. "We're coming up on the Purnham system," he told Luke. "Need to fire up the quads."

"Right." Closing down his lightsaber, Luke stepped around the still-humming remote and touched a switch on the engineering control panel, sending the hovering ball scooting back to its charging station.

As he did so, the familiar two-tone approach warning sounded. "Come on- move it," Han said, crossing to the ladder and heading down. "Cas.e.m.e.nt's going to be real unhappy if the pirates make it to the party before we do."

"There," Marcross said, pointing ahead out the canopy. "One freighter, dead ahead."

"Got it," Quiller confirmed, his fingers tapping their way across his board as he keyed for an ID. "It's ... not our Corellian. Looks like a Surronian of some kind- not familiar with the particular model."

"You reading any weaponry?" LaRone asked.

"Couple of blaster cannons," Quiller said. "Nothing unusual for this cla.s.s."

"Easy pickings, in other words," Marcross muttered. "When exactly is the Corellian due?"

"a.s.suming he stayed with the speed he was doing when he jumped, he could be here anytime," Quiller said. "If he really pushed it, he might conceivably have come and gone already."

"I didn't know YT-1300s could go that fast," Bright-water said.

"They can't; this one can," Quiller told him. "I was reading all sorts of interesting upgrades and modifications before they jumped. If these guys aren't pirates, I'm betting they're either smugglers or blockade runners."

There was a trill from the board. "Company," Quiller announced, peering at his displays. "Coming out from that cl.u.s.ter of asteroids to starboard."

"I see them," LaRone said grimly. There were two ships swinging into view, patrol boats of some sort, sleek and fast and heavily armed. The Corellian ship they'd been tracking might or might not be a pirate, but these two definitely were.

And they were on the hunt. Swinging their bows around, they accelerated toward the distant freighter. "Intercept in about ninety seconds,"

Quiller warned. "LaRone?"

LaRone pursed his lips. "Well, if all we want is a few random pirates to interrogate-"

"Whoa-there he is!" Grave said suddenly, pointing ahead and to the left.

"There's our Corellian.." "Son-of-a-drabble," Bright.w.a.ter breathed.

"They did get here ahead of us." "And there they go," Marcross added as the YT-1300 put on a burst of speed. "Looks like he's targeting our pirates."

"Nothing like having a full buffet to choose from," Quiller commented.

"You have any preferences as to which ships live through the next few minutes?"

LaRone studied the situation unfolding in front of them. Standard military procedure would call for disabling all three suspect ships if possible and sorting out friend from foe later. But until he'd worked through his own vague feelings and impressions of the Corellian and his friends-"Go for the two patrol ships," he ordered. "We know they're pirates. Target their engines first, and try to disable at least one without blasting it to rubble." "What about the Corellian?" Grave asked.

"Leave him alone for now," LaRone said. "Don't fire on him unless he fires onus first." Bright.w.a.ter tapped Grave's shoulder. "That's our cue,"

he said. "Let's go find out how accurate these cannons are at long range."

The pirate ships were looming ever larger as Chewie closed the distance, and Luke was settling his mind into Jedi combat mode when he heard the familiar voice again whispering into his mind. Luke.

"Yes, I know," Luke muttered, focusing his thoughts on the pirates.

Don't focus, Ben's voice admonished. Not yet. First seek out and identify all possible threats, wherever they may lurk.

Luke frowned. Wherever they may lurk? What was that supposed to mean?

Stretch out to the Force, Luke. In all directions.

Grimacing, Luke emptied his mind, forcing himself to ignore the obvious targets directly ahead of him, and sent his awareness flowing outward.

Though where any other danger could possibly be coming from- The sense of distant minds suddenly touched his own. He looked around quickly, trying to locate the source.

And caught his breath. Swinging into view around the side of one of the nearby asteroids was another ship, turning onto an intercept course behind the Falcon. "Han!" he called.

"Yeah, I see it," Han's voice growled through his headset. "Should have expected they'd have backup. Chewie, evasive course to Cas.e.m.e.nt. Luke, you take the party crasher. Keep him back, or bring him down."

"Got it," Luke said. Coming in low on their stern, the trailing ship was barely within his fire arc.

But he could only do what he could do. The Falcon was starting to roll like a drunken dewback as Chewbacca threw them into a series of twists and turns, and off the edge of the hull he could see multiple red flashes as Han opened fire on the two pirate ships they were chasing. Swinging his fire-control yoke all the way over, Luke aimed his quads as far aft as he could and waited for Chewbacca's evasive maneuvering to roll him into position for a clear shot. Luke, focus your thoughts.

Luke grimaced again. Now Ben wanted him to focus his thoughts. He took a deep breath, turning his mind toward the newcomers.

And paused. With his thoughts focused, and with the other ship starting to close the distance, the overall sense of the men aboard was becoming clearer.

But it wasn't the same coiled-spring predator feeling he'd sensed back at the Conso City tapcafe. It had some of the same strength and antic.i.p.ation, but there was definitely something different about it.

Something less angry, or less vicious. Less evil. The Force will guide you, if you let it. The closing ship was almost in range. Luke peered out at it, wondering how he was supposed to get this guidance.

Maybe the way he let the Force control his movements when he practiced with the remote? Taking a deep breath, painfully aware of the risk he was taking, he settled his hands on the yoke and allowed the Force to flow into him.

And to his amazement, his fingers lifted off the firing controls.

Very good, Ben's voice came again, and Luke thought he could sense approval in the tone. Not all strangers are enemies.

Luke had to smile at the obviousness of that one. Still, it was a lesson he would do well to keep in mind. Throwing one last look at the oncoming ship, he swiveled the quads around and settled the sights onto the pirate ships ahead of him. Once again he let the Force's guidance flow into him, and once again his fingers moved of their own accord.

Only this time, it was to settle themselves firmly onto the firing controls.

The message was clear. Instead of taking out the new ship, Luke was to join Han's attack on the known pirates.

He just hoped the Force knew what it was doing.

"Will you look at that?" Quiller muttered as the Suwantek drove hard toward the battle. "Twin quad lasers. That's, what, a three-year prison sentence right there?"

"Probably, but it beats getting blown out of the sky," Marcross said, the sides of his face momentarily lighting up green as the Suwantek's own laser cannons sent another volley at the two patrol boats. "I'm wondering when the pirates are going to start looking for alternatives of their own."

"Actually, they haven't got any," Quiller said. "With the Corellian riding their portside flank and us hammering their sterns, they're pouring every bit of power they can spare into those two deflectors. Any direction they veer now will open up another flank to attack, and they can't afford that. They can't even separate and try to split our fire."

"Couldn't the one on the right at least ride up a little so he could bring his guns against the Corellian?" Marcross asked.

"Sure he could," Quiller confirmed. "But then he'd be in range of the Corellian's quads, too. Ten to one that's the ship the attack commander's riding."

LaRone felt his lip twist. Typical. Hitting defenseless freighters was fine, but when it came to a real fight, pirates generally showed themselves to be cowards at heart. "So what are they doing?"

"The only thing they can," Quiller said. "They're trying to catch up to the target freighter and use it for cover." "That a.s.sumes any of us care if the freighter gets blown to bits, of course," Marcross murmured.

"True, but like I said, it's all they've got," Quiller said. "Actually, at this range and with his firepower the Corellian could be doing a lot more damage than he is. Looks like he's trying to take them alive, too."

"Handy for us," Marcross said. He threw a look at LaRone. "Though I missed the part where they and we started working together on this."

"Allies of convenience," LaRone told him. "We'll just have to wait and see how long that convenience lasts." "We may be about to find out,"

Quiller said. "Looks like he's about to make some kind of move."

LaRone peered out the canopy. He didn't see anything different, but he was willing to take Quiller's word for it. "Okay," he said. "Grave, Bright.w.a.ter: hold your fire a minute. Let's see what the Corellian's up to."

"Chewie?" Han called. "You ready?"

There was a growled acknowledgment through the headphone. Han resettled his grip on his firing yoke, trying to ignore the uncertainties fluttering through his gut. He'd personally trained Chewbacca in this sort of lunatic maneuver, after all, and the big Wookiee was nearly as good at it as Han was.

But there was still that Suwantek-shaped question mark back there, a question mark with a lot more firepower than a freighter that size had any business carrying. So far the party crasher had concentrated his attention on the two pirate ships and ignored the Falcon, but that could change at any time.

And if they were just waiting for the right moment to switch targets, this would sure give it to them. "Luke?"

"Ready."

"Okay," Han said, bracing himself. "Chewie ...go." There was another acknowledgment from the c.o.c.kpit, and suddenly the Falcon was on the move, breaking from its parallel course to lunge sideways toward the two pirates. The hull dipped as Chewbacca sent them skidding laterally beneath the other ships, cutting off Han's view. From above him he could hear the upper quads firing as Luke sent a salvo upward into their bellies, and the teeth-aching screeches of laser against deflector as the pirates returned fire. The sideways momentum sent the Falcon shooting past the second pirate; with a corks.c.r.e.w.i.n.g twist that sent the stars spinning dizzyingly across Han's canopy, Chewbacca brought them around the pirate's flank and over its upper surface.