Windu nodded as though Halcyon's negative answer explained everything.

"Are you familiar with Praesitlyn in the Sluis sector?" he asked abruptly.

"Only that we have an important communications relay there, but I've never been there."

Briefly, Windu explained what had happened. Halcyon listened with growing wonder; this was indeed a major a.s.signment, and it was an honor to be entrusted with it.

"You will be interested in knowing who it is that is in command of the opposing force," Windu said when he finished describing the situation and the mission.

"Yes, indeed. n.o.body but a Jedi Master would dare attempt a counterattack like that, not unless he had a severe death wish." He racked his brain, trying to figure out which Jedi might be in a location from which he could launch such a mission.

"A Jedi he is not," Yoda said, chuckling lightly.

"Not a Jedi?" Halcyon asked, taken aback.

The Council members exchanged quick glances.

"That man is Zozridor Slayke," Master Windu stated.

There was a moment of silence in the Jedi Council Chamber.

Then Halcyon cleared his throat and nodded briskly. "Captain Slayke is a good soldier," he said.

Yoda smiled, and the other members of the Council visibly relaxed. "To hear you say that is good," Yoda said. He nodded at Mace.

Mace Windu spoke in rapid, clipped tones, as if reading a set of orders.

"Nejaa Halcyon, you will take a relief force of twenty thousand clones to Praesidyn. Once there you will effect a landing of your army, a.s.sume overall command of the combined force, and destroy the Techno Union army there. You are authorized to dispose your ground and naval forces according to the battle plan you and your staff will devise en route to accomplish this mission in the most expeditious and effective way possible. " He paused. "You may select your own staff and designate whomever you wish to be your second in command.

Time is short. When you leave here you will repair to Centax One, where your fleet is preparing for departure. You will effect that departure with all possible haste."

"I am honored to accept this mission," Halcyon said formally.

"This Slayke, work with him you can? Toward him no animosity you feel still over his stealing of your ship?" Yoda asked.

Halcyon bowed deeply. "No, Master Yoda. Slayke is an intelligent and resourceful soldier. I was overconfident and foolish, and he exploited my weakness. I am glad," he finished with a smile, "to have him as my ally, and I know together we shall smash the Techno Union forces."

Yoda nodded. "Of our Order, Nejaa Halcyon, a true Master you are."

"Do you have anyone in mind who might be your deputy on this expedition?"

Windu asked.

"Yes, Master. Anakin Skywalker."

Was that a hint of surprise in Windu's eyes? The formidable Jedi Master was, as always, hard to read. But all he said was, "Why?"

"He is brave, resourceful, and ready for a real challenge. And he is here, right now, in the Room of a Thousand Fountains."

"But this mission requires Jedi commanders, and Anakin has limited experience leading troops," Adi Gallia said.

"IVe been watching," Halcyon replied, "and talking with him. He's been studying battlefield tactics and past battles. I believe he's ready."

"Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi's advice have you sought?" Yoda asked.

"I know Obi-Wan-we've talked about Anakin. He told me Anakin hasn't had command yet simply because the opportunity hasn't arisen, not because he's not ready."

"Is no one else available?" Adi Gallia asked.

"I am sure others are available," Halcyon answered. He took a steadying breath before continuing. "Perhaps one or two other than you yourselves.

But what if another emergency arises, one that requires a Jedi experienced in diplomacy, or some other solo mission? Whom will you send if I take someone more experienced, and Anakin Skywalker is the only Jedi left available?"

Windu studied Halcyon for a moment, then nodded. "We leave the selection of your subordinates in your capable hands. But remember this, Nejaa Halcyon: this a.s.signment is as much a trial for you as it is for young Anakin. More important, it is a trial for the Republic. On its outcome may rest the fate of the entire galaxy. May the Force be with you."

Anakin flexed the fingers of his prosthetic hand and regarded the fist it made. The prosthesis that had replaced his right arm and hand was even better than the original. The fingers were electrostatically sensitive to touch. The interface module linking the hand to his nervous system permitted the device to operate as would a normal human hand. The unit was activated by a power cell that didn't require recharging. If I'd known the thing was going to work this well, I might've had the other arm replaced, too, he thought wryly. Now, if only it were covered in synthflesh...

The phantom pains from the nonexistent nerves in the vanished hand bothered him occasionally, but they were the lesser of several other kinds of phantoms that were troubling Anakin just now.

He rose to his feet. The grotto where Nejaa Halcyon had asked to meet with him was one of many situated at various levels throughout the Jedi Temple. The bench he'd been sitting on was shaded by the overhanging branches from the trees that grew around the pool into which a waterfall splashed; a light mist hung over the pool, condensing on the path where he stood. Altogether this was a very pleasant spot, but Anakin Skywalker was in no mood for pleasant spots this day.

He walked down the path a short distance, did an abrupt about-face, and stalked back to the bench. He drove his right fist hard into the palm of his left hand. The sound of the satis-fyingly sharp smack it would have made otherwise was deadened by the surrounding foliage. Anakin flicked moisture off his cloak. Voices? He whirled. Two Padawans, a boy and a girl, engaged in conversation, approached down the path behind where he was standing, oblivious to his presence. They suddenly burst into a peal of laughter. They saw him then, standing under the tree in front of the bench that was obviously their destination, and stopped suddenly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir," the boy blurted. "We didn't know anyone was here."

The girl smiled nervously. They both knew who Anakin was.

Looking at the girl close up, Anakin was reminded - painfully-of Padme.

"I'm here on business of the Jedi Council. I hope you'll excuse me." Not exactly a lie: Halcyon was before the Jedi Council, so whatever news he had for Anakin would come from there-sort of. But his frustration at the unexpected reminder of his wife must have been too obvious in his tone of voice, because the young man's face reddened.

"Sorry, sir, very sorry," the lad stammered. The pair hastily turned and left.

Anakin suppressed a flash of guilt for having spoken to the young man so sharply, but then he shook his head. No. They'd have to learn their place, just as he had. And what was his place? He, too, was still a Padawan, even with all his combat experience and acknowledged talents-and the sacrifice of his arm in personal combat-and still he hadn't heard a word about Jedi Knighthood. He'd been weeks on Coruscant, studying, practicing his skills. Under the circ.u.mstances he'd rather be spending his time with Padme-No, no> dont think of that, he told himself. Think of the future. Master Halcyon was going to offer him something-that had to be why he'd asked for this meeting. Coruscant was rife with rumors these days. Everyone was talking vaguely about new threats from the Separatist forces. Big things were afoot, and Anakin itched to be a part of it ail.

Jedi Nejaa Halcyon. Anakin had gotten to know him rather well during the time of his enforced idleness. Anakin respected Master Halcyon, but could not understand what had gone wrong on the mission to Bpfa.s.sh, which had ended in such great embarra.s.sment to him and the Jedi Order. Specific details about the mission had been kept quiet, but still there was talk.

Anakin a.s.sumed Halcyon had been recalled to Coruscant because the Jedi Council was trying to decide on his future employments, but he was too polite to ask. What really mattered to Anakin, though, was that Halcyon seemed to like and have confidence in him, and now that might be about to pay off.

He sensed Halcyon's approach and turned to greet him at the same moment that Halcyon said, "A credit for your thoughts." Both men smiled.

Halcyon draped an arm across Anakin's shoulders. "My young friend," he announced, "I have come with news."

"Yes?" Outwardly Anakin maintained an icy-cool demeanor, but inwardly his heart raced.

Halcyon, though, could sense the surge of antic.i.p.ation in the young Jedi and he smiled more broadly. "The Jedi Council is sending us on a mission.

I've been given a chance to prove myself-no, don't deny it, Anakin, that's what this a.s.signment is, a trial-and I've asked for you to be my second in command. The Council agreed."

Anakin felt a very slight twinge of disappointment. Halcyon, not the Jedi Council itself, had asked for his services. But... the Council had agreed, so... "What is the mission, Master?"

"Are you familiar with the Intergalactic Communications Center on Praesitlyn, in the Sluis sector?"

"Not really. I know it's a vital communications hub, but I don't know much more than that."

"It's been seized by a Separatist force. We're a.s.suming the garrison has been defeated, but the enemy force is being opposed by a friendly armada that was tracking the invasion fleet and has broken through the cordon around Praesitlyn. They are now heavily engaged with the Separatist ground force. We are going to relieve that army, if it can be done." He paused. "We're not sure how big the Separatist force is, but it's very powerful; taking it on will not be an easy job."

"Who's in command of the intervening force on Praesitlyn?"

Halcyon smiled weakly. "Zozridor Slayke."

Anakin looked up sharply. "You mean-?"

"Yes, the same-my nemesis." Halcyon's lips twisted in a wry smile. "But we are going there to retake Praesitlyn, Anakin. If Slayke's still alive and able to fight by the time we get there, well, he'll be so glad to see us I don't think I'll have any problem working with him."

Neither said anything for a long moment. The water splashed merrily into the pool; Anakin didn't notice the occasional droplets of moisture that fell from an overhanging branch down the back of his neck. "Master, what, precisely, will be my role as your second?"

"We'll have an army of twenty thousand clones. We'll form it into two divisions. I'll hold overall command, as well as command of one division, and you'll command the other. If anything happens to me, you will then command the entire fleet. You can do it, Anakin-that's why I picked you."

He paused and nudged a glob of mud with the toe of his boot. "Our force includes supporting arms and comb at-support units, so besides the clone infantry force, we'll have small contingents from all over the Republic as integral parts of our army. We'll have to do most of our planning on the way."

"When do we leave?"

"Soon, very soon."

"So, what's our first step?" Anakin asked.

"Our first step? Well, first you and I are going to meet someone very special."

No society is without its underworld. With more than a trillion inhabitants, Coruscant, the gem of the galaxy, the hub of the Republic, had its bottom feeders deep beneath its soaring spires. Coruscant was like a vast ocean: while luxurious liners full of happy partyers plowed the waves on the surface, hideous denizens, strangers to light, lurked in the murky depths far below. It was into this world that Jedi Master Nejaa Halcyon took Anakin.

The Golden Slug, a run-down flophouse with a sleazy bar in the lobby, was the only spot of activity on a dead-end side street just off a main underground thoroughfare. Piles of garbage littered the gutter; one flickering sign-the other lights weren't working-provided dim and intermittent illumination. The farther end of the street beyond the Golden Slug was enveloped in pitch darkness.

"What are we doing here?" Anakin whispered as he carefully threaded his way through the garbage. A sudden barrage of guttural shouting and the noise of something being smashed came dully from inside the Golden Slug, and a tall, reptilian creature burst from the hotel lobby and skittered past. Wondering what in the galaxy could scare a Barabel, Anakin reached for his lightsaber.

"Easy does it, Anakin," Halcyon murmured, putting a restraining hand on the Padawan's forearm.

The sign above the Golden Slug's doorway sputtered. GOL EN S UG it announced, two of the letters long since broken in some drunken melee.

"I don't think we'll have any trouble," Halcyon went on, "there's no need to have a weapon in hand. But be ready--just in case.

Anakin glanced toward the end of the street where he sensed something lurking. Then he reached out into the Force to scan the hotel lobby.

"Well, " he whispered, "there aren't any Force-sensitives in there, so lead on."

The lobby was a shambles. Most of the furniture that was still intact was unoccupied, except for something snoring loudly on one of the couches. An overhead fan stirred the stale air lazily. A bored clerk, a character with a huge set of ears and a long proboscis, glanced up at the two Jedi, squeaked an exclamation, and disappeared underneath the counter. Several patrons sat at the bar on one side of the lobby. The floor there was littered with debris, the remains of a destroyed table and chairs-and something that looked suspiciously like an arm or a leg freshly separated from its owner.

An unprepossessing figure hunched alone at one end of the bar. Three other barflies sat at the opposite end, as far from the figure as they could get, studiously ignoring its presence.

"Grudo!" Halcyon shouted.

The lobby went deadly silent. Even the fan slowly whirring above them seemed to stop its lazy perambulations. The bartender dropped the gla.s.s he was pretending to clean and ducked behind the bar.

The hunched figure turned slowly, stepped to its feet, and moved toward them. Anakin blinked. It had b.u.mpy green skin and bulging, multifaceted eyes; a stubby pair of antennae protruded from its head. Numerous sheathed knives hung from two bandoliers crossing its chest, and more knives rested uneasily in scabbards on its belt. A pair of blasters sat in holsters on its belt. Anakin thought he could make out other tools of the bounty hunter's trade poking out here and there. The dim light glinted wetly off the knives where their metal was visible, as if they had recently been used. This being was the meanest-looking Rodian Anakin had ever seen-and he headed straight toward them. Anakin reached again for his lightsaber, but Halcyon held him back with a steadying arm; the Rodian's hands were empty.

As soon as he got within reach, the bounty hunter lurched forward and grabbed Halcyon around the waist and danced him around in a macabre circle.

"Halcyon!" he hooted. "It's good to see you, old friend!" He stopped dancing, and the two embraced warmly.

"This is Grudo," Halcyon told Anakin as soon as he was able to disentangle himself. "Grudo, this young Jedi is Anakin Sky-walker. Say h.e.l.lo, Anakin."

Anakin smiled crookedly and said, "h.e.l.lo."

The Rodian released Halcyon and stood at attention. "Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Sergeant Grudo reporting," he said in an impeccable Basic that contrasted sharply with his appearance. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, sir."

"Sergeant?" Anakin asked, bemused by the Rodian's clipped tones. "I didn't know bounty hunters had ranks."

The barflies, who had been studiously ignoring the trio, turned their heads for a quick glance, then returned their attention to their drinks.

Even the bartender peeked out from hiding when Grudo hooted in raucous laughter, "Come," Grudo commanded, and led them to the bar; the barflies huddled inconspicuously over their drinks. "Barkeep! Come out from wherever you're hiding-I want to buy a drink for my friends!"

The bartender, a nervous, sallow-faced human, edged up from his hiding place. Looking like he was ready to drop back down to safety at any moment, he poured a dirty yellow fluid out of a bottle containing some kind of root into gla.s.ses that looked none too clean. Grudo raised his gla.s.s in a toast. Halcyon and Anakin followed suit.

"Aaarrggh! Whew!" Halcyon gasped. Grudo patted him hard between the shoulder blades. "Strong stuff!" the Jedi Master wheezed, thumping his chest with a fist.

Anakin sipped cautiously at his drink. The liquid burned its way past his lips, over his tongue, down his throat, and into the depths of his stomach, where it exploded in a ball of blazing fire. He choked. "Good!"

he rasped. "Very good! Thank you - Grudo."

Grudo laughed at Anakin's feeble attempt to hide his discomfort. "There's nothing good about the taste of that drink," he said. "It's supposed to incapacitate Gamorreans, Tran-doshans, Wookiees, and other large species, so Rodian bounty hunters can take them into custody without getting hurt."

The Rodian was smaller than a normal human male, but Anakin remembered the Barabel who had run screaming out to the street and looked pointedly toward the shambles in the lobby. "I don't feel in the least incapacitated, Grudo. Are you sure you need to tranquilize a large person to capture him?"

Grudo laughed and slapped him on the back. "Maybe. If I was a bounty hunter."

"If you're not a bounty hunter, what are you doing on Corus-cant? I thought the only people your world allowed to leave home were bounty hunters."

Grudo raised a suction-cup-tipped finger in front of his pendulous snout, so much like a human raising a shushing finger to pursed lips that Anakin had to laugh. "If / don't tell, you can't tell," the Rodian whispered conspiratorily. Then he turned to Halcyon. "I'm glad to see you again, Halcyon. And happy enough to meet Jedi Skywalker, as well."

"And I was very glad when I heard you were still here, Grudo. Though I'm surprised that you haven't found another job."

Grudo shrugged. "Unfortunately true. Which is hard to imagine in time of war. But... you know the bounty hunter reputation." He shook his head.

"Makes it hard for an honest Rodian to find work as a soldier. Do you have a job for me, Nejaa?"

"Possibly."

"There's trouble on Praesitlyn, I hear."