"You're firing at the Calamari."

"Sorry, General, just doing my duty."

"Wedge, are you all right?"

"Fire again, soldier, and this time aim at both ships." Wedge had clasped his hands behind his back, trying to hide his glee. It was working. The TIE fighters had actually stopped firing on the Wild Karrde and on the Calamari. It was the Star Destroyers that concerned him more.

The shots went out on all sides, hitting two TIE fighters and bouncing off the Wild Karrde's deflector shields.

"I told you not to hit the ships," Wedge said.

"Sorry, sir," Ginbotham said. "Precision shooting is for A-wings."

"Missing a target the size of a moon shouldn't be difficult, Ginbotham."

"Yes, sir."

"Fire again."

"Wedge!" Ceousa's voice echoed over the speakers. "Wedge!"

"I'm here, General. Forgive me, but President Organa Solo put me in charge of this mission."

"I'm well aware of that, Wedge, but you're firing on our people."

"Am I, General? Am I really?" Wedge ran a hand over his throat, severing all communications. That was all the hint he would give Ceousa. Either the general trusted him or he didn't. It didn't matter. The next few moments would decide everything.

The Star Destroyers came closer.

"I have them in range, sir," Ginbotham said.

"I have the targets set up for the Star Destroyers, sir. If you'll allow me to-"

"No, soldier. I want you to fire on both the Wild Karrde and the Calamari again."

"Sir-"

"And this time, when you miss, take out a TIE fighter on one of the ricochets. They're beginning to look like they want to fight again."

"Yes, sir." Ginbotham seemed subdued. The shots went out. Wedge watched, clutching his hands together. The first shot hit a TIE fighter's solar panel, ricocheted off, and hit another fighter. The Wild Karrde swerved away, and headed toward the Calamari.

At that moment, the Star Destroyers started for Wedge. The TIE fighters continued to trail the Wild Karrde and Calamari.

"We can't defeat two Star Destroyers on our own," Sela said.

"I know," Wedge said. He hoped they wouldn't have to.

FIFTY.

Almania looked deserted. Han emerged from the Falcon with his blaster in one hand, and the ysalamiri in the other. He hated the things. They reminded him of Corellian gra.s.s snakes, except they were big, they were furry, and they had claws.

No one had told him about the claws.

They also weighed a lot. Their nutrient cages, made with frames of pipes to support and nourish the creatures, weighed even more. Mara had kept her distance. Both Han and Chewie had agreed to allow her to stay far behind them-far enough so that she wasn't caught in the ysalamiri's anti-Force bubble.

But Han wished she were closer. He should have known better than to rely on her Force abilities when she had been so close to ysalamiri. Obviously she had been wrong. Leia couldn't be nearby. This place was deserted.

He had landed the Falcon in a wide plaza. Around him were towers, most of them partially destroyed. Rubble everywhere. No bodies, though. For that he was grateful.

Then he heard rocks tumble beside him. He and Chewbacca whirled at the same time. The ysalamiri cages swung out and back, nearly making Han lose his balance.

The tower's main door had been smashed open, and the door's frame had collapsed. Something white and ghostly moved in the doorway.

"Great," Han said. "Just great. Not only does she fail to find Leia, she leads us to a ghost." Chewbacca growled softly. Han squinted. Chewie was right. That wasn't a ghost. Something was alive in there. He pulled out his blaster and moved forward.

Then a woman yelled in the distance.

Han raised his head as his heart jumped. That wasn't Mara. That was Leia.

"Through the alley, Chewie. We'll get this thing later." Han turned and ran for the alley as a male voice answered Leia's. They were too far away to be heard clearly.

Behind him, Chewie grunted, followed by a ma.s.sive thud. Han glanced over his shoulder. Chewie was on the ground. A huge, furry creature had one paw on Chewie's back. With its other paw, it was holding the ysalamiri cage and was trying to suck the ysalamiri through it like a piece of spaghetti. When that didn't work, the creature swallowed the ysalamiri, cage and all.

Han swore and leveled his blaster at the big creature. Chewie was yowling, and it took Han a moment to realize that Chewie was telling him not to shoot.

Han decided to ignore his partner. The creature's throat swelled and bulged as the ysalamiri cage slid down. Then the creature looked at Han.

Its eyes glowed red as it eyed Han's nutrient cage.

"Oh, no you don't," Han said. He tried to hide the cage behind his back.

Chewie was still yowling, but the creature had taken its paw off him.

Han fired his blaster, but as he did, the thing leaped for him, grazing him with its ma.s.sive paws. He landed on his back, knocking the cage from his hand. He raised his blaster, but it was too late. The creature already had the nutrient cage in its mouth. With a quick shake of its jaw, it tumbled the cage to the back of its throat, and swallowed it.

Blood from a sc.r.a.pe was running down Han's shoulder, staining his shirt.

The creature tilted its barn-sized head at the blood, then its fur-stained tongue came out. Han crawled backward, away from it, on his hands and feet, trying to stand at the same time.

Chewie was getting up, but he hadn't pulled his bowcaster.

Through the alley, Leia yelled again.

"You can't eat me," Han said to the big furry white creature. "That's my wife. And you just swallowed my plan." Chewie yowled at him.

"I'm not shooting at it," Han said.

He scrambled to his feet. The creature hadn't moved any closer. Chewie gave it a small wave as he ran past it. Then Han flanked Chewie, and they headed into the alley." The creature did not chase them.

"You mind telling me why you're suddenly friendly with a giant furball?

Is it a cousin?" Chewie wailed, the precursor to his angry yell.

"All right, all right. Forgive me," Han said. "I got a little upset when that thing ate the creatures that would ensure the rescue of my wife."

Chewbacca didn't respond to that. He kept pace with Han as they hurried through the alley.

His shoulder hurt something fierce, and the air on this planet was a bit thinner than he was used to. He tripped on a rock, but regained his footing after a moment. Rubble was strewn all over this alley.

He hadn't heard Leia yell again.

Something thudded behind them. Han glanced over his shoulder again, to see the giant creature try to squeeze into the alley, fail, and turn away, dejected.

"Great," he mumbled. "The thing's feelings are hurt because it's too fat to fit into the alley." Chewie growled a warning. Han grimaced. How did Chewbacca and that thing become such fast friends?

He was nearly to the mouth of the alley when Leia yelled again. This time, though, the word was clear.

It was Luke's name.

And she said it in a voice that Han had never heard before, but he knew what it meant.

It meant he was too late.

Her hands were useless, and Kueller was no longer listening to her arguments. He was watching Luke.

Luke, who looked like a man possessed.

Luke, who had always warned her not to give in to anger, was giving in to his.

And Kueller was smiling. He seemed to be growing taller, and broader, the aura of power around him so great that it made him seem invincible.

Then a look pa.s.sed across Luke's face. It was a familiar look, but it wasn't his. She had seen it before.

On the day she met him, so many years ago.

She had seen that look the only time she had seen Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi alive.

He had been fighting Darth Vader, and then he smiled, and raised his lightsaber--and Vader cut him in half. His lightsaber's blade faded, the hilt spinning through the air before landing on his empty, steaming cloak.

Luke had said Obi-Wan believed that moment made him stronger, but really it had only made him dead.

Dead.

Leia stumbled a few steps forward. Luke didn't see her in the growing darkness. Kueller hesitated as Luke slowly raised his light-saber blade toward his face.

Just as Obi-Wan had.

Kueller smiled.

Just as Vader must have.

"Luuuuuuuuuuke!" Leia screamed as Kueller brought his lightsaber up, preparing to strike.

FIFTY-ONE.

The Star Destroyers continued heading for the Yavin. The Wild Karrde fired at them, as did the Calamari, their shots missing the soft spot and ricocheting off the deflectors.

"Sir," Ean said. "They're heading directly for us." Wedge watched them, still clutching his hands together. He was gambling so many lives on a hunch. But if he followed the normal attack patterns, they would all be dead. He knew that much.

"Sir," Sela said. "If they get in too close, we won't be able to hit the targets. Our short-range weapons don't have the kind of power-"

"I'm aware of that," Wedge said. "I want you to shoot at the Calamari again." He didn't want to shoot at the Wild Karrde, afraid that the smuggler would stop helping altogether.

Shots streamed past the Calamari, and the nearby TIE fighters joined in the shooting. The Calamari rocked as the blasts. .h.i.t the deflectors. Wedge wasn't even sure if his shots went wide.

"They're just outside our short-range weapons, sir. If we're going to shoot-"

"We're not going to shoot," Wedge said. His hands had grown cold. The silence in the command center was frightening. Even Karrde had stopped cursing him. The other ships probably thought he was dead.

The Star Destroyers filled the dome overhead. They had ancient blast scars on their bottoms and their white lines were marked with rust.

"Sir, I think with our short-range fighters-"

"No," Wedge said. "Ean, I want you to go to the top gunpods. I want people there, with blaster cannons in hand."

"We could reactivate the droids, sir."

"No. This is one-time precision shooting. Any A-wing or old X-wing pilots will go there as well." He should be there too, but he didn't trust his command crew with this a.s.signment. They were already close to mutiny. If he abandoned them now, they would completely ruin his plan, such as it was.

"They're overhead, sir. If they fire now, even our shields won't hold."

The man who spoke was visibly shaking.

"They won't fire," Wedge said. "Let me know when those gunners are in position." The Star Destroyers looked ma.s.sive, both on the screens and through the domes. The TIE fighters had redirected their a.s.saults on the Wild Karrde and the Calamari. Both ships were shooting back, taking out TIE fighters as quickly as they could. The remaining B-wings were buzzing the TIE fighters, but the fighters had augmented weapons. The slaughter continued.

"Sir?" Sela said. "The Star Destroyers. They're flanking us."