"Once you had sealed us inside, you would have been able to pilot the landing craft to safety." Disappointment tugged at his features. "And yet despite your attempt at treachery we owe you our lives, because I doubt I would have been able to find my way to this grotto."

Nom Anor glanced from the first lock to the second, then forced a relieved sigh.

"Thank you for catching my error, Jacen Solo. What with leading the Shamed Ones in rebellion and witnessing Onimi's death, I was momentarily confused-"

Han drew his blaster.

"Save it."

Nom Anor raised his hands in surrender.

"It was an innocent mistake! Now isn't the time to argue!" He risked a step toward Han. "We must board the escape craft before this vessel-" Nom Anor lunged forward.

"His eye!" Jaina yelled.

Poison spewed from the plaeryin bol. Han was too enc.u.mbered to twist himself or Jaina out of its path. In a blur, Jacen interposed himself between Nom Anor and his father, and took the lethal gush full in the face.

Even better than hoped for! Nom Anor thought. With Jacen out of the way, he could easily incapacitate the others. With his right hand, he reached for the little finger of his left. At the same time, he steeled himself for a dash across the grotto. It would take a moment for the knockout gas released by the false digit to reach full effect, and that moment const.i.tuted all the time he had to reach the escape craft lock and seal it behind him. In the instant his hands met, he heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber.

And in the interminable instant that followed, he watched Leia's energy blade sever his left hand at the wrist, and watched himself falling to his knees in shock and searing pain. Worse, it was Jacen who came to his side, weakened by the plaeryin bol's venom, but very much alive.

"It didn't have to be this way," the young Jedi said. Nom Anor clasped his stump of forearm in his right hand.

"Didn't it, Jeedai?" He smirked. "Even if words from you kept me from execution or life imprisonment, what course was left to me? Just as my atheism renders me unfit for Yuuzhan Vong society, my utter contempt for the Force makes me unfit to live among any species that recognize it.

I've been a stranger to all worlds. Even Yu'shaa, leader of the Shamed Ones, was just another role for me-another lie." A rueful laugh escaped him. "Ooglith masquers can't hide everything, Jeedai."

On the other side of the grotto, Jaina was pressing her hand against the lock's sensor organ, to no apparent effect.

"It responds only to the flesh of Yuuzhan Vong," Nom Anor said. He felt Jacen's eyes on him.

"Then we'll use your severed hand," Jacen said.

Nom Anor blew out his breath and rose to his feet. Crossing the grotto, he pressed the palm of his right hand to the bulkhead sensor.

"Get inside," he said when the lock dilated. "The landing craft will scarcely outlive the vessel that birthed it."

Han and Leia helped their daughter into the yorik-trema; then Han reappeared, blaster in hand, to usher his son aboard. He stood at the lock for a long moment, coming to his own decision. Nom Anor watched Han's jaw bunch with fury, then relax. In the end, Han lowered his blaster and gestured for Nom Anor to enter the craft. Instead, Nom Anor took a backward step and shook his head.

"If I'm clear on one point, it's this: I want no part of whatever new order is in the making. I will die here with Onimi, for we have been two of a kind from the start."

With that, he shoved Han back through the lock and pressed his right hand to the bulkhead, launching the craft into s.p.a.ce.

Nas Choka paced back and forth in front of Yammka's transparency, his troubled gaze fixed on Shimrra's vessel as it climbed out of Yuuzhan'tar's reach in fits and starts.

"Ralroost wallows in our sights," the tactician reported.

"Shimrra approaches," the Supreme Commander said from beneath his cognition hood, "though he still refrains from communicating with us."

Nas Choka traded glances with the tactician before replying.

"Give him time."

He had no sooner swung back to the transparency to track the vessel's course than it began to stutter in flight and enter into an end-over-end roll.

"The dovin basal has failed!" the commander shouted. "The vessel is dismembering!"

Nas Choka wanted to tear his eyes away but couldn't. Atmosphere and other gases were beginning to puff and stream from fractures in the vessel's hull. Fluids leaked from the dovin basal blastulas, trailing behind like frozen streamers. Vital components shut down and went spinning off into s.p.a.ce. Broadening and deepening, the fissures joined, creating a network of cracks, from which hunks of yorik coral began to tumble. Then, just at the leading edge of the planetary flotilla, Shimrra's coffer exploded, sundering like a disintegrated planet and loosing a shock wave that crippled countless war vessels before it dispersed. A fearful silence descended on Yammka's command chamber.

For a long moment, Nas Choka could only gape in incredulity at what had occurred. Never in their long history had the Yuuzhan Vong been without a Supreme Overlord-their holy intercessor. Despite the success at Zonama Sekot, the armada was nothing without Shimrra. They had been cut off from the divine, deprived of any means of appealing to Yun-Yuuzhan or Yun-Yammka for guidance or support. What had lighted the Yuuzhan Vong universe had been extinguished. Truly the G.o.ds had abandoned the Yuuzhan Vong and allied with the infidels.

They had withdrawn their guardianship of Shimrra, and the Yuuzhan Vong had become Shamed Ones-rejected, pa.s.sed over, a hopeless G.o.dless species.

Defeated!

Nas Choka could feel the expectant gazes of his commanders and subalterns. He grasped the question implied by every look-the question every Yuuzhan Vong on or off Coruscant was asking: Is there purpose to fighting to the death without any hope for salvation in the afterlife?

Nas Choka martialed his pride and moved to the villip-choir.

"All Supreme Commanders," he told the villip mistress; then, when the villips had taken on the likenesses of his chief subordinates, he said: "The war is ended. We are defeated by the G.o.ds and by their allies.

Though they have abandoned us, we will suffer our defeat with honor because it is what the G.o.ds would expect. But any of you who wish to follow the Supreme Overlord's example and die as warriors may do so; just as any of you who wish to commit ritual death may do so. Those who choose neither will join me in accepting the shame of surrender, and finding what n.o.bility we can in capture and graceless execution."

"Rrush'hok ichnar vinim'hok!"

Even while the vessel's Supreme Commander, chief tactician, and priest were opening themselves with coufees, Nas Choka moved back to the transparency.

Across the entire embattled face of Yuuzhan'tar-of Coruscant-coralskippers, pickets, and cruisers were veering into collision courses with Alliance ships. Errant Venture hung over Zonama Sekot like a freshly forged spearpoint, her blazing turbolasers providing cover fire for the modified shuttles, yachts, and blockade runners that plummeted from the forward launching bay. On detecting the smugglers' ships, the coralskippers that had been hara.s.sing the Star Destroyer regrouped and set after what must have seemed like more a.s.sailable prey. Lady Luck had been first out of the bay, with Wild Karrde close behind.

In the c.o.c.kpit of the SoroSuub yacht, Lando and Tendra were busy at separate tasks when Talon commed them.

"Two skips on your starboard," he warned.

"Got 'em," Lando said into his headset mike.

He nodded for Tendra to raise the yacht's rear deflector screen.

"If you two would allow me the honor..."

"No need to stand on ceremony, Talon."

Lando pushed the control yoke away from him, dropping Lady Luck into Zonama Sekot's gravity well. The ship bucked and began to vibrate as the atmosphere thickened.

Tendra called a starboard view to the console displays in time to see angry bursts of laserfire spew from the Corellian transport's triple batteries. Struck full force, the lead coralskipper farthest from Lady Luck crumbled.

The second skip slewed hard to port in an effort to come alongside the yacht, but Wild Karrde's follow-up bursts caught the enemy vessel while it was still outside the yacht's shields, and it, too, disintegrated.

"We owe you one," Lando said.

"Actually, that's two," Talon replied. "But who's counting?"

Tendra eased the angle of the yacht's descent and set a course for the Middle Distance. By approaching from the east, they could avoid the hail of plasma missiles that were pounding the central canyon. The adjusted course took Lady Luck, Wild Karrde, and some of the other rescue craft almost directly beneath Jade Shadow. While it remained in stationary orbit, Mara's ship had sustained heavy damage. Below, youthful mountains poked from opaque white clouds, their flanks and foothills cloaked with unspoiled boras.

To the west the forest was interrupted by expanses of gra.s.slands.

Where those ended, the virgin terrain undulated, rose again to lofty heights, then angled down toward the central canyon, which was blanketed in layers of thick smoke. Toning proximity alarms told Lando and Tendra that Lady Luck had attracted the attention of some of the coralskippers that were strafing the canyon and surrounding woodlands.

Four skips were already climbing out of the smoke to welcome the yacht to the fight.

"Talon, we might need your help again,"

Lando started to say when two of the coralskippers were cracked open and knocked out of the sky by laserfire. The trailing pair deployed singularities, but the shields bought them mere moments of refuge before proton torpedoes blew them apart. An instant later, two red X-wings streaked past Lady Luck from astern, banking broadly to the south before coming about to a.s.sume the same approach vector the smugglers were taking. Lando opened a channel to the starfighters.

"Thanks from Lady Luck for clearing the way."

"Red Two at your service," a familiar voice responded.

"Wedge!" Lando said around a broad grin. "How much grease did it take to get you installed in that snubfighter?"

"Less than half what it took at the start of this war."

"Yeah, I suppose we're all back to fighting trim."

Tendra stretched out her left hand and patted Lando's slight paunch.

"He means, most of us," she said into her headset.

Lando c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at his wife, then said, "Where's the poisoned vessel, Wedge?"

"Tell your scanners to look due north-northwest."

Tendra tasked the instruments to provide a close-up view. Defended by a ring of eight coralskippers, the six-armed slayers' vessel was swooping down toward the south rim of the canyon. As many Red Squadron X-wings were in close pursuit, needling the enemy with lasers and torps.

But instead of answering them with plasma missiles the skips were devoting all their power to fashioning shielding singularities to protect the poisoned craft. All the levity had left Wedge's voice when he said, "There's no stopping it now."

Lady Luck's proximity alarms began to blare again. Lando watched the friend-or-foe identifier cycle in apparent bewilderment, then he glanced around the sky.

"Wedge, our scanners are showing unfriendlies, but they're not registering as skips."

"Because they're not," Wedge said flatly. "Whatever they are, they're rising out of the forests-hundreds of them!"

Lando leaned toward the forward viewport. A swarm of insectile ships, showing green wings and red carapaces, was corks.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up toward the Smugglers' Alliance ships. As they drew nearer, singularities formed to both sides of Lady Luck. The yacht pitched violently to port and began to slide for the surface.

Lando lifted his hands from the control yoke and turned to his wife in wide-eyed confusion.

"That's not me piloting!" He commed Wedge. "We're caught up in some kind of tractor beam. It's dragging us down!"

"Wish I could help," Wedge said a moment later. "But they've got me, too."

Corran had been the first to spot the ships-or creatures-rise from the tampasi east of the canyon. He, Kyp, Lowbacca, Cilghal, and the rest of the downed Jedi pilots were gathered on the landing platform now, watching the red and green craft dart through the sky like maidenflies, making use of grasper claws and dovin-basal-like gravitic anomalies to bring down Red Squadron starfighters and Smugglers' Alliance ships alike.

A few kilometers east of where the Jedi were grouped, Lady Luck, Wild Karrde, and two X-wings were descending to treetop level.

"We don't know what they are, Lando," Corran was saying into his comlink. "We've never seen them before."

"Another of Sekot's surprises," Talon added to the conversation.

"Here's a piece of good news," Kyp interrupted.

He pointed to the southern sky.

"Sekot's chasing the skips, too."

The southern sky was a frenzy of insectile craft. But unlike the Alliance ships, the coralskippers were not going quietly to ground, and many of the swift darters were being annihilated by plasma missiles. A sudden growl from Lowbacca brought everyone about-face to see Danni Quee and Magister Jabitha approaching the landing platform, trailed by a crowd of perhaps one hundred wary Ferroans, who had emerged from the shelters.

Kyp met the two women halfway.

"You spoke with Sekot?" he asked Danni.

Her "yes" was breathy with awe, but she offered nothing more.

Corran looked hard at Jabitha.

"Who's piloting the insect craft?"

"Sekot," the Magister said.

Corran gave his head a confused shake.

"I thought the idea was to keep the fight from the surface?"

"Only until Sekot was ready to launch the grappler ships," Danni explained at last. "Sekot's promise to Jacen was that the planet would only fight without fighting."

She saw from the expressions that greeted her that she'd opened the floodgates.

"Sekot is only interested in welcoming the Yuuzhan Vong home."

"Home?" Corran and Kyp said at the same time. There wasn't time for further explanation. Dozens of coralskippers were being hauled down into the boras by grappler ships-all except for the poisoned vessel, which six unpiloted insectile craft were tugging back up the gravity well. The Jedi, Danni, Jabitha, and some of the Ferroans hurried into the forest to be on hand when the coralskippers landed. Two kilometers along, the ragtag group was joined by Lando, Tendra, Talon, Shada, Wedge, and several other Red Squadron and Smugglers' Alliance pilots.

Running at the head of the pack, Kyp and Corran ignited their lightsabers as soon as they saw the coralskippers and grapplers drifting down between the ma.s.sive trunks of the balloon-leafed boras. The first of the coralskippers settled into the loamy shade like sculptures in a garden. Dovin basals housed in the blunt noses of the vessels sent slender blue-veined feeders into the soft ground. In response, creepers and vines writhed to touch the coa.r.s.e hulls of the skips. Some writhed into the seams that defined the edges of the mica canopies and popped them open.

Shucking out of their cognition hoods, four Yuuzhan Vong leapt from the c.o.c.kpit cavities, brandishing short amphistaffs. The Jedi stepped in to engage them, but stopped short when they saw the amphistaffs slip from the hands of the enemy pilots and slither off into the lush woodland.

Breather masks and shoulder-borne tactical villips dropped from the pilots like ripe seedpods.

Two dozen thud bugs burst from one pilot's bandolier and took to the treetops. The Yuuzhan Vong gazed at the Jedi like bewildered children. Caught between worlds, unacquainted with surrender, they did as they had seen their captives do and fell to their knees, their heads bowed in disgrace and their wrists pressed to their opposite shoulders.