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“I know,” Luke said. “We’ll deal with all that when this is over.”

“Mind reading a new Force power you picked up and forgot to tell me about?”

“No. I’m your father. That’s my job.”

It if had looked old and a little nerve-racking on the outside, the inside made Luke even less certain about bringing the Headhunter into the cavernous hangar of the Rockhound. He was worried that upon setting it down, the Headhunter might fall right through the tarnished deck.

But what drew Luke’s attention immediately at the expense of marveling how something this ancient was still spaceworthy was the sight of a StealthX, its sleek lines and cutting-edge, black, star-dappled form as sharply at odds with the old hangar as possible. And then he felt a familiar presence in the Force. It was warm, loving, but its sharp brightness had dimmed somewhat, veiled by some sort of sorrow or regret. As he settled the Headhunter down—cautiously—and climbed out, the hangar door opened with an audible groan. Two figures entered, one small and female in a flight suit, one tall and male in stylish trousers and a hip cape. Both of them had furrowed brows.

“Lando,” he said, nodding briefly to his old friend before turning his attention to his niece. “Jaina,” he said, both pleased and irritated to see her, “What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story,” she said.

“So is mine,” Lando said. “And it’s a little bit more immediate.”

“I’m listening.”

His blue eyes went wide, but he made no move to interrupt Lando as his old friend talked about Sith desecration of a religious site, blatant lies, siding with Hutts, and an imminent revolution.

“I shouldn’t have gone,” Luke said quietly. “Taalon played me. He insisted on leaving someone behind to wait for the Rockhound, and blast it … it made sense.”

“It did make sense, Uncle Luke,” Jaina said. “You couldn’t have known what they were planning. How would anybody know they’d do something so drastic for some strange glasslike material?”

Luke rubbed his eyes. He was angry with himself. “That’s just the point, Jaina. We don’t know these Sith. We don’t know what motivates them, or what their game is, or why they’ve really chosen to ally with me. I know what they’ve said, but that shouldn’t be regarded as anything even in the vicinity of truth.”

Jaina and Lando exchanged glances. “Look at it this way,” Lando said. “The Fountain didn’t seem all that damaged. You have at least one frigate’s worth of Sith out of your way. And this might be the impetus for the Klatooinians to finally free themselves from a lousy bargain that should never have been made.”

“I didn’t come to start a revolution,” Luke said, and then winced inwardly as he realized how that sounded.

“Not this time maybe,” Jaina said. “But it’s happening. And I think in the end, it’s a good thing. We just wanted you to know what was going on.”

“Thanks,” Luke said. “Now, Jaina, we come back to my question—why are you here?”

Jaina planted her hands on her hips and looked up at her uncle. “Daala is up to her old tricks again.”

Luke sighed. “What’s she done this time?”

“We’ve had a few more Jedi snap,” Jaina said. “Two, in fact.”

“Sothais Saar and who else?”

“Two in addition to Saar.” Luke whistled softly, then nodded for her to continue. “Turi Altamik and Kunor Bann. Daala doesn’t know about Bann, which is a good thing for us, but she’s putting the pressure on for us to surrender Saar and Turi.”

“What kind of pressure?” Luke kept his face calm, but inwardly he had a bad feeling about this.

“First, she sent a nicely vague threat to Hamner, hinting that the families of the Jedi might be the ones to pay the price for our failure to ask ‘how high’ when she says ‘jump.’ That’s when I left, so I wasn’t caught when the Mandos started a siege.”

Luke stared at her, disbelieving. “A siege. Daala is laying siege to the Jedi Temple. To get the release of two beings?”

Jaina nodded. “It’s ludicrous and insulting and scary. I know it’s Jedi who are going nuts, but I have to tell you, Daala is making decisions that sure don’t sound very sane or smart