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They were upon him, ripping, tearing, biting; their touch freezing and burning. He realized they would not kill him, not at once. They were going to tear him apart piece by tiny piece. And even then the torment would not stop. Abeloth had shown him it wouldn’t.

“High Lord?” It was Khai, looking at him searchingly.

Taalon’s heart leapt within his chest. He couldn’t falter. Not in front of this one. Not in front of Skywalker.

He couldn’t falter, or fall, or be wrong, or make a single miscalculation.

Ever.

“Ben? Ben, are you all right? Is Luke okay?” Jaina waved away the droid that was trying to attend to a cut on her forehead. Ben’s voice was being patched through the ship’s intercom from the bridge.

“We’re fine. We got her.” Ben’s voice was filled with pride, and Jaina couldn’t blame him. She listened to him recap the fight while the healing droid fussed over her. She hated to admit it, for a variety of reasons, but it did seem as though the Sith worked well together. It had been good for everyone—this time. And only this time.

“You guys have any trouble?” he asked when he was done.

“Not much. I had a little dogfight with a very ugly vessel named Ship.” Now it was her turn to grin as Ben demanded the details. “Unfortunately, we had to call it a draw. He stopped firing at me abruptly and just took off. My StealthX was too beat-up to follow. Lando’s going to help me repair it.”

“It just left? Huh,” Ben said. “I wonder …” His voice trailed off, and too late, Jaina realized that he was probably not alone. She was willing to bet the girl was with him.

“Anyway, I’ve got orders from Dad for you and Lando.”

At that moment, the door opened and Lando entered. “Good timing,” Jaina said. “Luke and Ben beat Abeloth, and Luke’s got orders for us.”

“Hi, Lando,” Ben said. “Dad, me, Taalon, and Vestara and her dad are all going to stay behind and do some investigating. See if we can learn anything more about Abeloth. Part of the agreement is that Dad needs both you and Jaina to head home.”

Jaina’s jaw dropped. “He wants us to go? After we came all the way out here to help him, Luke wants us to go and leave him alone down there with the girl’s dad and the High Lord?”

“That’s what he said,” came Ben’s voice. Jaina stared at Lando, looking for a little help, but all Lando did was shrug.

“Don’t look at me,” he said. “I just came out here to tow debris.”

“Jaina, you need to get home. So does Lando.”

There was something in the way he said it that gave Jaina pause. She nodded to Lando to mute the communication. “Of course,” she said. “Luke needs us to get out there with the news about Abeloth and the Lost Tribe. We’ve got a lot more information on them now, information the Jedi can use. Maybe we even have enough to take it to Daala.” This last, though, she said with more doubt in her voice.

“Maybe,” Lando said doubtfully. “I’ll settle for letting the Jedi know that Luke’s alive and Abeloth isn’t.” He thumbed a button on the intercom.

“You’re right, Ben,” Jaina said. “I do need to get home, and so does Lando. Tendra and Chance will be worried about him. I assume the Sith will depart, too?”

“All of them, except for the three staying behind,” Ben assured her.

“Okay then. Take care of yourself, and your dad, too, all right?”

“Will do. Bye, Jaina.”

“So,” Lando said. “What are we really going to do?”

“I don’t trust those Sith any farther than I can throw them.”

“You’re a Jedi, Jaina, you can throw them pretty far.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do, and I agree. But your StealthX isn’t good for much at the moment, and this ancient thing was never built for attacking. You might be better served by actually doing what Luke says.”

She eyed him.

“For a change,” he couldn’t resist adding.

“Oh, shut up. Let’s get back to Coruscant before I change my mind.”

CHIEF OF STATE NATASI DAALA STOOD IN HER PRIVATE APARTMENTS, staring out the huge transparisteel window onto the nightscape of Coruscant as she sipped a cocktail. It was never dark or silent. Always, there