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Allana nodded, clinging to Leia’s hand. “Then … why are you being nice to the Sith?”

“Because there’s something bad in the Maw,” Leia said. “And we think that something is what is making the Knights all get sick.”

Allana’s eyes flew wide, hope chasing away the fear. “You mean … we know what’s wrong with Barv and Yaqeel and the others?”

“We’re pretty sure we do. And your Uncle Luke can’t help them by himself.”

“But … Sith aren’t honorable … are they?”

Han and Leia exchanged pained glances. “Well, Sith can usually be counted on to look after themselves,” Han said. “And it sounds like they’re having the same sort of problems we are in that area. So Luke’s teaming up with them to get to the bottom of things.”

“What if they double-cross him?” Allana’s face flamed as the adults all chuckled. Leia sensed her embarrassment and squeezed her hand again.

“That was the first thing on everyone’s mind, honey. Luke’s expecting a double cross.”

“That’s why I asked Threepio to translate for me,” Luke said. “So that I could know if they were planning something, and be prepared for it.”

Allana nodded. “I get it,” she said. “I think so, anyway.”

“It’s a pretty complicated and messy situation,” Han said.

“So you left me out of it?”

“We would have told you,” Leia said. “As soon as we felt you needed to know.”

“When would that have been?”

Leia didn’t look at Luke. She and Han had indeed planned to let Allana know what was happening when they left as part of the Jedi strike force. But she couldn’t let Luke know about it ahead of time. This was indeed a pretty complicated and messy situation, as Han had so aptly put it. They couldn’t tell Luke about the strike force because he would tell them to stand down. He wouldn’t want to violate the terms of his agreement. And he had contrived to speak to Threepio, and just Threepio, for the same reasons. And no one had told an eight-year-old girl about the harsh realities of recording conversations and making alliances with enemies. It would be nice if she could shield Allana from this sort of thing.

But not shielding her was the only thing she and Han could do. Even more important, it was the right thing. The galaxy needed beings who could look into its darkness and ugliness without flinching, in order to make it a better place. Allana was going to be one such being.

And it was that calm certainty she projected into the Force, and not her worries and regret. It was with the face of a lifetime politician that Leia said to her granddaughter, “When the time was right.”

Allana peered skeptically at Leia. “Is that one of those grown-up things like ‘we’ll see’?” she asked.

Despite the direness of the situation, Leia couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Yes,” she said, “it is.”

Allana sighed.

“Now,” Leia said, putting a hand on Allana’s shoulder and steering her toward the door, “we all interrupted a conversation that was none of our business. Luke is allowed to talk to a droid he once owned.” Leia tugged on Han’s sleeve, urging him to exit with Allana and Anji.

Before he left, Han turned back to the hologram, shrugged, gave a grin that had disarmed many a would-be attacker, and said, “I certainly didn’t hear anything.”

“Let’s see if there’s anything fun on the holovid,” said Leia. Usually, Allana saw right through them when they tried to distract her, but this time the little girl nodded. She was content with the explanation they had given her, and for that small favor Leia was grateful.

Allana reached and clicked and the vidwall sprang to life. Leia had been about to go get them all something to munch on but she did a double take, her brown eyes huge, when she saw the image of the Jedi Temple.

“Oh no,” she breathed.

“A siege?” yelped Han. “What the stang is Daala thinking?”

Caught up in the horrible sight of her beloved Temple surrounded by Mandalorians and siege weaponry, Leia didn’t even chide him for his language in front of Allana. Anji growled, and Allana tried to comfort her.

“What’s happening?” Allana