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“Hey, Uncle Lando. What are you doing here?”

Lando blinked. “Jaina? I might ask the same question of you.”

“I asked first.” Lando started to reply that this was a poor time for jokes, but there was a guardedness in her voice that made him pause. She was serious.

“I’m here to help Luke, except he’s apparently gone off without me and, uh … left a couple of buddies behind.” He wondered if Jaina knew about the “buddies.” “Jaina, listen, something’s happening down there. And Luke’s … colleagues—”

“I know about them.” There was annoyance and anger in her voice.

“Oh, okay then. Well, they’re wrapped up in it and asking for my help.”

Jaina muttered something under her breath. “Let’s go find out what’s going on, then. Permission to dock?”

“Of course. But you didn’t tell me why you were here.”

“Nope. Sure didn’t. You coming with me, or not?”

“All right, keep your flight suit on,” Lando grumbled. “You don’t want to take that baby down there. Bring it into the hangar and we’ll go down together in the skiff.”

It was, of course, not that simple. While he waited for Jaina, Lando attempted to hail the planet, and for several long, strained minutes, there was no response. Finally, a female Klatooinian appeared on one of the drop-down screens. She looked wary and her voice was brusque.

“This is Abara Mun. Klatooine is currently in an emergency state and a full lockdown. No one will be granted permission to arrive or depart until further notice.” She reached forward to end the transmission.

“Wait!” yelped Lando. “I know Darima Kedari!”

Mun paused in midmotion and eyed him skeptically. The hatchway at the back slid open with a grinding sound. Lando heard Jaina’s boots on the old durasteel deck as she came up behind him. “We go way back. Ask him.”

A pause. “I suppose that’s possible,” Mun said finally. “I will contact him and inquire.”

“You do that.” Her face disappeared, replaced by the insignia of the Klatooinian flag. Lando blew out a breath, then turned and gave Jaina a quick hug. “Hey there, little lady. So come on, you can tell Uncle Lando. You came here to help Luke, didn’t you?”

She embraced him, then pulled back and nodded. She looked tired and was more subdued than he had seen her in a long time.

“I was supposed to be one of many,” she said. “The Jedi have a whole fleet of StealthXs assembled. Luke and Ben have had to handle this completely alone. Sith, for crying out loud, Lando. A whole tribe of them. So we were going to come and give him the means to end this forced alliance.”

“So why is it just you? Not that you aren’t a formidable foe,” he added quickly.

“Because Daala has begun a siege on the Temple, and we can’t launch without being shot down before we get three meters.”

“A what?”

She rubbed her eyes. “It’s long, it’s ugly, and it’s irrelevant right now. We have to get to Luke.”

“He’s in the Maw right now. He left a very lovely and alarmingly pleasant woman behind to wait for me, but apparently there’s been some sort of trouble. I’m not sure if Luke wants me to help out or ditch them.”

“Sir,” said Ornate in her smooth, silky voice, “Chancellor Darima Kedari wishes to speak to you.”

Lando smirked, just a little. “See?” he said to Jaina. Jaina, meanwhile, had done a double take at the droid’s voice.

“She’s some conversationalist,” Jaina said dryly.

“About that … I’ll tell you later,” Lando said, looking a bit nonplussed. “Ornate, put him through.”

An elderly male appeared on the screen. He wore stiff robes that were made of some sort of fabric that shone in the light. A collar wound around his neck, and a high, flat hat covered his head and ears. Lando gave one of his famous charming grins. “Darima! How you doing?”

“In desperate straits if I am to converse with you,” replied the Chancellor in a querulous voice, “but it seems I must do so.”

“Er, right,” said Lando. He recovered quickly. “May I introduce Jedi Jaina Solo. Jaina, this is Chancellor Darima Kedari, the leader of the Klatooinian Elder