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“Don't expect me to say the same.”

Oxic's eyebrows arched. “No. Well, perhaps you'll change your mind once you know the full story.”

Jadak looked at Koi Quire. “What happened, insurance game didn't pay enough?”

“Lovely to see you again, as well,” Quire said, smiling lightly. “Does your offer to show me around still stand?”

“It might.”

Leia deactivated her lightsaber and hooked it to her belt. “Let's see if you can change all our minds, Lestra.”

Oxic grinned and gestured to the emblem. “You're gazing on a piece of history that hasn't been seen for eighty standard years. Princess Leia was correct in recognizing this as the emblem of the Republic, but this one”—he stepped toward it, raising his hand reverently to touch it—“this one once adorned the podium of the Senate Rotunda. Cast of pure aurodium, orichalum, and Coruscanthium, and detailed with half a dozen equally precious metals and alloys, it was known as the Insignia of Unity. But seven years into the reign of then–Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, it was stolen from the Senate during a much-needed renovation of the Rotunda and replaced with a counterfeit.”

Oxic cast a glance at Jadak. “Stolen, Captain Jadak, by members of the Republic Group, which had it shipped here for safe storage until such time as it would be needed to—”

“Restore Republic honor to the galaxy.”

Oxic grinned broadly. “Precisely, Captain. A symbol meant to rouse and reawaken those who had allowed themselves to fall under the sway of the Emperor.” He paused briefly. “Well, we all know that even the healthiest of seedlings don't always bear fruit. The replacement emblem was discovered to be a counterfeit during restoration work occasioned by General Grievous's attack on Coruscant. No attempt was ever launched to uncover the original. The Emperor didn't care, and most of the Senate was beyond caring by that point. But collectors of Republicana art and sculpture have been combing the galaxy for it ever since.” He swung back to face it. “And here it is at last.”

Oxic fell silent while a powerful tremor shook the room. Han holstered his blaster, but pulled Leia and Allana close to him.

“I've been chasing it for almost fifty years,” he said, almost as if to himself. “It's the reason you weren't left to flatline in the Nar Shaddaa facility to which you were medevaced after your collision there, Captain Jadak.” He glanced over his shoulder. “You're certainly entitled to a finder's fee for leading me here. But let us face facts: you never knew precisely what you were chasing—whether it was riches beyond your imaginings or simply a dream—and, more important, the Millennium Falcon turns out to have been the real key to unlocking this particular treasure chest.

“Therefore, I lay claim to it. I've known from the start what I was pursuing. And my expenditures in time, energy, and credits far exceed the sum total the rest of you have contributed.”

From his jacket pocket, Oxic drew a small cylindrical probe. Applying the tester's bulbous scanner to the most accessible part of the emblem, he studied the readout. “Its worth in precious metals is of little import,” he said. “It is the piece itself, soon to be the prize in my collection. To the envy of all who have sought it—”

Eyes riveted to the tool's small display screen, he cut himself off. “This can't be right,” he said in a shaky voice. More roughly, he pressed the scanner to another section of the emblem. “This can't be right!” His hands were trembling now, and the motion had nothing to do with Tandun III's quakes, which were increasing in both duration and severity.

“This can't be right!” Oxic slashed at the emblem, as if the tester had become a knife, then staggered backward with his hands pressed to his head, Koi Quire and the Nautolan ship thief hurrying in to prevent him from keeling over onto the floor.

Without looking at Leia, Han said, “Did I ever tell you about the time Chewbacca and I were in the treasure vaults of—”

“Xim the