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"It's my name," he said. "My real name. You know me as Fess Ilee, but that's a lie. I am Ferus Olin."

And for the first time in a long time, he was.

Even with her eyes closed, she can tell her father is standing in her doorway.

" I'm sorry I ran away, " she says, opening her eyes. There is no point in pretending to be asleep. "Am I punished? "

" We'll talk about that in the morning. " He kisses her forehead. " I'm just glad Fess brought you home, to me. "

When she hears his name, she gets angry all over again. " He didn't have to, " she complains. " I'm no baby. I didn't need his help. "

" But someday you may, " her father says. " And I want you to remember this night.

Fess will always be there when you need him. If anything ever happens to me—"

She giggles. Not because it's funny, but because maybe if she laughs, she won't be afraid. " Nothing's going to happen to you. Don't be stupid. "

" If it does, and you're in trouble, go to Fess. He'll know what to do. He'll always take care of you. "

Leia shook off the memory. She had believed almost everything her father had ever told her. But she'd never believed that. Fess, Ferus, whoever he was—obviously he wasn't the man Bail Organa had believed him to be. He wasn't anyone Leia could count on. It shouldn't have come as a surprise. It certainly shouldn't have mattered.

So why did she feel like she'd lost her father all over again?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Every thing always comes down to politics, Han thought in disgust, drawing in a deep breath of the stale air. He knew Leia was in her element, convincing the Prime Minister to do exactly as she wanted. But Han couldn't stand to sit around and watch. Making nice with chuff-sucking leeches—especially ones who'd sold you out to the Empire—just wasn't his thing.

Han wandered slowly through the streets around the spaceport, enjoying the breeze while he could. The air back on Yavin 4 was almost always heavy and still. Sometimes days would go by without a single breath of wind.

Then why am I going back? Just to drop them off, he told himself. Then I'll get on my way.

Sometimes Han thought it would just be easier to give in. Join the Rebels. Throw on a uniform. Fight the good fight.

But something always stopped him. He could join the Alliance, sure. But he'd be pretending to be someone he wasn't. Wearing a mask.

And he didn't like masks any more than he liked uniforms.

"Captain Solo!" A scrawny arm popped up out of the crowd, waving furiously. A moment later, Mazi's pale face appeared. The boy rushed toward him, his brothers close behind. "Didn't think we'd see you before we left."

"Going somewhere?" Han asked, surprised by how pleased he was to see the boys again. "And since when do you call me 'Captain'?"

The brothers struck a military pose, arching their backs and saluting. "We're going to be respectful now," Jez said proudly.

Lan elbowed him in the side. "It's respectable," he said, rolling his eyes.

"We've got respect for him, that's respectful," Jez argued. "Full of respect. Get it?"

Lan smirked. "Full of respect—so that's like, the opposite of what I got for you.

Respect less."

Mazi stepped in and caught Jez's arm just as he threw the punch. "We're going to be respectful to people like Captain Solo here—and that'll make us respectable, so people give us all their respect," he ordered them. He turned back to Han, his face flushed.

"That's what the guy said, anyway."

"What guy?" Han asked.

"The guy who told us about the Rebellion," Mazi said eagerly. "We're going to be Rebels now. Fight back. We're shipping out tonight."

Han raised his eyebrows. Leia had designated several of the refugee leaders to act as recruiters in her stead. Apparently they were hard at work already. "Aren't you a little young?"

Identical scowls drooped across the brothers' faces. "No such thing as too young to stand up for what's right," Mazi said fiercely.

"The 'guy' tell you that, too?" Han asked.

Mazi shook his head. "That's all me."

"What gives, Captain Solo?" Lan asked. "Mazi said you'd