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Ourn produced a small black box from a concealed pocket. “Is a way to send messages to N’zoth—to Nil Spaar. Completely undetectable, untraceable. By what magic, my engineer could not divine. But you have many scientists—they will find out for you.”

It was Leia’s turn to take a step forward. “Where did you get this?”

“From the viceroy. His ship destroyed mine, you remember—at East Port, the day he left. He promised me restitution, but it was an empty promise—”

“How did you help him? By spying for him?”

Ourn swallowed nervously and tried to smile. “Now, Princess—how many secrets does someone like me know? Nothing. Less than nothing. I pretended. I deceived him—”

With a single quick stride, Leia closed the distance between them. “You took my husband away from me,” she said, and dropped into a Jedi fighting stance.

“Princess, surely—”

It took only one blow to silence him, one more to bring him to his knees, and one last to send him sprawling, unconscious. Releasing her breath in a satisfied sigh, Leia stood straight and looked to a startled Tarrick.

“Thank you for that,” Leia said lightly, flexing her hands in front of her. “I just might be able to sleep a little tonight.”

TYRANT’S TEST

A Bantam Spectra Book / January 1997

SPECTRA and the portrayal of a boxed “s” are trademarks of Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

®, ™, and © 1996 by Lucasfilm Ltd.

All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

Cover art by Drew Struzan.

Copyright © 1996 by Lucasfilm Ltd.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

For information address: Bantam Books.

eISBN: 978-0-307-79631-8

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, New York, New York.

v3.1

Dedication

For the stalwart crew,

Russ Galen

Tom Dupree

Sue Rostoni

Lynn Bailey

And the bold captain,

George Lucas

Acknowledgments

Writing “The Black Fleet Crisis” has been either the most grueling fun or the most enjoyable marathon of my writing career. Either way, the last seventeen months have been amazingly full—a new home, two new babies (Amanda and Gavin), and more than three hundred thousand new words of fiction.

Though I was on my own in the many long hours I spent with my old friend Qwerty, I couldn’t have had those hours, or done nearly as much with them, without the help of a grand conspiracy of allies.

First among them are my immediate family, Gwen Zak and my son Matt, and my de facto extended family, Rod Zak and Arlyn Wilson. With unflagging grace and good humor, they pitched in wherever they were needed, doing whatever had to be done to keep the home fires burning and the dragons at bay.

The seasoned professionals of this conspiracy were SCG superagent Russ Galen, Bantam editor Tom Dupree, BDD Audio producer Lynn Bailey, and Lucasfilm’s Sue Rostoni. Working their mysterious ways through such arcane media as the fax, the telephone, and E-mail, they skillfully managed the more far-reaching elements of the master plan.

Then there were the many sympathizers, who—though not formally part of my cell—nevertheless offered their knowledge or services to further our cause. Prominent on that long list are Dan Wallace, Craig Robert Carey, Timothy O’Brien, R. Lee Brown, Michael Armstrong, Jim Macdonald, Daniel Dworkin, Evelyn Cainto, and Mike Stackpole.

Meanwhile, John Vester, Dave Phillips, and Jennifer Hrynik took the point on a fiendishly clever disinformation campaign.

Though security concerns limit my freedom to name names, I also want to acknowledge the aid and comfort I drew from the volunteer flyspeckers in CompuServe’s SF Media Two forum (GO SFMEDTWO) and Genie’s SF Roundable Three