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“Quiet as a tomb, General,” Valiant said when the top ten levels had been secured.

Mace studied the 3-D map displayed by the ARC’s wrist gauntlet projector.

“Inform Bacta Team that we will rally with them in designated sector three.”

Valiant was about to speak when his comlink toned.

“Commander, this is Bacta Team leader,” a voice said. “We have a functioning docking gate on level six that shows evidence of recent use. And, sir, wait until you get a look at the landing zone.”

The floor that served as a landing area was scarcely large enough for a gunship, but it gleamed as if scrubbed and polished daily by custodial droids. Parallel to the long sides of the rectangle were banks of slender blue illuminators.

“Everyone stay exactly where you are,” Captain Dyne said when Mace and the rest of Aurek Team appeared at the mouth of a corridor that intersected the docking bay at its lengthwise centerpoint.

Deployed in a circle formation, Shaak Ti and the Padawans who had entered with Bacta were clustered in the middle of the floor.

Thirty meters to Mace’s right, Dyne and two other Intelligence officers were interpreting the data being sent to them by several probe droids meandering with design throughout the room, some of them misting the floor with a highly volatile substance.

The well-lubricated vertical docking gate was open, revealing an oval of blackened sky.

“A Huppla Pasa Tisc sloop occupied this docking bay less than two standard weeks ago,” Dyne said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “The arrangement of its landing gear and aft boarding ramp match the footprint of the Punworcca 116-class that launched from Geonosis during the battle there.”

“Dooku’s ship,” Mace said.

“A reasonable supposition, Master Windu,” Dyne said loudly. After several moments of gazing at the monitor screens of his equipment and conferring with his associates, he added: “The floor reveals traces of two beings who were here contemporaneous with the sloop.”

Green light from one of the drifting droids played across the alloy floor panels. Dyne directed the droid to concentrate on certain areas, and studied the data again.

“The first being exited the sloop and walked to this point.” He indicated an area close to the open gate. “Taking into consideration trace impressions and the length of the being’s stride, I would hazard that being one stands one hundred and ninety-five centimeters in height, and was wearing boots.”

It was Dooku! Mace thought.

The droid focused its lights on another area, and Dyne continued.

“Here, being one met with being two, lighter in weight, perhaps shorter in stature, and wearing—” Dyne consulted what Mace assumed to be some sort of database. “—what can best be described as soft-soled footwear or slippers. This unknown being came from the direction of the building’s east turbolifts, and accompanied … Dooku—for all intents and purposes—to a balconied niche above the docking gate. Following the same route, the pair returned to the docking bay and separated: Dooku to his ship; our unknown quarry, presumably to the turbolifts.”

Tasking the probe droids to track the prints of the second being, Dyne began to trail them, waving for Mace, Shaak Ti, and the commandos to follow.

“Single file behind me,” Dyne cautioned. “No straying out of line.”

Mace and Shaak Ti took the point, with the Padawans and commandos strung out behind. By the time the two Jedi Masters caught up with Dyne and his droids, the Intelligence analyst was standing at the door to a dated turbolift.

“Verified,” Dyne said, grinning in self-satisfaction. “Being two used the turbolift.”

Turning to the wall, he pressed his gloved right hand to the call stud. When the summoned car appeared, he affixed a scanner to the control pad inside.

“The car’s memory tells us that it arrived from sub-basement two. If we fail to discover evidence of our unknown quarry there, we’ll have to work our way back up, one level at a time, until we do.”

The turbolift was just roomy enough for Dyne, his associates,