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She drew another controlled breath of the frosty air, staring through the bridge viewport at the lush starfield that waited ahead, crossed by a wide swath like a milky river. Looking through the disk of the galaxy toward the dense core, she saw the stars appear to stream like a wide river. The Gorgon headed toward the luminous bulge of the galactic center.

“Commander”—she lowered her voice—“what is your opinion of the overall morale on the ship?”

Kratas took a step closer so he could answer in a soft voice. “We have good people, Admiral, as you know. Well trained and well drilled. But they have repeatedly suffered grievous defeats.…”

“Have they lost faith in me?” Daala asked. Her face was chiseled in stone. She made herself strong and tried not to show that Kratas’s answer could devastate her. She averted her emerald eyes, afraid that he might see something in them.

“Absolutely not, Admiral!” Kratas answered with a tinge of surprise. “They have the utmost confidence in you.”

She nodded to cover her long sigh of relief, then raised her voice, turning to the communications lieutenant. “Give me an open-ship channel,” she said. “I want to address all of our troops.”

Daala gathered her thoughts until the lieutenant nodded to her. She spoke in a loud, firm voice that reverberated through the damaged ship.

“Attention, all crew members of the Gorgon. I wish to commend you for your efforts against overwhelming odds, against a foe that continues to gain the upper hand through treachery and uncanny luck. We must now prepare for the next phase in this battle, however. We are making our way to the Core Systems, to the last strongholds that still swear loyalty to the Empire.

“It was not originally my intention to join with one of the Imperial warlords struggling for dominance, but it now appears that we must fight the larger fight. We need to convince them of their real enemy and show those still faithful to the Emperor that we must be united to be strong.”

She paused before raising her voice. “Yes, the Gorgon has been damaged. Yes, we have suffered severe losses. We have been wounded—but we will never be defeated!

“Trials such as these only strengthen us. Continue your efforts to make the Gorgon powerful again. Thank you for your service.” She signaled for the communications lieutenant to stop the transmission. She looked out again at the moving stream of stars.

The Gorgon’s computer banks held all the information Daala had pulled from Maw Installation’s classified computer banks. The weapons designs and new concepts alone would help the Empire win the next phase of the war.

As she stood on the cold bridge with gloved hands clasped behind her back, she watched the universe unfold in front of her.

The Star Destroyer Gorgon sailed on toward the Core Systems. Through persistence she could become victorious. One day.

43

The Lady Luck cruised low over the jagged surface of Kessel. Bleached sunlight washed across the alkali flats. The sky scintillated with intermittent streaks of light, flaming trails of meteorites—chunks of Kessel’s destroyed moon burning down through the thin atmosphere.

“You know, this is all kind of beautiful,” Lando said, “in its own way.”

Beside him in the space yacht’s overly padded passenger seat, Mara Jade frowned skeptically. She looked at him as if she thought he was crazy—not a new thought. “If you say so,” she said.

“Of course, it’ll take a lot of work,” Lando admitted, lifting one hand off the controls so he could rest it on the arm of her chair. She flinched at his move … but not too much.

“First order of business will be to get the atmosphere factories up to full capacity again. I’ll have to bring in specially modified droids. I’ve already talked to Nien Nunb, my Sullustan friend, who says he’d love to make his home down in those tunnels. I think he’ll make a great crew boss.”

Lando raised his eyebrows and flashed her his most dazzling smile. “Defense will be difficult without