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“Blow on the meat before you put it in your mouths,” the king said. “It’s hot.”

The twins picked up small morsels, dutifully blowing until the meat was cool enough to chew. King Daykim seemed to delight in just watching them.

“So what were you doing down here all alone? It’s dangerous, you know. Would you like to stay here with us?” the king said. “We’re all growing old. It’s been too long since young people joined us down here.”

Jacen and Jaina shook their heads. “We are lost,” Jaina said around a mouthful of meat. A thick welling of tears appeared on the edge of her eyelids.

Jacen also started to cry. “Please help us find our home,” he said, looking toward the high ceiling. Somewhere up in the distance lay their living quarters.

“Up there?” King Daykim said, comically incredulous. “Why would you want to go back up there? The Emperor lives up there. He’s a bad man.” Daykim shook his head and gestured around him. “We have everything we want here. We have food, we have light, we have … our things.”

Jacen shook his head at Daykim. “I want to go home.”

With a sigh Daykim glanced back at his banks of computer terminals and then flashed them a defeated smile.

“Of course you want to go home. Just finish up your supper. You’ll need your strength.”

The sergeant of the militia escorted Threepio and Chewbacca back to Han and Leia’s quarters in the old Imperial Palace. “Our records indicate that Minister Organa Solo and her husband returned not more than an hour ago,” the sergeant said.

Chewbacca moaned dejectedly. Threepio shot a sharp glance at him. “I think you should be the one to tell them what happened, Chewbacca. After all, I’m only a droid.”

“Rest assured we’re doing everything we can,” the sergeant said. “We’ve had our teams combing the Holographic Zoo and the adjoining floors just in case the twins found an emergency staircase. We’re checking the logs of the maintenance droid just to be sure that no one used the turbolift that was being serviced.” He snapped to attention. “We’ll find them, don’t you worry.”

Threepio used the override code on the doorway to open it. Then he and Chewbacca stepped into the living quarters—to find Han and Leia sitting on the self-conforming chairs, with the twins balanced on their knees.

“Children! Oh, thank goodness, you’re home!” Threepio cried. Chewbacca thundered a high-pitched bellow.

Han and Leia both turned to look at them. “Well, there you two are.”

Threepio noticed at once that one of the panels from the air-ventilation system had been knocked off, apparently from the inside. A stranger, a large man, dressed in tattered but ornate clothing dashed to shelter behind one of the larger pieces of furniture. He had long reddish-brown hair, a wispy beard, and uncommonly pale skin,

Leia returned her attention to the rag-clad man. “Seriously, Mr. Daykim, I can’t tell you how much we appreciate what you’ve done. I assure you the New Republic will do everything it can to repatriate all your people.”

Daykim shook his head. “The Emperor never forgave mistakes, not even accounting mistakes. We saw many of our fellow civil servants either executed or sent off to horrendous penal colonies. As soon as we caught ourselves in a simple but irrevocable filing error, we knew we didn’t have long to live—so we grabbed what we could and fled to the underlevels of Imperial City. My people have been living there for years. We’re just a bunch of feral bureaucrats who don’t know any other life.”

“We could find a place for you in the New Republic. We don’t punish people for simple mistakes. We could bring you all back,” Leia said again. “Look around you, we could give you your own quarters like these. Many of the buildings in the old Imperial City are abandoned.”

“We know,” Daykim said, “we live there ourselves sometimes. Thank you for your offer.” He stood up and cast a suspicious glance toward Threepio and Chewbacca. He patted Jacen and Jaina on the head and flashed his gap-toothed smile. “You’re good little children. Your mommy and daddy should be proud of you.”

Han cleared his throat