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“Acknowledged, Captain, we’ll stay put. For now,” Leia added under her breath. “Have the raiders issued demands of any sort?”

“We’ve had no contact with them,” Jorlen said impatiently. “We assume they’ve come for the passengers themselves—to supply the Yuuzhan Vong with sacrifices.”

“Then why the Yuuzhan Vong warship, Captain?”

“Why, indeed,” Jorlen mused.

“Something’s out there,” Luke said, pointing away from both the starliner and the ongoing firefight.

At first Leia wasn’t sure whether he’d sensed something through the Force or merely observed it, but when she followed his finger she saw what he was referring to and called up an enhanced view on the console display. The screen showed a blunt-nosed object reminiscent of a yorik coral fighter but clearly reinforced by some sort of burnished black armor.

“Disabled ship?” Mara suggested.

“Could be,” Luke said, staring not at the screen but out the viewport. “But I’m sensing something else …”

“A space mine?”

Luke shook his head. “A void.”

Leia and Mara reached out with the Force, verifying the emptiness that had drawn Luke’s attention. Luke was about to speak when the comm board came alive once more.

“Ambassador Solo,” Jorlen updated, “we’ve just been hailed by the Queen of Empire. The raiders have issued an ultimatum. Unless all New Republic forces move off, they’re going to begin expelling passengers out the airlocks.”

“Oh, my!” C-3PO said in trepidation.

R2-D2 twittered, then whimpered.

Leia’s eyes clouded over with alarm. “What was your response, Captain?”

Jorlen took a moment to answer. “It’s contrary to New Republic policy to bargain with pirates, Ambassador. I’m sorry that your husband is aboard, but the fight goes on. More to the point, if the raiders have in fact come for captives, their threat is an empty one, since the Queen’s passengers are already marked for death.”

“That’s hardly a relief, Captain.”

“My apologies, Ambassador. But there’ll be no negotiations while that Yuuzhan Vong ship is present.”

“Then we’ll have to do something about that.”

No sooner did Leia sign off when Luke said, “Whatever that object is, it’s abetting the coralskippers in some way.”

“A war coordinator?” Leia ventured.

He tore his eyes from the viewport to regard his sister. “A dovin basal.”

Leia adopted a determined expression and centered herself over the controls. “Living. But not for long.”

* * *

With concussive explosions rocking the Queen, Han peeked around the corner of a corridor at a hatch that opened on the docking bay. Guarding the way were two men armed with blasters and stun nets. Han considered bringing out his blaster, which was still secreted in his travel pack, but then recalled that the power pack had yet to be replenished.

“No good,” he told Droma and the recostumed Yuuzhan Vong, “they’ve sealed off every approach.” Withdrawing, he pressed his back to the bulkhead and glanced left and right. “We need a hole to hide in. With all that’s going on outside, it won’t be long before the Peace Brigade surrenders or attempts an escape.”

He led them to a bank of drop shafts and cautiously peered over the edge of one of them. Far below was the floor of a cargo hold.

“In case you haven’t noticed,” Droma said, “the shafts have been deactivated.”

“So we find some shock cord,” Han said. “It’s only, what, fifty meters or so to the bottom?”

Droma looked skeptical. “Might as well be from here to Coruscant.”

The sound of approaching footsteps put a quick end to the dilemma. Slinking away from the drop shafts, the four of them entered an intersecting passageway, where they were greeted by the sound of yet more footsteps, along with a chorus of piqued voices. They hurried around another corner, searching high and low for a place to hide.

Determined footsteps to their left grew louder, and not a moment later the owners of the piqued voices strode into view. Han’s eyes roamed over the raiders. Even after all the years, Reck Desh was recognizable by his cocky gait and full sleeve of tattoos.