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“We’re alike in that,” Horn replied. “And I also pay my debts. I owe you a big one.”

Karrde received the sentiment with a nod of his head. “I’m glad your son is well. Is there anything else I can do for you? I’m sorry to be short, but I’m not much in the mood for conversation right now.”

“I’ll let you go in a second. This doesn’t even come close to squaring us up, but I do have something for you.”

“What’s that?”

“Someone, I should say.” Horn moved aside and was replaced by Shada D’ukal’s wry features.

“Shada!”

“Come on, Karrde,” Shada said. “You didn’t think I was stupid enough to stay on a flaming ship, did you? Once I got the lock, we went for the escape pods. Horn ran across us in his X-wing, doing a slow spiral toward the gas giant.” She squinted at the screen. “Hey, boss, what’s wrong with your eye?”

“The air unit has been blowing dust in from somewhere,” Karrde said, blinking away the suspicious moisture. “Get your tail back over here, so we can discuss how long it will take you to pay me back for the Idiot’s Array.”

Shada rolled her eyes. “See you soon, boss.”

Then, despite his losses, Talon Karrde did allow himself a small, quiet smile. Why not? They’d won.

EPILOGUE

“We never thought we’d find Booster,” Jaina confessed, around a mouthful of food. “I was ready to hijack the Jade Shadow and fly straight to Yavin. When Booster doesn’t want to be found, he can really disappear.”

“What was he doing?” Anakin asked.

“Running weapons to the Hutt underground, actually,” Jaina replied. “I just asked myself where Booster would go if he wanted to help the war effort and still turn a profit without feeling bad about it.”

“You’re kidding.”

“It didn’t hurt that Corran was with him,” Jacen said. “We got hints of him in the Force.”

“Still.”

“Jacen’s being modest,” Jaina said. “He spent a lot of time in deep meditation, trying to find Corran. It was no accident.”

“That’s pretty impressive,” Anakin allowed.

“Thank you, Anakin,” Jacen said, as if surprised. His brow wrinkled in such a way that made him look briefly very much like their father. “Are you okay, Anakin?”

Anakin nodded. “Yes, actually. I mean, my leg still hurts, even with the bacta patch, but otherwise, I think I’m fine. In fact, better than fine.”

“What do you mean?” Jacen asked, perhaps a little suspiciously.

Anakin chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “Up until now,” he said, “I had no way to think of the Yuuzhan Vong except as enemies.”

“They are enemies,” Jaina said.

“Yes,” Anakin replied. “So was the Empire. But Palpatine aside, it must have been possible for Mom and Dad and Uncle Luke to at least conceive of the people they were fighting as possible friends. In fact, that’s how Uncle Luke destroyed the Emperor, right? He was able to imagine Darth Vader as his father, as a friend. The Yuuzhan Vong—well, to be frank, I didn’t even want to conceive of them that way.”

“They don’t make it easy,” Jaina said. “Look what happened to Elegos when he tried to understand them.”

“So you think you succeeded where Elegos failed?” Jacen asked.

“Do I understand them? No, not completely. But I have a deeper understanding than I did. I can think of them as people now, and that makes a difference.”

Jacen nodded. “You’re right, of course. Does that mean you’ve decided not to fight them anymore? Are you going to work for peace?”

Anakin blinked. “Are you kidding? We have to fight them, Jacen. I have to fight them. I just know more about how to do it now.”

Jacen’s frown was fully developed now. “Are you sure that’s the right lesson to take away from all this?” he asked.

“No offense, Jacen, but I think I’ll leave off worrying about what lesson I might have learned if I had been someone else. Because frankly, if I had been someone else, I don’t think I would have survived to learn any lesson.”

“Tell Booster we’re going to have to evacuate the ship,” Jaina said. “The way Anakin’s head is expanding, it’ll split through the hull in no time.”

“Believe it or not,” Anakin replied, “I don’t say what I