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“The Peace Brigade? Absolutely. Tionne, it’s bad for Jedi out there right now.”

“I understand,” she said, then clenched her fist. “No, I don’t understand. Has the galaxy gone mad?”

“Yes,” Kam said softly. “It’s an old madness, war.”

“You don’t have any ships, do you?”

“No. Streen went with Peckhum in the supply ship.”

“Where to?”

“Corellia. He should be back soon. Though I suppose they won’t, now.”

“We’ll have to hide them here, then,” Anakin said. “Where?”

“Down the river! The cave beneath the Palace of the Woolamander,” Tahiri offered. “Master Ikrit’s cave.”

Anakin raised his eyebrows. “That’s a good idea. They’d be really hard to find there, especially if the Peace Brigade doesn’t start looking right away.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kam said, his voice suddenly cautious. “Why would they delay the search?”

“I’ll stay behind,” Anakin said. “I’ll make it look as if we’re still in the temple trying to make a stand. They’ll waste time shooting their way through while you and Tionne get the kids to safety.”

“You’re leaving out one little detail,” Tahiri said. “What about you? What keeps you safe?”

“I’ll hide the X-wing. I know a good place. I can slip through them. Then I’ll play hide-and-seek until Talon Karrde shows up. Once he’s mopped up the Peace Brigade, I’ll lead him to you.”

“You’ve been thinking about this,” Tionne said.

“All the way down,” Anakin admitted. “It’s the best way.”

“He’s right,” Kam said.

“Kam—” Tionne began.

“He’s right,” Kam went on, “except that he’s not the one staying behind—I am.”

“I’m the better pilot,” Anakin said bluntly. “I’m the only one who can pull it off.”

“Anakin is correct,” Ikrit said in his scratchy voice. “It is part of his destiny. And mine.”

“Master Ikrit—”

“You will say I am no warrior. That may be true—it has been long since I wielded a lightsaber, and it was not what I preferred even then. But it is not lightsabers that will prevail here today, not weapons. Not all uses of the Force are aggressive.”

Anakin pursed his lips, but he couldn’t bring himself to contradict the ancient Master.

Kam gnawed his lip for a moment. “Very well,” he said at last. “I don’t like it, but we don’t have time for a debate. Tahiri, come along. Help me and Tionne get the students on the boats.”

“Fine,” Tahiri said, “but I’m staying with Anakin.”

“No,” Anakin said.

“Yes!” Tahiri retorted. “I’ve been stuck on this mud-ball while you’ve been out fighting the Yuuzhan Vong. I’m sick of it! I’m ready to do something!”

“You’re too young for this,” Tionne said.

“Anakin’s only two years older than me! He was fifteen at Sernpidal!”

“That’s right,” Anakin said, “and I got Chewbacca killed. Tahiri, please go with Kam.”

Her eyes widened in shocked betrayal. “You don’t want me with you! After all we—you think I’m a kid, just like they do!”

No, Anakin thought. I just don’t want to see you killed, too.

“Come on, Tahiri,” Tionne said gently. “There’s no time to lose.”

“Fine. That’s just fine,” she said, and without another glance at Anakin she darted from the room.

Kam placed his hand on Anakin’s shoulder. “It’s been hard on her without you here.”

Anakin nodded. “Anyway,” he said gruffly, “I’d better get to work.”

“Be careful, Anakin. You don’t have to buy us a lot of time. When you need to go, go. We need you alive.”

“I don’t plan to die,” Anakin assured him.

“Most people don’t. It happens anyway. Trust the Force, listen to Ikrit. May the Force be with you.”

CHAPTER FOUR

“It will burn you, Anakin,” Ikrit’s pleasant, familiar rasp solemnly pronounced.

Anakin looked up from his work on the intercom. He and the old Jedi were in what had once been the command center when the Great Temple had been a Rebel base. Most of the wartime equipment was gone, but some remained—the various communication systems, including an intercom that piped information throughout the temple and its surrounds.

“Master?”

“Your anger. You have built yourself a vessel to contain it, but the crucible itself will one day melt from the heat. Then you will burn, and others with you. Many others,