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A gasp later, the turbolaser in the turret began talking as Sannah took control of the gun. Anakin put the ship into a climb, fighting for distance though every meter he put behind him tore another stitch from his heart.

“I’ll be back, Tahiri,” he said. “That I swear. I’ll be back.”

Kam Solusar gasped and sagged against the damp stone wall of the cave. Tionne, nearby, stifled a cry of anguish. Some of the children, the more sensitive ones, began to cry, probably not even sure what they were crying about.

He groped through the darkness until he found Tionne and took her in his arms. He could smell the salt on her cheeks, feel the torn place in her.

Tionne felt things so deep, so strong. She had no fear of the pain that such openness could cause. It was one of the things he loved about her. While he put on armor against the universe, she took it all in and gave it back as something better. Her wound would heal, and from it a song would come. Others thought she was weak, because her powers in the Force weren’t so great.

Kam knew better. Ultimately, she was stronger than he.

“Master Ikrit,” she whispered.

“I know,” Kam replied, stroking her silver hair. “He knew all along.”

They stood that way for a few precious seconds, drawing strength and comfort from each other. It was Tionne who moved away first.

“The children need us,” she said. “We’re all they have, now.”

“No,” Kam whispered back. “Anakin is still out there.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Talon Karrde was a hostage, but he wasn’t supposed to know that. Imsatad probably thought himself clever and subtle for maneuvering Karrde into joining the search party on the moon’s surface and equally clever to make certain that there were twenty of his own people to Karrde’s four.

Karrde was quite content to allow him that illusion of shrewdness.

“We’ve already searched here,” Maber Yeff, the leader of the Peace Brigade segment of the team, said in his shrill little voice, waving his hand at a long row of vine-smothered ruins.

“I’m sure you did,” Karrde replied. “But not with vornskrs.”

Yeff’s pale, ax-nosed face turned dubiously toward the long-limbed beasts loping ahead of the group. “How do you know they don’t just smell womp rats or something?” he asked.

“If they could do that, they would be valuable indeed,” Karrde replied. “As there are no womp rats on Yavin Four, it would require hyperwave noses to sniff them out all the way over on Tatooine.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Vornskrs sense the Force, and especially those creatures that use the Force. They are particularly suited for hunting Jedi.”

“Yeah? Where can we get some? That would be useful in our line of work.”

“Alas, mine are the only tame ones in existence. You don’t want to meet a wild one, I promise you.”

“Still. We’ve got plenty more of these Jedi to hunt down, and with all of the advantages their sorcery gives them—and if these things do what you say—”

“Observe,” Karrde said. The beasts had pricked up their ears and were panting eagerly. They darted through a crumbling entranceway.

“But we looked in there,” Yeff repeated.

“How many Jedi do you estimate are hiding in there? Based on my information, at least two adults and perhaps thirty children. Do you think you could see them if they didn’t want to be seen? Or that you would remember them if you did see them?”

“Can they really do that?”

“They can really do that.”

“That’s what Captain Imsatad said. He also said you have a way around that.”

Karrde smile thinly. “Indeed. A certain creature from the same planet as the vornskrs. It projects a bubble that repels the Force.”

“That’s what your pretty lady has in the covered cage.”

From the corner of his eye, Karrde saw Shada’s brows lower dangerously, but she continued to play her part. “Exactly. My sweet Sleena is as delicate as they are. She understands their needs.”

“Yeah.” Yeff spared “Sleena” another leer. “Can I see it?”

“Sunlight harms them, and they are easily agitated. If you wish, after the hunt, I’ll show