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A surge of wrath boiled through Tenel Ka, but she kept her composure. “Do you know what befell a New Republic ambassador who fell into Yuuzhan Vong hands? He was slain, his bones decorated with gems and gold and sent back to his friends. I would not deliver an enemy to such a fate, and never a friend!”

His expression darkened, and he glanced at a knot of uniformed men. “Then I’m afraid we’ll have to make do with you. If Jaina Solo thinks the same way you do, she might be willing to trade herself for your freedom.”

“She won’t get the chance.”

Before any of the Hapans could draw weapons, Tenel Ka’s turquoise blade leapt toward them like a proton torpedo.

For a moment everyone in the cargo hold scuttled back, intimidated by the wrath in the Jedi’s gray eyes and the blazing weapon in her hand.

Then the Ni’Korish leader pulled a vibroblade from his belt, and others remembered that they, too, held weapons.

They advanced, quickly encircling Tenel Ka.

TEN

The stolen Yuuzhan Vong ship careened through space at full power, following the barely perceptible signal emitted by the escape pod. Zekk sat at the helm. Tahiri wore the navigation hood, directing him according to information flowing to her from the navibrain. The small hands gripping the control were white-knuckled, but her voice remained steady and sure.

Jaina and Lowbacca huddled together away from the others. “You and Tahiri did great, but I’ve got another puzzle for you,” Jaina said. “Danni Quee found a way to override the yammosk communications. That’s the only explanation for the Yuuzhan Vong confusion over Coruscant. Any idea how she did it?”

The Wookiee went into a lengthy explanation, most of which went over Jaina’s head with a meter to spare.

She put up a hand to halt the bewildering flow of information. “How do you know all this?”

Lowbacca hesitated, then woofed a response.

He had been recruited to work on the research team supervised by Danni Quee and Cilghal. That made sense to Jaina. The Force-sensitive scientist and the Mon Calamari healer had been spearheading one of many attempts to understand Yuuzhan Vong technology. Before coming to the Jedi academy, Lowbacca had had two passions: computer science and the study of Kashyyyk’s complex plant life. It had been the latter that prompted him to go alone into the dangerous lower levels of his homeworld’s forests during his rite of passage to young adulthood, and to pit himself against the deadly syren plant. The combination of computer skills and biological knowledge—not to mention his desire to take on the impossible—made him well suited to this study.

Lowbacca let loose a few sharp woofs.

“They had you taking apart captured ships? No wonder you knew how to mess with the worldship,” Jaina murmured, remembering a prank he had played with a small neural center. “So you know how Danni Quee scrambled the yammosk.”

The Wookiee shook his head and gave a mournful moan. He hadn’t been there for Danni’s breakthrough.

“Given your background, could you duplicate the results?”

Lowbacca considered, then woofed an affirmative.

“But can you go one step farther?”

The Wookiee listened with growing fascination as Jaina described her plan. His furry shoulders shook with laughter as he made his way toward the dovin basal.

Jaina watched, puzzled. Lowbacca returned in moments, coming at a lope and carrying a familiar-looking object in his paws.

He handed a small globe to Jaina with a string of grumbled instructions. A slow, sly grin crept over her face as she understood what he’d found. She reached up and ruffled the fur on his head affectionately, and then went back to work.

“Is that what I think it is?” Ganner demanded, eyeing the villip with disgust.

She grinned at the older Jedi and turned to Zekk. “Let me have your seat.”

He yielded the pilot’s chair, and Jaina settled down, pulled on the hood, and began to stroke the oddly shaped globe.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Zekk ventured. “Can you talk and fly at the same time?”

Her only response was a derisive sniff.

“We don’t know who will