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He flashed for a moment on the fact that his father, in his grief, had scarcely drawn a sober breath. Why can’t you be more like Aunt Mara, Father?

Mara stared at him and through him. “There are times, Anakin, when things overwhelm us. There are times when you can’t fight.”

“But you are still fighting. You’re being brave.”

“It’s because I know what I’m fighting. Others may not be able to identify their enemy, so they can’t fight.”

My father’s enemy is me. That thought sent a shiver through Anakin, but another thought followed on its heels. Or, perhaps, his enemy is the guilt that he’s assumed. If only things had happened another way.

Mara eased herself off the rock and leaned into him again. “Ready to make it up the hill?”

“After you, Mara.”

“Together, Anakin, together.”

That evening the elder Dantari brought a big pile of blba branches. He returned with a second armload, and Anakin gave him a second vincha root. The Dantari retreated into the darkness, then a frenzied round of hooting and hollering began from the distant Dantari camp.

Snapping a branch in half, Anakin fed it into the fire. “Well, they’re happy.”

“Indeed, it sounds as if they are.” Mara nodded, the shifting shadows cast by firelight hiding the weariness on her face. “You did well.”

“Thanks. I think so, too.”

And Anakin continued to think so until the next morning when he found the elder Dantari waiting for him in the camp as he awoke. The Dantari sat perched in the middle of a ten-meter-long blba log. The elder wore a grin like that of a Hutt that had a fix in on a Podrace, and extended an empty hand in Anakin’s direction.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Gavin didn’t pause in the doorway of the office that Admiral Traest Kre’fey had been given on Dubrillion. He rapped on the jamb with his knuckles and swept into the room. He was a couple of steps in when he glanced up from his datapad and actually saw two other people in the office with the admiral.

“I’m sorry, Admiral, I didn’t realize you were busy.” Gavin pulled himself to attention and saluted.

The Bothan returned the salute. “It is not a problem, Colonel Darklighter. I believe you know Lando Calrissian and Leia Organa Solo.”

Gavin felt himself blushing. “We have met, yes, but I don’t know them . . .” Lando and Leia had been heroes of the Rebellion along with his cousin Biggs. He had been a child when he’d first heard of them and had even developed a crush on Princess Leia. While he was well past that feeling, meeting them again reduced him to a little boy who felt like an impostor just being in the room with them. “I can come back, sir.”

Kre’fey shook his head. “No, no need for that.” The Bothan pointed to the holographic display of data and tables. “The Agamarian ships that arrived when we did have been moving people off planet with their shuttles. The Yuuzhan Vong are doing nothing to stop them, so we assume they will strike as the refugee convoys start to move out. Rogue Squadron is going to have to keep them off us.”

“I’ve been working on that, Admiral.” Gavin glanced at his datapad. “I’ve got a full squadron of X-wings ready to go, and Dubrillion’s population has a large number of uglies that they’ve modified for running the asteroid belt and then armed. They should give us as much as a wing of fighters.”

Lando smiled confidently. “The pilots here are good. They’ll keep the Yuuzhan Vong off the convoy.”

“I’m sure they will. What concerns me, though, is that only a handful of those uglies have hyperdrives. We’ll need to have a ship capable of recovering the pilots and their ships heading out last. Rogue Squadron can keep the Vong off while the fighters are being recovered, then we can jump out ourselves.”

Kre’fey stroked the snowy fur of his chin. “I had assumed the Ralroost would be the last ship out. We will recover the fighters.”

Leia frowned. “We’re loading refugees on the Ralroost. If it is the last ship out, the Yuuzhan Vong will concentrate on it. Do you want to take that risk?”

The Bothan snorted quickly. “Want to take the risk? No. Do I think we have