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“You’ll have little need for me, and my work will be done.”

Leia reached out and took Elegos’s right arm in her hands, then walked beside him as they strode through the camp. “I’ll always have need for friends like you.”

“I’m honored.”

“You should be more afraid. My friends tend to get into trouble.”

Elegos gestured broadly with his free hand. “Like this?”

“Pretty much.” Leia nodded at a few people, then looked up at the Caamasi. “I placed quite a burden on Anakin, didn’t I, by giving him that name.”

“He’s strong enough to accept that burden, Leia. He has you and the Jedi to sustain him and keep him on the straight and narrow.” Elegos patted her hands with his left hand. “Had he a bent for the dark side of the Force, he would have availed himself of it to save Mara Jade. He’s young, yet he has courage and intelligence. This is a time that will demand both. When the Yuuzhan Vong come, the slaughter on both sides will be staggering.”

Leia felt a slight shudder course through Elegos. “For a pacifist like you, this has to be horrible.”

“It is horrible for everyone, those who realize it and those who do not.” The Caamasi shook his head. “Were there a way to stave this off, I would try to avert it, but the Yuuzhan Vong seem content with probing and attacking. We don’t know why they are here or what they want. We don’t know if we can reason with them, and the fact that they seemed to play with Anakin and Mara does not bode well for our being able to reach mutual agreements on anything.”

“I find that frustrating, too. I believe in negotiating when possible, but when an enemy refuses, we have little choice in how to deal with them.” Leia frowned. “Where will you be during the assaults?”

“Your brother has consented to loan me Artoo, so I will be in the command shuttle, using the laser and blaster cannons.”

She stopped and swung around to face him. “But, from what you’ve said, killing will create a memory so horrible you will never forget it.”

The Caamasi’s reply came cold and solemn. “There will be no forgetting what will happen here, not for me, not for anyone who survives. The only thing that would make it worse is knowing that I did nothing to stop the slaughter. I can and will take responsibility for dealing death—and perhaps will fill a role that means others will not find themselves in that unenviable position. If I cannot spare myself that discomfort, I can take solace in what I spare others from.”

“You know that’s how I feel.”

“You’ve proved it many times, and now your children show this courage has bred true.”

“I guess it has.” She gave Elegos a smile. “So, when you’re out there shooting, just aim a bit high so we don’t get in your way.”

Luke slowly seated himself on his wife’s bunk aboard the Courage. When her eyes fluttered open, he raised a finger to his lips. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay.” Her voice came a bit hoarsely and remained a whisper. “I’ve been sleeping too much lately.”

“You’ve been under a lot of stress. The illness . . .”

She nodded slowly but not weakly, and that heartened Luke. Even when he’d found her close to complete collapse there in the mountains, she would not let him carry her and even made a weak attempt at demanding that she be allowed to copilot the blastboat. She refused to admit defeat or acknowledge any weakness.

Luke found this a great comfort, and it took him a moment or two to determine why. His aunt Beru had been utterly unlike Mara save in one aspect: She was a hardened survivor. Living on Tatooine required that of people. If you were inclined toward being soft or weak, the desert world dried you out, sanded you down to your bones, then buried you. Everyone he had known as he grew up had prided themselves in defying the planet every single day, and that inspired in him an appreciation of that survival sense.

Mara drew a small bottle from the shelf at the head of the bunk and drank some water. A droplet coursed down from the corner of her mouth. She tried to get it with