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Wedge shrugged. “Well, it might make him more cautious.”

“And might make him come at us with enough force that even Thrawn would have run.” The Jedi shook his head. “Maybe we can talk the Vong into accepting some Noghri bodyguards.”

“I don’t think that’s likely.” Wedge nodded at the container. “You going to open it?”

“I guess. If Elegos had thought this was a trap, he would have found a way to warn me.” Corran held his left hand above the seal and tightened it into a fist, letting a couple droplets of blood drip down onto the Yuuzhan Vong device. The growth cracked slowly, then crumbled. The shell case slowly opened. The lightsaber’s glow flashed from gold in the interior.

“Sithspawn!” Corran felt his guts liquefy as he dropped to his knees. “Oh . . . oh, no . . . no.”

The opened case revealed a work of art that clearly had been the result of many hours lovingly lavished on it. A fully articulated skeleton sat cross-legged, each bone washed with gold. The sternum, and the smooth caps at the ends of long bones, were gleamed with platinum. Scintillating violet gems burned in the hollows of the eye sockets. Amethysts had been powdered and layered onto the sides of the skull, flaring back in the exact pattern of Elegos’s stripes.

The teeth, polished white, grinned coldly in the lipless mouth.

The Caamasi skeleton sat there, the head canted down to stare at the villip nestled in the triangle described by its legs. That ball of tissue hardened into mismatched features. The voice that emerged from it came equally harsh and halting. Its command of Basic was fine, but shaping its mouth around the sounds appeared to be difficult.

“I am Shedao Shai. You were at Bimmiel. You slew two of my kinsmen and left them to be gnawed by vermin. You stole the bones of my ancestor. These bones here I present to you so you may know the proper way to venerate fallen Yuuzhan Vong warriors.”

The voice softened almost imperceptibly. “I regret that your actions forced me to slay Elegos. I want you to know I did it myself, with my bare hands. As I strangled him, I read in his eyes betrayal, but only at the first. Before he died, he understood the necessity of his death. You must understand it, as well.”

The Yuuzhan Vong’s eyes narrowed on the villip’s surface. “We will meet, our respective forces, at the world you call Ithor. If you have any honor at all—and Elegos assured me you did—you will return to me the bones of my ancestor. If you do not, then it is you who renders our friend’s death meaningless.”

Corran felt Wedge’s hands on his shoulders as the villip rounded itself again. The Jedi flicked off his lightsaber, sinking the cabin into darkness, all but hiding the skeleton displayed before him. He reached out with his left hand, seeking warmth, seeking something of Elegos’s essence, but just felt cold.

“Wedge . . . he was . . . Elegos was so peaceful. He . . . he saved me and my sanity when I was with the pirates. He helped save Mirax.” Corran hung his head. “And his murderer tells me that his death is my fault? Elegos never did anything to hurt anyone and is slaughtered to make a point?”

Wedge’s hands tightened on Corran’s shoulders. “To the Yuuzhan Vong, this was the only message they thought you would understand.”

“Yeah, well, this Shedao Shai made his point.” Corran heaved himself to his feet. “He wants those bones back, he’ll get them, and in a big box, too. I’m going to pack his in with them, then the Vong can carry the whole stinking lot back to wherever they call home.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The light from the holographic representation of the Ithorian system splashed over the faces of the people gathered in the briefing room. Luke watched it shift and change as Admiral Kre’fey altered the perspective. The image’s center soared out around Ithor in a spiral orbit, flashing past the city-ships as they crept slowly away from what had been their home.

The Bothan Admiral froze the image there. “The evacuation is proceeding pretty well. The city-ships are not structurally sound