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“Do you have anything going on in the spinward side of the system, say on an approximate course toward Arkania?”

There was a delay of a few seconds. “Negative on that.”

“Something’s up … my flight is going to head that way. Keep your ears open for us.” She switched back to her squadron frequency. “Come on, mortals.”

“As you wish, Goddess.”

Jag responded with a comlink click.

TEN

Borleias Occupation, Day 37

Jaina and her pilots flashed across Pyrian space as fast as their thrusters would take them; they angled in close to the star Pyria, picked up a little gravitational momentum from that close passage, and flung themselves toward the source of disturbance Jaina and Kyp could both sense. That disturbance didn’t abate. If anything, it grew more clear, more strong.

Within minutes, Iella Wessiri took over the comlink at Control. “What have you got?”

“Not sure. Just a sensation in the Force.”

“It can’t be Yuuzhan Vong, then.”

Jag said, “It can be Vong-related.”

“True.”

Jaina said, “Can you direct your sensors along our course to see what’s out there ahead of us?”

“Negative on that. There’s a little matter of a sun between us and your course. However, we’re maneuvering Rebel Dream into position to track you and anticipate your course. She should be coming on-station in—she’s on-station now.” Iella grew silent for a moment. “Rebel Dream reports one large signal, multiple smaller signals incoming. Gravitic anomalies suggest it’s Yuuzhan Vong. General Antilles requests that you take a look, but be careful.”

“We’re on it.” General Antilles requests. Jaina shook her head. Wedge had been right. All this goddess deception was going to take some getting used to.

Soon enough, the distant anomalies showed up as blips on her sensors, and then she began to pick them up on her visual sensors.

Nearest was a Yuuzhan Vong frigate analog with a screen of coralskipper escorts. Behind it, some distance away, surrounded by a screen of Yuuzhan Vong capital ships …

Jaina keyed her comlink. “Control, it’s a worldship, a big one even by Vong standards.” She felt her mouth go dry. This wasn’t the worldship that was in orbit around Myrkr, the worldship where Anakin and Jacen had died, but just seeing another of the vast living craft so soon made her feel sick.

“Understood, Twin Suns Leader. Suggest you return.”

“Negative.” Jaina made a slight course correction to put her flight on an intercept course with the oncoming frigate. “We need to see why they’re starting out with such a small probe.”

Jag’s voice came over the squadron frequency. “That small probe includes a frigate. It’s big enough to cause us some trouble.”

“Yes, but that’s where I’m feeling the disturbance in the Force.” The disturbance, she decided, didn’t have the feral hunger that was characteristic of a voxyn. No, it felt like pain.

Then they could see the frigate and its escort. Three coralskippers, a quarter of the screen, peeled off from the formation to head their way.

“Three?” Kyp sounded insulted. “They expect three coralskippers to be enough for us?”

“No.” That was Jag. “They’re just supposed to slow us down. We can either ignore them and take some plasma cannon fire up the exhaust ports, or deal with them and let the frigate past.”

“We deal with them,” Jaina said. “Then catch up.”

The coralskippers came on, firing.

“Let’s play with the new tactics.” Jaina extended her Force perceptions, found Kyp’s waiting for her like an outstretched hand. The three of them settled into their earlier formation, the two X-wings ahead, the clawcraft behind and between. Almost as one, they twisted, rolled, and sideslipped, always eluding the oncoming plasma cannon fire, the oncoming grutchins.

Jaina chose their target, the coralskipper at starboard rear. Kyp chose the moment to fire. The skip’s dovin basal created its void directly before Jaina’s shot, but Kyp’s smashed into the coralskipper’s bow, annihilating the dovin basal. Then Jag’s lasers stitched their way along from the bow to the