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Leia wasn’t certain Wedge had thought all those details through. She would send his military personnel back with a message to his ship, the Yavin, when they reached Almanian space. No overall bombing until the target was sighted. If the target was obvious, then of course she wouldn’t even send the message. But if it wasn’t, the crew would go back to Wedge, and she would disappear into Almania’s atmosphere.

To find Kueller herself.

Because she still wasn’t certain if he was after the New Republic or if he was after her family. He was strong in the Force, which made him a powerful enemy. For the thousandth time, she wished she had listened to Luke and completed her Jedi training. She wouldn’t be able to outnegotiate Kueller, at least not for the long term. But she might be able to outfight him, with Luke’s help.

She pulled the twist out of her hair, and the strands cascaded down her back. The stars looked no different. Even in hyperdrive, the distance to Almania was incredible. It was amazing that Kueller had even considered his planet part of the New Republic. Planets this far out usually liked to retain their independence. Almania had maintained its independence from the Empire. It should have continued such behavior under the New Republic.

Yet another detail that didn’t make sense.

So many details about Almania didn’t make sense, partly because the information about the planet was sketchy. She suspected that the Je’har had aligned themselves with the Rebellion for form’s sake and to protect their government, not because of any real allegiance or caring about the fight against the Empire. So far as she could tell, no Almanian joined the military on either side.

But someone had mentioned that Almanians had sent a distress message to her government years ago that never got a response. Perhaps that was why Kueller had come after the New Republic.

Perhaps it had nothing to do with her family at all.

All the nagging worries. She had a thousand of them. She hadn’t been able to find Artoo before she left, and she had counted on him. It would have been nice to have the little droid beside her in Alderaan. Threepio might have been helpful, too, at least as a distraction. But they were both missing. Artoo had left the maintenance facility shortly after he checked in, and Threepio had gone with him. No one had seen them since.

Just as no one had heard from Han. He hadn’t answered any of her messages. She finally had to leave him one saying that she would be out of touch for a while, but she would find him. It was essential that the fleet have communications silence, but it worried her. Han’s mission to Smuggler’s Run had taken way too long, and with that cryptic message trying to frame Han, Leia wondered if the delay was bad news.

She hadn’t reached Lando, either. Lando, who had put his life in jeopardy for Han’s. She could only hope that Lando had found Han and they were both all right, tracking down the person or persons who had gone after Han.

And then there was Luke. She had been reaching for him ever since she had seen that holocording from Kueller. Except for that plaintive, pain-filled call, she hadn’t heard from Luke. The silence was unnerving.

Every once in a while, though, she would get strange aches and pains. Her left ankle gave out on her as she finished the final check in the cockpit, sending severe pain up her leg. But when she checked it, she discovered nothing wrong. Shortly after takeoff, she had relaxed in her pilot’s chair, and cried out as a thousand needles poked into her back. Again, the sensation was gone in a moment, and there was no visible sign of injury (or of needles embedded in her chair). Both times she had gotten a sense of Luke before the pain faded.

He was alive. She knew that much. But she also knew he was badly injured, and alone.

She had to reach him soon. Even though they were straining the Alderaan’s engines, they weren’t going fast enough for her.

She had to reach her brother before he died—or worse.

Luke awoke to a barely lit room. He was on his stomach, his