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“Something like that.” Corran stopped just before they entered the corridor out of the hangar. “Is that your assessment of my opinion, or your assessment of Solo in relationship to your leaving Imperial service as he did?”

Tycho’s smile broadened. “Interesting insight. I think there was a time that Solo, who had bound his conception of honor to his service to the Empire, forgot that honor could exist outside Imperial service. This seems to be a misconception that has been corrected.”

“And correcting it won him fame, glory, and Princess Organa.”

“True, but what’s important is that he knows honor exists inside you and can only radiate out. What goes on outside can’t change it or kill it unless you abandon your honor. Too many folks give it up too easily, then do whatever they can to fill the void in their hearts.” Tycho shook his head. “Forgive me this little lecture. I’ve had an unfortunate amount of time to think about this sort of stuff.”

Two Alliance Security officers walked over to where Corran and Tycho stood. The female Lieutenant spoke with a calm, even voice. “Captain Celchu, are you ready to return to your quarters now?”

The taller man suddenly looked very fatigued, as if his skeleton had just become one size smaller so his flesh hung loosely from it. “Yes, I believe so. Thank you for this conversation, Mr. Horn.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

Tycho nodded to the woman. “After you.”

“No, sir,” she said, “after you.”

Her tone struck Corran as all wrong. He had assumed she had been offering to escort Captain Celchu to his quarters as a courtesy, but the edge in her voice transformed her words into an order. Why would they be forcing him to return to his quarters? I don’t understand. She’s treating him like a criminal.

He stared after them, trying to reconcile the Security officer’s action with a need to protect Tycho from some threat. He couldn’t imagine anyone in the Alliance base who would begrudge Tycho actions taken before he joined the Rebel cause. Becoming a Rebel was like starting over—the datascreen was wiped and the past forgotten. Yet I still have reservations about Han Solo. Even so, I don’t want to murder him, so he doesn’t need protection.

He realized he was attempting to rationalize why Tycho was being escorted by armed guards, and the most simple answer was because Tycho presented a threat to the Alliance in some way. The obvious ludicrousness of that idea shone like a supernova because if Tycho was a threat of any sort, no one would trust him to be teaching pilots how to fly. Then again, he is assigned a Headhunter Trainer.

“There you are.”

Corran’s head came up at the sound of the woman’s voice. Just a bit taller than he was, but slender and walking on very shapely long legs, she entered the hangar from the corridor and stared right at him. Corran turned and looked behind himself to see who she was addressing, but when he looked back at her, she had stopped right in front of him. “I was wondering where you were.”

“Me?” Corran raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you were looking for me, Erisi?”

She nodded confidently. Sympathy played through her big blue eyes. “I was sent to find you. The rest of us are in DownTime, going over what happened out there.”

“Not enough laughs, so you wanted me to join you?” He shook his head. “Thanks anyway, some other time.”

“No, now.” Erisi took firm hold of his left elbow. “We do want you there. So we can apologize.”

Corran hesitated, covering his surprise. She sounded sincere, but she was from Thyferra and almost always in Bror Jace’s company. He tried to figure out if she was setting him up, but the gentle way her short black hair lay against the nape of her long neck distracted him. “I’m not sure I’d be good company.”

“You must come.” She tugged him gently toward the corridor. “Look, we all used your data because Commander Antilles told us our exercise involved doing just that. It wasn’t until we made our runs that he told each of us what had happened—what he had done to you. He ordered us to say nothing to you except to report our scores. None of