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He’d shut down all systems except for life support, so he had no communication with the yacht’s pilot. Corran had been impressed with how smooth the landing was at the primitive spaceport. A dense fog hid almost everything, and what little he could see in the backwash of maneuvering jets seemed overgrown with dark green ivy. He saw dim shapes that resembled buildings, but most of them were covered with sufficient plant life that he wondered if the New Republic hadn’t grown the base instead of building it.

He stood and stretched, then doffed his helmet and gloves and put them on the seat of his command couch. Vaulting from the cockpit, he landed heavily on the yacht’s hull. More gravity here than I expected. Corran looked for a ladder to let himself down, but couldn’t find one. Instead he walked along the curved wing and jumped down to the ground from the lowest point.

His knees buckled with the impact and he went down on all fours. “Either there is more gravity here than I expect, or that fight really wrung it out of me.” As he straightened up and scraped mud from the knees of his red jumpsuit, he knew both of his assumptions were probably correct. I’m lucky to be alive.

A hatch opened with a hiss on the underside of the yacht and a boarding ramp slowly descended. Corran turned toward the ramp, wiping his hands off on his thighs. A Sullustan descended first, followed by an insectoid maintenance droid of Verpine manufacture. Corran nodded a salute at them, but they ignored him as they waited at the base of the ramp.

Corran assumed they were waiting for the captain of the ship—a person he had assumed to be male since very few of the independent smugglers were female. As the captain descended the ramp, Corran had his assumption exploded by his first glimpse of shapely long legs encased in boots and a form-fitting, dark blue jumpsuit. A gunbelt encircled her slender waist and long black hair fell to midback. She grabbed the ramp’s forward support and swung around to face him in a carefree manner, and Corran was very taken with the smile lighting up her beautiful face.

He wiped his hands again on his jumpsuit. “Thanks for the ride back here.”

She returned his smile as she shortened the distance between them. “Thanks for the save back there.”

“My pleasure.” He extended his hand to her. “I’m Corran Horn.”

Something dangerous flashed through her brown eyes. “Are you any relation to Hal Horn?”

“He is … was my father. Why?”

“Because he hounded my father and had him sent to Kessel.” She poked him in the chest, right where the flight stick had bruised him. “If I’d known who you were I’d have left you there.”

Corran recoiled in surprise and for the first time saw the patch on the shoulder of her jumpsuit. It showed a Corellian sea-ray that had a bar where its eyes should have been. Because of the polarized thread used to embroider the black eye-bar, a little vertical white line passed through it, running side to side. I know that crest—I knew this ship was familiar! “This is the Pulsar Skate. If I’d known Booster Terrik was bringing me in, I’d have stayed out there.”

“I can see you two have already met?”

Corran whirled around and quickly saluted Wedge. “Yes, sir.”

The woman planted her fists on her narrow hips. “You didn’t tell me who this pilot was because you knew I’d not have transported him, right?”

Wedge smiled easily. “I suspected there might have been some friction. How have you been, Mirax?”

“Paying for spare parts and fuel, Wedge.” Mirax kissed Wedge on the cheek. “I’ve also been collecting stories about you from all over the galaxy. Your parents would have been proud.”

Wedge nodded solemnly. “I’d like to hope so.”

Corran’s green eyes narrowed. “Sir, you realize the Pulsar Skate is a ship with a well-documented history of smuggling and that Booster Terrik is one of the more notorious smugglers who ever flew out of Corellia.”

Corran’s commander smiled. “I know all about the Skate, Lieutenant Horn. I was about