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If seeing Thyne hurt had made Corran feel good, seeing Iella made him feel … almost whole. I’ve spent too long with nothing and no one from my past aside from Whistler. It was as if that world didn’t exist. He smiled. “Where’s Diric?”

Iella’s smile froze for a second, then she glanced down. “I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry. What happened?”

“A year ago or so he was picked up in an Imp sweep and never came home. I bolted, made some Alliance contacts, and joined the Rebellion. There’s been no word and after this amount of time …”

Corran nodded and hugged her again. Diric Wessiri had been an interesting man. Old family wealth allowed him to lead a life of leisure. He viewed life as a collection of phenomena to be studied and experienced, but he was not one to let those experiences change him. He was easily twenty years Iella’s senior, but they fit together like oxygen and hydrogen. Diric didn’t always agree with things CorSec did, but he made an attempt to understand what had been done, and that quest for enlightenment had impressed Corran.

This is not the time to tell Iella that Gil is dead and that Loor killed him. There will be opportunities later, I’m sure. “Diric was special, but so are you. It’s great to see you again despite everything else.”

“I agree.” Iella squeezed his hands gently. “And Mirax asked to be remembered to you.”

A smile blossomed on Corran’s face. “She’s here? How?”

“The Skate brought the rest of the squadron here and couldn’t get away.” Iella frowned. “I would have thought the others had told you how they got here.”

“We were a bit busy when we ran into each other.”

“No kidding. Mirax has threatened to give you speeder bike lessons. First rule, she says, is stay away from buildings.”

Corran laughed aloud. “Yeah. We’ll have to discuss that more.”

Thyne snarled. “How long is this chummy crap going to go on?”

“Patches, someday when you have a friend you’ll learn this is what you do when you haven’t seen each other for a while.” Corran released Iella and she moved off to take a seat next to Winter.

“Well said, Lieutenant Horn.” Vorru folded his hands together on the table. “However, time is of the essence, I gather. Shall we get things under way? Commander?”

Corran took a seat beside Wedge, placing Winter on his right hand. Iella sat next to her, then the two aliens and finally Vorru and Thyne. Corran noticed that Thyne held his right hand and forearm protectively over his stomach. Gut-shot. Painful. Good.

Wedge stood. “I want to keep this as simple as possible. Since the warehouse incident we have all come to agree that working together to oppose the Empire is preferential to each going our own ways. Each of our groups has strengths and weaknesses, most of which overlap to minimize our exposure to the enemy. We can all agree that we will fare better on Coruscant once the Empire is overthrown and accomplishing that end is a goal of the Rebellion.

“Originally Rogue Squadron was sent here to recon Coruscant and gauge the vulnerable points for later exploitation. The problem is that Warlord Zsinj is testing both the Empire and the Rebellion. The Imperials know that to attack him is to weaken themselves to the point where they cannot prevail. The Alliance knows that to pursue Zsinj would dilute our strength so that a strike at Coruscant won’t be possible for years, perhaps even decades. This means the Alliance will have to strike in the very near future and they want us to open the gates to Coruscant.”

Fliry Vorru tapped a fingertip against the tabletop. “Bringing down a planet’s shields is not an easy proposition.”

“Agreed.” Wedge leaned forward on his hands. “The central computer complex here is the key. Is it fair to assume Black Sun’s slicers have not been able to insert code into the master programs that control the planet?”

The white-haired man sat back in his chair. “I believe the discussion of that point is premature.”

“Oh?”

“Quite so, Commander.” Vorru nodded toward the representatives of the Alien