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Corran turned to follow her gaze. Borsk Fey’lya was moving toward a podium, with Admiral Ackbar and General Dodonna standing near him. Other officials lined up off to the right, and in the background a disk-shaped freighter lazily cruised down the Super Star Destroyer’s length. “I think we can get closer.”

“You two go ahead. I’m going to slip out for a moment, get something from my room.” Iella patted Corran on the shoulder. “It’s another adventure we’ve survived, Corran. Twice now you’ve been declared dead and come back. Impressive.”

“But that’s the last time for that.” Mirax gave Corran a hard stare. “Anybody goes missing and next time it’s me. You can do the worrying, okay?”

“Okay.” He turned to Iella. “Hurry back, we’ll save a spot at our table for you for dinner.”

“Thanks.” Iella turned and headed for the hatchway leading toward the turbolifts.

Corran took Mirax’s hand in his and led her forward to where they could see the speakers. She moved around to stand in front of him and pressed her back against him. He rested his chin on her bare shoulder and snaked his arms around her waist.

Mirax turned her head and kissed him on the cheek. “It truly is wonderful to have you back. And I very much appreciate the sacrifice you made in sending Whistler to find me and let me know you were alive.”

“I floated it as a plan, and Whistler insisted. He’s quite fond of you, you know.”

“And I am of him.” Mirax smiled and kissed him again as Fey’lya began to speak. “After all, he’s my ally in keeping you safe and that’s a job we intend to continue for a very long time to come.”

Iella slipped into her small cabin on Lusankya and inserted her comlink into the room’s comm unit holoprojector. “This is Iella Wessiri calling Starweb.”

The image of the disk freighter she’d seen from the reception hung above the projector pad for a second, then it shifted to Asyr Sei’lar’s head and shoulders. “I left a message for you and for Mirax to let you know I’m leaving.”

“You don’t have to, Asyr.” Iella glanced out the room’s viewport and saw the freighter hanging off the starboard bow. “You can come back, we can explain things.”

“No. I’m better off dead.”

“But, Gavin, he’s … you can tell he hurts inside.”

The Bothan looked away from the holocam for a moment, then sniffed and turned back. “I know, Iella. I know how much he must hurt, but he will get over it. He’s a strong man. He will mourn, then recover and thrive. I know it. You have to remember what I told you from the start, when you recovered me at Distna, about why you had to tell no one I lived.”

“Borsk Fey’lya isn’t the Emperor.” Iella opened her arms wide with exasperation. “You said he told you he’d never allow the two of you to marry and adopt, and that he would make your lives miserable. That’s a gross abuse of power. He can’t be allowed to get away with that.”

“I know that, Iella, and I won’t let him.” Asyr’s lips peeled back in a smile that revealed sharp white teeth. “I’ll go to one of our colony worlds and assume a new identity. I’ll work to make changes within Bothan society that will guarantee politicians like Fey’lya cannot ruin other lives. If I come back to life now and expose what he’s done, I will take one individual down. The system still fosters that sort of power, and I need to work to change it.”

“Gavin would be a great help to you in all that.”

“I know, but it will be a dirty battle, fought the way only Bothans can fight.” She blinked her violet eyes. “It will consume my life, but I won’t have it consume his. Gavin is a good enough man that he would devote himself to helping me, but I can’t do that to him. He deserves better. Help him through it.”

“I will, we will.”

Asyr nodded. “Thank you. And I apologize for putting you and Mirax through the pressure of keeping my survival hidden. Spouses shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.”

Iella raised an eyebrow. “Never been married, have you?”

Surprise showed on Asyr’s face, then she laughed. “No. Perhaps