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"Not your number," Jaina persisted. "Your name. I'm Jaina. This is my brother Jacen."

"CE3K-1977," the TIE pilot said again, without emotion.

"Your name?" Jaina asked a third time.

Finally her question seemed to perplex him. He looked at the ground, looked at his tattered uniform. His mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came ou.t, until finally he said in a croaking voice,

"Qorl . . . Qorl. My name was Qorl."

"We're staying at the academy in the old temples," Jacen said, wearing a small grin-the kind that always disarmed their mother when she was angry at him. But it didn't seem to be working with the TIE pilot.

"Rebel base," Qorl said.

"No, it's a school now," Jaina said. "Everyone's there to learn. It's not a base any longer. It hasn't been a base for... twenty years or so."

"It is a Rebel base," Qorl insisted with such finality that Jaina decided not to pursue the subject any further.

"How did you get here?" she asked, leaning closer on the smooth rock. The campfire crackled between them. "How long have you lived in the jungle?"

The tight vines constricting her circulation made her hands numb. She flexed her fingers as she bent toward the fire. The smoke smelled rich and sweet from the fresh jungle wood.

The TIE pilot blinked his pale eyes and stared into the crackling flames.

He looked as if he had been transported back in time and was watching a newsloop of his own buried memories.

"Death Star," Qorl said. "I was on the Death Star. We came here to destroy the Rebel base after Grand Moff Tarkin blew up Alderaan. This was our next target."

Jaina felt a pang as she remembered her mother talking of the lovely grass-covered planet Alderaan, the peaceful windsongs and tall towers rising above the plains. Princess Leia's home had been the heart of galactic culture and civilization-until it was wiped out in a single blow by the incredible cruelty of the Empire.

"We must obliterate the Rebels at all costs," Qorl continued. "Rebels cause damage to the Empire."

He recited a litany of what seemed to be memorized phrases, thoughts that had been brainwashed into him. "The Emperor's New Order will save the galaxy. The Rebels want to destroy that dream, and so we must eradicate the Rebels. They are a cancer to peace and stability."

"You were on the Death Star," Jacen prompted. "That was over twenty years ago. What happened?"

Qorl continued to stare deeply into the fire. His scratchy voice was barely more than a whisper. "The Rebels knew we were coming. They fought.

They sent their defenses against the battle station. All TIE squadrons were launched.

"I flew with my squadron. All my companions were destroyed by X- wing defensive fire. I was damaged in the cross fire... one solar panel out of commission. I spun away from the Death Star, out of control.

"I needed to get back to effect repairs. All comm channels were jammed, filled with dozens of requests for assistance. My orbit was decaying, and I spun toward the fourth moon of Yavin. I kept trying to hail someone on the comm channels. When I finally got through, I was told I would have to wait for rescue. They instructed me to make a good landing if I could-and to wait."

"So you crashed," Jaina said.

"The jungle cushioned my fall. I was thrown out of my craft into the dense brush... when one of the solar panels caught and lodged in the trees above. I limped over to my TIE fighter. Stayed as close as I dared, afraid that it might explode. My arm-" He held up his left arm in the black leather gauntlet. "Badly injured, ligaments torn, bones broken.

"I looked up into the sky just in time to see the Death Star blow up. It was like another sun in the sky. Flaming chunks of debris fell through the air. It must have started dozens of forest fires. For weeks, meteor showers were like fireworks as the wreckage rained down onto the moon.

"And I stayed here."

The firelight bathed Qorl's face with a dancing, yellowish glow. The jungle sounds burred in a hypnotic hum all around them. The TIE pilot gave no sign that he realized