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Tenel Ka glanced behind her when Em Teedee spoke and looked momentarily startled to find the others watching her. She clambered off the rock outcropping and joined her three friends. "Let us see what the ambassador wants," she said in a gruff voice, leading the way.

"Maybe it'll be something fun," Jacen suggested.

Tenel Ka looked at him with her granite-gray gaze, raising her eyebrows. "Somehow the ideas of Ambassador Yfra and 'fun' do not go together in my mind. "

Jacen snickered at that, wondering if Tenel Ka had purposely made a joke. By all outward appearances she had merely stated a fact.

Inside the fortress, the ambassador met them in the warmly lit balcony room with a surprise for them all. "My dears, I think it's time for you to have a little enjoyment!" she said, smiling with her face, but not with her mind. Jacen could sense it. Although she went through all the correct motions of being friendly and understanding, Jacen could tell that Yfra had no great love for children-or for anyone else who took up so much of her time anci interfered with governmental business.

Tenel Ka placed her hand on her hip. "What would you suggest, Ambassador? "

"You children seem so bored," Yfra said. "I can understand that. Sometimes having no cares or worries is bothersome." She gave the briefest disapproving frown, then covered it with another false smile. "I've taken the liberty of reprogramming one of our wavespeeders so that you can get away for a while, cruise the ocean, and have a good time out in the sun."

"Are you planning to come along, Ambassador?"

Jaina asked.

Yfra made a sour frown, then covered her expression with a cough. "I'm afraid not, young lady.

I've terribly important work to attend to. My, you can't imagine the responsibilities I deal with. The Hapes Cluster has sixty-three worlds, with hundreds upon hundreds of different governments and thousands of cultures. Ta'a Chume is a very powerful woman, and we all have so much to do in the absence of Tenel Ka's parents." Yfra clasped her clawlike hands together. "You children ought to enjoy your younger years, while people like me take care of the difficult work."

She shooed them away. "Run along now. Down in the docking bay you'll find the speeder I programmed. It's completely safe, I assure you. I've input a simple loop course that will take you out beyond the reef into the open ocean and then back here by nightfall. I've even seen to it that you have a basket of food, so you can enjoy a meal together whileyy ou're out." She drew a deep breath and smiledher insincere smile. "I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time."

Jacen studied the ambassador, trying to determine whether or not to be suspicious. He certainly understood how time-consuming the demands of government could be, since his mother was a Chief of State herself. He also thought of how restless the four companions had been for the past day.

"Blaster bolts! Let's go out and have a good time," he said. "It'll be great to be away from the watching eyes of parents and escorts and ambassadors. I promise you we're going to have fun."

Tenel Ka nodded seriously. "This is a fact." Then she gave him one of the most remarkable gifts Jacen had ever received.

She smiled at him.

The wavespeeder roared across the sea, bouncing and thumping as it crossed the troughs and crests like a wheeled vehicle traveling at high speed across a heavily rutted road. Though the autopilot followed a predetermined course, Jaina and Lowie each took turns at the wheel guiding the rudder, seeing just how far the autopilot would let them deviate from its course. Lowbacca let out a happysounding bleat.

Em Teedee said, "Master Lowbacca observes that this vehicle bears some similarity to his own T-23 skyhopper."

Jaina looked at the ginger-furred Wookiee. "Reminds me more of the controls of the Millennium Falcon. You and I wouldn't have any problem piloting this thing, Lowie," she said. Lowbacca rumbled in agreement.

The wavespeeder took them away from the rough foamy waters around the reef, on which