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Jaina's head snapped back up and she gave a whoop of delight nearly as loud as the howling of the wind as the storm continued to build.

"Then you will consider my request?"

Tenel Ka asked, her warrior braids rippling in the wind like velvety red-gold ribbons.

Jaina was sure her father and mother would not object to such an arrangement.

After all, Jaina would simply be helping a friend now and then. She grinned broadly.

"I think you've got yourself a crew."

Accompanying Tenel Ka, Jaina bounded over to where her brother and Lowie were already examining the compact vessel.

"Hey, this isn't a very new ship, Tenel Ka,' Jacen said.

Tnnel Ka rapped her fist against a stained spot on the hull with a satisfying thud.

"This is a fact," she said.

"Lowie says the sublight engines need a tune-up," Jacen added.

"Looks like that comm transmitter's out of alignment, too,' Jaina observed.

"I don't get it,' Jacen said. "Your parents can afford the best that credits can buy.

How come they sent you an old clunker instead of a luxury speeder?"

Jaina ran a shrewd eye over the craft. "I'm not familiar with this type of ship, but III bet she's got it where it counts," she said, "no matter what she looks like on the outside."

"Ah. Aha," Tenel Ka said. "My parents reasoned that it would be unwise to call attention to my personal vessel by making it elegant and luxurious."

A rare smile quirked the corner of Tenel Ka's mouth.

"Also, I believed Jaina and @wbacca would prefer a ship they could spend time tinkering with.Jaina realized that her friend was right.

She chuckled. "This is a fact."

The Rock Dragon has significant advantages, too," Tbnel Ka went on. "For example, my grandmother helped decide which subsystems to install, adding many items no standard ship would carry Also, it displays no markings of the Royal House of Hapes, nothing to mark it as a potential target."

"I guess that makes sense. A nondescript shi wouldn't attract attention from assassins or any other enemies," Jacen said.

'Who named it the Rock Dragon, anyway-kind of strange, isn't it?"

"I named the ship myself. On Hapes, ships are often called 'dragon." The term @ dragoncomes from Dathomir, though. It is a chjl&s mckname for an animal I once saw there," Ibnel Ka said. "Small, but highly dangerous.

The creature has rough mottled skin that acts as camouflage when it hides in the rocks to guard its nest. A rock dragon eats only plants and insects, but if attacked, it defends its nest ferociously and stings its enemy. Its poison is strong enough to kill a fall-grown rancor."

Jacen whistled.

"Good name for a ship," Jaina said. "IRTS take it for a short spin."

THE CONTROLS OF the Lightning Rod felt good in his hands. As he left Yavin 4 behind, turning away from the Jedi academy, Zekk knew that he had his whole life ahead of him and the whole universe to choose from....

But he didn't know where to go.

Peckhum had shown him how to maneuver the battered craft during their closeknit days on Coruseant, when the old man had often taken his young friend along on supply runs. Back then, with no one but each other to rely on, Zekk and Peckhum had been partners in all their grand plans.

The grizzled trader was independent, bouncing from job to job, trying to make ends meet in whatever way he could. Zekk had operated as a scavenger in the planetwide city's lower levels, occasionally spending time with his unlikely friends Jaina and Jacen Solo.

Now, though, he had only himself... and he needed to choose a destination.

Zekk drifted out of the Yavin system, reveling in his freedom, the freedom to sever ties with his troubled past. He could create a new life for himself, start over and do things right this time-if only he could escape from the shadow-blot that continued to fill him, no matter how much light he tried to draw in.

After hours of aimless cruising, unwilling to dive into hyperspace without a preset course, Zekk finally selected a place to go.

He would go home.

But not to any of the worlds in the Core Systems, where the Shadow Academy