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Jacen grinned at Tenel Ka, feeling a bit silly for enjoying himself so much-but he did like to work with the warrior girl from Dathomir. He found it inexplicably satisfying to be struggling with his friends to solve a problem. They would get themselves out of this mess - he had no doubt of that.

Jacen even started trying to concoct a joke: How many Jedi does it take to clear an asteroid cave-in? He might have to wait until after they got back home, he supposed, to find the right punch line.

When they had opened an area a meter deep beside the fused stone core, Tenel Ka climbed atop the rubble and withdrew her rancor-tooth lightsaber. Then, igniting the brilliant turquoise blade, she used it like a battle-ax to hack off a massive wedge of rock. Jacen caught the slab with the Force and diverted it quickly to one side while Tenel Ka sliced off another wedge, as if she were manipulating a machete to chop her way through a dense jungle.

She gave Jacen an approving nod, and he knew he had been right: they would get out of this just fine.

"Thanks, Lowie," Jaina said, accepting the mangled wreckage of what had once been their transmitter dish. The Wookiee had just dismantled it from the battered roof of the Rock Dragon, then hauled it inside the cockpit where Jaina could work on it. Parts of the dish were missing entirely, pulverized in the avalanche, but more than half of the contraption had survived-in some form. Fixing it would be the difficult part.

"I'll see what I can do with this. Navigation systems, life support, and hyperdrive all checked out fine. I think I've got the engine fixed again.

Can you run a diagnostic on all our exhaust ports and make sure they're not clogged with debris?"

Lowie roared his agreement. "Please be careful, Master Lowbacca," Em Teedee called from the control console. "Did you know that twenty-one percent of all spaceport accidents occur while attempting to clear blockage to exhaust ports?"

Lowie grumbled reassuringly and headed toward the rear of the ship.

Kneeling down, Jaina ran a grim eye over the twisted remains of the Rock Dragon's transmitter dish. 'I'm not even sure there's enough here left to salvage." She sighed.

"Perhaps you might consider fashioning a smaller transmitter from the remains of the old one," Em Teedee said.

Jaina bit her lower lip and looked dubiously at the mangled components.

"I'm pretty sure I can do that,' she said. "The question is, will it still be strong enough to send a signal? We have to warn Dad about the ambush. "

"I have the utmost confidence in your abilities, Mistress Jaina,' Em Teedee said encouragingly.

"Yeah?" Jaina sighed again. "Well, then, don't complain if I have to disassemble you for spare parts."

"I should hope that I could be of greater use to you as one complete unit," the little "Actually, because my own droid said.

????? modest transmitter is fully integrated, I doubt..."

"That's it!" Jaina said, slapping her palm to her forehead. "The modular transmitter Dad brought me. It's old, but I just may be able to rig something. " She grinned at Em Teedee. "Don't worry, Quicksilver, your parts are safe. I knew we kept you around for a good reason."

WITH THE STONES and debris finally cleared from the mouth of the cave, and knowing that Boba Fett lurked somewhere out in the rubble field, waiting for Han Solo, the young Jedi Knights prepared the Rock Dragon for a last desperate dash toward freedom.

Jaina sat in the pilot's seat, frowning and tense as she checked the control readouts for the tenth time.

"What we really need is a Mon Calamari star cruiser for what we're about to do," Jacen said, looking over at his sister.

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka said, "but Master Skywalker taught us that a Jedi makes use of the skills she possesses-not the resources she wishes she had."

'Well, here we go." Jaina fired up the Rock Dragon's repulsorjets, and the battered ship rose, blasting rock dust from the floor and walls.

More pebbles trickled down, bouncing