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"Dooooomed."

"Hang in there, Quicksilver," Jaina said, trying to sound calm and reassuring. "We're not done for yet. - She turned to look at Jacen and Tenel Ka.

"Think Boba Fett's gone for good?" she asked. Her voice came out strained and raspy. 'Why doesn't Zekk come back?"

"I sense that the bounty hunter has withdrawn," Tenel Ka answered, "but I cannot be certain how far or for how long."

"Hey, are all bounty hunters this persistent?" Jacen asked.

Lowie gave a low woof.

"Since Master Lowbacca's experience with members of that unsavory profession is extremely limited, he has very little data on which to base an assessment of the personal attributes of bounty hunters," Em Teedee translated, though Jaina had been perfectly capable of understanding Lowie's comment, which might have been more directly translated as, "I don't know," or "Beats me."

A plaintive growl issued from the yo-. Wookiee as he tried in vain to access any of the Rock Dragon's controls. He checked out the heat and air remaining in their ship, now that the life-support systems had been deactivated.

Jaina prodded herself back into action.

"Jacen, Tenel Ka, see if you can hail the Lightning Rod."

"We've been trying," Jacen said. "So has Em Teedee. So far, no response-not to direct signals, not to our automatic distress beacon."

Jaina felt her gut clench, fearing that Boba Fett might well have rounded on the Lightning Rod, fired a retaliatory blast... and possibly destroyed Zekk.

'Much of our equipment is malfunctioning," Tenel Ka pointed out. "We suffered severe hits, and our transmitter repairs were makeshift and unreliable at best."

Jaina knew that her friend was trying to keep her from thinking about Zekk. They all had enough problems without adding another worry. "What do you say, Lowie?" she asked. "Can we fix the ship without landing somewhere?"

"Oh no, not again," Jacen muttered.

Lowie shook his shaggy head and rumbled a discouraging report on the damage the Rock Dragon had sustained during battle.

Em Teedee heartily agreed from where he was hardwired into the control systems.

Jaina's heart sank. The situation sounded impossible.

But Jaina had promised her father they would get back to Yavin 4. Han Solo had trusted in their resourcefulness, and she wasn't about to give up without a fight.

"Well," she said with. forced cheerfulness, "we're Jedi trainees, and it's time to prove just how much Master Luke has taught us. Besides, we have another thing to thank your grandmother for, rene! Ka-a plentiful supply of spare parts."

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka said.

"Except parts for the transmitter,' Jacen reminded them glumly. "And there aren't any spare engines."

"Oh, my!" Em Teedee said. "I seem to be receiving another transmission-but I can't make any sense of it. The words don't translate well in my language data banks. I do hope it's not another bounty hunterif it is, I'm afraid we're done for."

"Put it on speaker," Jaina said tersely.

Instantly she heard a delighted whoop, and a loud "Yeee-haa!" resounded through the cockpit, accompanied by a wordless Wookiee roar. 'Kids, this is the Millennium Falcon comin' in for a little inspection. I got your warning, and we're ready for anything. Do you read me, Rock Dragon?"

"Dad!" Jaina yelled. "We're fine, but we sure need some help."

"That's no bounty hunter, Em Teedee, Jacen laughed.

"I'm only getting your distress beacon, Rock Dragon," Han Solo's voice came over the speaker again, "and it's pretty weak ' P9

He was interrupted by a couple of loud Wookiee barks. 'Right, Chewie,"

Han said.

"We've got you on visual now. Here we come."

After a moment, they saw the familiar shape of the Falcon approach, its pronged metal disk arrowing through the rocky debris. "Hey, looks like you took some pretty heavy hits to your engines. We're going to take the liberty of towing you to one of the larger asteroids to make repairs."

A tractor beam locked on to the Hapan passenger cruiser, and the ship lurched.

"We've got ya-just sit tight."

After a few moments of joyous greetings