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Immediately afterward, with the young Jedi Knights still in the docking bay, the Tradewyn and the rest of the hidden Bornaryn fleet made a hyperspace jump. As soon as the jump was complete, the little translating droid began busily "supervising" the Rock Dragoh's onboard navicomputer as it calculated the best route to Kuar.

Few things pleased Jaina more in the middle of a crisis than knowing she had a mission--and the means to accomplish it.

It felt good to be doing something, to be taking an active part in solving the mystery of Raynar's vanished father. She and Lowie finished their preflight check in record time, while Jacen and Tenel Ka stowed supplies aboard the Rock Dragon.

When all of the preparations were finished, Aryn and Raynar came to the big flagship's docking bay to see the companions off. Using a time-delay message transmission,.they had already informed Luke Skywalker of the change of plans, and now the Rock Dragon was ready to begin the search.

Plainly. wishing he could go with his friends, Raynar took slow, deep breaths; Jaina could tell he was doing his best to keep the worry off his face. Lowie, seeing the young man's distress, rumbled a few encouraging words and thumped him on the back with a huge furry hand.

"Don't worry about us, Raynar," Jacen said. "We'll be careful."

"Trust the Force, Raynar," Tenel Ka said.

"May it keep you safe."

"You can leave this job to us," Jaina added. "If there's any clue to your father's whereabouts in the ruins of Kuar, we'll pick up the trail." On impulse, she stepped forward and gave him a brief hug, much to Raynar's surprise. Then, to cover her own embarrassment, she gave Aryn a quick hug, too.

"Well," Jaina said gruffly, turning back toward the Hapan passenger shuttle and motioning everyone inside, "what are we waiting for?"

Once they left the merchant fleet behind, Jacen felt a subtle tension building inside him. He felt glad to be going along, but he didn't have a purpose yet on this trip. Jaina and Lowbacca were able to direct their energies into piloting the Rock Dragon.

Tenel Ka searched for more information about the planet Kuar, punching queries into a datapad on her lap. But Jacen just waited around, with nothing important to do.

He didn't like feeling at a loss. At first he considered just leaning over and reading along on Tenel Ka's datapad, but he rejected that idea, afraid the distraction might annoy her. He had to think of something more substantial to occupy his thoughts.

????? want her to think of him as a useless male, as so many of the men on Dathomir and Hapes were considered. He didn't want to think of himself that way. He cast about the cockpit looking for some useful task, and his eyes lit on Em Teedee, who was plugged into the navigational control panel.

"Hey, Em Teedee?" he said at last. "As long as we have the time, let's review everything we know about the disappearance of Bornan Thul.

Can you keep a list for me?"

"Why certainly, Master Jacen," the translating droid replied cheerfully.

"'I'm always happy to be of service."

Jaina glanced over her shotrider and flashed her brother a grin.

"Good idea. We can all listen in."

Lowie growled the obvious--that Thul's last known destination had been the meeting on Kuar and then he had disappeared enroute to Shumavar.

"Point noted," Em Teedee said. "Next?"

"Well, we know he was in the middle of some tricky negotiations," Jacen said.

"Something about a political movement. The Diversity Alliance."

"And that he was keeping the subject of those negotiations a complete secret," Jaina added. "Dad was worried about them."

"Excellent," Em Teedee said. "Do go on."

"The Twi'lek woman Nolaa Tarkona was somehow involved in the negotiations," Tenel Ka said.

"Indeed. If I might add a point," Em Teedee said, "in the rubble field of Alder-aan we learned from the Slave-1's computer that Boba Fett was hired by Nolaa Tarkona herself. That would imply she doesn't know where Bornan Thul is either, so we can logically dismiss the possibility