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"What's this alarm light mean?" Raynar asked.

"It means our shields are failing!" Zekk said. Suddenly, another ship soared out of hyperspace, emerging from the glare of Bornan Thul's self-destructed vessel. Without pausing to take aim, the new ship fired immediately upon Boba Fett. Bright streaks of fire sprayed space and struck Slave IV.

"Yee-ha!" Jaina Solo's voice crowed over the comet system. "Take that, Boba Fett-and don't mess with our friends!"

Zekk fired his own weapons again in tandem with the Rock Dragon's second full-powered volley. Fett, seeing himself clearly at a tactical disadvantage and not knowing if other ships might soon arrive, broke off his attack. He sent one brief comm burst as he wheeled about.

"I have what I need." Then he vanished into hyperspace.

"Nice turnabout, Jaina," Zekk said, with a tense smile. "About time you came to rescue me for a change!"

The Rock Dragon pulled alongside, and Jaina's chuckle came through the comm system.

"Kind of a family tradition. Dad did the same thing for Uncle Luke at the Death Star, you know. Anyway, couldn't let you keep thinking you're the only one who can pull off a surprise rescue."

Raynar was relieved, nervous, and exhilarated all at the same time. At the moment, nothing was more important to him than getting down to the cargo hold, where the retrieved lifepod rested. He ran to be reunited-at last-with his father.

THE SHARP SCENT of ozone and metal drifted up from the escape pod, along with a crackle of static electricity from the recently disengaged tractor beam. Raynar could hear the chugging of the pod's life-support systems mixed with the whine of the Lightning Rod's sublight engines as Zekk maneuvered to dock with the Rock Dragon. He had never heard or smelled anything so wonderful. The harsh glare of the cargo hold's glowpanels was cheering, welcoming. Everything seemed brighter, sweeter, fresher to him than it had for nearly a year. The galaxy would soon be set to rights.

His father had returned. With shaking fingers Raynar pressed the hatch release, and the heavy top panel popped open with a whoosh of depressurization. Giving a joyful cry of welcome, Raynar leaned into the pod-only to find a blaster aimed straight at his heart.

Jaina was the first to stumble through the airlock from the Rock Dragon.

Setting his external sensors to full alert to keep an eye out for unwanted visitors, Zekk threw aside his crash webbing and bounded out of the Lightning Rod's cockpit and into the crew cabin. He twirled Jaina in a happy hug while they both laughed with relief, but then he growled,

"I thought I told you you couldn't come with me!"

Jaina knew he was trying hard to sound stern, but she could hear the pleasure in his voice. She pulled back and favored him with a Solo grin.

"Since when have you ever done anything I wanted you to do?" She gave an unladylike snort. "I'm just as worried about your safety as you are about mine, you know."

"All right," Zekk admitted, "I'm glad you came. But I still don't know how you found us."

Jaina shrugged and grinned again.

"Trade secret."

"Hah!" Jacen said, appearing in the airlock with Tenel Ka behind him.

"Some trade secret. More like a sneaky droid, if you ask me."

Lowie also emerged from the airlock in a flurry of ginger fur and full-throated Wookiee bellows.

"Why, if you're referring to me, Master Jacen, I'll take that as a compliment," Em Teedee said, zipping past him into the crew cabin on his microrepulsor jets.

"This is a fact," Tenel Ka said. "You are an excellent `sneaky' droid."

Zekk looked accusingly at Jaina.

"What did Em Teedee do?"

"When we were helping you with your preflights," she stammered, "I kind of, um, had Em Teedee download the frequency and encoding for the tracer you used on Boman Thul's ship."

"Hey, it was a good thing, too," Jacen picked up where his sister left off. "After we saw the delegation off to Ryloth, we all had this feeling that something was about to go wrong."

Lowie woofed and brushed at the back of his neck to indicate the tingle of danger