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As the craft zoomed past the last holocam buoy, Jacen and Jaina watched the blur. Jaina recognized it almost immediately, but took a moment to put her thoughts into words. "That... that's a Hapan passenger cruiser. I recognize the design."

"It's Tenel Ka!" Jacen said. "And Lowie. They must have a great pilot."

"I've never seen Lowie fly that fast," Jaina said.

"Well," Han said, "they certainly won the race."

The bureaucrat stood up. "Come, Han Solo. You are the Grand Marshal.

You must be on the upper platform to greet our winners as they arrive back from the cometary cloud. The other ships will straggle in, but you must be there to wave and shake their hands... or appendages."

"Well, somebody's got to do the job," Han agreed.

"We're going along," Jacen replied. "If that's Lowie and Tenel Ka in the Rock Dragon, I want to be the first to see their faces."

The bureaucrat glanced at him after checking the race contestant records.

"I'm afraid you may be mistaken. No one by the name of 'Lowie' or "Tenel Ka' is registered as the pilot of this vessel."

"We'll just see for ourselves," Jaina said.

A turbolift took them to the top of the observation tower, and then a floating platform shuttled them across the crowded rooftops. The hastily erected grand stadium stood by itself, garlanded with beautiful feathers, flowers, and the colorful flutterplume creatures that Jacen had identified.

Jacen shaded his eyes and looked up at the azure sky until he saw a glint of the ship appearing from high orbit, cutting through the gusty winds.

The pilot unerringly found the reception platform and the waiting celebration. Jacen and Jaina waved, recognizing the Hapan passenger cruiser that Jaina herself had flown so often with Lowie at her side as copilot.

"You're right, kids," Han Solo said. "That's the Rock Dragon. No doubt about it."

When the small ship settled down, dozens of new floaters surrounded the stage and platform, holocams and curiosity seekers. In the distance, cheering crowds of humans and aliens stood on rooftop landing pads, in ship hangars, and on balcony flight decks, waving banners and shouting.

Jacen could already see other contestants coming in to land, now fighting for second or third place.

But when the Rock Dragon's hatch opened and a figure emerged, Jacen was astonished to find that it was neither Tenel Ka nor Lowie.

"Zekk!" Jaina cried. Behind Zekk, her other two friends stepped out and stood next to their new dark-haired pilot.

Tenel Ka gave only the faintest smile upon seeing Jacen-then again, she never gave more than a faint smile about anything-but Lowie bellowed loudly, raising a ginger-furred fist in victory. He seemed immensely pleased that the Rock Dragon had won the prestigious daredevil race.

Zekk's emerald eyes flashed, and he gave his friends a warm smile.

"Just following Master Skywalker's instructions," he said. "He told me to find something I was already good at, and try to use my Jedi skills to become even better. I've always enjoyed piloting, so I thought a hotshot race might just be a good test."

"And it was indeed quite a challenge for us all," Em Teedee chirped, sounding exhausted.

Jacen looked around at his friends. The crowd cheered the winners, but all that mattered to Jacen was having the young Jedi Knights back together again.

Together again, the young Jedi Knights learned how to deal with being celebrities. Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin had already spent a lot of time with their father in his duties as Grand Marshal of the Blockade Runners Derby, but now that Zekk, Tenel Ka, and Lowie had actually won the race, publicity seekers and HoloNet reporters pestered them constantly, taking their images, interviewing them, asking them what it was like to receive such an honor.

In the history of the Derby, no crew so young had ever won the challenge.

Upon discovering that these were Jedi trainees, some of the losers cried

"foul," claiming that the use of the Force gave an unfair advantage-though the Rock Dragon had not taken advantage of the permitted mechanical modifications, as