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One of the gray-skinned things scuttled down, snatched up an intact dud space mine, and scrambled back up the wall toward an air vent near the ceiling. Another chameleon-thing grabbed two more fragments.

"They're stealing the evidence!" Zekk said.

Then all the young Jedi Knights charged toward the docking bay wall to join the fray. Lightsabers ignited: Lowie's molten-bronze blade that was nearly as wide as Jaina's arm, her own electric-violet sword, and Jacen's emerald green. Zekk, who had forsaken his lightsaber upon returning to the Jedi academy, now drew a handy old blaster.

Thinking fast, Anakin raced to the Rock Dragon's communications console and sounded an alarm, calling for the authorities.

One of the chameleon-skinned creatures dropped from above to land on Tenel Ka's shoulder, driving her to the ground, its hands around her neck. Jacen tackled the thing and knocked it off his friend. Tenel Ka recovered quickly. Soon she and Jacen stood side by side with their lightsabers, driving the creature back.

Several other creatures ran back to the wall, pressed themselves against it, and vanished in front of Jaina's eyes. But she knew they were there.

Zekk reached up with his blaster, turned the setting to "stun," and fired at the blank spot on the wall. Circular blue arcs rippled out to illuminate the lumpy form of a chameleon creature. It dropped like an insect sprayed with poison and curled up on the floor.

Jaina could hear the movement of soft gripping hands and feet as more of the creatures moved along. She had no idea how many of them there were, only that the young Jedi Knights were greatly outnumbered.

But they were Jedi, so the odds were fairly even.

One of the unseen creatures struck Jaina from behind. She whirled about, still holding her lightsaber. With a sizzle, the violet blade connected with something solid, and one of the creatures let out a hollow wail. She saw it clearly in the flash of her energy blade, its lips smooth, its mouth toothless. Patterns on its skin shifted like a thunderstorm of colors in its pain.

Zekk fired his blaster again, and a second chameleon creature fell, this time from the ceiling, a great enough height that Jaina could hear the sharp sound of hollow bones cracking from the impact.

Lowie fought in a mass of muscular, ginger-furred arms. Em Teedee cried out, "To your left, Master Lowbacca. I sense a distortion! To your left!"

Lowie turned as one of the chameleon creatures leapt.

With his free hand the Wookiee smacked its soft smooth skin and belted the thing aside.

Suddenly, at the peak of the battle, Jaina saw a stranger charge into the docking bay-a young woman in her mid-twenties. She was wiry and moved like a whip. Her hair was dark, but streaked with lines like honey, as if she had woven strands of pale blond hair through her thick mane; a patterned leather band was wrapped around her forehead, holding her hair in place. Her face was narrow, her almond-shaped eyes large and dark and sad.

But what most astonished Jaina was that the young woman carried a blazing lightsaber!

The newcomer uttered a howl of challenge and ran into the fight, slashing from one side to the other, wielding her acid-yellow blade like a club.

All the young Jedi Knights paused in shock, as did the chameleon creatures.

The stranger took advantage of the hesitation and attacked. She seemed able to see the camouflaged creatures, or perhaps in the young woman's wild frenzy, she struck at everything in sight and happened to get lucky several times.

Two of the creatures rippled into visibility, clutching their smoking wounds. They fell with the now-familiar hollow cries of pain before they died.

"Don't just stand there-keep fighting!" the woman snarled, and the young Jedi Knights resumed the battle.

But with the appearance of the newcomer, the creatures' fighting resolve broke. They began to flee, a flicker of barely seen shadows.

"Hey, they're getting the space mines!" Jacen cried. Jaina raced toward the workbench as the surviving