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"Perfect," Zekk assured her. "Em Teedee's got the route and the timing to our first stop calculated down to the second."

"And naturally, I have been very thorough, as I always wn when safety is concerned," Em Teedee preened. "You've come to expect only the best of me, and I should hate for your trust to be misplaced."

Jaina chuckled.

"Just give us the count, Em Teedee," Jacen urged. "We've got to go find Anja."

The little droid made a sound as if clearing its throat. "Prepare for transition to hyperspace in five, four, three, two..."

"Punch it, Lowie," Jaina said. Her ginger-furred copilot grumbled with satisfaction as he switched on the hyperdrive engines. Glittering stellar pinpricks exploded into brilliant starlines around them.

Jaina couldn't keep the smile of exhilaration off her face. "Isn't this exciting?"

"I'd be a lot more excited if I didn't feel responsible for the situation Anja's in," said Jacen.

Jaina swiveled in the pilot's seat to give her twin brother a strange look. "Responsible? How? We didn't have anything to do with Anja getting addicted to spice."

"Well, if Dad hadn't killed her father, maybe she'd've had parents to teach her right from wrong. She might never have gotten hooked on andris in the first place."

Jaina bristled. "I don't believe Dad shot Gallandro in the back, no matter what Anja says. She can't even be sure what happened. It's not as if she was there."

"Neither were we," Jacen pointed out. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyhow, it's not just Anja I'm worried about. I mean, we're heading for Kessel. I've got kind of a bad feeling about this."

Lowie smoothed the fur at the back of his neck and gave a thoughtful rumble.

"Have you sensed something through the Force?" Tenel Ka asked.

Jaina glanced back at her brother. He shrugged. "Not exactly, but Dad and Chewie sure had a hard time of it when they crashed on Kessel years ago."

Jaina turned and looked back out the front viewport. "It was hard for them to get away, but that was back when the spice mines were a slave pit. Dad reminds us whenever he gets a chance that Lando and Uncle Luke had to disguise themselves in order to sneak in and help him and Chewie escape." She bit her lower lip. "Now that Lando owns the mines, though, we shouldn't need to worry about anything."

"It's still not a place I'd like to go for a vacation," Zekk muttered.

"Hey, don't worry about it too much," Jacen said. "I told you, I didn't really sense anything through the Force. I'd just be extra careful when we land there."

Jaina nodded, but a frown of concern still wrinkled her brow.

"Such caution would be sensible," Tenel Ka agreed.

Once the Rock Dragon had landed near the spice mine's administrative offices on Kessel, a thin and dour-looking administrator arrived to greet them, introducing himself as Second Administrator Kymn.

"Your clearances are all in order," he said. "In fact, Master Skywalker himself sent a message asking for our cooperation in your mission-whatever it is. I'm to conduct you directly to the Chief Administrator's office. Nien Nunb is a very busy man."

The young Jedi Knights followed the sour-faced man. Jacen looked around at the bleak landscape and felt the barest hint of a tingle along the back of his neck, so faint he didn't think it could possibly be a warning through the Force. He scratched the back of his neck and tried to divert his thoughts.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say we're on a mission," Jacen told the man.

"We're just looking for someone. We won't take up much of his time. " The dour administrator looked suspiciously at him but said nothing as they entered the main administrative buildings. When they were finally led into the Chief Administrator's underground office, mousy little Nien Nunb got up, came around his low desk, and greeted each of them effusively, although they did not actually know one another. Em Teedee promptly provided translation services, since Nien Nunb's Basic was difficult to understand.

"Master Nien Nunb would like to thank you all