repulsor chair, he saw another loss, something else taken by the Yuuzhan Vong.
And, Leia was astonished to realize, she saw the same thing in him. After Chewbacca’s death, he had shut himself off from his family and disappeared into the galaxy to grieve alone. She had believed he just needed room, and she had given it to him. But now she realized he had left for another reason as well, to shield her and the children from a fury he could not control. Would he have gone, she wondered, if she had tried harder to reach him, just kept pushing and weathered the storm when he finally unleashed his anger? Would he still feel like such a stranger now?
Deciding only a fool makes the same mistake twice, Leia started up the corridor. This time, she would not let him suffer in private.
“Ship incoming,” Izal Waz announced.
A vast sense of relief came over Leia, and not only because she knew the bacta had arrived. She steered her chair quickly into the main hold and was overtaken by the three Barabels, the two Hara sisters rushing for the cannon turrets and Tesar for the cockpit. She paused at the engineering station to send C-3PO to watch over Eelysa, then went to her new post behind the flight deck bulkhead. Han and Izal were already sitting in their chairs. Tesar loomed behind their seats, blocking Leia’s view of almost everything.
“The transponder’s on,” Han said. “That’s a good sign.”
“The
Star Roamer
,” Izal Waz reported. “Damorian medium freighter, armed. Registered to CorDuro Shipping.”
“Out here?” Han asked. The rendezvous was taking place at the edge of the Corellian sector, in a never-to-be-surveyed system consisting of little more than a few asteroids, a dust ring, and the core of a collapsed star. “What’s CorDuro doing in a place like this?”
“They are the ones we have been waiting for,” Tesar explained. “That is where we are getting our bacta tankz.”
“From CorDuro?” Leia asked, disappointed. At the least, CorDuro Shipping was guilty of appropriating supplies intended for refugees. “Master Saba has an arrangement with
them
?”
“Yes, but CorDuro does not know it yet.” Tesar turned to face her, and a pinhead of crimson brightness—the collapsed star as seen from inside its dust ring—appeared outside the cockpit. “They will learn soon.”
“Are you guys spacesick?” Han demanded. He looked from Tesar to Izal Waz. “You can’t buy bacta tanks from CorDuro! They’re collaborators. They might even be a front for the Peace Brigade.”
Izal Waz shared a grin with Tesar, then asked, “Does anyone have proof of that?”
“Jacen sent a report to New Republic Intelligence,” Leia said. “But it outlined a circumstantial case. There isn’t anything solid.”
Tesar sissed, then said, “There will be soon.”
As Leia puzzled over the Barabel’s remark, the CorDuro freighter slowed and entered an unconcealed orbit in the dust ring. A few minutes later, the proximity alarm sounded. Han silenced it and frowned at his display, but Izal merely activated the
Falcon
’s data recorders.
“I’m getting nothing but mass readings.” Han buckled his crash webbing. “That new ship’s Yuuzhan Vong!”
Tesar sissed again, then looked back at Leia. “Not long now, this one thinkz.”
He moved aside to give her a better view of the displays. Leia smiled her thanks and started to palm her hold-out blaster—this could still be a trap—then decided against it and left the weapon in her sleeve. The Barabels’ insistence on total comm silence had prevented her from confirming even a small part of their story with Luke, but the feelings they had shared in the crew quarters had contained no hint of deception.
Han and Izal Waz quickly identified the Yuuzhan Vong vessel as a corvette-analog picket ship, then they all waited while the
Star Roamer
maneuvered into docking range.
“The Yuuzhan Vong want to know about bacta,” Tesar explained. “Before Master Eelysa was
And, Leia was astonished to realize, she saw the same thing in him. After Chewbacca’s death, he had shut himself off from his family and disappeared into the galaxy to grieve alone. She had believed he just needed room, and she had given it to him. But now she realized he had left for another reason as well, to shield her and the children from a fury he could not control. Would he have gone, she wondered, if she had tried harder to reach him, just kept pushing and weathered the storm when he finally unleashed his anger? Would he still feel like such a stranger now?
Deciding only a fool makes the same mistake twice, Leia started up the corridor. This time, she would not let him suffer in private.
“Ship incoming,” Izal Waz announced.
A vast sense of relief came over Leia, and not only because she knew the bacta had arrived. She steered her chair quickly into the main hold and was overtaken by the three Barabels, the two Hara sisters rushing for the cannon turrets and Tesar for the cockpit. She paused at the engineering station to send C-3PO to watch over Eelysa, then went to her new post behind the flight deck bulkhead. Han and Izal were already sitting in their chairs. Tesar loomed behind their seats, blocking Leia’s view of almost everything.
“The transponder’s on,” Han said. “That’s a good sign.”
“The
Star Roamer
,” Izal Waz reported. “Damorian medium freighter, armed. Registered to CorDuro Shipping.”
“Out here?” Han asked. The rendezvous was taking place at the edge of the Corellian sector, in a never-to-be-surveyed system consisting of little more than a few asteroids, a dust ring, and the core of a collapsed star. “What’s CorDuro doing in a place like this?”
“They are the ones we have been waiting for,” Tesar explained. “That is where we are getting our bacta tankz.”
“From CorDuro?” Leia asked, disappointed. At the least, CorDuro Shipping was guilty of appropriating supplies intended for refugees. “Master Saba has an arrangement with
them
?”
“Yes, but CorDuro does not know it yet.” Tesar turned to face her, and a pinhead of crimson brightness—the collapsed star as seen from inside its dust ring—appeared outside the cockpit. “They will learn soon.”
“Are you guys spacesick?” Han demanded. He looked from Tesar to Izal Waz. “You can’t buy bacta tanks from CorDuro! They’re collaborators. They might even be a front for the Peace Brigade.”
Izal Waz shared a grin with Tesar, then asked, “Does anyone have proof of that?”
“Jacen sent a report to New Republic Intelligence,” Leia said. “But it outlined a circumstantial case. There isn’t anything solid.”
Tesar sissed, then said, “There will be soon.”
As Leia puzzled over the Barabel’s remark, the CorDuro freighter slowed and entered an unconcealed orbit in the dust ring. A few minutes later, the proximity alarm sounded. Han silenced it and frowned at his display, but Izal merely activated the
Falcon
’s data recorders.
“I’m getting nothing but mass readings.” Han buckled his crash webbing. “That new ship’s Yuuzhan Vong!”
Tesar sissed again, then looked back at Leia. “Not long now, this one thinkz.”
He moved aside to give her a better view of the displays. Leia smiled her thanks and started to palm her hold-out blaster—this could still be a trap—then decided against it and left the weapon in her sleeve. The Barabels’ insistence on total comm silence had prevented her from confirming even a small part of their story with Luke, but the feelings they had shared in the crew quarters had contained no hint of deception.
Han and Izal Waz quickly identified the Yuuzhan Vong vessel as a corvette-analog picket ship, then they all waited while the
Star Roamer
maneuvered into docking range.
“The Yuuzhan Vong want to know about bacta,” Tesar explained. “Before Master Eelysa was
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