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told.”
    “And the rest of us are the better for it,” Leia said. She put her hand on Thorsh’s bristly shoulder. “I can’t begin to guess at what you’re carrying, but it must be vitally important.”
    Thorsh shrugged again. “I wish I could say.”
    Han surmised that the Jenet wasn’t holding back for security’s sake. Thorsh really didn’t know what intelligence he had locked away in his memory trap of a brain.
    Han and Leia hadn’t gone far when a speeder pulled up alongside them. On the bench seat behind the hover vehicle’s Rodian driver sat General Wedge Antilles and Jedi Master Kenth Hamner.
    “Wedge!” Leia said in delighted surprise, as the handsome dark-haired human climbed from the speeder. She hugged him in greeting, while Han pumped Wedge’s extended hand.
    Wedge nodded to Han. “Boss.”
    The two men had known each other for almost thirty years, since the Battle of Yavin, where Wedge had flown with Luke Skywalker against the Death Star. At Endor, Wedge had been instrumental in destroying the second Death Star, and during the fledgling years of the New Republic he had distinguished himself in countless operations with Rogue Squadron and other units. Like a lot of Galactic Civil War veterans, he and his wife, Iella, had come out of retirement to fight the Yuuzhan Vong. At Borleias, Wedge had formed a secret resistance force called the Insiders, whose membership—including Han, Leia, Luke, and many others—had agreed to borrow some of the tactics the Rebel Alliance had employed against the Empire.
    Han had always liked Wedge, and what with Jaina’s growing closeness to Wedge’s nephew Jagged Fel, there was an outside chance that the Solo and Antilles families would end up allies of an even deeper sort.
    “Good to see you again, Wedge,” Han said. “Any word from on high?”
    “Only that Admiral Sovv sends his gratitude for what you and Leia have done.”
    “Nice to know that we’re all still on the same team.” Han threw Wedge a wink, and turned to Kenth Hamner, who waswearing the homespun brown robe of a Jedi. “New look for you, isn’t it?”
    Kenth allowed a grin. “Formal attire. A show of solidarity between the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance military.”
    “Times change.”
    “That they do.”
    “Kenth, any communication from Luke?” Leia asked with some urgency.
    “Nothing.”
    Leia frowned. “It’s been more than two months now.”
    Kenth nodded. “And nothing from Corran or Tahiri, either.”
    Leia studied him for a moment. “What could have happened?”
    Kenth tightened his lips and shook his head slowly. “We have to assume that they’re still in the Unknown Regions. We’d know if something went wrong.”
    Han grasped that Kenth’s
we
was meant to include Leia. Since before the fall of Coruscant, the Jedi—and Leia by extension—had honed their abilities to stretch out with thoughts and feelings; to meld minds and
intuit
at great distances.
    “We’re considering dispatching a search party,” Kenth added.
    Like Han and Wedge, the tall and pleasant-looking Jedi was Corellian, though unlike them he was an heir to wealth. Han had always considered him the most military-minded Jedi—Keyan Farlander and Kyle Katarn notwithstanding—and a year earlier Kenth had been named to Chief of State Cal Omas’s Advisory Council, along with Jedi Masters Luke, Kyp Durron, Cilghal, Tresina Lobi, and Jedi Knight Saba Sebatyne.
    Luke had placed Kenth in charge of the Jedi when he, Mara, and several others had embarked on a quest for the living world of Zonama Sekot. Since then Kenth had done his best to coordinate missions for the Jedi in Luke’s absence, but as was true with Alliance command his best efforts had been undermined by the Yuuzhan Vong’s unexpected success in disabling the HoloNet, which had long been the basis of galactic communications.
    “You’d better be organizing a large party if you’re intending to search the Unknown Regions,” Han said.
    Kenth