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and it was like getting punched in the face.

    Thane had always known Jelucan was a backwater world. Holos had told him the galaxy was far bigger and more sophisticated than anything he’d ever had the chance to see before. So
he’d thought he was prepared. But when he stepped off the ship and saw Coruscant for the first time—
    The buildings stood as high as Jelucan’s mountains. Although sunlight slipped through various glass structures,the overall effect was one of profound claustrophobia. The ground was
impossibly far below, and the sky was cut into thin slivers. Hundreds of smaller aircraft zoomed or hovered between skyscrapers in a nonstop buzz of negotiation and commerce. Every single person
seemed to have direction and purpose, to be perfectly at home in this huge metal cage, this city that had swallowed a world. Thane,however, tried not to look out the windows any longer because the
view made him feel so small.
    At first he thought Ciena would be even more overcome. Her childhood had been spent in the open valleys, in houses only slightly more sophisticated than tents. Surely this would be too much for
her.
    Instead, she was elated. “This is where everything happens,” she gushed as the two of themwalked through the corridors of the spaceport, buoy droids floating ahead as beacons to
guide them toward the academy shuttle. “It’s like—electricity, this incredible energy all around. Don’t you feel it?”
    “Definitely,” Thane said. “Totally electric.”
    Ciena gave him a look. “Hey. Are you all right?” But then they’d reached the shuttle, along with a handful of other new cadets, and theygot caught up in the whirl of activity
that was the first day of attendance: collecting data chips with the information they’d need, learning about tonight’s reception for all cadets, and introducing themselves to cadets
from other worlds. Imperial officers, stiff and correct in dress uniforms, moved among them as the shuttle pulled away and joined the dizzyingly swift Coruscant air traffic.Thane had to keep
himself from flinching every time another craft came within two wingtips—but in a planet-sized metropolis, apparently pilots were used to small margins of error.
    The intensity only sharpened when they reached the academy itself. As the new cadets walked out of the shuttle, Thane realized hundreds of students were already there. Hundreds more seemed
likely to pour outof the other shuttles coming up behind them. The entire time he was checking in, he couldn’t help feeling lost. When he glanced toward Ciena, she was smiling even more
brightly. Before long they were separated from each other in the crush of people trying to figure out where they should be.
    Thane’s data chip gave him the location of his dorm room and the information that he’d have two roommates.
They couldn’t be worse than Dalven,
he thought, determined to
make the best of it.
    Still, as he raised his hand to hit the door chime, Thane felt unbelievably small.
    The door swooshed open to reveal a slim, black-haired guy with a narrow face and rigid bearing—so correct that it took Thane a moment to realize this was no administrator but one of his
roommates.
    “So you’re the onefrom, what’s it called, Jelucan?” When Thane nodded, the guy scoffed. “Why did you bother ringing the chime of your own room? It’s
ridiculous.”
    “Charming, isn’t he?” said another guy—the tallest of the three, stick thin and long faced, with long brown hair he’d knotted at the back of his head. His accent
was aristocratic but his smile infectious. “Mr. Personality here is Ved Foslo, nativeto Coruscant—”
    “Of course,” Ved cut in, lifting his chin. “My father, General Foslo, works in central intelligence.”
    “—and, as you can see, he manages to work in a reference to his father within the first minute of meeting anybody.” As Ved scowled, the tall guy stepped closer to shake
Thane’s hand. “Me, I’m