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guiding light of this whole operation. I don’t mean just my fleet group. All three groups are looking to you for advice. I can’t make demands of you, or of the Jedi.”
    “You can make demands of friends.”
    Wedge blinked, then offered up a slight smile. “True. And I’d be happy to do that.” He offered an apologetic shrug. “As drained as we are of resources, I want the
Errant Venture
to stay here. I’ve already asked Booster. But that means that if the Jedi trainees stay aboard her—”
    “It’s no longer a safe haven for them, I know. I’ll bedealing with that. I have some ideas on where we can put the students.”
    The Maw, he thought, with the Jedi haven under construction there, with its surrounding screen of black holes and mad gravitic interactions, would be best for now.
    “Then I want you in charge of special forces, special operations. Mara, I know this is a lot to ask of a woman with a small baby—”
    Mara straightened, holding Ben to her. “Trust me, my capacity for mayhem is undiminished.”
    Wedge’s smile broadened. “I didn’t spot any ranking Intelligence officers in that crowd. I’d appreciate it if you could act as our Intelligence head for the time being. When we get in an officer from Intelligence, you can move over to Luke’s department of special forces and mayhem.”
    Luke hesitated before speaking again. “Wedge, has there been any word about Iella or the kids?”
    Wedge shook his head. “None. But if there’s anyone in the New Republic who could smuggle herself and two children offworld—”
    “It’s Iella, I know. They’ll be fine, Wedge.”
    “Are you—” Wedge’s voice was suddenly hoarse. “Does that mean you’ve seen something? With your Jedi perceptions?”
    Luke shook his head. “I’m sorry, no.”
    “Oh.” Wedge schooled his features back into impassivity, but to Luke, he looked as though another hope had suddenly died within him. Luke felt a crushing shame at having given him a false hope, however inadvertently.
    Wedge rose. “Yes. I’m certain they’ll be fine.” He left the chamber, Tycho with him.
    “He’s hard to read,” Mara said. “How is he?”
    Luke shrugged. “Holding on. Relying on all that militarydiscipline. But not knowing about his family is chewing away at his guts. “C’mon, let’s find out what sort of resources special operations and Intelligence can put together. And we need to find someone who can baby-sit while we’re off doing our duties.”
    Mara shook her head. “I’m not going to accept any duties that take me away from Ben. Not anymore. Flying yesterday, that was the last time. I couldn’t stand it again.”
    “Mara—”
    “No, listen to me, farmboy. There’s no one, other than you and Karrde, that I’d trust more than Leia. But she couldn’t protect Ben. Viqi Shesh took him back on Coruscant, and we had to rely far too much on luck to get him back. I’m not going to let him out of my sight. Period. Anyone who comes after him, I kill personally.”
    Luke looked at her, taking in her calm demeanor and the wild eruption of emotions it hid, emotions he could feel through his Force-bond to her, and knew he wouldn’t win this argument today. As if on cue, Ben woke and erupted into wails of distress. “We’ll talk about this later,” Luke said.
    Mara gave him a frosty little smile. “Sure, if you like reexperiencing the same conversation and the same results.”

THREE
Yuuzhan Vong Worldship, Coruscant Orbit
    They were two Yuuzhan Vong guards assigned to march her to her last interview. Assigned to conduct her to the meeting where she would be condemned to death.
    She was afraid of them, for either could kill her on a whim, and neither had the slightest regard for her life.
    She knew contempt for them, for they were ugly, anonymous creatures, drones whose names would never be known. Somewhere, and perhaps very soon, they would die in battle and be forgotten.
    She envied them. The remainders of their