“I am?” Leia waited for Han to elaborate, then finally realized he was counting on her to come up with a plan. “This should be interesting.”
“Very,” Juun said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how you do it.”
“Me, too,” Leia said.
Leia set her doubts aside and reached out to Jaina and the others in the Force, trying to lay out Han’s plan without the benefit of words. Though she had participated in a handful of battle-melds toward the end of the war, she was not very practiced in the sort of empathic broadcasting used to communicate with StealthX pilots, and the sentiments she felt in reply ranged from confusion to concern. Growing more frustrated with each failure, she finally stopped trying and concentrated on two words: Trust me.
The four pilots seemed instantly reassured and spread out behind the Falcon, flying along the dark bands in the ring so their craft would not be silhouetted against the glittering rubble. Leia shook her head, thinking that she needed to spend more time practicing.
The Force filled with encouragement.
“Jaina and the others seem okay with the new plan,” Leia reported. Though Saba was in charge of the Jedi in the StealthXs, Leia’s bond with her daughter was so much stronger that the clearest communication came from her. “I think.”
“Good.” Han leveled off ten kilometers above the planet’s ecliptic and took the Falcon into the gray dusk of its penumbra. “But doesn’t all this seem a little easy to you?”
“Not really,” Leia said. “We still haven’t seen how the Chiss are going to respond, and-“
“Not them,” Han said. “Jaina. She doesn’t give up that easily.”
“I’m sure she just realized you were right,” Juun offered. “Any daughter would listen to a father of your experience.”
“I’m afraid humans are more complicated than that,” Leia said before Han could respond. Sooner or later, even a Sullustan would recognize the sarcasm in Han’s voice, and she did not want to see Juun crushed again. It had been bad enough when they had shut off the tractor beam and let the XR808g float free. “And Jaina is more complicated than most. She’s as stubborn as her father.”
“Thanks.” Han sounded genuinely proud. “She’s got something up her sleeve, I know it.”
“Probably,” Leia agreed. “But at the moment, all that matters is recovering Lowbacca. After we’ve kept our end of the bargain, we can take her home by force, if necessary.”
“By force?” Han looked down his nose at her. “We haven’t had that option since she was ten. This is Jaina, remember? Sword of the Jedi?”
“I remember,” Leia said. “But I’ll always be her mother. I can still do what needs to be done.”
Han studied her for a moment, then grinned and nodded. “Yeah, Princess, I’ll bet you can.”
“We can,” Leia corrected. She could sense that Han did not entirely agree with her; that now he was the one hiding something up his sleeve. “We’re in this together, nerf herder. This won’t be like the time you left me to deal with that unwashed vent crawler she brought home.”
“Honey, that was Zekk,” Han said.
“I know who it was,” Leia said. “If not for me, Jaina would have ended up living in the undercity with him. It was all I could do to get him into the Jedi academy so she’d stay there.”
“Okay,” Han said. “But Jaina’s not thirteen anymore. She’s older than you were when I met you, and twice as bantha-headed. If she doesn’t want to go-“
“You’re not suggesting we let her stay,” Leia said. “I know you better than that.”
“I’m suggesting we might not have a choice.” Han took a breath, then spoke again in a calmer voice. “I don’t get it, either. Why anyone would risk their neck to save a bunch of overgrown anthills is way beyond me. But Jaina really wants this. I saw it in her eyes when Luke asked her and the others to return home.”
“Saw what?” Leia asked, wondering what Han was up to. This did not sound like the same man who had just flown across half the Unknown Regions to prevent his daughter from becoming a “bughugger.” “Because all I saw was disappointment and defiance.”
“Exactly,” Han said. “She’s not going to give this up. She’s probably never felt anything this pure.”
“You’re not making any sense, Han.”
“Look, Jacen and Jaina were raised on deals,” Han explained. “They grew up watching us struggle to hold the New Republic together, making bargains and playing politics.”