Barabel as it was to Jaina and the other strike team members, but he felt sure she was wondering how many clawcraft there were, whether the StealthXs could take them all. Lowbacca had never wanted to lie more than he did at that moment, to see a friendly face smiling down at him from a StealthX cockpit. But his rescuers had no chance of success. There had to be an entire wing of clawcraft hiding in the rubble around him, all waiting for a shot at the Jedi rescue team.
Jaina wished he would stop exaggerating, but Saba seemed sorry, and it was clear she did not like the thought of abandoning him. Lowbacca wasn’t worried. Clearly, the Chiss knew where he was.
Jaina’s frustration filled the Force, and Saba’s anger rose in reply. But Lowbacca could sense Jaina still approaching, feel her arming her weapons and selecting targets, determined to draw the Chiss off en masse. The Sword of the Jedi was not one to give up easily, not while there remained one sliver of hope.
Lowbacca knew what he had to do. He turned his wrist up, then opened the safety cover on the inside sleeve of his EV suit and revealed the emergency beacon activator.
“This is going to be bad, Han,” Leia said.
“How bad?” Han armed the concussion missiles.
“Worse than that.”
Jaina had lost too much during the war-Anakin, Chewbacca, Ganner, Ulaha, and on and on. She was determined to lose no more.
Then the steady ping of an emergency beacon sounded from the Falcon’s emergency speaker, and Leia looked down to see a bright yellow EV designator blinking over their waypoint. The tactical display instantly grew white with clawcraft, and Jaina’s frustration changed to shock.
“Lowie!” Leia gasped, saddened and relieved at once. “Thank you.”
She experienced a brief moment of warmth through the Force, then the feeling was lost as Lowbacca grew distracted and broke contact.
Han looked over expectantly. “Well?”
“It’s over,” Leia said. She reached out to Jaina and sensed her daughter’s disappointment-and Saba’s lingering fury at having had her orders disobeyed. “They’re on their way back.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” Han swung the Falcon around to join them, then added, “The rescue team did everything it could. I hope Jaina knows that.”
“Me, too, Han,” Leia said. “But I don’t think-“
She was interrupted by the Chiss flight control officer. “Millennium Falcon, what is the status of your survivors?”
“Survivors?” Leia was confused for a moment, but that confusion quickly turned to anger as she recalled the excuse Han had made and realized she was being mocked. “I’m sure you’ve figured that out, Rescue One.”
There was a slight pause, then a deep and familiar voice sounded from the comm speaker. “My apologies, Princess Leia. I just wanted to confirm my understanding of the situation.”
Leia’s jaw fell, and she looked over to find Han having trouble keeping his own mouth closed.
“Jag?” she gasped. “Jagged Fel?”
“Indeed,” the reply came. “It wasn’t our intention to gloat.”
“Jag!” Han cried. “What are you doing here?”
“That would fall under the heading of military intelligence, Captain Solo,” Jag replied. “But rest assured, the Jedi Wookiee has been recovered. He’ll be treated with all the rights and privileges due any enemy combatant-as will the rest of your rogue Jedi, when we capture them.”
SEVENTEEN
In every base, there was a place like this, someplace dark and hot and deserted where a Barabel could go to hunt and clear her mind, someplace filled with the smell of local soil and the rustlings of alien prey. Saba was deep below the Taat nest, creeping down a crevice at a speed only a reptile would recognize as motion, her darting tongue stinging with the acrid odor of Jwlio’s fractured bedrock, her mouth filled with the bitter taste of Jaina’s insubordination.
Master Skywalker had allowed his niece to take part in the rescue mission only on the condition that Saba was in command. Yet when matters had grown difficult, Jaina had submitted-as always-only to her own emotions. Saba did not consider herself worthy to question
Master Skywalker’s judgment, but she did fail to understand his wisdom in permitting the disorderliness that encouraged such behavior. Disobedience led to chaos, and chaos led to ineffectiveness.
The crevice opened into a cavity ahead, and the faint odor of meat that Saba had been following grew stronger. All her thoughts went instantly to the hunt, for the prey was often near its litter. She did not know what she was stalking, of course, but the smell suggested another predator. Herbivores rarely dragged fresh carcasses back to their lairs.