Alara stepped off the ramp and was greeted by Ben Kenobi, who held two half-wrapped flatbread confections, one of which he extended toward her. She took it and they strode side by side across the landing pad toward the Herdessan senate building.

Alara was tall even by togrutan standards, and set side by side with Ben she dwarfed her companion, the top of his hair only reaching up to her nose. With the added drama of her montrals and lekku, Alara Dahn made Ben Kenobi look painfully ordinary, so much so that he could have easily faded into the background without anyone noticing. It was a peculiar sight, then, to see how the taller Jedi cast glances in Ben's direction almost constantly, deferring to his authority and waiting for his word. Now especially, Alara silently willed him to explain. This was all his plan, after all. Ben chewed unhurriedly on his lunch. When her unspoken questions went unanswered, she unwrapped her lunch and said,

"Are you sure that this will work, Master Kenobi? The Zalada's captain seemed skeptical."

Ben had been waiting for her to ask, and answered easily: "She ought to be grateful. Her ship is dying; we've given her a schedule for evacuation."

"And all the chaos that brings."

"Better chaos than disaster."

"True…" Alara intoned with a familiarly impatient but disciplined pause that Ben waited out expressionlessly. "…but will it work?"

Ben shrugged with the nonchalance of a man who'd grown accustomed to catnapping in active warzones. "I trust the Force and my instincts, Alara," He brushed the remnants of his lunch from his beard and tabards, tossing the wrapper into a rubbish chute. "It will work." Hopefully. He gestured toward her street fare. "You may want to eat quickly. Thane and her glorified lackeys will be wanting to resume negotiations, and if our plan is going to go ahead we can't abandon Senator Organa to face them alone."

Alara nodded and bit into her food with gusto, natural togrutan beauty quickly besmirched by a blot of snoruuk sauce on her chin. When she eventually noticed this, she wiped it off with her thumb, and then, caught by various constraints of propriety, discretely onto the interior of her cloak sleeve. Ben hid his smile and affected not to notice.

"You know Senator Organa," Alara said, diverting attention from her savage eating habits.

"Not exactly," he weighed his words, unsure of how to cover up his odd history. "I am familiar with the Organa family. Bail and I have never met, but know of him quite well. He is a good man."

"He is a politician," Alara accused through a cheekfull of deli nerf. "I thought they only went into business for wealth and power."

Ben couldn't blame her. He'd never found reason to believe any differently until he'd met Bail – and Padme. "The House of Organa is a prestigious and powerful entity on Alderaan. If Bail was after wealth and power, he would hardly have to look beyond his own birthright."

Alara chewed on her snoruuk cud thoughtfully. Ben waited for her to finish her sandwich before he said, "In my experience, career politicians enter the galactic senate for one of four reasons. Power, money and fame – and all the benefits that accompany them – are the obvious three of the four, and by far the most prevalent. It is rare indeed to meet any politician who does not dabble in at least one."

"And the forth, master?"

"The fourth is a rare motive indeed, one I have seen in only a small handful of people over the years." He smiled as he said, "A sincere desire to do good. Bail Prestor Organa is one of the few souls I know who is a purebred of the fourth variety."

"I thought you said you did not know him, Master Kenobi."

Ben glanced at her. "You have something, just here," He gestured vaguely to his cheek. Alara's white markings turned pink and she wiped hastily at her stained mouth. Ben chose this moment to quicken his pace. "Come along, then, mustn't keep the krayt dragons waiting."


Bail Organa was sweating like a wampa on Jakku when the Jedi found him in the offices lent to him and his retinue during his stay.

"Masters," he said, hastily wiping his forehead and palms. "Is everything in place?"

"Yes. Master Dahn has briefed the captain and crew of the Zalada on our plan, and they await her signal."

"The Zalada?" Bail frowned. "Is that not one of the largest ships in the fleet?"

"It is also the most severely damaged,"

"-by a matter of nanometers," Alara interrupted, sotto voce. Ben ignored her.

"Pre-emptive action on our part is likely to avert a far worse crisis. Better we control the crash than respond too late." This risky modus operandi was one that Ben was accustomed to, and truth be told, he had long forgotten how unconventional his methods really were. Anakin had never really been the naysaying type when it came to hare-brained plans. Having to placate his young companions' fears was as novel as it was tiring. "It will work, Senator," Ben said, with the slightest of force suggestions behind it.

"Yes, yes," the senator nodded, reassuring himself. "And the evacuation shuttles?"

"All crew standing by on the informed recommendation of their senior engineer," Ben explained passively. Bail did not miss a beat.

"Who in turn took an informed recommendation from you, I assume."

Alara and Ben shared a look, wherein Alara's eyes glowered below stern white brows while Ben's face exuded pure innocence. Mind tricks were recommendations, after all. From a certain point of view. "Exactly so, Senator."

Bail nodded, and wiped his palms on breeches again, and dabbed at his forehead. "This will work," He echoed Ben's assurances aloud, as if to convince himself. "Even Thane isn't so heartless."

"Oh, I do not doubt that she is heartless in this matter," Ben said, shifting his weight to one foot in a casual lean against the wall. "I do, however, doubt that she is willing to commit political suicide." Both Bail and Alara seemed nonplussed. Ben paused and regarded Bail with a careful look. "Senator, how long have you sat in office?"

Bail's face remained impassive, but he did blush softly. "About six months now, Master Kenobi."

Ben smiled in an inexplicable wave of pride; no matter the past he'd always miss, it was a privilege to be a part of this man's beginnings. "And already changing worlds," Ben smiled, which made Bail blush a bit less softly. The master pressed on, "Still, you may not yet have heard all the darker gossip from Kuat." He paused for a beat, gathering the details from his dusty memories. "Damaera Thane, dauntless as she may be in the senate, sports a rocky history with Kuat's local affairs. She's quite the elitist, as you might've gathered, and in her younger days she was even less tactful with her crusades. You can look up the minutes of the Triton Realty lawsuit or the Dantooine immigration trials. They make for very… entertaining afternoon reads, if memory serves." But they were short on time, and there was no time for the juicy details. "Suffice to say: Kuat's executive officers may back Thane's newfound status, but there is no small number of councilmembers on Kuat who would like to knock her back into place – and out of the Galactic Senate. We can leverage her situation to our advantage."

Bail was watching him through a slight squint. "You do not play politics in half measures, do you, master Kenobi?"

"I find it only slows me down," Ben replied, characteristic cheek reflective of Bail's poorly veiled grin.

Alara crossed her arms. Truth be told, she admired Ben's fast and hard approach to diplomatics; but diving headlong into such brash behavior put Alara far out of her depth, and she grasped at rationalization. "And what if she remains unfazed? Will we go through with our plan?"

"If it comes to it, yes. But I highly doubt that will be the case. Senator Organa will not be the only one prodding the beast. While you were in the Zalada, Master Dahn, I took the liberty of reviewing some of Senator Thane's history. To date, she has never worked under Jedi supervision. She and I both know that it would look particularly bad if her first Jedi report to reflected badly on her suitability for office. …Don't look at me like that. It wouldn't be a lie."

Alara tipped her head in concession. "Very well," She said eventually, still wondering in the back of her mind if letting Ben take the lead was all a grand mistake. Trust the Force. Trust the Force. She reached out to center herself in its calming depths, which superseded all conflicting emotion. Amid the comfort she was so confident in finding, she felt something else, something rising, churning not too far away… she could not pinpoint its meaning, and let it roll past her.

The trio fell into silence as Alara fell into light meditation. Ben reviewed a few details on his datapad while Bail Organa sighed repeatedly - a coping mechanism.

A protocol droid came to fetch them. "Ready, senator?" Alara asked. Bail sighed once again, this time with a hint of determination.

"I suppose I must be."

Ben walked between the two as they approached the senate chamber. "Have courage, Bail," Ben gave the young man's shoulder a light squeeze. Bail would not mention it how it surprised him when Ben used his first name; he would not even realize that the calm he felt was because Ben spoke to him like his own father might have.

Thane was glaring at them before they even opened the doors.

"Senators," Ben was the only one who could smile in the face of their welcoming party. "Shall we?"

The debate floor was officially opened.

"We will not relinquish to your terms," Thane gave her steely-eyed salute. Bail Organa sighed, eyes glinting with a determination and quiet fire that would make him infamous in the decades to come.

"We shall see."

Ben and Alara shared a look, folded their arms into their sleeves, and waited.


It took two hours, forty seven minutes, and eleven seconds. Alara had her hand wrapped around her comlink for the last thirty four and a half minutes of their wait.

"-if we were discussing a resettlement program that involved the entire planet, this would hardly be a discussion. Alsaka already has programs in place to accept as many immigrants-" Senator Tardaak was babbling, as he had been for… how long had he been speaking? Alara was embarrassed to realize she could not remember. In her defense, his cadence of speech was hard to not tune out.

Luckily Senator Thothili had been listening, and cut in dryly, "The slums, you mean?"

Tardaak ignored him. "-but we are not talking about the planet, the bill at hand specifically denotes that all of the refugees must enter through the capitol city – that we must accommodate all of them in one metropolitan area for at least one full calendar year-"

"Which is Republic standard procedure for refugees in such circumstances as the Rylothian twi'lek – only the capitol has the departmental resources to process immigrants from the Outer Rim to the full extent of the law, and until-"

"Republic law has never seen the full measure a system's resources," Mii cut in hatefully. "Coruscant does not understand the stress our cities will undertake for their latest pet project."

"They see your situation perfectly well, as has been thoroughly established," Bail Organa cut in. "It may not, however, be in the same light as you wish them to see." He cast a meaningful and infinitesimally short glance at Ben, who blinked indifferently at the wall. Bail kept his eyes turned on his enemy. "Your objections are not based on law. They are not based on a lack of resources. They are not even based on arguments of culture; they are based on a selfish need to dominate, to exclude yourself from the very principles that keep this Republic together." Bail glared at Thane in particular. "Senator Thane, you find yourself out of line in this matter, and you know it. The fact that you've dragged Mii and Tardaak into this fool's errand is regrettable, but I will not allow three obstinate systems to filibuster their way out of a just, legal cause that will not only not harm their worlds, but will, ultimately, bring in new economy. Senators, you must see reason in this matter."

Mii and Tardaak exchanged glances. They'd begun cracking not so long ago. Thane's eyes bored into Bail.

"Your reason, you mean."

"The reason of the Republic of which Kuat is an integral member."

"The reason of an arbitrary majority. I will not give in to the Senate's petty demands!" Thane pounded the banister.

"And I will not bow down to your empty threats!" Bail's voice rang on the chamber walls, leaving a sharp silence ringing in its wake. Ben took this stunned moment to glance at Alara. All Jedi, familiar or strangers at they might be, could read each other's intentions in the Force.

Alara hit the silent beacon on her comlink and waited. She and Ben remained perfectly still, hearts pounding in ears. Comlinks of the type that Alara carried were designed to communicate directly through air or the vacuum of space; they became sluggish when forced to do both at once. She had been using the idle time in the senate chamber to calculate the exact length of time that it would take for the Zalada to receive her transmission, signal their team, and blow the charges they had placed in the ship. Somewhere in the neighborhood of seventeen seconds. She counted down to the time of her own heartbeat while Bail Organa, very deliberately left oblivious to the timing of their plan, resumed his tirade.

"You have no footing. You have no argument. Your filibustering is in complete contempt of the Senate and can accomplish nothing for your cause. It has only dragged us this far on Herdessa because you have waited until the last days of negotiation to attack a bill already passed on Coruscant by an overwhelming majority. You failed to file a Motion to Repeal, and to my knowledge, you did not even mention your concerns to the Chancellor before-"

The shockwave of a massive explosion shook the building. Despite his knowing exactly what it was before it happened, Bail Organa's full-body lurch of surprise was genuine.

"What the hells was that?" Mii asked, peeking through his arms, which he'd reflexively brought up around his head.

Ben looked at Alara, feigning surprise (very convincingly, the togruta had to admit). He went to the window, hand on his saber hilt, casting eyes here and there in vigilance for an imagined threat. His comlink chirped.

"Excuse, me senators," He exited the room in a swirl of brown, not even glancing at Alara as he did.

"The devil is going on?" Thane hissed, eyeing the window.

"I'm sure Master Kenobi has it under control," Alara said mildly. It was difficult to read Thane's expression, which was vexing seeing as she was the object of their stratagem, but Mii and Tardaak were helpfully expressive of their alarm. They would crack as soon as Master Kenobi came back with the bad news, she was sure, which would give Ben and Bail a clear path to stage their full frontal assault.

Alara had always been fond of watching a good fight.

"Senator Thane, even if you insist on prolonging this ridiculous siege of yours, you can accomplish nothing without a quorum."

"Without my signature, you and your foundlings can accomplish nothing, quorum or no."

The doors slid open and Ben Kenobi reappeared. "An apt point, Senator Thane," he said, vocal honey now fermented into contemptuous ire. "I might add one amendment: your restraint has accomplished something. Namely, a Level One Code Red for the entire city." A round of gasps went about the room, and even Bail remembered to act. "The Rylothian flagship, the Zalada, has suffered a catastrophic malfunction in its life support systems. It has minutes before the whole ship falls out of orbit."

All occupants of the room shot to their feet. "What!" Mii squeaked.

"I thought they said the fleet was safe," Thothili roared.

"You blame me for this, Master Jedi?" Thane spat, ever honed in on the topic of her own concerns. Ben frowned at her.

"You have delayed the closure of these negotiations for three days past the anticipated deadline. Your orneriness has put both the refugees and the planet in danger. You must admit there is some correlation to be found here. Master Dahn," Kenobi turned his attention to his colleague, "go to emergency services and go with the evacuation party. They may need your translation services."

"Of course, Master Kenobi." Alara swished from the room, playing her part with one last glance back at the room.

"Evacuation?" Tardaak said, "But… where will they go? They cannot be processed here."

"Only because all of this protracted debate has made it impossible," Bail snapped. "Are the other ships alright?"

Ben sighed. The anxiety in his voice was, at the moment, not an act. "They are functional. For now. But the Zalada must land as soon as possible. If we can get it safely through the atmosphere, that is."

"After which point you will cut up our portions of freeloaders and send us on our way, my own vote be damned?" Senator Thane guessed, sensing a deception but not sure where exactly it lay. Ben Kenobi's expression remained stony.

"By no means, Senator. We cannot proceed with the ratification of law until all three of you sign your name on the agreement. However, may I remind you that should the Rylothian fleet land here on Herdessa, the department of safety will issue a lockdown on all ships coming and going out of the capitol. You will not be able to leave the surface until they are all processed."

"That's outrageous!" Said Mii.

"Letting thousands of lives perish for reason of filibuster, that is outrageous," Ben corrected him. "Now give up this game. I was sent to see justice and preserve peace, and you all know there can be neither while this foolishness continues. Sign the agreement, or be stranded here for months while Herdessa bears four times your burden for you."

Thane's eyes twitched into a squint, staring like a lothcat into his head. Behind her back, Mii and Tardaak exchanged glances. Ben read them like a book. "Where is this agreement, if you please?" He addressed the protocol droid in the corner who had been recording minutes.

"Just here, Master Jedi," the droid pronounced, and brought a large datapad to him. Ben took it, opened it, and held it out toward Thane. "Sign now, or punish your sister world and be held hostage by your own reluctance."

Mii was the first to fold to the ultimatum, and came forward to hastily sign the agreement in Fadelle's name. Tardaak came forward a few moments afterward, ignoring searing glares from Thane as his robes brushed her chair. He sighed heavily in chagrin as he used the stylus to pen his name under Alsaka's portion of the agreement, but made no move to voice displeasure. Stubborn and misguided as he may have been in this instance, Ben was grateful that he could handle defeat with grace.

His Mistress Commander was a different story altogether.

"Senator Thane," Ben prodded, and looked back toward the window, where he could see a massive, worn Rylothian ship flying – no, falling – toward the planet surface. Its reverse thrusters puffed smoke, a firey spire rising up off the starboard side like a bleeding wound. Sirens and cries of alarmed echoed from the streets outside. He turned back to face the senators. "You do not have much time before Herdessa security closes down hyperspace lanes."

"I can wait," she said, as cold and unfeeling as the cruiser class ships of Kuat's shipyards.

Ben sighed and bit at the inside of his lip to check his anger. "You will wait for another planet to devolve into unplanned chaos so that your system might be spared a few thousand immigrants?"

"I will wait as long as it takes to make the desires of my people abundantly clear to this tyrannical senate," Thane spat.

"Let me make something abundantly clear, senator," Ben raised his voice to match the snarling across the room, "if you intentionally delay the resolution of these negotiations and force Herdessa into a state of emergency on account of your filibuster, I will be forced to file a formal complaint against your actions with the High Jedi Council and the Supreme Chancellor." He let that sink in and added, "I will have no control over what either office might do with the report, but I guarantee it will be far more troublesome than waiting."

"Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" the dragoness hissed back.

"I am warning you, Senator," the Jedi clarified. "As a Knight of the Jedi Order I am sworn to uphold the peace and the law, and I cannot stand by and ignore how you have led this committee on in contempt of your senate by neglecting the safety of an entire system and eighty thousand sentient souls."

Thane's glare saw through the Negotiator's ploy, and was unable to stage a reposte. Ben Kenobi, naturally, had seen this all coming three steps before her.

"Either sign to ratify this bill, or propose, defend, and persuade all of your four colleagues to ratify a new plan before Herdessa goes into lockdown." Which was an absurd enough of an alternative to make Tothili raise his brows and bite his lip. Thane, if only she had been Force sensitive, would've taken Ben's breath away with her dark thoughts. But as it was, her ill will was only a tickle across the Force, which made an irresistible taunt fly off of Ben's tongue: "If it's any help, I estimate you have about eight minutes."

Thane made the protocol droid serve her the datapad, and signed it looking down her nose. She kept the stylus. Ben indulged in a small show of victory by summoning the 'pad the short distance to his hand. While Bail Organa closed business on the debate floor, Ben forwarded the document directly to the Heressan Security offices as well as the Republic Senate and the Chancellor.

Ben and Bail convened in the latter's office following their victory.

"I've never worked with a Jedi before, Master Kenobi," Bail confessed while pouring Ben a small celebratory drink, which the Jedi took graciously. "I admit you contradict many impressions I've been given of your Order in the past."

Ben laughed. "I suppose I would – to my shame. If it restores the reputation of my superiors, I'm certain I have a stern reprimand waiting for me upon my return."

"Ah. Unorthodox, are you?" Bail smiled into his glass.

"Says the politician out to save worlds with his own heart," Ben replied, taking a sip. "I took the liberty of reading the minutes from your time in the Senate. You are an exception, Senator Organa."

Bail took this in stride, but would remember the compliment for many years to come. "It takes one to know one, Master Kenobi."

Ben smiled.

And frowned.

"Master Kenobi?" Bail frowned with him. "Master Kenobi, is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure… it feels as if…"

The explosion spoke for itself. Bail had to catch his glass from falling from his desk. Both men stood to their feet. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Ben said, already sensing the terrible answer, "But I have a very bad feeling about it."


There were now two ships plummeting toward Herdessa. The first, the Zalada, was now flanked by a dozen large tug ships which upheld its bulk in the sky and hauled it behind an escort to the landing platform.

The second was the Juclima, almost as large as the flagship, and screaming toward the ground, trailing black smoke. The emergency teams were occupied with the Zalada, and only one or two ships attached to its docks, none of them successfully stalling it's descent.

"Sweet Force," Ben said as soon as he saw. Bail gaped at the sight.

"I thought you only sabotaged the Zalada," The senator said.

"I did. I misjudged which ship would fail first. I..." This is all my fault. But there was not time for that. "We need to stop it. We need to stop it right now."

Bail played to his strengths. "I will speak with Senator Irimore, make sure backup is on its way."

"Thank you, Senator," Ben said as Bail retreated back inside, a purposeful slant in his stride.

Ben began running down the senate building stairs, cloak billowing behind him as he skipped steps and leaped over railings. Various aides and rubbernecking crowds dashed out of his way as he dashed toward the streets. "Master Kenobi! Master Kenobi, come in!" Alara's voice broke in through intermittent static.

"Master Dahn," Ben answered, picking up his com clumsily. He missed his gauntlets from the war. "Thane and the rest have signed the bill."

"Well that's good, but we have bigger problems right now – the second largest ship in the fleet is due to crash any minute, and the emergency teams are occupied with the Zalada."

Ben's heavy breathing was likely an explanation itself. "Yes, I'm looking at it right now. Has the Zalada been fully evacuated?"

"Almost. The ship has been stabilized and the evac has slowed - they've sent half of the shuttles to the Juclima, but the docking bay doors are shorted shut; they're going to need help."

"I will go. Stay with the Zalada and make sure all of the twi'lek reach the surface safely – help delegate emergency ships as you can."

"Master Kenobi, the Juclima needs all the help she can get – Jedi help. Should we not both-"

"No, I need you to direct the response teams here - they will need your foresight, as well as your translation services once the Rylothians have disembarked."

"But Master Kenobi-"

"Now it not the time to argue, Ahsoka."

"Who is-"

"Now, padawan!" Ben clicked the comm channel shut and ran harder, arms pumping until he'd reached the line of parked state shuttles by the boarding lane of the Herdessan Senate. He found one that was still running, the valet only just now undoing his seatbelt.

"I need this shuttle," Ben told him, leaping through the door. "Get out." The valet had never met a Jedi, but he had been told many stories of the sorts of situations in which Jedi typically appeared, all framed in his memory by the haze of alcohol that made the horrifying more horrifying and the danger more real. He practically fell out of the shuttle, sputtering as he went.

"Thank you," Ben took the time to say, and sped off. As soon as he was within distance he hailed the emergency shuttle sailing downward with the Juclima, clamped to its dead docking doors.

"Shuttle jenth one five, this is HDOS Commander Nessen. Identify yourself."

"This is Jedi Master Ob- eh, Ben Kenobi. I had the feeling you might want a little help with that door, Commander."

Some of the crew on the other end of the comm cheered, and Ben smiled at the sound. "Yes Master Jedi. Board at your leisure, sir."


"Altitude fifteen thousand meters, sir," a copilot reported as Ben Kenobi climbed through from his shuttle to the DOS car.

"Excuse me," He said, even as the crew scuttled out of his way. He stepped up to the huge durasteel docking door and pressed his palm against it. After a few moments, the door sprung open. The crew leaped into action, running through the new doorway, shouting orders at each other.

"Commander," Ben called, and caught the eye of the man who looked up in response. "I will go to the bridge and speak with the captain. Have your men find the electrical relays and restore power if at all possible. My comm frequency will be on the open channels, should you need me."

"Yes sir."

Upon entering the bridge, Ben was met with the whip-necked stares of half a dozen twi'lek pilots, Ryl shooting back and forth in clipped tones of panic between them.

"Does anyone here speek Basic?" He asked in a loud voice. No reply. He sighed. He had studied Ryl, years ago as a padawan. He only knew a few words.

"Eh… Jedi," he said in what was hopefully clear Ryl. "…please… hotel." No, that wasn't right. "…let me." He gestured helpfully at the pilot's con. The twi'lek at the indicated station waved him forward. Another said something to him in excited Ryl before running out of the bridge. Unable to understand, Ben sat down at the control and rushed to decipher the Ryl script before him. Luckily, starship layouts were, by and large, similar throughout the galaxy.

A brief survey of the controls told him that there weren't any. With the power gone, the only systems that Ben could control were the emergency generators, which were of little help. "Flying is for droids," He hissed to himself.

"Master Jedi," a heavily accented voice appeared at the fridge doors, and Ben turned to see a young green-skinned twi'lek woman being led by the excited pilot from before.

"You speak Basic."

"Yes, sir, my father made sure I learned Basic and-"

"Can you translate for me?"

"Of course, sir."

"Good. I need to know the state of things."

After a whirlwind of Ryl, the girl turned back to Ben. "The electrical systems have died; the hyperdrive is in poor shape. The engines and life support are functional – would be functional if the power were on."

Ben nodded. "There is a Herdessen crew seeing to the electricity right now. We need to resuscitate it as soon as possible if we are going to get anyone off this ship."

The woman nodded, turned, and shouted across the bridge, receiving nods from most of the crew. A few left the bridge, presumably to assist Nessen's crew. Ben's hands moved over the controls, continually testing systems and continually being met with blank screens and empty readouts. He glanced at his newfound translator, who was doing everything in her power to remain calm. Her eyes were still wide in fear.

"What is your name?" He asked her.

"Nima," she told him. He gave her an encouraging grin.

"Nice to meet you, Nima. I'm Ben."

"Well met, Master Jedi," She mustered a smile as they shook hands.

"Take heart, Nima," he said, jiggling the engine controls to no avail. "Once the power comes back on we will land this ship and you will be on your way to your new home."

"Master Kenobi," Nessen's voice appeared over the comm.

"Commander,"

"My men say they may be able to patch the electrical systems, but are not sure how long the repairs will stick. You'll need to open all docking bay doors as soon as the power comes on so we can evacuate the ship."

"Copy that, Commander, I'll be standing by." He turned to Nima. "Where are the docking controls?"

"Here," she pointed. Ben followed. The Ryl script was an indecipherable as ever, but now even the layout was no help.

"Can you control them?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." He stood and relinquished his seat to her. "As soon as the power comes back on, open all exterior docking doors. The evacuation shuttles will be waiting."

"Yes, sir." Now in the pilot's seat, it was obvious that Nima was used to working on a ship. Her hands hovered over the controls. They all waited. Ben had left his comm channel open, and the reports echoed over in static tones,

"Altitude ten thousand meters."

"Shuttles EVC-5, 6, 7, and 8 standing by."

"Reinforcements should be here in half an hour."

"We don't have that kind of time!"

"Faulty coupling,"

"Terminal velocity in one minute,"

"Power's on – power's on!"

The screens flickered to life, switches blinking, alarms blaring. Nima punched the controls and the docking doors opened with a collective slam that Ben could feel in the floor of the bridge.

Ben leaped into the seat beside Nima and began flipping what he hoped were the right switches. "Open all hatches, all flaps, reverse thrusters on full, all stabilizers on. Get this ship as close to the landing pad as you can."

Nima turned and shouted orders at the crew until the captain returned to the bridge.

They were watching the first of the evacuation shuttles fly to the planet surface when the power flickered off. The entire ship lurched to one side, and when the power came back, a massive slam echoed down the corridors, followed by the unmistakable sound of screaming.

"What's happened?" Ben asked Nima, who knew this ship better than he did. She was frowning at her screen.

"The docking doors have closed, the power short has reset the systems," She was scrambling with the controls, as were the rest of the crew. She spoke with the captain rapidly in Ryl, and relayed to Ben, "The nav computers are back online, and the autopilot is overriding our controls. We can't turn it off, it's shorting in and out."

Which would explain a great many things, Ben thought - namely, why the entire ship was turning roundabout midair, crashing into evac ships and ambulances alike. The upper atmosphere was rolling into sight. "Where is it taking us?"

"It's trying to bring up a course for the last destination," Nima said, tapping at the screen with no visible effects. "It's locked me out."

"Last destination? To Ryloth?" Ben asked, eyes flicking to the windshield where the stars were melting into view.

"It must be, it's going to send us down the Corellian Run."

"What?" Ben stood and bent over Nima's nav screen. He shook his head, almost in disbelief. "No, no, that's the Old Corellian Run – this machine's circuits are malfunctioning! Can you not turn it off?"

"Not from here. It won't respond, and if we cut power completely, we'll all die." She hit the panel and growled viciously at it in Ryl, teeth bared. The ship continued on in its course while half a dozen pilots tried each from their stations to stop the ship's self-motivated mutiny. "This ship is next to dead, we won't make it far. Where does the Old Correllian Run go, Master Ben?"

From across the bridge, someone shouted, "Tie sah, juh rikeket!"

Nima's eyes grew wide, and she grabbed a fistful of Ben's tunics and shoved him into a chair just as the lightspeed engaged. With a hyperdrive in such a state as that onboard the Juclima, it was the shortest, shakiest, and most harrowing hyperspace journey any of them had ever endured. After thirty heart-stopping seconds, the ailing ship lurched from lightspeed, tumbling through sublight space in a nauseating summersault. Pilots and engineers fought to stabilize the ship. Alarms blaring, lights flashing, Ryl yelled across the entire ship, people crying, the ship careened onward.

A planet wavered into view amid the madness, white-yellow surface blindingly bright in the light of two distant suns. Ben held on to the edge of his chair, and it was not just for motion sickness that his face had gone pale.

"Tatooine," he said shakily, to Nima and to himself. "The Old Corellian Run leads straight to Tatooine."