Neither Jaina nor Jag had ever seen a lieutenant look so much like a scared nerf. He was stuttering so much that Jaina had to make him repeat the message. As he, quite literally, fled, Jaina couldn't help but laugh. "Poor kid. Had to deal with a general and two colonels all in one day."

"Add two Jedi to that list. He still needs to go see your brother. I wonder what General Antilles needs us for?"

"The file?"

She was right.

When they caught up with Wedge, he was in one of the electronics labs, watching the analysts. Jacen had beaten them there. "They've broken through the file's security, and now they're doing a search for base locations."

"Sir?" one of them said. "I think I may have found something. A list of planets and coordinates."

"Bases or targets?" Jag asked.

"Give me a moment." He typed for a bit more. "Targets."

"Damn!" Jaina cursed. "How many?"

"Too many," Wedge grumbled. "Too many to secure."

"I can't find any sort of time table for assaults, sir."

"There has to be another way," Jaina snapped. She thought for a moment, which was a little hard to do quickly. She hadn't gotten home until after 0100 last night, and she'd had an early morning. "Look, if you behead a guy, he dies. Right?"

Wedge gave her an odd look. "Well, yes, but how is that relevant?"

"Jaina," Jacen said, shaking his head, "don't try to make bad metaphors. I think what she means is find the group's headquarters and take it out. The others will fall easily due to a sort of domino effect."

Jaina nodded. "Exactly."

Wedge turned back to the analysts. "Will one of you be able to locate such a headquarters?"

Another one nodded. "It may take a bit of time, sir, but it won't be too hard."

"How long?" Jaina asked.

"Too hard to say. Anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour. Could be longer; I think will have to break through a few more security layers."

"Fine. Send someone to come get me when you crack it."

"The same goes for me," Jag added.

Meanwhile, in the pilots' hanger where Jaina and Jag had recently been listening to a shaking lieutenant, a young man was looking awkwardly around. Chev was told by a captain that she would be in here, but she wasn't. It took him a few moments, but he worked up the courage to ask a man bearing the insignia of a major. "Excuse me," he said timidly. "Could you tell me where I might find Colonel Solo?"

"Not here, that's for sure. I think she said she had a meeting with General Antilles. She left about ten minutes ago."

"When will she be back?"

"How the hell should I know? A CO doesn't report to her second in command, it's more the other way around. She'll get back when she gets back. Who are you anyway?"

"Chev Kline."

"Never heard of him. What group are you with? 'Cause Jaina doesn't like dealing with the press."

"I'm not from the Holonet. I just need to talk to her."

The major shrugged. "Fine. Whatever. But leave me alone."

Chev nodded and mumbled, "Yes, of course."

Jaina walked over to Major Vao Tsugaret as soon as she got back to the hanger. "Did I miss anything interesting?"

"Well, there's some skinny guy over there. Said he wanted to talk to you. Called himself Chev Kline." Jaina's eyebrows shot straight up. "I take it you know him?"

"You might say that, yeah. I'll be right back."

Jaina walked across the hanger to the young man standing by a pile of crates. "Well, I must admit I didn't expect to see you here," she said with a smile.

"Well, I was on the planet and thought I'd drop by." Jaina was skeptical. Most people who didn't even own speeders didn't usually just drop by on random planets. He continued, "So, how have you been? Last time I saw you, you were in pretty rough shape."

"I'm doing much better, thanks. Listen, I'm grateful for everything you did for me, really I am, and if there's anything I can do to help repay you, just let me know."

"You don't need to do it. I'm glad to have helped you. Actually, I was wondering if you would like to go have a drink after you get off duty."

Jaina smiled. "I'd like that." She was sure that if Jag found out he would not get angry; she'd had drinks with other people before. He had never minded in the past. "Unless things change, I'll be finished here at 1800."

He gave her a blank stare. "1800?"

"6:00," she clarified with a small laugh. "Sorry."

"I guess I ought to figure out military time if I'm going to talk to people on a military base. Well, I'll meet you here then?"

"That'll be fine. See you later."

Jag waited until Jaina was out of earshot before hissing, "Why the hell didn't you get rid of him, Tsugaret?"

"I didn't see anything wrong with him being here. He's not doing any harm."

"More harm than you might realize," Jag muttered, too low for the major to hear. He pretended to go sort through a container of worn-out hydrospanners so that he could be closer to Jaina and Chev. When Jaina accepted Chev's offer, Jag couldn't take it anymore. He stormed back over to Vao and demanded, "Exactly who does he think he is?"

"I thought you frowned on eavesdropping. What did he say?"

"That is absolutely none of your business."

"I have a sneaking suspicion it's none of yours either."

Jag opened his mouth to make a very uncharacteristic retort, but he stopped when he was the nervous lieutenant reenter the hanger. "Colonel Solo? Colonel Fel?" he stuttered. "General Antilles wants you again."

Jag turned away from Vao and did not wait for Jaina to catch up with him. "I'll deal with that Bakuran urchin later," he muttered to himself.

Jacen sense something was wrong the second Jag stepped into the room, ahead of Jaina by a considerable amount. He glanced at his sister and nodded ever so slightly to Jag behind his back, but she only shrugged, as confused as he was.

Wedge looked at them all gravely. "We've found the terrorists' base, and I have to admit it's somewhat of a shock."

"Where?" Jaina asked. Wedge didn't say anything; he only gestured to the screen. Jaina took a few steps forward so that she could see it clearly. Her jaw fell. "Sithspit. You can't be serious." Jacen came up and read it over her shoulder, and he understood her reaction. They both turned and stared at Jag. "Jag," Jaina said slowly, "it's on Csilla."

Jag's mind went blank. After a few seconds of silence, he leaned towards the screen to read it for himself. They weren't lying. His ears filled with static. He could barely hear Wedge order someone to find Baron Fel. "Impossible," he finally managed. "We would know. There are absolutely no terrorists on Csilla."

"That says otherwise," Jacen said.

"The file must be fake."

"Think about it, Jag," Jaina told him. "How would they know to plant a fake file? I didn't even know about the Bakura mission until the day before. The entire thing was under high security. And even if it were a fake, why of all places would they choose Csilla? And Csilla would be the perfect place."

Jag glared at her, interpreting an insult to his homeworld. "And why is that?"

"It's the last place anyone would look," Jacen answered.

"What's all this about Csilla?" thundered a voice behind them. They all turned to see Soontir Fel looking very angry.

"The main headquarters of a group of terrorists is there," Wedge said quietly.

"There are no terrorists on Csilla," Soontir snapped, as adamant as his son.

"It's absolutely preposterous," Jag added.

"But the possibility is tangible enough that we have no choice but to investigate," Jacen argued.

"I'll organize it," Wedge said, "but I'll need your help, Soontir. Now, this must not get out. The press would be all over it. We'll be able to have a briefing tomorrow morning. When you get back to the hanger, pretend as though nothing has happened. Dismissed."

It was the first time in his life that Jag had run out when he was on duty, but he did not think he could take it if he had gone back. He was being completely overwhelmed by everything. Instead of returning to the hanger, he took the turbolift back to his quarters. He lay down on his cot to try and sort it all out.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he remembered was looking at the chrono and seeing that it was 1830. He got up and stuck his head out the door. Eprill was down the hall. Wanting to avoid awkward questions about his absence, Jag headed in the opposite direction and ran into Jaina. She started to say something, but Jag interrupted her. "Later. There are things I have to go do."

If Jaina had only just returned, Chev could not have gotten far. Jag was acting on an impulse. He knew it, but he didn't care. His mind was only working on one track right now.

He was right. Chev was down the next corridor. "Excuse me!" Jag called out. "Mr. Kline! Might I have a word with you?" Chev looked confused and a bit alarmed, but he nodded. Jag led him out of the barracks and to an empty locker room. He wasn't really sure what he was going to say, but he decided to keep following the impulse that had brought him this far. He seized Chev by the collar and pushed him against the wall. "Keep your damn paws off Jaina," he snarled.

Maybe it was stored up anger that he had never had a chance to let out. Maybe it was his extreme dislike of Chev. Maybe it was the stress of the entire day finally crashing down on him. Jag didn't know.

His fist snapped out before he could stop it.