CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Jacen Solo looked across the small seating area of the enclosed armored speeder to the passenger on the bench opposite him. "You're sure this'll fool them?"

"Yes," Shawnkyr replied. She checked the charge on her large blaster pistol, and flicked the setting from kill to stun. Then she paused and met his gaze. "Do you feel some terrible premonition in that Force of yours?"

"Well, no." He raised an eyebrow. "No charric?"

She slapped the weapon into its holster. "Not this time. This has more power."

He nodded, then paused. "You're sure this will fool them?"

She held out her hands. "Do you not trust me?"

"Oh, I trust you fine. It's your Vikovan contacts I'm less confident about."

"Fair enough. But I assure you, we are riding in an entirely authentic Vikovan armed forces prisoner transport, and it will serve perfectly as our cover."

"I hope so."

Her red eyes sparkled. "Jacen…"

"All right, all right. It'll work."

Shawnkyr nodded approvingly. "You will find your life is much easier when you cease doubting my capacity to do my job."

Jacen scowled. "Does that line ever work with Jag?"

"Not particularly."

"I figured." Jacen barely managed to stifle his chuckle. The Jade Shadow had hardly been back at the Polar Wind for an hour before Jag had insisted they begin the final operation. That, of course, had necessitated Ambassador Chu'itha explaining what the operation actually was going to be, at which point Jag had become slightly less enthusiastic. Nevertheless, Jacen had been impressed by how effectively Chu'itha and Jag's father had been able to keep their months-old plans a secret, even to the point of keeping Jag and Shawnkyr completely oblivious as they had implemented the first stages. Now, though, everything was in motion.

The speeder slowed, and Shawnkyr reached for her comlink. "We are in position," she said into the device. "Standing by."

"Copy," replied Jaina's voice. There was a long pause. "Commence Operation Guillotine."

"Commencing," Shawnkyr said, and stashed the comlink on her belt.

Jacen ran his palms down the front of the blue-and-gray Vikovan colonel's uniform he wore, then slipped his fingers up his right sleeve one last time. "I'm ready," he said. "Let's do this."

The speeder swung to a stop. A moment later the heavy door unlocked and swung open. Jacen stepped out first, with Shawnkyr right behind. With full martial confidence in his bearing, he strode directly through the main entrance of the prison facility and marched across the wide foyer to the guard station beside the sealed blast doors.

"I am here for the prisoner transfer," he declared.

The sergeant in command frowned. "I was not informed of any prisoner transfer."

Shawnkyr passed a flimsiplast document to the sergeant, who began to read it.

"Prisoner transfer from cellblock AA23 –" Jacen tipped his head to indicate Shawnkyr "– for joint interrogation."

The sergeant was still reading the flimsi.

Jacen bounced his hand through the air. "Everything is in order."

The sergeant looked up. "Everything is in order."

"The approval comes from Her Grace directly."

"The approval is from Her Grace directly."

"Very good, Sergeant," Jacen said. "Your expeditious and meritorious service will be noted in my report."

For a moment the sergeant actually flushed. "Thank you, Colonel. Open the doors."

Two of the guards hustled to the control console. A few seconds later the blast doors slid open with a loud metallic swoosh. Jacen snapped a salute to the guards before he and Shawnkyr walked through. They hadn't even reached the open turbolift car when the blast doors slammed shut behind them.

Jacen chuckled. "Getting out should be fun."

Shawnkyr entered the code on the car's wall panel. "Are you always this optimistic?"

"No."

They rode in silence until the turbolift began to slow. "Corellians are all the same."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," she said, waving him out as the turbolift's door slid open, "quit talking and get moving."

"Right," he muttered, and surveyed the small control room.

Four guards. Two at the console, one posted to either side of the open portal to the cellblock. Only one security cam, over his left shoulder. Not bad.

"You're here for the prisoner transfer?" one of the guards at the console asked.

"Yes," Jacen said, already moving toward the cellblock.

"He's in cell three-two-seven," the guard said just as Jacen and Shawnkyr passed the console.

"Not the one we're looking for," Jacen replied.

Before the guard could even comprehend what he had said, a swift blast in the Force smashed the security cam the instant before Shawnkyr drew her blaster and fired a stun bolt into the backs of each guard at the console. The other guards trained their weapons on them, but a flick of Jacen's wrist sent a wave of power through the Force and smashed their helmeted heads into the walls. The guards never got off a shot before they slumped unconscious to the floor.

Jacen hurried into the cellblock corridor. "Which one?"

It took Shawnkyr a moment to answer. "One-six-two," she said from behind him.

He reached the cell and tapped on the wall panel. The door slid upward and he went right inside. Seated on the metal bench was a middle-aged man dressed in drab prisoner's attire. His dark hair was laced with gray, and his hands were clasped regally in his lap. His eyes narrowed.

"Baron Contico?" Jacen asked.

"You know who I am," the man spat. "I imagine the tyrant has finally found the nerve to order my execution? I'd wondered if she ever would."

"Oh, right," Jacen said. "You don't understand. My name is Jacen Solo. I'm a Jedi Knight, and I need you to come with me right away."

Contico laughed. "She has plenty of evidence of my so-called treason already, does she not? Do you really think I will help her concoct more?"

"I'm here with soldiers of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force to liberate you. Your planet will be in your hands again by nightfall." Jacen stared firmly into Contico's eyes. "This is not a trap. I need you to trust me."

Contico held the stare for a long moment. "Very well," he said, rising to his feet. "I will trust you." He followed Jacen out into the cellblock corridor. "Besides, I have nothing left to lose except my life, and the opportunity to save my people is worth that."

"I know," Jacen said with a glance back over his shoulder. "That is why they chose you."

They emerged into the control room. Shawnkyr was standing in the turbolift portal, holding the car open for them. "Baron Contico," she said, tipping her head, "are you well?"

"Well enough," he replied, returning the greeting. He cast a significant look at Shawnkyr's blaster, then looked to Jacen. "You weren't kidding about the Chiss."

"No. I wasn't."

The car door swished closed, and they began the short ride up. After only a few seconds, though, the emergency lights on the wall panel began to flash, and the muffled sound of klaxons blaring intruded into the car. Another second later, the turbolift slammed to a full stop – midway between floors, no less.

"Oh," Jacen said, "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Pessimist," Shawnkyr muttered, and reached for her comlink.

He ignored her, and stepped over to the wall panel. It looked ordinary enough. Nothing complicated. No special security precautions.

Shawnkyr's comlink hissed and crackled to an open feed. "Engage countermeasures," she said. "Implement rendezvous offensive."

A wave of Jacen's hand popped the fasteners on the panel's metal covering, which clanked to the floor at his feet. He knelt down to examine the exposed electronics of the panel.

A Chiss voice confirmed the orders, and then from behind him Shawnkyr said, "What in the name of ktathanol are you doing?"

"What's it look like?" He already had three wires in his fingers, and he was tracing them back to their tangled origins.

"Reinforcements are on the way," she said. "Stop that before you get us all –"

"Too late," Jacen said, because a yank of his grip had torn away the blue wire and yellow wires, leaving the red one in place, and the turbolift car had begun to climb again.

He stood and turned back to see Shawnkyr glaring at him and Baron Contico looking from him to her and back again.

"What?"

"Are all of your rescues so…" Contico cleared his throat. "Well planned?"

Jacen canted his head toward Shawnkyr. "This is her rescue. I'm just along for the ride."

"Then try not to get us killed," she said, setting her blaster pistol from stun to kill, "will you?"

"If you insist."

"I must."

The turbolift's emergency brakes kicked in, and the car slowed to a stop at the upper level of the prison facility. Jacen and Shawnkyr traded glances, and moved to stand between the door and Contico. The door slid open, and they found themselves staring down the muzzles of a half dozen heavy blaster rifles, with more troopers behind those.

"Hands up," one of the Vikovan soldiers shouted. "Don't move."

Jacen's reply was simple. He flicked his right wrist, launching his lightsaber into his palm. With a snap-hiss the thrumming blue blade ignited, and a single wide arc of the energy blade sheared the barrels off all the rifles pointed at them.

For a moment he considered offering the soldiers a chance to surrender, but the thought vanished when the sharp retorts of laser blasts filled the room beyond the turbolift. Some of the bolts slammed into the backs of the disarmed troopers, and Jacen realized the others were willing to gun down their comrades to achieve their objective.

That left Jacen no choice.

He sprang over the corpses of two soldiers in the portal and surged into the room. The Force guided his hands, whipping his blade in whirling arcs to cut down enemy soldiers and deflect away the few blaster bolts aimed his way. Shawnkyr's cover fire flew from the mouth of the turbolift car, and Jacen exploited the distraction to finish off three more troopers. Another high slice and low chop, and it was over.

While Shawnkyr and Contico emerged cautiously from the turbolift, Jacen deactivated his blade and listened. Sure enough, he could just make out the sounds of a firefight on the other side of the blast doors. He looked to Shawnkyr. "Status?"

Her comlink was already in her hand. "Blade to Base, ready for extraction."

"Copy, Blade," Jaina's voice replied over the crackling feed. "They'll be through any second now."

"Copy, Base."

On cue the blast door's wall panel began to beep. The heavy metal doors slid open, and a squad of armored Chiss commandos swept inside the room. They formed a protective circle around Jacen, Shawnkyr, and Contico and hurried them across the foyer toward the main entrance. In a flash they were outside and running toward a waiting Chiss military shuttle.

Suddenly Jacen felt a tremor in the Force. In his twin bond with Jaina. "Shawnkyr?" Still running, she glanced back at him. "I need your comlink."

Without hesitation she tossed it to him, and he caught it in his free hand.

He thumbed the switch. "Jaina? What's wrong?"

"She's got … and I gotta … him."

"Jay, you're breaking up."

"Ilia- … got Jag … kill him … hurry!"

"Slow down," he said as soothingly as he could. "Repeat."

"Will you … -ten to me … once you … brained … -ana's got Jag … going to … and I have … him!"

He realized he had stopped in his tracks halfway up the shuttle's boarding ramp. Shawnkyr waited at the top, looking down at him. Her hand was on the ramp's control button.

He didn't even think about it.

"Sorry," Jacen said, tossing her back the comlink. "I have to go. I don't have a choice."

Lightsaber in hand, he sprang in a single bound down the ramp. Reaching for his sister in the Force, he ran.