See disclaimer in prologue.

Here's the next installment in the saga. LOL. Sorry that it took so long, but on the bright side, it definitly didn't take as long as the last chapter did. :) That's something to be happy about right? If you have been keeping up with this story, I thank you very very much. Please review and let me know that you are here. If this is your first time, then review and let me know what you think. Thanx.

CHAPTER 8

"Stay here!" Maya ordered the two children. She ran to the storage cabin that held all of Zekk's extra weapons, and pressed the button to open the door.

"Please enter your password," it said.

"Dammit, Zekk!" Maya shouted, and was a little appalled at herself. She had to stop and think. Zekk must have put that password on so none of the kids could accidentally get in and shoot themselves. What would his password be? Well, that was an easy one. J-A-I-N-A.

"Access granted," the voice said pleasantly as the door opened. Maya grabbed the biggest blaster she could lift and set it for stun. Then she ran off the ship and back to Zekk and Nova.

She got there just as Nova's little white lightsaber failed. Zekk stood protectively in front of her, facing the three guards left standing. Maya was behind them, where they couldn't see her. She pulled the trigger, and one of the guards fell.

One of them turned to face her, laughing when he saw that she was just a kid. The other one kept his attention focused on Zekk. Maya took aim, trying to look like she wasn't about to wet her pants.

The guard fired his blaster at the same time Maya fired hers. She scored a direct hit, knocking him out instantly. His beam missed her by perhaps a centimeter, close enough to raise blisters on the skin, but not close enough to really hurt her. She fired the blaster at the last guard, and he fell. Zekk ran over to her and picked her up.

"Why did you do that?" he shouted, shaking her, then hugged her tight. "You scared me," he said in a softer voice. "You could have gotten hurt."

"Zekk, I know," Maya said, her voice muffled against his chest. "I could have got hurt, but I didn't. It's okay." Zekk set her down, looking her over.

"Oh no, you are hurt," he said, looking at her arm.

"It's not bad," she said. "Let's just go before more guards show up." Zekk checked outside.

"Let's go," he said. The three of them ran to the Lightning Rod with no problem. But Maya could not explain why her legs were shaking so badly.

Tenel Ka left the ship to find Miri leaning against the hull, clutching Anakin's clothes and crying silently.

"Are you—all right?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.

"How's Jacen?" Miri whispered.

"He will recover, if he can get medical attention in time."

"He'll recover. That's good," Miri said. "Anakin won't."

"I'm sorry." That was all she said, but it meant more to Miri than the sympathy she knew she would be drowning in when they got home. She drew a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"Do you have any idea where Nova is?" she asked.

"I sliced into the computer files. I have an idea. Will you be all right to come, or would you rather stay here with Jacen?"

"I'm coming," said Miri. Tenel Ka nodded.

"Shall I get you one of the spare blasters?" she asked. Miri followed her gaze to the lightsaber she had clipped onto her belt without thinking about it.

"I don't need a blaster," she said. The two of them started for the corridor when Tenel Ka suddenly froze. Miri looked around. Something was wrong, but she couldn't immediately discern what it was. Then, she saw what he had missed, and felt the blood drain from her face.

Kanyen was gone.

Jaina ran down the hall toward the Lightning Rod, where Zekk and the children were. In emergencies, their rule was to leave after ten minutes, whether or not they were both there. If it was just the two of them, Zekk would have come back for her, but he had to take care of the children. Jaina checked her chrono and cursed. According to the rule, they would be leaving now. But Zekk always gave her an extra minute.

She had taken care of most of the guards, but some of them had escaped, along with the Hutt, who—

—Who had turned the corner just ahead of her.

Jaina skidded to a stop. "Oh, no," she whispered.

"Where…did he go?" Miri asked hesitantly.

"I do not sense him," Tenel Ka replied.

"You don't think he's still alive?" Miri asked. "I mean, we killed him. Killed. Dead. Nothing to sense. Right?"

"Perhaps he dissipated," Tenel Ka speculated.

"Could he?" Like Anakin?

"I do not remember. Jacen was distracting me with his jokes when we studied this." Miri smiled in spite of herself.

"It doesn't matter what happened to him. We should start looking."

"Hey, mister, we have to leave," Ty said.

"No, Lady Misery's not here yet!" Nova cried.

"The guards are here, dummy," Ty replied. "They'll come in here and kill us!"

"No, they can't get through the shields," Nova said. "Sir, will you do something?" Zekk, at the control panel, began the sequence for takeoff.

"Zekk, what are you doing?" Maya screamed. "We can't leave yet!"

"Maya," Zekk said. At his tone, Maya was instantly silent. "When this counter reaches zero, if I'm not back, flip this switch and press the button next to it. The navicomputer will automatically send you to Dathomir. Send out a distress call if anything goes wrong. The shields will come on automatically after I leave. If you see me or Jaina coming, turn them off for us. Maya, Nova, I love you very much. If I don't get a chance, tell Luc for me, okay?"

"Daddy?" Nova whispered.

"Really real, Novalee," he said, hugging her. "I love you."

The Solos and the Skywalkers sat in the Solo family's apartment in the Imperial palace on Coruscant. Han was confused. Leia had awoken, screaming, seemingly unseeing, and in hysterics. About five minutes after that, Luke and Mara had appeared at their door, the same distress apparent in their eyes.

Now, Leia, who had flown straight into her brother's arms when he arrived, sat with Luke on a love seat while Han sat on the couch, facing Mara, who was in a chair across from him. Han glanced from Mara to Luke and Leia, where they sat, whispering urgently to each other. Han wondered why Leia couldn't talk to him.

"What is going on here?" Han demanded. All he had been able to get from Leia was gibberish. Mara stared at Han.

"You mean you don't know?" Her eyes darted to Leia. Luke and Leia both stared back with haunted eyes. "Leia? You haven't told him?"

"Well, I—"

"He deserves to know." Leia looked at her husband.

"Han, I—" She stopped. Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head, burying her face in her hands.

"What? Damn it! Will somebody please tell me what's going on here?" Han was really worried now. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Han," Luke began slowly. "We—Leia, Mara, and I—were all awakened by a disturbance in the Force." Luke choked on his words, wondering how he could possibly do this to his best friend. "It was as if there was a life presence there and then it was just…gone."

"Gone?" Han asked in a voice tight with fear. He might not have the Force, but something just didn't feel right.

"Gone." Mara picked up where Luke left off, knowing that her husband could not finish this. "Dead. Han—we think…I mean, we know…I mean—Han." Her eyes bore into his, the finality there unmistakable. Her voice dropped to a strained whisper. "It was Anakin." Leia began sobbing again. Nothing her brother could do would comfort her. Mara leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, surprised at how much this whole family, not just Luke and her daughters, had come to mean to her.

"What are you saying?" Han asked, barely controlled fury in his voice. "Are you saying that my son is dead?"

Jaina stood her ground, facing the Hutt and her guards with no fear. She held her lightsaber high in front of her, concentrating only on the Force, the light of the Force.

"You seem to be trapped, my puny little human," Varuna sneered. "Why don't you give me the children and your mate, and I might let you live."

"You will never touch my family," Jaina cried through clenched teeth. Her grip on the lightsaber tightened.

"Won't I? Guards! Destroy her!" About ten guards rushed toward her, blasters raised. She managed to deflect all the shots they fired at her, but they were closing in.

"Jaina!" She turned and saw Zekk appear out of one of the corridors.

"Zekk! What are you doing here?" she asked frantically. "Go back! The children need you."

"The kids are safe. Maya knows how to get out of here if she needs to," Zekk replied as he fought his way to her side. "You need me." His danger sense flared. He spun around, trying to see where the most immediate danger was coming from. He looked up. There was one human leaning over a balcony high above their head. Was he holding a blaster? He heard two blaster shots fired; felt Jaina tense up beside him; she too knew something was wrong. But wasn't there only one? Contact. As Zekk crumpled to the ground, he realised that he should have checked behind him, too.

"Zekk!" Jaina cried, horrified. She dropped to her knees beside him, but was up again before she could check on hi, trying to keep from getting them both killed. She glanced down at Zekk and her mind filled with worry. A blaster shot grazed her arm. She cried out in pain, but then focused herself on the fight.

She let the Force flow through her. She was completely consumed by it. The guards' blasters flew out of their hands and turned to face them.

"You will not hurt my family anymore," Jaina whispered and the blasters fired. The guards fell. Jaina faced Varuna the Hutt. "If you do not want to face a worse fate than your guards, I suggest that you leave and do not try to stop us." The Hutt stared at her for a minute, then turned and floated away. Jaina held her ground until Varuna was out of sight, then rushed to Zekk's side. There was an open, gaping wound in his stomach. Jaina's heart stopped. "Zekk?" she whispered. His eyes fluttered open.

"Jaina?" She placed a hand over his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Shh…don't talk," she said, her voice choked. "Let me fix this." He raised his hand up to rest on her cheek.

"No." His voice was strained, barely audible. "You have to leave…You're wasting time. Go. The kids…get them out of here."

"No! I'm not leaving you." Jaina's vision blurred with tears. "I won't lose you again." She placed her hand under his neck and drew him close to her. Something wet covered over her hand. She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes. Blood. More blood.

Maya paced the bridge of the Lightning Rod. Come on, Zekk. Get Jaya and come on. She glanced at the chronometer. Almost ten minutes had passed. Maya knew that was the limit. The family's rule in case of an emergency, wait only ten minutes.

The small children were huddled together, staring at her, including Nova. Maya went and knelt in front of her cousin. Being little herself, this made Maya seem shorter than the four-year-old.

"Hey, Nova. Remember me?" she asked, trying to be cheerful. Nova shook her head. "I'm your cousin Maya. Your daddy calls me Rusty." Nova giggled, and Maya tried to keep her smile. Would she ever hear that name again?

"We aren't leaving them, are we?" Nova asked anxiously. Maya's eyes filled and she lowered her head. I will not cry...

"I don't know, Novalee," Maya replied, unconsciously calling the little girl by Zekk's nickname for her. "I don't want to."

I will not cry…

"Don't be sad, Rusty," Nova said, throwing her arms around Maya's neck. Maya fell back, both from surprise and force. Much as she had always tried to avoid Jaina and Zekk's children, feeling that they were taking her beloved cousins away from her, she couldn't help liking Nova a lot just then.

Suddenly, Maya's head snapped up. Someone was calling her through the Force. That was the last lesson she had learned before all this mess had started, so she was sure.

All eyes followed Han as he stalked out of the room. Needless to say, he was not taking the news of Anakin's death well. The three left sitting remained in silence for a few seconds before Leia rose.

"I'd better go talk to him," she said, her voice shaking. Luke and Mara stood and watched her leave the room. Then Mara went gratefully into her husband's warm embrace.

Han stood staring out at the lights of Coruscant. If he had been thinking straight, he would have realised that it was past 3:00 in the morning, and he needed sleep. Of course, he wasn't thinking straight. How could he, when his own son had just died? And the worst part was, Han hadn't felt it. For all he knew, Anakin could be standing in the next room. In there with all the other Jedi.

Han felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Leia there. He put an arm around her and pulled her close. For a while they just stood there, Han looking out the window and Leia, her head resting on his chest, looking up at his face. His heartbeat sounded loud in her ears.

"Can you find the others?" he asked her.

"If I can't, I'm sure Luke can," was her tentative reply.

"Then we're going," Han said firmly. "We can take the Falcon."

So he wasn't a Jedi. Maybe he couldn't do anything. Then again, maybe he could.

Miri and Tenel Ka walked down the long corridor. They opened each door, finding all of the rooms empty.

"Perhaps we should check the computer again," Tenel Ka suggested. They found a terminal, and it was not long before they had sliced into the ship's files.

"This is interesting," Tenel Ka said.

"What is it?" asked Miri.

"All of the TIE fighters are gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"One went to the Alderaan system, one disappeared into hyperspace, and one went to Ylesia."

"Are you kidding? He only had three TIEs?" Miri asked.

"No. He had hundreds, perhaps thousands. They are simply not here. It would take better slicing skills than I have to see where they have gone."

"This could be bad," Miri stated.

"Extremely," Tenel Ka agreed.

"Does it say where Nova is?"

"It says cell 19492, but we have already checked there. I can sense Nova, but she is distant. It is possible that she is not even on the ship."

Miri thought. "Ylesia?"

"It is possible," Tenel Ka repeated.

"Is it likely?"

Tenel Ka considered it. "Yes," she said. "It is more likely that she is there than here." She gave a tiny half-sigh. "This would be easier for Jaina."

"We could come back later with Jaina and Zekk," Miri suggested. "I mean, unless she just magically appears on the Rock Dragon."

"That is highly improbable," Tenel Ka remarked.

"It could happen," Miri said. "It won't, but it could. Anyway, this is getting us nowhere. I…guess we'd better go back."

"Yes," Tenel Ka agreed. "Zekk and Jaina may be finished negotiating by now."

"If they haven't managed to blow up the planet," Miri said half-jokingly.

"Zekk," Jaina whispered, stroking his hair. She hadn't learned much in the way of healing techniques, but she could do a trance. Zekk helped by doing some of the work himself. When he was unconscious, Jaina reinforced her call to her little cousin on the Lighting Rod.

Maya hadn't gotten very far with this lesson, so Jaina kept it simple, using pictures instead of words. She showed Maya that Zekk was hurt, the guards were gone, and they were coming. She didn't let Maya see how badly Zekk was hurt, or how worried she was.

Jaina carefully picked Zekk up, trying to make him stay in one piece. She saw that he had stopped bleeding, which she thought must be a good sign.

"Come on, Zekk, don't die on me," Jaina begged. She draped his arm over her shoulder and, using the Force to make him as light as possible and give her the strength she needed, Jaina began the long, slow walk back to the Lightning Rod.

In the underbelly of the star destroyer, in the corridor between the hangar bay and the ship's weapons and ship surveillance station, in a section where only one very dim and flickering glowpanel was lit, eerie shadows were cast on the unfinished durasteel walls.

And far down at one end, where there were no lights at all, one shadow moved.

Miri and Tenel Ka, together on the Rock Dragon's bridge, began the startup sequence. Miri's eyes kept darting to the left, toward one passageway. A warning from the Force, or whatever it was that she had felt during the battle?

Miri resolutely pushed her doubts away. She was not a Jedi, and whatever she'd gotten was gone now. She wasn't even sure what it was, much less how to use it, or even if she could get it back.

Her fingers flew over the control panel. It was probably just her imagination, anyway. She had thought that she would never have to kill another person…that she would never lose someone else she loved…and it was just getting to her.

The Rock Dragon lifted up on its repulsors. The sooner they got out of there, the better.

"Nova, go get the med kit," Maya said, her eyes on the viewport. "I think your dad's hurt, but if you get the med kit right now, you can make it better."

"Okay," Nova said solemnly, and ran into a back room, the other two children following her. Maya opened the door and ran down the ramp. Jaina was coming, half-dragging Zekk, who was unconscious and—Maya's stomach lurched—bleeding.

Maya tried to help Jaina, wishing once again that she was big. Jaina dropped Zekk as gently as she could on the deckplates, and Maya closed the door. Nova appeared with the med kit, and looked at her father with fearful eyes. Maya took her by the hand and made her sit down in the co-pilot's seat, where she couldn't see.

"Do you want me to take off?" Maya asked her cousin, her eyes drifting over to Zekk.

"Go ahead, sweetie," Jaina said in a distracted tone, pressing a self-growing bandage against Zekk's neck.

Maya scrambled into the pilot's seat, stretching her arms as far as she could to reach everything. She couldn't help being a little excited.

After all, how many almost-eight-year-olds got to fly?

Luke and Mara sat together in the Shadow's bridge. Neither of them let their worry for their remaining nephew show, but each could feel the other's inner turmoil.

Han and Leia had lost two of their children now, as well as two grandchildren. Mara didn't know what she would do if Maya or the twins were ever taken from her like that. She had never been a huge fan of children, at least not until she met Leia's three, and then when she finally had one of her own…

Luke's hand slipped around her waist, and she gratefully leaned into him. Maya was going through a rebellious phase, and the twins were likely to start copying her any day now…but Mara wouldn't trade them for anything.

Maya felt the Lightning Rod lift up, into space. The stars were bright around her. Up ahead, she could see a slowly growing dot that was the star destroyer. Maya squinted. What were those bright flashes of light?

"Hey, Jaya?" she called. "I think there's something wrong."

As the Rock Dragon left the star destroyer, Tenel Ka found her thoughts going to Jacen. She knew that he would live—he was strong, and his injuries weren't as bad as some she had seen—but even with her habitual stoicism, her worry showed through. She found herself wanting to just get out of there so she could go to him.

Anakin…Miri couldn't go to her husband. Anakin had been her friend, and she had loved him like a brother, but she thanked the Force that it wasn't her Jacen who had been taken away from her.

Tenel Ka was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't sense any danger until the Rock Dragon suddenly and violently began to shake.

"Biff a Sith," Miri snapped, sliding over to the weapons panel. "I figured that was too easy." Tenel Ka began evasive maneuvers, noticing that only one of the turbolaser clusters was firing at them. As she evaded the red bolts, she considered her options.

She had to stay until Zekk and Jaina returned. She could hold out that long. Probably.

"You three stay in here, and don't move unless we tell you to," Maya told the children, closing the door to make sure they didn't leave the room. Nova and the others were safe, or as safe as they could be. She knew that Jaina meant for her to stay, too, but she just couldn't. Not when she could help.

Zekk had put in a laser turret like the one on the Falcon. With a grin of anticipation, Maya began to climb the ladder.

The Rock Dragon was under attack. Jaina brought the Lightning Rod in, banishing from her mind the images of Zekk and the children. Their lives were in her hands. She couldn't let them down.

Jaina keyed the comm.

"Are you guys all right?" she asked.

"We could use some help," came Miri's voice through the filter.

"Shields at thirty percent," Tenel Ka's voice came distantly. There was a burst of light, which played over the Rock Dragon's shields.

"Make that twenty," Miri said. "We don't exactly have time to chat. Talk to you later."

"Acknowledged," Jaina said, moving in closer. She wanted to cause as much damage as she could before they escaped. Not for revenge, but just to stop Kanyen before he could hurt anyone else.

It took all of Jaina's concentration to fly the ship and work the weapons. She targeted the cluster where the blasts were coming from, but she couldn't do much against the heavy shielding.

Suddenly, a quick burst of fire joined hers from above. For a moment, she thought it came from the Rock Dragon, but there was no possible way for the other ship to come in at that angle. Besides, she could see it circling around her port side, firing uselessly at the turbolaser cluster. Another blast came from—the laser turret?

Jaina flipped on the comm. "Is somebody up there?"

Maya flipped off the comm, twisting in her seat to get off another shot. It wasn't that different from one of her vid games. Except that things in the game didn't move around so much. How was she supposed to hit anything with Jaina flying the ship all over the place?

Feeling a little guilty, Maya twisted around for another shot, scoring a direct hit but not getting through the shields. She knew she would be in big trouble for disobeying Jaina, but maybe if she did a really good job, she could make up for it.

She got off another shot.

Jaina noted with growing dismay that her shields were failing. One more good hit and they would fail altogether. She flipped on the comm to the laser turret again.

"You can stop now," she said. "We're going into hyperspace." Before she could hear the reply, the star destroyer gained another hit. The ship lurched, throwing Jaina from her seat. Half a dozen alarms started blaring from the control panel. Over the comm, Jaina heard a short, quickly cut off scream that faded into static.