Chapter VI

As he entered the open space, Jacen saw the crouched forms of several of the high officials that had been trapped here and waved in their direction. He caught a smile from Cal Omas, but that was about all the greeting they gave him. In a corner of his mind, the young Jedi felt some of what his sister was going thru but shunted it aside so that he could concentrate on the matter at hand. Clearing the debris and shoring up the ceiling, Jacen soon reached the spot the others were at. "How are you doing?" Solo asked.

"Well enough," Omas said, "One of the delegates has been injured and I'm not sure about the rest of those in here." Jacen stretched out with the Force, detecting living beings nearby. "I've opened a route you can escape on," he said, "It will be slow going and by no means easy, but you can make it." Several of the beings there rose at that and followed the path he had indicated. Cal stayed, his eyes troubled. "You wish to help my search?" Jacen said. "Yes, of course," the other said absently as they made their way deeper.

Periodically, Solo would find some pocket in which a victim of the blast had been contained and free them. The deeper they went, the more they found that hadn't made it through. Although used to war after all these years, Jacen had hoped like most that they could get beyond that for a time at least. Perhaps chaos is inevitable in the days of our lives, Solo reflected. Certainly his parents hadn't been without trouble over their time together. "There's someone over there," Omas said suddenly, moving around one column to a portion of the building that was all but gone.

"I don't sense anything," Jacen said as he followed the politician. Nevertheless, there were others in this direction so he didn't object to the change in course. Cal bent over a fallen stanchion, where a figure lay trapped beneath the debris. One look at the being there told Jacen much, though he could hardly believe what his eyes showed him. Cal shook his head in dismay as the alien shuddered once and lay still.

Now unable to answer questions, the mere presence of this one individual would spark debate throughout the Alliance once the news got out. This wasn't something either of them could keep secret, much as they might like to. The implications were just too frightening, despite the fact that many would conclude that the dead intruder was behind the attack without any facts to base that upon. "What was one of the Yuuzhan Vong doing here?" Omas said. "We'll never know now," Jacen said, tempted to destroy the evidence.

But the consequences of doing that would be to only delay the inevitable. Solo caught the sound of a soft moan nearby and realized that he'd been so focused on the discovery that he'd forgotten to continue their hunt. Stretching out again with his feelings, Jacen began tossing aside the material until he freed the man. The stranger was middle-aged, only a little older than his father and with a faraway look on his face as the young man assisted him to his feet.

"Thank you," he said, brushing himself off, "I thought I'd never get out of there." "Happy to oblige," Jacen said as the building shuddered and in the distance he heard more rubble start to fall, "We need to get out of here while we still can." The man nodded, and glanced at the prone form behind him. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked fearfully. "We'll have time to talk about that later," Omas advised him, "Let's move."

The trio exited as quickly as they could, with Jacen using the Force and his lightsaber to assist their flight. The sense of those they had yet to save was fading and the young Jedi suspected it was already too late for them. Reaching the open, they spotted the other escapees under the watchful eyes of Belindi Kalenda. She spotted them and smiled ruefully at the sight of Omas. "I thought you might run off like that," Kalenda said, sizing up the other man who was with them.

"I don't remember authorizing your access to this site," she said, narrowing her eyes at the man. "I did that," Cal explained, "He's the representative from Jasque and was undergoing his introduction to our procedures when the attack came." The man smiled and said, "Jonas Rianes at your service." "I seem to recall somebody by that name referred to in a file regarding the unauthorized visit of Captain Solo and Master Skywalker to Fondor during the height of the Rebellion," Belindi said.

"That was a long time ago," Rianes said, "Besides, I believe we have more important matters to discuss." Kalenda frowned and said, "Such as?" "We found someone inside who shouldn't have been there," Jacen said, "I don't think we'll want the news to get out." "Why not?" Jonas countered, "If they have so blatantly violated the agreement we have as we suspect, then we should prepare for further assaults." "I'm sure my young friend wishes to avoid a panic, that's all," Omas said.

"Surely you don't suggest that it would be unwise to tell your chief of Intelligence about this," the man said, "After all there is still that matter I came here to discuss." "What would that be?" Solo asked. "As you may know," Rianes told him, "A powerful weapon was forged and unleashed in the recent war that has had drastic repercussions on our dealings with the invaders. Sometimes it had unexpected side effects and my world was one of those that suffered because of it. I am seeking redress of the harm the Alliance has done to my people or I am authorized by my government to repay you for what you have done."

"I'm not sure I understand you," Belindi said. "Quite simply put, ma'am," Jonas said, "I hold what you call Alpha Red in my power and am more than willing to use it if you will not. Especially considering what we found in there." "You're suggesting that you would perpetrate genocide against us if we don't agree to your terms?!" Jacen said in horror. "It is not a choice I relish, but it is one I have been forced to make," the other told him, "Like it or not, your problems have only begun."