42

Look—he’s coming around,” Barriss’s voice said. It sounded hollow, as if echoing from a well. Jos tried to open his eyes, but white light seared them.

“Zan,” he croaked. “Don’t do this. Don’t die…”

But it was too late. Jos knew that, if he opened his eyes, he would see Zan’s lifeless body lying there on the deck. He didn’t want to see it, not again…

“Jos.” He felt gentle hands on him. “Jos, it’s Barriss. Everything’s all right. Come on back to us.”

Jos opened his eyes. The light wasn’t so bad this time. He blinked and focused on Tolk, who grinned tearfully at him. “Where are we?”

“Sickbay One, on MedStar,” she said.

Jos raised himself on one elbow. “Ow!” His head hurt. He touched the synthflesh bandage on his head. Uli pushed him gently back down. “Easy, hotshot. You’re lucky to be alive. The roof came down on you. You’ve got another concussion.”

“Merit,” Jos whispered. “What happened? Is he—?”

“He’s dead, Jos,” Barriss said gently.

Jos saw Colonel Vaetes and Admiral Kersos standing behind Tolk and Barriss. He said, “Merit was trying to get away. I shot him.”

Vaetes said, “You did the right thing, Jos.”

“Yes,” Uncle Erel added. “You stopped a dangerous enemy agent from escaping, at the risk of your own life.

“When Uli and Security and I got there, we found you unconscious, and Merit dead. He had a hold-out blaster up his sleeve, but he didn’t get the chance to use it. Uli patched you up on the transport.” He raised his right hand in a slow salute. “Well done, Captain.” He lowered the salute and added, “I’m proud of you, nephew.”

“I’m not sure…” Jos said.

“About what?”

“Whether I did it because I knew he was going to cause more death and grief, or…” He trailed off.

“Because of Zan?” Tolk said.

Jos nodded.

“It doesn’t matter. He had to be stopped. You did it. You can work out the rest of it later. We’ll have plenty of time.”

It was true—he did it. He had killed another sentient being. Never mind why, never mind if there was good and proper reason for doing so. He, a doctor, had destroyed a life. Jos knew there would be some sleepless nights for him as a result of that.

But, as Tolk had pointed out, what else could he have done?

Jos started to shake his head in confusion, then groaned. “Easy,” Uli said. “Give the glue a chance to set.”

“And the Rimsoo? What happened?”

“Take a look.” Den’s voice came from nearby. The reporter and I-Five had just entered, and Den was pointing at a viewport. Tolk and Barriss carefully helped Jos to his feet.

The lower quadrant of the southern continent seemed to be on fire—thick clouds of smoke spread in the upper atmosphere, drifting out over the Kondrus Sea.

“Bye-bye, bota,” Den murmured.

Vaetes said, “The Separatists are also on the run. We managed to save most of our troops.”

“How?” Uli asked. “It looked like they were rolling right over us.”

“That’s how,” Vaetes said, pointing to another port. Uli moved to it and looked out. “Whoa!”

Barriss looked through the port at the gigantic, wedge-shaped ship, bristling with weaponry, cruising slowly toward them. “That’s a Republic Star Destroyer,” she said. “Venator-class.”

“The Resolution. Sent here to mop up and escort us back to the Core systems,” the admiral said. “The Battle of Drongar is over. There’s nothing left down there to fight for now. We came out of it with about two metric tons of bota, which our droids are sealing in carbonite as fast as they can. No intel yet on how much the Separatists got.”

“Given the intensity of their saturation bombing, I’d be surprised if they got much,” Vaetes mused.

“I have to lie down now,” Jos said. “I’m a little tired.”

Barriss and Tolk eased him back down on the bed. It felt wonderful. He closed his eyes, and the various conversations around him merged into a faraway buzz, like the sounds of wingstingers and fire gnats on a hot Drongaran night…

Barriss listened to the various conversations around her with half an ear while she mused on the way things had turned out. Two metric tons of unspoiled bota seemed a small reward for all the coin paid in death and pain. She noticed Den watching her, a slight smile on his face, and smiled back.

I-Five moved over to her. “I assume my mission to Coruscant is no longer the priority it was,” he said, “since you’re returning there as well.”

“True. But keep the vial of extract. It’s still a good many parsecs from here to the Core, and much could happen.”

I-Five hesitated. “As you can imagine, I’m not usually prone to saying this. But something impels me—”

“Intuition?” she interrupted, with a smile.

“Perhaps. In any case—may the Force be with you, Jedi Offee.”

She nodded in acknowledgment, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Good luck in your quest, I-Five. May the Force be with you, as well.”

He moved away, and she turned to look through the viewport once more. They were leaving orbit, she saw; already Drongar was receding, as the MedStar frigate, accompanied by the Resolution, moved away into interplanetary space.

Her assignment was over. In a couple of standard days, if all went well, she would once again stand before Master Unduli in the Jedi Temple—this time not as a Padawan, but as a full-fledged Jedi Knight. She wondered what new assignments, what new adventures, awaited her after that.

Whatever they might be, Barriss Offee knew that she would face them, secure in the protective embrace of the living Force.

“Well,” Den said to I-Five, “looks like your trip to Coruscant won’t be costing you that much after all.”

“All it took was the destruction of half a planet. Expensive, if you ask me,” the droid replied. “And what of you, Den Dhur? What’s your destination?”

Den fluttered his dewflaps thoughtfully. “I really ought to be on my way to Sullust. I have a very attractive fem, and her warren-clan, waiting there, you know. They think highly of me on the homeworld.”

“So you’ve said—several times.”

Den sighed. A life of patriarchal reverence and hushed esteem. It had been easy to be nostalgic about his homeworld when he was sweating half his body weight away on Drongar. But now he remembered a major reason why he’d left in the first place: Sullust was boring.

“Then again, Eyar won’t get there for a while yet. No hurry.”

“One could make money in the Southern Underground on Coruscant, if one was, say, in need of a dowry,” I-Five said. “And I wouldn’t mind a partner to keep authorities from worrying over my ownership. Galling as I find such a subterfuge, it’s sometimes necessary.”

Den nodded. There were always easy marks to be found at the sabacc tables in places like the Outlander Club. No harm in making some creds while he thought about Eyar’s offer some more…

He looked up at the droid. “I-Five,” he said, “I think this could be the beginning of a profitable relationship.”