EPILOGUE

Later, after the others had left the room, Jos Vondar and Tolk le Trene held each other and watched the starfield through the viewport as the ship left the Drongan system. “You’re sure you want to do this?” she asked.

He nodded. “I’m sure. Are you?”

She grinned. “Where you go, I go. Just promise me that I don’t have to be the cook or the maid.”

“If it gets too tough, we won’t stay,” Jos said. “I won’t make you live the life of a pariah. But I owe it to my family—and to you—to at least try.”

A voice came from behind them. “You’ll have one family member on your side, at least.” Surprised, Jos turned to see Great-Uncle Erel smiling at them from the doorway.

“I’ve requested reassignment to Borellos Base on Corellia,” he said. “If you can go back there and face this prejudice down, Jos, I can hardly do less.”

Jos stared incredulously. “You’re serious?”

“Absolutely. I’ve spent practically my entire life alone. Now that I’ve finally found some family, I’m not going to give it up.”

Tolk hugged him. “Welcome home, then, Uncle Erel.”

And, looking at the two of them, his betrothed and his uncle, Jos realized that, in one respect at least, all the fighting and hunting done on Drongar for the miracle drug of the age had been pointless. Because the real panacea for the troubles that plagued humanity or any other sentient species, organic, cybernetic, clone or otherwise, had already been discovered, millennia ago, back when sentients still peered suspiciously up at the stars. Call it the Force, call it love, call it what you will—Jos knew that it could be found, not in the swamps of a distant world, but in the unexplored reaches of the heart.

The comm crackled. A voice warned them to prepare for the jump to hyperspace. Jos took Tolk’s hand as the ship’s hyperdrive activated, and then they hurtled away from the Rim, toward the bright center of the galaxy.