His one-time Master had probably escaped before the jump, though Saes figured it was possible that he could still be aboard.

Saes reached out with the Force and tried to feel Relin's presence, but picked up nothing. Of course, he knew Relin could mask his presence when he wished. Saes tapped his bleeding finger against his jaw horn. Llerd watched him, frozen, as if hypnotized by the motion.

"Colonel Llerd?"

Llerd came back to himself. "Sir?"

"Have security perform a room-by-room sweep of the ship. We may still have a Jedi aboard."

"Yes, sir."

Saes sat in the command chair, issuing orders and letting his surviving crew do the work of resurrecting Harbinger. One by one its systems came back online.

"Scanners operational," said Llerd at last. His tone sharpened. "Picking up a ship, sir. Odd signature. Viewscreen coming online."

A white line formed in the center of the screen, expanded to show the black of space and stars, a nearby ringed gas giant, and a small ship shimmering in the glow of the system's orange sun.

"Magnify the ship," Saes said.

The image centered on the ship and expanded. A flattened disk, with an ancillary vessel attached to it side. He saw no obvious weapons. Not a warship, then. Saes had never seen a ship of its make before.

"That is one of our escape pods," Llerd said, pointing. "There, aft."

Saes rose from his seat, understanding instantly what it meant. Relin had escaped Harbinger in a pod right after the jump and was now rendezvousing with his Jedi allies.

"Close on that ship and fire main batteries, Colonel. Bring it down."

"Weapons are still offline, sir."

Saes clutched the edge of his seat, unable to take his eyes from the ship and the pod. He would not let Relin escape again, not again.

"Scramble two squadrons of Blades. I want that ship on fire."

As Khedryn, Relin, and Jaden hurried toward the bridge, Marr's voice rang out from Khedryn's comlink.

"Incoming, Captain. Sixteen fighters have launched from the cruiser."

"You must be kidding me!" Khedryn said. He looked at Jaden and Relin as if it were their fault, and Jaden supposed it was. "This started as a kriffing sabacc game!"

"Saes must suspect I am here," Relin said matter-of-factly.

"Then leave," Khedryn said, but recovered himself almost instantly. "I do not mean that. Sorry. I've no love for Sith. Especially really old ones." He spoke into his communicator. "Plot a jump, Marr. This is unsafe sky for rascals."

"No!" Jaden and Relin said as one.

That stopped Khedryn in his steps, and he turned to face them. "No?"

"I have to get down to that moon, Khedryn," Jaden said.

"And I need to stop Harbinger," Relin said.

Khedryn looked at them as if they were crazed. "You heard sixteen, yes?" To Relin he said, "The Battle of Kirrek already happened." To Jaden he added, "And that moon isn't going anywhere."

"Cruiser's on the move, too," Marr said.

"You hear?" Khedryn asked, eyebrows raised.

Jaden heard desperation in his own voice and made no effort to hide it. "The Force directed me here. I cannot leave until I see what's on that moon."

"Maybe you were sent here just to find Relin," Khedryn said, obviously hoping that would convince him. "Maybe you've both already done what you're supposed to do."

Jaden shook his head. Relin joined him.

"This is incidental," Jaden said.

"Incidental?" Khedryn responded. "That's what you call this? You are both madmen. Worse than fanatics. Those haunted eyes." He shook his head, paced a few steps, snapped into his comlink. "Marr, can we outrun them without jumping?"

"Outrun them to where, Captain?"

"Good question," Khedryn mumbled to himself. He looked to Jaden and Relin. "Ideas?"

Jaden did not hesitate. "We use the rings for cover. Scanners will never find us and the fighters will not follow."

"That's because we'll be space dust," Khedryn said. "Last time I tried, I wasn't able to walk between raindrops. So unless you can-"

"I can," Jaden said. "And I'll pilot Junker." Seeing Khedryn's hesitation, he said, "I can do it, Captain."

"Force-piloting?" Relin asked, one eyebrow raised.

Jaden nodded.

"Stang, man," Khedryn said, shifting on his feet. "Stang."

"Still closing," Marr said, his voice somehow staying placid. "Orders, Captain? Sitting still seems unwise."

"You think?" Khedryn snapped. He stared at Jaden. Finally he said, "Head into the rings, Marr. Ahead full until we hit them, then Jaden gets the stick."

A long hesitation. "Flying into the rings is madness, Captain."

"Yes. It seems to be going around. Just do it."

Jaden thumped Khedryn on the shoulder. "I appreciate the trust."

Relin said, "You said you have no weapons, but what do you have?"

"Nothing. A tractor beam mount on the rear. We use it for towing derelicts."

"Take me to it."

"What do you have in mind?" Jaden asked him.

"Perhaps nothing. But perhaps something. Jaden… Harbinger's captain and I have a personal connection. The fighters will follow you into the rings."

"Understood."

"Nearing the rings," Marr said. "The fighters are fast, Captain."

"They're kriffin' antiques! How can they be fast?"

"Antiques? I don't under-"

"Never mind, Marr. Jaden is on his way up."

Jaden thumped Khedryn on the shoulder again. "I'll be sure to get a piece of Marr's chewstim."

"Get two."

The Blades poured out of Harbinger's belly and swooped into view on the viewscreen, streaking toward the Jedi ship. The ship turned, its engines flared blue, and it accelerated toward the gas giant's rings.

"Where is he running to? The rings?" Llerd asked. "There's not much room to fly in there."

Saes watched the Blades bear down on the ship. "If he goes into the rings, order the Blades to pursue. I want that ship destroyed. He will try to jump if we allow him to clear the planet's gravity well. The Blades are not to allow that."

Llerd did not hesitate. "Yes, sir."

Saes turned to 8L6, the replacement science droid. "I want a course back to Primus Goluud as soon as possible. And I want a subspace transmission on the ship-to-ship frequency. See if you can raise Omen."

He doubted he was anywhere near Omen, but he needed to confirm.

"Captain, I am getting very odd readings," said 8L6.

Saes leaned forward in his chair. "Specify."

"Astronavigation is unconnected to Harbinger's base chrono."

The words pulled Saes away from his chair to 8L6's side. He made sure Llerd was occupied before continuing the conversation. "How can that be?"

"Unknown, but standard astronavigational markers are not where they should be given the time."

Saes studied the readings for himself. Everything was out of place. "Something fouled the ship's chrono. Double-check it."

"I ran several diagnostics before bringing this to your attention. The chrono is functioning correctly."

A nervous tingle moved up Saes's spine. "Then you have mislocated us in space. Astronavigation was damaged."

"I have located our new position with ninety-nine point nine nine percent confidence. I know where we are."

The implication of the words hung in the space between them, unmarked on 8L6's expressionless face. Saes's yellow eyes reflected off the droid's surface, stared back at him.

Saes spoke in a low tone and asked the question, though he already knew the answer. "What are you saying, Elsix?"

The droid, too, spoke in a quiet tone. "I am saying that given our position, my long-range astronavigation scans strongly suggest that significant time has passed since we entered hyperspace."