Vision of the future

and retrieving his blaster and holster from the storage niche there.

'You have a plan?' Leia asked, eyeing the blaster.

'Not really,' Han said as he buckled on the holster. 'I'm not going to charge out shooting, if that's what you're worried about. If they wanted us dead, they would have just let us crash.'

'Maybe they think the children are with us,' Leia said, a shiver of unpleasant memories running through her. After all the times her children had been kidnapped or threatened...

'If they do, they're going to be real disappointed,' Han said, his tone deadly. Deliberately, he checked his blaster and shoved it back in the holster. 'And in a lot of trouble, too.' He nodded toward her waist. 'Almost time for the party, hon. Shouldn't you be getting dressed, too?'

'Right,' Leia said, pulling her lightsaber out of her board's storage compartment and hooking it to her belt. Calming her thoughts, she reached out to the Force for strength and wisdom. 'I'm ready.' A minute later they reached the hills; and directly in front of the cave, as Han had predicted, the TIEs slipped into full repulsorlift mode and eased the Falcon smoothly to the ground. They released the grappling mags and reeled them back in, and with practiced ease lined up and began maneuvering one by one into the cave.

'At least that explains how they showed up from nowhere,' Han commented as he shut down what was left of the Falcon's systems. 'Three'll get you the hand pot this is one of Grand Admiral Thrawn's sleeper cells.'

'I always thought those were just a myth,' Leia said, gazing into the darkness of the cave.

'Disinformation the Empire came up with after Thrawn—well, after we thought he was dead.'

'I'm still not convinced he isn't,' Han growled, standing up and stepping back toward the door.

'No point in putting this off. Let's go see what they want.'

One of the reception committee was waiting at the bottom of the ramp as Han unsealed the hatchway. He was a tall man, roughly Han's height and strongly built, with dark eyes and a thick shock of long black hair. 'Hello,' he said, nodding as they started down the ramp. His voice was genial enough, but there was a definite tension in his face and stance. 'Either of you hurt? Councilor, you're bleeding.'

'Just a scratch,' Leia assured him, rubbing at the dried blood. That odd sense she'd felt with the TIE pilots was back again, stronger than ever. 'It's already mostly healed.' The man nodded, some of his black hair dropping across his eyes with the movement. 'Yes, of course. Jedi healing techniques.'

'Where's the rest of your group?' Han asked, glancing around as they reached the bottom of the ramp.

'Checking out your ship,' the man replied, pointing behind them. Leia turned. The others they'd seen waiting were walking around under the Falcon, looking and poking as they assessed the damage. 'That second Korlier did a number on you, didn't it?' the first man continued. 'You're lucky—if he'd rammed you a little higher up, he'd have taken out your power core and probably breached your hull along with it.'

'So those were Korlier Flashships, huh?' Han said, his tone that of one professional exchanging shop talk with another. 'I've heard of them, but never seen one before.'

'They're not very common,' the man agreed. 'But since the Korlier Combine doesn't put serial numbers on any of their models, they're a favorite of people who don't want their identities traced.'

'Sort of just the opposite of TIE interceptors,' Han said pointedly, nodding back toward the cave opening.

The man gave him a bittersweet smile. 'Something like that,' he said. 'My name's Sabmin Devist, by the way. Welcome to Imperial Sleeper Cell Jenth-44.'

'Nice to be here,' Han said with only a hint of sarcasm. 'So what happens now?'

'We talk,' a voice came from their right.

Leia turned. Coming around the side of the Falcon was a man dressed in a TIE pilot's flight suit. About Sabmin's height and build, she noticed, with a shorter version of his same black hair and a well- trimmed beard. 'My name's Carib Devist, Councilor Organa Solo,' he said as he crossed toward Sabmin. 'I'm sort of the spokesman for this group.'

'You're Sabmin's brother?' Leia asked. The family resemblance was obvious. Carib smiled faintly. 'That's what we tell people,' he said. 'Actually...' He stepped to Sabmin's side. 'Seeing as you're a Jedi, I don't suppose it'll take you long.' Leia frowned, wondering what he was getting at. The two of them just stood there, watching her, Sabmin's hair rustling in the breeze...

And then, abruptly, it hit her. Sabmin, Carib—