It was the first time Niner had dared say her name for ages. In fact, he wasn't sure he'd said it at all since the night she was killed. Her death hung over him and Darman like a permanent pall of smoke that they could both see but never mentioned, because its presence was so overwhelmingly obvious.

Dar shut his eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How am I going to keep him safe? What if the Jedi come back?"

"If they ever do, they'll have to find him first, and then they'll have to get past Skirata.

And the Nulls. And me me."

The longer they waited to escape the less urgent it seemed, except for the fact that Kad was growing up without his parents. Niner wavered between looking forward to a new life and fearing that he'd waste it because he wouldn't know what to do with it.

"What did they do with her body?" Darman asked. A dam seemed to have burst, spilling out questions that must have been eating him alive. "I don't know where she is.

Did they take her? I can't get it out of my head. I don't even know how to find out."

It seemed as good a time as any to tell him.

"I'll ask Ordo," Niner said.

Darman looked up very slowly. "You're in touch with the Nulls."

"Yes."

"When were you planning to tell me that, ner vod? ner vod? " Darman hadn't been told he had a son for eighteen months. He didn't take kindly to being kept in the dark, and Skirata had the scars to prove it. "That explains a lot." " Darman hadn't been told he had a son for eighteen months. He didn't take kindly to being kept in the dark, and Skirata had the scars to prove it. "That explains a lot."

"No, it doesn't-"

"I knew it. You've been acting weird."

"I swear they only made contact today. That's why we're standing here now."

Darman wasn't catching on fast enough. "Cut the osik osik. Tell me."

"They've come to get us out."

Darman's gaze flickered. "They're taking a big risk."

Skirata always talked about cage-farmed nuna. It was hard to set them free, he said, because they'd been born in a cage and bars were all they knew. They'd often scuttle back to the cage when set loose, as if the sheer scale of the open fields overwhelmed them.

Niner thought he saw that nuna look on Dar's face.

"That's why we need to get moving," he said. "We've got a few hours yet." He tapped his helmet. "Jaing seems to have a hundred ways of getting into government systems. The man's inventive inventive."

"Okay," Darman said again. "Can I talk to him? Can I talk to Ordo? Why did he contact you, and not me?"

It didn't take a mind reader to work out what Darman wanted to ask.

"His spy couldn't find your helmet to slip the comlink in," Niner said. "You want me to ask him...about Etain?"

Darman put his helmet back on. "Yeah. Do that. Thanks. Look, I better go meet Rede.

Ennen's not up to being sociable yet."

Niner watched him go, and realized that losing a wife was a different kind of grief.

Mourning a brother killed in action was bad, and it never got any easier; commandos just found ways to cope with it day by day, and Ennen would, too. But there was no expectation of definite events in a shared life, none of the stuff that a couple assumed would happen to them-having kids, seeing those kids grow up and have kids of their own, and finally growing old together. Things that Darman had started to expect would happen to him would now never take place, even if he married again. The future with Etain had been glimpsed before a door had slammed shut. That somehow seemed even more cruel than just missing a brother in that general he's-not-there kind of way.

Niner put his helmet on and activated the comlink, still wary and half expecting to be intercepted. "Ordo, you there?"

"Receiving, ner vod ner vod."

"Darman needs to know what happened to Etain's body."

Ordo was silent for a few moments, as if he'd had to think about it.

"We took her back to Mandalore, and she was cremated in keeping with her custom."

"Jedi custom."

" Kal'buir Kal'buir wanted it." Ordo sounded almost ashamed. "Her ashes haven't been scattered. We're waiting for Darman to come home." wanted it." Ordo sounded almost ashamed. "Her ashes haven't been scattered. We're waiting for Darman to come home."

Niner felt a familiar ache behind his eyes and shut them tight until the feeling passed.

"I'll let him know. Niner out."

Back at the mess hall, Darman and Ennen sat huddled at a table with a clone who had to be Rede. It was hard to explain to randomly conceived beings, but despite looking almost identical, this man was a stranger. The sameness got filtered out, leaving only the small variations-lines, gestures, tone of voice-as distinguishing features. Niner hadn't got the measure of Rede's yet.

And he was one year old one year old. More or less.

Almost everything he knew, and every skill he had, was the result of flash learning. He just hadn't been alive long enough to undergo any of the basic training that took up the first years of a Kamino clone's life. He was going to have a tough time in special operations.

" Sergeant. Sergeant. " Rede sat bolt-upright. "Trooper TK Seven-zero-five-five-eight, Sergeant." " Rede sat bolt-upright. "Trooper TK Seven-zero-five-five-eight, Sergeant."

"You'll probably end up calling me Niner." He sat down. "Small-squad habits. Did you volunteer?"

"No, Sergeant. Aptitude assessment."

"But how do you feel about joining us?" The lad had to learn that he was free to say what was on his mind. "Happy? Annoyed? Upset at being separated from your old buddies?"

Rede paused as if it was a trick question.

"I'll miss them," he said. "But it's an honor to serve in the Five-oh-first, especially in the commando corps."

Honor wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Niner knew just how it felt to start over in a completely new squad among complete strangers. "Fair enough. Can you shoot better than the other Centax guys?"

"We can always use more range time."

Good attitude. Niner was aware of Ennen frowning at him. "So what do you think our overall objective is?" Niner was aware of Ennen frowning at him. "So what do you think our overall objective is?"

"To neutralize insurgents, political agitators, and other security threats seeking to destabilize the new government, Sergeant."

It sounded like something Rede had learned. Poor kid; how could anyone cram enough into a human being in one year to make them functional but without turning them into basket cases? It still didn't sound right to Niner. And now there was a whole army of beings below him in the victims league. He wasn't sure if that made him feel better or much, much worse.

"I'll ask you that again in six months, if you're still with us," Niner said.

Ennen drained his cup of caf and got up. "If we're still alive."

Rede looked to Niner with an expression of grim anticipation, as if he was expecting some guidance. "What do we do now, Sarge?"

Sarge wasn't wasn't Niner Niner, but it was a start. Niner felt a pang of guilt that he wasn't going to be around to look after Rede. He just hoped Ennen would latch on to him in the days to come. It was hard to look the guy in the eye and make reassuring noises when Niner knew he'd be gone by tomorrow morning.

"We start planning the next mission," he said. "Ennen, show Rede his locker and bunk.

I've got an errand to run and then I'll join you. Dar? I want a word."

He made it sound as if he was going to give Darman a private dressing-down. Like all lies, he didn't enjoy it much, but it was temporary, because by this time tomorrow they'd be on their way to Mandalore, or even making themselves at home in Kyrimorut.

Niner had never seen Mandalore. It was weird to have a spiritual home he'd never visited, and a real real hometown-Tipoca City-that he never wanted to visit again unless he was dropping in to bomb it back into the sea. hometown-Tipoca City-that he never wanted to visit again unless he was dropping in to bomb it back into the sea.

He walked out onto one of the barracks landing platforms with Darman and leaned on the safety rail, staring out into the forest of towers and apartment blocks whose foundations were more than a kilometer below. He'd never noticed there were so many surveillance holocams in the city before. Once they'd been a useful source of information; now they were a threat.

And he was sure sure there were more cams installed than there'd been six months ago. there were more cams installed than there'd been six months ago.

"Dar, I spoke to Ordo," he said. "When you get home, there's something you'll need to do...something you'll want to do first, I think..."

Niner tried to imagine what it would feel like to hold the ashes of someone you loved, whether that gave closure or just ripped open wounds that hadn't even begun to heal. If it was him- If it was him him, he'd just see how little life had left him with.

CHAPTER NINE.

I take nothing for granted. The Empire may well have millions of troops, but it is still a fragile thing, still in its infancy, and there will always be those who want to overthrow it. fragile thing, still in its infancy, and there will always be those who want to overthrow it.

But they will look ahead to the time when they are powerful enough to do so; they have no idea that their best time to strike is now, while I have still to consolidate my power. As no idea that their best time to strike is now, while I have still to consolidate my power. As always, the ignorance and apathy of the populace works in my favor. always, the ignorance and apathy of the populace works in my favor.

Emperor Palpatine, to his secretary droid Kyrimorut, Mandalore Skirata could hear someone having a furious argument with General Zey, distant and muffled. But Zey was already dead, and that fact bothered him so much that he decided he had to be dreaming.

He was. He woke up in the chair but the yelling went on, because it was real. There was a brawl in progress. It took him a couple of moments to surface and work out that one of the voices was a woman's.

Shab, Jilka's finally snapped with Besany...

He scrambled to his feet and ran down the passage, nearly tripping over Mird as they met halfway. If there were intruders, the strill would have ripped them apart: so this trouble was domestic.

"Menav nil Menav ni, taan!"

Jilka didn't speak Mando'a Mando'a-no, it wasn't Mando'a Mando'a, it was Concordian. That was Arla screaming blue murder and demanding to be let go. Skirata flung open the door to the rear lobby, instinctively letting his knife slip from his sleeve into his right hand. He found Jusik holding a wild-eyed Arla in an arm-lock.

Now Skirata could see see she was Jango's sister. Her eyes had that same insatiable, wounded anger. she was Jango's sister. Her eyes had that same insatiable, wounded anger.

"Sorry, Kal'buir Kal'buir." Jusik's face was streaked with bleeding scratches. Arla froze, panting as if she was getting her second wind. "It was all I could do to get her back in here without breaking something."

" Shab Shab," Skirata leaned out of the door and yelled. " Mij'ika Mij'ika? Mij'ika Mij'ika, you awake?

Medic! " "

Arla elbowed Jusik in the chest the moment he slackened his grip. "You stay away from me, Mando," she spat. "I'll cut your kriffing throat. I promise promise you. And you, Granddad, you come anywhere near me and I'll gut you." you. And you, Granddad, you come anywhere near me and I'll gut you."

Skirata could hear the clatter of boots approaching. Arla jerked her head back into Jusik's face with a loud thwack thwack. The next second, she went completely limp and Jusik lowered her carefully to the floor, blood trickling from his nose. Skirata wasn't sure if she'd stunned herself or simply collapsed. Gilamar appeared in the doorway with his medic's bag and looked from Skirata to Jusik and back again.

"She'll be okay," Jusik said. He wiped his nose on the back of his hand. "It doesn't hurt. Ask Ruu."

"What?"

"Force stun. Sorry, but I had to do it." Mird wandered over to sniff Arla and lick her face, but she was out cold. "It's kinder than breaking her wrist."

Skirata tended to forget just what a range of combat skills Jusik held in reserve. "I don't think that would have stopped her. What happened?"

"I found her wandering outside, really agitated, and when I tried to get her to come back indoors, she went berserk and took a chunk of wood to me. She certainly knows how to scrap."

Gilamar held a hypospray up to the light to check it, then squatted over Arla to jab it into her arm. "This is what comes of stopping her meds abruptly," he said. "Now I know why they dosed her up to the eyeballs. I've got to find something to replace the sebenodone and taper the dose off properly."

"You can translate that into Basic for me sometime," Skirata said. He beckoned to Jusik and examined his injuries. His nose was bent slightly to one side. "Is this going to keep happening? I can't help but hear Vau telling me he told me so."

"Just because she's a convicted murderer, it doesn't mean this episode is her normal behavior," Gilamar said. "She's coming off a tranquilizer that would paralyze a Hutt, she's traumatized, and she's scared. There's nothing to suggest we can't get her past this stage."

"I feel so much better knowing that," Skirata said. Yes, it was his idea-and Jusik's-to spring her from the asylum, knowing full well that her file said murderer murderer. He'd killed more than once himself, so he couldn't get too sniffy about anyone else's criminal record.

"Just how dangerous is she?"

"Dangerous enough." Jusik submitted to a cold-pack on his nose, and stood with his head tilted slightly back. Gilamar tilted it forward again. "I can't keep wrestling her like this."

"Well, first thing we do is lock the doors, and put a lock on her room, for everyone's safety," Skirata said. This was a complication he didn't need, but he was stuck with it now.

"You okay, son?"

"I'll live."

Everyone had woken up now and came to see what the commotion was about. A small crowd assembled at the door, led by Fi and Vau.

"Let's move her," Fi said. He and Parja didn't seem remotely surprised. Skirata had to admire his family's ability to take absolutely anything in stride. "Don't want her regaining consciousness with a crowd around her, do we?"

Vau shook his head. "Told you so."

"Yeah...so you did." Skirata had to look away as Gilamar eased Jusik's nose back into line. He felt felt that pain as the cartilage moved back into place with a definite that pain as the cartilage moved back into place with a definite shlick shlick sound. sound.

"But we can't dump her back on a medcenter, and even if we find any Fett kinfolk on Concord Dawn, they won't be able to cope with her in this state. So we need a solution."