"You could do a lot worse, Jilka. Clones value the things we take for granted. They never expected to have any of them."

Ny was surprised by the rebuke, but Jilka didn't snap back. She went on chopping, eyes fixed on the table. Atin came in carrying a plastoid bowl full of gleaming freshly caught fish.

"Kaminoans eat fish, don't they?" he said, as if he was having second thoughts. "I never asked back in Tipoca. We didn't eat with them."

Laseema picked up a fish by its tail. "Did you gut them properly?"

"Of course I did. And it's going to take me ages to get the smell off my hands."

"You're a darling. Now all I need is some gihaal gihaal stock to poach them in." stock to poach them in."

"You know that's what Dad and the boys call the Kaminoans, don't you?" Ruu spooned the dried pieces into a jug. " Gihaal Gihaal. Fishmeal. When they're not calling them aiwha-bait, that is."

Jilka seemed unmoved by the odor, but then her tax enforcement duties brought her into contact with a lot of Hutts. "Well, we can make some ironic broth, then. Gihaal Gihaal for for gihaal gihaal."

"Twenty-five gihaal gihaal broths, coming up. Or however many it is." broths, coming up. Or however many it is."

"None for Fi." Laseema tasted it, frowning. "He can't stomach it after what happened to Ko Sai."

Jilka gave Ny a look that said tell me what happened tell me what happened, but she decided that could wait a few months. The woman was unhappy enough as it was.

"Okay, so how many have have we got tonight?" Laseema checked quantities on her datapad. "Are Cov's squad in or out at Rav Bralor's place? How about Levet? Uthan-is she staying in her room, or what? Arla won't come out, I know." we got tonight?" Laseema checked quantities on her datapad. "Are Cov's squad in or out at Rav Bralor's place? How about Levet? Uthan-is she staying in her room, or what? Arla won't come out, I know."

"I know we couldn't leave her in the asylum," Ruu said, "but did anyone think how the poor woman would feel about being surrounded by strange men in Mando armor?"

"But we're not the Death Watch," Besany said. She'd fallen into the role of alpha female by virtue of being Ordo's wife. "We're not the ones who killed her family."

"And she's not Mando." Ruu seemed to have embraced her father's culture despite the long separation. "She's from Concord Dawn. Not the same thing. Jango joined us, but she never got the chance. Everyone Everyone probably looks like Death Watch to her." probably looks like Death Watch to her."

Laseema arranged the fish in a pan and set them on the stove. "Do you think she knows Jango survived?"

"I don't think she even knows what day it is. Bard'ika Bard'ika's the only one who can talk to her. And you, Laseema."

"Maybe that's because Bardan doesn't look like her brother, and Laseema's a Twi'lek,"

Jilka said. "Arla's got got to notice the family resemblance in the clones, even if she never saw Jango as an adult." to notice the family resemblance in the clones, even if she never saw Jango as an adult."

"That must be upsetting her even more." Laseema arranged tidbits on a tray with a few flowers. Arla certainly never got touches like that in the Valorum Center. "And I don't so much talk to to her as her as at at her-just odd words. Maybe she doesn't understand much Basic." her-just odd words. Maybe she doesn't understand much Basic."

Ny had to remind herself that Arla Fert had been banged up in a secure mental unit because she murdered a few men, and a court decided she might kill more. But everyone here seemed to assume she had her reasons until proven otherwise. It was a bafflingly Mando attitude. Skirata never seemed to worry that the men of Kyrimorut were at risk.

"Gosh, it's going to be a fun evening," Jilka muttered. "My family had dinners like this on Republic Day. No serial killers, of course, although we were never entirely sure a bout Uncle Tobiaz."

Ny thought that summed it up pretty well. The atmosphere around that huge veshok table was sliceable sliceable, although not for the reasons she expected. Skirata looked lost and upset. She'd expected to find him being dragged off Kina Ha, knife in hand. But it was Ordo and Mereel-those two always paired up when they smelled trouble-who looked grim and disapproving. Kina Ha sat next to Atin. Ny decided to sit on the other side of her and offer moral support.

"I'll make the introductions." Skirata's voice was husky, as if he'd been swallowing unshed tears. "Kina Ha, Scout-this is my family, and my guests." He pointed out who was who, who was married to who, who should should have been married if only they'd get on with it, and who the guests were. Dr. Uthan was introduced as a have been married if only they'd get on with it, and who the guests were. Dr. Uthan was introduced as a friend friend concerned for the clones' health. Skirata had a talent for sly euphemism. concerned for the clones' health. Skirata had a talent for sly euphemism.

But something had knocked the stuffing out of him, and Ny guessed that it was Scout rather than Kina Ha.

Little Kad, Kad'ika Kad'ika, sat on Jusik's lap for a change, staring at the two Jedi. He was around eighteen months old now, walking and talking, but with an unsettling tendency to just pause and study things in a way that looked too adult. He held his toy nerf in one hand, its fur charred from his mother's funeral pyre. Ny found it heartbreaking that this tiny kid had put it on there. She tried to work out if he felt cheated that Skirata had rescued it from the flames, that he'd been denied the chance to give his mother a farewell offering, but he refused to be parted from the toy now. Skirata had planned to keep it for when Kad was older and could understand its significance. That plan had lasted a few hours.

The baby already knew. Ny could see it.

Kad never asked where Etain was, or when Mama was coming home. As soon as Skirata showed him her body, he seemed to understand perfectly that she was never coming back, so now he kept asking where Dada Dada was. Sometimes he said was. Sometimes he said Boo Boo, asking for his buir buir, the Mando'a Mando'a word that could mean mother or father. But Ny doubted he was asking about Etain. He was just picking up the language he now heard most often. He wanted Darman. word that could mean mother or father. But Ny doubted he was asking about Etain. He was just picking up the language he now heard most often. He wanted Darman.

Kad stared at Scout as if he knew her, then shook his head.

"He's very cute," Scout said. "I feel that the Force is stronger in him than in me, but that's not saying much. I have to do most things the hard way. I'm not much of a Jedi."

"Kad's mother wasn't strong in the Force, either," Skirata said, "and she was a terrific terrific Jedi." Jedi."

Ny caught Ordo's eye and saw that slight raise of the eyebrow. He was fiercely protective of his father, always ready to intervene. But it was Jusik who stepped in.

"Kina Ha, I've never heard of another Force-sensitive Kaminoan," he said. "May I ask a very personal question? Did they try to engineer your bloodline to maximize midi-chlorians?"

Ko Sai had been excited to get her hands on blood and tissue samples from Etain and Kad. It was an obvious question to ask when it was clear that Kamino had its own Jedi test subject all the time.

"Oh no, not at all," Kina Ha said. She sounded like a Kuati dowager duchess, imposing and matriarchal, even with that misleadingly gentle Kaminoan voice. "My Force abilities seemed most unexpected and most unwanted. I was bred for longevity longevity, for deep-space missions. We never carried out those missions, of course, so there I was, something of an embarrassment embarrassment, and the only one of my kind-I didn't fit the standard at all. So I felt it best to leave. As a species, we learned to fear too much diversity because controlling our genome was the way we survived the flooding of our world. A one-off one-off, as you might call it, looks very much like a threat."

Kad's gaze was now fixed on Kina Ha. He didn't even blink. Jusik carried on.

"If Ko Sai was so interested in midi-chlorians, then, why did she seem to have no record of you?"

"Bardan." Kina Ha sounded as if she'd known him all her life. "This was all a very very long time ago, long time ago, centuries centuries ago, and I suspect that my particular genetic records were erased before Kamino became such an ago, and I suspect that my particular genetic records were erased before Kamino became such an industrial industrial clonemaster. I'm not the kind of relative you would want the neighbors to know about." She almost laughed, a strange bird-like trill. "I do enjoy human holovids, as you can tell. I've had a great deal of time on my hands to watch them." clonemaster. I'm not the kind of relative you would want the neighbors to know about." She almost laughed, a strange bird-like trill. "I do enjoy human holovids, as you can tell. I've had a great deal of time on my hands to watch them."

The clones sat completely still, watching Kina Ha like snipers. Ordo wasn't even eating. They seemed mesmerized by a being who was nothing like the Kaminoans they'd grown up with.

"I have a lot of questions for you," Jusik said. "But I'm stopping you from enjoying your meal."

"It's very good fish broth," Kina Ha said. "I confess that I hadn't expected hospitality."

"We didn't expect you to laugh," Mereel muttered.

"None of us meets the other's expectations, then." She reached past Ny and put her long three-fingered hand on Atin's arm. "I saw you, young man. Not as you are now, but I had a vision centuries ago that Kamino would unwittingly create a clone army for the dark side. They created so many clone armies, of course, a foolish and terrible thing to do anyway, so who was to say which one would be the army of my vision? So here we are, both of us unaware of the nature of those who used us."

"We know now," Fi said. "I don't suppose you can tell me the winning numbers for next week's Corellian lotto, can you?"

Fi always knew when and how to defuse a tense moment. Kina Ha looked him right in the eye with the dignity of immense age.

"Ten...fourteen...eighty-four...sixteen."

Fi and Corr laughed. So did Jusik. Ny tried to look at Skirata as casually as she could, checking how he was holding up, but it was Uthan who diverted her attention. The scientist seemed fascinated, watching like a stalking tusk-cat. She just couldn't take her eyes off Kina Ha.

Ny wondered if Uthan saw a fascinating old being, or a product full of genetic puzzles.

It was an interesting reversal of roles for a species that saw humans as their top product line.

"Master Skirata," Kina Ha said, "you said there would be a price for your generous protection. I would like to know what it is, in case I can't afford it. Not fortunetelling, I hope? I'm very vague vague."

Skirata looked up as if he'd suddenly started paying attention. "Well, I was hoping for some fortune changing changing. Your compatriots designed my boys to live half a life. They age at double the normal human rate. I think that's unfair, all things considered."

"I agree. I take no pride in Kamino's capacity to manufacture slaves, whether they be soldiers or factory hands."

"I see you've briefed briefed her, Ny..." Skirata muttered. her, Ny..." Skirata muttered.

Ny had already worked out why Skirata had agreed to let the Jedi come here. She had no illusions. He'd made it clear from the start; his boys' needs came first, and he'd do whatever it took to slow their decline.

"Never said a word, Shortie." Ny steeled herself to taste the broth. It was much better than it smelled. "The lady thinks for herself."

"Then we live in an age of miracles." Skirata sounded as if he'd rehearsed being nice and didn't want to let the facade slip. "Kina Ha, Dr. Uthan is a geneticist and microbiologist, and maybe some other ologist I don't know about, and she's trying to put my boys' body clocks back to normal. Taking a look at some tissue samples from you might give her a clue about how to undo Ko Sai's maturation process."

"You don't want the secret of eternal life, then."

"No, I don't. But you're not immortal, by the looks of it."

"Well spotted." She glanced at Jusik. "And you're quite capable of taking what you want from me, by the Force or by force."

"Is that a no no?" Skirata asked.

"Merely remarking that you asked first, and I think the request is reasonable. It is is unfair. Beings are not commodities to be designed and marketed." unfair. Beings are not commodities to be designed and marketed."

Skirata let out a little bark of a laugh. "I bet they loved your freethinking attitude in Tipoca. Shame you weren't on the Jedi Council, too." He inclined his head in a bow, and Ny decided it was genuine. " Vor'e Vor'e. Thank you."

Skirata went on eating, gazing down into his broth as if he was ashamed. He'd managed not to call Kina Ha aiwha-bait aiwha-bait, or lecture her on the evils of commercial cloning-so far. Ny wondered if he felt he'd betrayed his principles by compromising with both a Jedi and a Kaminoan.

How would I have handled what he saw on Kamino all those years? Look at Ordo, or Mereel. They'll never be normal. How can I expect Kal to forgive Kaminoans for that? Mereel. They'll never be normal. How can I expect Kal to forgive Kaminoans for that?

Or the Jedi, for turning a blind eye to it all? And how can I get him to give these two a chance? chance?

There were two kinds of bigots: the kind that melted when face-to-face with the individual, and the kind that smiled politely but wouldn't let their daughter marry one of those those. Skirata took a Mandalorian approach to it all, that individuals were only judged by what they did, not what they were, so everyone got a chance-just the one-to change his mind. Ny tried to understand how hard it was to suspend ancient hatreds when folks had a joint history like the Mandalorians and Jedi. A four-thousand-year-old enmity was more than she could begin to grasp.

But if she still had things to learn about Mandalorians, then she'd only just started on the reality of living alongside Jedi.

They really weren't like other beings at all.

Kyrimorut, Mandalore, Next morning Life wasn't going to return to normal for Ovolot Qail Qail Uthan, and she'd accepted that the moment the cell door had swung shut in the Valorum Center. Uthan, and she'd accepted that the moment the cell door had swung shut in the Valorum Center.

But she'd held out for three years, and now she felt she could handle anything life threw at her. It was all a matter of looking at the situation from another angle and deciding to be content with whatever she could wring from it.

There was always something positive to seize upon. Always Always.

At least she had a pleasant room here, plain but comfortable, with a generous mattress-Mandalorians didn't shun comfort, however ascetic they appeared-and a fine view of the countryside through an arrow-slit of a window. And she could open the door and walk outside anytime she pleased.

But she wouldn't get far. There was nowhere to go that didn't involve struggling through deep snow for the best part of a hundred klicks to the nearest town, Enceri. Fi, the clone recovering from a brain injury, told her that Enceri was the pimple on the shebs shebs of Mandalore and that she'd like Keldabe a lot better. She worked out what a of Mandalore and that she'd like Keldabe a lot better. She worked out what a shebs shebs was fairly fast. was fairly fast.

Now Fi brought her breakfast. She wasn't sure if he'd taken a shine to her, or was simply curious to see what creator of genocidal weapons looked like at close quarters. She was sure they all saw her as a monster. What else could she expect when their mission had been to destroy her project, and hers had been to destroy them?

Yes, I can kill everyone of these young men. I still don't know how I feel about that.

"Eggs again," Fi said, appearing at the door. "You're a woman of habit, Dr. Uthan."

"Protein," she said. "I believe in protein."

"So what do you think of our ancient aiwha-bait?"

"Is that what you call Kaminoans?"

"Fair's fair, Doc. They called us units."

"I think I might have depersonalized depersonalized you somewhat, too." you somewhat, too."

"I never felt a thing. Honest."

"Did Kal send you to charm me, so that I might see the error of my ways?" Uthan uncovered the breakfast tray and admired the spread. Mandalorians ate ate. It wasn't elegant food, but it was certainly filling. "Make me ask myself how could I possibly want to wipe out such witty and charming young men?"

"Well, I am, yes, but do you still want to kill me?"

Uthan had to laugh. She was used to oblique people with hidden agendas that she had to hunt and dissect, so Fi's child-like directness was disarming. But that was probably the whole idea.

"Nothing personal," she said. "I just wanted the Republic to get off my homeworld, and quite a few other governments agreed with us."

"So you don't hold it against us for getting you shot and then locked up in a loony bin for three years."

"We're probably even, aren't we?"

He gave her a big grin. "I reckon."

Uthan settled down at her table and beckoned him in to sit down. He didn't move quite as crisply as the other clones. He was a little thinner, too.

"So," she said, "you were in a coma."

"Yeah. They switched off my life support. But I went on living anyway. I'm stubborn when it comes to not being dead."

"And?"

"Besany rescued me from the medcenter at blasterpoint and the next thing I remember is Bard'ika Bard'ika healing me. They said it was really exciting. I missed it all, unfortunately." healing me. They said it was really exciting. I missed it all, unfortunately."

"If this is what Jedi healing can do, I'm more than impressed." Uthan passed him one of her mealbread rolls. Clones definitely craved carbohydrate, and looking at Ko Sai's research on rapid maturation and metabolism, she could see why. "Do you all think of yourself as Mandalorian? Not just clones. All of you. Besany, Laseema, Jusik?"

"Sort of. Jilka doesn't, but then she didn't have any choice. Arla Fett-well, the poor woman's totally dini'la dini'la. But she's not Mando anyway."

"I never really thought about it before, you see. I only knew Ghez Hokan, and he had a very different view of the world from Skirata's."

"He did after..." Fi's voice trailed off, the only time that Uthan had seen that permanent good humor fade. She took a guess that he was going to make a joke and then recalled something distressing. "Our old boss, General Zey, said he used to be in the Death Watch but they threw him out. Kal'buir Kal'buir says he wasn't." says he wasn't."

"Hokan thought the kindest thing was to kill you all rather than let you live as slaves to the Jedi."

Fi smiled. "It's good to know everyone has sensible reasons for wanting us dead, Doc.