"Sir?" the droid said.

Jadak stared.

"You said, 'The Alliance for the Restoration of the Republic.' Is there more you wish to add?"

Jadak ran a hand over his bearded chin and shook his head. "Did I say anything else in my sleep?"

"Nothing intelligible, sir."

"Business as usual," Jadak muttered.

He swung off the bed and shuffled to a bedside mirrpanel the nurses had finally provided. Each morning he expected to see the reflection of a man who had climbed from a grave. Instead it was the same blond stranger who greeted him. He used the 'fresher and dressed and downed some of the breakfast a different droid delivered. Sompa had lifted the moratorium regarding the HoloNet, but Jadak found he had no stomach for it and left the room. Still growing accustomed to his new legs, he moved carefully through the hallways, ex-changing greetings with other patients when he couldn't avoid them, but mostly wrapped up in his own thoughts and growing more agitated by the moment.

Sompa had warned him to expect periods of frustration as his mind sought to reconstruct the chronology of his memories. But Jadak hadn't antic.i.p.ated a physical response that sometimes made him want to put his fist through the nearest wall. He couldn't escape the feeling that he had left something important undone. He accepted that the feeling was probably linked to what had turned out to be his final mission for the Republic Group, but his frustration over not being able to retrieve the memory ran deep. As if recalling the mission and concluding it would somehow complete his recuperation and restore him fully to life.

The Alliance for the Restoration of the Republic. It had its beginning with the Delegation of Two Thousand, to some extent with the Republic Group, and by the Battle of Yavin was known as the Rebel Alliance. But what did any of that have to do with him when he had been comatose for most of it? When he shut his eyes, images of Reeze and the Stellar Envoy would strobe in his mind. Reeze had hoped that the YT freighter would one day be theirs. He had imagined a life of profitable and rollicking adventures; of women and wealth and the freedom to travel wherever they wished.

Jadak ground his replacement teeth. What had they left undone that seemed so urgent now? Why did he have to wait for his memory of the accident to kick in? Why couldn't Sompa just give him the details so he could move on?

Jadak stepped into sunshine beaming down onto Aurora's verdant grounds through scudding clouds. In the distance, luxury yachts were descending gently toward the facility's private landing field. Aurora even had its own fleet of ships. Patients-clients of many species- were emerging from airspeeders with tinted windows and being welcomed by security personnel, staff members, and droids. Some arrived with entourages of aides and servants. If there were celebrated or familiar faces among them, Jadak didn't recognize any. But how could he be expected to when most of the famous beings of his time were either dead or rejuvenated beyond all recognition? And what was a once disgraced swoop racer turned surrept.i.tious starship captain doing among them, convalescing in a private room in one of Aurora's most exclusive wings?

The comlink Sompa insisted he wear on his belt chimed. "Captain Jadak," a droid voice said, "you are requested to return to Building One and report directly to Dr. Sompa's office. If you need a.s.sistance, simply state your present location and transport will be arranged."

"I'll get there on my own two feet," Jadak said. He wasn't scheduled to meet with Sompa until later in the day, but the neurologist had an annoying habit of altering appointments, and the last-minute change in plans did little to improve Jadak's mood. By the time he reached the office he was wound up, but Sompa wasn't there waiting for him. In the reception area sat the most attractive female Jadak had ever seen, human or humanoid, and for a moment he wasn't entirely sure whether she was one or the other. Dr. Bezant, the Twi'lek psychotherapist, was a vision, but this woman- "Captain Jadak," she said, standing up and extending her hand. "I'm Koi Quire. With CH and L."

In high-heeled shoes she was almost his height, and wearing a long skirt and a short jacket that hugged her torso. Her skin was tinged with gold; her eyes pale lavender, with a nict.i.tating membrane. A rainbow of colors, her hair fell below her shoulders in curls and ringlets. "CH and L?" Jadak said.

"Core Health and Life Insurance Consortium. I'm here to discuss your policy."

Jadak shook his head in confusion. "I don't recall having any kind of policy with Core Life or any other company."

Quire frowned and consulted a handheld data device. "I see the reason for your confusion." She smiled, revealing snow-white teeth. "Let's find somewhere to chat, shall we?"

He followed her down the corridor to an unoccupied conference room, and they sat at right angles to each other at the end of a long table. Quire opened her carry case and set a computer between them, angling the display so that they could both see it. She called data to the screen and used the lacquered nail of her forefinger to enlarge one of the lines of text.

"The policy was taken out for you by a company called the Republic Group."

Jadak stared at the text, then at Quire. "When?"

"Um, let's see." She touched the screen and ran her finger under a few lines of text. "But that's impossible."

"What?"

"The policy was taken out sixty-two years ago. But you..."

"I'm a lot older than I look," Jadak said.

Her brows formed a V under curly bangs. "By perhaps fifty years!" She sat back in the chair. "I know what they do here at Aurora, but 1 had no idea..."

"Let's get back to the policy. Was it taken out on my health or my life?"

She laughed. "You're obviously quite alive, Captain. It was a health policy with a rider covering accidents."

"You know about the accident I had?"

"Not the details. That's handled by a different department. When Aurora contacted CH and L to report that you had..." She glanced at the screen. "-emerged from a coma, I was dispatched to deliver the indemnity."

Jadak turned the screen toward him. "Can't you find the details of the accident in my file?"

She swung the computer back toward her. "No, Captain. And even if I could, I'm not permitted to divulge any information beyond what I've been instructed to provide."

Jadak narrowed his eyes. "So you're what, a claims adjuster?"

"That's a rather old-fashioned term, but, yes, you're essentially correct."

"Exactly how much does this accident clause ent.i.tle me to?"

She cleared her throat in a meaningful way. "You should understand, Captain, that CH and L has been covering your quite substantial health care costs all these years."

"How much?" Jadak said.

"Ten thousand credits."

"Is that a lot? By current standards, I mean?"

"It would barely pay for a month of treatments in this place. But if you're sensible in your spending you could probably stretch it to cover a year on a world like Obroa-skai."

"I'm not about to stay on Obroa-skai."

"Well, then it would all depend, Captain, on how much travel you do and which world you eventually settle on."

Jadak considered it briefly. "Forgive my asking, but what world are you from?"

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Is that a polite way of asking my species?"

"I suppose."

"I'm Firrerreo."

"If everyone on Firrerre is as attractive as you, maybe I'll just settle there."

"I don't think so," she said flatly.

"Too expensive?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Your people don't take kindly to strangers?"

Her skin took on a silver hue. "Firrerre was dosed with a virus. It's a dead world. Quarantined."

Jadak winced slightly. "Yuuzhan Vong?"

"Killed by one of our own," Quire said, "who aligned himself with the Emperor. Many of my people were placed in stasis and sold to slavers. Some of us were lucky enough to be rescued and find a new life on Belderone."

Jadak frowned. "I know Belderone. I don't want to live there."

"Neither did I," Quire said. She fell silent for a moment, then asked: "Choosing a place to live is that simple for you? You've no job, no unfinished business?"

Jadak appraised her. "What kind of question is that?"

Quire averted her gaze. "I apologize, Captain. I was simply curious."

Jadak reeled in his anger. "I don't have a job, but I've got skills."

"I'm certain you do, Captain."

A smile formed on his lips. "How about I show you around Aurora before you leave?"

Quire laughed. "I don't think I've ever been asked to tour a hospital."

"Medical facility," Jadak said. "The food is great."

"Are you flirting with me, Captain?"

"Trying to."

Her skin resumed its golden color. "I'm flattered. But I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer."

"You don't date older men?"

She laughed warmly. "Yes, it's because of your age. Suppose we leave it at that."

Jadak shrugged. "Then how about one small favor?"

"What?" she said warily.

Jadak motioned to the computer. "You bend the regs just enough to tell me what my file has to say about the accident."

Her smile collapsed. "I told you, I'm not at liberty to say."

"It's my life we're talking about," Jadak said more firmly than he-had intended.

She started. "I'm sorry..."

"Why would the Republic Group take out an accident policy on me? And why would your company keep paying for my treatments here when I was a brainwave shy of dying?"

"A vegetative state is not the same as being brain-dead."

Jadak's nostrils flared. "It doesn't add up. Did the Republic Group take out a policy on Reeze, too? Was someone liable for the accident?"

"I have..."

"My copilot. Did Core Health cover the cost of his funeral?" Quire was stone-faced. "And here I thought we were beginning to get along."

Jadak balled his fists. "I'd like you a whole lot more in trade for some private time with your computer!"

Closing the computer, Quire slid it into her carry case and stood up. "Do I need to call security, Captain?"

Jadak closed his eyes and blew out his breath. "No."

"Then I'll leave the indemnity voucher with Aurora's treasurer."

Chapter twelve.

A holoimage of the T-shaped communications device spun and turned above the a.n.a.lyzer's projector. Lando's towering chief technician, a Cerean named Tal-lik-Tal, paused the image and gestured to it.

"You can see the amplification relay here, just at the upper juncture."

"Then it is a transponder?" Leia asked from the far side of the projector. The glow emanating from the projector's base enhanced the slight sunburns she and Han had sustained from two days of swimming and taking long beach walks with Allana.

"Pre-Imperial in design, and I suspect rarely encountered even in its day." Tal-lik-Tal moved to the a.n.a.lyzer and called onscreen a similar but far from identical piece of hardware. "This is an image from the database library. Manufactured by Chedak Communications during the Clone Wars. But I've no way of determining whether yours was made by the same company."

"There's no manufacturer's symbol?" Han asked.

"Or model or serial numbers."

"Could they have been deliberately removed?"

"There's no indication that any existed."

TaI-lik-Tal put the holoimage in motion, .and Han circled it, his hand rubbing the stubble on his chin.

"You were correct regarding the device's mimetic properties," the , Cerean said. "In that, it is not unlike comlinks and transceivers developed for use by intelligence organizations. As I say, this one does not match any known Republic or Imperial-era designs, but the use of mimetic alloy at least suggests the possibility that the device was in stalled covertly, or for covert purposes. Have you detected any changes in the performance of your vessel since the device was removed?"

"No, nothing like that."

"With the Falcon, how would we even know?" Leia asked, smiling. Tal-lik-Tal laughed. "The reason I ask is that the transponder is still active."

"I told you I wasn't hearing things," Han said to Leia.