"The fleer doesn't leave coordinates behind, " Kota said. "They could be decoded too easily. The only way to find the fleet again, once you've lost it, is to work back up through Rebel contacts. "

"That'll take too long. "

"What's your hurry? The Empire isn't going anywhere. "

Starkiller didn't know how to explain. If Kota didn't already understand, maybe he never would.

Instead, he closed his eyes and reached out with the Force.

Juno.

He could see her in his mind's eye as clearly as if she were standing before him. Blond hair, blue eyes, strong jaw, proud nose-he would carry her face with him for the rest of his life, now that he had escaped Darth Vader's dire influence. When they were together again, they would never be separated. It was just a matter of closing the gap between them-and what was distance but an illusion of the mind? To the Force, all things were one.

Faintly, he heard the Rogue Shadow creaking and swaying, but he didn't let himself be distracted. He was out among the stars, seeking, searching. There were quadrillions of minds in the galaxy, and he was looking for just one of them. He sensed fear and great tragedy, cruelty and petty hate. He saw death everywhere, and life, too, ebbing and flowing in that eternal tide. The Force surged within him, primal, powerful, potent-like a beast one never entirely tamed. He felt Kota next to him, full of anger and impatience. He sensed-

A hint of Juno flashed through his mind.

"I don't trust that kind of power. A lesson learned the hard way is hard-perhaps impossible-to unlearn. "

They weren't her words, and it wasn't her voice, but she was near their source, which was itself a tantalizingly familiar presence.

Water.

Kota's urgency flared, pulling Starkiller out of his meditation. A dozen floating objects fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

"What is it?" He checked the scopes for any sign of the Imperials, but they were empty. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't say anything, " said the general. "Or do anything. I'm just sitting here, waiting. "

There was no denying what he had felt. Kota was impatient, and that impatience was throwing Starkiller off. "You think I'm wasting my time. You don't think I can do it. "

"You're right on one point, boy. The galaxy is a big place, and the whole point of the Rebel Alliance is to stay hidden-but I'd never try to guess what you're capable of or not. "

Chapter 7