This story is based on the characters and situations created by George Luca, for his Star Wars Universe. It is not intended for sale, only for the enjoyment of its author, and its readers; and as a tribute to the imagination that it takes to build such a universe.

This story obviously takes place about a year after Wedge’s parents were killed, which puts it about a year or so before Star Wars: A New Hope

THE FIRST TIME

The woman sat at the small corner table and watched the endless stream of spacers that made their way through the noisy cantina. The sights, sounds and smells of all the beings swirled around her all but unnoticed. She’d done this so many times before that her actions were almost automatic. She needed to be careful about that. Too much nonchalance could be as dangerous as too much nervousness.

She took the last sip of her caf and checked her wrist chrono. Her sources had told her that the person she was looking for would be there sometime between 09:00 and 13:00 hours. It was 11:00 now.

She signaled a serving droid and ordered another cup of caf. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer. She’d already downed enough caf to keep her awake all night.

The caf had just arrived, when she noticed a new group that had just come in. She studied them for a moment.

The first was a tough looking human with dirty gray hair and a heavy mustache, who looked like he could take on just about anything. He greeted several people loudly and headed to a table on the opposite side of the room. The second was a Sullustan who also went directly to a table occupied by another of his species.

The third was a young human male, not much more that a kid. He had dark, unruly hair that was pulled back into a ponytail in the Corellian fashion. He wore dark trousers and boots, an off white shirt, and a leather jacket, and at his right hip, he wore a blaster, low and tied down.

He made his way to the bar, greeting several of the other spacers as he went. The bartender grinned when he saw the young man and reached under the bar. He came out with a handful of datacards and handed them to him, then he pointed directly at the woman’s table.

She watched as the boy looked her way and nodded. He slipped the datacards into his jacket pocket, then headed in her direction.

As he made his way to her table, he was greeted by several of the women who were seated around the bar, one or two of them giving him a hug or kiss on the cheek. He grinned and blushed slightly each time. Finally he stood before her.

"Miss," He offered her his hand with a polite smile, his wide, dark eyes meeting hers. "Tyus, up at the bar, said that you were looking for me? I’m Wedge Antilles."

"Oh?" She shook his hand. "Well I am looking for a Wedge Antilles, but I think I’m looking for your father, the owner and Captain of the Zena’s Pride?"

His brown eyes clouded for the space of a heartbeat, then he returned her gaze steadily. "No ma’am. I’m the Captain and owner. My father’s name was Jagged. He died recently."

Something in his expression and his manner made her reconsider her snap judgment about his age. It may have been that, even though he was self-assured, he didn’t exhibit the typical swagger and cockiness of the average Corellian pilot; or of the average sixteen-year-old.

"I see." Great! I suppose now I get to watch another little boy play Rebel and get himself and somebody else killed. "Well, I’m Ily’eene Milam, and you come highly recommended. Arif Keele said that you could be trusted. If you’re free, I’d like to hire your ship."

At the mention of Arif Keele, Wedge’s pulse speeded up, but he kept his expression neutral. She must belong to the Alliance. I wondered how long it would be before they contacted me.

"Arif’s a pretty good friend. Mind if I sit down?"

"Not at all." She nodded to the seat across from her, but before he had a chance to sit, there was a definite shift in the mood around the cantina. She looked around and despite the hundred or so other odors in the crowded room, could practically smell the tension. Damn! What have I walked into the middle of?

A voice off to the right sounded over the noise. "Hey you! Kid…Are you Wedge Antilles?"

The room became totally silent, and Wedge had tensed slightly at the absence of sound, but he’d relaxed immediately and turned slowly to face the source of the threat.

His face was no longer that of a kid, but of a young man who’d faced danger more than once. His right hand hung loosely at his side.

"That’s me. Do I know you?" He studied the rough looking man who stood a few meters away.

"My name’s Skeen, and no, you don’t know me. But you knew a friend of mine. Loka Hask."

"I can’t say much for your choice of friends. What do you want?"

"I didn’t like what you did to Hask and his crew. I’m gonna make you pay for it."

"I didn’t like what he did to my parents. That’s what he paid for. If I were you, I’d just forget it."

"That’s big talk for a snot-nosed kid. My friends and I are shaking in our boots." He grinned, showing a mouthful of rotten teeth. "Ain’t we fellas?"

There was motion at several tables around the room, and then the unmistakable sound of blasters sliding from holsters.

That was followed by the sound of even more blasters being drawn. The calm voice of an older man, at a table to Wedge’s left, spoke up. "We got your back Wedge. You’re clear."

One of the women, sitting closest to Ily’eene’s table, tapped her on the shoulder. "You may want to come over here, Honey. We know were Wedge’s shot’ll go. We ain’t sure about the other guy’s."

"Thanks." She got up very slowly and moved to the other table.

Wedge ignored the scene around him, never taking his eyes off of the man facing him. But Ily’eene looked around, and found that several seedy looking men and aliens scattered around the room had drawn blasters, and several other men and aliens now had those men covered, and were relieving them of those blasters.

Skeen had paled noticeably, but didn’t back down. "I don’t need them to take you." His eyes looked at Wedge’s young face, expecting some sign of fear or uncertainty. There was none, only calm resolve.

Suddenly Skeen made his move. His hand dipped toward his blaster, but just as it reached its destination, there was the flash of concentrated light and he fell backward against the wall.

Someone in the crowd muttered "idiot," and there was a collective sigh of relief.

It took Skeen, and everyone else, a few seconds to realize that he wasn’t dead. Instead, there was a smoking wound in his right shoulder and the smell of ozone and burning flesh filled the room. Across from him, Wedge stood, his blaster, still smoking from the shot, leveled at Steen’s chest. "The next one’s permanent."

The bartender spoke up, motioning to him and his men. "If I were you, I’d make it my business to get out of here, before local security shows up. There’s a whole lot of witnesses here that could make the rest of your day, really miserable."

Several of the men had already gotten up to leave, and now the others followed, their blaster having been returned minus their power cells.

Skeen struggled to his feet and faced the young Corellian. "I’ll see you again one of these days Antilles. It ain’t over…"

"Like I said," Wedge met the man’s look evenly until Skeen looked away. "the next one will be permanent." He holstered his blaster and took his seat at the table. Skeen continued to stare at him a moment, then slunk out of the Cantina. Once he was gone, everything returned to business as usual.

Ily’eene returned to her table and Wedge looked at her sheepishly then shrugged. "I’m sorry about that. It never occurred to me that Hask even had a friend who might come after me. I guess that cost me a charter, huh?"

"No. Not really." Ily’eene smiled at him. "Actually, it just proved that you can handle yourself pretty well." She looked around the room, "And, that you seem to be highly regarded around here."

"That’s just because they know I’m a friend of Booster Terrik’s. They want to stay on his good side."

The older man, who’d given Wedge the "all clear" earlier, spoke up again. "Don’t let him fool you, lady. He’s a good kid, and a damn good pilot. His only fault is that he’s too damn honest."

She studied the boy for a long moment. That comment about Terrik may be the truth, but I’d be willing to bet there’s more to you than meets the eye.

"Then he sounds like just what I’m looking for." She smiled at Wedge again, and signaled the serving droid. "Are you hungry? How’s the food here?"

"Yes ma’am. It’s pretty good."

"Good. Now, stop calling me "Ma’am." My name’s Ily’eene. Let me buy you lunch, and we’ll do some business. Any recommendations?’

"No Ma’…" He caught himself before finishing the word. "No. Whatever you like’s fine with me." He smiled and while she was busy with the droid, he had a chance to study her closely, for the first time.

She appeared to be about ten years older than him, which put her age at around twenty-six. She was about his height and extremely attractive, with curly, shoulder length, light brown hair and blue eyes. Beneath the simple blouse and skirt that she wore, she had a very nice figure.

Well, if this is going to be a very long trip, at least I’ll have someone pleasant to look at. And if Arif Keele sent her, it might be a fairly interesting trip as well.

* * *

After packing, Ily’eene made one last check of her small hotel room. Then she

checked out and headed toward Chorax’s main spaceport and Docking Bay 22, where Wedge had told her the Zena’s Pride was docked.

Walking down the busy street, she took her time and window shopped, using the pauses to make sure she wasn’t being followed. At the same time, she thought a great deal about Wedge Antilles, and just how far she should trust him.

She’d been impressed with the boy’s honesty and his calm control of the situation in the cantina. But he still seemed terribly young. Still…

After watching Wedge face down a pirate who was twice his age, and with years more experience, she was certain of two things. One, he definitely had ability; and two, she would hate to face him in a game of sabacc.

The entrance to Docking Bay 22 stood before her, as she finished her train of thought. Well, here we go. May the Force be with us.

She slapped the palm plate and the sliding door hissed open to reveal a Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1600 stock light freighter. Near the bow, Wedge was making a pre-flight walk-around of the ship. Reaching into access panels, checking conduits, giving the once over to anything that might cause trouble, he made his way around the entire ship.

He looked up and smiled at her when he heard the door. "Hi! We’re about ready to go. Get on board and make yourself comfortable. I’ll be finished here in a few minutes."

"Thanks." She headed up the access ramp, and into the ship. Once inside, she was impressed by how well taken care of everything was, even thought the ship had obviously seen quite a bit of use.

Stowing her gear and looking around the cabin, she took a small hand held scanner from her pocket. Starting in the main cabin and working quickly and quietly, she moved through the ship, giving everything a good going over. She was so absorbed in her work that she didn’t hear the battered R2 droid trundle up behind her. When she turned around, she found herself face to photoreceptor with the droid, and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Sithspit! Where’d you come from?" She studied the droid briefly, then heard Wedge’s steps coming up the ramp.

When he stepped into the cabin, wiping his hands on a greasy rag, he laughed at the still startled expression on her face.

"Well, I see that you just met my copilot, Sneaky." He walked over and patted the droid on its dome shaped head.

"Yes. And I can probably guess how he got his name. Does he do that to everybody?"

"Uhh huh. First time he did it to me, I was halfway inside an engine cowling. He rolled up behind me and beeped and I jumped so hard I hit my head. I almost gave myself a concussion. That’s when I named him."

Putting the rag in a storage bin, the boy headed toward the pilot’s compartment, followed closely by the R2 unit. "How’d the scan go?"

Ily’eene looked down at the scanner in her hand, then back up at his retreating back. Great! So much for secrecy. You’re really looking sharp on this assignment, Milam. And to a kid, yet. Wonderful!

"Everything checks out clean. But you knew that."

"Yep. C’mon forward and we’ll get out of here."

She put the scanner away and followed him into the compartment, looking it over as she went. Instead of a copilot’s seat, there was a modified droid socket, so the little astromech droid could secure himself during takeoff.

Wedge took his seat then looked back at her and indicated a seat behind his. "When you finish scanning the cabin, we’ll lift off." He smiled innocently and she laughed.

"I don’t think that’ll be necessary." She sat down in the seat and buckled the crash webbing securely. "I think I can trust you."

"Okay. Here we go." He keyed the comm unit. "Chorax Control, this is the freighter Zena’s Pride requesting clearance to take off."

"You’re clear Pride. Fair skies."

"Thanks, Control. See you next trip." He slapped a switch on the console, and the repulsors came online with a satisfying hum. Checking his external sensors, he raised the ship out of the docking bay with an ease that would put several older pilots Ily’eene could name, to shame.

The Pride headed for the starfield, as Chorax receded behind them, and the droid chittered at the young pilot, who glanced at the main view screen. "Yes, I know that we don’t have a destination yet, because our passenger hasn’t given us one. She will, when she’s ready."

The droid warbled something else and Wedge laughed. "No I don’t think that she’s going to kidnap us and sell us into slavery." He gave a long-suffering shake of his head, and explained over his shoulder.

"Sneaky’s last owner was hooked on cheap holo-thrillers. He stored a lot of them in the droid’s memory banks. It left him with sort of an over active imagination. Sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes it’s just a pain in the rear."

"Ahh. He’s not likely to set a course for some non existent planet is he?" Ily’eene looked at the droid suspiciously.

"No. His astronav programs are fine."

"That’s comforting." She produced a datapad and handed it to him. "There’s your destination. We have to be there at exactly 14:00 day after tomorrow."

Wedge studied the coordinates and nodded. "Not a problem. Any particular direction that we need to approach from?"

"No. Nothing fancy. Just in, make contact and out again."

"Okay." He keyed in the numbers and waited. "I’m calculating it in a series of four jumps. That’ll make it fairly hard on anybody trying to find us."

As they waited, he figured the calculations himself, using his datapad. He was through almost before the computer was. When he looked up, he saw her watching.

"I always double check the numbers, just in case. My dad and Booster drilled that into my head. Fortunately I’ve always been pretty good with figures."

The computer signaled that it was finished, and Wedge verified the calculations. "All right. We’re on our way."

He turned back to the console, and flipped a couple of switches, then reached for the hyperdrive levers. Easing the levers forward, they watched the stars turn to lines, and then to a chaotic tumble of light.

"This first jump will last eight hours." He stood and stretched. "I’m going to make a pot of caf. Are you interested?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I am."

They moved back into the lounge area, and he went to work at the small galley. "Hope you like it strong."

"The stronger the better, otherwise it’s just dirty water." She watched him work.

He was a handsome boy, with wide dark eyes that always looked directly at you, and dark hair. He hadn’t quite reached his full growth yet, and when he did, he’d probably not be much taller than 1.5 meters, but he wasn’t gangly like most teenagers. He had an easy grace about him.

"Wedge, can I ask you a couple of personal questions?"

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged, and looked at her uncertainly.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen." Oh oh! I can see where this is headed already.

"How did you wind up with a starship of your own, some fairly nasty enemies, and volunteering to smuggle for the Rebellion, all at the age of sixteen?"

He sipped his caf in silence for a moment, then met her gaze. "Ever hear of Gus Treta?"

"Yeah. It’s an orbital facility near Corellia."

"Uhh huh. A busy one. My parents ran the fueling station there until about a year ago. That’s when some Bonestar Pirates hauled in for refueling. They were running from CorSec at the time, and when a CorSec corvette showed up, the pirates took off without uncoupling. The afterburners caught the fuel on fire. There was fire everywhere."

He hesitated, staring at a point somewhere between himself and her. When he spoke again, there was barely controlled emotion beneath his words.

"My Mom and Dad…got everybody evacuated from the fueling station, then blew the lancing charges and separated from the rest of the facility, so the whole thing wouldn’t be destroyed. They saved hundreds of lives…but there was no way for them to escape. They were killed when the station exploded."

"Where were you when it happened?"

"Booster had picked me up at school on Corellia and brought me home for Mid-Cycle break. We got there just in time to see it all happen. I wanted to help ‘em but I couldn’t. There wasn’t time, it was happening so fast. We heard ‘em getting the people to evacuate the depot, and we heard when they fired the lancing charges. The last thing we heard was them telling me that they loved me. Then they were gone…" He was silent for a very long time, and a single tear slid down his cheek. Then he took a deep breath.

"Ahh…Later, Booster and I found out that the pirates had broken away on purpose, so the fire would stall CorSec. The Pirate’s Captain was Loka Hask.

"When we found out where they were, I borrowed a Z-95 Headhunter from Booster, and we went after them. Then I killed them."

Coming from the mouth of a near child, his last four words chilled Ily’eene deeply, but at the same time, she felt only understanding for him.

"Anyway, I decided not to go back to school. I only lacked a couple of months before completion. I shipped with Booster for a while, and then, when the insurance settlement came in, it was enough to buy me this ship. Booster helped me with the details."

"And you became a smuggler."

"No. I knew that my parents wouldn’t want that. I’ve really tried to make an honest living. But I’m barely getting by. So I figured, if I have to smuggle, it may as well be for a good cause. So here I am."

"I see. You don’t have any other family that you could live with?"

"I’ve got a sister, somewhere, I guess. She and our folks had a fight years ago, and she left home. I don’ t even know if she’s still alive."

"How about this Booster you mentioned? Sounds like he’d look out for you."

"If I needed looking out for, he would. But he can’t right now, because he’s serving time on Kessel." He frowned and studied his cup, then looked at her solemnly.

"Look. If you don’t trust me to do this job, just say so, and we’ll turn around and you can find someone else. But I don’t need a social councilor to find me a home, and I’ve done a pretty good job of taking care of myself for quite a while, now."

"No. I trust you. It’s just…."

"Fine." He stood and jerked a thumb down the companionway. "You can have my cabin, because it’s the most comfortable. It’s the first one on the right. There are data card issues of some magazines and books in that locker, and an extra datapad. There are also some music cards there. You know where the galley is. Help yourself if you get hungry. I’ll be up forward if you need anything else. I’ve got things to do."

He headed forward to the pilot’s compartment; his jaw set stubbornly against the emotions she’d just reawakened.

Ily’eene sat there, in silence for a moment. She hadn’t meant to hurt his pride, but she’d managed to do just that. She considered going forward and apologizing but thought better of it. He probably needed to be left alone and she wasn’t sure what she’d say. She never had been really good with kids.

Sighing, she picked up her caf mug and the one Wedge had left on the table, and took them to the galley. Then she picked up her bag and went to the cabin he’d indicated.

For a cabin belonging to a sixteen-year-old boy, it was surprisingly neat. The bunk was made, there were no clothes lying around, and everything seemed to be in its place. The only personal items there were a few pictures of him and his family.

His parents had been an attractive couple. His dad had had strong handsome features beneath his neatly trimmed beard and long reddish hair. Wedge had inherited those features. From his mom, he’d gotten the dark hair and those serious eyes.

Ily’eene sat down on the bunk, and kicked her shoes off. The thought of a few hours sleep sounded pretty good to her. Slipping out of her dress, she kept her chemise on and turned back the covers. Climbing into the bunk, she snuggled down into the sheets and was soon asleep.

Wedge sat in the pilot’s seat, and staring at the small holo of his mother and father, and although the chaotic light of hyperspace tumbled all around the transparisteel windscreen of the Zena’s Pride, he was unaware of it. He was back aboard the Pulsar Skate approaching Gus Treta, and watching helplessly as his parents were taken from him, forever. Hearing their final words, "We love you son."

He sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes, then sat up straighter. Way to go Antilles. Sit here and cry like a baby. That’ll really impress your passenger. And the Alliance ought to fall the hell all over themselves wanting to hire you again.

Why do people think that just because I’m sixteen, I still need a baby-sitter? Dammit! Why don’t they mind their own business? He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the chair’s headrest. Suddenly he could see his Mom standing there watching him, with that look that she always had when she’d caught him misbehaving.

"Veggies, you shouldn’t think harshly of someone when they’re trying to be kind. Yes, your Dad and I taught you to take care of yourself, and Booster helped, but not every boy is that lucky. And not everyone knows you well enough to know how you can handle yourself. Remember, if you want people’s trust, earn it." Her gentle voice echoed in his heart.

Yes ma’am. I will. He opened his eyes, looked out at the passage of hyperspace. Taking a deep breath, he smiled to himself. "I’ll just do my best. Like you and Dad, always said."

The knock at her door startled Ily’eene from her fitful sleep, and she reacted without thinking. Grabbing her blaster, she eased out of bed and took position by the door. Her blaster ready, she palmed the door open and pointed the

blaster at whomever was standing there knocking.

Only there was no one there.

Suddenly her blaster was knocked upward, and a surprisingly strong arm was put her around her waist. Her legs were swept from beneath her and she wound up lying on the deck, looking up into the face of Wedge Antilles.

The two stared at each other in surprise and anger, as he held her pinned there. Wedge was the first to recover.

"Sithspit! What the hell were you doing? I just wanted you to know that we were coming up on the next jump point!"

"Get off me!" She felt the weight of his body against her, and she struggled against it as he held her down. He was stronger than he looked, and he had no intention of letting her up just yet. But even so, he was trying not to hurt her.

"Let go of the blaster, first." He stayed put.

She realized that he was still holding her wrist, keeping the blaster pointed away from him.

"Oh damn! Okay! Okay!" She let go of the gun, and it clattered to the deck. "There!"

He stayed where he was, still holding her hand. "Sneaky. Move the blaster." The little droid rolled over and retrieved the gun, then moved away. Wedge let go of her hand, and then moved off of her. He stood and offered her his hand.

She slapped it away and stood up under her own power. Glaring at him, she realized that she was wearing nothing but the thin chemise, and that at the moment, it wasn’t exactly covering all of her attributes. She tugged at it until it was a bit less revealing.

"Did you enjoy the wrestling match, Junior?"

"No. I was too busy trying not to get shot. Did I hurt you?"

"No. I’m fine." Other than my pride.

"What was that all about, anyway?" He brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"You woke me up out of a bad dream. I reacted…while I was half-asleep. How’d you know to not be standing there when the door opened?"

"When the door started sliding, I saw the reflection of the blaster in the cabinet." He pointed to the shiny surface of the cabinet that stood outside of the door to his quarters.

"Oh… Look, I’m sorry. I…"

"Yeah…Me too." He cut her off. I gotta go make the course change. You better get dressed." He turned and headed to the cockpit.

Thirty minutes later, Ily’eene ducked into the cockpit carrying two cups of steaming hot caf.

"Wedge?"

"What?’ He continued to study the datapad he held, not bothering to look at her as she walked up behind him.

She nudged his shoulder with the cup of caf. "I brought a peace offering. Can we call a truce?"

"I dunno. Can we?" He turned to look at her. "You’re the one that seems to have some kind of a problem with my age."

"Yeah. I guess it does seem that way, doesn’t it? Look, I’m sorry Wedge. I had no right to judge you by how old you are; or to butt into your business.

"It’s just that I lost someone that I loved very much, and it was caused by someone about your age. It comes back to haunt me every so often. If you could accept my apology, we could start over."

He considered it for a minute. "No more social counseling?"

"None."

"No more blasters at close quarters?"

"I promise." She crossed her heart.

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Especially since we’ve got more important things

to think about."

He held out his hand. "Miss? I’m Wedge Antilles. I hear you want to hire my ship."

"That’s right. You come highly recommended." She took his offered hand and they shook on it. "And, I can see why."

* * *

"Okay." Wedge keyed the comlink. "Stand by. We’re one minute from reversion."

"Copy. Let’s hope this is an unnecessary precaution." Ily’eene sat in the upper gun well of the Zena’s Pride, with the guns charged and ready.

"Right. But stay ready anyway. Just in case. Here goes."

Wedge eased the hyperdrive levers down to their realspace position and the Pride dropped out of lightspeed at precisely the coordinates that Ily’eene had given him two days earlier. He checked his external sensors and after making a three hundred and sixty-degree sweep, dropped power and hung the ship in space to wait. His right hand hovered near the fire controls for the belly guns.

Less than a minute later, another ship dropped out of hyperspace, not more than five hundred meters off their bow. It was a modified R.S. Systems Marauder-Class Corvette. The comm unit crackled to life, almost immediately.

"Unidentified freighter, this is the Tri-Star Wanderer. Identify yourself." A gravelly voice requested.

"Wanderer, this is the Daysider One." Wedge gave the false identity and then added. "Just making a few minor repairs. Had a rebellious motivator I had to bring back online."

Who thinks up these recognition signals anyway? Wedge shook his head.

"Understood Daysider. Can we be any help?"

"Possibly. You wouldn’t happen to have a spare access coupling, would you?"

"As a matter of fact, we do. If you’ll dock with us, we’ll see what we can do."

"Stand by, Wanderer. We’re coming about." Wedge used the maneuvering thrusters to ease the Pride into docking position, and in less that a minute, he had the ship snuggled up next to the larger vessel, and sealed to their airlock’s docking ring.

Putting the Pride’s engines on standby, he left the cockpit and moved back to the airlock, meeting Ily’eene there, after she’d abandoned the gun.

"Everything sound all right to you?" He questioned before opening their side of the airlock.

"Far as I can tell. Everything is going fine."

"Well. Here goes." He activated the control that equalized air pressure in the airlock, and then popped the hatch. With a hiss, both ships were opened to the other. Wedge walked through the access tube, and into the Wanderer’s main cabin, followed closely by Ily’eene.

They were greeted by a human, a Quarren, and two droids.

The human, a grizzled man in a shabby blue coat, smiled when he saw Ily’eene. "Well, hello there ‘Eenie. How you been?"

She grinned and gave him an affectionate hug. "Just fine, Labram you old crook. How about you?"

"Aww, just gettin’ by. Things’ll get better though, once the Empire is outta business." Then he spotted Wedge standing there.

"Damn, ‘Eenie. They recruitin’ in nursery school now? They get younger all the time."

She looked at Wedge and winked. "Nah. He’s really thirty-five, He just looks like a kid. This is Wedge Antilles. Wedge, this is Labram Tosh, and his copilot N’ial.

The Quarren nodded to them, but the man took Wedge’s offered hand, laughing as he did. "Thirty-five, huh? Well, as long as you trust him, I trust him."

"Good, because I do. What do you have for us this time?"

"Spare parts, blasters, and medical supplies. You name it, we got it."

"Great. We can use all of it. Let’s get it loaded. We don’t want to be here any longer than necessary."

With all of them working, it took less than an hour to transfer the supplies from one ship to the other. After everything was stowed, and secured, the good-byes were said, and the ships separated.

"Fair skies, Labram. I’ll be seeing you."

"Just take care, ‘Eenie. You too Wedge. Nice meetin’ ya’ kid."

"Same here, Labram." Wedge eased the Pride into a gentle turn, taking her away from the Wanderer. Then he accelerated, and left the other ship behind. Seconds later, the Wanderer went to lightspeed and disappeared.

"Well, that went well. Now for our destination." She handed him a datacard with the new coordinates and he began entering the information.

"Hmm. Dantooine…Five jumps, this time, over four days. Two short, two long, one short. There’s no specified arrival time, just sometime within a standard week.

"First jump, we head coreward. Then we need to refuel. How’s Yag’Dhul sound?"

"Sounds good to me. Where to first?"

"Well, let’s just see…Okay. Got it. First jump’ll be three hours coreward, then we head back and hit Yag’Dhul.

How’s that?"

"You’re the Captain."

* * * * *

Wedge handed the credits to the Twi’lek stationmaster, and settled the account for the fuel they’d just taken on.

Then he started his preflight walk around, checking each and every coupling and stabilizer. He’d nearly finished and was reaching into one of the access hatches, when Ily’eene returned from the inner part of the station carrying several packages.

"Ready to go?" She glanced at the ship and shifted the bundles.

"Yeah. Just as soon as…" His voice trailed off and, frowning, he ducked his head, to look inside the hatch.

"What’s wrong?"

"Hang on…Uhh huh. That’s what I thought..." He brought his hand out carefully. In it he held a round metallic disc, about twelve centimeters in diameter and three centimeters thick.

"Sithspawn…" Ily’eene swore softly. "A tracer." She studied it for a moment. "It’s not Imperial. They always have the Imp emblem stamped on them." She looked around the docking bay. "Who do you suppose tagged us with that?"

"I’ve been here the whole time and there have only been three other people near the ship. The stationmaster and two hose jockeys.

"The stationmaster walked over, took our credits, and then left again. He never approached the ship. It’s got to be one of the other two. Probably working for some pirates or something."

"Well, whoever it is, it’s unwanted attention. Let’s get out of here."

"I think you’re right. When you get on board, run a scan, just in case. Sneaky, start bringing the engines up. I want to finish my walk-around, then I’ve got a quick errand to run." Wedge slipped the tracer into his trouser pocket.

"What are you going to do with that thing?" Ily’eene eyed him suspiciously.

"I’m gonna get rid of it. Now go."

"But Wedge…are you sure you..." He gave her a look, and held his finger to his lips, silencing her.

"I know what I’m doing. Besides, I’m the Captain, remember?"

She gave him a look of barely concealed annoyance. "I remember. I think I’ll go do that scan now." She turned and stomped up the boarding ramp, leaving no doubt in Wedge’s mind that she was really ticked off with him. Shaking his head, he turned back to his walk-around.

When he’d finished, he leaned against the ship and wiped his hands on a grease rag, looking casually around the landing bay, as he did. There, at the far end of the bay was just what he was looking for.

Shrugging out of his jacket, he tossed it up the Pride’s boarding ramp, then pulled his shirttail partially out of his belt, and rolled up his sleeves. Using the oily rag, he smudged oil on his shirt, his arms and his face. For the final touch, he brushed some of his hair into his eyes and assumed his most innocent expression. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he sauntered down the bay.

As he approached the ship berthed in the last slot, and the group of men who stood before her, his mouth fell open, and he stared at her in awe.

"Wow! A real Imperial assault shuttle! I never seen one up close before." He ignored the several Imperial officers and moved past them to touch the landing gear.

"Hey! You there, boy. What do you think you’re doing? Get away from that ship!"

"Man, she’s a beauty. You guys got a great ship here." He continued to pat the ship, and ignore the men behind him.

One of the officers turned to the two stormtroopers who stood there. "Well stop him you fools!"

"Take it easy, Geskar. Maybe he wants to join the Imperial service. Be a stormtrooper." The other officer laughed.

"Or maybe he wants to be a pilot."

The troopers hurried over to Wedge and one of them grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, dragging him over to stand by the officers.

"Ow! Hey! I was just looking. Let go of me!" He wriggled out of the trooper’s grip and scooted away from the two of them only to crash into one of the officers. The two of them wound up on the deck in a tangle of arms and legs.

The trooper latched onto Wedge again, and hauled him upright. The other one helped the livid officer to his feet.

"You filthy Corellian brat!" He took a backhanded swipe at the boy, but at the last second, Wedge ducked, and the man’s knuckles hit the armor of the trooper who was holding him. The officer reached for him again, and was stopped by a hand gripping his arm.

"That’s enough Geskar! He’s only a boy." The shuttle’s captain looked disgustedly at the man whose hand he’d stayed. "What do you think he’s going to do, blow the ship up?"

The other officers made poor attempts to hide their laughter.

"No! But he…."

"He bruised your dignity. Forget it. We’re ready to raise ship. Get on board."

"Yes sir." The man moved reluctantly up the boarding ramp, followed by the others, and Wedge was left alone with his rescuer.

"What’s your name boy?" The officer suppressed a smile.

"Evin Drash." Wedge looked sullenly at the Imperial Captain.

"Well Evin, let this be a lesson to you. Stay away from Imperial property, unless you have permission to be there. If you want to work on an Imperial ship, go see the nearest recruiting officer. But you might want to grow a bit first. I really don’t think you’ll make much of an impression on the Imperial Military. Now get out of here." He turned Wedge back toward the other end of the landing bay, and started him on his way with a kick in the pants.

Wedge broke into a run, and didn’t stop until he got to the berth, three ships down from the Zena’s Pride. Then he turned and watched the Imperial shuttle rise off of the deck, and make her way through the magcon field into hard vacuum. When he turned around and headed for the Pride, he was grinning broadly. "Give me a chance Imp. I’ll show you how much of an impression I can make."

Retrieving his jacket as he hurried up the ramp. Slapping the door control, he headed straight for the cockpit. Ily’eene and Sneaky were waiting for him. He dropped directly into the pilot’s chair, not bothering to fasten his crash webbing.

"Hang on. We’re leaving."

Ily’eene strapped herself into the seat behind his.

He keyed the comm unit. "Yag’Dhul control, this is the Zena’s Pride requesting clearance for take off."

"Clearance granted Pride. Thanks for doing business with us. Clear skies."

"Thanks control." Before he’d finished speaking, he had the ship’s landing gear retracted and was heading smoothly out of the berth toward the magcon field. In less that a minute, they were on their way.

"What was that little drama with the Imps?" Ily’eene unbuckled her webbing and leaned forward, as he swung the pilot’s chair around to face her.

"You saw that, huh?"

"Yes. I happened to see you through the viewport. What the hell did you think you were doing?"

"I was getting rid of the tracer."

"What? You put it on their ship?"

"Not exactly." He reached inside of his grimy shirt and came out with the officer’s credit pouch. He grinned wickedly. "I sort of ‘traded’ it for this. Here, the nice Imperial officer made a donation to the Rebellion." He handed her the pouch and she sat staring first at the pouch, then at him.

Finally, she found her voice. "You picked his pocket? You went up to a bunch of Imperial officers and picked one’s pocket?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Because you could have gotten yourself killed, that’s why not."

"Nah. They were in too big a hurry to leave. Most of their men were already on board, and they didn’t want to get tangled up with a ‘Corellian brat.’ That meant a busted lip, or broken arm at the most. I got off light. Just a lecture and a bruised rear." He looked at her and laughed at her expression.

"What are you laughing at? Are you are insane?"

"Nope. I’m Corellian. Big difference."

She shook her head in disagreement. "Not really."

An alarm on the console beeped, and he turned to look. "We’re coming up on the jump point." He watched the gauges a moment, then reached for the hyperdrive levers. "Here we go." He slid the levers slowly into position, and the stars elongated into lines, then became the blur of hyperspace.

He turned back to face her. "I don’t know why you’re so upset. I did what had to be done. I’d just like to be there when whoever thinks they’re tracking us, tries to jump them."

He stood and headed toward the galley. "Well, I’m gonna go get cleaned up. Then I’m gonna make some supper."

Ily’eene sat there a moment longer, staring after him. That kid is dangerous. Question is, is he more dangerous to us, or to the opposition?

She sighed and stood, following his lead into the galley.

* * * * *

The first of the two long jumps was uneventful. They killed time by sleeping, watching one or two of Sneaky’s limitless supply of holovids, playing sabacc, (which confirmed Ily’eene’s earlier intuition about playing against him,), and talking.

Ily’eene told Wedge stories about her life with the Alliance, including how she’d lost her husband. He told her about his life on Gus Treta, and at school, and about shipping with Booster Terrik. By the time they reached the reversion point, they’d become comfortable with each other, and Ily’eene had come to admire Wedge’s level headedness and ability.

At the first reversion point, Wedge had brought them out of hyperspace near a remote system with a pale yellow primary star and absolutely no redeeming features. The system didn’t even have a name, only a number.

After checking the figures again, he took them immediately into their next jump, without a hitch.

Again, everything went well, until, about forty-five minutes before their scheduled reversion, when the proximity alarm interrupted their breakfast, with its insistent clamor.

Wedge dropped his fork back onto his plate and ran to the cockpit with Ily’eene close on his heels. Before he got settled in the pilot’s chair, they were yanked into realspace, right into the middle of a running lightfight.

"Sithspit!" Bringing the ship’s shields up, he suddenly yanked the controls hard to port, narrowly avoiding a collision with a TIE fighter. "Sneaky, get in here! Ily’eene, get to the upper gun well."

"On my way!" She had to dodge the little droid on her way out of the cockpit.

Wedge took a quick look around the battle, then checked his sensor screens. If he had to fight, he needed to know who was who and how many of them there were.

"I’m in, Wedge." Ily’eene’s voice came through his headset.

Sneaky whistled a question at him, and after glancing at the readout, he shook his head.

"No…I don’t think they’re here to ambush us." His hands flew over the controls, as transferred fire control of the belly gun to the console in front of him. "We just got tangled up in their action. Looks like they’re after that Y-4 over there."

Slightly below the Pride, and to her starboard, hung a battered Incom Y-4 Transport, which his display identified as the Rim Rover. She was taking a heavy beating from the Interdictor’s TIEs.

"Probably some smuggler they were after, or something. The Interdictor’s the only Imp ship here. At least we don’t have a Star Destroyer to worry about…

"Well, we can’t jump out of system, so let’s give the Y-4 some help." He headed into the battle. "Heads up ‘Eenie."

He headed straight for a group of TIEs that were swarming toward them.

The TIEs split formation, and began hammering the Pride with green laser bolts. Wedge could feel the ship shake with each hit, but the shields were holding. Keeping one eye on the targeting screen and one on the tactical screen he opened up with the ships belly gun. The lead TIE seemed to shudder and then blossomed into a fiery ball. The second TIE imitated its wingman a moment later, and Wedge smiled.

From above, he could hear Ily’eene firing at her two targets, then a triumphant whoop as she scored hits on them both.

Checking his screens again, Wedge’s saw that the Y-4 was in real trouble. The Interdictor had locked onto her with its tractor beam.

He swung the Pride around and headed for the battered old ship, not really sure what he was going to do.

An alarm howled at him, and he saw that three TIEs had managed to get behind him. And apparently, the lead pilot was smart enough to keep his flight close enough to pursue and fire at the Pride, while also keeping them in the one blind spot where neither of the freighter’s guns could hit them.

Wedge’s frown of concentration turned to a malicious smile. "Okay, if you want to play that way. Sneaky, get me an exact readout on the dimensions of that tractor beam." He eased them into a slight turn, keeping an eye on the TIEs behind him, as they followed closely.

Wedge switched his comm frequency and attempted to contact the Rover.

"Transport Rim Rover, this is the freighter Daysider One. Do you copy?"

"Copy Daysider. We’re kinda busy, here. They’ve got us."

"I know. Cut your engines back to half power, then on my mark, kick in everything you've got."

"But…"

"No ‘buts.’ Just trust me. Otherwise you’re going to become ‘guests’ of the Empire."

"Copy, Daysider. What have we got to lose? We’re with you."

Wedge’s screen showed the transport beginning to slow, as her thrusters powered down against the pull of the tractor beam. The Interdictor’s tractor reduced power accordingly.

"What’s that beam width, Sneaky?" He studied the monitor where the astromech displayed the information. "Okay, pal. Hang on to your holos. This is going to be close."

He increased his speed and headed straight for the tractor beam parameters displayed on the screen. The Pride obeyed him perfectly, as he made her juke like a starfighter to dodge the green lances of light that the TIEs sent his way.

Gauging time and distance carefully, he began counting down in his head.

Suddenly, Ily’eene’s voice echoed over the headset. "Wedge! What are you doing? You’re heading for…"

He cut her off with a flip of a switch, still concentrating on his countdown. Hitting another switch on the comm unit he spoke calmly.

"Rover, on my mark…five…four…three…" He brought his line of flight up slightly and smiled as the pursuing

TIEs did the same. "Two…one! Now!"

The transport began to accelerate and slowly move in the opposite direction a meter at a time. Predictably the screen showed that the tractor beam’s power began to increase to compensate for the smaller ship’s renewed escape attempt.

"Three…two…one!" Still counting to himself, Wedge suddenly sent the Pride into a steep climb, just as she reached the edge of the beam. The ship barely skimmed the tractor beam, and shot up, away from the invisible column of energy, then curved back around to face any new threat that might appear.

The TIEs weren’t so lucky. They’d been so intent on keeping up with the freighter, that they hadn’t even noticed where she was leading them. All three fighters were grabbed by the increased strength of the beam, and hurtled helplessly toward the Interdictor, effectively breaking the hold she had on the transport.

A few seconds later, they impacted the ship, and triple explosions erupted at the collision points. Several more explosions followed those, and suddenly Wedge’s screen showed that the Interdictor’s gravity well generators had gone down.

The Rim Rover, her engines at full thrust, shot away from the cruiser like a scalded gurrcat. Seeing her chance for escape, she headed for deep space, attempting to put as much distance between herself and the Imperial ship as possible.

"Thanks Daysider. We owe you."

"Don’t mention it, Rover. I think this would be a really good time to get gone, before they power up those generators again." He checked his screens again. "She’s calling in her fighters."

"We copy, Daysider. Fair skies."

"The same to you, Rover."

The transport changed course slightly, then, with a brief flicker of pseudo-motion she disappeared.

"Now it’s our turn." He cleared the screens. "Sneaky, give me a microjump out of system. Once we’re clear, we can plot a new jump."

The little droid gave a hysterical whistle and Wedge checked the screen.

"Sithspit!" The Interdictor was bringing one of her turbolasers to bear on the freighter. Wedge slammed the throttles to full, just as Ily’eene came through the cockpit door. She had to grab the doorframe to keep from hitting the deck when the inertial compensators faltered briefly.

Sneaky was still whistling wildly at Wedge.

"You just calculate that microjump. I’ll worry about the lasers." He glanced over his shoulder at Ily’eene, as he fed all available to his rear shields "You hurt?"

"No." She struggled into the seat behind his.

"Good. If you want to stay that way, strap in." He threw the ship into a wild evasive zigzag. "Have you got those numbers yet, Sneaky?"

Numbers scrolled onto the screen, and Wedge looked at them quickly, as the first volley of green laser fire narrowly missed them.

"I trust you, Sneaky. Feed ‘em to the navcomputer." He dodged a second bolt of energy and a third.

The navcomputer signaled ready, and he grabbed the hyperdrive levers. Easing them forward, he started to breathe a sigh of relief, but instead, it caught in his throat. The last split second, before they jumped, the Pride gave a bone-jarring lurch, then they were suddenly surrounded by the blur of hyperspace. Just as suddenly, they dropped back into realspace, with alarm lights covering half the control console.

Wedge gave a hot Corellian curse and started shutting down nonessential systems. "Sneaky, where are we? Is there any place we can land?"

"What can I do Wedge?" Ily’eene freed herself from the crash webbing.

"Take a breather and an extinguisher and check aft for fires. Be careful."

"Right." She took one of the breathers off the bulkhead behind the seat and headed back toward the galley.

"Sneaky?" Wedge still worked to reroute or shut down stressed systems, and keep the ship moving.

Finally the droid chittered at him, and the information began to scroll across his screen. He spared the time to check it out, and allowed himself a faint smile. "Okay. I’ll see if I can coax enough out of her to get us there. You take over damage control."

He corrected their course, and headed for a distant planet that, according to Sneaky, had a breathable atmosphere.

"How are we doin’ back there, Ily’eene?" He keyed the internal comm.

"One small fire in some circuitry in the hold. Other than that, we’re fine. How about you?"

Even though the breather mask muffled her voice, he could hear the worry in her voice.

"We’ve come up with a place to land, so I can look this tub over and make repairs. Diagnostics say we don’t have too much damage, but I won’t know for sure until I can take a look. We’ll make whatever repairs we can, then raise ship and do a two jump trip to Dantooine. How does that sound to you?"

"Fine." She sounded a bit less worried. "Wedge."

"Huh?"

"That was some incredible flying you did back there. I think your parents, and Booster would be proud of you."

"Thanks. But what brought that on?"

"I just wanted you to know that I trust you without reservation. And I’m sorry it took me so long to finally realize that I could."

"Thanks. I’ll do my best to keep that trust." He swallowed hard against the lump that had formed in his throat. "I think you should come forward and strap in, if you’re through back there. I can’t guarantee how smooth this landing will be."

"I’m on my way, Captain Antilles."

* * * * *

The planet was a small uninhabited moon, orbiting a bleak dustball of a planet called Erobu Minor, and it was just what they needed. Out of the way, and with a breathable atmosphere, and best of all, it was close.

Battling balky controls, and fluctuating power levels, Wedge took the Zena’s Pride to tree top level and skimmed along, looking for a likely landing spot.

The planet was covered with lush jungle, and a grassy savanna. Small herds of some type of wild herbivore dotted the plain. Looking up in panic as the Pride roared overhead, they broke into a startled stampede.

A low, craggy mountain range ran almost from pole to pole, jutting up out of the jungle as if it were trying to escape the encroaching tangle of plant life.

Wedge studied his sensors and suddenly smiled.

"Got it!" Fighting the sluggish controls, he angled the ship in the direction of the nearest mountains and slowed. He kept the ship under control with will power and brute strength.

"Got what?" Ily’eene leaned forward against the crash webbing, attempting to see the control panel and screens.

"A nice, quiet place to set up the Antilles-Milam Ship Repair Service."

"Oh." All she could see was the mountains looming toward them. "If you say so."

Sneaky burbled a comment, and Wedge grinned. "No. I don’t plan to sacrifice us to the volcano. There isn’t any volcano. But I am going to fly us into that mountain."

The droid whined pathetically, and Ily’eene was tempted to copy him, but restrained herself.

"Relax. Not into, as in smashed against." Wedge dropped the ship lower and flew toward an uneven rock wall. "But into, as in into…this cave." Slowing even more, he eased the ship toward a slight overhang, and guided the ship through the almost invisible entrance of a wide cave.

"I’ll be damned. Where’d that come from?" She undid her restraints, and moved behind his pilot’s chair, as he settled the ship on her landing gear and shut her down. "Nice job, Captain Antilles!"

Yeah, well let’s see how much damage we’ve got to deal with, before we get too excited." He set the ships sensors to passive mode, allowing them to be warned if they happened to get scanned. "Sneaky, run a full diagnostic on her and keep an eye on the sensors. Just incase the Imps followed us. I’ll call when I need you" He stood and started to head aft but Ily’eene put her hand on his arm.

"You still deserve a reward for getting us out of that mess, in one piece." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Wedge blushed furiously. "Ahh…thanks. I…ah…I need to get started on these repairs, if we’re going to get you and these supplies to Dantooine before the Rebellion is over." He all but fled the cockpit, leaving her smiling at his discomfort. Not because she enjoyed seeing him embarrassed, but because it was nice to see someone still capable of blushing. In the last few years of her life, since she’d joined the Rebellion, it seemed as if the only innocence she’d come across, was the lost kind.

Sneaky whistled at her, and she squinted at the screen on the console. "No Sneaky." She rolled her eyes and suppressed a grin. "I’m not going to seduce and abandon him. He’s a bit young for me." Although from what I’ve seen so far, a girl could do a lot worse than Wedge Antilles.

She leaned over the little droid and patted him on his domed top. "But I am thinking of turning you into a planter."

Shaking her head at the droid’s "imagination," she headed aft, to help Wedge, leaving the little R2 unit whistling nervously to himself.

An hour and a half later, having finished his inspection of the ship, Wedge pulled his head out of an access panel and wiped his hands on a rag Ily’eene handed him. "Thanks."

"Well?" She looked at him hopefully."

We’ve been pretty lucky. We’ve got some burned out wiring and blown fuses, which are no problem. There’s some damage to one of the power couplings that’s gonna take a while to fix. Then there are the hydraulic lines. We lost an entire section of the ones that govern the steering. That’s why I had to fight to control her."

"Do we have what we need to do the repairs?"

He shrugged. "Yes. Most of it. I can Jawa-rig the rest of it if I have to."

"We can check the cargo. If there’s something there we need, we can use it."

"Are you sure? I know that your people need all that stuff they can get."

"I’m sure. Besides, none of it will do us any good, if it doesn’t get there. And when you signed on to smuggle for us, they became your people too."

"I never though of it like that." He took a deep breath. "Well, we’d better get to work." He turned to call for Sneaky, and jumped when he came face to optical sensor with the droid, who whistled shrilly.

"Damn, Sneaky! I’ve gotta give you a couple of rattles or squeaks so I can hear you coming."

The droid chittered unhappily at him.

"Planter huh?" He looked at Ily’eene, who grimaced guiltily. "Sounds like a good idea to me. I may help her. But not right now. We need you to get to work on that wiring and those fuses. Do a really good job, and I may change my mind."

The Astromech whistled hopefully, then whirled around and hurried back up the boarding ramp.

"What can I do?"

"Ever done any starship repair?"

"Not much. Tightened bolts. Helped by passing tools and such. But I follow instructions pretty well."

"Fine. You’re going to pull the power coupling."

"Ahh, that sounds complicated." She looked at him dubiously.

"Not really. C’mon, I’ll show you how it’s done. You can do that, while I replace those hydraulic lines. When I finish that, I’ll repair and replace the coupling."

"Whatever you say. I’m ready when you are."

"Okay. Let’s get to it."

* * * * *

It took the three of them the better part of two standard days to finish the repairs, and then check the systems to see if they’d work.

The first time that they checked the wiring, four other fuses blew and the circuits burned out. Sneaky was almost beside himself. He warbled little distressed whistles until Wedge finally promised him that they wouldn’t really turn him into a planter.

After one or two other small setbacks, they finally had everything back in working order, and got green lights on all the diagnostics.

"Finally!" Ily’eene dropped heavily into the seat and breathed a long sigh. "I’m beat. All I want to do is scrape some of the grime off, climb into a bunk and sleep for a week. I’ve never been this dirty before."

Wedge grinned at her. "Well, I have. Back on Gus Treta, my Mom used to tease my Dad about using me as a grease rag to clean engine parts. Especially when I was a little kid. Sometimes I’d be so greasy, you could barely recognize me."

"Well, you’ve continued the tradition. You’re a mess."

He laughed. "Have you looked in a mirror?"

"No thanks." She grimaced at the prospect.

"Hey, I’ve got an idea! There’s a river down at the bottom of the slope out there." He nodded toward the cave’s entrance. "Let’s go for a quick swim. Then we can head out."

"Sounds wonderful to me. Maybe we could take some soap and clean clothes and save time. " She stood and headed for her cabin.

"Okay." Sneaky, you stay on board and watch the sensors. Just in case." The droid whistled apprehensively.

"It’s a river, Sneak. But I’ll keep my eye open for sea monsters anyway." He patted the little droid’s domed head, then headed to his temporary cabin.

The mid-afternoon sun filtered through the canopy of trees, dappling the riverbank and warming the crystal clear pool before them. The scent of flowers hung in the air, and the sounds of birds and insects were everywhere.

For a few minutes, they just stood and enjoyed the sight. Then Ily’eene began to shed her clothes. "Last one in is an Agamarian nerf herder!" She stripped down to her underwear and dove into the water. It felt delicious against her skin, and relaxed all of her tired, sore muscles. She lay back and floated on the surface of the water, eyes closed, luxuriating in the feel of the water and the sun.

A split second later Wedge hit the water beside her, sending a small tidal wave over her. Then he disappeared below the surface. When he came up he was right in front of her. "Gotcha!"

"Why you…" She put both hands on his head and ducked him beneath the water. When he came up again, he was laughing.

After a few minutes of splashing and ducking each other, they both kicked onto their back and just floated lazily next to each other.

"This would be so easy to get used to." She took a deep breath and the fragrance of the forest was almost intoxicating. "We could just stay here you know? We could live in the ship. Swim every day, hunt, fish and not have to worry about the Empire." Her voice was dreamy.

"That would be nice. Only one small problem though. We’d both get bored, after a while." Wedge sighed deeply.

"I’d get bored not with not flying. I’ve got to be able to fly. And you’d get bored being stuck here with a kid."

"I’ll argue that last point. I can’t think of a time since we started this trip that I’ve been bored being around you, Captain Antilles."

"Yeah, well you haven’t exactly made me nod off either…But, I don’t think you’d really let your friends with the Rebellion down. They’re waiting for this equipment, remember?"

She stopped floating, and started treading water. "Why do you always have to be right? It’s a damned annoying trait in a sixteen year old." She was smiling when she said it, though. "But, I suppose we’d better get cleaned up, and get out of here. Still, though, it was a nice idea."

He nodded, solemnly, then winked at her. "Don’t worry. You’ll have your chance at that kind of a life one day. You’ve worked too hard and you’ve paid too big a price not to." He moved closer to her, and kissed her on her cheek. Then, blushing, he headed to the shore.

"I’ll get the soap. I just hope the oil slick we leave, doesn’t ruin the river."

It took both of them several good latherings and scrubbings to get clean, but eventually they were satisfied with the results. They left the water and each found some cover to preserve their modesty while dressing.

Wedge had just pulled his boots on when he noticed that the jungle around them had become quiet. Uncomfortably quiet. He hastily buckled on his gun belt and gathering his dirty clothes, he started toward where he’d left Ily’eene.

Suddenly a terrified scream shattered the silence, and cut through him like a vibroblade. Breaking into a run, he covered the short distance in only seconds. When he reached the clearing, he skidded to a halt, and what he saw left him cold with fear.

With her back against the trunk of a tree, Ily’eene stood staring in mesmerized horror at the animal before her. Her gunbelt, still holding her blaster, hung a meter away on a low branch, next to her dirty clothes.

Two and a half meters long, and as thick as Wedge’s waist, the serpent held half its body upright before its victim. Swaying its grayish brown body slowly from side to side, it inched toward her. It’s barbed tail switched lazily back and forth.

"Don’t move, ‘Eenie!" Wedge forced calm into his voice, as he moved slowly around the edge of the clearing, to get a better shot at the creature.

The animal turned its cold yellow-eyed gaze toward him, and hissed angrily, showing a slavering mouth full of sharp teeth. Lashing out suddenly at him with its tail, it only narrowly missed when he dropped and rolled out of reach. Then it turned its attention back to Ily’eene.

As Wedge finished the roll, he came up with his blaster in his hand. Taking careful aim, he fired twice, hitting it just below the head.

The serpent whipped around to face him, enraged by the pain of its wounds. It slithered toward him, hissing and dripping greenish blood, but Wedge was already moving to another position.

He fired again and again, dodging and rolling to remain out of the animal’s reach. And each shot hit home, despite the animal’s wild thrashing and lunging at him.

Finally, after taking more than a dozen hits, the serpent lay mortally wounded on the ground before Wedge, with only the spasms of its dying muscles giving it the appearance of continued life.

Immediately, Wedge was at Ily’eene’s side. "Eenie, are you alright? Did it get you?" She turned terrified eyes toward him and began to slide weakly to the ground. He caught her before she got there. Then he saw the bite mark on her right thigh and the widening bloodstain on the fatigue pants that she wore.

"C’mon ‘Eenie." He holstered his blaster. "I need to get you back to the ship." He eased her back to her feet. "Can you walk?"

The woman began to shiver, shock and the poison already beginning to do their work. "I don’t know. I…feel so…strange."

"Okay. Then I’ll carry you." He scooped her up in his arms and headed for the Zena’s Pride.

"My bl…blaster. My…my clothes." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Don’t worry about those. Sneaky can come back and get those for us. Right now I’ve got to get that leg taken care of."

"Okay. I…" Her head lolled against his shoulder, and she fell silent.

"Please ‘Eenie. Hold on. Please." He ran up the slope, into the mouth of the cave and found the little R2 unit ‘pacing’ back and forth at the foot of the Pride’s boarding ramp.

"Sneaky, go back down to the clearing by the river and bring our clothes and her blaster back. Hurry! As soon as I tend this wound, we’re getting out of here."

The droid whined pitifully. "Don’t worry. I killed the monster. He won’t get you. Now go! No! Wait! Take a good look at that thing and when you come back, plug into the computer and see if you can get me any information on what to do for one’s bite."

He carried the woman back to her cabin, and lay her on the bunk, then went for the medpac.

* * * * *

According to Sneaky and the computer, the creature had been a Na’imah and the larger ones could be very nasty to deal with. The one they’d run afoul of was evidently a medium sized one of the species; a fact for which Wedge was grateful.

Na’imah were poisonous, but did not inject the toxin into their victim with fangs. Instead, as they bit their prey, the toxin, which was in their saliva, would be forced into the wound. It was a mild paralytic, which would slow their prey’s struggles and allow the Na’imah to devour it at its leisure. But the toxins broke down tissue as well, and the wound would continue to deteriorate even after the paralysis wore off.

That meant that Wedge needed to get Ily’eene to the Alliance base on Dantooine as fast as he could, so she could be dunked in bacta and not lose her leg, or die.

He applied a tourniquet, cleaned the wound, sprayed it with some tincture of ryll, the only antibiotic he had, and dressed it loosely as per the computer’s instructions. As he worked, ‘Eenie drifted in and out of awareness. He did his best to reassure her and promised the dazed woman that he’d get her back to her friends. Then he gave her a mild painkiller, and promised to return as soon as he could.

Forty-five minutes after the attack on Ily’eene, Wedge eased the Zena’s Pride out of her hiding place and into the bright light of day.

Checking the sensors carefully, he stayed at tree top level until he was sure that the area was clear of Imps, then began gaining some altitude before switching to thrusters.

Again, the planet stretched beneath him, beautiful, peaceful and inviting. Shaking his head in wonder at how such beauty could hide such danger, Wedge pointed the Pride’s nose skyward and transferred power to the sublight engines. The moon became smaller and smaller, as the ship clawed for deep space.

"You got those coordinates yet, Sneaky?"

The little droid chittered an affirmative and numbers began to scroll across the screen.

Wedge verified the numbers, then fed them to the navcomputer. "I’d rather be able to go straight to Dantooine, but to be on the safe side, we’ll make the trip in three jumps. It’s bad enough that I’m bringing their agent back injured. I damn sure don’t want to lead the Imps to them."

Sneaky gave a mournful, questioning whistle, and Wedge’s shrugged.

"I don’t know, Sneak…I hope she’ll be all right." He patted the little droid on his domed head, then reached for the hyperdrive lever. "Let’s just get outta here, so we can get her to some help." He moved the lever and the stars turned into lines, and then into the blur of hyperspace.

Unbuckling his crash webbing, he stood and headed back toward the cabin to check on the injured woman.

Their first jump took four hours, taking them in the general direction of the Outer Rim Territories, and went smoothly. The repairs they’d made to the Pride held, and Ily’eene had slept almost the entire time. Wedge had breathed a small sigh of relief as they reverted to real space.

Immediately, he entered the coordinates for the next leg of the trip, and they were on their way again. At fourteen hours, this would be the longest jump.

Leaving Sneaky on watch at the helm, Wedge again made his way back to the cabin where Ily’eene lay.

Although he didn’t want to awaken then sleeping woman, Wedge needed to adjust the tourniquet and check the bandage on the wound. Carefully he turned back the blanket and found that the bandage needed changing.

Very gently he cut the old bandage away and prepared to apply anew one. The wound looked worse. It was swollen and was an angry purplish red color. The area around it was hot to the touch. When he did touch it, ‘Eenie moaned with pain, but her eyes remained closed.

"I’m sorry ‘Eenie. I’ve got to change the bandage." He sprayed tincture of ryll around the wound, and very gingerly rebandaged it.

Then he moved to the head of the bunk and felt her forehead. She felt cold and clammy to his touch. Taking a cloth from a basin beside the bed, he wiped her face with the cool water. Her eyes opened and she looked dazedly at him.

"W…Wedge?" Her voice was raspy and weak. "Are we there yet?"

"No, not yet. I just made the second jump. It’ll be a while…How are you doing?"

"Still feel…numb. Things…don’t want to move." She tried to move her hand and it barely twitched.

"That feeling will wear off in a couple of hours." He brushed a wisp of her brown hair from her forehead. "Is the leg hurting?"

"Yes." She met his look. "I’m going to lose my leg aren’t I?"

"Not if I can help it. I’m doing what the computer says do, and, I’ve got the Pride making top speed. I’ll get you back to help. I promise."

"I trust you Wedge." She closed her eyes and licked her lips. "Could I have a drink of water?"

"Sure." He reached for the glass of water on the small table by the bunk, then helped her sip it slowly.

The effort was almost too much for her, and tears of pain slid down her cheeks.

"I’m going to give you another dose of pain medication, ‘Eenie. It’ll probably make you sleepy again." He took the self-injecting dose out of the medpac and injected it into her bare arm. Then he tucked the covers around her again.

"Now. You close your eyes and rest. I’m gong to stay right here beside you until it’s time to make the next jump. Okay?"

"Okay…Wedge." She’d already begun to feel the effects of the medication, and in almost no time at all she’d drifted back to sleep.

Wedge pulled up the chair that normally sat against the bulkhead, and sat down next to the bed. Taking her hand in his, he settled in to wait.

* * *

Wedge had managed to fight off sleep for nearly five hours, before the stress and fatigue of the past couple of days got the best of him. Then, holding Ily’eene’s hand, he’d finally dozed off, his head resting on his forearm on the edge of the bunk,

His nap however was short lived.

Ily’eene’s mumbled words, and restless struggling had roused him enough to realize that he’d fallen asleep, but it was the anguished scream she gave that brought him fully alert.

"’Eenie? What is it?" He came to his feet, searching for whatever demon had torn the scream from her, and found her moaning and tossing on sweat soaked sheets.

"’Eenie…Can you hear me? ‘Eenie, what is it?" He put his hand to her cheek and found her burning with a fever. A quick scan with the medpac did nothing to allay his fears.

"Sithspit!" He hit the internal comlink switch. "Sneaky! I need you in here, quick." He pulled the covers back and threw them on the deck.

The droid appeared at the door and Wedge handed him the basin. "Bring me a sheet of plastine from the hold, then fill this with ice and water. I’ve got to get her fever down.

"’Eenie…I’ve got to move you a minute. It’s gonna hurt. I’m sorry…" Gently he lifted her out of the bed and she whimpered with the pain the movement caused. Just as he put the woman’s feet on the floor and held her to him so she wouldn’t fall, Sneaky rolled back into the room.

"Hold that end of the plastine, Sneak…" He pointed to the head of the bunk, and the droid held one end of the plastine in place while Wedge spread the sheet out on the bunk with one hand.

"Now, hand me the blanket." Taking the blanket, he spread it over the sheet, then lay the woman back on the bunk and placed a pillow under her head. "Put some towels in that basin and get ‘em good and wet. Then keep the basin full of ice and water for me."

He began unbuttoning Ily’eene’s tunic. "I’m sorry about this ‘Eenie. You’re not gonna like it, but you can be mad at me later. I’ve got to get your fever down, and this is the only way I can think of."

He took a deep breath and slipped her tunic off, leaving her dressed only in her panties. "I saw my Mom do this once, when Mirax was a kid." He picked up the first cold towel and lay it across the woman’s bare breasts then covered her from her neck to her knees with more. She shivered involuntarily at their wet, cold touch

"Mirax is Booster Terrik’s daughter. She used to live with us when her father was on dangerous runs." He folded a smaller towel and placed it on Ily’eene’s brow. "Anyway…Mirax got sick. I don’t remember with what…but she wound up with this really high fever and Mom did this to bring it down. I must’ve carried fifty basins of ice for her."

He took her hand and held it. "When Mom did it, it worked…I hope it does this time. Otherwise, how am I gonna explain all this to your friends on Dantooine."

* * *

For the next six hours, Wedge stayed at Ily’eene’s bedside, working to bring her fever down. He kept her covered with the icy towels, and managed to get a fair amount of water down her, a sip at a time.

He held her hand, and calmed her delirious cries by answering to whatever name, (usually Jaaden,) she called him by, and reassuring her that things would be all right.

Periodically he did a medpac scan on her and was relieved to see that the fever gradually began to drop. By the time they reached the reversion point, her fever had remained down for nearly an hour, and she’d stopped her tossing and delirious rambling.

Wedge left Sneaky to watch over her, while he returned to the cockpit and brought the Zena’s Pride out of hyperspace. After checking the coordinates and figures one last time, he punched them into the navcomputer and took them into their last jump toward Dantooine. Then he went back to his patient who lay resting quietly on the disheveled bunk, with a clean blanket over her.

Sneaky warbled a question to him and he nodded. "I think her fever will stay down until we get her to the Alliance base. I just hope that they can save her leg. That wound looks awful." He looked around at the mess the cabin was in.

"Okay, Sneaky. We’ve got two hours until we reach the contact point. Let’s get this mess cleaned up and put some dry clothes on her. And I’ve got to change that bandage again too."

He handed the little droid the basin full of wet towels. "Here. Go throw those in the recycler. I’ll get some dry clothes out for her."

He rummaged in her dufflebag until he found her a change of clothes then he moved back to her side, just as Sneaky came back in.

"Here Sneaky, pull the plastine and the wet blankets off of the bunk." Wedge lifted Ily’eene and let the droid clear the bunk, then he lay her gently back down on the still dry sheet. He slipped the dry clothes on her, and covered her again with the clean blanket, then proceeded to change the bandage one more time.

While he was working, she opened her eyes and focused on him, dazedly. "Wedge. Where are we?"

"We’re about an hour and a half from Dantooine. It’s almost over, ‘Eenie." He finished with the bandage and moved to the head of the bed. "When we get to the base, the Two-Onebees will fix you up like new."

" Uh huh." She shivered, and he tucked the blanket around her more snugly.

"You just rest. It won’t be long now. Do you need something for the pain?"

"No. It doesn’t hurt much right this minute." She shivered again. "Wedge? Did I…Have I been dreaming or something? I thought Jaaden was here, and he wanted me to go with him. Then, for some reason I got really cold and… well, I dreamed that you took my clothes off."

"Ahh…well…I did." He winced at the admission.

"What?" Her eyes widened and she started to sit up, but a wave of dizziness stopped her. "You did what?"

"Take it easy. You had a really high fever and the only way I knew to bring it down, was to keep you covered with icy towels. You were sort of out of your head…and you kept talking to Jaaden…and other people who weren’t there. I kept you covered, except when I had to change the towels."

"Oh?" She glared at him. "You mean you didn’t try to…to take ‘advantage’ of the situation?"

"No, I didn’t. You’re under my protection. I would never do that. Besides, I was too scared that you were going to die. I was afraid that I was going to lose a friend." He met her frown with a steady gaze. "But…I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t admit that…I think that you have a really beautiful body. If I were a few years older, I’d be tempted."

"Oh." It was her turn to blush. "Well…thank you." She hugged the blanket tighter around herself and smiled awkwardly at him as she gave another shiver.

"Are you still cold?"

"Mmm hmm. A little. But I’m not numb anymore, and I can at least move now." She lifted her hand and managed to pat his cheek before it exhausted her.

"That’s good. I’ll get another blanket for you."

"No. Would you mind…just holding me for a little while, instead? Please?"

"Uh, are you sure? I mean..."

"I’m very sure. You’re the first person I’ve been this sure of in a long time."

"Okay." He reached for the pillow and motioned toward the back of the bunk. "Move that way a little."

He helped her slide toward the bulkhead, then arranged the pillow against the bulkhead at the head of the bunk. He sat on the edge of the bunk and stretched out beside her, slipping his arm under her shoulders as he did. He snugged the blanket around her a bit more comfortably, leaned against the bulkhead and then held her close to him.

"How’s that?"

"Fine." She lay her head against his shoulder. "I appreciate this. I hope I’m not embarrassing you."

"No. I don’t mind. Sometimes…when something awful happens to you, you just need someone to hold you for a while. It helps you not to hurt so much, or be so scared."

"Uh huh. I haven’t had anyone to hold me like this since Jaaden died. I’ve missed that." A tear slid down her cheek.

"I’ve missed it too…My Mom and Dad were both huggers. Back on Gus Treta, some of the kids I hung around with used to tease me about it. I never minded though. I wasn’t embarrassed for them to hug me in front of my friends. It just meant that I had someone who cared about me. Everybody needs that."

"You’re a very wise young man, Wedge Antilles. I’m honored to have you as a friend. Not to mention the fact that I owe you my life."

"’Eenie, you don’t owe me anything. Besides, it’s sort of my fault that you got bitten, anyway."

"How do you read that?"

"If I hadn’t suggested that we go swimming, you wouldn’t have been bitten."

"That’s the first dumb thing I’ve heard you say, and I don’t ever want to hear it again. I’m a big girl, Wedge. I could have said ‘no.’ I wanted to go swimming just as much as you did. You just thought of it first. Besides we both needed the bath."

"But…"

"Ah ah! One more word and I’ll demote you from Captain back to kid again."

"Yes ma’am. Boy you must be feeling better."

"I do as a matter of fact. Except that now the leg is hurting some."

"Want a pain shot?"

"No thanks. I think I can wait until we get to Dantooine."

"Okay. But if it gets too bad, let me know."

"I will, Dr. Antilles." Her voice had become drowsy, as she began to get warm.

"That’s Captain, Doctor Antilles, thank you."

"Umm hmm. If you say so." He felt her body relax against him, as she dozed off again and he shook his head.

"Sneaky?" He tapped his comlink. "Let me know when we’re ten minutes from reversion." He leaned his head back against the bulkhead and closed his eyes.

* * * * *

When Wedge dropped the Zena’s Pride back into realspace at the designated rendezvous point, he found two Incom T-65 X-wings waiting for him. After transmitting the proper identification codes, and satisfying the security check they ran, he took the Pride down into Dantooine’s atmosphere, under the watchful eyes of the two starfighters.

Against a stiff cross wind, and in the middle of a sudden heavy rainstorm, Wedge had set the ship down easily, at the hidden base. The ship had been boarded and Ily’eene had been rushed directly to the medicenter. Wedge had been detained on board, while everything had been scanned thoroughly.

He’d been questioned by a security officer then escorted to the medicenter, where he spent the next two hours alternately pacing, or sitting on a hard bench outside the treatment room, waiting for word on Ily’eene.

Finally, just as he’d made up his mind to grab the next medtech that walked by and coerce some information from him, the door to the treatment room slid open. He was on his feet instantly, as a Two-Onebee medical droid trundled out; followed by three humans who wore the uniforms of Alliance officers.

He stepped directly into their path. "Excuse me. But could somebody please tell me how Ily’eene Milam is doing? I’ve been waiting a couple of hours, and haven’t heard anything. She’s not going to lose her leg, is she? Is she going to be all right?"

"Are you Wedge Antilles?" The senior of the three officers, a General with a grizzled gray beard, and a distinguished but kind face stepped forward slightly.

"Yessir. Is ‘Eenie all right?"

"She’ll be fine, son. They’re just putting her in the bacta, now. She wouldn’t let them work on her until she gave her report." He extended his hand to Wedge. "I’m General Jan Dodonna. I’m the base commander here."

Wedge swallowed and wiped his hand on his shirt. Jan Dodonna is one of the most famous and respected leaders of the Rebellion. "It’s an honor, Sir. I’m sorry if I was rude. I…"

"No apology is necessary. You’re concerned about a friend. And Ily’eene thinks very highly of you." He shook Wedge’s hand then patted his shoulder.

"Why don’t you go in and check on her? Afterwards, come by my office. I’d like to have a talk with you. Oh oh, wait. ‘Eenie made me promise I’d see that you got something to eat…So first go by the mess and have a decent meal, then come to my office."

"Yessir. Thank you, sir."

"You’re welcome. Now, go ahead. I’ll see you later." The officers turned and continued on their original course.

Wedge realized he was standing with his mouth open, staring after them. He looked around to see if anyone were watching and was relieved to find the waiting area totally empty. He exhaled slowly to relax, then went into the treatment room.

* * * * *

After checking on Ily’eene, Wedge asked for directions to the mess, and then headed that way. But the most direct path took him through the base’s main hanger and when he walked in, he stopped in his tracks.

There, before him, sat squadrons of fighters, bombers and assorted other ships, and closest to him, were the X-wings.

Before he realized what he was doing, he’d walked over to one, and was running his hand lovingly over the cool metal of the hull. He could almost feel the power of the ship, as it sat waiting for its next mission.

He let his hand trail along the underside of the starboard S-foil and come to rest on the Taim & Bak KX9 Laser Cannon. He knew every spec and every capability of the sleek ship by heart, but this was the first time he’d seen one up close.

"I dunno, Piggy. What do you think? You think it’s love at first sight?"

"Looks that way to me. You can tell by the dazed expression."

Snapped out of his reverie, Wedge turned to face the owners of the two voices, and found two men, dressed in the orange flight suits of the Alliance pilots.

One was five or six years older than Wedge and a bit taller. He sported a rakish mustache, and an annoying smirk that Wedge immediately disliked. He was leaning casually against the boarding ladder, which was propped against the side of the fighter.

The other man was several years older and quite a bit heavier than the first. In fact, his bulk strained the seams of his flight suit. He wore a beard and had slightly thinning hair, and he smiled benignly at Wedge, in-between bites of a piece of some kind of fruit that Wedge didn’t recognize.

"What’s your name, Kid?" The smaller man asked, as he sauntered over to Wedge.

"Wedge Antilles." He watched the pilot, trying to gauge just how much trouble he might be in.

"I’m Biggs Darklighter and this is Jek Porkins, otherwise known as ‘Piggy.’ You were the pilot of that YT-1600 freighter we escorted in a few hours ago?"

"That’s right."

"Then you brought Ily’eene in. How’s she doing?"

"They say she’s going to be fine. She’s going to be in the bacta for a couple of days, but she’ll be good as new."

"That’s good. She’s quite a lady. By the way, that was a nice landing. You handle that ship pretty well."

"Thanks."

"Ever fly anything else?"

"Uh huh. T-16’s, Z-95, Baudo-class star yacht, YT-1300 Transport and a couple of others."

"Damn, Kid! You been flying since you were two or something?"

Wedge grinned. "Nope. Seven, actually. My parents owned a refueling station. There were a lot of ships coming through for repairs and stuff. I got to fly some of them."

"Oh. That makes sense."

Piggy tossed the stem from the fruit into the trash barrel that sat nearby. "And I’ll bet you’d like to try one of these on for size wouldn’t you?" He nodded at the X-wing.

"Yeah. I sure would." He looked appreciatively at the ship. "Maybe I’ll get the chance someday."

"You plan on working with us a while?"

"Yeah. If you’ll have me."

"Hey, we need all the help we can get. And if you stick around long enough, you probably will get your chance to fly an X-wing." Biggs extended his hand "Welcome to the Alliance."

"Thanks." Wedge shook his hand and Piggy’s too. "Well, I guess, I’d better go."

"Where were you headed?"

"To get something to eat. Then, I’m supposed to go see General Dodonna."

"In that case, we’d better see that you get there safely. Besides, Piggy here needs something to eat, before he wastes away." He draped his arm around Wedge’s shoulders and the three of them headed for the mess hall.

* * * * *

Over the next two days, Wedge divided his time between making permanent repairs to the Zena’s Pride, and spending time with Biggs and Porkins who’d made it their mission to introduce him to as many of the people on base as possible.

Word of Ily’eene’s report and about him had spread through base gossip, and his visit with General Dodonna had added fuel to the fire. Everyone wanted to get a look at "the hotshot Corellian kid."

But it hadn’t taken him long to fit comfortably into the casual atmosphere of life on the Rebel base, although he took a fair amount of good-natured kidding about his age.

Most of that stopped though, at least from the snubfighter pilots, after Biggs and Piggy talked the training officer into letting Wedge fly a simulator exercise with a couple of the other pilots.

What had started out as an exercise intended, "to give the kid a thrill," ended up with two experienced pilots being out flown by a sixteen year old, and the ‘kid’ racking up enough ‘kills’ to be declared an ace. And he hadn’t even broken a sweat doing it.

The other pilots, who’d been hanging around to see the outcome, left shaking their heads. The two he’d flown against vowed to get a rematch. Biggs and Porkins just counted their winnings. A lot of winnings.

The first thing Wedge did each day, and the last thing he did each night, was spend time visiting Ily’eene in the medicenter.

She was being kept mildly sedated while she was in the healing bacta, so he doubted that she knew he was there, but he’d stand by the transparisteel tank each time, watching intently as she bobbed gently up and down with each slow respiration. The visits were as much for his own reassurance as they were for anything else. He still felt responsible for her injury and he just needed to know that she was all right.

Finally though, on the third day, she was taken out of the bacta tank, and moved to a small room. That’s where he found her when he showed up for his morning visit.

Knocking softy on the door first, he opened it a bit and asked, "Are you decent?"

She answered with a laugh. "Get in here. What are you worried about? You’ve already seen me naked. In some cultures that would make us married."

She lay in the bunk, wearing a pair of loose white pajamas. Her hair had been pulled back and was held in place by a strip of clean bandage, tied in a small bow. She looked pale and there were dark circles under her eyes, but she smiled broadly when she saw him.

He walked over to the bed, and stood there awkwardly. "Hi. It’s good to see you out of the tank…How are you feeling?"

She reached out and took his hand. "I feel fine." Patting a spot on the bed next to her, she motioned for him to sit down. "How about you?"

"Great. I’ve gotten to know a lot of the people here, and I really like them. I even met General Dodonna. He says he thinks I can make a real contribution to the Alliance, and he asked me to stick around. Biggs Darklighter and Jek

Porkins have been showing me around and helping me get acquainted."

He sat, and she studied him closely. "That’s good. You’re safer with those two, than you are with some of the other guys."

He shrugged. "I guess. How’s the leg feel?"

"Fine." She turned back the cover and pulled the pajama leg up, to reveal the nearly healed wound. There was only a faint pink outline to show where the Na’imah had bitten her. "The doctors say it won’t even leave a scar."

"That’s good." He looked at the wound, then turned his attention to an invisible spot on the blanket. He was silent for a long time.

"Okay, Wedge. What’s wrong?"

"Nothing. What makes you think that something’s wrong?"

"Well, for one thing, you act like you’re afraid to talk to me. Are you mad at me about something?"

"Mad? No!"

"Then, what’s wrong? What is it?"

"I…I just. I’m sorry that you got hurt. I still feel responsible."

"Hold it right there." She lifted his chin so that he met her gaze with his troubled dark eyes.

"Listen to me very carefully Wedge…I don’t remember much about what happened after I was bitten, but I do remember some things.

I remember you carrying me back to the ship and how terrified I was, especially when I realized that I couldn’t move. I remember you promising me that everything would be all right. Most of all, I remember how gentle and careful you were when you bandaged my leg, and yes, when you worked so hard to bring my fever down.

"I also remember you saying that you felt responsible for what had happened, and I remember telling you that it wasn’t your fault.

"I meant that, Wedge. You didn’t put that creature there to bite me. What you did do was save my life, and that’s what’s important.

"And if you’re embarrassed about the fact that you took my clothes off, don’t be. I’m certainly not. If it had to be done, I’m just glad that you were the one who did it."

"I’m too much of a kid to be that big of a threat, huh?" He grinned sheepishly at her.

"No." She reached out and caressed his cheek. "Too much of an honorable man.

In the short time I’ve known you, I’ve found that how old a person is doesn’t matter nearly as much as what kind of person they are. You are one of the bravest, most honorable and kindest people I know, and a whole lot more of a man than some males twice or three times your age.

"I have, and will continue to trust you with my life.

"And some day, some young woman will come along, and look into those serious brown eyes of yours and see just what kind of man you really are. If she’s smart, she’ll love you for all she’s worth and thank her lucky stars daily that she’s found you. If I were a few years younger, I’d be tempted to go after you myself."

"If I were a few years older, I’d let you catch me." He grinned at her.

"Good. And just so you know that I mean it…" She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

At that moment Biggs and Piggy walked in unannounced.

"Way to go, Wedge! How come you never kissed me like that, ‘Eenie?" Biggs grinned teasingly at the two of them.

"Because I go for a man who exhibits more maturity and intelligence…Hi Biggs. Hi Porkins." She smiled as they each gave her a friendly hug.

"Glad that you’re doing better. We were all kind of worried there for a while."

"Thanks. What brings you two around?"

"Well…we came to meet Wedge and go get breakfast, but we won’t have time. The base is on alert, and we’re bugging out."

"What?" Wedge stood up to face the two pilots.

"Why?" Ily’eene sat up and swung her feet off the edge of the bed, resulting in a wave of dizziness. She grabbed Wedge’s arm to steady herself.

"That Rodian freighter that landed last night. They found an Imperial tracker hidden in the cargo. We’re evacuating the base. We’re gonna need the Zena’s Pride and every other ship we can manage." He slapped Wedge on the back.

"You need to report to your ship. They’re gonna start assigning loads immediately."

"Right. See you in a while, ‘Eenie." He turned to head for the door.

"Okay. I’ll bum a ride off this rock with you."

"You’ve got it. I’ll save a space for you." He waved to them, then headed out the door.

Ily’eene turned to the two men. "Don’t you two sorry fighter jockeys corrupt him. He’s a good kid."

"He is that. He’s also a kid that can fly rings around half of Red squadron. Don’t let it come as too much of a shock one day, when you see him climbing into an X-wing."

"I won’t. If he’s as good at that, as he is flying that freighter, the Empire is going to be in serious trouble."

"Well, we’d better go. We’ll see that you get on the Pride. Take care."

"Thanks guys." She watched the door close behind them. "Well Wedge…Welcome to the Rebellion."

Amazingly, it took only about six hours for a base that had been in existence for months, to be completely dismantled and loaded into the waiting ships. The entire place had been a madhouse that looked as if no one knew who or what went where.

People rushed about, shouting; dealing with the last minute problems of loading their lives into the fleet of ships that would, hopefully, take them to safety. Every available ship was loaded to capacity, from the largest freighter to the smallest snubfighter.

Finally, one by one, the ships captains were handed data cards that held their destination and group assignments. For safety sake, they’d be traveling in small groups, each with one or two fighter escorts.

As soon as the entire fleet had gathered at their starting point, high above Dantooine, General Dodonna broadcast a short message.

"This is Alliance Command, General Dodonna speaking. I want to thank all of you for the hard work and speed with which you completed the evacuation of Dantooine Base. I also want to remind you of the need for vigilance and caution on the way to our new destination. We don’t know if the Imperial Fleet is, in fact, on its way here now or not. We can only hope that we have enough of a head start to allow us to escape safely.

"Whatever the outcome of this, we must not allow the Rebellion to falter. The lives, freedom and safety of the people in our galaxy are depending on us.

"So good luck, and may the Force be with you all. I’ll see you all at out new base."

In the pilot’s compartment of the Zena’s Pride, the comm unit popped and Biggs’ voice came over the speaker.

"This is Red Three. Well kid, are you ready?"

"You bet. Coordinates are loaded, cargo’s stowed and my passengers are all strapped in."

"I copy. Convoy Group five, form up on the Zena’s Pride. Lt. Porkins, in Red Six and I will be your escort. Stand by to jump on my mark."

"Copy, Red Three." Wedge looked over his shoulder at Ily’eene who occupied the seat behind his.

"Here we go again, ‘Eenie. Are you ready?"

"Uh huh. Exactly where are we going?"

"Some place called Yavin 4, in the Outer Rim Territory."

"Never heard of it. Oh well, how much more trouble can we get into, than what we’ve already been through?"

Sneaky gave a mournful whistle and Wedge laughed at the words that scrolled up on the screen.

"What did he say?"

"He says considering that the two of us are involved, given our past history, and allowing for our present situation, the amount of trouble we could get into is infinite."

"Hmm. He may have a point."

"Yes. He may."

"Group Five, prepare to jump." Biggs’ voice came from the comm unit.

"Copy, Red Three. ’Eenie?" Wedge reached for the hyperdrive lever.

"Five…four…"

"What?"

"Three…"

"What did you do with those plans for that planter?"

"Two…one…Mark!"

The Pride’s jump to light speed was accompanied by the nervous wail of one slightly paranoid R2 astromech unit, with an overactive imagination.

* * * * * The End * * * * *