Then the pirate skiff surfaced from the maze of buildings, its pilot realizing the mistake too late. Reath immediately fired a tow cable. Its magnetic clamp shot out and seized the skiff’s hull.

Calmly, Jora said, “Do you know the engine specs for that skiff?”

“I don’t, Master Jora.” Reath looked puzzled, then dismayed as realization set in. “Oh, n—”

His last word was cut off as the skiff dove desperately toward the ground level, easily overwhelming the airspeeder’s engines and dragging the Jedi down with it.

Reath’s hand went to the control to release the clamp and remained in place, ready to act. He already sensed what Jora had planned, then. She smiled as she braced herself, the rushing wind sending her striped montrals streaming behind her. Her eyes focused on the skiff’s cockpit, on the just-visible silhouette of the pilot so frantic to get away that he might kill them all in the process.

“This is not how it will be,” Jora whispered to herself, and then jumped.

Her leap took her from the airspeeder to the skiff itself; Jora’s boots slammed hard against the cockpit as she ignited her lightsaber. Its blue blade slashed through the air, through the cockpit, slicing a hole. A faint shudder told her Reath had released the cable—perfect timing, she thought. The Force strengthened her grip, allowing her to hang on even as the skiff swerved violently in an effort to throw her free. Reath kept the airspeeder just behind them; what had begun as an accident was now breathtakingly close pursuit.

Jora punched through what remained of the cockpit opening and leapt inside. The pirates were so cowed by her attack—or, perhaps, by her lightsaber—that none of them insulted her by even pulling a blaster. However, the skiff continued plummeting toward the fast-approaching surface. In less than two minutes, they’d be killed in a pulverizing crash.

“Please take the ship out of this dive,” she said, “and report to the nearest docking station for arrest.”

The Rodian pilot hesitated. In that split second, she sensed the anger within him. Did it burn hot enough to make him sacrifice his own life, and that of his comrades, just to take her along?

Maybe.

Jora waved her free hand through the air, a casual gesture. “You want to report to the nearest docking station.”

“We want to report to the nearest docking station,” the pirates intoned in unison, and the pilot obediently took the ship out of its dive. Jora looked over her shoulder to see Reath falling in behind them, his grin as bright as the sunlight above them.

A pity, to take away that smile for a time, Jora thought. But I can’t put this announcement off much longer.