Get to the comm tower. That had seemed easy enough before the war-cloud had rolled in and all sense of direction had gone out of the window. Worst of all, Rhil’s connection to T-9 had been severed along with every other line of communication on Valo. After so many years linked permanently to the cam droid, it felt as if she had lost a limb, or more accurately part of her own brain, the droid’s data no longer scrolling through her implant. At least the loyal little unit was still recording, the red light by its lens flickering intermittently. If they made it out of all this alive, these moments needed to be seen by the wider galaxy. This was a turning point in history, she knew it in her gut, and she was here, right in the thick of it.

Granted, she couldn’t breathe, let alone see. She only knew where she was going because she was holding tight to OrbaLin’s gloved hand. She had to admit she couldn’t believe how fast the archivist could run in that atmosphere suit, but she had to trust that he was still going in the right direction. So much for her leading the way.

“Up here,” he said, leading her up steps. That wasn’t right. The communications tower didn’t have steps, did it? They burst through a set of doors that closed silently behind them. Rhil choked as the air cleared, although she still couldn’t see. She wiped her eyes, but that only made the pain worse.

“Don’t rub them,” OrbaLin burbled, and Rhil felt his hands press against either side of her head. There was the slightest pressure, and her vision cleared.

“What did you do?” she asked, although the question was soon followed by another, far more accusatory query. “Where have you brought us?”

“Starlight Pavilion,” he responded as if the answer was obvious.

She shook her head, not quite believing this. “Please tell me we haven’t come to rescue a bunch of Jedi treasures.”

The Ugor actually sounded a little hurt. “No, of course not.”

“But Stellan said—”

“Stellan said for us to get to the communications tower, but it soon became obvious that we’d never make it, especially with you in that condition. However, we have everything we need right here in the exhibition.”

“We do?”

“Hopefully.”

“Hopefully?”

The Ugor started across the empty space, which was now missing its showcase hologram of Starlight Beacon, the projectors dim. “We still have a number of artifacts in storage, scheduled for appearance later in the fair.”

“Do you really think there’s going to be a later?”

“We must not talk like that,” OrbaLin said without looking back. “One particular curio was set to be loaned out to Crozo Industrial Products for their upcoming communications showcase.”

Now he had her interest. “Communications?”

“An ancient deep-space transmitter from the temple of Vrogas Vas.”

“And you think it still works?”