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tapped Jarril on the shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”
    “What is it?” Jarril yelled.
    Han didn’t answer him, at least not directly. “We’re underground, pal. If we don’t get out now, we might not get out at all.”
    Jarril probably hadn’t thought that through. These dives never felt as if they were six feet under, althoughthey were. His scream joined the others as he stood. Han was already shoving his way to the door, his blaster in the face of anyone who tried to stop him. Along the way, he helped a Cemas to its feet, dodged the teeth of a freed nek battle dog, and pulled a wingéd Agee off a crumbling section of ceiling.
    The crowd at the door was huge, all scrambling on top of one another, all trying to get free. Then Han realized some idiot had pulled the door shut.
    “Let us out of here!” he shouted.
    “You don’t know what’s out there!”
    “I know that whatever it is, it’s a lot better than dying in here.”
    Voices rose with his, all agreeing with his protests. He managed to shove his way to the front. An Oodoc, a species known for its size and strength but not its intelligence, stood before the door, its spiked arms crossed in front of its massive chest.
    “It’s safer in here,” it said.
    “Listen, toothpick brain,” Han said. “The roof’s about to cave in. I would rather take my chances with whatever’s out there than die with you in here.”
    “I wouldn’t,” the Oodoc said.
    “Then you don’t have to go.” Han shoved him aside and blasted the lock on the door. The ricochet caught the Oodoc in its spiny back. It growled and lunged for Han as the door swung open.
    A tide of seamy creatures flowed into the corridors beyond, gathering Han and sweeping him away from the Oodoc. He pulled free, reached the turbolift by himself, scanned for Jarril, and didn’t see him. The lift stopped a level below the surface and Han went up the stairs two at a time, braced for the next blast, which seemed to take forever in coming.
    The crowd reached the doors, bursting through them.The screaming and shouting stopped when people reached the surface.
    Han reached the top and stopped so suddenly that the Gotal behind him slammed into his back. The Gotal shoved him as it pushed away, then it, too, stopped and looked up, its double-cone-shaped head pointing toward the sky.
    Han stepped away from the entrance, his mouth dry.
    Coruscant looked the same. Nothing had touched the city. Nothing at all.
    The sunlight was bright, blinding, and warm. The afternoon was as beautiful as it had been when he went below.
    “It couldn’ta been underground, could it?” asked one of the gamblers from the Crystal Jewel, a man who looked vaguely familiar.
    Han shook his head. “Something happened somewhere.”
    “Not from above,” the Gotal said. “If it had come from above, we’d see the effects.”
    “We’d be ducking and running, hoping nothing else hits the city,” the gambler said.
    Han put a hand up to shade his eyes as he looked for movement. Finally he saw it: a contingent of guards and medical personnel heading toward the Imperial Palace.
    The palace.
    The children.
    Leia.
    He took off after the guards at top speed, nearly mowing down that nek battle dog, which was scampering away from its master. Han dodged in and out of building columns, through streets, always keeping the guards and medical staff in sight.
    It was the medical personnel who worried him.
    People had been hurt.
    They avoided the main entrance to the palace and insteadran along its side. He felt a moment of relief until he realized where they were going.
    The Senate Hall.
    His breath was coming in sharp gasps. A stitch had formed in his side. He was in shape, but it had been a long time since he had run at top speed anywhere. And he had been going at top speed for a long time now.
    No more blasts.
    Odd. Very odd.
    He rounded the corner and the sight before him made him run harder. Senators were scattered across the lawn, covered