by Kevin Hearne
“Why?”
“The Alliance is low on money. We’re having trouble maintaining the fleet we have, much less upgrading it. However, there’s some time before you need to go. The Kupohans need a couple of weeks to establish the Givin’s routine and search for weaknesses in her security so that they can give you the best chance of success. If you can find the resources to upgrade the ship by then, by all means, do so.”
Something didn’t add up. “You just had me go on a trip to see the Rodians about purchasing weapons and now you’re saying you can’t pay for weapons?”
“We’ll have money eventually, Luke,” Leia assured me, “but we’re not sure when. Expecting a rebellion to have reliable cash flow is like—” She paused to grasp for an apt comparison, then finished: “—expecting Han Solo to behave rationally.” She turned her head to the droids. “Threepio, you enjoy calculating these sorts of things. What’s more likely, reliable cash flow for the Alliance or Han behaving rationally?”
“While both have very little chance of occurring, Princess, reliable cash flow is far more likely.”
She frowned. “That’s what I thought.”
It occurred to me that Leia might be feeling some resentment at Han being away trying to help himself instead of helping the Alliance. I wouldn’t say a thing about that to him, of course: He would interpret it to mean that she missed him. Speaking of missing people …
“Is Nakari Kelen back from that training mission on the surface?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ackbar replied. “Why?”
“Well, she might be able to solve the funding problem. Unless I’m mistaken, her dad is practically made of funding.”
“We know about that, but according to her, the use of his ship is all he’s willing to consider right now.”
“He might change his mind if Nakari’s directly involved. Can I have her go along on this? I could use someone to watch my back anyway, and she must be competent with that slug gun if you’re having her train the rest of the troops.”
“You’re right, she’s more than competent. I don’t have any objections,” Ackbar said.
“Great.” I felt a surge of something like victory and then wondered why. The obvious answer was that I had become smitten after a single brief meeting with her, but I hoped that wasn’t it. I didn’t truly know her, after all. All I knew was that I had seen enough to want to learn more, and if I wished she would turn out to be as truly likable as she seemed at first, who could blame me for that? Hoping neither my voice nor expression betrayed any of my feelings, I said, “Threepio, would you mind asking Nakari Kelen to join us? She ought to be on the ship somewhere.”
“Certainly, Master Luke.”
I’m not sure that my voice remained neutral there. Leia’s eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips together as if to ask a question, but I forestalled that by diving into a description of the Chekkoo smuggling bay and their shadow business operations underneath Utheel Outfitters. When the rebellion refilled its coffers again, they’d find an excellent supplier on Rodia.
Nakari had a wide grin for me when she joined us. She wasn’t decked out for the field this time; she wore flats instead of boots and had no weapons. “Thanks for bringing my ship back in good shape,” she said.
“No problem,” I replied. We briefed her quickly on what we wanted to do. “Do you think your father might upgrade your ship to take part in a mission like that?” I asked.
She shook her head. “He doesn’t spend money on anything unless it will benefit his business somehow. The only reason I was allowed to fly the Desert Jewel in the first place was for scouting missions to new planets and to go hunt rare beasties with some kind of biological oddity his labs could exploit. I upgraded most of the ship, but he helped me get the hyperdrive. A faster ship meant a faster turnaround time and a potential edge on his competitors.”
“Oh.” That was disappointing but understandable. I couldn’t think of how arming the ship to fight off the Empire would help his biolabs.
“We might be able to earn his gratitude, however,” she mused. “You said we have a couple of weeks, right?”
“Yes. There’s some give to the schedule because we’re waiting on more intelligence.”
“Well, he lost contact with a collection crew recently and desperately wants a salvage run.”
“What’s a collection crew?”
“Basically they’re hunters and gatherers. Four or five people who go to various planets to collect specimens for the labs.” She deepened her voice and tucked her chin against her neck, presumably imitating her father. ‘Go, my minions, and fetch me three hundred Yathik acid slugs!’ ” Her voice and posture returned to normal. “That kind of thing.”
I was amused by her impression and cracked a smile, but I didn’t laugh because Admiral Ackbar blinked his giant eyes and seemed impatient. “Okay, got it.”
“So one of Dad’s scouts made a discovery recently on this moon orbiting a planet in the Deep Core, and when Dad got the news, he sent a full crew out—his best one. Hasn’t heard from them in a couple of weeks, and he wants to know if his collection crew is still there, and, if so, whether anything can be salvaged—especially if there are any living or dead crew and critters on the ship. He’ll pay handsomely for any news of it.”
“Why doesn’t he simply send someone else to go check it out?”
“It’s a new discovery, as I said, and he’d prefer to keep it quiet. Industrial espionage is huge in his business. Crews can make a lot of cash on the side tipping off his competitors. He knows firsthand because he pays bribes to the crews of his competitors, as well. He was hoping I could go by myself because he doesn’t really trust anyone else, but I told him I was serving the Alliance now and I am. And the other thing is, the hyperspace lanes to this system aren’t well established yet, and being in the Deep Core with all those mass shadows makes it even more risky. So he needs someone who’s not only loyal but also willing to take a leap. The nav computers on the Jewel are pretty good, but I don’t know if they’re that good.”
“Add an astromech droid and you’d probably be fine,” I said, thinking of R2-D2.
“Yeah, well, my guess is that Dad will convince someone to go out there soon because time is a factor. I mean, he’s going to say he’s worried about the crew because they might still be alive and need help, but I can be honest: He’s really worried his competitors will find out about the moon and exploit it before he can. The point is, Luke, if we wanted to do this, it should be a quick trip. We can go there, find out what happened, and bring back some kind of news—any kind of news—for my father; he would be grateful, and then we could get the Desert Jewel upgraded in time for this mission on Denon.”
Ackbar jumped into the discussion. “What are the names of this planet and moon, if I may ask?”
“The planet is called Sha Qarot and it orbits a red sun. The moon is a strange purple place called Fex.”
“Does the Empire know about Sha Qarot and Fex?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure who discovered it, how long ago, or who they sold the information to besides my father. My father’s under the impression that its existence is not widely known.”
“Are there any sentient species?”
“Not that I know of. I don’t think anyone has set foot on the planet yet; it has a poisonous atmosphere and heavy volcanic activity. We just have holos and scans from orbit. But Fex is very interesting, even though we haven’t found sentient life yet.”
“If searching for this lost collection crew will earn you the credits to upgrade your ship, I think you should do it,” Ackbar said. “But it might also serve another purpose—a more important one as far as I’m concerned. It’s possible that the moon might make an ideal base for the Alliance, so I want you to scout it with that in mind. Keep an eye out for the Imperial fleet and put down beacons for future reference if you find any satisfactory sites—but don’t lose track of time. Extracting that cryptologist from Denon is your main priority.”
Nakari evidently felt the same and said immediate departure was fine with her.
“Let me get cleaned up and packed, maybe grab a bite, and I’ll meet you at the ship in a couple of hours?”
“You sure that’s enough time?” Nakari asked.
“It’s more than I need. That’s taking it easy.”
She smirked and tucked a curled string of hair behind her ear. “All right. See you then.”
I bade farewell to Leia and Admiral Ackbar and brushed past the droids on my way out. My exit triggered the abrupt departure of R2-D2 just as C-3PO was complaining at length about a microsecond lag in his lateral relays. “Wait! Where are you going?” he called. Artoo’s response didn’t please him. “But you just got here and I’m not finished catching up yet!” The door closed on any further complaints and Artoo chirped a question at me.
“We’ll be flying out on the Desert Jewel again soon. I hope you liked her. We’re going to be depending on you two to get us in and out of the Deep Core safely.” I didn’t understand his reply, but since the digital beeps sounded generally positive I didn’t worry.
“Luke? Wait up,” Leia called from behind. Surprised, I stopped and turned, telling Artoo to go ahead to my quarters. Once she saw that I was waiting, Leia didn’t hurry, and when she reached me, she didn’t speak right away. Instead she glared at me and paced back and forth, hands on hips. I checked the hallway behind me to make sure she wasn’t angry with someone else, but no, it was just the two of us, which meant she was mad at me.
“What?” I asked. “What did I do?”
“It’s what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?”
“You’re taking a poorly mapped hyperspace route to a planet where people have gone missing because she’s pretty.”
“No, that’s not it—” The flash in Leia’s eyes made me stop and backtrack. “Well, yeah, she is pretty, but that’s not why I’m going. I’m going because the ship needs weapons if we’re going to pull off this mission on Denon, and you heard Admiral Ackbar—this moon might turn out to be a great hiding spot for us.”
“We can send someone else to check out the moon, and we can find a safer way to get the credits you need to upgrade the ship. You don’t have to take this risk.”
“How is it any riskier than anything else I’ve done? I mean, the Battle of Yavin was pretty risky.”
“You were surrounded by people you could trust then.”
I blinked. “Oh, I see. You think she’s working for the Empire.”
Leia shook her head and huffed in irritation. “No, not exactly. It’s just that she’s an unknown quantity and I don’t trust her yet.”
That was disappointing; I’d need a better reason than that to rethink the mission. On the one hand I wanted to do whatever I could to make Leia happy, but on the other we now had Admiral Ackbar’s orders. We really did need a better place to hide than this orbit. I knew the leadership had some ideas about where to build a new base, but they hadn’t settled on anything yet.
“Come on,” I said, “I can’t scrub the whole trip based on unknowns. How can you ever trust someone if you don’t give them a chance?”
“That’s a very noble attitude, Luke, but not a very safe one.”
“If safety is always the number one priority then we would never talk to anyone.”
“This isn’t about dealing with high-minded blanket statements. When you get betrayed, it’s never by someone who looks like Vader. Betrayal always comes wrapped up in a friendly cloak. It’s one of the first things I learned in the Senate.”
“All right, fair enough. I agree that a certain amount of suspicion of anyone new is warranted, but I don’t want to be paranoid, either. You sound like you have a specific reason to be wary of her. What are you not telling me? What should I be looking for?”
Leia crossed her arms and looked away, annoyed. “I don’t know. Something under her cloak.”
I snorted, she sniggered in response, and then we were both laughing.
Leia covered her mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I know. Still funny, though.”
“Usually I’m more careful with how I phrase things.” The smile on her face scurried away, chased off by darker thoughts. “It just shows you I’m worried.” She gestured down the hall to where she had left Admiral Ackbar. “I know we can’t scrap this now that it’s a scouting mission for the Alliance,” she said before letting her hand fall down, “but please don’t think it’s routine. And don’t be so trusting.”
“I won’t.”
“Okay.” She threw her arms around my neck for a quick hug. “Be very careful, Luke. Come back safe.”
“Thanks. I will,” I said, though I wasn’t so anxious to leave anymore. It felt good to see Leia shed her all-business demeanor for a few moments and speak to me on a personal level—especially without Han around. But I could hardly prolong the moment when I had a mission waiting.
An awkward silence stretched between us. Eventually, Leia spoke. “Well. I’d better get back,” she said, giving me a tight grin. “See you soon.”
“Right! Yes. Soon.” I resumed walking to my quarters, and Leia returned the way she had come, leaving me to wonder why my brain had seized up so badly. It must have been the infinite number of things to say and how most of them would have been the wrong thing. I’d just have to hope I did better next time.
In an hour I was showered, dressed, packed, and loaded up on soup and crackers. Having nothing better to do, I headed down to the hangar early, thinking I’d go through some of the weapons in the Rodian catalog to see what might work for the Desert Jewel, only to find Nakari already there.
“Turns out I’m pretty anxious to leave, as well,” she said. “Can’t wait to do anything besides sit here and hope the Empire doesn’t find me. There’s something about skulking that doesn’t suit me. It’s not engaging, but it isn’t restful, either.”
Copying her gesture from when we first met, I waved a hand back and forth between us and said, “Same here!”
We let Artoo board first and followed him up.
“We have to stop on Pasher on the way to get all the details from my dad,” Nakari said. “I think we have to pick up some custom armor, too. The creatures the collection crew were after are supposed to be dangerous.”
“What are they?”
“Not sure. My dad’s information protocol means he never gives specifics like that in messages in case they’re intercepted. We’ll find out soon enough. Plus, I want to impress upon him that we’re doing this as a special favor and expect a special favor in return.”
She invited me to pilot, content to be a passenger. “I’m already familiar with the ship and what it can do. You might need some additional time to get acquainted.”
It was true I wasn’t as comfortable yet in the Desert Jewel as I was in my X-wing, but I complimented her on what I’d experienced so far. The Desert Jewel deserved every admiring glance she received.
Pasher was located in the Inner Rim at a sort of interstellar dead end. Entering the system and viewing it from orbit reminded me of Tatooine, though Pasher didn’t have any moons, and since it lacked the intersecting hyperspace lanes of Tatooine, it wasn’t a popular haven for smugglers. Kelen Biolabs was the largest industry on the planet and Fayet Kelen had many demands on his time, but he carved out some for his daughter
when we arrived at the sprawling complex of his industrial kingdom. I probably did not make the best impression on him, but it was Nakari’s fault. Her earlier impersonation of him turned out to be uncannily accurate, so much so that I could not suppress a goofy half smile in his presence, which he may have found annoying. It was difficult to tell. He was portly, had decided to shave his head rather than try to hang on to a halo of hair, and was gifted with an abundance of jowls. He used his deep voice to boom imperious orders at his employees—whom he actually called minions—and then softened them at the end by adding on “there’s a love” or “just because you’re brilliant.” When we first walked into his office, he turned to an assistant standing nearby and barked, “Minion! Fetch us caf!” And then immediately modulated his tone, saying, “But only because you are kind and deserve a long paid holiday soon.” I guess his employees were all in on the joke, or at least compensated well enough that they overlooked his idiosyncrasies. He noticed my expression, however, and shouted at Nakari, “Daughter! Who is this and why is he laughing at me?”
“This is Luke Skywalker, Daddy. He’s with the Alliance and he’ll be going with me to Fex.”
“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” I said, nodding at him.
“Hmph! Skywalker. Where have I heard that name?”
“He’s the one who destroyed the Death Star, Daddy.”
“Ah! The pilot!” He lowered his voice and said to his daughter, “So you’ve decided to go to Fex after all? Good idea bringing him along.”
“Yes, we’ll go, but we expect to be compensated for the trip.”
“Compensated! For what?”
“For finding the collection crew and bringing back whatever we can.”
“Ah! Very well! The more you bring back, the looser my purse strings. But you must be prepared. Minion!” he bellowed. A different assistant, a lean, tall, older man, walked through a door set in the wall to our left and asked Fayet Kelen how he might serve. “Fetch two suits of the new Fexian armor prototypes immediately for my daughter and her pilot! And a case of stun sticks! Have them delivered to her ship as soon as possible! And,” he added, more quietly, “please give my regards to your family. I hope your son is doing well at the university.”