by Alex Wheeler
"We owe you nothing," Han snarled.
"Not you," the Muun said coolly. "The boy." He narrowed his eyes at Luke. "That was a rather valuable vehicle you destroyed in your 'practice' session."
Luke's eyes widened. "It was defective!"
"Be that as it may, the Podracer was intact when it left my possession," Kenuun said. "Now it's a heap of desert rubble. And as you know, debts must be repaid."
"So let me pay," Luke said defiantly. "I'm the one who crashed it. Let the rest of them go, I'll stay here—" "Luke!" Han protested.
"I'll stay," Luke said loudly, over Han's objections. "I'll win another race for you."
"Yes, you will stay. And you will certainly race again." Kenuun nodded slowly. "But next time, you may not survive. Leaving the debt unpaid. A bounty, on the other hand, is certain to line my pockets with credits. I may be a gambler when it suits me—but it's not the way of the Muun to pass up opportunities for sure financial gain."
"I thought it wasn't the way of the Muun to break contracts," Han pointed out. "We had a deal." He jerked a thumb at Luke. "The kid here put his life on the line for you."
Kenuun flashed a cruel smile. "Our agreement was for the boy's services, in return for your disk. Which, as you may have noticed, you now have in your possession. The terms of our contract included nothing about what was to happen once our exchange was concluded. I never offered you safe passage off the planet, or off my property."
"You do have a point," Han said, stalling as he tried furiously to think of a plan.
"And I do have a rather large bounty on my head," Elad added.
"Nothing compared to mine, I'm sure," Han said.
"I wouldn't be too sure—I'm a dangerous man," Elad countered.
"Yeah?" Han whipped out his blaster and shot down the nearest guard. "Prove it!"
But Elad was already in motion, a sharp kick sweeping the legs out from one of the stormtroopers while he simultaneously fired at another one on the opposite side of the room.
Luke dodged a barrage of fire, diving over a couch. He swore as one of the guards shot the blaster out of his hand, then activated his lightsaber, lashing out with the glowing beam. The stormtrooper darted out of his reach, then fired again. Luke grunted in pain and toppled backward as the laserfire blasted into his shoulder.
Han rushed to help—then stopped, as he felt something sharp jab him in the back.
"Drop it," the guard's flat voice ordered.
Han raised his arms, letting his blaster clatter to the floor. Luke groaned and sat up—but a blaster in the face stopped him from going any further. The other two stormtroopers lay on the ground, unconscious or dead. Han grimaced—they'd almost managed to win.
But when blasters were involved, almost didn't count.
"Why don't you drop it," Elad suggested in a dry voice.
Han craned his neck around to see Elad standing at the entrance of the room, his blaster pressed against Nal Kenuun's narrow head.
"You shoot them, I'll shoot your boss," Elad warned.
The Muun appeared unfazed. "We seem to be at an impasse," he said serenely. "What do you propose?"
"How about you let us walk out of here, and we don't shoot you where you stand," Han growled.
"I hardly think you're in a position to be making offers," Kenuun said. In case his point wasn't clear, the stormtrooper jabbed Han with the blaster again. Hard.
"I propose a trade," Elad said. "Let them go free, and I'll remain here as your prisoner. The boy's worth nothing to you, and the bounty on Han is negligible compared to mine."
"Negligible?" Han asked incredulously. "There's nothing negligible about the amount that Jabba wants me dead. Trust me."
"You speak the truth," the Muun told Elad. "And your offer interests me."
"Can we go back to the negligible thing?" Han persisted. "Half the bounty hunters in the galaxy are after me! I don't know who this guy is or what he did, but when it comes to rewards, I'm the one you want, trust me."
Kenuun ignored him. "You will sacrifice your weapon and remain here peaceably until I turn you in for a reward?"
Elad nodded. "But only if you guarantee the Millennium Falcon—its entire crew—safe passage off planet. No more technicalities or loopholes this time."
"Elad, you can't do this!" Luke protested, rising to his feet. The guard's blaster stayed trained on him.
"It's like you said, Luke. Some things are more important than an individual life. Of course, I didn't intend for the life in question to be mine, but…" Elad smiled grimly. "Fortunately, there's no one left to mourn the loss."
The Muun made his decision. "I accept your offer, Tobin Elad. You have a deal."
"I think we still need to negotiate some of the finer points," Leia said, stepping into the room, her blaster at the ready. In her other hand, she held an odd length of rope, tethered to something hidden behind the doorframe.
"Leia?" Han said in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
Leia raised her eyebrows. "You didn't actually expect the Muun to keep his word, did you? We figured a backup plan might be in order."
Han scowled at the princess. Why did she always insist on putting herself in danger? "Funny, last I checked, we included me."
"Well, this time, it included Luke," she said, smirking. "You were busy. Something about a fistfight with a loud-mouthed Phlog?"
"I hate to interrupt," Kenuun said coldly, "but I fail to see how this trespasser's appearance affects the equation. Unless perhaps she'd like to offer herself up as a sacrifice as well?"
"Thought about that," Leia said. "But then I came up with a better idea." She stepped farther into the room, revealing that the rope she held was actually a leash. It was attached to a golden collar, fastened around the neck of a slobbering krayt dragon, measuring less than a meter from its sharp horns to the tip of its spiny tail. Its forked tongue flickered around its yellowish lips.
"Urgiluu!" the Muun cried, exhibiting the first real sign of alarm. "What have you done to her?"
"Nothing." Leia lowered the tip of her blaster until it was aimed at the dragon's scaly face. "Yet."
"You must be careful," the Muun urged. "The pearl forming inside her is extremely delicate—and any malformations would significantly detract from its value."
"That's why you're such a softie about the dragon?" Han asked in disgust. "Because it can make you money?"
"What other possible value could any creature have?" the Muun asked disdainfully.
"Not everything's about money," Han said. Leia glanced sharply at him, surprise in her eyes. So that's what she really thinks of me, Han realized. She thinks I'm like him.
"Not everything," Kenuun agreed. "Just everything that matters." Still, there was no denying the concern in his eyes as he tracked the tip of Leia's blaster. Whatever the reason, he wanted that dragon to remain intact.
Kenuun hesitated.
"Drop your weapons," he said finally. "You may go." As swiftly and silently as the guards appeared, they vanished. He held out his hand to Leia. "The leash, if you please?"
"You will accompany us back to our ship," Leia said in an imperious tone. It was suddenly easy for Han to imagine her on the floor of the Galactic Senate. "When we are ready to take off, then and only then, will I return your property."
"But I guarantee your safe passage off the planet and out of the atmosphere," the Muun pleaded, his fingers clutching compulsively as if gripping an invisible leash. He struggled to retain his dignity, even while begging. "I am a Muun, after all. That should be guarantee enough that I will keep my word."
"Maybe it should be," Leia said, tugging on the leash so the krayt dragon was forced to heel. "But it's not."
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
"You weren't actually going to kill that helpless little dragon, were you?" Luke asked, grinning. The Falcon had just made the jump to hyperspace. Now that the Rebellion's financial codes were safely in hand and Muun was dropping further away by the second, everyone was in g
ood spirits.
"Helpless?" Han snorted. "Tell that to the last guy I know who tangled with a krayt dragon. Might be a kind of one-sided conversation though, seeing as how he ended up in pieces."
"I figured Kenuun would give in," Leia said with more than a hint of pride. "I only snuck in there to provide you with some backup, if you needed it—but when I spotted the dragon, I remembered what Han heard from the Podracers. Negotiation seemed like a somewhat better option than blasting our way out."
"Ah-ha!" Han said triumphantly. "So the truth comes out. Lucky thing I went into that tent, or I wouldn't have been able to provide the crucial information."
"Lucky thing you came out of that tent alive," Leia retorted, "given the way you were acting."
"What about you?" Han shot back. "Sneaking into Kenuun's place like that."
"And I still can't believe you didn't realize Luke and I staged that argument for Kenuun's benefit. You really think I would pick a fight with him before he was about to risk his life?"
Han glared at her. "I thought we were a team. Which means when you come up with some insane plan, you fill me in."
"Oh, you would've been all for it?"
"I would've told you it was crazy! I never would have let you do something like that."
"Exactly why I didn't tell you."
"You want to know your problem, Princess?" Han asked.
Leia leaned forward. "Amaze me."
"You don't think before you act."
"I don't think?" she asked incredulously.
"That's right." He stretched out in his chair, suddenly enjoying himself. "You don't think, and so you get yourself into these crazy situations, and I've got to come in and rescue you."
"You've got to rescue me?" Leia said. She stood up. "Chewbacca!" she shouted down the corridor. "Chewbacca, get up here!"
"What do you want with him?" Han asked.
"I want him to turn this ship around and head straight back to Muun, you egotistical, nerf-brained buffoon!" Leia snapped. "We'll drop you off at Kenuun's place, and you can see how well you do without me there to rescue you."
"Yeah, Chewie, get up here!" Han shouted. "Tell Her Highness that her rescuing me once doesn't cancel out the twenty times I've risked my neck to rescue her."
"And you can tell this Kowakian monkey-lizard that no one asked him to!" Leia shouted, even louder.
But instead of the Wookiee, Elad appeared in the doorway. "I didn't mean to interrupt," he said politely. "I was just looking for Luke. That is, if you're still interested in doing some hand-to-hand combat training."
"Of course!" Luke said eagerly.
Han suspected he was just happy for an excuse to escape all the bickering. Han couldn't blame him. But he couldn't force himself to stop—not if it meant letting Leia get the last word.
"Luke, wait." Leia stood up. "I need to talk to Elad for a moment. If that's all right with him, of course."
"Of course," Elad said. "Consider me at your service."
We were in the middle of something, Han thought irritably, as Leia and Elad left the cockpit. Nothing important, of course. Nothing they couldn't argue about later.
But he couldn't help wondering what she wanted to talk to Elad about—in private.
I'm sure it's nothing important, he told himself. Not that he cared.
Not at all.
"I want to apologize," Leia said, once they were alone in her quarters.
Elad looked confused. "For what?"
Leia hesitated. Apologies didn't come easily to her. And there was nothing she disliked more than being proven wrong. "For not trusting you," Leia admitted. "You put yourself in danger for us—for the Rebellion—again and again. I should have seen that your motives were pure."
"You're wise to be cautious," Elad assured her. "I would feel the same."
Leia shook her head. "I heard what you said to Kenuun. You were willing to give your life to save Han and Luke. Near strangers."
"Not for them," Elad corrected her. "For the Rebellion. They can be more valuable to the cause than I can—and, as I told you, this the only cause I have. Fighting the Empire is my only reason to go on."
"Then join us!" Leia said. It wasn't an impulse. She'd been thinking about this for days. Elad was exactly the kind of man they needed in the Rebellion: Smart, brave, loyal.
Like Han could be, she thought sadly. If he ever stops running from who he really is.
"I don't know," Elad said. "I'm pretty used to going it alone. The idea of being part of something again…" He shook his head. "Letting people into your life always seems like a good idea at the start. But it can end…badly."
Leia knew what he was referring to. Her heart clenched. "Just think about it," she said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You can't lock yourself away from the world forever." She hadn't touched him since the first day they'd spoken. Since then, she had barely trusted herself to speak to him. She hadn't wanted to risk opening herself up again. Whenever she looked in his eyes, all she could see was the pain of her own losses reflected back at her. But now, for the first time, she didn't look away. "You're better off for having known your wife and your child," she said hesitantly, unsure of whether she was crossing an invisible line. "The time you shared with them is worth suffering the pain of their absence."
Elad jerked away from her. "You can't know that."
"I can," Leia drew a deep, shuddering breath. Maybe it was time to take her own advice. She'd kept her feelings—her pain—locked up for so long. Maybe just saying the words out loud, just telling someone about what she had lost, maybe that would help salve the wound. "I can know, because…because of Alderaan."
Her voice caught on the word.
Elad's expression didn't change. It was as if he'd known this moment would arrive. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She had already decided on her answer, but was surprised to find how deeply she meant it. "Yes."
X-7 confirmed that his encrypted communication line was secure, then activated the transmission. The others were all in the main hold, so there was no risk anyone would overhear.
"I've gained the trust of the Rebels," he informed the Commander. It was a relief to drop the hearty heroism of the Elad persona and relax into the blankness of his true self. "The goal is close at hand."
"Excellent," the Commander replied. "I expect you to secure the information about our target as soon as possible. Time is of the essence."
"I may already have a lead."
"Keep me informed," the Commander said, and signed off.
X-7 decided to join the others in the main hold. No need to sequester himself anymore, now that their leader had accepted him.
More than accepted him, he thought with cool pleasure. Sought comfort in him. Friendship. He had done well in his formulation of the Tobin Elad identity. As predicted, the wounded, noble warrior was exactly the person Leia wanted in her life. Even if she hadn't realized it until "Elad" appeared.
These humans were all so trusting, X-7 thought in disgust. So eager to believe in what they saw on the surface. They believed in the bond that drew them together. They thought it made them strong. And maybe it did. But their secrets kept them apart.
And that made them weak.
They may have fancied themselves as cautious, but it was a joke. They looked at X-7 and saw what they wanted to see—what he wanted them to see.
For Han, he would be a brother in arms. The bounty had been a nice touch, X-7 thought, congratulating himself on constructing such a thorough false identity. Kenuun had done him a true service by digging into "Elad's" records. There could surely be no faster way of gaining Han's trust.
For Leia, he would be her equal, the bold warrior as committed to the fight as she was. He would be what she wished Han Solo could be—a secret she hid even from herself.
But there were no secrets from X-7.
For Luke? For Luke, he would be a confidante, the one man who believed he would achieve his Jedi destiny.
And this was no act: X-7 believed. He had seen Luke pilot that Podracer—he knew what the boy was capable of. And if Luke was his target, well…a Jedi Knight would make a formidable adversary. But by his own admission, Luke was no Jedi. Not yet.
X-7 stood silently at the edge of the main hold, unobserved. Observing.
Watching as Leia and Han peered at a datapad, bickering loudly over its contents.
Watching as the Wookiee played a game of dejarick with the golden protocol droid, growling whenever it fell behind.
Watching as Luke—expert pilot, aspiring Jedi, possibly the Rebellion's great hope—fumbled with his lightsaber. The blue beam flashed as he struggled to deflect shots fired by the astromech droid, missing one after another. A moment later, he stumbled over his own feet, toppling backward and landing on the floor in a heap.
X-7 rarely experienced emotions. But thinking of these pathetic humans believing they were a match for any of their enemies—much less an enemy like him—X-7 allowed himself a genuine smile.
This is going to be even easier than I thought.