Chewbacca growled and moaned.
“It’s not what I would have picked, either,” Leia said. “There was no information with it. No context, no report. We don’t know what happened between the last contact and now. We just got the signal that we should send a ship.”
“Oh,” Han said with a slowly widening grin. “No, it’s all right. I get it. I absolutely understand. You’ve got this important guy trapped in enemy territory, and you need to get him out. Only with the Empire already swarming like a hive of Bacian blood hornets, you can’t risk using anyone but the best. That about right?”
“I wouldn’t put it that way, but it’s in the neighborhood of right, yes,” Leia said. “The risks are high. I won’t order anyone to take the assignment. We can make it worth your time if you’re willing to do it.”
“You don’t have to order us, does she, Chewie? All you have to do is ask, and we’re on the job.”
Leia’s gaze softened a little. “Will you do this, then? For the Alliance?”
Han went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “Just say please and we’ll get the Millennium Falcon warmed up, skin out of here, grab your guy, and be back before you know it. Nothing to it.”
Leia’s expression went stony. “Please.”
Han scratched his eyebrow. “Can I have a little time to think about it?”
The Wookiee made a low but rising howl and lifted his arms impatiently.
“Thank you, Chewie,” Leia said. “There’s also a real possibility that the whole operation was compromised and the retrieval code is bait in a trap. When you make your approach, you’ll need to be very careful.”
“Always am,” Han said, and Luke coughed. “What?” Han demanded.
“You’re always careful?”
“I’m always careful enough.”
“Your first objective is to make the connection and complete the retrieval,” Leia said. “If you can’t do that, find out as much as you can about what happened and whether any of our people are in danger. But if you smell a trap, get out. If we’ve lost her, we’ve lost her. We don’t want to sacrifice anyone else.”
“ ‘Her’?”
Leia touched the display controls again, and the image shifted. A green security warning flooded it, and she keyed in the override. A woman’s face filled the screen. High cheekbones, dark eyes and hair, V-shaped chin, and a mouth that seemed on the verge of smiling. If Han had seen her in a city, he’d have looked twice, but not because she was suspicious. The data field beside the picture listed a life history too complex to take in at a glance. The name field read: SCARLET HARK.
“Don’t get in over your head,” Leia said.
THE SAAVIN SYSTEM FLOATED in the air above the display panel, tiny colored balls representing the various planets rotating around a bright orange star. A small blue world nestled in a swarm of Imperial ships and independent stations. Cioran, bureaucratic heart of the Empire. Or if not heart, kidney. Maybe small bowel. Another world, a large, bright red planet toward the edge of the system, swelled even larger when Chewbacca waved a paw at it. The Wookiee growled.
“That’s the point,” Han said. “It’s on the edge of the system, and it’s a big ball of useless gas. No one lives there. There aren’t even any gas miners. It’ll take a little longer to fly into Cioran from there, but it’s a nice quiet spot to take a look around.”
Chewie growled and crossed his arms.
“Look, this is Empire central. I don’t want to drop out of hyperspace on top of a Star Destroyer.”
Chewie turned away and began prepping the Falcon. He carried on a low rumbling conversation with himself, his back to Han.
“You’re gonna thank me when we slip into the Saavin system without anyone noticing us.”
Chewie grunted, and Han pulled the lever to shut down the hyperdrive. The streaking white of hyperspace that had filled their cockpit viewport snapped back into a steady starfield, the bloated red of Saavin’s gas giant filling half of the view.
“See, now we just—” Han started.
“Unregistered YT-thirteen-hundred, this is the Imperial Star Destroyer Ravenous, respond immediately.”
The Falcon began blaring collision alarms as two TIE fighters took flanking positions next to her. The massive dagger shape of the Star Destroyer drifted into view from her port side.
“Unregistered YT-thirteen-hundred—” Han killed the comm. Chewbacca turned to look at him, not saying anything.
“This is not my fault,” Han said, looking for an escape route and finding nothing. “What are they doing out here?”
Chewie growled and reached for the deflector controls.
“No, wait,” Han said, grabbing the Wookiee’s arm to stop him. “I can handle this.” Chewbacca barked out a laugh.
“Hello, Ravenous, this is Captain—” Han racked his brain for one of the names on the list of fake registration codes he kept. “—Boro Mandibel, of the light freighter Vortando. How can I help you today?”
He put his palm over the mic and said, “Chewie, better turn on the registration broadcast. Make sure it’s the Vortando codes.”
“Vortando,” the reply came after a few moments. “You’re broadcasting a nonstandard registration—”
“Sorry about that,” Han interrupted with a heartily false laugh. “Hired on a Wookiee mechanic, and he’s been using nonstandard parts on all the repairs.”
Chewie growled dangerously from behind him, and Han covered the mic again. “If he understands Wookiee, that little remark is going to get us in a lot of trouble.” Chewbacca rumbled a response that demonstrated a lack of remorse.
“Destination and cargo,” the Star Destroyer demanded.
“Uh, going to Cioran with Corellian brandy and Sacorrian wines. How are you guys doing today?”
There was a pause that felt as if it lasted hours. Han began plotting a course to get them out of the system as fast as possible. The two TIE fighters hung next to the Falcon like an unspoken threat.
Han turned off the mic and said, “Chewie, this isn’t working. Get ready to angle the rear deflectors and make a run for it.”
“Vortando,” the Star Destroyer said. “Proceed to Cioran on the following course. Do not deviate. We’re seeing an incoming load, and we don’t need you disrupting the landing queue.”