Honor Among Thieves

Han tapped on the navicomputer’s console, encouraging it to go faster. “Luke Skywalker, for instance,” he said.

“Who?” Scarlet asked as she shifted the deflectors to deal with the new and deadlier threat of the Star Destroyers.

“Another friend of mine,” Han said. “Good friend. Hero of the Rebellion, you know. Very close friend. Luke Skywalker.”

“I know who he is.”

“Then why did you ask who he was?”

“I wasn’t actually listening to you,” Scarlet said. “Can we jump now?”

The TIE fighters were no longer strafing them. They were maneuvering to force the Falcon into a turn. Just like they were supposed to. Drive the ship toward the heavies, and let the big guns of the Star Destroyers take them out. Classic Imperial tactics. Han admired their skill while trying to think of ways to kill them.

“Get into one of the turrets,” he said.

Scarlet barked out a laugh. “We’re not shooting our way out of this.”

“Can it hurt to try?”

“We need a miracle.”

As if in answer to her statement, the four TIE fighters peeled off at high speed. The Star Destroyers also began a lumbering turn back toward the planet. One by one, all the various alarms on the Falcon stopped squawking.

Han held his breath for a moment, but nothing changed. The Imperial ships kept angling away.

“They’re … leaving?” Scarlet said in disbelief.

Han leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. “Did I mention that I’m the best?”

“You’re taking credit for this?” she asked.

“I admit,” Han continued, unbuckling to stand up and check on the main navigation computer, “it’s not my absolute best work. Five is, I think, my personal record.”

“Five,” Scarlet echoed.

“Star Destroyers. I once evaded five while doing a spice-smuggling run off Tatooine. That was my best, as far I recall. But four is not bad. Four is more than your normal space pilot could possibly hope to deal with.”

“You are,” Scarlet said, nodding to herself. “You’re taking credit for it. You didn’t evade them. They left. There’s clearly something else going on here. Hold on.”

She put Chewbacca’s headset to her ear, the loop of it reaching almost the full length of her forearm, and tapped through the signal relays. “I don’t know. There’s a lot of chatter on the military frequencies, but it’s all encrypted. Something’s got them spooked. Aren’t you worried about that?”

“Not even a little,” Han said, banging on the navicomputer with the side of one fist, then dropping back into his chair. “Computer had to reset when the power dropped for a second, but she’ll be back in a minute, and then we can finish our jump to lightspeed. Have you back with your Rebellion pals in no time.”

“You,” Scarlet said, “are a crazy person. I’m starting to question how much my ‘Rebellion pals’ actually like me if they sent you to get me.”

Han leaned back, grinning and putting his hands over his heart dramatically. “You wound me. And after I saved you from the vast might of an Evil Empire.”

Chewbacca stomped back into the cockpit, growling.

“Yes, that was good work,” Han said. “But don’t expect any thanks from our friend here. Seems she pays in insults.”

Chewbacca growled out a complicated explanation.

“Well,” Han said, “then we better fix it fast before our Imperial friends decide to come back.”

“What was that?” Scarlet asked as Chewbacca left. “I didn’t catch him. I’m behind with technical terms in Wookiee.”

“Chewie says the power reboot blew a few circuits in the navicomputer. Not a big deal. He’ll have it back up in no time. But we took a beating otherwise. This trip is going to be expensive. I hope whatever you’ve got is worth it to the rebels.”

Scarlet laughed in disbelief. “Please remember that you didn’t do anything but get us shot at until the Empire got distracted and left.”

“You see, that’s an ungenerous view—”

“And you’re calling into question my value after I spent months working on one of the most dangerous worlds in the Empire?”

“Hey, sister, I didn’t realize it was so important to you to impress me,” Han said with a grin.

Scarlet’s lips quirked, but whatever her retort was going to be was lost when the proximity alarm started screeching again.

“Did they come back?” she said.

“No,” Han said, looking at the approaching ship. “This is something else.”

Scarlet leaned forward, her hands flying over the copilot’s console. “It’s a Sienar Fleet Systems design,” she said. “It’s been modified a lot. It looks like an NM-six-hundred series.”

“Wait, I know that ship …”

The comm crackled and came to life.

“Han Solo, my old friend.”

Han shook his head in shock. “Baasen? Didn’t I shoot you?”

Baasen Ray laughed. “Surely you did, my boy. I’m trying to take it philosophical. Difficult, though. You said some hurtful things about me back there. Cruel’s a terrible thing to be.”

Scarlet stared a question at Han. He turned off the comm. “Baasen Ray. Bounty hunter. He’s the reason I had a hard time finding you. He screwed up your drop in order to catch me.”

“You’re being chased by bounty hunters?”

“Hello?” Baasen said. “Tell me we’re still on speaking terms, boyo. I’d hate to start shooting you needless.”

Han turned the comm back on. “Yeah, uh, hi. So, Baasen, old pal, we’re on our way out, but you be sure to let Jabba know when you see him that I’m on my way with the money real soon.”

“Boy,” Baasen growled at him, all pretense of good humor gone. “I think I explained that. I can’t go back without you, or it’s my head on Jabba’s spike. So be a good lad and prepare to be boarded.”

“Yeah,” Han said, “I’m going to go with ‘no’ on that one. What now?”

“I could blow you into vapor and bring you back to Jabba in a bottle,” Baasen said, his voice deceptively reasonable.

Han killed the comm again. “Chewie? How’s that computer reset going?”

“So just do what I say,” Baasen continued, “and maybe I let the Wookiee and the woman go free. That’s a deal you won’t be offered twice.”