Honor Among Thieves

“No! Hunter Maas’s word is his bond! We will be partners in ruling the galaxy!”

“And if you buy that,” Han said, keeping his tone light and mocking, “I’ve got some fabulous property at the Core I can sell you.”

“You got a ship?” Baasen asked Maas.

“We will procure a thousand ships! Armadas to darken the sky!”

“No,” Baasen said slowly, as though speaking to a child. “Do you have a ship right now? To leave this planet with?”

“Hunter Maas’s ship has taken some damage, but we can find transport if need be …”

“Pity that,” Baasen said, then laughed. “Maybe you should be quiet now, let the lady work.”

“He does wear on a person with all that Hunter Maas this and Hunter Maas that,” Han said, forcing a chuckle. He had the uncomfortable feeling a negotiation for his life had just happened behind his back and the fact that the Falcon was flight-worthy was the only reason he was still breathing.

“Now,” Scarlet said, practically holding her breath while she spoke. “Let go now.”

Han released the wire he was holding, and the door to the safe opened with a quiet click.

“Gotcha,” Scarlet said in triumph.

“Good work,” Han said, slapping her on the shoulder. “I see why Leia likes you.”

Baasen drifted their direction, trying to look past them into the safe. Maas said nothing, huddling miserably in the corner. Scarlet pulled the door of the safe open the rest of the way and looked inside.

“Huh,” she said. “It’s empty.”

Han reached inside, patting the walls of the safe with his hand, looking for a false wall or bottom, or something taped to the sides. Nothing but bare metal. The rat-bird screeched at them with what almost sounded like a laugh.

“Hunter Maas told you,” the pirate said. “You will never find the data without him. The price will now be very high, after these many insults and indignities!”

Han frowned a question at Scarlet, and she shook her head. For the first time, she looked lost.

“Okay,” Han said, “I guess we—”

From behind came the sound of a blaster shot. Han spun around to face the room, his own blaster already in his hand. Maas was staring down at the smoking hole in his sternum with a look of puzzlement on his face, and then he crumpled gently to the floor.

“UM,” SCARLET SAID. Hunter Maas lay on the floor at Baasen’s feet. The thief blinked twice, then fell into the absolute stillness of death. Han realized he was holding his breath and let it go with an effort.

“That shirtless little gentleman was a bit annoying,” Baasen said, poking his blaster at the corpse on the floor.

“So you shot him?” Han asked. “Now we’ll never know where that data is. You’ve lost your mind, Baasen, and I—”

“We’ll know where it is because I know where it is,” Baasen said, his voice as calm as if he were discussing the weather.

Scarlet nodded at him. “Okay.” Her blaster was in her hand and she drifted away from Han, the three of them turning into a triangle where every angle was a weapon.

Baasen smiled and slipped the stump of his shortened arm into the handle of the carrying case. He lifted it until it slid down to his elbow and hung there, swaying. “So, let’s go on back to your ship now, eh? We have what we came for.”

“Or maybe I leave you here with Maas,” Han said. “And we just take what we need.”

Scarlet said nothing but kept drifting to Baasen’s left. “You’ll want to stop there,” the Mirialan bounty hunter said to her. “Makes me nervous you trying to get to my blind side. It’s a sad world when there’s no trust.”

“So what now?” Scarlet asked. Han wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or to Baasen.

“I think we—” Han started, but his next words were drowned out by a rising high-pitched wail that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

“Out of time, boyo,” Baasen yelled at him. “We should have the rest of this conversation elsewhere.”

The planetary defense alarms had sounded. The Star Destroyers were in orbit. The Empire didn’t need the data Maas had stolen; they just needed to make sure no one else had it. They wouldn’t bother landing troops, they’d just bomb the planet to dust and make sure nothing lived to interfere with their plans.

“To the Falcon,” Han said to Baasen. The bounty hunter nodded and smiled. Han tapped his comlink, trying to reach Leia, but the connection didn’t go through. The relays were already down.

Scarlet darted out the door and waved an impatient hand for them to follow. Baasen started toward her, then stopped and turned to look at the R3 and the rat-bird.

“You two can come along if you like,” he said.

The rat-bird hopped down off the droid’s head and flapped over to sit next to its dead master. The droid burbled to itself for a second, then lowered its wheels and followed after the bounty hunter. When they left the room, Han looked back and saw that the rat-bird was gnawing on Hunter Maas’s leg. No loyalty among thieves.

The defense alert still sounded, nearly deafening, but a new noise was starting to eclipse it. A distant, heavy booming, like thunder.

The orbital bombardment had begun.

People were streaming into the corridor from the occupied rooms, shouting into comlinks and carrying hastily packed luggage. Han saw a diminutive Ugnaught trip over its own bags and fall to the floor, where a passing human stepped on it.

Han gripped Scarlet and Baasen by the backs of their shirts so he didn’t lose them in the crush of bodies, and dragged them toward the main assembly hall. He could see that the street outside was quickly becoming packed with ground transport and fleeing people. By cutting through the gardens and then the conference halls, he could get to the spaceport without fighting the traffic.

Scarlet seemed to understand and agree. As soon as she realized where he was leading her, she took point, grabbing his hand in her own and pushing her way through the crowd. Baasen stumbled along behind, content to let them lead.

A burly alien with gray-green skin and tusks the size of daggers ran into them and howled in anger, but before Han could even apologize the air around them compressed in a massive blast wave and knocked down everyone in the corridor. The shock was followed by the loudest noise Han had ever heard. The stone walls all around cracked like over-stressed glass, and he felt sure his teeth would vibrate apart in his jaw.