Honor Among Thieves

“Red Wave Two, this is Red Wave Six. I’ve got one on my tail.”

“I see you, Six,” Luke shouted. “I’m coming in. I’m coming in—”

The radio cut out as the first of the atmosphere hit the ship. Han clicked on the shields and angled hard down. The Falcon bucked and kicked under him, sending his belly into his throat and then his boot and then his throat again. Superheated air streamed off the shields like foam at the crest of a wave.

“What’s the problem, boyo?” Baasen called from the lounge.

“No problem,” Han shouted back. “It’s supposed to be like this.”

Slowly, slowly, and then all too fast, the landmasses of Seymarti V rose up toward them. To his right, a vast, mud-colored sea glittered and shone. Red waters hugged the coastlines, fading into the deep brown middle water. On the land, an answering ocean of leaves rippled in the wind. As the Falcon drew nearer the ground, huge pillars rose up above the jungle canopy, their dun-colored sides ridged like stone eroded by centuries of rain. As Han passed over one, he saw a black swarm of insects curling out from the tower like living smoke. The waving leaves grew closer, larger. Any one of them would have been wide enough to cover the whole ship, and they rose and fell gently in a breeze he couldn’t feel.

Just as they came even with the tops of the trees, a huge green-black shape rose from below. Han had the impression of vast, steely teeth and a dozen bright-red eyes, and then the Falcon was past it. The first of the massive leaves smashed into the ship, popping the Falcon up on one side almost thirty degrees. The Bothan screamed.

“Is it still supposed to be like this?” Baasen shouted.

“Not quite,” Han replied, and pulled back hard on the controls. The ship shuddered, slowed, and dipped down again. The leaves beat against the screen until Han was sure he heard it crack. He went down deeper, dropping beneath the canopy to where massive tree trunks rose like buildings from the floor below. His eyes fixed on the proximity sensor array, his hands moved fast, and the ship ducked among the huge, black trunks. Something popped, sparks flying out from the console above him.

“Chewie! Was that something important?”

Chewbacca howled in complaint.

“Well, could you find out? I’m kind of busy here.”

He pulled up the map overlay and fed it through the sensors. Galassian’s coordinates glowed green twelve kilometers ahead. Four klicks before that, there was a rough clearing big enough to put the Falcon down.

“I can do this,” Han said to himself. “Not. A. Problem.”

The proximity alarm blared, and he threw the ship hard to the right, a massive trunk skinning by the Falcon close enough to touch. Chewbacca howled.

“Thank you for your input,” Han said. “Just … hold on.”

The canopy didn’t open, but it thinned. The ground below was a mass of roots like thousands of gigantic, gnarled fingers twined around one another. The jungle with a permanent death grip on itself. Han lowered the ship slowly, watching the altitude readings with skepticism until the actual size of the root cluster became clear.

“Everyone all right back there?”

“Where did you learn how to fly a ship?” Leia shouted.

“What are you talking about?” Han said with a grin. “I’m brilliant.”

The ship touched down, shifted, canted at fifteen degrees, and came to rest. Han shut down the engines with a flip of his wrists and unstrapped himself. Chewbacca rose and tugged at the still-smoking panel of the overhead console. Han scowled up at the relay. A small, blue flame danced around the blackened metal.

“We’re going to want another one of those,” he said.

Chewbacca’s growl was short and percussive.

In the lounge area, the passengers were in different stages of recovering themselves. Baasen and Leia were both finding their feet on the Falcon’s canted deck. Sunnim was still sitting, his fists wrapped around the straps and his eyes wide. Han thought the Bothan was trembling. Only Scarlet was moving confidently, stepping across the lounge to the storage blocks, her cheeks warm and her eyes bright with pleasure.

“Bad news is it’s going to be a little walk,” Han said. “Good news is no one shot at us on the way down.”

“That’s how you fly when you’re not under fire, then?” Baasen said.

“It’s harder to see us if we’re under the canopy,” Han replied.

“You know that’s where the trees are, though, right?” Leia asked.

The Bothan gave a small whimper.

“It worked out,” Han said. “A simple thank-you will be fine.”

Scarlet pulled a small black medpac from storage and hung it on her belt. The light from the upper turret slanted through past her as she looked over at Han.

“Who’s coming?” she said.

“I’ll not be staying behind now,” Baasen said. “And where I go, Sunnim comes with. Watch my back.”

“And here I thought we were friends,” Han said.

“We are,” Baasen said, grinning. He still looked a little greener than usual.

Chewbacca grunted and howled from the cockpit.

“No,” Han said. “You’re staying here.”

An instant later a wall of angry Wookiee boiled up from the front of the ship, waving a welding torch and baring his fangs. Han set his feet on the tilted deck and looked up at Chewbacca’s outraged eyes.

“It’s not going to do any of us any good to go get this whatever-it-is if there’s no ship when we get back. I don’t want to come up and find there’s a company of stormtroopers or corrosive ants or something infesting the place.”

Chewbacca crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing stubbornly.

“It’s a swamp out there,” Han said. “You know how your fur gets when there’s mud.”

Chewbacca’s scowl softened a bit.

“There’ll be snakes,” Han said, his voice almost gentle. Chewbacca was silent for a long moment, then turned and stalked back to the cockpit. The flare of the welding torch resumed.

“All right, then,” Han said. “Chewie’ll be here to keep you company, Your Worshipfulness. Scarlet and Baasen and Sunnim and I will—”

Scarlet and Leia chuckled at the same moment. Han’s brow furrowed and he held out his hands in a gesture of confusion.

“I believe Princess Leia had her heart a bit set on coming with,” Baasen said as he checked his blaster. Sunnim sighed and began unbuckling himself. Han turned toward Leia, ready to fight. Her dark eyes were on him, cold and implacable.