Aboard the rockhound

"What do you mean, the rest have gone?"

Lando Calrissian was seated in a mobile levchair at the pilot's station of the antique vessel, the Rockhound. He was glaring at one of the drop-down display screens that currently showed the head and shoulders of the purple Sith woman who had introduced herself as Captain Leeha Faal.

She smiled. It was not a pleasant smile, but it did not detract from her attractiveness. Sith.

"Your Master Skywalker was most insistent," she said. "He felt that it would be better to have the fleet assembled and ready to proceed closer to the Maw itself. He left the Winged Dagger and the Starstalker behind in his stead. We are allies, Captain Calrissian."

Allies, right. Sith flying around in frigates. "Of course, Luke told me he was working with you." He was proud of himself. His smooth voice had lost none of its charm, even when he uttered words that unsettled—even disgusted—him. He gave her one of his best smiles, lifted his arms, and winked. "Well, here I am. Are you ready, Captain Faal?"

"We shall be momentarily," she said, her voice soothing and easy on the ears. "The Starstalker should be here shortly. We will conduct our preflight check, and then we shall hasten to join our comrades outside the Maw."

"That sounds fine," Lando said. "Let me know when you're good to go. Calrissian out."

He clicked an old-fashioned, shiny button. Faal's pretty face was replaced by a blank screen. His smile disappeared as if it were a glow rod he had switched off.

Though he was the only living being on the ship, Lando was not alone. There was a full crew complement; it was simply one composed entirely of droids. He turned in the levchair to regard the one with whom he had the most interaction, the bridge droid Cybot Galactica Model RN8.

"Bust my rear getting you droids and this ship functional, and Luke hightails it out of here without me. Nice of him to leave such an attractive welcoming committee though."

Ornate straightened and turned her head globe to regard him with her three blue photoreceptors. The transparent globe was alive with the sparkles of her processing unit, and her bronze body casing was decorated with comets and stars. She was extremely old, functioning well, and as lovely as any piece of art. "I am not programmed to evaluate human standards of attractiveness," Ornate said in a deep, purring voice.

"I am," Lando said cheerily. Ornate merely turned her globe head back to the navigation console. Lando grinned a little and swung the chair back around just in time to see a white flash indicating someone dropping out of hyperdrive.

Four vessels suddenly appeared, bristling with weapons, their forms bulky and threatening. Lando's gut twisted, his humor gone.

"Oh great," he muttered. "Just what we needed. Hutts." He waited, sweat gathering at his hairline, to see if he would be hailed, but the Hutts were apparently here on other business. After less than a minute, they dived as one for the atmosphere. Lando breathed out a sign of relief that lasted about two seconds.

"Faal to Rockhound!" The pretty voice was urgent. "Rockhound here, go ahead, Captain Faal."

"We are under attack! Repeat, under attack! Request aid immediately!"

"What's going on? Ornate, ready the Stoneskipper!" The droid inclined her sparkling globe and began the process for readying the Rockhound's small skiff. "Who's attacking you?"

"The Hutts! They are opening fire!"

Oh, this was great. Just great.

"Captain Calrissian, I assure you, it's a huge misunderstanding!" Faal continued. The strain of trying to speak calmly made her pleasant voice less so. "But as our ally, I request that you aid us!"

"I can't take this baby down. Best I can do would be a skiff."

The four Hutt ships, obviously reinforcements to whatever atmospheric vessels were already engaged, were now heading down toward the surface. "Then perhaps you could be of use elsewhere. Do you know beings on this world?"

He did, several, and lots of them would not be particularly happy to see him. Especially if his new "allies" had riled the Hutts. "Uh," he said, "a few."

"They will destroy the Starstalker and all aboard if they do not call off their attack," Faal was saying. "If you could—"

Six more Hutt vessels exited hyperspace, splitting up gracefully to encircle the Winged Dagger. Fortunately, for the moment, they seemed unaware that Lando had anything to do with the Sith vessel and whatever was going on planetside. Lando was debating the wisdom of simply powering up the Rockhound and heading right for the Maw, leaving these two Sith ships to their own devices. After all, he was there to help Luke, not Luke's buddies. But then again, one didn't really want to anger a Sith, did one?

Another ship arrived. "For crying out loud, what is this, a party?" Lando yelped to Ornate. "How many Hutt ships do you need to take down—"

He broke off in midsentence when he saw what kind of vessel it was. Or rather, didn't quite see. It was like a phantom, the slightest distortion against the darkness and starlight. But Lando had a lot of experience seeing things others might miss.

It was a StealthX, and that meant Jedi.

"Hail it," he told Ornate. "Now." The droid complied. Lando knew that the vessels had to maintain silence in order to be undetected, and wasn't sure if the pilot of this particular ship would respond. However, a familiar voice crackled over the antique communications system. It was faint—probably a personal comlink rather than the ship's.

"Hey, Uncle Lando. What are you doing here?"

Lando blinked. "Jaina? I might ask the same question of you."

"I asked first." Lando started to reply that this was a poor time for jokes, but there was a guardedness in her voice that made him pause. She was serious.

"I'm here to help Luke, except he's apparently gone off without me and, uh…left a couple of buddies behind." He wondered if Jaina knew about the "buddies.""Jaina, listen, something's happening down there. And Luke's…colleagues—"

"I know about them." There was annoyance and anger in her voice.

"Oh, okay then. Well, they're wrapped up in it and asking for my help."

Jaina muttered something under her breath. "Let's go find out what's going on, then. Permission to dock?"

"Of course. But you didn't tell me why you were here."

"Nope. Sure didn't. You coming with me, or not?"

"All right, keep your flight suit on," Lando grumbled. "You don't want to take that baby down there. Bring it into the hangar and we'll go down together in the skiff."

* * *

It was, of course, not that simple. While he waited for Jaina, Lando attempted to hail the planet, and for several long, strained minutes, there was no response. Finally, a female Klatooinian appeared on one of the drop-down screens. She looked wary and her voice was brusque.

"This is Abara Mun. Klatooine is currently in an emergency state and a full lockdown. No one will be granted permission to arrive or depart until further notice." She reached forward to end the transmission.

"Wait!" yelped Lando. "I know Darima Kedari!"

Mun paused in mid-motion and eyed him skeptically. The hatchway at the back slid open with a grinding sound. Lando heard Jaina's boots on the old durasteel deck as she came up behind him. "We go way back. Ask him."

A pause. "I suppose that's possible," Mun said finally. "I will contact him and inquire."

"You do that." Her face disappeared, replaced by the insignia of the Klatooinian flag. Lando blew out a breath, then turned and gave Jaina a quick hug. "Hey there, little lady. So come on, you can tell Uncle Lando. You came here to help Luke, didn't you?"

She embraced him, then pulled back and nodded. She looked tired and was more subdued than he had seen her in a long time.

"I was supposed to be one of many," she said. "The Jedi have a whole fleet of StealthXs assembled. Luke and Ben have had to handle this completely alone. Sith, for crying out loud, Lando. A whole tribe of them. So we were going to come and give him the means to end this forced alliance."

"So why is it just you? Not that you aren't a formidable foe," he added quickly.

"Because Daala has begun a siege on the Temple, and we can't launch without being shot down before we get three meters."

"A what?"

She rubbed her eyes. "It's long, it's ugly, and it's irrelevant right now. We have to get to Luke."

"He's in the Maw right now. He left a very lovely and alarmingly pleasant woman behind to wait for me, but apparently there's been some sort of trouble. I'm not sure if Luke wants me to help out or ditch them."

"Sir," said Ornate in her smooth, silky voice, "Chancellor Darima Kedari wishes to speak to you."

Lando smirked, just a little. "See?" he said to Jaina. Jaina, meanwhile, had done a double take at the droid's voice.

"She's some conversationalist," Jaina said dryly.

"About that…I'll tell you later," Lando said, looking a bit nonplussed. "Ornate, put him through."

An elderly male appeared on the screen. He wore stiff robes that were made of some sort of fabric that shone in the light. A collar wound around his neck, and a high, flat hat covered his head and ears. Lando gave one of his famous charming grins. "Darima! How you doing?"

"In desperate straits if I am to converse with you," replied the Chancellor in a querulous voice, "but it seems I must do so."

"Er, right," said Lando. He recovered quickly. "May I introduce Jedi Jaina Solo. Jaina, this is Chancellor Darima Kedari, the leader of the Klatooinian Elder Governors. We go way back."

Jaina smiled and inclined her head. "Sir," she said.

Dark eyes set back in a face surrounded by heavy wrinkles widened slightly. "Jaina Solo. Your reputation precedes you as well. First Master Skywalker, now you. Two of you, no less." He seemed to be considering something. "A question for you both, then, since I believe the Ancestors have sent you to us at this crucial juncture. Are you formally or informally connected with the captains or any crew member of the Starstalker or the Winged Dagger?"

Lando scratched his head and considered his answer very carefully. "I came here at the request of Luke Skywalker," he said. "I know that Luke was cooperating with them, but I've never met these people before in my life."

"And I came here to see Luke, but he wasn't expecting me." Jaina didn't volunteer anything more.

"We are…in a crisis," Darima admitted. His jowls shook slightly. "The crew of the Starstalker has allegedly violated the no-technology zone of the Fountain. It appears they even had the audacity to take samples of the wintrium."

Lando's jaw dropped. "What?" No wonder he had seen a bunch of Hutt ships. This was bad. Very bad.

"I know you know what this means, Lando," Darima said grimly. "Now you understand why we are forbidding anyone to come to Klatooine. It is all we can do to contain the riots."

"No kidding. I'm surprised you can even do that."

"Wait, what?" asked Jaina, looking from one to the other. "What happened? Lando, you look…serious. That alarms me."

"There's a natural formation called the Fountain of the Hutt Ancients," Lando said, his voice somber. "It's highly sacred to the Klatooinians. No one is allowed to take anything but the most primitive technology within a kilometer radius."

Jaina looked confused. "I don't mean to be rude, but…you generally aren't that concerned about something like this." She eyed the Chancellor. "No offense, sir."

"There is more than our racial pride or religious sacrilege here, Jedi Solo. The protection of the Fountain was the key to the drawing of the Treaty of Vontor twenty-five thousand years ago," Darima said. "The Hutts swore to protect it. In return, our people and the Nikto swore eternal servitude. The Hutts did not protect the Fountain. If they do not act appropriately—"

Now it was Jaina's turn to gape. "If they don't act appropriately, the deal's off, and the Hutts lose slaves they've had for twenty-five millennia. Okay. I think I see why everyone's so upset." She looked as stunned as Lando felt.

"The Treaty states that if there is ever a question of violation, at least two, preferably more, offworlders must be present to render judgment, as both the Hutts and the Klatooinians have decided interests in the outcome."

"Oh, come on Darima, surely there's gotta be someone else."

The Chancellor looked at him levelly. "This is Hutt territory, Lando. People who have business with them come here. There are some who come to see the Fountain, but they are few. You two both arrive the very day of the sacrilege. And although I cannot believe I am saying this, I…trust you to be fair in hearing both sides. And I can say the same of a Jedi, even one I have not met."

Jaina and Lando exchanged glances. "Give us a moment," he said.

"Of course." Ornate obligingly muted the sound.

"I don't want any part of this," Lando said. "I say we leave them and get to Luke."

"I'd say the same thing except for the fact that the liberty of an entire race of people rests on it," Jaina said. "Your friend is right. This isn't a place known for attracting decent and fair-minded beings. Anyone else they get is going to know what side his bread is buttered on. The Hutts'll win for sure."

"And can you be impartial?" Lando challenged. "Suppose the evidence suggests that the Hutts did do everything they could. Could you stand there and tell the Klatooinians they're stuck being slaves?"

He expected her to snap at him. Instead, she looked down, her gaze falling quickly on her left hand. It was then that he noticed it was bereft of her engagement ring. And suddenly he understood why she had been so subdued.

"I've made a lot of hard decisions recently based on what I thought was right, Lando. Decisions that weren't what I wanted," she said quietly. "I'm the Sword of the Jedi. I stand, supposedly, for justice. If the Hutts really did keep their end of the bargain, then my answer is yes. I can look the Elders in the eye and say that."

"I really don't want to do this."

"Then don't. Take the Rockhound and join Luke in the Maw. Hopefully, I will be there soon. I'll be one of their offworlders, and they can find someone else. Really, it's okay." And he could tell by looking at her that it was. She was making the decision for herself, and letting him make the right one for him.

"You are far too much like your mother sometimes, you know that?" he muttered. "You damn diplomats." He heaved a sigh and waved at Ornate, who unmuted the hologram.

"All right, Darima. You got yourselves two offworlders."

CHAPTER NINETEEN