Heir to the Jedi: Star Wars by Kevin Hearne

Author:Kevin Hearne [Hearne, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 978-0-345-54487-2
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2015-03-03T05:00:00+00:00

DRUSIL’S VOICE CARRIED over the intercom, interrupting a kiss that was more than a peck on the cheek. “Quick thinking, Luke Skywalker, and admirable piloting. But be advised it is now probable the Empire will know where we are.”

We broke apart and Nakari chucked me once on the shoulder and whispered, “To be continued.” She returned to her seat and buckled in while I responded to Drusil.

“Why is that?”

“That small fleet was patrolling the sector of space that would come from Exodeen.”

“So? That’s what pirates do.”

“Do they normally waste fuel by having their escorts launched and spread out for fast attack when they could simply have scrambled to catch an unsuspecting and slow-moving cargo ship? Most of their normal targets would not suspect anything of that cruiser until it launched fighters at them, and by then it would be too late. Catching a fast ship piloted by a crew anxious to avoid capture, however, requires different tactics, am I correct? Hence the fighters already in position. Few fleets would be so wasteful of their resources otherwise.”

“You mean they’d already heard about the bounty on us and were patrolling in case we showed up,” I said.

“Yes. And now they can profit merely by reporting that they have seen us and telling the Empire which direction we fled.”

“They had plenty of time to scan us, Luke,” Nakari said. “They would know we have three life-forms aboard. If the pirates get a message to them quickly enough we could be running into Imperials sooner rather than later.”

Drusil chimed in. “A message from the pirates isn’t necessary to make an Imperial encounter likely. We’re near a frequently patrolled area of the galaxy. I happen to know the Empire has been inspecting—and thereby harassing—all traffic going into Hutt Space in an effort to cut into their trade and reduce the Hutts’ ability to remain independent.”

“That’s a recent development? How old is your information?”

“Very recent. For the past few weeks the Empire had me working on encrypted messages they intercepted in those sectors.”

That sounded like a bad omen, but there was nothing I could do about it, so it was pointless to waste time worrying about it. “Well, nothing’s happening right now except recharging the deflector shields. I could use some caf.” I unstrapped myself and rose from the pilot’s chair. “Would you like a cup?” I asked Nakari.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “Do you make your caf like your nerf steak?”

“I’ll try not to burn it, but no guarantees.”

“Okay, I’ll risk it, then. It’d be an equal risk if I made it.”

I felt almost giddy heading back to the galley because I thought that the automatic brewer in the galley would produce something drinkable, but it turned out to be fair-to-middling horrendous, a fact that I remembered belatedly from our trip to Fex. Since it was the same type of brewer one saw almost everywhere, it was likely that the problem lay with me and perhaps with Nakari also, not the appliance. I gave up and decided to mask my incompetence with lots of cream and sugar.

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