Honor Among Thieves: Star Wars (Empire and Rebellion) by James S.A. Corey

Author:James S.A. Corey
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey Spectra

True to her word, Scarlet had a dock assignment waiting for them at a small freight-forwarding warehouse just outside the main city. The warehouse was closed when they arrived, so the dock was empty of ships and employees. She was waiting for them, lounging on a nearby flight of stairs.

Han trotted down the ramp from the Falcon, hand on the butt of his blaster. They didn’t really have any idea how many people Maas had with him on his ship, or if they’d be angry about Han forcing them to land. If Scarlet was worried, it didn’t show. She stretched out on the steps, head cocked to one side so that her black hair fell away from her eyes. She gave Han a grin.

“Good job, Captain.”

“He had an Imperial scout ship chasing him,” Han said. “The clock’s ticking. The invasion has to be on its way.”

“We saw,” she said, then jumped lightly to her feet and started walking toward Maas’s freighter. “Thanks for handling that, Han. But it’s possible the scout that was chasing Maas was working on its own. We can’t be sure it was an advance ship of an Imperial fleet.”

“Are we waiting to find out? Because that seems like a bad hand to bet all our chips on.”

“Let’s just get this negotiation out of the way,” Scarlet said. “That’s our priority. Then we’ll decide what to do.”

“Why do I feel like the ‘we’ in that statement doesn’t include me?”

“Because it doesn’t?”

Before Han could formulate a good reply, the ramp to Maas’s ship began to open. A thick trickle of smoke and the smell of burned metal drifted out. The Cosmodium had taken a beating, no doubt about that.

“Chewie,” Han said into his headset, “get your furry backside out here.” The Wookiee growled back. “I know I told you to fix it, but get out here anyway. Bring your bowcaster.” Chewbacca chuffed in agreement and closed the line.

Hunter Maas appeared at the top of the ramp, bursting out of the smoky ship’s interior like an actor taking the stage. He was a small man, physically speaking, but he managed to take up all the space in the large and mostly empty dock. He didn’t walk down the ramp, he swaggered. He didn’t smile at them, he grinned a mouthful of sparkling white teeth. He was shirtless, wearing his small middle-aged potbelly with a pride it didn’t deserve. His pants were tight black leather. Over his shoulders flowed a floor-length red cape with elaborate gold piping. A meek R3 droid followed after him like a supplicant, and a thin ratlike bird perched on his left shoulder, chittering random words in a dozen different languages.

“Greetings!” Maas boomed at them, throwing his long cape away from his right hip to expose a holstered blaster. Han worked to keep a grin off his face. The blaster was an ancient model so large that he was pretty sure he could draw and fire three shots in the time it would take that aged monstrosity to clear its holster.

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