Star Wars Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade by Delilah S. Dawson

Author:Delilah S. Dawson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Published: 2023-07-18T00:00:00+00:00

/22.

IN BETWEEN THE BLINKING LIGHTS, klaxons, and muttering clones, it was hard for Iskat to get a bearing on what was happening. She’d never been in this situation before, and she knew her best bet was just to get out of the way and let more experienced people do their jobs.

Except…no one else was really stepping up with anything like confidence.

“Why are you targeting us?” Tualon asked, clearly worried.

“Because you’re still here, and because you’re lying about your intentions,” the voice responded.

“What does that mean?”

A bored sigh. “You’re not here to fuel up. There is no fuel here. Even the most basic scan would tell you that. It’s a virtually uninhabited moon of a garbage gas planet, and you passed right by Agaris. It’s not much, but it’s clearly better supplied than this old rock.”

“If it’s so poorly supplied, why are you there? And threatening people?”

The voice snorted. “You sure do talk a lot for someone who should be turning tail and getting out of range.”

Tualon clicked off the mic. “Maybe we try approaching from the other side of the moon?”

Captain Spider nodded. “Fair enough. If anyone’s on the other side, they might have more sense.”

“Okay, we’re leaving,” Tualon said into the mic. “Sorry to bother you.”

The only answer was the continuing blare of various alarms, but as far as Iskat could tell, no weapons had yet been deployed. Flip turned the ship around, and a few moments later, the cockpit went gloriously silent. Jatz beeped a sigh. Iskat had never been happier to hear absolutely nothing at all. They flew toward the next planet and around the other side of it, as if hiding from the much smaller moon. But they stayed far enough out of orbit that no one on Agaris hailed them.

“Let’s wait here for half a day or so,” Tualon said, his lekku glistening with nervous sweat. “Hopefully they’ll forget us, and then they’ll switch shifts, and maybe whoever shows up the next time won’t be as unreasonable.”

“At least we know not to say we’re there for fuel next time,” Iskat chimed in.

He shot her an annoyed look. “Why else would anyone stop there?”

“Because they’re looking for a place to hide. It’s the only obvious reason.”

“But then we look suspicious,” he argued. “If they wouldn’t help us when we supposedly just wanted to buy fuel, why would they be more welcoming if we admitted we were on the run?”

“Because whoever we were talking to must also be hiding. Uninhabited moon, no known resources, it’s all the place is good for. He’s clearly not a fool.”

Tualon left the viewport and returned to the couch in the communal room. “Well, hopefully whoever we encounter on the opposite side of the moon will be easier to fool. We just need to get past their planetary defenses and land.”

With the ship floating freely, Iskat felt a new sense of impatience and malaise. She liked the idea of moving toward something, liked the hum of the engines and the calm of soldiers accustomed to the gentle routine of travel time.

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