Star Wars 390 - The Dark Nest Trilogy I - The Joiner King by Troy Denning

Author:Troy Denning
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780345463142
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-11-11T05:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

Even full hazmat gear could not prevent Alema from appearing immodest and just a little bit debauched. The suit she had selected was two sizes too small, stretched so tightly over her svelte curves that it was apparent she had decided to leave her underclothes—if she owned any—aboard the crippled Falcon. Leia shook her head in weary amusement, wondering whom Alema was hoping to attract on the deserted planet that had jerked them out of hyperspace. Then again, had Leia spent her formative years as a dancing slave in a Kala’uun ryll den—or merely been a Twi’lek female—she, too, might have felt comfortable only when on display.

Alema glanced back, no doubt feeling Leia’s scrutiny through the Force. “Is something wrong?”

“Not really.” Leia dropped her gaze to the Twi’lek’s seat area. “Just wondering if that suit is going to split.”

Alema craned around to look, then gave a roguish smile. “Only if I bend over.”

Juun came down the access corridor holding Alema’s utility belt and lightsaber. “You forgot this, Jedi Rar.”

“I don’t think we’ll be needing weapons,” Leia said. “The scan showed no animal life at all.”

“Better to be safe,” Juun said.

“Why, thank you, Jae.” Alema raised her arms and let him buckle on the belt. When the short-armed Sullustan had to press his face against her stomach, she smiled and added, “You’re always so considerate.”

Silently cursing the Sullustan’s growing infatuation with Alema, Leia had C-3PO fetch her own belt and buckled it on herself. After a thorough inspection of the Falcon had revealed no trace of insect stowaways, the Solos had been forced to turn their suspicions in other directions. Their plan had been to keep Alema separated from her weapons until Leia figured out whether she was the one who had been sabotaging the Falcon—but no one had told that to Juun, of course. He was the only other suspect.

Leia passed the Twi’lek four twenty-liter buckets, then lowered the boarding ramp. A cool wind was hissing across the marsh grass, carrying on its breath the fragrance of a carpet of nearby blossoms. Not far beyond, a ribbon of open water purled past, vanishing into the dark wall of a distant conifer forest.

“It’s stunning!” Leia led the way down the ramp, carrying four empty buckets of her own. “It reminds me of Alderaan—unspoiled and beautiful.”

“Yes, it’s very…natural.” Alema was looking above the forest, at a single jagged mountain silhouetted against the veined ruddiness of the nebular sky. “Not a bad place to crash—”

“Nobody crashed,” Han said over their headsets. “And nobody’s going to be marooned, either—if you two will get under the drive unit with those collection buckets.”

“On our way.” Under her breath, Leia added, “Hutt.”

“I heard that.”

“Good.”

When Leia stepped off the ramp into the grass, the ground felt soft and spongy under her feet. She parted the grass and found water seeping up around her boot.

“We’ll have to make this fast,” Leia reported. “The ground’s a little soft here.”

“Ready when you are,” Han replied.

Leia pulled on her hazmat hood and ducked under the Falcon.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.