[Dark Nest] - 1(6)

By the time they reached the fog bank, Leia had opened a long channel down the center-a very narrow channel, not much wider than the Falcon itself.

C-3PO’s electronic voice split the tense silence. “Oh, my!”

“Quiet, Threepio!” Han barked. “Leia needs to concentrate.”

“I’m aware of that, Captain Solo, but the route she is clearing has opened a small path through the ionic interference. We seem to be receiving an insystem comm transmission from Master Durron.”

“Take a message,” Han ordered. In the canopy reflection, he saw a furrow crease Leia’s brow, and blankets of fog started to spill back into the channel. “And stop bothering us!”

“I’m sorry, Captain Solo, that’s quite impossible.

The

ionic interference seems to be returning, and our reception is too distorted for me to record. If you were to climb a few hundred meters, I could use the static scrubbers to enhance the signal.”

“Not now!” The fog closed in completely. Unable to see past the end of the cockpit anyway, Han looked over to Leia. “If this is too much-“

“It’s not too much, if you’ll just leave me alone!” she snapped. “Do you want to win this thing or not?”

“All right. No need to get touchy.”

Han turned his gaze forward, and the fog parted again.

“Much better,” C-3PO said. “Thank you, Princess Leia. Master Durron seems quite upset.”

Kyp’s voice came over the comm speakers, scratchy and distorted. “… melt your circuits from the inside!”

“Take it easy, kid. You’re on,” Han said. “And this had better be good.”

“When are you going to stop calling me kid?” Kyp asked.

“Soon,” Han promised. “Look, we’re kind of busy here, so if that’s all you need to know-“

“Sorry,” Kyp said. “I wish this could wait, but I’m only passing through on my way to Ramodi.”

“The baradium ring?” Han asked. “I thought Tesar Sebatyne was supposed to handle that.”

“Supposed to is right.” Kyp paused a moment. “Something came up.”

“Bigger than smuggling baradium?”

“Hard to say,” Kyp said. “When you’re done here, the council needs you and Leia to take over in the Maltorian system.”

“Nice of them to ask,” Han grumbled into the comm mike.

“That’s what I’m doing now,” Kyp said. “The council doesn’t give orders-especially to you two.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Han said. “What happened to Zekk? Is he okay?”

There was a long pause, and Han thought they might have lost the signal.

“Kyp?”

“Zekk’s fine,” Kyp said. “But something came up, and he had to leave.”

Alarms started to go off inside Han’s head. Jaina had told them about the mysterious call that she and the other strike team members had been feeling from the Unknown Regions.

“Listen”-Kyp’s voice crackled over the comm-“we didn’t want to ask you again, but this is important. RePlanetHab is about ready to start paying Three-Eye off.”

“I’ll have to talk it over with Leia.” Given who was currently trying to steal Borao out from beneath them, Han was not sure either one of them would be eager to help RePlanetHab with its pirate problem. “Redstar’s tribunal ought to be just about over, and we were hoping to catch up with Jaina for a few days before she goes out again.”

There was another long silence, and this time Han decided to wait Kyp out. A blurry sliver of green murk appeared at the end of the fog channel that Leia was holding open. Her gaze remained dead ahead. Han hoped that she was actually seeing; that she had not sunk so deeply into her trance, she would fail to notice the hazy stripe of darkness ahead.

Finally, Kyp said, “Uh, seeing Jaina might be a problem.”

“Don’t tell me,” Han said. “Something came up.” The hazy strip ahead thickened into a sharp, distinct streak. “Something in the Unknown Regions, I’ll bet.”

“Well… yes.”

“Thanks for letting us know,” Han snorted. Normally, he tried not to worry about Jaina’s assignments. As a top fighter pilot and leading Jedi Knight, his daughter could handle almost anything the galaxy threw her way. But the Unknown Regions were different. The Unknown Regions were home to a hundred terrors too terrible to imagine-or so he had been told. “What’s the situation?”

“We don’t know, exactly,” Kyp said. “But there’s no reason to worry. Master Skywalker has taken Mara and Saba to investigate.”