“Good idea,” Leia said, vaguely affronted that Han had felt it necessary to tell her the copilot’s job. “There are some unusual mass concentrations in the vicinity, but no EM or propulsion emanations.”
Han glanced over and gave her a crooked grin. “You’ve been reading my mind again, haven’t you?”
“Princess Leia does that?” Juun sounded worried-or embarrassed. “She reads minds?”
“Sure,” Han said. He frowned at the Sullustan’s reflection in the cockpit canopy. “All the best copilots do.”
Leia found the Juun’s embarrassment a little disturbing, but decided it was better not to contemplate the source. The Sullustan had probably been admiring her procedure or something.
“Speaking of mind reading, I can’t get that infrared reading you were thinking about,” Leia said. “Too much background radiation from Qoribu.”
“Not good,” Han said. “And the Chiss aren’t sending-“
C-3PO clumped onto the flight deck. “Captain Solo, you seem to have forgotten about the cannon turrets when you declared battle stations,” the droid said. “We should probably turn around now,
before
anything unfortunate happens. It would be much safer.”
“Juun!” Han barked. “Do you know where the circuit breaker is on a threepio droid?”
“Of course.”
“If he says another word about turning around or being doomed, trip it.”
“Aye, Captain.”
“Please don’t,” C-3PO said. “My poor circuits have already been overstressed by the deterioration of Captain Solo’s reflexes, and the current folly isn’t helping matters.”
Juun stood on his chair.
C-3PO stepped away. “There’s no need for that,” he said. “I’ll be the routine of bravery, I assure you. Go ahead. Fly us straight into that planet, and you won’t hear another word from me.”
“Tempting offer,” Han grumbled.
Finally noticing the Falcon’s direction-or bothering to address it-the Chiss flight controller opened a channel.
“Millennium Falcon, this is Rescue One. Explain your course deviation. “
Leia reached forward to open a reply channel, then thought better of it and lowered her hand. “Let’s see if they’re serious.”
“The Chiss?” Han asked. “You want to see if the Chiss are serious?”
“I have a feeling,” Leia said. “Just-“
“-trust me,” Han finished. “I know.”
Juun’s eyes widened. “Does everyone on this ship read minds?”
“Why, no,” C-3PO confessed. “I don’t.”
The Falcon continued toward the web of ion trails crawling across Qoribu’s dark face for another second, then the Chiss controller’s voice came over the comm again.
“Millennium Falcon, I ask again. Explain your course deviation.”
Leia glanced over. Finding Han’s eyes narrowed in thought, she knew they were thinking the same thing.
“They’re afraid of scaring us off,” she said.
Han nodded. “It’s a setup.”
“Millennium Falcon, if you fail to reply-“
“Sorry about that,” Han said, activating his own microphone. “We’ve been kind of busy up here.”
“Doing what?”
Before replying, Han glanced over and mouthed their daughter’s name. Leia nodded and, allowing her alarm and suspicion to rise to the surface, reached out to Jaina.
“Uh, we think we’ve spotted some survivors,” Han said into the comm. “That’s why we weren’t answering-been busy getting the recovery equipment ready.”
“We haven’t detected any survivors on your course,” the Chiss said.
“We’re closer,” Han said. “And, uh, you don’t have a Jedi on board.”
“A Jedi found them?” There was a short pause, then the Chiss said, “Very well. Carry on with our gratitude.”
Han closed the channel. “That does it-they’re playing us,” he said. “Did you warn Jaina?”
“She already knew.” Leia’s stomach felt as empty and cold as the darkness outside the canopy. “She doesn’t care.”
Lowbacca could not see the StealthXs, of course, but he could feel them. They were no more than a thousand kilometers away, converging on him from four sides, coming in fast and hard.
No! Lowbacca thought into the meld. He fixed his gaze on the nearest of the clawcraft, then imagined its laser cannons flashing to life as his rescuers swooped in to pick him up. Ambush!
Jaina’s laughter echoed in his mind. But Saba seemed more curious. Lowbacca’s meld-connection was not as strong to the