[Dark Nest] - 3(35)

Tito turned one eye toward Leia. “Squibs not tell you. They want you dead.”

“That’s right.” Leia made a small motion with her hand, then added, “And we’re not the only ones.”

Tito spread his antennae. “They want us dead, too?”

“That’s the way we hear it,” Han said. “Before the Verpines, the Squibs asked a couple of Fefze to help you, right?”

“How you know?”

“Because they’re the ones who sold us the warning about you,” Leia said. “And we’re not the only ones they were asked to kill.”

Tito clattered his mandibles. “Fefze kill Flakax? That is funny.” He turned to Meewalh. “I much amused. You pull trigger now.”

“It’s not that funny.” Leia made another motion with her hand. “Remember, you were going to be fighting us.”

“I don’t suppose you noticed the thermal detonator in the brot-rib crate?” Han asked. He had not found any thermal detonator when he stowed the weapons that had spilled from the crate, but that hardly mattered. Han could always produce one from their own stores and claim the Squibs had slipped it into the box when Tito was looking the other way. “Even a Fefze could set a detonator and take off while you were busy fighting us.”

“Though, of course, I think the Verpine were a much better choice,” Leia said, casting an eye at the unconscious insects. “They’re so much more technological.”

Tito considered this for a moment, then let out a long throat rattle. “The Directors broke their own swear!”

“That’s the way it looks, isn’t it?” Han replied.

Leia nodded. “And now that we’ve kept our part of the bargain-“

“The Directors want you dead because Lizil isn’t sending you to Tenupe, like they promise,” Tito said. “Lizil told them, ‘Two-legs are more use in Alliance. Send them with convoy.’ “

Han’s jaw fell. “Wait a minute! You’re saying this convoy is headed for Alliance territory?”

Tito clacked his mandibles shut, then looked from Han to Leia. “Maybe.”

Leia’s brow rose, now with shreds of Falleen disguise hanging from it after the fierce fight. “No wonder they want us dead!”

“Yeah,” Han said. If this convoy was headed for Alliance space, there could only be one purpose for all the war cargo they had seen being loaded. “The Colony is supporting a coup-maybe a whole string of them!”

“I think so.” Leia’s gaze grew troubled, and she slowly turned to Han. “Somebody has to warn Luke.”

Han nodded. “I know. Maybe we can find-“

He caught himself and stopped short of saying Juun and Tarfang, then took Leia by the elbow and led her away from their prisoner.

Leia did not even wait until they reached the front of the hold. “Han, we have to do this ourselves.”

“We’re busy,” Han said.

“Think about all the Alliance insects we’ve seen here,” Leia pressed. “Verpine, Flakax, Fefze, Vratix, Huk.”

“I have been thinking about them,” Han said. “I’ve been thinking about them a lot.”

“If those governments fall, the Defense Force will be so busy in Alliance territory that it won’t be able to keep the pressure on in Utegetu-much less carry the war to the rest of the Colony.” Leia stopped and turned him to face her. “You know we can’t trust this to Juun and Tarfang, Han.”

“Of course we can!” Han said. “You heard Juun. Bwua’tu believes in those two.”

“But do we?” Leia asked. “Even assuming they would be willing to disregard their orders on our say-so, are you ready to place the Alliance in their hands?”

“It’d serve the Alliance right,” Han grumbled. “The rehab conglomerates are claim-jumping everything anyway.”

“At least the rehab conglomerates aren’t spreading the war,” Leia said. “And that’s what will happen if we let the Colony overthrow the Alliance’s insect governments.”

Han let his chin drop to his chest, wondering why it always came down to him and Leia, why they always had to be the ones in the right place at the wrong time.

“Well, I guess there was never any doubt,” Han said.

Leia frowned. “Doubt?”

“About going back,” Han said. “You still have to do the right thing. You just can’t help yourself.”

Leia thought about this a moment, then nodded. “I guess that’s true. I just couldn’t live with myself if we let the Colony topple

those governments.”