[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(61)

“You’ll have to forgive our friend,” Leia said, sliding onto the bench on the bearded man’s side of the table. “I’m afraid she doesn’t hold her spirits very well.”

“Yeah, she’ll probably miss.” Han slid onto the bench next to Nashtah, positioning himself close enough that she would have to push him out of the way before she could reach the blaster in her thigh holster. “At least the first time.”

“Then let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” The bearded man reluctantly looked away from the wall. Though the hair hanging over his brow concealed the crooked scar running up his forehead, there was no mistaking the steely green eyes. “Because I never miss the first time.”

Nashtah tensed, but Han slapped a hand on her thigh-blocking access to her holster-and smiled across the table.

“Jagged Fel!” He was genuinely pleased. “Glad to see we didn’t kill you after all.”

Leia frowned. “What Han means to say is we’re happy to see you well. We inquired about you many times, but Aristocra Formbi kept claiming your status was a military secret.”

“Because I had yet to be recovered.” Fel’s voice was polite, but reserved. “After you shot me down, I was marooned for two years.”

“Two years?” Leia touched his forearm, drawing a flinch visible even across the table. She quickly withdrew her hand. “Jagged, I am sorry. Before we departed Tenupe, Aristocra Formbi led us to believe your recovery was imminent.”

“Tenupe can be a very dangerous planet, as you know,” he said. “The recovery team vanished, and the decision was made to risk no more lives on behalf of one pilot.”

“Sorry, kid-that was a tough break,” Han said. “So how did you get out of the jungle?”

“My family hired a private rescue company, and one of their search parties met a…” Fel stopped, picking his words carefully. “They met an unfortunate end. I repaired one of their commsets, and when the next party arrived looking for them, I was able to make contact.”

“Telkur Station is a long way from the Unknown Regions,” Nashtah said suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for the Solos, of course,” Fel said.

Han raised his brow. “Kid, if this is about Jaina…”

“It isn’t,” Fel said, a little too forcefully. “Jaina has caused the Fel family enough problems for one lifetime.”

“All right,” Han said, wincing inside at the sharpness of Fel’s voice. He had always kind of liked Fel, and there had been a time when he would have gladly welcomed him as a son-in-law-except for the part about dragging Jaina off to live in the Chiss Ascendancy. “I was just saying that if…”

“I’m here because of Alema Rar,” Fel said, cutting him off.

“Alema?” Leia furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand. She’s dead.”

“No more than I am,” Fel said.

Han looked over at Leia. “You said some kind of spidersloth ate her!”

“I said I was fairly sure,” Leia corrected. She looked back to Fel. “It had half her body in its mouth. I can’t imagine she escaped-much less survived.”

“I assure you, she did both,” Fel said. “The creature …” He let his sentence trail off when the bartender suddenly appeared carrying the drinks Han, Leia, and Nashtah had left on their first table.

“One table at a time,” the bartender said. He banged the drinks down and turned to Fel. “You drinking or leaving?”

Fel’s eyes went to the mug of ale sitting in front of Han. “I’ll have one of those.”

The bartender grunted an acknowledgment and departed.

Han eyed the glasses. His drink and Leia’s were still about three-quarters full, but Nashtah had emptied almost all of hers. “That bartender seems pretty determined to see us finish our drinks.”

“I wouldn’t indulge him, if I were you,” Fel said.

Nashtah narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“Because drinking can be bad for your health,” Han said, resisting the urge to look around. He was pretty sure now that the bartender was part of a Hapan Security team, and he wanted to hear the rest of Fel’s story before the fighting started. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?”

Nashtah turned to glare at the bartender, but said nothing.

Fel pretended not to notice and shifted his gaze back to Leia. “I was preparing to tell you about Atema,” he said. “She killed the creature before it had a chance to eat her.”

“You found its carcass?” Leia asked.