From the rear of the cockpit came the sound of a soft footstep. Han turned, hand automatically dropping to his blaster-
“It’s just me,” Leia assured him, coming forward and glancing at the displays. She looked tired. “You finished talking with Ackbar already?”
“It wasn’t much of a conversation,” Han told her sourly. “I asked what they were doing to find out how our pals with the blasters knew we were coming here, he assured me they were doing everything possible to find out, I managed to step on his toes, and he signed off in a huff. Pretty much like usual with Ackbar these days.”
Leia gave him a wry smile. “You do have a way with people, don’t you?”
“This one’s not my fault,” Han objected. “All I did was suggest that his security people might not be up to keeping these guys out of the Imperial Palace. He’s the one who overreacted.”
“I know,” Leia nodded, dropping wearily into the copilot’s seat. “For all his military genius, Ackbar just doesn’t have the polish to be a good politician. And with Fey’lya nipping at his heels …” She shrugged uncomfortably. “He just gets more and more overprotective of his territory.”
“Yeah, well, if he’s trying to keep Fey’lya away from the military, he’s got the wrong end of the blaster,” Han growled. “Half of them are already convinced that Fey’lya’s the guy to listen to.”
“Unfortunately, he often is,” Leia conceded. “Charisma and ambition. Dangerous combination.”
Han frowned. There had been something in her voice just then … “What do you mean, dangerous?”
“Nothing,” she said, a guilty look flicking across her face. “Sorry-talking out of turn.”
“Leia, if you know something-“
“I don’t know anything,” she said, in a tone that warned him to drop it. “It’s just a feeling I have. A sense that Fey’lya has his eye on more than just Ackbar’s job as supreme commander. But it’s just a feeling.”
Like the feeling she had that the Empire was up to something big? “Okay,” he said soothingly. “I understand. So. You all done here?”
“As done as I can be,” she said, the tiredness back in her voice. “The rebuilding’s going to take some time, but the organization for that will have to be handled from Coruscant.” She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. “Convoys of replacement equipment, consultants and maybe extra workers-you know the sort of thing.”
“Yeah,” Han said. “And I suppose you’re anxious to get right back and start the ball rolling.”
She opened her eyes and gave him a curious look. “You sound like you’re not.”
Han gave the outside displays a thoughtful scan. “Well, it’s what everyone’s going to expect you to do,” he pointed out. “So maybe we ought to do something else.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t know. Find somewhere no one would think to look for you, I guess.”
“And then … ?” she asked, her voice ominous.
Unconsciously, Han braced himself. “And then hole up there for a while.”
“You know I can’t do that,” she said, her tone just about what he’d expected. “I have commitments back on Coruscant.”
“You’ve got commitments to yourself, too,” he countered. “Not to mention to the twins.”
She glared at him. “That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?”
She turned away from him, an unreadable expression on her face. “I can’t be out of touch, Han,” she said quietly. “I just can’t. There’s too much happening back there for me to bury myself away.”
Han gritted his teeth. They seemed to be running over this same territory a lot lately. “Well, if all you need right now is to keep in touch, how about if we go some place that has a diplomatic station? You’d at least be able to get official Coruscant news there.”
“And how do we make sure the local ambassador doesn’t give us away?” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m talking like this,” she muttered. “It’s like we’re back being the Rebellion again, not the legitimate government.”
“Who says the ambassador has to know?” Han asked. “We’ve got a diplomatic receiver on the Falcon-we can tap into the transmission on our own.”
“Only if we can get hold of the station’s encrypt scheme,” she reminded him. “And then plug it into our receiver. That may not be possible.”