Part 37 (1/2)

”Oh, that's comforting,” Calrissian growled. ”And all the more reason to get the Caamas issue resolved as quickly as possible. if there's even half a chance Car'das can help, someone has to go see him.”

”And you're suggesting I should be that someone?”

”You're the one who knew him,” Calrissian pointed out.

”That may not be an a.s.set,” Karrde said. ”In fact, it could be quite the opposite.”

There was the soft sound of a slightly exasperated sigh. ”Look, Karrde, I don't know what went on between you and Car'das. What I do know is that we're facing Grand Admiral Thrawn here. And not just us-you're facing him, too. Don't forget be specifically said he'd be coming after you.”

”Scare words,” Karrde murmured.

”I don't remember Thrawn ever relying on scare words the last time,” Calrissian said.

”Everything he said was backed up with action. But since you've brought up the subject of scare words, what are you so afraid of, anyway?”

There was the sound of footsteps moving toward the window. ”You never met Car'das, Lando,”

Karrde said quietly. ”If you had, you'd understand. In his own way he was more ruthless even than Jabba the Hutt.”

”Yet you asked Mara and me to go hunt him down.”

”I didn't ask you to do anything at all,” Karrde said. ”If you'll recall, I tried to get you to sell me that beckon call outright.”

”You also tried to tell me it was just some useless curiosity from pre-Clone Wars days,”

Calrissian reminded him dryly. ”You knew perfectly well I wouldn't fall for a story like that. Anyway, that's beside the point. We tracked him down, and made it back just fine.”

”You only tracked him as far as a likely system,” Karrde said. ”You're asking me to walk into whatever fortress he's set up there and go face-to-face with him.”

”If Thrawn isn't stopped, he'll be the one who eventually comes knocking at Car'das's retirement home,” Calrissian said. ”If Car'das has any brains, he'll thank you for the warning.”

”Car'das never thanked anyone for anything in his life,” Karrde said bluntly. ”And he most certainly hasn't retired, either. He'll be scheming or plotting something-that's the nature of the man. And he will not want to be found. Particularly not by me.”

Calrissian hissed between his teeth. ”Fine,” he bit out. ”You want to go bury yourself in a hole and wait for Thrawn to come dig you out, you go right ahead. Give me a copy of Mara's route to the Exocron system and I'll go find him myself.”

”Don't be absurd,” Karrde said. ”You and the Lady Luck wouldn't last two days alone in the Kathol Outback.”

”Who says I'll be going alone?” Calrissian countered. ”I thought I'd ask General Bel Iblis and the Peregrine along.”

”That would be the absolute worst thing you could do,” Karrde said, an edge of exasperation starting to color his tone. ”You bring a capital wars.h.i.+p into the Exocron system and Car'das will either go completely underground or blow it out of the sky. You don't know him the way I do.”

”No,” Calrissian agreed quietly. ”I don't.”

There was a long silence. A long, waiting silence. ”You should never have given up on your con man origins, Calrissian,” Karrde said at last. ”You're far too good at it. All right.

I'll go.”

”Thanks,” Calrissian said. ”You won't regret this.”

”Don't make promises you can't keep,” Karrde warned, his usual easy humor back in his voice. ”I suppose we should go break the news to the others.”

The door whispered open and the glow panels shut off; and as the room went dark again, Shada heaved herself up out of her hiding place. Rolling back across the bed and onto her feet, she crossed the room and slipped out just before the door closed again.

The two men, Calrissian in the lead, were heading down the hallway toward the edge of what looked like an Alderaanian-style conversation circle, both of them completely oblivious to her presence behind them. Moving up, she fell into silent step behind Karrde.

”Okay, I give up,” Han said, a puzzled look on his face. ”What was that all about?”

Leia shook her head. ”I don't know,” she admitted, replaying the last exchange between Lando and Karrde in her mind as she gazed at the hallway where the two of them had disappeared toward the boys' bedroom. ”Some kind of secret they don't want us to know about.”

”Yeah, I figured that much,” Han said. ”What I meant was what's the secret?”

Leia threw him one of her vast repertoire of patient looks, an inventory created by a lifetime of diplomatic service and honed to a fine art by ten years of dealing with three boisterous children. ”You know I can't just go in and dig things out of their minds,” she reminded him. ”It's not even ethical with enemies, let alone friends.”

”You Jedi are no fun sometimes,” Han said. His tone was bantering, but she could tell from his eyes and mood that he was still uneasy about the situation.

”We're not in the business to have fun,” she pointed out.

”You couldn't just sort of, oh, stretch out and get a feel for what they're talking about in there?”

Leia smiled wryly. ”I wish you wouldn't do that,” she admonished him.

He pulled out one of his own repertoire of innocent looks. ”Do what?”

”Suggest that I do something unethical right when I'm trying to persuade myself that it wouldn't hurt anyone,” she told him. ”That's very disconcerting.”

”Specially coming from a guy who isn't supposed to have near as good a conscience as you do?” he suggested blandly.

Leia rolled her eyes. ”I swear, Han, I think you can read my mind better without Jedi senses than I can read yours with them.”

He waved a hand. ”Professional secret. One of the things you learn as a scoundrel.”

”Of course,” Leia said, looking in the direction of the hallway again. ”I wonder how unethical it would be to send Threepio in to take notes for them-”

”Lady Vader,” a gravelly voice cut in.

Leia jumped; as usual, she hadn't beard or sensed the Noghri's approach. What is it, Gharakh?”

”Perhaps trouble,” Gharakh growled. ”The sentry on the rooftop is not responding to his comlink.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Leia saw Han roll slightly in his chair to loosen his blaster in its bolster. ”You've sent a team to check on him?”

”They are on the way,” the Noghri said. ”But until we know otherwise, we must a.s.sume an intruder is attempting to break in. Where are the others?”

”Down the ball,” Leia said. Even as she pointed, she felt the subtle change in air pressure as the distant bedroom door slid open. ”That should be them now,” she added as the sound of approaching footsteps confirmed it.

”I would ask that you stay in this room for the present,” Gharakh said. As he spoke, Lando appeared around the corner, followed by Karrde&mdash ”If there is an intruder, we will need to seek him out.”