J'er Nahj looked abashed. "I'm not a bad man, you know. I'm hardly in the business of kidnapping."
"Then what kind of business are you in?"
"Before?" J'er Nahj raised his eyebrows. "I sold durasteel fixtures for 'freshers. You wanted a new sink or a fancy shower? I was your man. Outfitted 'freshers all over the sector. Before. Now ask me, 'Before what?'"
"I don't have to," Luke said. He still didn't understand why he was here, but it was painfully obvious why the rest of them were. " Before Before Alderaan. You're all survivors, aren't you?" Alderaan. You're all survivors, aren't you?"
J'er Nahj barked out a harsh laugh. "Survivors? Didn't you hear? There were no survivors. An entire planet, gone in an instant. There were those of us who were offplanet, yes. Those of us who were at a 'fresher convention on Delaya while our wives were vaporized in the middle of cooking a pot of L'lahsh, our children blown to bits while running through the meadow picking t'iil blossoms. There were those of us who escaped,"
he said fiercely. "But make no mistake. None of us survived survived."
CHAPTER SIX.
I'm sorry," Luke said. "But the Delayan government had offered to help you. You don't need-"
"Who do you think shoved us into this, the thousand in the warehouse next to this one, and the warehouse next to that that. The Delayan government cares nothing for us. Whatever lies they may tell your princess."
"She's your your princess," Luke said quietly. princess," Luke said quietly.
"Then why does she let us suffer like this, while she dines with the Delayan space-slugs who left us here?"
"Because she doesn't know know," Luke insisted.
"She had her chance to find out," Nahj snapped. "I requested an audience as soon as I found out she was coming. Her response made her feelings perfectly clear: Meeting with people like us is beneath her."
"But we never even got your request!" Luke protested, his thoughts spinning. The Delayan officials must have intercepted Nahj's message. Of course: They were trying to keep Leia from finding out about this place. "You've been lied to-but so have we."
"Politicians believe what they want to believe," Nahj scoffed. "The Delayans have only opened their planet to us so they can get their hands on what's left of Alderaan's wealth.
Your Princess Leia will only acknowledge the truth if we force her to see it."
"Except that you ended up with the wrong hostage," Luke pointed out. "So what are you supposed to do now?"
"True, we don't have the princess," Nahj admitted. "But perhaps we have something she wants."
"Me?"
"It's an honest trade. She comes to us, she looks suffering in the face without turning away-and she gets you back, unharmed. If she doesn't care about you enough to come..."
"You'd...what?" Luke asked, eyeing the plasteel separating him from the men with blasters. "Kill me?"
Nahj winced.
"I don't think so," Luke said. "The people of Alderaan love peace. They still love it.
And I think, despite all this, you're a peaceful man."
"Alderaan was was a peaceful planet," a woman's voice said from behind Luke. "Until the princess and her father dragged it into war. Now we bear the consequences of a peaceful planet," a woman's voice said from behind Luke. "Until the princess and her father dragged it into war. Now we bear the consequences of her her rash actions. It seems only right she should bear some of her own." rash actions. It seems only right she should bear some of her own."
"Halle, please," Nahj said in a stony voice.
Luke twisted around to see a woman with short crimson hair, her mouth an angry red slash across her face. She was only a couple years older than Luke. "I didn't come here to fight," she said, looking like she regretted that fact. "Shell's outside. He wanted me to bring him over, to apologize."
Nahj nodded his permission.
"Shell!" she called out. "He says okay. You can come in."
Nothing happened. "One second," Halle said, slipping through an opening in the sheet.
"You can do it," Luke heard a man say. "It'll only be hard until you get the first word out-then, easy as skinning a nerf."
"He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to," Halle snapped.
"I want to," a young boy's voice said. A familiar voice.
"Good boy," the man said.
"You'll make him soft," Halle complained.
"No softer than you, deep down," the man said. "Even if you won't admit it." There was a long silence. When Halle reappeared, her cheeks were glowing, and her fingers strayed across her lips. But the smile disappeared as soon as she caught Luke watching her. "This is Shell," she said, slinging an arm around a young boy with brown hair and a familiar frown. "I believe you two know each other."
Luke still couldn't believe they'd used a child as bait.
"Sorry I lied to you," the boy said. He looked much less helpless than he had at the T'iil Blossom Homes, but no less miserable. "They weren't gonna hurt you or anything.
They said it was the right thing to do."
"Lying is never the right thing to do," Luke said.
Halle scowled. "The kid's sorry," she spat out. "The least least you can do is forgive him." you can do is forgive him."
"I do forgive him," Luke shot back. "He's a child. What's your excuse?"
"Shell, go outside," Halle said tightly. "I'll be there in a minute."
"Halle..." Nahj's voice held a warning. "Maybe you should go, too."
"Maybe you should get on on with things," Halle said. with things," Halle said.
"You don't have to do this," Luke told them. "Let me go, and I'll bring her to you myself. As soon as Leia sees all this, she'll want to help."
"Let you go?" Halle grimaced. "So you can run back to your princess and have us all arrested?"
"Leia will want to help," Luke promised. "Do you really want to teach your son that blackmail and kidnapping is the right way to fix things?"
"My son?"
"Shell is no one's son," Nahj said quietly. "His family was murdered on Alderaan. He was here visiting his grandmother, but the shock of the attack was too much for her and...He's on his own now. We all look after him. Him and the others."
An orphan.
Luke saw the smoking remains of the moisture farm on Tatooine, Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen's skeletons smoldering in the ruins.
Creating orphans was the Empire's specialty.
"I will help, if you let me," Luke said. "But this is not the way."
Nahj tightened his lips and looked away. Halle shook her head in disgust and rubbed a hand across her eyes.
Their gaze was only off him for a moment, but it was enough. Time seemed to draw itself out, slowing to a crawl. Luke twisted his arms around, grasping the hilt of his lightsaber. He activated the blade and, in one smooth, swift chop, sliced through the cords binding his wrists. He leapt to his feet, blade outstretched, its tip centimeters away from J'er Nahj's throat.
"Don't," Nahj said quietly. Luke realized he was speaking to Halle, who was about to lunge at him, despite the fact that she was unarmed.
"One scream," Halle warned Luke in a low voice, "and you're facing ten men with blasters."
"One centimeter," Luke said, glancing toward the lightsaber blade. "Are your men with blasters faster than my blade?" He had no intention of hurting Nahj, or any of them. But Halle had to believe he would.
Nahj shook his head. "We agreed no violence," he said, remarkably calm. He turned to Luke. "So what now?"
"Now?" Luke hesitated-then deactivated the lightsaber. Nahj emitted a barely noticeable sigh as the blue beam disappeared. "Now I contact Leia, and we try to find a way to help your people. Just as I said I would." He held out his hand. "One of your men took my comlink."
"Merely a precaution." Nahj pulled out his own comlink out from beneath his cloak and handed it to Luke. "Use mine."
"J'er!" Halle snapped. "If he calls in the authorities..."
Nahj ignored her. "Please," he told Luke. "If our methods were misguided, you must believe our motives were pure. We knew the princess would only be on Delaya for a short time, and that the government would do anything they could to prevent her from learning about our fate. We were desperate. We are are desperate." desperate."
Luke flicked on the comlink.
"Luke!" Leia sounded relieved. "We've been looking everywhere for you! What happened? Is everything all right?"
Luke paused, meeting Nahj's searching gaze. Leia would be outraged if she learned the truth. She would never trust J'er Nahj-and that might get in the way of helping his people.
On the other hand, it felt wrong to lie to her.
What do I do? he asked silently, hoping that the mysterious certainty he'd felt earlier would return. But the Force, if that's what it had been, was silent. He was on his own. he asked silently, hoping that the mysterious certainty he'd felt earlier would return. But the Force, if that's what it had been, was silent. He was on his own.
"Everything's fine," he said steadily. "I just...decided to do a little exploring."
J'er Nahj breathed out the same quiet sigh he had when Luke pulled the lightsaber from his throat. Halle's scowl didn't fade.
"Are you on your way back?" Leia asked, still sounding anxious.
"Actually, I think you should join me here," Luke told her. "There's something you need to see."
CHAPTER SEVEN.
You sure he didn't happen to mention what he was doing doing all the way out here?" Han asked, slogging through the muddy streets. If it all the way out here?" Han asked, slogging through the muddy streets. If it was was mud. It smelled more like raw sewage. mud. It smelled more like raw sewage.
Leia shook her head. "Just said it was important that we come."
Han didn't have anything against the idea of coming to the rescue. Obviously the kid had gotten himself into some kind of trouble, as usual. Han just wished he'd found trouble a little closer to home.
Back at the hotel, they had autovalets, a greenputt course, fresh-squeezed juma juice, and bloody nerf steak-all paid in full by the Delayan government. Whereas here, on the outer edge of the city, all they had were abandoned construction sites, mounds of festering garbage, and sewage. Scrawny rodents with patches of greenish-yellow fur scampered in the gutters, and bludflies swarmed overhead. Han was sure he'd caught a glimpse of a borrat burrowing under a nearby building, at least two meters from tusk to tail. Not that Han had anything against life on the shady side of town-but a little luxury every once in a while never hurt.
The pubtrans flitter didn't even extend to this neighborhood, and the driver they'd hired had refused to drive them more than halfway. "You won't find anyone willing to take you to that part of town," he'd warned them. "You'd have to be crazy."
More like stubborn, Han thought, glancing at the princess. She'd just shrugged and insisted they walk. He didn't even know why he was still on this planet. One more day One more day, he told himself. Then I'm out. Then I'm out.
Chewbacca issued a low, gutteral growl. The Wookiee was crankier than usual "You know know why you couldn't be the one to stay behind," Han said. "If that Deputy Minister or his cronies try to track down the princess, why you couldn't be the one to stay behind," Han said. "If that Deputy Minister or his cronies try to track down the princess, someone someone needs to be there and talk needs to be there and talk 'em out of it. And something tells me Elad will do the job better than two droids and a Wookiee."
They hadn't been forbidden from leaving the hotel-not exactly. But that was because they hadn't asked. They'd snuck out the window, leaving Elad and the droids behind to explain things if it was discovered they were gone.
Chewbacca growled again.
"Because I don't want them here, bugging me!" Han said. "The little one's okay, but that protocol droid..." He shook his head. "Let's just say the less time I spend with him, the less chance he has of getting turned into a scrap-pile."
The Wookiee let out a mournful groan.
"Not so bad?" Han exclaimed. "Easy for you to say. The rustbucket's terrified of you.
Has some crazy idea you're going to rip off his arms."
Chewbacca barked out a reply.
"Well, okay, so I am am the one who gave him that idea. I just wanted him to shut his mouth for five seconds. Can you blame me?" Han swore under his breath as his boot squished into something soft and pungent. It looked like it had once been alive-but he didn't look too close. the one who gave him that idea. I just wanted him to shut his mouth for five seconds. Can you blame me?" Han swore under his breath as his boot squished into something soft and pungent. It looked like it had once been alive-but he didn't look too close.
"Han," Leia said quietly.
"I know, I know." Han scowled down at his boot, trying to scrape off the worst of it.
"The bag of bolts comes in handy sometimes. Sometimes. Sometimes. " "
"No, Han. Look!"
Three men- No No, he realized, not men. Boys not men. Boys-stood before them, blocking the narrow road. They stood mutely with their hands raised, palms up.