Anywhere but Corellia

"Ronin, where's the Wookiee?" I said hastily into my comlink.

Ronin's voice chirped back at me. "He's up top, why?"

"You mean on the roof?"

"That would be the hull. Yes. He's working on the power routers."

As forcefully as I could manage, I replied, "Make sure he stays there. Imperials."

Sure enough, at that moment a group of Imperial stormtroopers burst through the hangar door, followed closely by an officer, a lieutenant by the look of him. They moved a few meters into the hangar, then took up a formation that gave them covering positions on the hangar exits.

The officer took two troopers with him and headed for our ship.

"Lofor, they're boarding," Ronin's voice squawked at me from the comlink. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the cockpit," I replied.

"Well," he said, "You're the schmoozer. Get to the gangway and start schmoozing. We're not hiding anything; this should be quick."

"Where are you?" I said, getting up and heading for the rear of the ship.

"I'm up top with Shaks. Hurry up, I don't want to be horizontal next to this smelly carpet for any longer than I have to." There was a quiet growl that cut off as Ronin's transmission ended. I switched the comlink to mute just as I came into the main compartment above the gangway.

The lieutenant and the two troopers were already in the ship. The lieutenant motioned to one of them, and the pair split in opposite directions. They began moving slowly around the perimeter of the room, obviously searching. For what, I wasn't sure.

Thoughts about the previous owner of this ship and the things he might have stowed away in it flashed through my mind. I forced them away as quickly as I could.

"Afternoon, Lieutenant," I said. "I see you found your own way in."

He sneered back at me. "I'd hold your tongue if I were you. Associates of Jorkat the Render are not highly regarded these days."

"That's a bit of a stretch," I said as nonchalantly as I could. "We only just met him a few hours ago."

The officer pointed a finger at me. "For your sake, that had better not be a lie. Jorkat has been nothing but trouble lately, and-" He stopped himself, hearing more footsteps on the gangway. We both turned to look.

Walking up the ramp, ahead of six more troopers, was a man dressed entirely in black armor. The only part of his body not covered was his head, which sported a long mane of jet-black hair and steely, cold eyes. A cape flowed behind him.

Immediately upon seeing him, I felt cold. This confused me, but I did my best to ignore it.

The man stopped just short of the lieutenant, who had snapped to attention, and then barked an order to the troopers. "Search it," he said sternly, "thoroughly." Then with his eyes on me, he told the lieutenant, "That will be all."

"Yes, Lord Cath," the officer said. Obediently, he headed down the gangway.

He looked me over slowly, saying nothing. Finally, he spoke. "What is your name?"

I sensed that deception might get us into even worse trouble. "Lofor," I told him.

"Where are you from?"

"Well," I said, "That's sort of a difficult question. Originally, I'm from Rori." I ventured a question, hoping my cooperative gestures would cause him to allow it. "Who might you be, if I may ask?"

"My name is Maxon Cath," he answered. "Have you been in contact with anyone matching this description?" He showed me a datapad with what appeared to be a composite image on its display. I looked at it, but did not recognize the person. I told Cath as much.

"He is a rebel spy," Cath said gruffly, "We are hunting down the lot of them. If you were to provide information on them, there would be a reward. There are bounties on the lot of their heads."

I shrugged. "Wish I could help you," I said.

He looked me over again, then said, "What is your next port of call?"

"Corellia," I said, citing the first planet that came to mind.

Just then the troopers returned from their search.

"It's clean, sir," one said. "There's no sign of them."

"Very well," said Cath. "I would advise you to depart immediately," he said to me. "Things are about to get very bad for Jorkat the Render."

"Right," I said, "We'll be out of his hangar directly. No reason to hang about anyhow."

"Goodbye," he said. A strange thing for an Imperial Lord to say to a common denizen, it occurred to me later. But I wasn't about to press my luck.

"Ronin," I said into my comlink as soon as Cath and his troopers were gone, "Get inside and get us out of here."

"Uh, okay," came his reply. "Where to?"

"Anywhere," I said, "but Corellia."