Honor Among Thieves: Star Wars (Empire and Rebellion) (19 page)

“I understand that you've come to the conference with some information to sell,” Leia said.

“Not information. Victory. Hunter Maas holds the key to control over the Empire! Such that even the mad Emperor quakes in his boots like a little girl to contemplate.” He swung his boots to the ground with a clunk and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Power such as you have never imagined. Hunter Maas has come not to sell information, no, but to choose his partner in godlike ascendance!”

Han pretended to scratch his nose to hide his smile, but Scarlet's expression had gone serious again. Hunter Maas was a buffoon and a blowhard, but Scarlet, at least, seemed to be taking his bragging very seriously.

“You have Essio Galassian's project notes,” the spy said. “The report he was preparing for the Emperor.”

Hunter Maas grinned at her and pretended to shoot her with his fingertip. “The beautiful woman is more than she appears. She has heard of Hunter Maas's victory. Yes, yes. The report of the great villain Galassian, despoiler of ancient graves and toady to the mad Emperor. Hunter Maas has the only copy of his greatest work. The master discovery that will remake the galaxy forever. Only Hunter Maas!”

“Galassian's not dead,” Scarlet said. “He can write the report again. Whatever you have, the Empire does also.”

“All the more reason to act quickly, yes?”

“What is in this report?” Leia asked.

Hunter Maas spread his hands in a wide gesture that took in the room, the city, the world. He leaned forward, his spine straightening. Whatever the man was about to say, Han had the sense he'd rehearsed it a lot.

“The galaxy is filled with thousands of species, royal lady. Thousands of different shapes of minds. Most, they are of a piece, but some? Some are changed. They find those things that no other can see. Most are turned outward, to the stars and the great community of life, but some turn in to block away the stars. To protect themselves from such as you, yes? Or I.”

“Silly them,” Han said, and Scarlet shot him a sharp look. Hunter Maas, however, wouldn't be derailed.

“Such a species were the K'kybak. Brilliant and fearful. Their race rose, flourished, and passed to the great emptiness of time all within the realm of one small planet. But the mysteries they uncovered there were profound. Deep, yes? Had their temperament been other than it was, we should all still bow down to a K'kybak master. Yes, even Hunter Maas. Such was their power.

“They were a young species when the invaders came. Long before the Empire. Long before the Republic. Their suffering was under stars of a different color, so long ago this happened. With great wars, they cast off oppression's yoke. And once free, the brilliant, twisted minds of the K'kybak bent themselves to protection. They took the oppressor's ships, their weapons, all the technology that had placed the boot upon their necks. And what did they do with it? Did they create a fleet to annihilate? No. They delved deep, deep into the mysteries of physics and built themselves a tool to wrap their star in safety forever. The greatest weapons in the galaxy were as nothing to them then. They lived the span of their people's lives and died undisturbed by even the most vicious conquerors.”

Leia nodded. “That's fascinating,” she said in a tone that suggested it might not actually be fascinating. “And I assume you're here to sell whatever defensive technology they discovered?”

“Alas, no. Hunter Maas instead has the map. The secret coordinates that will lead the wise and powerful to the dead world of the K'kybak, there to retrieve the secret that will lay the galaxy at their feet.”

“Will this shield protect against something as powerful as the Death Star?” Leia asked.

Hunter Maas sneered. “Death Star? The K'kybak laugh at this Death Star. Ha!”

“It destroyed my home planet,” Leia said, and the hardness in her voice caught even Hunter Maas's attention.

“And I grieve with you, but ask yourself this, royal lady. What power would it have if it could not
move
? Could it have destroyed your world from across the galaxy? I think not.”

Hunter Maas wagged his eyebrows. Han and Chewie exchanged a puzzled glance. Scarlet's sharp breath cut through the air.

“Why would they be across the . . . Oh. Hyperspace,” she said. “They found a way to control passage through hyperspace.”

Han felt his gut tighten. Hunter Maas's comic smile suddenly seemed a lot less funny.

“The twiggy little woman is correct,” Hunter Maas said. “They had in their hands the key to controlling all of space, yes? Of saying not who is
permitted
to go from there to here, but for whom it is
possible
. Put your Death Star in a system, turn loose its power, and the man who commands it can become the Emperor of gravel. At sub lightspeeds, his grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren might perhaps threaten another planet. The Imperial fleet with its host of Destroyers is nothing if it cannot travel. The Emperor himself. If he cannot send his little men where he wishes, what is he? Nothing. Less than nothing. The greatest gun in the galaxy is of no use when you have no one to point it at.”

Leia's face was pale, her lips so thin they almost vanished. It was a tribute to her strength that when she spoke, her voice was as calm and friendly as it had been at the meeting's start.

“That could be interesting. What are you asking for that information?”

“Highest bidder,” Hunter Maas said. “Who knows how far it could go, yes? Perhaps the Hutts will give Hunter Maas his own planet. Perhaps Black Sun will give him a hundred planets.”

“Well, the Empire will give him a blaster shot through his eye,” Scarlet said. “And they know where you are. You don't have a great deal of time for this. We've saved you once. If you work with us now, we can guarantee your safety.”

“What is safety to a man such as Hunter Maas? He lives through the greatness of his spirit and the nobility of his soul. Plus which, he has meetings scheduled for the next three days. There is no advantage in selling anything to anyone until those conversations are complete.”

Leia leaned forward and put her hand on Hunter Maas's wrist. Han could hear the tension in her voice, tight as a tow cable under high load.

“The man you took this from. Galassian. He knows where this thing is. You have to see that the Empire will be moving to secure it.”

“They are bureaucrats,” Hunter Maas said. “They would take years to clean spilled paint if the forms were not just so.”

“They're also a totalitarian dictatorship that will kill people who don't bow to the Emperor's will quickly enough. If they want this thing—and they do—we won't know it until we're all trapped with dead drives in whatever system we happen to be in.”

“Then you should all make your offers to Hunter Maas quickly.”

“I'll give you fifty million credits for it right now,” Leia said. Han felt a moment of dizziness at the idea of such a sum. More than enough to pay off Jabba. More than enough to
buy
Jabba if he felt the need for a pet slug. He'd had no idea the rebels could put their hands on that kind of money.

Hunter Maas's eyes faded into something like pity. “Hunter Maas would like a planet. No less.”

Leia's smile twitched. She rubbed her chin like a man checking for stubble.

“A planet?” she said.

“What did you call it? ‘Totalitarian dictatorship'? Hunter Maas would like to be emperor of his own little world. Just one. Is it so much? The Emperor holds the power of life and death over half the galaxy. To give Hunter Maas one little world would mean freeing so very many people. Surely that trade would be fair?”

“A hundred million credits and any ship in the Rebel fleet, but you have to take the deal now. Before you leave this room.”

“A smallish planet. With many, many beautiful women.”

“Fine,” Leia said. “You can have it.”

“Poor, poor royal miss,” Hunter Maas said, patting her hand. The rat-bird hopped down to the table, chirruped, and defecated prodigiously. “You are lying. Hunter Maas understands. Take time to think. Hunter Maas will be making no decision for several days. There will be time for her to make a real offer.”

“You can't do this,” Leia said.

“Hunter Maas cannot be stopped,” he said almost gently.

“Oh, I think he can,” Scarlet said. “Captain Solo?”

Han drew his blaster. The R3 droid squeaked in alarm and extruded a small electrical lead that sparked and crackled. Chewbacca bared his teeth and stepped forward. The droid and the rat-bird both moved back, but Hunter Maas curled his lips disdainfully.

“Your Wookiee may kill Hunter Maas,” he said, “if you wish to see the Empire win. It will not matter to Hunter Maas. He will be dead! Is that what you want? To see the Empire win?”

“Does it mean pulling your arms off?” Han asked. “Because then maybe.”

“Let him go,” Leia said.

No one moved except the rat-bird, and it crawled under Hunter Maas's red-and-gold cape and blinked out at them malevolently. Scarlet's eyes were narrow. Chewbacca growled deep in his throat.

“I said let him go,” Leia said. “Put your weapons down and let the man go to his meetings.”

Han clenched his jaw, but he put the blaster back in its holster. Chewbacca roared and pounded the table with his fist, leaving a dent. The Wookiee paced back to the corner to glower. Hunter Maas rose, stretched, and bowed to Leia.

“You are as gracious to Hunter Maas as you are lovely, royal lady. Do not think I will forget you, oh no. Hunter Maas knows when a debt of honor is due. When I have the bids of the others, I will give you the opportunity to beat them.”

“Thank you so much,” Leia said. Her sarcasm would have left blisters on a more sensitive man.

“In truth, Hunter Maas would have been disappointed if you had not tried to intimidate him.”

The little man blew Scarlet a kiss, flourished his cape, and swaggered from the room, the rat-bird hunched on his shoulder and the R3 rolling at his heels as if it was afraid of being left behind. For a long moment, the only sound was the muted music from the cantina.

Leia leaned back in her seat, laced her hands behind her head, and said something obscene.

“So,” Han said, turning to Scarlet. “That was the guy who got the data you were after?”

“He got lucky.”

“Oh, hey, no criticism here. There's no shame in being beaten by a smooth operator like that. I mean, did you see his boots? They were shiny. No reason to be embarrassed just because you lost a sensitive operation to a shirtless man with shiny boots.”

“You're enjoying this.”

“Just the part where
that
guy was better than you,” he said. “The rest of it scares the heck out of me.”

Leia stood up and cocked an eyebrow. “All right. So. If he takes this to the Hutts or Black Sun, they'll give him whatever he wants. Or the Empire will come rain fire on all our heads. Or they'll get to this device, wherever it is, and none of this will have mattered at all.”

“What lovely alternatives,” Scarlet said.

“So we steal it from him,” Leia said.

“Give me until morning,” Scarlet said. “I'll need to find where he's staying. If it's in his ship, that will actually be easier. If he's put himself in the care of the conclave hive . . . trickier, but possible. They've put a lot of thought into keeping people safe and information private.”

“All right,” Leia said. “I'll be making a series of panicky calls to the Alliance, arguing over how much we can offer him.”

“Why?” Han asked.

“So that he thinks we're still at the negotiating table,” Leia said. “As long as he believes he's winning, we're on the right track.”

“And what do you want us to do?” Han asked, nodding toward Chewbacca.

“Be his bodyguard,” Leia said. “Make sure no one kills him before we get this information.”

Chewbacca's outraged howl filled the room.

“I don't like it any better than you do,” Leia said, her chin tilted all the way up to look the Wookiee full in the face. “But I don't have a choice. Hunter Maas is a terrible, stupid, venal little man who is playing way out of his league. He's probably going to get himself killed, but he's got the upper hand right now. If the Empire gets a power like this—or Black Sun does, or the Hutts—it will mean the end of all freedom in the galaxy
forever
.”

Scarlet nodded, her expression grim.

“So,” Han said, “what'll it mean if
we
get it?”

Eighteen

The conclave hive had four different classes of accommodation. For the attendees of the conference with the greatest number of people and the greatest power, there were seven private buildings where the administrators could simply hand over the passkeys and give people control over—and responsibility for—their own security. Down from that were high-security cells, hardly better than prison, with guards and surveillance and a constant patrol of small, flying droids armed with blasters and strict orders about who could and couldn't walk the hallways. The third were private sleeping rooms available for rent inside the conclave hive itself, convenient to the meeting rooms and bars. And the last were dormitory bunks for groups of soldiers or multi-bodied hive-mind pods that didn't mind being packed into tight spaces with no privacy.

Han wasn't at all surprised to see Hunter Maas sauntering toward the third-class rooms. A man who needed a droid and a rat-bird for his entourage wasn't going to accept the worst rooms, and he couldn't afford the best. Han slumped under a massive, slick-trunked tree across an open courtyard, cleaning his fingernails and watching through a great glass wall as Hunter Maas negotiated with the droid responsible for portioning out the rooms. Scarlet's voice came to him, thin and tinny.