description of the Chekkoo smuggling bay and their shadow business operations underneath Utheel Outfitters. When the rebellion refilled its coffers again, they’d find an excellent supplier on Rodia.
Nakari had a wide grin for me when she joined us. She wasn’t decked out for the field this time; she wore flats instead of boots and had no weapons. “Thanks for bringing my ship back in good shape,” she said.
“No problem,” I replied. We briefed her quickly on what we wanted to do. “Do you think your father might upgrade your ship to take part in a mission like that?” I asked.
She shook her head. “He doesn’t spend money on anything unless it will benefit his business somehow. The only reason I was allowed to fly the
Desert Jewel
in the first place was for scouting missions to new planets and to go hunt rare beasties with some kind of biological oddity his labs could exploit. I upgraded most of the ship, but he helped me get the hyperdrive. A faster ship meant a faster turnaround time and a potential edge on his competitors.”
“Oh.” That was disappointing but understandable. I couldn’t think of how arming the ship to fight off the Empire would help his biolabs.
“We might be able to earn his gratitude, however,” she mused. “You said we have a couple of weeks, right?”
“Yes. There’s some give to the schedule because we’re waiting on more intelligence.”
“Well, he lost contact with a collection crew recently and desperately wants a salvage run.”
“What’s a collection crew?”
“Basically they’re hunters and gatherers. Four or five people who go to various planets to collect specimens for the labs.” She deepened her voice and tucked her chin against her neck, presumably imitating her father. ‘Go, my minions, and fetch me three hundred Yathik acid slugs!’ ” Her voice and posture returned to normal. “That kind of thing.”
I was amused by her impression and cracked a smile, but I didn’t laugh because Admiral Ackbar blinked his giant eyes and seemed impatient. “Okay, got it.”
“So one of Dad’s scouts made a discovery recently on this moon orbiting a planet in the Deep Core, and when Dad got the news, he sent a full crew out—his best one. Hasn’t heard from them in a couple of weeks, and he wants to know if his collectioncrew is still there, and, if so, whether anything can be salvaged—especially if there are any living or dead crew and critters on the ship. He’ll pay handsomely for any news of it.”
“Why doesn’t he simply send someone else to go check it out?”
“It’s a new discovery, as I said, and he’d prefer to keep it quiet. Industrial espionage is huge in his business. Crews can make a lot of cash on the side tipping off his competitors. He knows firsthand because he pays bribes to the crews of his competitors, as well. He was hoping I could go by myself because he doesn’t really trust anyone else, but I told him I was serving the Alliance now and I am. And the other thing is, the hyperspace lanes to this system aren’t well established yet, and being in the Deep Core with all those mass shadows makes it even more risky. So he needs someone who’s not only loyal but also willing to take a leap. The nav computers on the
Jewel
are pretty good, but I don’t know if they’re
that
good.”
“Add an astromech droid and you’d probably be fine,” I said, thinking of R2-D2.
“Yeah, well, my guess is that Dad will convince someone to go out there soon because time is a factor. I mean, he’s going to say he’s worried about the crew because they might still be alive and need help, but I can be honest: He’s really worried his competitors will find out about the moon and exploit it before he can. The point is, Luke, if we wanted to do this, it should be a quick trip. We can go there, find out what happened, and bring back some kind of news—any kind of news—for my father; he would be grateful, and then we could get the
Desert
Nakari had a wide grin for me when she joined us. She wasn’t decked out for the field this time; she wore flats instead of boots and had no weapons. “Thanks for bringing my ship back in good shape,” she said.
“No problem,” I replied. We briefed her quickly on what we wanted to do. “Do you think your father might upgrade your ship to take part in a mission like that?” I asked.
She shook her head. “He doesn’t spend money on anything unless it will benefit his business somehow. The only reason I was allowed to fly the
Desert Jewel
in the first place was for scouting missions to new planets and to go hunt rare beasties with some kind of biological oddity his labs could exploit. I upgraded most of the ship, but he helped me get the hyperdrive. A faster ship meant a faster turnaround time and a potential edge on his competitors.”
“Oh.” That was disappointing but understandable. I couldn’t think of how arming the ship to fight off the Empire would help his biolabs.
“We might be able to earn his gratitude, however,” she mused. “You said we have a couple of weeks, right?”
“Yes. There’s some give to the schedule because we’re waiting on more intelligence.”
“Well, he lost contact with a collection crew recently and desperately wants a salvage run.”
“What’s a collection crew?”
“Basically they’re hunters and gatherers. Four or five people who go to various planets to collect specimens for the labs.” She deepened her voice and tucked her chin against her neck, presumably imitating her father. ‘Go, my minions, and fetch me three hundred Yathik acid slugs!’ ” Her voice and posture returned to normal. “That kind of thing.”
I was amused by her impression and cracked a smile, but I didn’t laugh because Admiral Ackbar blinked his giant eyes and seemed impatient. “Okay, got it.”
“So one of Dad’s scouts made a discovery recently on this moon orbiting a planet in the Deep Core, and when Dad got the news, he sent a full crew out—his best one. Hasn’t heard from them in a couple of weeks, and he wants to know if his collectioncrew is still there, and, if so, whether anything can be salvaged—especially if there are any living or dead crew and critters on the ship. He’ll pay handsomely for any news of it.”
“Why doesn’t he simply send someone else to go check it out?”
“It’s a new discovery, as I said, and he’d prefer to keep it quiet. Industrial espionage is huge in his business. Crews can make a lot of cash on the side tipping off his competitors. He knows firsthand because he pays bribes to the crews of his competitors, as well. He was hoping I could go by myself because he doesn’t really trust anyone else, but I told him I was serving the Alliance now and I am. And the other thing is, the hyperspace lanes to this system aren’t well established yet, and being in the Deep Core with all those mass shadows makes it even more risky. So he needs someone who’s not only loyal but also willing to take a leap. The nav computers on the
Jewel
are pretty good, but I don’t know if they’re
that
good.”
“Add an astromech droid and you’d probably be fine,” I said, thinking of R2-D2.
“Yeah, well, my guess is that Dad will convince someone to go out there soon because time is a factor. I mean, he’s going to say he’s worried about the crew because they might still be alive and need help, but I can be honest: He’s really worried his competitors will find out about the moon and exploit it before he can. The point is, Luke, if we wanted to do this, it should be a quick trip. We can go there, find out what happened, and bring back some kind of news—any kind of news—for my father; he would be grateful, and then we could get the
Desert
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