ABOARD THE ERRANT VENTURE, 40 YEARS ABE:

Booster Terrik, the Organa-Solos, and the Calrissians were all crowded into the cluttered environs of Booster's office aboard his beloved Errant Venture. He had won the ship long ago during a brief unofficial affiliation with New Republic forces against the Imperial Remnant, and at the end of the battle had managed to wheedle it out of military hands and into his own. Since then, he had converted the warship to a combination mobile shadowport, gambling den, and pleasure vessel that was well-known in all the shadier spacelanes.

What was less well-known was the ship's other role: that of a center of information gathering and brokerage. It was in that last capacity that the Organa-Solos and Calrissians were here; as Lando had said, there was no better place to start a search for information that no one was supposed to know.

Yet even at the center of this web of spies, slicers, and informants, Booster could still sometimes be surprised. Now he leaned back in his luxurious chair and whistled. "A new Super Star Destroyer," he said, shaking his shaggy head. "That's something you don't see every day, all right."

"Jealous?" Lando murmured.

Booster ignored the comment and the accompanying sly grin.

"We think that may be where they're holding Breha," Bail offered. At Booster's sharp look, he shrugged. "We don't have any reason to think that, but if you were the Imperial commander and you'd captured a Jedi Knight of Rogue Squadron-"

"Not to mention the daughter of Leia Organa-Solo," Stella put in drily.

Bail acknowledged her contribution with a reluctant nod. "-your flagship seems the most likely place to imprison her."

"A fair guess," Booster said.

"We aren't here for guesses," Leia snapped. "We need answers. Do you have any or not?"

See-Threepio's head jerked around sharply so the protocol droid could stare at her. Even Han seemed taken-aback by his wife's uncharacteristic shortness, but if Booster took offense at her lack of manners he didn't show it. "I'm not sure," he said, rocking to his feet. "But I think I know who you need to talk to to get them."

As he led the way from his office, Bail fell into step beside his mother. "You're usually more diplomatic than that," he murmured.

The look Leia shot him in return was both sharp and haunted. "Your sister isn't usually being tortured by the Empire," she retorted.

Bail said nothing else but he did reach down and take his mother's hand. She let him.

"Who's your source?" Han asked from the front of the group, just behind Booster. He was trotting slightly to keep up; for all that Booster Terrik seemed inclined toward growing as round as he was tall, he moved with a speed and purpose that men half his age might envy.

The grin he flashed Han over his shoulder would have turned that envy to alarm. "It's a group of stormtroopers," he explained. "They pulled a Rand Ecliptic a few weeks ago, ended up here. Oh, their Imperial credits aren't worth much, of course," Booster added with a careless shrug, "but how could a compassionate soul like myself turn them away after all they've been through?"

"How indeed," Lando muttered from a few paces back, "especially when the information they've doubtless been giving away for free is worth so much more."

Booster, unoffended, merely laughed.


- Farwell, Jeremy Bulloch; nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la.