A very busy day. Caeben woke to find Jae already at work on the hyperdrive, tools clanking and laser torch burning. "Oh good, you're awake," Jae said. "Hand me that red doodad over there, will you?"
Caeben spent the morning running errands for and handing tools to his young fixer. Once or twice the irony of the situation struck him, eliciting chuckles. Usually it would be the man working on the engines, the boy assisting him, not vice versa.

During the course of the day the boy managed to repair the hyperdrive, navicomp, and deflectors. Then he disappeared into the sublight engines for three hours, emerging only once to use the refresher, then vanishing again.

At last Caeben came to stand by the engine. Only Jae's booted feet were visible outside the bottom. An occasional clunk of a tool or hiss of a laser torch told the man that the boy was still at work.

"Come on, Jae Tallen," the pilot said, nudging one of the boots. "Time for a break."

"Don't distract me," came Jae's muffled voice. "I'm almost done."

Caeben waited five minutes, then nudged the foot again. "Jae, come out."

"Can't you find something to do besides harassing your mechanic?" Jae's voice was exasperated. "I'm in the middle of some dicey connections."

This time the pilot waited a full ten minutes before trying again to rouse the boy from his hydrospanner haze. The young fixer yelped as he jerked and hit his head. At last his face appeared, grimy and lube-streaked, large bags under his irritated blue eyes.

"Please, Captain Matock—leave me alone! I promise I'll come out as soon as I finish this, all right? Just let me work. And don't even think of startling me like that again. I'll probably break my neck or get a concussion."

He burrowed into the sublight engines again while Caeben leaned against a wall and laughed. Several moments later Jae emerged, filthy and triumphant. He fastened the panel on the engine, then looked up at Caeben and managed a fatigued grin.

"Done. They won't need service for at least five thousand parsecs." As Caeben reached down to help him to his feet the boy added, "Thanks for trying to get me to take a break, by the way, but it was pretty useless. It usually takes a small explosion to get my attention when I'm in the middle of a job."

"All right, but your supper is probably cold by now, kid."

"Oh, I don't care. I've been living on scrounged scraps and wistful yearnings for so long, anything seems like a feast."

While Jae used the 'fresher, Caeben warmed the food up again. He vowed inwardly that as soon as they had gotten away from here, to some planet that was safe and friendly, he would show the kid what a real feast was. The poor little guy certainly deserved it. The pilot had the table set by the time the boy appeared once more, damp hair sticking up in strange places, blue eyes wearily content.

During the meal Caeben remembered the question he'd meant to ask the boy. "Jae, your plan is good—except for one detail. I don't want you going in there alone."

The former street vrelt looked up in surprise. "Who did you have in mind then?"

"Me. You stay here and take care of the Wind."

Jae shook his head decisively. "Do you know how to hot-wire a gate or deactivate a G2RD guard droid? No, it's my job."

"You can teach me how. Look, kid, not so long ago you collapsed in the street from hunger. I don't want to take the risk of you fainting or something in the middle of the prison complex."

"Oh, don't worry," the boy replied absently. "I would get Arra out before anything like that happened. Stim-pills, you know."

"It's not Arra I'm thinking about." Caeben reached across and ruffled the youngster's hair. "Somehow, kid, you've managed to make me care about you." He blinked suddenly, and his next words came softly and hesitantly. "You remind me . . . so much . . . of a little brother I had . . . before Alderaan . . ."

Jae softened. "I understand . . . and I'm sorry. All right, I give in. We'll both go. I can set the Wind up with a slave remote so we can open or even fly her from the outside. But you're not leaving me here."

Caeben grinned. "Good enough. But don't even think about skipping breakfast and lunch like you did today ever again, okay? Arra and your brother don't need to be rescued tomorrow, after all."

"Okay." Jae nodded wearily and slid out of his chair. Time for a few hours of rest.

This time, when Caeben rubbed the azhali balm on Jae's back, the touch gave the boy almost no pain at all. It was hard to say which of the two was more happy about this.

X

Mynan Shelpion glared at the captain in irritation. "What is it now, Anlessic? Is it more about the overcrowding problem? I told you they can share cells."

"No, sir—I have good news."

The governor gave a surprised double take. "Really. About what?"

"Tallen, sir. He has confessed to being a Rebel. Apparently the interrogations have finally broken him."

"Has he divulged the names of his compatriots or the Rebel bases he has been to, not to mention their locations?"

The captain looked sheepish. "No sir."

Shelpion waved an exasperated hand. "Then he is not broken! It is not enough!"

The governor's fat shook as he stood. His cold hazel eyes became even icier. "Step up the interrogation process. A session each hour. Sooner or later he will break."

"Yes sir."

As Anlessic turned to go, Shelpion suddenly called him back. "And captain . . ."

The stormtrooper returned. "Yes sir?"

"Bear down harder on the other prisoners as well. I want confessions."

"Yes sir." Anlessic nodded.

The governor allowed himself a smile. "When we have enough confessions, the public executions will deter Crenellia from rebelling against my rule for a long, long time . . . ."