The commandos' quiet footsteps echoed in the empty pipeline, the sound building on itself as they traveled.

The pipe, illuminated by their helmet lights, was copper-colored and dry as a bone, but there was no dust to be seen. Hunter considered this for a moment. Maybe the pipe was Nar Shaddaa's version of a ventilation shaft, perhaps drawing air from the cleaner, higher levels to the lower. Consistent air movement would ensure that there was no buildup of dust.

Ahead of him, Quinlan Vos signaled a halt and went down on one knee to brush at the floor. When he said nothing, Hunter slipped around Tech to join him. There was nothing on the ground that he could see, but something seemed to be holding Vos' interest.

"What is it?" Hunter asked after a moment.

"Someone was here, recently." Quinlan rose and brushed his hands against his tunic, casting a swift look behind them. He stretched slightly, wincing, and Hunter remembered that he'd been hit pretty hard by the droid guard.

Hunter wondered whether any of the Jedi wore full armor – which would make sense, if they were in active battle zones – and why Quinlan only wore a partial chest plate and gauntlets. At least he'd removed the pauldron with the unusual design, which would have served as a way of identification for anyone who had seen him previously. It didn't seem that one pauldron would be particularly useful, anyway . . .

The Jedi hesitated, then bent down and touched the ground again. "Hmm."

After a long moment, he started forward again without explanation. Hunter followed, glancing back at his squad mates as he did so. Crosshair had his head tilted suspiciously, but Wrecker followed the Jedi without concern. Tech didn't seem to have an opinion one way or the other. He had his datapad out again and was squinting at it, blinking frequently.

"Blurry vision?" Hunter checked, elbowing him.

"No." Tech continued to skim through screens of text.

"Headache?"

Tech ignored him.

"Headache," Hunter confirmed. "Come on, put your datapad away until we get back to the ship. You can look through intel later."

Tech obeyed grudgingly.

When they reached a fork in the filtration system, Quinlan paused again, touching the floor, then the walls. He stared down the right-hand tunnel for a long moment, then cast a sideways look at the commandos.

Hunter spoke before he could. "We need to go left and up to get to the exit."

"Yeah," Quinlan said absently. "You guys go ahead. I'll meet you later."

"Why?" Crosshair demanded.

"There's . . . something I want to check out."

Hunter hesitated. "We need to get back to the ship before Vythia tries to contact you again. We wanted Grakkus' attention, and we've got it."

Quinlan finally turned to look at him. "Yeah, but there's no way she'll find out for at least another few hours."

"You don't know that."

"Listen, I'm just going to do a little investigating. I'll meet you back at the ship in an hour or so."

Hunter hesitated for half an instant, then straightened. "No."

The Jedi's eyebrows crawled up his forehead. ". . . No?"

"We've completed one objective, not the mission," Hunter said. "We can't risk it by getting sidetracked."

"You won't be getting sidetracked," Quinlan said, starting to look irked. "You guys will be right where you're supposed to be – on your ship."

"Hunter is right." Tech stepped forward, looking earnestly at the Jedi. "If something happens to you while we are absent, Vythia might still hire us, but it would be pointless, as we would have no idea of what we should be doing."

"Ugh, yeah . . ." Vos folded his arms defensively and looked back at the right-hand tunnel, which disappeared in a sharp drop.

Crosshair drifted to the edge of the drop and stared down for a long moment before coming back. "Why is that tunnel so important?"

"I don't know. I just have this feeling. . ." After a moment, Quinlan's arms fell at his sides. He gave a shrug of surrender and turned toward the left tunnel. "Fine. We'll go back to the ship."

Crosshair glanced at Hunter and tilted his head in the direction of the right-hand tunnel, and Hunter nodded. He removed his helmet and closed his eyes, automatically separating the hum of the various frequencies in his mind.

Nothing.

Whatever Vos was sensing, it wasn't droids or electrical traps – unless the pipes were blocking his abilities the same way the vault had. Hunter tapped the fingers of one hand against his leg. "Vos, hold on."

"What?"

I'm probably going to regret this, Hunter thought resignedly. "You really think whatever's in the tunnel is important?"

"Yeah. It's – a dark side of the Force kind of thing."

Wrecker looked from Quinlan to Hunter and back. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sith-related," Quinlan said.

"Like the – uh – spirit urns?"

"Yeah."

"We'll investigate it," Hunter decided. "It could be related to the mission."

"And who put you in charge?" Quinlan said mildly.

Crosshair took a step towards the Jedi, and Hunter spoke before he could cause any trouble. "One hour, Vos. Then we're heading back."

Quinlan looked suspiciously at him, eyes glinting in the half-light cast by the commandos' helmets. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Hunter smirked. "You didn't really care when I said 'no' to you."

"Well, it sure was annoying," Vos replied, heading into the right-hand tunnel. "But what does that –"

"You didn't argue," Hunter interrupted. "You surrendered too easily."

"Which means what, exactly?"

Vos was good at the innocent act, but not good enough. Hunter worked with Crosshair and Tech on a daily basis. He knew most of the tricks by now. "You were going to come back later, after we returned to the ship. Might as well get it over with now."

The Jedi paused mid-step, then continued quietly to the steep drop and turned to face them.

Tech came up beside Hunter and commented, "Silence is frequently taken as an admission of guilt."

The Jedi's eyes shifted to one side, but he didn't answer. "Uh . . . I'll head down first, and then you follow."

Tech looked up from his datapad, which he'd taken out again. "Evasive answers are also frequently taken as an admissi –"

Wrecker nudged him. "Cut it out, Tech!"

As Tech opened his mouth to argue, Hunter took the datapad from him and clipped it to Tech's belt. "I said put that away."

Tech gave him a peevish look and pulled out his pistols.

Quinlan had his knife in one hand and a blaster in the other. At least he had the foresight to properly arm himself this time, Hunter thought, drawing his own knife and ignoring his gun.

The Jedi stepped off the edge and vanished. Four seconds later, the commandos heard a faint thud as he landed.

"All clear for the moment." His voice floated back up to them, strangely distorted by the surrounding metal. "You can slide down, or I can use the Force."

No thanks. Hunter jumped over the edge, throwing his weight back so that he slid down the slanted wall of the pipe. The others followed quickly. Tech tripped at the bottom, as usual. Crosshair landed easily and stepped away from the wall, and Wrecker plowed into him anyway.

Hunter studied his surroundings, ignoring the whispered argument between Wrecker and Crosshair. Ahead of them, the pipe turned sharply, and he peered around it into a wide room constructed of the same dull material. "What are we looking for, Vos?"

The Jedi stood motionless, hands held out to either side, fingers barely brushing the rusty walls. From some distance away sounded the persistent, dull tap tap tap of dripping water. "I . . . don't know."

Perfect. Hunter turned to his team. "Spread out, but stay close. Tech, you're with Wrecker. Let's find out what's going on down here."

#

Quinlan moved forward cautiously, his focus almost entirely attuned to the Force as it shifted around him. The vague impressions on the tunnel walls and floor were familiar, and yet he couldn't place them. It was like trying to catch one of those fleeting memories that he didn't know he had until some incident or sight or smell reminded him of it.

From somewhere nearby, an object bled darkness into the Force.

He knelt to touch the ground again, not thinking, just allowing the possessive, avaricious feeling to sweep through his mind as it had earlier, when he'd put those lightsabers into Hunter's pack . . .

Quinlan touched the lightsaber he'd left on his belt. The feeling was much fainter, but still present, which meant –

"Grakkus," he announced, getting to his feet. "Grakkus has been down here recently. Look for another tunnel. He's got to have an entrance point."

Crosshair moved off around the left side of the room while Wrecker and Tech took the right. The clinking sound of water against metal was louder now, but steady and slower than it had been. Quinlan couldn't tell where it was coming from – the echoes confused and blurred the direction.

Hunter moved uneasily. "What could Grakkus want down here?"

"I don't know." Quinlan moved toward the far end of the room, which was hidden in shifting darkness. "I think it's got something to do with that artifact. It's here. Somewhere."

Tech suddenly swung around. "Hunter. According to my calculations, we're back on the same level as the vault."

Crosshair rested his rifle across his arm and strolled across the room, speaking over one shoulder. "Grakkus might not be as trapped as we hoped."

"Find that entrance," ordered Hunter. "Vos, hurry it up with the artifact."

Quinlan thought maybe he should complain about being given orders by the sergeant, but Hunter was right about the need for speed. He shut his eyes and focused on the leeching blackness that spilled into the Force. It was just below eye level, he could tell that much . . .

The loud creak of an opening door interrupted his thoughts.

"I found the tunnel!" called Wrecker.

As Quinlan turned to face him, the sound of the water dripping on metal grew suddenly louder, as though – approaching . . . ?

Aw, snap. Quinlan reached for the lightsaber. Guess that wasn't water I was hearing.

CLANK-clank-clank-CLANK-clank-clank . . .

"Oh, boy!" Wrecker yelled. "Uhh, guys? This isn't good!"

"Take out the entrance!" Hunter shouted. "Wrecker, take it out!"

Wrecker stepped back and reached into his pack for an explosive.

"Vos, get that artifact!" Hunter spun to face the tunnel.

Yes, sir, right away, sir. Despite his sarcastic thought, Quinlan was already sprinting for the far wall. The relic was near – its presence scored into his mind and scattered, distracting him as though it didn't want to be found.

Quinlan activated the lightsaber, but the brilliant blue light from its blade revealed nothing but an empty wall. The artifact must be inside it, and whatever switch or button opened the vault was either well-hidden or invisible.

Fine. Quinlan held one hand toward the wall, palm outward, and willed the artifact towards him. The faintest clink behind one particular panel told him its position.

An explosion and a loud thud from behind made him turn halfway around.

Wrecker had landed hard, some distance from the metal tunnel he'd been attempting to destroy. The circular door was bent sideways, and the mouth of the tunnel had been badly warped. Good. That opening was now much too small for Grakkus, the overweight slug, to get through.

Hunter and Crosshair cautiously approached the tunnel.

Quinlan turned back to the panel, slashed it diagonally – first one way, then the other – and landed a hard kick against it. The brittle metal shattered along the lines he'd cut, revealing a small alcove. A black vase with a sealed top lay on its side.

Huh, it is a spirit urn. Quinlan almost reached for it, but hesitated, rubbing the fingers of one hand together. He could have wrapped the urn in his cape, except that he'd left it back in his starfighter. Blast, he really wished he hadn't worn fingerless gloves.

A sudden tap on his shoulder made him jump and whirl. Tech raised both hands apologetically as his gaze flitted to the alcove. "You found it."

"Yeah."

Hunter and Crosshair still stood in front of the damaged door, and Wrecker was moving unsteadily over to join them. Quinlan checked the tunnel, but couldn't see anything. All he knew was, it was too quiet. "Where'd Grakkus go?"

"Not sure," Hunter said. "He must have backed off after the explosion."

Tech lowered his transparent visor over his goggles, and it lit up briefly with a green map. "Hm. There is a fork in that tunnel, approximately twenty meters away from the doorway. Grakkus is in it. He seems to be waiting." He raised his visor and looked questioningly at Quinlan. "The doorway is too small for him now. What exactly is he waiting for?"

"Nothing good," Quinlan said. He went back to staring at the spirit urn as Tech hovered at his elbow. "Okay . . ."

Behind them, Hunter said, "Wrecker, what happened with the charge?"

"It went off early." Wrecker sounded a bit dazed, which Quinlan supposed was to be expected.

"Yes," Hunter said patiently. "Why?"

"I – dunno."

Tech glanced away from the artifact briefly. "There may have been some sort of mine, set to go off if the door was opened from the outside."

As the commandos continued their discussion, Quinlan stepped to the alcove and studied the urn through narrowed eyes. He could destroy it – but not here, not when they were already exposed to danger. He'd have to take it with him . . . Ugh. Quinlan took a deep breath, wished once more that he was wearing full gloves, and reached for the artifact.

Hunter kept half his attention on the partially closed-off tunnel as he checked on each of his squad mates. Crosshair stood beside him, breathing only lightly as his focus remained riveted on Grakkus' position. The instant he saw movement, Hunter knew, he'd fire. Wrecker had been mostly unharmed by the blast, though he was still recovering his balance. Tech stood behind the Jedi, watching with interest as Vos reached slowly into the small hole in the wall.

Hunter raised an impatient eyebrow. Why was Vos taking so long to get the artifact?

With a sudden burst of movement, the Jedi grabbed something, jerked his hand out, and shoved it into Tech's hands, grimacing. "Just a sec. Put it in here."

He spun a surprised Tech around and opened his pack. Tech dropped the artifact in, and Quinlan closed the pack with a grimace.

Hunter eyed him cautiously. "Vos –"

A shot rang out, and Hunter swung around. Crosshair twisted, firing back towards the entrance they'd originally come through. There was a flash of orange as Aurra Sing dodged the laser and vanished into the darkness.

Hunter raised a hand and jerked it to one side. The four commandos scattered, taking up positions near the tunnel wall and the one opposite it.

Quinlan Vos crouched beside Hunter and Crosshair, his face tense. "Okay, so maybe making her mad was a bad idea."

"Can you handle her?" Hunter demanded.

The Jedi started to answer, paused, and nodded. "I'll try."

He took a step forward just as Aurra leaned around the corner. Vos broke into a run, dodging from side to side every couple of steps.

Hunter jumped up and followed. The Jedi's pattern of dodging was too predictable –

Another shot. Hunter threw his weight against Vos, who went staggering to one side as the laser flew harmlessly past his head.

Crosshair fired twice, and Aurra vanished again.

Hunter took cover against the wall and cast Vos a disapproving look. "I thought Jedi used their lightsabers to block lasers."

Vos gritted his teeth. "I – didn't sense the shot coming," he muttered, giving his head a vicious shake. "Blasted Sith artifacts."

An uneven step behind them caught Hunter's attention. "Crosshair?"

The sniper steadied himself. "That first shot caught me. Not badly."

Hunter exchanged a look with Quinlan, who tapped him on the arm. "Let me try something. You guys get ready."

He stood up and called, "Aurra! You've got my attention, if that's what you're after."

"Shut it," replied the woman coldly. "We're not bargaining this time."

"Good, because I wasn't intending to." Vos edged closer to the entrance where Aurra hid.

Her voice sharpened with suspicion. "Then what do you want?"

"To get off this miserable planet relatively intact. What do you want?"

"Your life."

"Oh." Quinlan dropped into a crouch, continuing to speak in a casual, almost friendly tone. "See, I kind of want to keep that, so it looks like you're – out of luck!" He somersaulted, twisted halfway through so that he rounded the edge of the tunnel, and jumped to his feet, igniting his lightsaber.

Wrecker and Tech dashed after him, and Hunter waved Crosshair ahead.

There was a sudden rush of clanking feet, echoing and pounding in the damaged tunnel behind them.

Hunter spun, firing unceasingly into the entrance.

Behind the warped door, Grakkus roared in anger and pain.

Two huge hands reached out of the opening and closed on the twisted metal. With a horrible rending screech, the metal ripped apart, and Grakkus lunged into the room.

Hunter backed away steadily, firing nonstop. His lasers struck Grakkus over and over, but scarcely seemed to slow the Hutt down. Beside him, Crosshair added his own precise shots to Hunter's.

"Hunter!" Tech shouted. "He's got metal plates beneath his skin. You need –!"

There was a crash from the other pipe, but Hunter didn't dare turn. His blaster clicked empty. He reached for another clip, automatically ejecting the old one as he moved, but Grakkus was already too close, towering over them.

Hunter dropped his blaster and raised his vibroblade. It looked small next to Grakkus' bulk. He should have asked Tech whether Hutts had hearts, and where.

The Hutt, yellow eyes wide with rage, grabbed at him. Hunter dodged beneath his arms and stabbed him in the chest. His knife cut easily through the metal and Grakkus bellowed, grabbed Hunter's forearm, and jerked him forward.

Hunter released the hilt and kicked off the Hutt, throwing his weight up and over his own arm to break free. He ducked in close, grabbed his knife, and ripped it out.

Grakkus reared up and threw himself forward. The two legs that Vos had cut through missed Hunter, but the second set hit him on the shoulder and the helmet, and he went flying. Grakkus crashed back down to the ground.

Hunter was up in an instant, stumbling from the ringing in his head. Crosshair stepped between him and Grakkus and fired three times into the Hutt's forehead.

Grakkus lunged. His enormous hands closed around Crosshair's upper arms, lifted him, hurled him across the room into the wall just above the tunnel the others were in.

Hunter barely noticed as Crosshair crumpled to the ground. He was running, climbing onto Grakkus' back, out of reach of those powerful arms. Grakkus reared up again, arching backwards, and Hunter dropped flat and clutched at the Hutt's neck for all he was worth.

Quinlan Vos rushed from the other tunnel, tripped over Crosshair, and caught his balance. He yelled something over his shoulder and sprinted towards Grakkus as the Hutt slammed into the ground with a teeth-rattling shock.

Hunter, shook his head at the resultant pain in his jaw and temples, caught his balance, steadied himself, and jumped.

He landed on his knees on top of Grakkus' head, clutched his knife in both hands, and stabbed downward. One of Grakkus' hands closed around his ankle and jerked, but Hunter clung grimly to the knife, forcing it down with everything he had.

Grakkus ripped him free, inflicting a dragging wound on his own skull, and threw him down on his back with enough force to knock the breath entirely from his lungs.

Hunter turned reflexively on his side, convulsing as he tried to draw in oxygen around the stabbing pain in his chest. The Hutt reared above him one final time. Hunter's fingers clenched weakly at the ground as he struggled to move.

Grakkus descended.

In a blur of motion, Vos skidded to his knees beside Hunter and raised his lightsaber.

The Hutt twisted in midair, jerking partially away from the humming blade, but he was coming down too fast. The lightsaber pierced his side. Vos faltered beneath the crushing weight, fell sideways, and caught himself on one hand.

With an agonized roar, Grakkus twisted and floundered away, legs tapping erratically against the ground as he dragged himself a short distance from them.

Hunter, still unable to breathe, lurched into a sitting position, clenching his knife.

Quinlan switched his lightsaber to his left hand, caught Hunter beneath the shoulders with his right hand, and dragged him to his feet with surprising strength. They stumbled backwards toward the tunnel, Vos keeping his blue blade pointed at Grakkus.

"Thieves!" Grakkus roared after them, dragging himself a few steps forward. "I will hunt you to the ends of the galaxy!"

Quinlan, his eyes dark, raised his lightsaber warningly. "Don't tempt me, Grakkus."

Hunter's diaphragm finally stopped constricting, allowing him to draw in a short breath. "Vos – the others? Aurra?"

"Get oxygen now, ask questions later," replied Vos. They reached the tunnel, and the Jedi released Hunter and nudged him towards the opening. "Get in there."

Tech was waiting just inside, helmet in hand and mouth set in an impatient, worried line. "Wrecker and Crosshair are already up top, but Aurra Sing escaped."

Hunter fired his ascension cable without comment. A few moments later, he and Tech had reached the fork in the upper tunnel, where Wrecker stood alertly beside a wilting Crosshair.

"You holding up?" Hunter asked shortly, turning to watch the tunnel that lead back to the plaza.

"Yes," Crosshair hissed, which meant he'd already been asked that sometime in the past two minutes. "Where's Vos?"

"On his way. What happened with Aurra?"

"She backed off when Vos came at her," Tech reported. "She got up the tunnel before we could catch her and threw a grenade."

Wrecker gave one of his loud, vocal sighs. "Man, I HATE this!"

Crosshair flinched and lifted one hand toward his helmet. "Keep. It. Down."

"Sorry!" Wrecker's voice, while sincere, was only marginally less loud.

Quick footsteps approached, and Vos came into view, glancing over one shoulder as he ran. "Everyone here?"

"Yes," said Hunter, still regulating his breathing. "I assume we head left this time."

"Uh, yeah," Quinlan affirmed quickly. "I'll play rearguard in case Aurra gets any bright ideas."

Hunter signaled for Wrecker to take point and then stepped aside, waiting until his squad mates were all past him before following. His head was still pounding from the blow and from the lack of oxygen. As simple an injury as it might be, he knew he had to be careful. Nothing like sudden vertigo to put a short end to his usefulness on a dangerous mission.

And it was dangerous – increasingly so. Aside from Grakkus and his unknown number of bounty hunters and guards, Aurra Sing was out for revenge. It might have been better to just deal with her the first time, but Vos' plan would have worked fine, had they not been sidetracked.

At the same time, Hunter didn't know much about these Sith and their strange artifacts. It was possible that they were much more dangerous than he'd originally thought, which would explain Vos' insistence on investigating that tunnel.

Hunter paused. There it was again, that cold, prickling feeling of encroaching danger. . .

He turned carefully to check their six. Vos turned also, then raised an eyebrow at him and whispered, "What's up?"

Hunter went back to walking. "I think we're being followed."

"Yeah, we are." Quinlan considered, then raised his voice. "Wrecker, take a right at the next fork and head straight up."

"Okay!"

Hunter started to protest. That wasn't the correct route back –

The faintest footstep behind them made Hunter close his mouth. Of course. They were being followed, and Vos was setting a trap for their pursuer.

As they reached the fork, Quinlan tapped Hunter's arm. "Pick up the pace. I'll be right back."

He slipped past the commandos and into the left tunnel. Crosshair stopped and looked questioningly at Hunter, who waved him on.

Tech fell back beside Hunter to whisper, "This isn't the right way."

"I know."

As he often did when thinking, Tech glanced up without moving his head, then nodded and continued on.

A triple shot from a sniper rifle, overlaid by the quick hissing hum of an igniting lightsaber, sounded behind them and was followed by the sharper sound of deflected lasers.

Wrecker swung around, and Hunter hesitated, one hand inching toward his knife.

"You're a Jedi?!" Aurra's voice echoed sharply in the tunnel.

Crosshair lifted his rifle, and Hunter stopped him.

"I'll tell you what I told Grakkus," Vos replied coolly. "You don't need to be a Jedi to use a lightsaber. Listen, Aurra. You're good at what you do, but you're in way over your head. Why don't you back off and we call it quits."

"Why did you want the lightsabers?" the Palliduvan asked suspiciously. "And what were you after in that room?"

"Why are you working for Grakkus?" retorted Quinlan. "For money. Lightsabers fetch a huge price on the black market."

"If they have the crystals in them," she snapped. "We had a deal."

"Yeah. A lightsaber for safe passage. I never said I'd give you a lightsaber with a crystal in it."

There was a very long pause. The commandos were all but holding their breaths as they listened to the dull, unwavering hum of the lightsaber.

Aurra gave a put-upon sigh. "Grakkus' bounty hunters are amateurs, but he has dozens of them. And I know where your shuttle is."

Hunter shifted, drawing his knife half out of his vambrace.

Quinlan deactivated his lightsaber. "And I've been employed by the Prince. I take it you know he only hires the best."

"What's he doing?" Crosshair whispered.

"No idea." Hunter moved closer to the passage's entrance.

"Listen," Vos said, his tone bored. "I'll make you a deal."

"What, another one?"

"Yeah. You get off our backs, and I won't tell the Prince that you're a direct threat to his – establishment."

Tech looked confused for a moment before murmuring, "Will that really stop her?"

Hunter was every bit as bewildered as Tech. "Who knows."

Aurra chuckled in a low voice. "Try again."

Vos cleared his throat. "I also won't drop Grakkus an anonymous call telling him that you're in cahoots with the Prince."

There was a very long pause this time. Crosshair lifted his rifle with one arm.

"That will only work until I leave Grakkus' employ," said Aurra frostily.

"Yeah. I know."

A moment later, they heard her retreating footsteps slowly fading into silence.

Hunter released his knife hilt, realizing he'd been holding his breath again, and Crosshair lowered his rifle abruptly.

Vos, swiping absently at his black tunic, sauntered into the tunnel and gave them a surprised look. "Still here?"

"No," said Crosshair, brushing past him and heading for the left-hand tunnel.

"Okay, good. Thought I was seeing things there for a moment . . ." Vos followed Crosshair and Wrecker.

Hunter fell in silently, wondering when, why, and if his sniper and the Jedi had decided to actively antagonize each other or whether it was just automatic.

"You think she'll keep away from us, Vos?" he asked.

"Yeah, for a few days at least. By then we should be off this crummy planet."

Crummy? Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Any idea if she's really working for the Prince?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Call it a hunch."

Tech hummed thoughtfully. "If she is, we'll have to deal with her later."

The Jedi turned to face them, walking backwards as he replied. "Yeah, but at that point we'd all be under the orders of Vythia, so Aurra wouldn't cause any problems."

Hunter decided to take him at his word. Presumably, Vos knew what he was talking about, despite his somewhat careless method of speech . . . and casual approach . . . and the fact that he seemed to be a natural at annoying dangerous people . . . Including the commandos. At least, Hunter was almost sure the commandos were dangerous, and Vos might be dangerous, though Hunter hadn't really seen him in a combat situation where he could really use his skills. Then again, letting a Hutt fall onto a lightsaber was pretty effective.

Hunter shook his head and blinked. He must have been hit harder than he'd thought, because his mind was really wandering. Come to think of it, the sleepless night, heavy dose of caf, and the blow to the head probably were working together.

"Exit's just ahead!" Wrecker told them.

"Good." Quinlan moved past Wrecker to the front, climbed the rusted rungs of the service ladder, and opened the hatch. "All clear. Airbus is just over there."

One by one, the commandos climbed up, crossed the dimly lit, refuse-filled street, and got into the airbus.

Vos hopped into the driver's seat, casually shoving Crosshair into Tech, who had been riding shotgun. "You're injured, back off."

Hunter gave him an uncertain look, not wanting him to pilot, but knowing that he himself was probably not the safest option. "We're all injured."

"Yeah, except me." Vos grinned, teeth white in his grease-blackened face. "I'll pilot, and you guys . . . hold on."