Once they exited the shuttle parking area they were greeted by the low-grade chaos of inter-planetary travelers converging on a single port of entry. The entry hall stretched before them and below the cavernous archways plainclothes officers wandered around smartly, keeping sharp eyes on the rivers of beings.

"Look at these lines," Han said under his breath. He bent down and ruffled his hand over the flattened scruff down to the back of his neck.

"Stop touching your head," Leia hissed at him. "It draws attention to us."

"I just feel itchy." He scratched one more time before stuffing his hands back in his pockets and adopting a bored expression.

When they reached the front of the queue, the agent at the booth glanced up from his screen.

"Names?"

Han slapped the desk. "I'm Sol. And this beautiful creature here is Rosey-Posey." When the agent just stared, blank-eyed, Han cleared his throat. "Sol Tomas and Rosa Pelek."

The agent held out his hand for their ID books. "Reason for visit?"

"The Zarak5ive concert," Han said. He looked down at Leia proudly. "It took a bit of wrangling, but I managed to get us tickets. Right, Sweetie?"

"Right." Leia flipped her hair petulantly and heaved a sigh. "Mezzanine."

"Hey." Han straightened up beside her. "Those are good seats. I don't want you complainin' just because we're not in the front row." He shot a can you believe this? look at the agent. "Does your girl ever do this?"

The agent cast a disdainful glance at Leia before studying her ID picture. "Not if she knows what's good for her."

Han nodded as if the thought had only occurred to him. "You might be right." He glared down at Rosey-Posey. "There's gonna be a few changes around here if you can't be more appreciative of everything I do for you. You got that?"

"Oh, honey." Leia snapped her gum and patted Han's chest a little too firmly. "I know you worked hard for those tickets. I'll be good." She threw in a pouty smile for good measure, aiming it at both Han and the patrol booth.

"That's more like it," Han declared. He winked at the agent. "Thanks for the tip. I bet you have a nice, stand-up girl waiting for you at home."

Leia tried not to watch too intently as the agent scanned their pictures and stamped the books. The screen beside him showed a digital image of their carry-on, outlining the plethora of tubes in Leia's cosmetics case. "That I do. You just have to remind them who's in charge every once in a while."

Han nodded and accepted his book back. "Good advice. Thanks again."

He kept his arm tightly around Leia as they strode off. She was tense against him, purse swinging from her elbow as she tried to hurry them away from the booths and into the crowd. "Easy, tiger," he whispered in her ear. "Just a little further."

Leia gritted her teeth. "I hope his girlfriend dumps him and throws his stuff out on the street. Was all that necessary?"

"It worked, didn't it?" Han steered them toward a wall of lockers. "On our way out of here you can have your turn publicly berating me for my shortcomings."

"I can only hope."

At the change machine they exchanged credits from Sol's account into a handful of local cash. Han stuffed their carry-on suitcase into a locker and keyed in a code to secure it. "Let's go."

They emerged onto a busy throughfare crowded with people and honking speeders. Half of the pedestrians looked to be barely out of their teens and were decked out in color-coded wristbands representing their favorite band member. It was nearly two hours until the opening act though Leia suspected the fans would be screaming in their seats long before the first chords struck.

"How much time until we meet our contact?" Han asked.

"A little over an hour." Leia scanned their surroundings. "Let's head toward the stadium and look for a bag."

The details from their contact had been sparse but Leia had gathered that he would be bringing a small case of concentrated medicines that the staff at the Kyros medcenter would have to dilute into proper doses. Hoping that a case of vials would fit into a shopping bag, she and Han wandered around searching for something that would be big enough while also allowing them to blend in with thousands of concertgoers.

Clusters of vendor stalls and freestanding stores lined both sides of the road. Behind one of the rows the stadium loomed, its decorative scaffolding above the tiers of seats casting shadowy patterns from the setting sun.

"In here." Leia kept her hand in the crook of Han's elbow as she pulled him into a souvenir store.

Surrounded by bins and shelves of Zarak5ive merchandise, Leia scoured the options for a large enough item to necessitate an oversized bag. Han strolled behind her, trying to muster interest in the shot glasses and umbrellas and t-shirts plastered with grinning faces of band members.

"Oh, Sol," Leia squealed in Han's ear. "Look at these posters! Here's Derek, here's Bryan,..." she pawed through all the options, oohing and aahing. "And here's one of the entire band! Just think how exciting it will be when we put these up back at home."

When Han declined to share in her enthusiasm, Leia stomped on his boot and ignored what was surely a glare directed at the top of her head.

"Whatever you want, Rosey-Posey," Han ground out. "I know that I for one can't wait to go to sleep in our studio apartment surrounded by pictures of half-dressed men."

Carrying a bundle of cylindrical tubes and two overpriced concert shirts to the register, Leia made a show of looking carefully at other items on display.

"Your largest bag, please," she said politely to the sole humanoid working the store. "I know we'll be buying loads more souvenirs after the show. Right, honey?"

Han stuffed everything into a garish plastic bag plastered with the band members' faces and pulled Leia close. "Right, sweetie."

"Do I really have to carry this around for the next hour?" he complained once they were out on the sidewalk. "It's embarrassing."

"Oh, hush." Leia studied a map of the downtown sector. "You're no different than anyone else here. And if you need additional incentive, I'm sure you'll be able to sell the posters when we get back to the base."

They trod a loop around the stadium, scouting out the layout of streets for potential escape routes.

"What's the plan?" Han asked after they arrived back at the souvenir store.

"He said he would be waiting at an outdoor restaurant," Leia said. "Five blocks north and three east of the stadium. Red awning."

They began to stroll that way, the picture of a contented couple on their way to dinner.

"Careful with that checkpoint," Han muttered after a few minutes. At the intersection ahead stormtroopers were lined up and down a stretch of pavement. Speeder traffic had been diverted and a makeshift customs booth had been erected on one sidewalk. Pedestrians moved through slowly through the barriers with customs agents periodically picking someone out for an identity check.

"Pretend I'm saying something funny," Han whispered in her ear as they approached.

Leia let out a high-pitched giggle and hit him feebly on the arm. "Oh, Sol," she laughed. "And after all that they actually let you keep the lothcat?"

They kept walking, arms around each other, looking up only for a polite nod at the officers.

"I wonder if our contact knew there would be a checkpoint so close to the meeting place," Han said as the stormtroopers receded behind them. "Doesn't that make you suspicious?"

"We still have a few more blocks to go," Leia said. "And if he were going to betray us there are easier ways to do it."

"I wish I had your faith in humanity," Han grumbled.

At the restaurant, the tables outside were occupied with small groups gathering over drinks and families grabbing an early meal.

"I don't see anyone who might be him," Leia whispered. "Let's go around the block and try again."

"What description of us did you give him?" Han asked.

"Just that there would be a woman and a man and that we'd approach him at the appointed time if he were alone."

"Did you tell him how short you are?"

Leia glared up at him. "No, I did not. I am not abnormally short, after all."

"Not on this planet, maybe."

When they rounded back again and approached the restaurant from the opposite side they observed a table newly occupied by a middle-aged man. His light gray suit was offset by darker-hued skin; flecks of silver dotted his hair. He was holding a flimsi-reader in front of him and flipping the pages intently.

"I think that's him," Leia whispered. "And look under the chair next to him – that must be the medicine." She glanced at Han. "Ready?"

"Just wait a minute," Han urged. "We want to be sure."

They concealed themselves behind a stand of exotic fruits, pretending to weigh and sniff the offerings.

Within moments two men approached the table and sat down next to Leia's contact, their bodies angled toward him in studied politeness.

"This doesn't look good," muttered Han.

The man attempted a smile and indicated his flimsy-reader. The two other men responded before standing up and gesturing. After a few seconds, their contact reluctantly stood too.

"Somehow I don't think they're offering him an all-expenses-paid luxury vacation," Han said. "If we don't do something he's gonna disappear and never be seen again."

"They didn't take the case," Leia said under her breath. "Why wouldn't they take the case?"

Pressed together, they started cautiously for the other side of the street. Han dipped his head down to Leia's ear. "They probably arranged for someone else to pick it up. Wanted to keep their hands free in case of a struggle."

"Then we don't have much time." The restaurant awning flapped above them. Without breaking her stride, Leia darted between the chairs and came up with a silver case. She slipped it into the bag and took Han's arm again at a trot until they were several meters behind the plainclothes officers. One of them had his hand on the man's elbow as they navigated the sidewalk.

"We won't be able to grab him on foot," Leia said. "We'll have to find a speeder."

"Then we're gonna need a distraction." Han cased the scene around them for an available vehicle. "Can you pretend you're in labor or something?"

"With what? This briefcase?"

"There." Before Leia knew what was happening, Han made a beeline for a man moving toward an idling vehicle.

"Sir, sir!" Han thrust himself between the driver and his vehicle. "My wife here is going into labor."

The man was clearly flabbergasted. "So?"

Leia recognized Han's sarcastic dip-bow. "So, we're gonna need to borrow your speeder to get to the hospital. Can you take us there?"

Indecision flickered on the driver's face. He looked from Han to Leia and raked his eyes down her body. "Is that her? She doesn't look pregnant to me."

"It's, uh, a very rare type of pregnancy," Han wheedled. "The medics said she has to give birth in a special medcenter or the baby may not survive."

"Forget it." The driver tried to worm his way around Han. "Outta my way, weirdo."

Han stayed where he was and sighed heavily. "Aw, hells."

Seconds later the driver was flat on his back with blood gushing from his nose. Han stood over him shaking out his fist and muttered something about causing an unnecessary scene. Then he slid open the door and scrambled into the speeder, pulling Leia in after him. "Let's go!"

Finding herself in the pilot's seat, Leia gunned the accelerator and shot forward. After a few seconds at street level she merged them into the skylane dedicated to local traffic.

"Not too fast," Han ordered. He peered out the front window. "I've got eyes on them. They're just up ahead."

They flew cautiously in the start-stop traffic while checking their progress against the pedestrians.

"If we stay in this lane much longer we'll overshoot them," Leia said. "I'll do a u-turn and circle back."

"No. Wait." Han unbuckled himself and gripped the door handle. "Pull over and put on the hazards."

Leia fumbled around for the appropriate button. Speeders honked and swerved around them, as they hovered half-in, half-out of the local lane.

"Want me to fly?" Han demanded. "I didn't think we could be drawing more attention to ourselves but I'm sure you'll find a way."

"Oh, shut up," Leia snapped. "I've got it." She jabbed the button and nosed into the breakdown lane. Crawling forward at a snail's pace, she peered around before spotting their target. He was being escorted roughly by the two officers in the direction of a stone building fortified by checkerboard gates and rolls of barbed wire.

"Don't get too close," Han instructed. "Follow my lead. On three we're gonna lower nice and easy and then –"

"Then what?" Leia demanded. "Are you planning to overpower them with your nonexistent blaster?"

"This is the last time we come to a planet with weapon-control laws," Han said under his breath. "You just fly. I'll figure out a way to grab him. Ready?" Leia gripped the steering device and nodded. "One... two... three."

Leia pulled the yoke, dropping the speeder snug against the sidewalk, and Han slid open his door and jumped out. For a moment he wove in and out of the pedestrian traffic before ending up just behind the officers. Circling around, he proceeded to plant himself in front of them and gestured frantically.

"Help, help! My wife is in labor!" Han pointed in the opposite direction of Leia's speeder. "She's over there giving birth on the street! We need help!"

Leia could barely make out the exasperated response. "Sir, we're not medics. You'll have to find help somewhere else. Now if you could please move out of our way – ."

Han continued hopping around like a bantha-flea. "You have to help! She's not gonna make it. The baby's coming out as we speak!"

Scowling as they tried to maneuver around Han, the Imps happened to loosen their grip on their quarry. Leia took that as a signal to inch the speeder closer and slide open the back door. As she drew alongside them, she met Han's eyes just as he flung himself at the man's chest and pummeled him into the backseat. The officers veered around and lunged after them, blasters drawn, as Leia yanked the yoke skyward.

Han crawled into the front seat and ducked behind the door. "Get us out of here!"

Blaster fire hammered the bumper as Leia swerved them into traffic. The craft pitched and yawed in the swarm of ammunition before finding shelter in the surrounding lanes of spacecraft.

"What the hell are you doing?" the man demanded.

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't look pregnant!" Leia snapped.

"And yet somehow it keeps working." Han turned to their passenger. "We're rescuing you, pal. Unless you'd prefer to continue with those friendly gentlemen to the interrogation block?"

The man swallowed nervously. "No. No, I would not." He glared at the two humans in the front seat. "Who are you? How do I know you're trying to help me?"

"Because if we were Imps this operation would have gone a lot more smoothly," muttered Han.

"Oh, shut up," Leia said again. "And, no, it most definitely would not have."

"You must be the ones that Gaile sent." The man's eyes widened. "At the restaurant – they didn't take the case I had with me. The one I brought for Gaile."

"We grabbed it," Leia told him. Sirens sounded behind them as she dipped and wove in and out of the express lanes.

"Take this side street," Han ordered. "They'll be on our tail before we know it. What's your name?"

"Silas." The passenger righted himself and looked out the windows. "Keep going this way. Turn left up ahead. The streets are narrower but still crowded."

"You sound like you've done this before," Han observed.

"Just lived here a long time."

Leia veered left and lowered back into the local traffic lane. "We can't keep flying. They'll call for backup and intercept us somewhere else."

"She's right," Silas said. He sat back and rubbed his head with his hands. "How much danger was I in back there?"

"Enough," Han said grimly. "They're looking for you and if they can't find you they won't hesitate to bring in the big guns."

"Let's get out here." Leia pulled in between two delivery speeders and powered down the craft. "We need to find somewhere we can talk."

With Han gripping the souvenir bag, the three of them darted into a storefront festooned with blocky primary colors and hurried around families hunched in plastic chairs eating nerfburgers and totties. They passed the droid-manned counter to the hallway that led to the 'freshers. Han pulled them into one and locked the door behind him.

"You don't have long before they track you down," Leia told Silas. "Where's your comm?"

Silas held it up.

"You can't take it with you. If there's someone you need to reach –."

"Louis." Silas suddenly looked terrified. "I should warn him, shouldn't I?"

Han nodded. "Tell him to leave your home now. If he's not home, tell him not to go there. In fact, he should avoid the area where you live entirely." Silas tapped furiously while Han talked. "He'll need to ditch his comm and identity cards. He should only use cash until he can get off-planet."

"How will he get off planet without his cards?" Silas demanded. "And he'll have nothing with him. How will he travel?"

"He can't go home," Leia said firmly. "Agents will be at your apartment soon if they aren't already there."

"He's never going to speak to me again," Silas said softly, still staring at his comm. He tapped in a final message and closed his eyes.

"Is there anyone else you need to reach?" Leia asked.

Silas refocused on her and thought for a moment. He shook his head. "No one important."

"Here." Han held out his hand and accepted the comm. He drew a multitool from his pocket and pried open the case. After a few seconds of digging a chip popped out. Han flushed it down the sani and then threw the plastic shell in the trashcan.

"We'll dispose of your ID cards outside," Leia said. "You can't carry anything that identifies you."

Silas stared at them in disbelief and waved at himself. "I identify me. I've lived here a long time. Someone's going to recognize me."

"Which is why you have to leave immediately," Han argued. "Not through regular customs at the port but..." He paused, thinking. "There must be a freighter area somewhere, maybe outside the city. Get over there and buy yourself passage. It might take a few tries," he added.

"We'll give you what cash we have," Leia offered.

Silas shook his head firmly. "I can't leave Bessos. I have to find Louis. He won't know any of this stuff. He won't know what to do and he'll think I was the cause of all of this."

"The longer you stay, the more dangerous it is for both of you," Leia said gently.

"I'll try a few of our friends," Silas said to himself. "Maybe I can get a message to him."

Han caught Leia's eye. "We need to leave too," he said. "You need to leave. Wait –," he dug through the souvenir bag and pulled out a Zarak5ive shirt. "Put this on. I wasn't gonna wear it anyway."

Silas glared at him but took off his blazer and shirt and stuffed the latter in the trash receptacle. He pulled on the Zarak5ive shirt and shook out his blazer. "I don't think this is going to fool anyone," he muttered.

"Stay off the main streets," Leia instructed. "Keep moving and head out of town. Go on foot and avoid public transport."

"Here." Han pulled out a handful of cash and gave it to Silas. "Good luck."

"Just – ." Silas nodded at the plastic bag Leia was holding. "Get that to Gaile. At least something good will have come of this."

"We will," Leia promised.

Han opened the 'fresher door and stuck his head out. He hurried them into the hall and toward the rear of the restaurant, sidestepping through the stuffy, grease-filled kitchen. The door banged behind them and they found themselves in a narrow alleyway surrounded by rusted dumpsters and bags of discarded NerfJoy meals.

"It will be difficult for a while," Leia said. "But you've helped a lot of people today. It was a brave choice you made."

"It didn't feel like a choice," Silas protested. He still seemed stunned at the course of events. "I just started doing it and then kept doing it. And now it's too late."

The alley was quiet for a moment. "You did the right thing," Leia finally said.

"Did I?" Silas asked. "What if I never see Louis again?"

"It's a big galaxy," Han managed to say. "Anything can happen."

"The Alliance will help where we can," Leia added. "We'll keep an eye out for you. If you ever come into contact with one of our intelligence agents, let them know we met."

Silas looked defeated and exhausted. Evening had crept upon them and cast tricky shadows on the pavement. "There's no use in prolonging this," he said half to himself. He gave a quick nod to Han and Leia. "Thank you. I think."

"Time for us to leave too," Han murmured as they watched Silas jog away. "Get back to Kyros and finish the job."

Leia shook her head. "Not yet. After the concert."

A muffled clatter sounded from the opposite direction. Sharp clicks of boots filtered into hearing range. "We have to get out of here," Han growled.

They crept back to the road and joined the streams of lifeforms milling around. The glow of the stadium was a beacon in the center of the city, shooting out streams of multi-colored lights that scattered off the clouds in rhythmic harmony. Leia searched around for a way out of the swarms and into a protected shelter.

"Look." She pulled on Han's arm and pointed at an airbus hovering above the street. It lowered itself at a stop and they hurried to catch up to it. "Maybe it's a local one."

They dropped a few coins into the meter and made their way to the seats in the back, the posters bumping the heads and elbows of other passengers along the way. Once they settled in the corner, Leia snagged the bag from Han and discreetly opened the case to check its contents.

"Everything in there?"

"I think so." She closed the case and rewrapped the bag around it. The posters in all their somnolent glory lay across their laps. The bus rose a few meters off the ground and started a slow procession into the traffic lane.

Han nudged her and pointed to the transport map above them. "Looks like we're on a loop."

As they circled the city the night deepened and the bus hovered and stopped and beings got on and off and on and off. At first Leia could feel Han tense up every time the doors opened, on edge in case of an embarkation by a determined-looking official. But after a few loops with the sole disturbance being a gaggle of drunk partygoers, he leaned back in his seat and rested his arm around her shoulders.

Time floated by in increments of stop-starts. Through her window, Leia watched lights blink and scatter off the angular towers and listened to the cacophony of honks and cries and the purr of speeders dipping in and out of traffic. Every time the bus doors opened a rush of heat and life would jostle the occupants inside and make them shift in their seats; moments later the new passengers had situated themselves and quiet would descend once again. She nestled further into Han's side, the two of them the picture of stalwart travelers with nowhere in particular to be. The stadium rose and sank and came around again, each time delivering a wake of screams that floated on a soundtrack of Inner Core electro-pop.

At one point Han lowered his lips to her hair and mouthed something she couldn't quite make out. It didn't seem to matter; she felt they were adrift in their own private world where reality was incapable of intruding. His hand lay against her leg and she took his fingers in her own; he gave them a brief squeeze and ran his thumb over her knuckles.

She counted the stops and lost herself in the repetition of loop after loop until the stadium lights had dimmed and the bus grew to standing room only.

"We should get off soon," Han murmured in her ear.

Leia nodded and pulled herself from his arms. The stop near the port was approaching and they stood and prepared to inch their way to the doors.

"Wait." Han dug into the bag and pulled out the remaining Zarak5ive shirt. "Put this on."

Leia tugged it over her head. The fabric billowed around her and she futilely attempted to stuff it into her belt. "Now I feel short," she admitted to Han.

He winked at her. "No comment."

Leia wondered if she were imagining the increase in plainclothes Imperial agents or if extra agents had been dispatched to be on the lookout for Silas. As if reading her mind, Han held her more tightly as they entered the station and fought the crowds to the storage area.

He shielded her against the open locker as she hurriedly swapped the pharmaceuticals from Silas's case with her cosmetics and other tube-like objects scrounged from the Falcon. When their carry-on was secure and the case deposited in a trash bin, they made their way to customs. A scrum of sweaty and punch-drunk beings pushed and shoved into roughly formed queues. Leia headed toward the longest one, calculating that as the night wore on the customs agents would get more and more sloppy.

"Uh-oh," muttered Han. "Don't look now, but Sol and Rosey-Posey are about to be famous."

Leia peered around him. "What are you – oh."

Hanging from the ceiling above the customs' booths was a row of holo screens. Each one displayed snapshots from a crime in progress accompanied by an advertisement for a credit reward for any information regarding the assailants. One of the screens showed Han, his face half-covered by his raised fist. Next to him Leia was in profile, facing the speeder whose registration number was flashing below their picture.

"Nice going, hotshot," Leia said under her breath. "If only we had known vehicular theft was frowned upon on this planet. Now what?"

Han nodded at the oversized shirt she was wearing. "Could always use the pregnancy trick. It hasn't failed us yet."

She glared up at him. "Try again."

"Okay, okay." He pulled them away from the queues and back toward the lockers where they huddled in a corner, faces averted. "Give me a minute to come up with something."

"They'll be looking for us together," Leia thought out loud. "We should split up and go in separate lines."

"Even better, we can try to glom on to someone else," Han said. "Here." He licked his thumb and started rubbing Leia's eyeliner onto her cheek. "We just had a fight and you've been crying your eyes out."

"That's even less realistic than me being pregnant," Leia protested.

"Think of it as an opportunity to improve your acting skills."

"Then I assume you'll be the jerk who abandoned his pregnant wife in front of thousands of people?"

"I'll come up with something in line," Han promised. "Give me those posters. I have a feeling they're finally gonna come in handy."

He scooted around to the far queue while Leia chose one that had a gaggle of women at its tail. She shuffled up behind them, sniffing and rubbing her eyes and looking mournfully at her comm every few seconds.

"Oh, you know how men are," Leia heard herself say after the women paused their conversation and awkwardly asked if she were all right. "It's our anniversary and we had planned this romantic night out and then right after the concert he says he's just not interested anymore and wants to date other beings and –." She made her best attempt to heave a sob and proceeded to bury her face in her hands.

There followed little pats and commiseration and retellings of highly specific revenge scenarios carried out by the aggrieved party. By the time they reached the front of the line the group had swelled to include Leia and two teenaged girls behind her. Gossip pinged back and forth interspersed with weary questions from the border agent as Leia continued to determinedly wipe her eyes.

There was no sign of Han when she reached their rental shuttle. Having refused to glance in his direction while in line Leia had no idea how far he was behind her. After stowing their carry-on she powered up the shuttle's systems and dug out Han's blaster from one of the compartments.

She was peering into the corridor with the blaster tucked in her dress when she saw Han jogging toward her.

"Something tells me we're not gonna be invited back here." He hopped into his seat and slid the hatch shut. "My plan to use the posters as bribes just made the agents even more suspicious."

"I can't imagine why," Leia deadpanned. She strapped herself in as Han fluttered his fingers over the controls. "Are the shields operational?"

"If the radiator holds." They rose from the ground and made their way to the departure lane behind a long line of taillights. "Got your prayers ready?"

"With you? Always."

"Rosey-Posey would have more faith in her man," Han scolded.

"Then Rosey-Posey isn't very bright."

Despite her skepticism, they made it to the higher atmosphere without a hitch. And although it was too dark to see anything except for star-trails of speeder lights, Leia imagined there might be a freighter flying alongside them, one carrying a stowaway or two on their way to freedom.