Luke held his ground, feeling the Force flowing into him and out through his arms, evoking an odd sort of tunnel vision effect that turned mental spotlights on the attack itself and relative darkness on everything else. Lando, half crouched directly behind him, was only a hazy sense in the back of his mind; the rest of Ferrier’s people were even dimmer. Setting his teeth firmly together, letting the Force control his defense, he kept his eyes moving around the corridor, alert for new threats.
He was looking directly at the odd shadow when it detached itself from the wall and started forward.
For a long minute he didn’t believe what he was seeing. There was no texture or detail to the shadow; nothing but a slightly fluid shape and nearly absolute blackness. But it was real … and it was moving toward him. “Lando!” he shouted over the scream of blaster shots. “Five meters away—forty degrees left. Any ideas?”
He heard the hissing intake of air from behind him. “Never seen anything like it. Retreat?”
With an effort, Luke pulled as much of his concentration as he dared away from their defense and turned it toward the approaching shadow. There was indeed something there—one of the alien intelligences, in fact, that he’d sensed earlier. Which implied it was one of Ferrier’s people …
“Stay with me,” he told Lando. This was going to be risky, but turning tail and running wouldn’t accomplish anything. Moving slowly, keeping his stance balanced and yet fluid, he headed directly toward the shadow.
The alien halted, its sense clearly surprised that a potential prey would be advancing instead of backing away from it. Luke took advantage of the momentary hesitation to move farther toward the corridor wall to his left. The first blaster, its shots starting to come close to the mobile shadow as it tracked Luke’s movement, abruptly ceased fire. The shadow’s form shifted slightly, giving Luke the impression of something looking over its shoulder. He continued moving to his left, drawing the second blaster’s fire toward the shadow as he did so; and a second later it, too, fell reluctantly silent.
“Good job,” Lando murmured approvingly in his ear. “Allow me.”
He took a step back from Luke. “Ferrier?” he called. “This is Lando Calrissian. Listen, if you want to keep your pal here in one piece, you’d better call him off. This is Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. The guy who took down Darth Vader.”
Which wasn’t strictly true, of course. But it was close enough. Luke had, after all, defeated Vader in their last lightsaber duel, even if he hadn’t actually gone on to kill him.
Regardless, the implications weren’t lost on the unseen men down the corridor. He could sense the doubt and consternation among them; and even as he lifted his lightsaber a little higher, the shadow stopped its approach. “What was your name?” someone called.
“Lando Calrissian,” Lando repeated. “Think back to that botched Phraetiss operation about ten years ago.”
“Oh, I remember,” the voice said grimly. “What do you want?”
“I want to offer you a deal,” Lando said. “Come on out and we’ll talk.”
There was a moment of hesitation. Then, the big man from Luke’s memory track stepped out from behind a group of crates that had been stacked against the corridor wall, the simmering cigarra still clenched between his teeth. “All of you,” Lando insisted. “Come on, Ferrier, bring them out. Unless you seriously think you can hide them from a Jedi.”
Ferrier’s eyes flicked to Luke. “The mystic Jedi powers have always been exaggerated,” he sneered. But his lips moved inaudibly; and, even as he approached them, five humans and a tall, thin, green-scaled insectoid alien emerged one by one from concealment.
“That’s better,” Lando said approvingly, stepping out from behind Luke. “A Verpine, huh?” he added, waving toward the insectoid alien. “Got to hand it to you, Ferrier—you’re fast. Maybe thirty hours since the Imperials pulled out, and already you’re on board. And with a tame Verpine, yet. You ever heard of Verpine, Luke?”
Luke nodded. The alien’s appearance wasn’t familiar, but the name was. “They’re supposed to be geniuses at fixing and reassembling high-tech devices.”
“And it’s a well-deserved reputation,” Lando said. “Rumor has it they’re the ones who helped Admiral Ackbar design the B-wing starfighter. You shifted specialties to palming damaged ships, Ferrier? Or did your Verpine come aboard just for the occasion?”
“You mentioned a deal,” Ferrier said coldly. “So deal.”
“I want to know first if you were in on the Sluis Van attack from the beginning,” Lando said, matching Ferrier’s tone. “If you’re working for the Empire, we can’t deal.”
One of the gang, blaster in hand, took a quiet preparatory breath. Luke shifted his lightsaber toward him slightly in warning, and the brief thought of heroics faded quickly away. Ferrier looked at the man, back at Lando. “The Empire’s sent out a call for ships,” he said grudgingly. “Warships in particular. They’re paying a bounty of twenty percent above market value for anything over a hundred thousand tons that can fight.”
Luke and Lando exchanged a quick glance. “Odd request,” Lando said. “They lose one of their shipyard facilities or something?”
“They didn’t say, and I didn’t ask,” Ferrier said acidly. “I’m a businessman; I give the customer what he wants. You here to deal, or just talk?”
“I’m here to deal,” Lando assured him. “You know, Ferrier, it seems to me that you’re in sort of a jam here. We’ve nailed you red-handed in the process of trying to steal New Republic warships. We’ve also pretty well proved that Luke can take all of you without any trouble. All I have to do is whistle up Security and the whole bunch of you will be off to a penal colony for the next few years.”
The shadow, which had been standing still, took a step forward. “The Jedi might survive,” Ferrier said darkly. “But you wouldn’t.”
“Maybe; maybe not,” Lando said easily. “Regardless, it’s not the sort of situation a businessman like yourself wants to be in. So here’s the deal: you leave now, and we’ll let you get out of the Sluis Van system before we drop the hammer with the authorities.”
“How very generous of you,” Ferrier said, heavily sarcastic. “So what do you really want? A cut of the operation? Or just a wad of money?”
Lando shook his head. “I don’t want your money. I just want you out of here.”
“I don’t take well to threats.”
“Then take it as a friendly warning for past associations’ sake,” Lando said, his voice hard. “But take it seriously.”
For a long minute the only sound in the corridor was the quiet background hum of distant machinery. Luke held himself in combat stance, trying to read the shifting emotions in Ferrier’s sense. “Your ‘deal’ would cost us a lot of money,” Ferrier said, shifting the cigarra to the other side of his mouth.
“I realize that,” Lando conceded. “And believe it or not, I am sorry. But the New Republic can’t afford to lose any ships at the moment. However, you might try over at the Amorris system. Last I heard, the Cavrilhu pirate gang was using that as a base, and they’re always in need of expert maintenance people.” He looked appraisingly at the shadow. “And extra muscle, too.”
Ferrier followed his gaze. “Ah, you like my wraith, do you?”
“Wraith?” Luke frowned.
“They call themselves Defel,” Ferrier said. “But I think ‘wraith’ suits them so much better. Their bodies absorb all visible light—some sort of evolved survival mechanism.” He eyed Luke. “And what do you think of this deal, Jedi? Enforcer of law and justice that you are?”
Luke had expected the question. “Have you stolen anything here?” he countered. “Or done anything illegal other than breaking into the station’s assignment computer?”
Ferrier’s lip twisted. “We also shot at a couple of bizits who were poking their noses in where they shouldn’t have,” he said sarcastically. “That count?”
“Not when you didn’t hit them,” Luke countered evenly. “As far as I’m concerned, you can leave.”
“You’re too kind,” Ferrier growled. “So is that it?”
“That’s it,” Lando nodded. “Oh, and I want your slicer access code, too.”
Ferrier glared at him, but gestured to the Verpine standing behind him. Silently, the tall green alien lurched forward and handed Lando a pair of data cards. “Thank you,” Lando said. “All right. I’ll give you one hour to get your ship up and out of the system before we drop the hammer. Have a good trip.”
“Yeah, we’ll do that,” Ferrier bit out. “So good to see you, Calrissian. Maybe next time I can do you a favor.”
“Give Amorris a try,” Lando urged him. “I’d bet they’ve got at least a couple of old Sienar patrol ships you could relieve them of.”
Farrier didn’t reply. In silence, the group passed Lando and Luke and headed back down the empty corridor toward the reception area. “You sure telling him about Amorris was a good idea?” Luke murmured as he watched them go. “The Empire’s likely to get a patrol ship or two out of the deal.”