The Last Venator: A Star Wars Story

Part 7

"We should leave."

Bart shook his head and leaned further back in the copilot's seat, looking up through the cockpit's bubble at the cloudy sky. "We can't."

"Bart," said Niner, not making an obvious effort to sound restrained, but Bart knew the droid well enough to know she was struggling to keep her thoughts in check. "I admire your loyalty to your crew. It gratifies me that my captain would think of his crew before his own safety. But be logical about this. If the Imperials had arrested Vespers and Xases they would have kicked in the Kestrel's hatch by now. Since they have not we know they have not been taken by the Imps. And if they were alive they would have found a way back to us. We must consider the growing likelihood that they are dead and save our own chassis."

Bart looked at Lib who was sitting silent in the pilot's seat. The Aqualish shook his head. "It's not just them, Niner. I don't want to leave without them, but even if I did, we can't."

"Why?" the medical droid demanded. She was floating close behind both chairs, practically vibrating with agitation. "We can outrun the TIE fighters. The Kestrel is fast enough. And this planet doesn't have anti-air defenses. Is this because of the director's contract we took? Because it's been more than two days and she hasn't shown up or paid us yet."

"Wait for it."

"Wait for what?" the droid demanded.

Lib pointed a gnarled finger at the sky. A small, black dot had risen past the city skyline and was clawing skyward for the stormy clouds. Several specks followed it, rapidly gaining. There was a series of green and ruby flashes, and then the first dot began to spiral down, trailing a thin stream of smoke behind it. As it fell, a loud boom rolled across the city with a bright flash: turbolaser fire from the grounded Star Destroyer. The falling dot was consumed by the energy bolts and winked out.

"We can't outrun those dorsal turbolasers at this range," Bart explained. "Out of all three cities, we parked in the one closest to that destroyer. There is no way we're getting out of here if the Imps don't want us to."

Niner was silent.

"We're here until the Imps give up or something happens for us to have a chance to break free. Be patient, Niner. We'll get out of this."

***

"Get her out."

Xases lifted his head from his doze. The director had returned with her Negotiator escorts and the strange, wispy human male. They were focused on the cell with the three new prisoners.

"What are you doing?" the Duros demanded. He stood in front of the human woman, who was cowering in a corner. The Mon Cal sat to one side, head down.

"It's time for the second phase of this operation. We need the senator."

"Step back from the forcefield," commanded the B1 sentry droid.

"Director, you need to stop this."

"If Commander Nerris gets in your way, you can shoot him. He's not critical to this operation," the director told her mercenaries.

The forcefield came down. The Rodians and the Sullustan strode into the cell. The Duros put up a brave but brief struggle to stop them, but he was quickly overpowered and hit with a stun bolt. The Sullustan seized the human by the hair and dragged her screaming from the cell.

"My dear, this will all be over soon," the director promised.

"I'm not the senator!" The woman shrieked out the words.

Everyone froze.

"What?" the Twi'lek demanded. She knelt and seized the human woman's face in her hands. "What did you say?"