Tales of the Gold Wookie, Part 2

She wasn't sure where she was when she awoke. Her nose was tickled by the rich scent of leather. As her eyes gradually focused, she found herself staring at the largest man she'd ever seen. Everything about him was overwhelming, from the broad shoulders that strained his heavy black suit to the wide-brimmed fedora that shaded a face so thickly scarred and battered, it would have scared the hell out of Boris Karloff. He held a long gold-topped cane that leaned against his right leg. A leather glove hid the prosthetic hand it was said he gained as a souvenir from the Great War.

All in all, he was a fearsome sight. Fearsome to everyone, that is, except for Leia Skylark.

“Derek Vader,” she hissed. “You've already been forced to resign from at least three archaeological societies after it was rumored you stole Alderaanian artifacts for the Empire. If UCLA finds out you've attacked one of their people...”

“Don't play innocent with me, young lady.” Vader's booming voice filled the back seat. “You were at that party this afternoon for a reason. Dr. Bail Organa sent you an envelope containing his research and maps revealing the remaining two locations of the lost Swords of the Guardians.”

“I don't know what you're talking about. I'm an intern and secretary for Dr. Marta Mothma.”

“What you are is a liar!” Vader's voice rose until it was something akin to a deep whine. “Tarkin saw you snooping around at the party, looking for the Sword of Strength.”

“I was admiring your collection. By the way, you need to get someone to dust and catalog it. It looks like you randomly dropped it on tables when you stole it.”

“How I found my collection is none of your concern.” He leaned out the window as they drove through a spiky wired fence, giving orders to a man in the black and white uniforms of Dark Star Industries. The landscape around them was arid and barren. Leia hadn't realized how far into the hills they'd driven. Scorched palm trees and desert plants showed the remains of the wildfires that were epidemic in the area.

The building wasn't large, but it was ominous, a brick-and-steel warehouse whose red and tan exterior almost matched the desert around it. Leia didn't have too much time to look around. The moment the BMW rolled to the front door, she was yanked out of the car by two more of Vader's boys in the long white coats, her wrists tied roughly behind her back. She could smell the dust and old stone and new metal and ozone. In the distance, she thought she heard a loud and distinct “boom” and an odd sizzle.

Somehow, Leia wasn't surprised to see Tarkin behind the desk of the bland office. “General Tarkin, I should have expected to find you behind all this. Dark Star Industries has been suspected of giving arms to the Empire illegally for years.”

Tarkin stood, striding over to the girl. “Charming, to the last. You do realize that what you've seen and heard here has more-or-less signed your death warrant. We can't have the information on the latest Dark Star weapon leaking to the public.”

She gave him her most persuasive smile. “What is the latest weapon from Dark Star?”

“A laser cannon.” Tarkin opened the bars that blocked the window closest to the testing site in the hills. “But not just any laser cannon. The Death Star has ten times the fire power of any light beam ever devised by man. The Khyber crystals from the Alderaanian artifacts that Mr. Vader has gathered from sites in Central America are built into the barrels, with the Swords in the center. The Sword of Light is safely held at the Coruscant Armory for that very purpose.”

Leia laughed. “You watch too many Saturday afternoon serials.”

“As I said earlier today, every folk tale has basis in fact. Even pulp fiction.” His chilling smile belonged to a killer in a Universal horror film. “I will only ask you this once. Dr. Bail Organa sent you the maps and research he did on the location of the remaining swords.” He backed her into Vader's massive chest. The hulking industrialist placed a heavy gloved hand on her shoulder. “I want to know where you hid the notebooks and the map.”

Leia glared at him. “There's no way I'm going to tell you. Papa Bail never wanted the swords to be used to kill people. He wanted them to go to a museum.”

“They would only gather dust there.” Tarkin waved his hand to the massive black and gray cylinder being loaded into crates. “No, they're much better off in Coruscant, where they can aid the Empire in its spreading of law and order.”

“Death and destruction, you mean.”

Tarkin continued to monitor the men loading the gun. “Sometimes, a little death is necessary to maintain control.”

Vader frowned. “I told you she wouldn't talk.” He went to his desk. “There are other means of persuasion that might be more appropriate in this situation.”

Tarkin's ghoulish grin widened as Vader pulled a needle out of a drawer. “Oh, yes. Leftover from the last industrial spy you had to...persuade...to give up their secrets, am I right?”

Two factory workers shoved Leia into a chair. Heavy packing twine was bound around her wrists and ankles. Leia's angry brown eyes were glued to the needle as the black hand that held it came closer and closer to her upper arm under the ruffled sleeve her her white dress.

“And now, Miss Skylark, we will discuss where you hid those notebooks and the maps.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

She was standing near the edge of pit filled with thick, bubbling yellow liquid. The heat was intense. The steam rose above her like white silk. Her white party dress had been replaced by her working outfit – a white work shirt, khaki slacks, and boots. Voices, one of them familiar, called out to her in terror. Her eyes drifted upwards, getting a glimpse of two silhouettes bound with rope, one shorter than the other, dangling over the liquid. The shorter one was startlingly familiar...

“Leia! Please! Help us!”

Her eyes widened. “Luke!” She dashed towards the pit, her heavy-soled work boots slipping on the loose gravel. “Luke, I'm coming!”

She was just about to reach the pit when another figure stepped out of the darkness. This one was dressed all in black, his long coat flowing around him like a cape. “You will not save them. They're already mine. As are you, Guardian.”

Leia knew that voice. “Vader, get out of my way! I have to get to my brother!”

To her shock, a blue sword appeared in her hand. The sword in Vader's gloved hand glowed with an unearthly red fire. “I have two Guardians under my control. Now, I will have the third. You are all mine.”

“NO!” She attacked him, swinging relentlessly with her sword. Her slashes went through him. She backed away as he came closer to her. Luke's screams and the other voice grew fainter in the background.

Vader held up a hand to her. “Come with me. It is the only way.”

Leia stepped back further, but her boot touched empty air. She was trapped between the edge of the cliff and Vader's open palm.

“It is your destiny.”

Still clutching the sword, she finally backed into the abyss...and felt herself falling into nothingness. Luke's screams continued in the background as she fell...fell...flew...flying down...

“Leia, I'm here to rescue you!”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Huh?” She thought she was still dreaming. Luke stood before her, his blue eyes shining, his mouth curved into his huge sunshine smile. He was untying her wrists, having already finished her ankles.

“Leia, we're going to get you out of here!”

Her brother sported the long white coat, white fedora, and black gloves usually worn by Vader's goons. The fedora wasn't too bad, but the coat and gloves were too big and too long. He looked like he was swimming in white fabric and black buttons.

She gave him a small smirk. “Aren't you a little old for playing dress-up?”

He helped his sister to her feet the second the last rope fell on the floor. “Oh, you mean the coat. This was the only way we could get in here.”

Leia raised an eyebrow. “We?”

“Oh, you know, us. Artie, Clarence, Harry, Charel, Benton, and me.”

“Swell. Couldn't you have brought someone who knows what they're doing with them? Say, oh, the police?”

Her brother was already dragging her down the hall. “There wasn't time! Clarence was afraid they'd kill you, or worse.”

“They weren't going to kill me. They want to know what I did with Papa Bail's notebooks and maps.” She looked at Luke. “Please tell me the notebooks and maps are all right.”

“They're fine. They're in the glove compartment in the Packard.” Luke pulled a large black gun out from under his coat as shots were heard down the hall.

A tall man with scruffy reddish-brown hair in a similar coat and hat dashed almost right into them. He was followed by the biggest, hairiest being Leia had ever seen. He might have had a rather handsome face, if she could find it under his flowing walnut hair and bushy beard and mustache. Even the long hands that clutched the black gun were covered in hair. If the coat was too big for Luke, it couldn't begin to cover him. His linebacker shoulders strained in the fabric.

“Uh, I had a little problem convincing the guards at the door I was one of Vader's boys,” the smaller man admitted sheepishly.

“Harry!” Luke pushed Leia against the wall, just barely missing a bullet. “That was our only way out!”

The giant let out what sounded like a cross between a bark and a series of low-pitched groans. “Yeah, I know, pal. I shouldn't have chased those goons. Damn it, I thought I could take 'em!” A short bark was followed by a booming guffaw. “Well, I would have, if they hadn't suddenly multiplied on me!”

Leia ignored this enlightening conversation in favor of staring at the ceiling. There was a square right above her head, covered by what looked like a grate. She could probably move it, if she could just get to it. She grabbed Luke's gun, shot off several bullets into the hall, then tossed it back to her brother. “There's an air duct over our heads. It might be our ticket out of here.”

The taller man started whimpering, but Harry smacked his shoulder. “Aw, come on, you big coward, you can fit!” He tossed Leia his gun and threw off the coat, revealing a slightly frayed tan bush shirt rolled up at the sleeves.

Leia gave the giant her sweetest smile. “Would you please lift me high enough to open that grate?”

The tall man did so, scooping her into his arms as easily as a child picked up a rag doll. She used the gun to knock out the grate, pushing it aside. “It's fine. Dark and dusty, but fine.”

She and Charel helped Luke, then Harry, through the grate. It took all three of them to pull the hairy giant through, and even then, it was a squeeze getting him in.

Harry waved a hand over his nose. “The air duct was a really brilliant idea, doll face. And what a terrific smell you've discovered!”

“It could be worse, you know.” Leia was already crawling down the dark, rectangular corridor.

“Yeah,” Luke added cheerfully. “At least we're all still alive.”

After a few twists and turns, Leia finally came to another grate, this one with light at the end. “I think this is it.” She shoved at it for a few minutes before it finally gave way.

The large room she dropped into was filled with nothing but crates, statues, and artifacts. Everything from enormous statues to broken pottery lined the shelves and filled crates. Harry came out next. He'd slapped what looked like the brown cap of a US Army Air Corps pilot without its insignia on his head during their crawl. “Looks like you found UCLA's basement.” He picked up what appeared to be a gold statue of three warriors, two men and a women, carrying swords. “Too bad it looks like a lot of these are missin' parts.” He ran his fingers over indentations in the tiny golden swords and masks where crystal trim had been. “Do you know how much I could get for this on the open market if it was complete?”

Leia rolled her eyes. “We're not here to discuss your current job occupation.” She picked up a statue of a woman warrior with similar indentations. “These must be the artifacts Vader stripped of crystal to make that pipe dream out there.”

Luke's eyes widened. “The pipes? I thought they were some kind of big gun.”

“They are.” Leia put the statue back on the shelf. “Vader's using the Khyber crystals to power some cannon. He's calling it the Death Star. Tarkin thinks it'll help control the world, or some such thing.”

Luke's blue eyes were huge. “I've got to get this to Ben. This could be the story of the year!” He looked around. “We just need proof. Otherwise, no one is going to believe any of this.” He whipped out his camera and started taking as many pictures as he could.

Han snorted as he admired what had likely once been a jeweled spear. “Sounds like Vader's been reading comic books on the sly.” Charel snorted and tossed a stream of what sounded like gibberish in Han's direction. “Ok, so I like Dick Tracy. And maybe Terry and the Pirates. And sometimes Flash Gordon. They just draw Dale Arden so well!”

They all looked up at the same time as Charel let out what sounded something like a growl to Leia. “Damn it. He says he hears footsteps. Probably more of Vader's boys.” He grinned. “Char, pick up that crate over there. I just hope there's nothing important in it.” The moment the worker came in, Charel dropped the crate over his head, knocking him out instantly. Harry grinned. “Nice shot, buddy. Come on, let's get out of here.”

“Not without my proof.” Leia grabbed the two statues she and Luke were looking at and wrapped them in Harry's discarded white coat. “I know this is stealing, but it's likely these were already stolen anyway.”

Harry nodded. “Probably smuggled goods. Wouldn't be surprised if Vader has a whole operation going here.”

Leia gave him a smirk. “And you'd know something about smuggling, wouldn't you?”

Harry had no trouble giving her a lazy grin back. “Maybe.”

Luke held up his camera. “And I got my pictures. There should be enough in here to at least start an inquiry as to where all this came from and why it's missing pieces.”

Charel peered out the door. He rushed over to Harry, letting loose with more gibberish. Tarkin strode through the entrance moments later, followed by Vader and more goons in white coats. “What's this?”

Luke whipped his Argus camera out of his pocket. “Hey Tarkin, say cheese!” Tarkin threw his hands over his face too late. The blond youth chuckled. “That shot will go on the front page of tomorrow's edition of the Daily Star.” He checked his lens. “I hope you didn't break my camera. Did anyone ever tell you that you look like Dr. Frankenstein?”

“I've got a better idea, kid.” Harry hit the officer standing next to him. Charel went with Luke's idea and started throwing them into crates. Leia grabbed the nearest chair and swung it over an officer's head, knocking him out instantly.

Vader reached for the camera and Luke's hand, but the younger man held on tightly. He finally smacked the boy on the side of his head, knocking him to the floor unconscious.

Leia wasn't going to let anyone hurt her brother. She climbed on a crate and, wincing as she did so, hit Vader over the head with one of the statues she had wrapped. He stumbled and let go of the camera.

Charel threw Luke over his shoulder as Han's fist connected with Vader's chin. It threw him back a few feet, enough for everyone to take off and out the door. Leia reached for the camera...but Tarkin took her arm.

“Oh no, young lady. I believe there are things in this that we don't want anyone seeing.” He opened the camera, took out the film, and threw it back to her. “Tell your enterprising brother he should know better than to cross the Empire.” She finally kicked Tarkin in his tight boots. He let go of her, wincing, as she took off.

The factory was a maze of smoke and gunshots. She found a fallen pistol and fired off its two remaining bullets, more because she hoped to obscure their exit than hit anyone. She did her job too well. She ran into three pipes and Harry Solomon's chest before she got her bearings.

Harry gave her his trademark lazy smirk. She was already beginning to hate it. “Well, hello down there, princess. You already can't get enough of me.”

She gave him her coldest glare. “Look, I don't know you. I only know you're Luke's friend. He respects you, though I can't imagine why. I'll play nice for my brother's sake, but from now on, you do as I tell you, all right?”

Harry could do death glares pretty well, too. “Look, Princess, let's get one thing straight. I'm the head of an independent company. I take orders from one person – me!”

Leia brushed past him, tossing the spent gun aside. “It's a wonder you're still alive.” She ducked around the hulking man carrying the only real family she had left as she made for the exit.

The Packard and hers and Luke's Ford were waiting just outside the main entrance when they arrived. Artie leaned out the driver's side door of the Packard, his cute smile a mile wide. “Where were you folks? Clarence and the old man were ready to send out for the Army Reserves to storm the joint!” His words were countered by a faint “We were not!” from the front passenger seat.

Leia had never been so happy to see Benton Kenobi lean out the driver's side window of the Ford. His grizzled lips turned down in concern at the sight of Luke in Charel's arms.“Is he all right, Leia?” his clipped British accent asked with concern.

“I think so.” She ducked as the whine of bullets were heard.

Harry ran for cover in the Packard. “Don't these jerks ever give up?”

“Ben and I will take Luke in the Ford.” Leia opened the back door and helped Charel get her dazed brother in. “Thanks.” He gave her a short bark of gibberish that might have been “You're welcome.” “You take your friend in the Packard. Tell Artie we're going to the nearest airport. We have to catch a flight to Coruscant.”

“Are you crazy?” Harry leaned out of the Packard's passenger side window, still shooting goons with his ancient, heavy black gun. “You can't go to Coruscant, sweetheart! They're a military zone! They're practicing for doomsday out there!”

“I don't care if they're practicing for the Coruscant Blue Cheese Festival.” She jumped in the back seat. “Mr. Kenobi, step on it. We have to get that Sword.”

“Hello to you too, Leia.” Benton chuckled as he started the car. “You always were so impetuous. Just like your father.”

Leia pulled away from the window in surprise. “You knew our father?”

Benton nodded. “Yes. I joined him and your mother on many digs. He and I were in the same unit together during the Great War. ” He closed his eyes. “Now, to get that gate open. I clipped the wires, so it shouldn't be any trouble.”

The older man held out his hand and closed his eyes, his face screwed up in concentration. Luke's eyes fluttered open just in time to see a faint reddish light surround the fence. It swung open with a slight creak.

Leia and Luke exchanged similar flabbergasted expressions. “Wow,” Luke breathed. “How did you do that, Ben? You never told me you were Superman!”

Ben chuckled. “Not Superman, young Luke. Just a newspaper man with some abilities that stuck to him.” He leaned out the window. “Arthur, follow me. I know a few tricks that will shake them.”

Artie grinned and saluted him. “Yes sir, General!”

“Better do it fast, old man.” Harry looked out the window as the cars took off through the gate. “There's already three of them on our tail.”

Benton took off down the dusty hillside road just as a hulking black Duesenberg blasted out of the gates. Leia grabbed Luke, pulling him away from the bullets. “Damn it, I think that's Vader. Can you shake him, Ben?”

Ben was already looking pale. “He still has them,” Leia heard him murmur. “He can sense my presence. This is not good.”

Leia grabbed her pistol. “What's not good?”

“Vader knows where we are.” He sighed. “If I'm Superman, let's just say he's a very, very powerful and strong mad scientist...or mad archaeologist, as the case may be.”

Luke was writing furiously in his battered old notebook. “I thought he was discredited...whoa!”

The young reporter was flung into his sister as the Ford swung around a series of sharp curves. He made the mistake of peering out the window. When he saw nothing but and endless stretch of steep gorge, he pulled his head back inside, his face looking a little green under its tan.

“He was discredited.” Ben turned down a narrow lane that was little more than a path. “Not only did a few too many of his theories tend to come off as pure science fiction, but it's rumored that he killed men at his final digs who got in the way of his plans...including most of the remaining Jedi.”

Leia leaned back in. “Aren't the Jedi a myth?”

“Hardly. While they weren't as numerous as they had been in Alderaan even in recent times, there were always at least fifty of them scattered around the globe, protecting the Swords and their powers. Now, they're all but extinct.” The older reporter turned another tight curve, Artie barely following. “I'll explain more when we arrive at the air field and are on our way to Coruscant.”

Leia wanted to ask more questions, but she was distracted by screams and the sound of an explosion. The three cars with Vader's goons had gone off the hill and into the gorge, going too fast to take the tight turns. Vader had rolled down with them. While he hadn't gone up in flames, he had two flat tires. She snickered when he climbed down, threw down his hat, and start stamping his foot like a spoiled child. “That should keep him occupied.”

Ben returned to the main road. “It should give us just enough time to get to the air field. Luke, I've only been in the air a few times, and then only on commercial flights. I'll need directions.”

Luke nodded. “Right.” He leaned out the window, waving to Artie. “We're going to the air field! Follow us!”

Leia thought it was a bit of a disappointment. It consisted of one very long, wide stretch of road, two rusted hangars that had seen better days, a control tower that looked more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and a few small buildings that seemed to have been built from old airplane scraps.

The airplane in the hangar also appeared to have been cobbled together from scraps. Even five years or so before, she might have been a worthy vehicle. Maybe. Now, the silvery outer shell was covered in more patches than the quilt on her bed at the apartment, there was a patch of something black and greasy under one worn wheel, and the propeller was bent.

The cars finally rolled to a stop next to an equally dilapidated truck whose red color now more resembled rust than paint. “You work in that thing, Harry?” Leia pointed to the silver mess in front of her. “You're braver than I thought.”

Luke smirked. “I've told him for ages that it's a piece of junk.”

“Funny, you two.” Harry patted the door of the heavily patched vehicle. “She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. I made a lot of special modifications myself.”

“Harry,” Leia said quickly, “we need you to get us to Coruscant.”

“Nothin' doin'.” The lanky pilot leaned against a wing. “I look out for number one, sweetheart. I don't care about your swords or guns or whatever. I have my own problems right now.” Charel's long stream of gibberish sounded like a disagreement. “No, we don't have time for this! Remember who's neck is on the line here. If I don't pay that money to the Hutt, I'm a dead man.”

Leia stood her ground. “I'll pay you. I could call UCLA right now.”

Harry and Charel looked up at her as one, now very interested. “I want ten thousand, doll.”

“Harry,” Luke protested, “we could buy our own ship for that!”

“But who's gonna fly it, kid?” Harry smirked at him. “You?”

“You bet I could!” Luke's blue eyes snapped. “I'm not such a bad pilot myself.”

Benton Kenobi put up a hand to quiet both Skylarks. “We can pay you two thousand now, plus five thousand more after we've found the Swords.”

“Seven thousand, huh?” Harry leaned against the wing, looking like he was thinking it over. “Ok, you got yourself a deal. Meet us back here in about an hour.”

“What are we going to do?” Luke frowned as he and Leia gathered with Ben in a corner. “None of us have that kind of money.”

Benton's blue eyes slid to Leia. “UCLA does.”

Leia nodded firmly. “Dr. Mothma should be able to wire us most of it. Luke, is there a pay phone anywhere?”

Her brother waved a hand towards the collection of buildings near the hangar. “There's one at Maz's Bar. I don't know if you should go in there alone, though. It gets kind of rough.”

Leia squared her shoulders. “I can take care of myself.”

The bar was easy enough to find. It was the largest of the buildings that leaned against each other on the road. It looked like it had been a train dining car at one time. Now, it was a slightly rusted Army-green with a weathered sign flapping in the wind that simply said “Maz's.”

The bar wasn't much prettier on the inside. Most of the furnishings must have come from the train – they were battered and scarred. She quickly asked a spry elderly negro lady with wild gray curls and thick glasses where her phone was. “Over there, hon,” she said in a no-nonsense tone, before returning to the narrow bar to throw out two drunk pilots who were starting to get fresh with a waitress.

“Leia,” Dr. Mothma said the moment she got through, “where are you? What happened? Your brother called me and said you'd vanished, but they had Bail's research.”

“I did vanish. I'm fine now. It's a long story. And we do have Papa Bail's research.” She plunked two more nickels in, ignoring the big man in the orange flight jacket who was pointing to his cheap watch. “I'm calling you because we need two thousand dollars to pay for a flight to Coruscant.”

“Coruscant?” Dr. Mothma sounded more frustrated than anything. “I thought the Swords were in Guatemala. And why would you need two thousand to go there? I know commercial flights can be expensive, but that's absurd!”

“We're not taking a commercial flight.” She now had a two-pilot line behind her. “A friend of Luke's who runs a charter service is flying us there.”

“I don't know, Leia.” Dr. Mothma sounded hesitant. “Some of those smaller charter services can be awfully dicey.”

“We don't have a choice. He's the only one who'll take us there today. We're leaving in an hour.” There were now three men glaring at her behind the glass. She could have sworn one was the man in the green and black suit and the dark sunglasses who was following her and Luke earlier. She didn't like how he fingered something on his belt under his jacket. “I'll pick up the money here. Look, I have to get off. Not only is there a bunch of very impatient pilots behind me, but I think I'm being followed.”

“Followed?”

“I keep seeing the same man in the green suit and sunglasses. He was at the party today, remember?”

“Oh, him. He did seem to be a bit forbidding, with the glasses and all.” The professor finally gave her a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. You'll get all the money I can round up in an hour....as long as you call us as soon as you've found the Swords.”

“Vader has them,” Leia explained quickly. “He's using them for some kind of cannon. I know it sounds crazy, but he's selling it to the Empire. One sword is already in Coruscant.” She frowned as one of the men tapped the glass. “I have to go. I'll see you in a few months, as soon as we find those Swords.”

“I don't like this, Leia. I really think you should...” Leia hung up before she could chastise her further. She was going to find those swords and stop whatever insane plot Vader was planning, whatever it took.

Since she still had time and she had to wait for her cable anyway, she sat at a booth in the back and ordered a soda, burger and fries. As she was finishing her burger, she heard a familiar voice.

“Yeah, I was just about to go see your boss. I swear Gredoni, this time, I have the money.” It was Harry Solomon. She'd know his gruff mid-western accent anywhere. “I don't have it with me. Tell Yasmin...”

Someone said something very quickly in heavily accented Italian. Leia peered over the back of the booth. She could only see the back of a man with spiky black hair and a slightly greenish cast to his skin. Harry, now wearing a brown leather jacket with his Air Corps cap, had his booted feet on the table. “There's no way I'm goin' back with her. That's over.”

More rapid Italian, this time rather smug. Harry's voice darkened noticeably. “You're touchin' the Falcon over my dead body.” Leia ducked down in the booth, peering around the side. Her brown eyes widened when she saw Harry holding a gun under the table. Gredoni was starting to stand, his gun trained directly on Harry's chest. Harry was still smirking. “I'll bet you've been lookin' forward to this.”

Leia couldn't have said what happened next. The moment both men fired, she withdrew, pulling herself into the back of the booth, her heart pounding. Smoke drifted over the table. When she looked again, Gredoni was slumped over the table and Harry was heading towards the bar. “Sorry about the mess, Maz.” He tossed the old woman a coin.

“Solo,” she said, catching the coin easily, “one of these days, you're going to get into trouble you can't automatically talk or shoot yourself out of.”

The tall pilot laughed. “Oh come on, Maz. I can talk my way out of anything.” He held up the still-smoking gun. “And when talkin' doesn't work, this does.”

Leia jumped out of the booth. “You killed him?”

Harry smirked. “Sweetheart, in my business, it's kill or be killed. I owe his boss a little money. He came to collect. I wasn't ready to give it to her yet.”

She put her hand on her hips. “Is that why you asked for so much?”

“It's my business, doll face.” He lowered his gun back in his holster. “I'm gonna go talk to Charel. You still wanna do this?”

Leia straightened her shoulders and tried not to look as shocked as she felt. “Of course.”

“Then I'll see you in a half-hour.” Her eyes followed him as he sauntered out. Maz directed two men to drag Gredoni's body into the back.

Leia grabbed her soda and remaining fries and sat at the bar. “How long have you known Harry Solomon?”

Maz laughed, a short, infectious bray. “Him? Since he was a snot-nosed kid with a big mouth who hung around the pilots, asking them questions about how the planes worked.”

“Is he...trustworthy?”

Maz adjusted her glasses. “No...but he's a better man than he thinks.” The elderly woman squinted at Leia. “You know...I've owned this bar for years, and I've seen a lot of eyes. When you live as long as I have, you start to see the same eyes in people.” She squinted at the young woman's large, dark brown eyes. “Your eyes are familiar. Did you know any pilots?”

She nodded. “My father flew in the war.”

“I saw a lot of young men ship out to the war.” She squinted further. “Many of them didn't come back...and others weren't in their right minds. Didn't recognize their sweethearts, couldn't settle down. Got violent. Wanted more than just ordinary work. They wanted power, the power to change the world. To own the world.”

Leia squirmed, not liking where this conversation was going. She downed the soda and handed Maz twenty cents. “It was nice meeting you, ma'am. Thank you for your hospitality.”

The older woman took the coins gently. “Please. Call me Maz” She nodded at the door. “Go talk to Harry. He needs to find home.”

“I'll tell him that.” There was something about the way that old lady just...stared...at her that made her uncomfortable. Matter of fact, the entire afternoon had ranged from horrifying to unsettling. She hurried out, Maz still watching her.