• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“Which they were supposed to do half an hour ago, once we arrived. If that droid was a living being he’d be getting suspicious. Or at the very least worried about his tip.”

“Well, fortunately for us, he’s not,” Leia said. She, too, was hungry, and they hadn’t had time to stock the Millennium Falcon with anything other than the standard rations. Both Han and Allana turned their noses up at said rations unless they were hungry enough to eat parts of the Falcon itself. Which, Han had mused, might just be tastier.

There were times when Leia felt that she had two grandchildren.

Still … imported Roba steak with Xixor salad and a dessert of Vagnerian canapés was sounding very tempting. “Let’s order a basket of hubba chips,” Leia suggested as a compromise.

“I like hubba chips,” came a high-pitched voice.

“Me, too,” came another.

“Gamorrean snack crackers are my favorite, but you’ll need an Anoat malted to dunk them in,” chirped a third.

Three small, blue, rodent-like heads with large ears and bright eyes peered over the edge of the table.

The Squibs had arrived.

A SECOND LATER THE THREE SQUIBS WERE DRAGGING SPARE CHAIRS from other tables and scrambling atop them. Han stared at them.

“You were supposed to comm us,” he said.

One of them, a female slightly smaller and more delicately built than the other two, waved a hand airily. “But that’s so impersonal. Nothing’s nicer than sharing a meal with one’s partners while the deal is discussed.”

“Who’s the fuzzling?” another one said.

Leia sighed. “Amelia,” she said, “these beings are Grees, Sligh, and Emala. Amelia is our adopted daughter.”

“Amelia sounds too much like Emala,” Sligh said at once. “That’s going to make for some confusion, since we’ll be traveling together awhile. She’ll need another name. Hey!” He waved over a serving droid. “Some hubba chips, Gamorrean crackers, and an Anoat malted.”

“Wait, what?” said Han, nearly choking on his ale. Allana was watching all this with bright, interested eyes, but saying nothing. “Who said anything about traveling together?”

“Sligh just did,” said Grees. “Something wrong with your ears?”

“I think something may be wrong with yours,” Han shot back. “They’re enormous. Bigger than I remember them.”

“We’re not traveling with you,” Leia said, trying to get the conversation back on something vaguely reminiscent of a topic. Although now that Han had said something, the Squibs’ ears—always long and tufted—did seem a bit larger in proportion to their small bodies. “You said you had information for us. We’re willing to pay for it. That was the deal.”

The waitdroid arrived. Its tray accessory was extended, and perched atop the square sheet of metal were their appetizers. Allana’s eyes were fastened on the Squibs and, contrary to her earlier statement, she didn’t seem at all interested in the snacks. Sligh picked up a Gamorrean cracker and dunked it in the malted as he spoke.

“I don’t believe we negotiated the finer points at all, actually,” he said, crunching the cracker with sharp white teeth.

“Sitting here with three Squibs is hardly inconspicuous,” Leia said, glancing at Allana quickly and then around at the neighboring tables. A few heads were turned their way.

“Hey, you’re the one who brought a fuzzling into this,” said Grees. “She’s your problem.”

“Amelia is not a problem,” Han said through gritted teeth.

“Whatever,” Grees said, shrugging his narrow shoulders. He reached for a hubba chip and rubbed it on his cheek, the Squib equivalent of taking a good long whiff. Leia realized for the first time that they had more clothing on than usual. Squibs wore clothing more for decoration and storage purposes than to protect themselves from the elements, covered as they were with fur. Too, their fur was used as an olfactory organ, and so most Squibs went uncovered. Yet both the males were wearing tunics, pants, and boots, and Emala had a long-sleeved, floor-length dress. They must have been stifling; Leia, in a light dress and sandals, was warm. “Still changes the deal, though.”

“What?” Han was turning red, and it wasn’t from