Star Wars_ Millennium Falcon - James Luceno [109]
“No, I don't think you do. Not fully.”
Jadak gritted his teeth. “You going to let me state my piece?”
Poste put his forefingers in his ears.
Jadak moved Poste's hands and forced him to sit on the roof's retaining wall.
“That ship, no matter what Rej Taunt or Quip Fargil or Han Solo calls her, is the Stellar Envoy, and no matter where she's been or what she's done in the past sixty-two years she's the key to our finding a treasure of unimaginable proportions. Now, if you're willing to walk away from that just because the present owners are two galactic heroes, you can do that and I'll take over from here. But after all the parsecs we've logged and with what we stand to gain, I think you've got to consider your decision carefully.”
Poste stared at him. “Did I mention how good Solo is with a blaster? Did I mention how kriffing lucky he is? Did I mention that his wife carries a lightsaber? And knows how to use it?” He swung around to gaze at the Falcon. “Take another look. Maybe you're wrong about her being your ship. Maybe Parlay Thorp's broke down, and this is some other YT. A replacement.”
Jadak turned. Though he wasn't about to admit as much to Poste, he did have his doubts. The Falcon wasn't just a modified YT-1300, she was a hybrid. More, she was closer to a warship than a freighter, boasting a thickly armored hull, outsized thruster ports, a pair of military-grade quad lasers, and a high-powered rectenna dish. The front mandibles were nothing like those of the Stellar Envoy, and the docking rings had been altered. Even the cockpit was slightly different.
And yet, despite the differences, every fiber of his being told him that the Falcon and the Envoy were one and the same ship, and just looking at the aged YT made him feel whole again.
“Here's what we're going to do,” he said. “I'm going to answer the Solos' HoloNet message and arrange to meet with them. While I'm doing that, you're going to steal the ship and pilot it to Lesser Vaced. Then I'm going to get myself there, one way or another, and we're going to complete this treasure hunt.”
Poste stared at him as if he hadn't heard or comprehended a word.
“I think you left out a few parts of the plan.”
“What parts?”
“The part where I foil the Falcon's anti-intrusion system, which the Solos most certainly will have enabled! The part where I pilot a starship to another planet! The part where I'm caught stealing a ship and sentenced to ten years in Carcel or some other kriffing prison!”
Jadak made a placating gesture. “Lesser Vaced is only a world away, and piloting a YT-Thirteen-hundred is child's play. It's no more difficult to pilot than that candy-colored airspeeder of yours.”
“I don't take my airspeeder into outer space!”
Jadak's lips became a menacing thin line. “Are you going to calm down, or do I have to sedate you?”
Poste dropped his head into his heads and muttered at the roof. “Please tell me I'm hallucinating on Fargil's homebrew.”
Jadak lifted Poste's head. “We passed a droid shop when we were casing the town. Do you remember it?”
“I remember.”
“You're going to use the last of our credits to rent a slicer droid. I know there's one there, because I saw it through the window. The droid is going to help you overcome whatever security the Solos have installed in the Falcon, and the droid is going to link with the ship's droid brain and auto-guidance systems and pilot the ship to Lesser Vaced.”
Poste regarded him openmouthed. “The droid is going to do all that.”
Jadak nodded. “You just need to follow the droid's instructions.”
“I just need to do what the droid tells me to do.”
Jadak smiled. “See how easy it is.”
* * *
“I'll just have a cup of tea,” Leia told the Eatery's Twi'lek waitress. “Amelia, are you sure the frosty treat will be enough? You skipped lunch.”
“I just want the treat.”
“Is the nerf fresh or flash-frozen?” Han asked.
“Free-range. From a ranch south of here.”
“Then bring me a double stacker with the special sauce.”
Leia frowned as the waitress hurried off. “I thought you said you were cutting