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"Might have been a better plan," the Nyemarian hissed, leaning in close. Han gagged on Preni's thick, putrid breath. It smelled like a rotting bantha carcass. "Someone's been looking for you."

"Looking for us? " Luke said nervously. "Who?"

But Han was unsurprised—his gut was never wrong. "Was it that Farghul bounty hunter slug?" he asked. "You'd think he learned his lesson back on Iridonia."

Preni shook his head. "Just some Glymphid. Offered a big bounty if anyone could point him toward the crew of the Falcon."

"And what did you tell him?" Leia asked.

"Told him I never heard of you," Preni said.

Chewbacca growled and took a step closer to the Nyemarian. A big step.

"Okay, okay!" Preni squeaked. "I may have told him you were in town. But I didn't say you were coming back today, I swear!"

"Only because you didn't know," Han growled.

"Forget him," Leia said. "Let's get out of here before whoever it is comes back."

"Better idea," Han said, drawing his blaster out of its holster. "Let's stick around."

"Han…" Luke tapped the pouch containing the stolen access codes, a reminder that they had more important things to do.

"Don't gimme that look, kid," Han said wearily. They were exactly the same, Luke and Leia, always telling him to stop, think, wait. Be patient.

Well, now it was their turn to be patient. It was past time to send a message to Jabba.

And Han decided this Glymphid was just the guy to deliver it.

CHAPTER THREE

Leia wanted to throttle Han. As usual. He was acting like they hadn't just spent three days on the run. Like there was no rush to get the access codes off the planet and back to Yavin 4—much less get themselves off the planet before the duchess's forces figured out where they were.

How did I get here? Leia asked herself, not for the first time. Once, the Rebel Alliance had been her only priority. Destroying the Empire had been all she cared about. Then, out of nowhere, Luke and Han had dropped into her life. Destroying the Empire still mattered—but so did they.

Which was why, fuming, she followed Han out of the hangar and back into the alleyways of Anem. Good friends were hard to find—and even harder to ignore when they were about to do something stupid.

"This way," Han hissed, stepping over a heap of rotting acid-beets. "I think I saw the guy slip around the corner."

Chewbacca's tracking skills and Han's "gut" guided them through the maze of narrow streets. The pavement was cracked and uneven, frequently giving way to rubble. Leia couldn't believe how different this area was from the dense city center, with its glossy, crystalline skyscrapers. There, everything had been smooth and silver. Here, every building was a patchwork of bright colors and mismatched materials. Market stalls dotted each corner, hawking for rolow berries, krayt dragonskin pouches, and small pourstone statues of the duchess. The rich, sweet scent of roasting hambones choked the air. In the city center, speeders jockeyed for space at death-defying speeds. But here, the only traffic was a line of sallow creatures that looked like lumpy, bloated eopie, and the occasional wild pack of roaming voorpaks.

As for the alien they were tailing: More than once, Leia caught a glimpse of a long proboscis or scaled leg disappearing around a corner. But it was always too quick to be caught, too slow to escape them completely. Something was wrong.

But Han wouldn't be stopped. He led them into a cramped alleyway, zig-zagging through heaping dumpsters. The heavy stink of rotting garbage was overwhelming. Leia held her breath, walking faster and faster until she was nearly running. She pushed past Han and exploded out of the alley, drawing in a desperate breath of clean air. She nearly choked on it when she spotted the Glymphid standing only a few meters away, his finger extended toward Han.

"Found you!" the Glymphid hissed. The alien was tall and thin, with tan, scaly limbs and suction cups at the end of each narrow finger and toe. Red eyes peered out over a long,