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Evazan grabbed a handful of the kid’s clothing and yanked him back around. “I don’t like you, either,” he snarled, shoving his mangled face close to the kid’s. Around them, conversations came to a halt as heads turned to look. “You just watch yourself,” Evazan continued. “We’re wanted men.”

“Uh-oh,” Karoly said quietly.

Shada nodded silently. The kid was in for it now—she’d seen enough tapcafe fights to know a setup when she saw one. “We’re staying out of it,” she reminded Karoly.

“But if they get arrested—”

Shada cut her off with a sharp gesture. Smoothly, gracefully, as if he’d been fully aware of the situation from the start, the old man had turned away from his conversation with the Wookiee. “This little one’s not worth the effort,” he said soothingly to Evazan. “Come, let me get you something.”

It was, Shada realized, as neat a face-saving gesture as she’d ever seen. Evazan and the Aqualish could now accept a drink, maybe snarl and posture a little more, and then move on with whatever passed for personal honor intact.

But unfortunately for the old man, Evazan wasn’t interested in a peaceful settlement. For a split second he glared at the old man, his predator look hardening into something ugly and vicious. Conversation at the bar had all but ceased now, every eye turned toward the violence about to break. From their alcove the band played on, oblivious to what was happening.

And then, with a roar, Evazan shoved the kid violently to the side to crash into one of the tables. His hand swung up, a blaster gripped in it. Beside him, the Aqualish also had his blaster out, an urgent “No blasters—no blasters!” from the bartender going completely unnoticed. The weapons swung up, targeting the old man.

They never got there. Abruptly, the old man’s hand exploded into brilliant blue-white light, a flickering hard-edged fire that slashed with surgical precision across his two attackers. There was a blaster shot that ricocheted into the ceiling, a scream and gurgling roar—

And then, as abruptly as it had begun, it was over. Evazan and the Aqualish collapsed out of sight beyond the bar, their moans showing they were at least temporarily still alive. From where she stood, Shada could see the Aqualish’s blaster lying on the floor, still clutched in a hand no longer attached to its owner.

For another moment the old man remained as he was, his glowing weapon humming, his eyes flicking around the cantina as if assessing the possibility of more trouble. He could have saved himself the effort. From the casual way the other patrons were turning back to their drinks, it was obvious that no one here had any particular affection for the downed smugglers. At least not enough to take on the old man over it.

And it was in that second’s worth of pause that Shada was finally able to identify the weapon the old man had used against his attackers.

A lightsaber.

“You still want to know who he is?” Karoly asked dryly from beside her.

Shada licked at her lips, a fresh tingle running through her as the old man closed down his weapon and helped the kid back to his feet. A Jedi Knight. A real, living Jedi Knight. No wonder she’d sensed something odd about him. “I doubt he’s for hire,” she told Karoly, taking a deep breath and forcing her mind back to the business at hand. If the Jedi Knights of the Old Republic had still been in power when their world was destroyed … “Well, that eliminates Evazan and the Aqualish,” she said to Karoly. “Keep looking.”

They spent the next few minutes sipping their drinks and surreptitiously scanning the room, then spent a few minutes more talking to three of the most likely prospects. But to no avail. Two of the smugglers were already under contract, though one of them offered with a leer to take them along as passengers if they were nice to him. The third smuggler, an independent, was willing to talk, but made it clear that he wasn’t planning to move his ship until this sudden Imperial focus on Tatooine had calmed down.

“Great,” Karoly grumbled as they returned to their previous spots at the bar. “Now what?