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“I didn’t think you were so well traveled.”

She smiled. “I stayed close to the ports on Carratos, and I listened well.”

“When did you get the quote from Skreeka?”

“Oh, I made it up.”

The yellow indicator winked out and was replaced by a green one. “Talos Spaceport. We see this is your first visit here. My supervisor doesn’t want to see you taken advantage of by those scoundrels at Skreeka. He’s authorized a one-time courtesy rate—five hundred to land and load up, seventy-five a day. That’s the very best I can do for you, and I’d take it, if I were you. Trust me when I tell you, we’re not making a credit at those prices. And I don’t care where you go, anyone who asks you for less is gonna find some way to get the difference back from you.”

“Thank your supervisor for me,” Akanah said. “We accept.”

“A good decision,” the controller said. “As soon as you transmit your authorization, we’ll put you on the beam.”

The indicator turned red, then blacked out completely as Akanah turned her head toward Luke. “All yours, dear,” she said, smiling sweetly. “We have a reservation.”

Docking Bay A13 reminded Luke of a smaller version of the Mos Eisley facility in which he first encountered the Millennium Falcon. The design was similar, and the amenities were as old-fashioned—hand umbilicals, a machine shop without a single tool-and-die droid, mechanical locks, and no storm cover.

“I can’t believe I paid them five hundred for this,” Akanah said with disgust, raising her hands wide. “This berth must be a hundred years old. It’s been paid for twenty times over.”

“Discount rates,” Luke said, securing the last of the umbilicals to the Adventurer’s three propulsion systems. “Can’t expect luxury accommodations.”

“Or to be dealt with honestly. We overpaid by half, or more. I hope they enjoyed their little joke.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Luke said. “This will do. Shall we take a look in ship’s supplies and see if there’s a food pack old enough to fit Mud Sloth’s reprocessor?”

“I’ll leave that to you,” Akanah said, shouldering her bag. “I have to go.”

Luke emerged from under the repulsorlift “wing” of the skiff. “What are you talking about?”

“I have to do this by myself,” said Akanah.

“Why?”

“If the Fallanassi are here, I must approach them alone,” she said. “If I take you with me, they won’t let themselves be found. They won’t see you as I see you. They’ll only see you as an outsider.”

“What am I supposed to do while you’re off by yourself?”

“You can stay here. I’ll come back for you if I find them—you know I will. And I’ll come back to you if I don’t.”

“What if I don’t want to stay here?”

“Then do your own exploring in the city. Go where you like. Do what pleases you. If you’re not here when I return, I’ll wait for you,” Akanah said. “All I ask is that you not follow me. You’d only hinder our purpose here.”

“This doesn’t feel right to me,” Luke said. “Why can’t we go together, like we did on Lucazec, and Teyr?”

“Because I knew that the circle had left Lucazec, and Norika had left Teyr,” she said. “But I do not know that they have left Atzerri.”

“I didn’t realize you were embarrassed to be seen with me,” Luke said wryly.

“Please understand—if you leave the docking bay, it will be as Li Stonn. Yes?”

“Yes.”

“But the others can pierce that illusion, just as I did,” Akanah said. “If we’re seen together, or you follow me, they’ll think you’re a deceiver, a threat. They’ll wait for a chance to approach me when I’m alone. But if you’re recognized, I don’t know what they will do. They might decide to stay hidden from me, fearing I’ve been turned. They might even decide to leave Atzerri. We can’t risk that. I have to go alone.”

A deep frown creased Luke’s face. Everything she said was perfectly reasonable. But everything she said felt completely wrong. “I don’t like the idea of us being separated. Especially here.”

“Do you still think I need your protection?” she asked. “I’ve been living around this kind of petty evil for most of my life.