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Chewie yowled.

“I think that’s a bad idea,” Han said. He stretched. Wynni was strong, stronger maybe than Chewie. “I think you two need to settle your differences when we return to Skip 1. Until then, you have a truce. Is that clear?”

Chewie nodded. Wynni glared. Her pink hood had come askew, and her fur hung over her eyes. She brushed it away.

“Wynni? Is that clear?”

She nodded.

“Good,” Han said. “Let’s hope this little diversion didn’t give the Reks time to get here.”

“You think Nandreeson knows we’re here?” Zeen asked.

“You think anything happens on this Skip without Nandreeson knowing?” Han asked.

“Good point,” Zeen said. He handed Wynni her bowcaster. “Let’s go, then.”

“Someone needs to head this mission,” Han said.

“You’re the only one with military experience, General,” Blue said. “It’s all yours.”

Han felt an internal relief. Chewie and Wynni had just acted out his worst nightmare. The last thing he wanted was for all of them to get down below, and to fight among themselves as to the right thing to do.

“All right,” he said. “Into the mud.”

“You take us such exciting places,” Blue said as she grabbed her nose with one hand and leaped out the Skipper’s door. She landed in the center of the mud hole and slid in, her long hair disappearing last.

“Man, this is a dream day for me,” Zeen said. “First we get all muddy, then we face off with Nandreeson. All over Calrissian, whom I just love. Next time, Solo, bring your government friends.”

Zeen jumped and landed on the edge of the hole. He lost his balance and slid, back-first, down the opening.

Kid stepped into place at the door, but Wynni shoved him aside and jumped without saying anything. She landed so hard she splattered mud into the Skipper. The splatter hit Han in the face. The mud was hotter than he had expected, and smelled vaguely of rotten eggs. He wiped the mud off with the back of his arm.

“Chewie,” he asked sweetly, “you want to go next?”

Chewie yarled.

“I’ll go,” Kid said, and jumped. He slid into the hole as if it had been greased just for him.

“Better you than me, pal, stuck between two Wookiees,” Han said under his breath.

Chewie growled.

Han shook his head. “I’m last, Chewie. It’s better that way. I can face any problems we might have on the surface. If I don’t make it down, you guys can get Lando out.”

Chewie snorted, brought a paw up to his nose, and grabbed it. Somehow his look was less elegant than Blue’s had been. He closed his eyes, stepped out, lost his balance, and belly flopped into the mud. The splat doused Han, and made Chewie roar in surprise. He staggered, tried to stand, and then slipped into the hole.

Han wiped his face again, set the door on automatic as Blue had showed him to do, and jumped.

The mud was hot and slimy. It coated him instantly, but he was sliding right away. There was air in the tube, swampy, stale, foul air, but air, which he could breathe as long as his nose and mouth were clear. He slid round and round and round, corkscrewing his way deeper into the mud hole. The light from the top faded, and he was in complete darkness, surrounded by stinky mud, and sliding faster and faster toward the bottom.

Maybe he had made a mistake. Maybe these tubes were longer than he thought. Maybe they narrowed and all of his friends were stuck in the middle, piled on top of each other, and suffocating.

He had a horrible vision of Chewie and Wynni coming to blows as the oxygen left them, killing Zeen and Kid in the process. Blue, of course, would have been squished almost from the start.

Then he slid out in a gush of mud, tumbled through comparatively cool air, and landed, face-first, in the dirtiest water he had ever seen. He sank like a boat with a hole in its bottom, his eyes open. Sediment swirled around him. Sediment, algae, and long black hair.

Blue was still below, her foot caught in a hole. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks bulging with air, but she wasn’t panicked, not yet. Her hands were pulling at the weeds clinging to her ankle.

Han pulled the small vibroblade from his boot and dove down beside