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“Anyone who’s exercised,” Han said. “You should have asked Nandreeson to let you warm up before he tossed you in that pool.”

“Very funny.”

Han slowly stretched Lando’s leg, massaging the muscle. “No pushing, buddy. You almost didn’t survive that one.”

“I’m tough,” Lando said.

“Stupid is more like it. What were you thinking, coming back to the Run?”

“I had to find you, Han.” Lando stretched out his other leg. “You can let go now.”

“Why? What’s so important that you’d risk your life?”

“Someone’s setting you up, old friend,” Lando said softly. “They’re trying to make it look like you’re behind the bombing of the Senate Hall.”

“With Leia inside? Anyone who knows me knows I’d never do that.”

Lando smiled. “I think Kid and Zeen would probably agree with that. But most of the Imperials in the Senate don’t know you. That sort of behavior was business as usual in the Empire.”

“It would take pretty strong proof to make it look like I’ve done something.”

Lando shook his head. “Strong isn’t as important as the right kind of proof. You’re lucky I brought this to Leia first.” Then he told Han about finding the Spicy Lady, and the message inside.

Han sighed. “Jarril’s dead, huh?”

Lando nodded. “It wasn’t pretty.”

“I think he was afraid that would happen when he came to me. I think he felt he didn’t have much time left.”

“Maybe he was part of the setup.”

Han shook his head. “He was too scared for that. He tried to ask for help a smuggler’s way, by offering me money, but I wasn’t buying. And then, he asked for it directly.”

“Maybe he had to.”

“And maybe he needed it. Maybe he knew they were coming for him. Obviously, they found him and killed him on Coruscant. He never would have sent those messages.”

Lando shook his head. “Jarril’s dead. His motives don’t really matter. What does is that someone wanted you involved.”

“Do you think the Imperials in the Senate did this so that they could get rid of Leia?”

“And bomb their own? It doesn’t seem too likely, does it, Han?”

“All these sales of old Imperial equipment tie in too,” Han said.

Lando closed his eyes. “You ever hear of Almania?”

“Not until you mentioned it,” Han said.

“Me, either,” Lando said. “That’s odd, don’t you think?”

“Odd?”

“Someone worked hard to keep a place we never heard of out of the visible spectrum. When someone works hard to keep something hidden, it’s usually something we need to find out about.”

“Exactly,” Han said. “Maybe it should be our next stop.”

“Provided we both have ships left,” Lando said.

“We will,” Han said. “I can promise you that.”

Luke slipped between the creature’s teeth, pulling his legs inside just as it bit down. Its mouth was large and had a flat, ridged top. Even with the teeth clamped, there was still room inside.

Except near the tongue. It kept slamming Luke against the roof of the mouth, as if it were trying to lick him. Each time he slid toward the throat, the tongue slammed him against the roof again. He had the sense that this creature usually swallowed its food whole.

Everything inside was slimy. There was nothing to grab on to. So the next time the tongue slammed him against the roof, he dug his fingers into the soft palate.

The creature yelped and pushed at him with its tongue. Luke let go, the jaws opened, and he was sailing through the air. He hit the metal walls and slid to the ground, the wind knocked from him.

The creature stood over him, a hurt expression on its gigantic face. It pawed at him, claws extended, and he couldn’t roll away. It pulled him onto his back and sniffed him again, as if it couldn’t believe something so small would cause it so much pain.

Luke held his hands up, and put them on the nose, trying to push it away. The creature snuffled at him, then licked him once as if tasting him. Luke’s entire body smelled like the interior of the creature’s mouth, a combination of raw meat, dirty teeth, and saliva. He couldn’t get away.

The creature backed up, contemplated him for a moment, then batted him so hard he slid across the wood