• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Then he saw her, sitting cross-legged on a pile of rubble, her arms cradling a charred body. Her tears had stopped, but she looked stricken, as if someone had stabbed her through the heart.

He picked his way over to her. Now that he knew what much of the debris was, he could recognize it: long crane pieces that went on binary load lifters; jacks for plugging into computer systems; wheels that belonged on R5 units. The droids blew themselves up to destroy their masters.

But how?

Why?

He stopped beside Blue. The body she held was nearly unrecognizable. It was missing an arm. It wasn’t until Han crouched that he saw the face.

Davis.

His eyes were open, their final expression stunned horror. Han reached over and closed them.

Blue glanced at him then. Her face was still tear-streaked, but it looked as if she would never cry again. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way,” she said, her voice flat.

Han felt cold. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what she was talking about. Still, he asked, “What wasn’t?”

“Davis.” She choked on the word. “You were supposed to trust him. He was supposed to take you out of here.”

Han’s thighs ached. He wasn’t used to crouching. “You knew him?”

“I loved him.” Her voice was soft. “It wasn’t true, you know. What Kid said. I wasn’t a smuggler of hearts. I have one. Had one.” She bowed her head. “This shouldn’t happen to people.”

“No,” Han said softly. “It shouldn’t happen to anyone.”

Maybe he had misunderstood her. Maybe that was what she had meant when he came over, that something like this was an unspeakable abomination, that the people who conceived of it were horrible beings.

“What happened, Blue?”

She shook her head. “The credits, Han. You don’t know what those kinds of credits do.”

The chill in his bones increased. Davis did not look restful. He looked as if he had died in agony. Blue could probably see that too. “Tell me,” Han said.

“You were supposed to trust him. I should have known you couldn’t make such an easy leap. But I remembered you wrong, Han. I remembered you as a nice man, a competent man, but I forgot you were a loner. I forgot you liked to do things your way.”

“Why was I supposed to trust him, Blue?”

“So you would go after the equipment. You were supposed to see a trade, and follow it to the source.”

“What’s the source?”

“Almania,” she whispered.

Han leaned away from her. “Was Jarril part of this?”

“Not a willing part. When Seluss found out he had left, then we decided to use it. You would have come in handy.”

“To whom, Blue?”

She stroked Davis’s burned head. He had no hair left on his scalp. Even in death, he looked vulnerable.

“To whom?” Han repeated.

“The credits, Han. You don’t understand the credits.”

“Yes, I do,” he said. “I do.” He understood. Credits made some people crazy. It made them forget the important things. It made them creatures without heart. No matter how much Blue protested, he didn’t believe her. She had no heart. Not if she could be a part of this.

“His name is Kueller. He wants your wife.”

“Leia?”

She nodded. “And her brother.”

Han frowned. “But why?”

“Because he hates the New Republic. He thinks it harms people more than it helps them.”

“And he did this?” The anger seeped out of Han’s voice before he could stop it.

Blue froze, her hand stopped in midcaress. She closed her eyes.

“Blue?”

“It was supposed to be a clean weapon, Han. It wasn’t supposed to do so much damage.”

“You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”

She shook her head. “I’m not that dumb. Really. I wouldn’t let this happen to my friends. To Davis.”

Han clenched his fists. He wanted to hurt something. But he had to hold himself in check. “What does he want with Leia?”

“He wants her and Skywalker gone. He wants to be the master of the Force in the galaxy. He wants to lead all the planets.”

“He wants to be Emperor.”

She shook her head. “He’s a good man.”

“They say Palpatine was once, too,” Han said. He pushed up, unable to be close to her anymore.

“He’s not like that, Han.”

Han shook his head. “You misjudged me, Blue. Why wouldn’t you misjudge this