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She laughed and kissed him lightly on the mouth. “Corran, I really do appreciate your concerns over my feelings.” Erisi backed away from him toward the opening hatchway. “Have sweet dreams.”

She turned in the open hatchway and came face-to-face with Mirax Terrik. The smuggler’s daughter smiled politely. “Excuse me, I didn’t realize I was intruding.”

“Not at all, Miss Terrik.” All the warmth drained from Erisi’s voice. “I was just leaving so Lieutenant Horn could get some rest. He’s confined to quarters and I don’t believe that order allows civilian visitors.”

Mirax tapped the datapad riding in a sheath on her left forearm. “I have permission to visit from his commanding officer. We can check with Emtrey if you wish.”

Erisi looked back at Corran and he would have preferred being under the Ravager’s guns again to her stare. “It’s okay, Erisi. I’m sure Miss Terrik won’t be staying long. Thanks for the talk.”

“You’re most welcome, Lieutenant.” Erisi turned and nodded curtly to Mirax. “Miss Terrik.”

“Later.” Mirax watched Erisi walk away, then added under her breath, “Much later.” Turning back around she caught Corran staring after Erisi. “Flyboys—all you think about is sex.”

“What?”

She shoved the plastic case she was carrying into his stomach none too gently, then walked past him into the cabin. “The smallest smuggling hold on the Skate is bigger than this.”

“The Reprieve wasn’t built for pleasure cruising or smuggling. I’m looking forward to grounding at a new base.” Corran stepped back out of the hatchway and let it close. Hefting the box he asked, “What’s this?”

Mirax flopped down on Ooryl’s bed. “Wedge said you might be down—but then he didn’t realize the bacta queen would be here. I figured you might like some stuff from home so I got this little package together.” She shrugged. “I intended it as something of a peace offering, I guess.”

Corran sat on the edge of his bed and undid the case’s two latches. He opened the box and smiled. In it he saw a half-dozen datacard issues of magazines from Corellia, as well as two tins of spicy, smoked nerf and a bottle of Whyren’s Reserve whiskey.

“Wow. This is more stuff from Corellia than I’ve seen in the past two years.”

Mirax rolled up on her right side and rested her head on her right hand. “Below the whiskey is a ryshcate. I had to substitute some ingredients but I think it turned out pretty good.”

Corran pulled the whiskey bottle out of the case and set it down beside him. Beneath it, wrapped in clear plastic, sat the dark brown sweetcake that was traditionally reserved for birthdays, anniversaries, or other celebrations of momentous occasions. “Last time I had ryshcate was after my father died, after the funeral. Where’d you find the vweliu nuts to put into it?”

“Around.”

“Around?”

“Yeah, around. There’s a thriving black market in Corellian goods out there. A lot of us are out here and with the Diktat in place the Imps still control our space. This means we have a big demand with a restricted supply, so it pays to move the merchandise.” She scowled at the hatch. “That blasted protocol droid of yours has—er, had—two cases of Corellian whiskey and has been doling it out to me in one and two bottle lots. I could have gotten an old Customs ship to replace the one that got left in that lake in the Hensara system for the whole case, but he’s holding back on me. Getting two bottles out of him cost me a hyperdrive horizontal booster and a case of l’lahsh mixes that came from Alderaan before it died.”

Corran raised an eyebrow. “Emtrey had the whiskey?”

“I got two bottles from him. One’s beside you and one’s in the ryshcate.” She sat up and their knees almost touched. “You going to arrest the droid for smuggling?”

“No, just let him off with a warning, I guess.” The fighter pilot smiled. “Do you want some of the ryshcate? You made it, so you should have some of it.”

She hesitated, then nodded her head. “A small piece, but only if we can think of a reason to celebrate.”

“How about being alive?”

“Good enough for me.”

Corran