Jaina placed her hands on her hips. “Even if Kessel does have all the replacement parts you need, it’ll take a pair of skilled mechanics two days to get this mess fixed.”
Lilmit blanched. “Days? I don’t have days. I don’t even have any credits. I need to leave before Kessel is—” He clamped his mouth shut. His eyes darted from side to side as he fluttered his hands, spreading his webbed Fingers. “I, uh, have to leave today. Is there any way I might persuade you to help me?”
“Why?” Jacen asked sourly. “So you can deliver some more weapons to desperate people in war zones?”
The former arms smuggler drew himself up haughtily. “I’m not in that line of business anymore.” He blinked rapidly. “I—I’m completely legitimate now.”
Tenel Ka raised an eyebrow. “Transporting spice, perhaps?”
Lilmit looked defensive. His nostrils flared. “Yes, a small, authorized shipment. And it’s … urgently needed.”
“Ah,” Jacen said.
“Aha,” Tenel Ka finished, nodding gravely.
“So you see,” Lilmit said defensively, “you mustn’t interfere with my business anymore. I’m on an errand of … mercy.”
“Actually, we’re not here to interfere with you at all,” Zekk said, stepping forward a bit. “We’re looking for some information about a friend of ours. You see, our friend … borrowed my ship, the Lightning Rod.”
Jacen could sense Zekk’s struggle to come up with an explanation that would not involve lying. His emerald-green eyes clouded for a moment, then cleared. “We had planned to rendezvous at the first stop, but our friend obviously got here first and didn’t wait.”
The story was true, Jacen thought admiringly. The young Jedi had hoped to meet Anja here. Anja herself had not known this, though, and so of course had not waited for them.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her,” Lilmit protested. “Or that hunk of junk she was flying.”
Her, Jacen thought, and that hunk of junk. So Anja and the Lightning Rod had been here. It was fortunate for the young Jedi Knights that Lilmit was such a poor liar. The fellow was obviously desperate to get away. There was no doubt left in Jacen’s mind now that the former gunrunner had not only seen Anja, but had spoken to her as well. He could sense it strongly through the Force.
Jacen moved closer to Lilmit and spoke in a confidential tone. “Look, we already know Anja was here in the Lightning Rod.” He had only known this for a few seconds, but Lilmit didn’t need to be told that. “She desperately needs our help with something she’s trying to do,” he continued in a low voice. At least, Jacen thought Anja was trying to give up using spice. From everything Lando had told them and from what Jacen had seen so far, Anja would need her friends’ help to get through this.
“We were sent here to help her,” Jaina added in a persuasive tone. She sighed with feigned resignation. “But if you don’t know anything, you don’t. It’s a shame, too. The Chief Administrator of this facility owes us a favor and probably would have been more than happy to give us a few rather hard-to-find engine parts that you could have used to fix your ship.”
Jacen shrugged, turning to go. “Well, good luck anyway, Lilmit. I’m sure you’ll understand we’re in kind of a hurry.” He took a stab in the dark. “We’ll just have to hope we link up with her at the next rendezvous before it’s too late.”
Lilmit swallowed convulsively but did not speak.
“You do understand, do you not, that we were sent to assist Anja Gallandro with the spice?” Tenel Ka said, leaning close to Lilmit, a meaningful look in her cool gray eyes.
Lilmit’s eyes went wide as comprehension dawned. Jacen was pretty sure Lilmit didn’t know they’d been sent by Master Skywalker, and therefore he had no idea what sense Lilmit might have made out of Tenel Ka’s cryptic comment, but he was aware that the warrior girl had an intricate understanding of deceptions, plots, and conspiracies. Somehow, Jacen thought in admiration, she had known just what to say.
Jaina added a last little push. “Well, there’s no time to lose. We may as well get going and just hope we can rendezvous with her at Ord Mantell….”
Jacen saw no answering flicker of confirmation in Lilmit’s eyes.
“Or,” Jaina went on, “Coruscant … ?”
“No!” Lilmit practically yelped. “Calamari! She’s gone to Mon Calamari.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “The Coruscant assignment is mine.”
Jacen tried to clear his mind. They were getting answers, but he had no idea what they were talking about! He hoped someone knew.
Lilmit seemed to warm up to them now. “I was testing you, of course. For Anja. You can never be too sure about these things,” he said, nodding several times. “Especially since you interfered with my shipment to Anobis. I got into a lot of trouble for that.”
“We had our reasons,” Zekk broke in, “but we’d like to make it up to you now.”
Lilmit smiled. “You’re sure you can get me the engine parts I need?”
“Of course—nothing simpler,” Jaina assured him smoothly.
Lowie rumbled a curt suggestion. “Master Lowbacca advises you to talk first,” Em Teedee translated. “Then we will see to getting your parts.”
“But you’ll have to do the engine work yourself,” Jaina warned. “We’ve got our own mission.”
Lilmit nodded. “Fair enough. Just as long as I get off of this rock … in time.”
8
As a Jedi, Jaina felt bound by her promises, no matter whom she made them to, and so once they got back to Chief Administrator’s cozy underground office, the first order of business was to make sure Lilmit got the promised engine parts. Once that was taken care of, Nien Nunb listened carefully to their description of the encounter with the former gunrunner.
The Sullustan touched a finger to his layered lips and murmured thoughtfully. Em Teedee was proud to offer an immediate translation. “Master Nien Nunb believes that Lilmit’s urgent desire to leave Kessel before some mysterious deadline indicates that some conspiracy is indeed afoot.”
“Does seem to kind of support your theory that something’s going on, Nien Nunb,” Jaina agreed. “But we have no idea what. Lilmit’s anxiety could be something perfectly simple.”
“Or perhaps not,” Tenel Ka said ominously. “We must be prepared.”
Lowie roared, and the little droid responded rather than translating. “Oh, indeed, Master Lowbacca, we mustn’t leave Master Nien Nunb unprotected here in the spice mines. He can trust us, of course, but otherwise he has no idea who his friends or his enemies might be.”
“All right. So we’ll have to leave someone here while the rest of us go look for our friend,” Jaina said. “Zekk?”
He gave a vigorous shake of his head. “Anja has the Lightning Rod. I’m not going to stay here while the rest of you go after her.”
Jaina frowned but had to admit the logic of this. She knew better than to get between a being and his ship. “Jacen, how about you?”
Her brother gave her an “Oh, come on!” type of look. “Jaina, if Anja trusts anybody, it’s me. I can’t leave her out there to face her problems all alone.”
Jaina’s heart sank. She couldn’t really ask Tenel Ka to stay here and let Zekk and Jacen go flying off in her ship, the Rock Dragon. She turned toward her last hope. “Lowie?” she said in a weak voice.
Lowie slapped a ginger-furred hand on her back and rumbled something consoling.
“An excellent idea, Mistress Jaina,” Em Teedee said. “Master Lowbacca and I should be delighted to stay here with you and er, um … protect the interests of Master Nien Nunb.”