“It’s tricky, Senator, but I think if we actually went out there and started tracing these supply lines, we might succeed in finding the source.” Chardri Tage was a pilot Bail had known since before the Clone Wars. He trusted the man, both to keep secrets and to plan strategy. The fact that Chardri could keep up with a spoken code only reaffirmed Bail’s instinct to ask the pilot to do the job, and the fact that he’d maneuvered the pilot into thinking it was his own idea helped with Bail’s cover.
“I agree.” Chardri’s partner and long-time copilot, Tamsin, was a small woman who was not at all reluctant to use her pretty face to lull enemies into underestimating her and then use her pretty blaster to shoot them.
“Will you need a ship, or can you use your own?” Bail asked. He didn’t have a lot of resources to work with when he was acting as a rebel instead of a senator, but there were some benefits to being married to a ruling planetary queen.
“We can use ours,” Chardri said. “I get the feeling we might have to do some tight flying, and it’s always best to do that in something familiar.”
Bail hadn’t told them they were looking for a Jedi. He trusted them, but he wasn’t stupid. Also, to be completely honest, he was a little wary to say the words out loud. He knew his offices on Coruscant couldn’t be completely secured. But even if they could, Bail didn’t think he would have said anything to them about the Jedi. There was just too much at risk. As far as Chardri and Tamsin knew, they were looking for some sort of ringleader, a person like Bail himself but on a much smaller scale—and presumably someone who wasn’t currently late for a vote in the Senate.
“Where do you want us to meet next?” Tamsin asked delicately as she rose to her feet.
Bail considered it. Alderaan was out, as was Coruscant. In fact, any planet at all was too risky. He’d be calling in another favor from Captain Antilles, it seemed.
“We’ll meet your ship,” Bail said. “Contact me when you’ve secured the objective, and I’ll give you the coordinates.”
Chardri and Tamsin exchanged a look but didn’t protest.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m late for a vote,” Bail said. Both pilots took that for the dismissal it was. “Good hunting,” he told them as they preceded him out of his office. And may the Force be with us, he thought.
Ahsoka landed her ship, took her hands off the controls, and cracked her neck. It had been a very long flight, and while nothing had gone wrong, her nerves were on edge. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was coming, something that would change everything she was working to build. She did her postflight inspection as quickly as she could, eager to eat real food, take a decent shower, and then sleep in her own bed.
None of the Fardis came out to meet her, which was unusual enough to upset her nerves even further. She made her way toward the big house, looking carefully for any disturbance and even going so far as to reach out with the Force. When she got to the door, it was open, so she went inside.
All the family members currently in residence were gathered in the living room, and there were four stormtroopers with blasters standing in the doorway. They spotted Ahsoka instantly, so there was no point in running. She might get away, but the Fardis wouldn’t. She held their lives in her hands, and she could see that the older ones knew it. She thought fast.
“Your ship’s repaired,” she said. She had no idea what, if anything, the Fardis had told the Imperials about her. It was best to start with an easy lie and hope they followed her lead. “I took it for a spin around the system, and all the kinks seem to have been worked out.”
“Excellent,” said Fardi. There was sweat on his brow, but the room was hot with so many people in it. “This is the mechanic I was telling you about,” he told the stormtroopers. “When you keep as many ships as my family does, it makes sense to employ one full-time. She lives here, as a matter of fact, so that she’s always ready to work.”
“We don’t care about your mechanic,” said one of the troopers. “We’re just conducting a routine search of the house.”
Ahsoka made sure to keep her face neutral, but the trooper’s words surprised her. There was no such thing as a routine search of private property. They were looking for something, or they wouldn’t be there.
“Of course, of course,” Fardi said. “Anything we can do to help.”
Ahsoka went to sit beside Hedala, who was sitting in Chenna’s lap. Ahsoka leaned forward carefully and whispered in the girl’s ear.
“Any shadows today?” she asked.
“No,” Hedala replied, just as quietly. “Clear skies for good flying.”
Ahsoka breathed a little easier. She hadn’t felt anything, either, but the girl knew exactly what she was looking for, so it made sense to ask for surety.
Two more troopers and an officer came into the room. The stormtroopers who were already present straightened to attention.
“We were in a small room in the back of the house,” the officer said. “Whose room is that?”
“Mine,” Ahsoka said, standing up again. She tried not to measure how far it was to the door or to calculate how she might jump out the window.
“Please explain this,” the officer said, holding up the package of metal pieces that Ahsoka kept under her pillow. Her skin crawled to think of their searching her room to that degree.
“Oh, those are just bits of junk I’ve picked up doing various jobs,” Ahsoka said, deliberately underplaying the value of the tech she’d collected. “I can show you if you want.”
“Open it,” the officer said.
Ahsoka pulled on the ties. The Imperials must have thought it was rigged to explode or something. The package was only sealed with knots. The wrapping fell away to reveal the bits and bobs Ahsoka had collected on Raada. She still couldn’t have said why any of them were important to her, but she knew she didn’t want to hand them over to any Imperials.
“Nothing here, sir,” said one of the stormtroopers. “Just scrap metal.”
The officer drew himself up in front of Fardi.
“It might be wise to limit your exposure to those people who are outside your family,” he sneered. His eyes trailed to Ahsoka and then back to Fardi. “We’ve noticed a certain criminal element in this city, and we would hate to trace it to your home.”
“I’ll take it under consideration,” said Fardi.
“Good,” the officer replied. He signaled to the stormtroopers, and they all marched out of the house.
Fardi deflated as soon as they were gone.
“Everyone out,” he said, sounding defeated. “Except Ashla. We need to talk.”
Chapter 20
“I’LL GO,” AHSOKA SAID, getting to her feet once the room was clear. “It won’t take me long to gather my things.”
“Ashla,” Fardi said. “I’m sorry we’ve put you in the cross fire here. We didn’t mean for the Empire to pin our activities on you.”
That brought her up short.
“Your activities?” she said. “But I’ve been—”
She and Fardi looked at each other in stunned silence for a moment, and then, of all things, Fardi began to laugh.