Free Honor Among Thieves: Star Wars (Empire and Rebellion) by James S.A. Corey

rows and columns. The magnetic grapnel. Three blasters, each from a different kind of material that could pass Imperial scanners. The false ID array. Her security countermeasure pack, each black-steel tool in place like the legs of a centipede. The data disks with the schedule and internal layout of the intelligence command offices, and the offices above and below them as well. Everything she needed was in place, except for one thing.
    The door chimed. When she opened it, a man was standing there, her breakfast in his hand. He looked both exhausted and smug.
    â€œScarlet Hark,” he said, bowing ironically and presenting her meal like he’d done something clever. Her spine went stiff. An Imperial officer . . . only no.
    â€œAren’t you a little old for a delivery boy?”
    â€œDepends what you want delivered,” he said. “Leia said you’d called for pickup.”
    She accepted the wrapped package with a smile. “You’re late.”

Seven
    In   person, Scarlet Hark looked sharper than the stills in her profile. Sitting cross-legged on the unmade bed, she unwrapped her meal with an economy of motion that gave the slant of her eyebrows and the half smile on her lips a sense of purpose and professionalism. The smell of spiced egg filled the room, reminding Han that he was still hungry. Ignoring the feeling, he stepped over to take another look at the equipment arrayed on the spare bed. Some of the items laid out there he didn’t recognize, but he was pretty sure that if a real Imperial security officer had stepped into the room, it would have meant a firing squad for everyone in a half-kilometer radius, just for the sake of completeness.
    Scarlet Hark sighed. Her finger was on the take-out wrapper where her address was listed.
    â€œI should have thought of that,” she said. “I’ve been in the field too long. Getting sloppy.”
    â€œI wasn’t going to say anything,” Han said.
    A secretary droid with a blue metal casing stepped out of the closet.
    â€œCZ, this is my ride out of here. Ride out of here, this is CZ-Thirty-Three.”
    â€œThe pleasure is mine,” the droid said in a deep, rolling voice.
    â€œCertainly is,” Han said, and then turned his attention back to Scarlet. “The name’s Solo. Han Solo. Might have heard of me.”“Might have,” Scarlet said, the corners of her lips pulling out another millimeter. “In my line of work, that’s not necessarily a good thing.”
    â€œWell, the sooner we get you out of here, the sooner that stops being a problem. Why don’t you pack up your toy box here, and we can get to the dock. Chewie should be ready for us.”Scarlet sighed and leaned back against her pillows. “There’s a problem with that. There’s something we need to do first.”
    Han shook his head. “No, there isn’t. You called us for a ship out of here. Ship’s here. It’s time to go.”
    â€œTrue enough,” she said around a mouthful of eggs. “But that means it’s time to do the work I couldn’t do when I didn’t have a way out. Do you want some of this? You keep looking at it.”
    â€œSince you’re offering,” Han said.
    Scarlet Hark ripped the take-out package in two and put a portion of the meal on one half, talking as she did.
    â€œHave you ever heard of Essio Galassian?”
    â€œNo. Why? Is he important?”
    Scarlet nodded to the droid. “CZ? Do the honors?”
    A holoprojector emerged from the droid’s left eye, and tiny figures appeared above the bed. One was a man with an athlete’s build and flowing shoulder-length hair. He was screaming at an older man who was cowering before him. As Han watched, two floating droids the size of two balled human fists followed the long-haired man’s sweeping gestures, slamming into the older man’s ribs and the side of his head. The older man