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

went down, face and knees slack.
    â€œThat’s him with the sparring floaters,” Scarlet said.
    â€œSeems charming,” Han said. “I’m guessing not your old boyfriend.”
    â€œHe’s the Emperor’s pet astrocartographer. Runs private missions for the highest ranks of the Empire. Answers to no one, but sometimes he shares information with the security services. He’s also a megalomaniac, a fanatic, and a murderer.”
    CZ turned off the hologram and Galassian vanished. Han accepted the rough paper with its load of egg and pepper. It was still warm, and the smell made his stomach feel empty and eager. He scooped up a mouthful with two fingers. It tasted better than he’d expected.
    â€œI’ve been infiltrating his operations for the last year and a half,” Scarlet went on. “He was on an exploratory mission of some sort. Very quiet. And when he showed back up, he was very, very pleased with himself. The rumor was he’d found something interesting. The sort of discovery that the Emperor would give his favorite pet a treat for. Only someone stole the report and all the preliminary data from his private station on Tyybann, and wiped his file system.”
    â€œSomeone being you,” Han said.
    â€œUnfortunately, no,” Scarlet Hark said. “An amateur got lucky. No planning ahead of the heist, and no back end once it was over. Galassian figured out he’d been compromised almost at once, and he threw a fit. Had his entire household staff killed or wiped and reprogrammed.”
    â€œHarsh,” Han said, sitting on the edge of her bed.
    â€œCZ and I were in his household staff at the time,” Scarlet Hark said. “So, yes. It was unpleasant. I was three days from getting a covert copy of his whole records system, and he would never have known it happened. Instead, I wound up tracking through an ice jungle for three weeks, breathing stale air out of tubes and drinking recycled water.”
    â€œRecycled water doesn’t sound good,” Han said.
    â€œIt was undignified.”
    â€œStill very sorry about that, ma’am,” the droid said.
    â€œBut,” Scarlet went on, “it also gave me enough time below Galassian’s radar that when I made it back to a civilized port, he’d moved on. Taken his personal Star Destroyer and headed out . . . somewhere. There was a full investigation going, trying to track down what had happened to the data.” She finished the last of her eggs and crumpled the paper in her fist. “Security had a task force on it for a month and a half. They must have pulled in a hundred people for interrogation, and probably three-quarters of those came back out in enough pieces that they could get sewn back together.” She tossed the wadded paper across the room, and the droid plucked it out of the air.
    â€œDid they find anything?” Han asked despite himself.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œDon’t know,” Scarlet said with a sunny smile. “Whatever it was, it has half the Imperial fleet getting pulled off missions and the security services scrambling like a kikka nest on fire.”
    â€œCan I take that for you, sir?” the droid asked, extending its hand. Han put the torn paper with its eggy film unto the blue metal palm, still chewing thoughtfully.
    â€œWhat did this astrocartographer find in the first place?” he asked.
    â€œGood question. That’s what I was trying to find out. Only the amateur got it sloppy before I could get it clean.”
    â€œWell, did the Imperials get whatever it was back, or did they just find out who stole it?”Scarlet lifted her hands. “Dunno.”
    Han scratched the back of his neck. “Well, that’s . . .”
    â€œIt really is. The good part is that the security forces’ complete and final report on the theft is about ten minutes from here by hired flier. Maybe an hour