Free Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry

along.
    “You don’t have to, pal,” Lando said.
    Chewie spoke again.
    “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
    “Count me in, too,” Leia said.
    “I don’t know if that’s a good idea—”
    Leia interrupted him. “You don’t think the Imperial commander is going to send all his TIEs out to deal with a dozen X-wings, do you? He’s bound to have somebody on the planet. If they start shooting at the
Falcon
, you’ll need somebody to shoot back. If Chewie is in the dorsal turret, who is going to cover your belly?”
    Lando and Luke looked at each other. Luke shrugged. “She’s right. And she’s a good shot.”
    “Thank you,” Leia said.
    “Okay, I guess that’s it,” Wedge said. “The boys’ll be glad to fly under your command for this mission, Luke.”
    “Thanks, Wedge.”
    Dash said, “Want to see something, kid?”
    Luke looked at him.
    “Through that door there.”
    Luke walked toward the door. Curious, Leia followed them.
    Dash opened the door, into another large, hangarlike room.
    “Wow,” Luke said.
    Leia looked through the doorway.
    A ship sat perched on the cheap plastic flooring. It had smooth lines, heavy cannon mounted above and below, and it shined with a dark gleam, like chrome. It was almost the size of the
Millennium Falcon
and had an offset cockpit module, but that was as close as it got. This ship was a top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art craft; Leia had seen enough ships to recognize that it was something special.
    A droid stood next to it, a stripped-down skeletal model with a tool bag slung over one shoulder.
    “The
Outrider,
” Dash said. “And my droid, an LE-BO2D9—he answers to ‘Leebo,’ when he bothers to answer at all. He thinks he’s funny.”
    “How’d you afford a ship like that?” Luke said.
    “Well, it wasn’t clean living. You like it?”
    Luke nodded. Leia could see he itched to inspect the vessel, to climb into it, to see what it would do with him at the controls.
    Like boys with an expensive toy
, she thought. She hoped the mercenary who owned it could fly half as well as he claimed. This didn’t sound as if it was going to be an easy trip.
    Leia stared at the
Outrider
. She was about to risk her life again, and that wasn’t something you got used to doing, even when it was necessary. That she was going to risk it to rescue Han somehow made it worse. That she would be that … vulnerable, to want something—no, some
one
—so badly was scarier still. She could justify putting herself at risk for the Alliance; that was of galactic importance. But to do it for the love of a man …?
    She’d never thought it would happen. Her dedication to the Alliance, to defeating the Empire, had never allowed for much of a personal life. Oh, sure, there had been friends, even some with whom she’d been close, but she had always thought that her life would be spent fighting against the Emperor and his evil. She’d never seen herself falling in love, settling down, having a home or children. Probably that wouldn’t happen anyway, given all that could get in the way, but at least it was a possibility now. Assuming they could find and free Han. Assuming they could escape and not get killed in the process.
    Assuming Han had any real interest in her. He hadn’t said the words. She’d believed he felt the same thing, but he hadn’t said it.
    Big assumptions, those.
    Well. They’d just have to see. One thing at a time.
    One thing at a time.

7
    D arth Vader held his lightsaber firmly, wrists locked, and watched the killer droid circle to its left. The droid was a new model, one of a dozen identical units constructed to his personal specifications. Like Vader, it also held a lightsaber. It was tall, spindly, looked something like the general-purpose Asps to be found all over the Empire, but with a number of special modifications. The unit was faster than an ordinary man, stronger, programmed with the knowledge of a hundred sword masters and a dozen different fighting styles.