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insisted. “Not until we know Jaina’s all right.”
    “She’s safe, Han. You know that. She’s on her way back to the
Selonia.
” Leia felt confined in the tiny cockpit and had to resist the urge to storm out. C-3PO was lurking in the access way, looking back and forth between Han and herself as he followed the heated exchange. “By staying here, you’re putting us at risk.”
    Through sensors on the ship’s hull she could hear the baying of the mob that had converged on the
Falcon
’s landing field. Only the halfhearted efforts of dock security had kept them at bay.
    “So what?” he argued. “We can defend ourselves.”
    “It doesn’t help the cause if we go around stirring up trouble, Han! We’re supposed to be spreading a peaceful message, not unrest.”
    Han rubbed at his temple as though he had a headache. On the screens before him were views of the cordon around the
Falcon
’s dock, along with various patches from local feeds.
    “What about the Ryn?” he asked more calmly.
    She didn’t have an answer ready for that. Her thoughts had been focused on Jaina, too. But she supposed that was a consideration. Back on Bakura, Goure had sent them to Onadax on the pretext that another Ryn would meet them there. Thus far, still, there had been nothing.
    “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe Goure got it wrong. Or perhaps things changed here between the message he received and us arriving. The Ryn network is slow, remember. Maybe—”
    “Wait.” He waved her quiet. “Did you hear that?”
    Leia listened, but heard nothing. She put a hand on his shoulder, lightly patting his taut muscles. If her husband wanted to find a reason to delay, he was going to have to do better than that.
    “I really think it’s time we went somewhere safer, Han. Captain Todra can look after herself, and Jaina won’t be much longer. I can feel her getting closer.”
    He glanced at her, and with a sigh relented.
    “All right,” he said, flicking switches. “But we’re only going to low orbit. If they so much as
think
about hurting her, I want to be able to—”
    “Jaina can handle herself,” Leia interrupted, suppressing a smile.
    A furious pounding from the belly of the ship brought the discussion to a halt.
    “I
thought
I heard something.” Han flicked further switches as Leia dropped into the seat beside him. Hescanned through various security cam angles while she brought the retractable repeating blaster to life.
    Through one of the cams they saw a gangly figure banging on the belly hatch with a hefty metal rod. The alien’s face was obscured by a fogged-up visor, but apart from this there was nothing overtly suspicious or threatening about him or her. The cheap enviro-suit the stranger was wearing was too flimsy to have concealed any weapon.
    “I doubt security would send someone looking like that to do their dirty work,” Leia said. “Do you?”
    Han shook his head dubiously. “Fire a warning shot. That’ll fix him.”
    “That might not be such a good idea, Han. It could be taken as a sign of aggression.”
    “It’s
intended
to be a sign of aggression, Leia,” he shot back. “And if he doesn’t stop banging on the
Falcon
like that, I’m going to get a whole lot more aggressive, too.”
    “But he just seems to be trying to get our attention, Han.”
    “Yeah, and look what he’s doing to the paint job in the process!”
    “I’m not firing, Han.” She sat back in her chair with her arms folded resolutely across her chest.
    He looked at her for a moment, then rolled his eyes. With an annoyed grunt he heaved himself out of the pilot’s seat and headed off down the corridor, muttering something about “mutiny” under his breath.
    Leia continued with the preflight warm-up he’d started, all the while keeping one eye on the belly cam covering the ramp.
    With a clunk and a whir it opened wide enough to allow Han to bellow a warning to the insistent alien. Leia watched the animated exchange between