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inconspicuous, they covered the distance in three minutes. “They’ll probably use a cargo carrier or light transport,” Karrde said as they found a spot where they could watch the street without being run over by the pedestrian traffic along the edges of the vehicle way. “Anything obviously military would attract attention.”
    Luke nodded. Mavrille, he remembered from the maps, was one of the handful of streets in Calius that had been carved large enough for vehicles to use, with the result that the traffic was running pretty much fore to aft. “I wish I had some macrobinoculars with me,” he commented.
    “Trust me—you’re conspicuous enough as it is,” Karrde countered as he craned his neck over the passing crowds. “Any sign of them?”
    “They’re definitely coming this way,” Luke told him. He reached out with the Force, trying to sort out the clone sense from the sandstorm of other thoughts and minds surrounding him. “I’d guess twenty to thirty of them.”
    “A cargo carrier, then,” Karrde decided. “There’s one coming now—just behind that Trast speeder truck.”
    “I see it.” Luke took a deep breath, calling on every bit of his Jedi skill. “That’s them,” he murmured, a shiver running up his back.
    “All right,” Karrde said, his voice grim. “Watch closely; they might have left one or more of the ventilation panels open.”
    The cargo carrier made its way toward them on its repulsorlifts, coming abruptly to a halt a short block away as the driver of the speeder truck in front of it suddenly woke up to the fact that he’d reached his turn. Gingerly, the truck eased around the corner, blocking the whole traffic flow behind it.
    “Wait here,” Karrde said, and dived into the stream of pedestrians heading that direction. Luke kept his eyes sweeping the area, alert for any sense that he or Karrde had been seen and recognized. If this whole setup was some land of elaborate trap for offworld spies, now would be the obvious time to spring it.
    The truck finally finished its turn, and the cargo carrier lumbered on. It passed Luke and continued down the street, disappearing within a few seconds around one of the red-orange buildings. Stepping back into the side street behind him, Luke waited; and a minute later Karrde had returned. “Two of the vents were open, but I couldn’t see enough to be sure,” he told Luke, breathing heavily. “You?”
    Luke shook his head. “I couldn’t see anything, either. But it was them. I’m sure of it.”
    For a moment Karrde studied his face. Then, he gave a curt nod. “All right. What now?”
    “I’m going to see if I can get my ship offplanet ahead of them,” Luke said. “If I can track their hyperspace vector, maybe we can figure out where they go from here.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Though two ships working together could do a better track.”
    Karrde smiled slightly. “You’ll forgive me if I decline the offer,” he said. “Flying in tandem with a New Republic agent is not exactly what I would call maintaining neutrality.” He glanced over Luke’s shoulder at the street behind him. “At any rate, I think I’d prefer to try backtracking them from here. See if I can identify their point of origin.”
    “Sounds good,” Luke nodded. “I’d better get over to the landing field and get my ship prepped.”
    “I’ll be in touch,” Karrde promised. “Make sure that credit line is a generous one.”

    Standing at the uppermost window of Central Government Tower Number One, Governor Staffa lowered his macrobinoculars with a satisfied snort. “That was him, all right, Fingal,” he said to the little man hovering at his side. “No doubt about it. Luke Skywalker himself.”
    “Do you suppose he saw the special transport?” Fingal asked, fingering his own macrobinoculars nervously.
    “Well, of course he saw it,” Staffa growled. “You think he was hanging around Mavrille Street for his health?”
    “I only