Lando needed a plan.

L3-37 was going on about something in his comlink, so he silenced the chirping in his ear. Whatever she needed, a new bottle of gear oil or whatever, would just have to wait until some other time. He had much bigger problems to deal with.

He glanced down Ne’eda’s gaping maw at her six—no, seven!—rows of razor-sharp teeth and tried to think of something to say, something to promise that would save him from being dinner. Or breakfast. Whatever. He needed to focus.

“Ne’eda, I’m afraid I neglected to mention the other part of my offer!” Lando said, trying to wriggle from the Wookiee’s grasp. “A valuable treasure deep from within the vault of Hynestia! Rarer than a crown jewel!”

Ne’eda hesitated, closing her mouth and leaning back in a way that clearly indicated she was interested. Lando kept talking.

“It is a thing of unspeakable beauty and power, and I just happen to have it on the Falcon. Just send your droid and Wookiee along with me and I’ll give it to them, and then we’ll be square, okay?” His voice was a bit higher than normal, and he cleared his throat. “Ne’eda, trust me when I say I only want what’s best for you and your enterprise. I miscalculated with the gherlian furs, not a problem. But this? This incredible . . . uh . . . device? This you will adore.” Lando realized he still didn’t know what the cargo he carried aboard his ship was or what it actually did. Just that it was valuable and important enough to cause a princess to stow away on the Millennium Falcon—which was, of course, concerning. Usually he was much better about knowing and working every angle, not just the most expedient ones.

Ne’eda burbled and moved back to her tank. She used the suction cups on her palms to lift herself into the murky water and, once there, gurgled something long and complex.

“Ne’eda is disappointed in your failure, but she is also intrigued by your tale of Hynestian royal plunder,” the droid said. “So she will send you back to your ship with her Stalwart in order that he might ascertain what kind of treasure you might possess. And if you are lying, your life will be forfeit.”

Lando sketched a bow. “More than fair enough.”

“Of course it is,” the droid said. “Mistress Ne’eda takes her business very seriously.”

The Wookiee still had his heavy, furry hand on Lando’s shoulder, and he turned the smuggler around and pushed him toward the turbolift, bellowing something unintelligible in Shyriiwook.

“Yes, yes, to the ship,” Lando muttered, walking into the turbolift.

Once they entered and the doors closed, Lando began to consider his options. He had no intention of taking Ne’eda’s Stalwart onto his ship. Even though he’d nearly been eaten, Lando figured he still had time to get Ne’eda her purple glandis flower juice. All he had to do was find a way to sell off the gherlian furs, drop off the Hynestian cargo, and make his way back to Coruscant to find someone willing to sell him forty barrels of purple glandis flower juice. He owed her thirty, but if he took her extra she would forgive him for what he was about to do to her Stalwart.

The turbolift doors opened to reveal a Quarren male, his facial tentacles waving in agitation. Behind him was a bounty hunter in blue-and-black armor with a sleek blue helmet.

“Halt. We are here for Calrissian,” the bounty hunter said, his voice modulator echoing oddly.

“What, why? What did I do?” Lando demanded.

“Jeskian Veldar wants her money,” the bounty hunter said.

Lando grimaced. “I told Jeskian I had a line on an artifact I was going to bring her! Doesn’t anyone have any kind of faith anymore?”

The Wookiee pushed Lando behind him and bleated something at the bounty hunter.

“I don’t care what kind of debt he has to your mistress, I have a bounty to collect,” the hunter said. The Quarren male ran off, smart enough to know he didn’t want to be in the midst of an argument between a bounty hunter and a Wookiee. Lando wished he could make a similar escape.

Lando took a deep breath. Normally, he was adept at balancing his debts in such a way that they didn’t inconvenience him, but that day was exceptionally bad. There was no way he could pay both Ne’eda and Jeskian. Not immediately.

Talk about a run of bad luck.

“Pssst.”

Lando looked around at the sudden sound while the Wookiee and the bounty hunter continued to argue a meter away. The potted plant next to him rustled, and a brown face peeked through the foliage.

“Princess Rinetta,” Lando said with a sigh. “Now is not a good time.”

“If you take me to Livno, I will help you get out of this,” she said.

Lando swallowed a bark of laughter. “Look, I genuinely appreciate the sentiment, but what can you do? You’re just a child.”

She set her jaw and shook her head. “Just trust me.”

Rinetta pulled him backward into the branches of the potted plant.

“Stay still,” she said in a low voice. “They can’t see us as long as I use my necklace, but they can hear us.”

Lando complied. Maybe he had underestimated the girl.

After a few long moments, the Wookiee bellowed in rage and the bounty hunter swore. “Where did he go?”

Just then, there was a swish of yellow near the Sabacc tables. The movement was enough to draw the gaze of the bounty hunter and Ne’eda’s Stalwart. It drew Lando’s eye, as well, and he scowled. “That man is wearing my cape!” he exclaimed, stretching up out of the plant so he could better see the full outfit. “Yellow cape with cream trousers? How absurd. Why even bother if you’re going to dress it down like a farmhand,” he said, appalled.

“Shhh,” Rinetta said, grabbing the cape in question and pulling Lando deeper into the fronds of the plant. “I saw him when I walked in. They’re going to think it’s you, because no way two people would willingly wear such a ridiculous garment.”

She was right. The bounty hunter and Ne’eda’s Stalwart had taken off after the man, who looked nothing like Lando except that he was wearing the same cape—a garment that was supposed to be one of a kind.

Lando took off his cape at once. “Well, that’s ruined. I cannot believe that Kopart lied to me about this being one of a kind.” The day just kept getting worse.

“We should go,” Rinetta said, and they crept out of the plant, merging with the crowd flowing out of Ne’eda’s Tower.

“See? I’m useful,” the girl said. “Now you have to take me to Livno.”

“Absolutely not,” Lando said, walking toward the exit.

“But I helped you!” she said, running to catch up with Lando’s quick steps.

“You did, and I thank you for the kind favor. But I didn’t agree to help you, and I have no interest in going to Livno. I’m not sure where that even is, but either way, you’re going home before your mother has my head. I’ve got enough problems. The last thing I need is to run afoul of the Assassin Queen.”

The girl pouted, and Lando kept walking, setting a brisk pace back to the Millennium Falcon. It was anyone’s guess how long Rinetta’s little distraction would keep everyone occupied, and Lando wanted to be far away from Neral’s moon when everyone figured out the man in the yellow cape wasn’t him.

Hynestia was actually starting to look pretty good, to be honest.

The first blaster bolt landed in the water of a nearby canal, sizzling and scattering the neon-hued klinnet, which left a dark spot in their wake. The second hit an advertising droid that bobbed amid the crowd, sending it crashing to the ground with a series of whistles and clicks. The third singed Lando’s sleeve. He glanced over his shoulder. The bounty hunter from inside Ne’eda’s Tower ran toward them, blaster drawn and pointed.

It was turning out to be a truly terrible day.