“I STILL REEK!” Milo complained, drying his hair as he walked into the Whisper Bird’s hold.

“No comment,” his sister replied. She had her head stuck in the workings of a small holo-table.

“What are you doing?” Milo asked.

“Just making a few adjustments. Crater won’t let me near the generator again,” Lina said. “Says it’s too dangerous for a human.”

“Quite right,” came CR-8R’s muffled voice from the engineering section of the ship.

Milo ignored the droid. “So you decided to take out your frustrations on the holo-table?”

Lina replaced the table’s access panel. “I’m going to contact Dil and don’t want anyone listening. I’ve rigged the transmitter so the signal can’t be traced back to the Bird.”

“Clever,” Milo said.

Lina smirked. “I know I am.”

Milo threw his towel onto a nearby seat, where it landed on a sleeping Morq. The monkey-lizard squealed as he woke up.

It had been a long time since the children had seen Dil Pexton. The alien was their mom and dad’s agent on Thune, a Sullustan who helped the Grafs sell the holo-maps and data they gathered while exploring Wild Space. He’d been a friend of the family since before Lina and Milo were born. If anyone could help them track down their parents, it was Dil.

“So what are you waiting for, genius?” Milo said. “Give him a call.”

Lina punched in a code and transmitted the call, waiting for Dil to respond. Amazingly, the Sullustan answered immediately. A glowing hologram of his face appeared in the air above the table.

“Lina! Milo!” the alien shouted, his large black eyes widening. Like all Sullustans, Dil Pexton had a domed head, oversized ears, and thick jowls around his mouth that wobbled when he spoke. “Thank the Warren Mother that you’re both safe. I’ve been worried sick. Your father hasn’t been answering my messages.”

“Mom and Dad have been taken, Dil,” Lina told the hologram. “By the Empire.”

“They’ve been what?”

Lina told him everything that had happened, how they’d found their parents’ camp deserted and discovered a holo-recording of them being kidnapped.

When she’d finished, Dil frowned. “This Imperial officer. Was it Captain Korda?”

The name made Milo shiver. Korda had come to the swamp world they had been exploring, demanding that their mom and dad hand over all their data. He was terrifying, a huge brute of a man with a hideous robotic jaw.

Lina nodded. “But we don’t think that Mom gave him everything he wanted. She sent us a batch of encrypted files before she was taken.”

“What kind of files?” Dil asked.

“We don’t know yet, but we’re working to decode them,” Lina replied.

“No!” Dil snapped. “That could be dangerous. Bring them to me. I’ll have a look and see what they are.”

“What we really want to do is find Mom and Dad,” Lina said. “We think they’ve been taken back to the Core worlds, but can’t be sure. Do you think you can find out?”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult,” Dil considered. “I know a few people in the Imperial Navy. I could call in some favors. Where are you?”

“On Thune,” Lina replied.

Dil’s mouth dropped open. “You’re here? Oh, that’s wonderful news. Come and see me, and we’ll see what we can do. Here, I’ll send you my location.”

The holo-table gave a beep and a map appeared on the small screen set into its surface.

“Got it,” Lina told him.

“Good girl. Follow the red dot.” The Sullustan sighed. “I’m really sorry about all this, kids.”

“It’s not your fault, Dil,” Lina said.

“Yes it is, Lina. I sent the Imperials to see your parents. I thought it would be a good deal for them—for all of us. I should have known. There was something about Korda that I didn’t like from day one,” Dil said.

“Can’t say I like him too much, either,” Milo admitted.

Dil gave them a comforting smile. “We’ll find them, Milo, I promise. Just remember—”

The hologram fizzed. Dil’s face distorted with static.

Lina worked the controls, trying to clear the interference. “Dil? Dil, can you hear me?” she called.

The image of their friend solidified for a second before vanishing. Then the holo-projector cut out.

“What happened?” Milo asked.

Lina checked the controls again. “We lost the signal,” she reported. “I’ll call him back.”

This time there was no response.

“Is there something wrong with the transmitter?” Milo asked.

“Possibly. Crater? Have you done anything to the comms-relay?” Lina called.

The droid hovered down from the engineering hatch. “I don’t think so. It’s a real mess up there. I’ll be able to get the Whisper Bird operational again, but it’ll take time.”

“While you do that, I’ll go and see Dil,” Milo said. Morq hopped up onto his shoulder.

“You will?” Lina said.

“Well, yeah. You can help Crater,” Milo replied.

“I am quite capable of repairing the ship on my own, thank you very much,” the droid answered.

“Milo, you can’t go on your own,” Lina said. “It’s not safe.”

“I’ll be fine,” Milo said confidently. “Morq will come with me, won’t you, boy?”

The monkey-lizard puffed out his narrow chest, trying to look brave, and nodded.

“No, I’ll go instead,” Lina insisted.

“Lina!” Milo protested.

“No arguments, Lo-Bro. Until we find Mom and Dad, I need to look after you. They’d never forgive me if something happened to you,” she said firmly.

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Milo argued. “We’ll go straight to Dil’s office, I promise.”

“You’re always getting lost,” Lina pointed out. “I’m going, and that’s that. Crater, you keep making the repairs. I’ll talk everything through with Dil and let you know what he says.”

Milo crossed his arms. “What about the files?”

“Crater can transmit them later,” Lina said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” the droid advised. “They could be intercepted by Imperial agents.”

“I’ll send for you then,” Lina said. “Either way, you’re staying here, Milo.”

She turned to leave and Morq leapt from Milo’s shoulder and landed on Lina’s back. She laughed. “You’re coming, too, boy?”

The monkey-lizard gave an excited warble.

“Traitor,” Milo hissed.

“It’s probably because Dil always gives Morq loads of treats,” Lina said. The monkey-lizard clicked his beak and chirped happily. “So, does everyone know what they’re doing?”

“Yeah,” Milo moaned. “Absolutely nothing!”

“Don’t worry, Master Milo,” CR-8R said. “You can watch me work, if you stay nice and quiet. You might even learn something.”

“I doubt it,” Milo growled as he watched his sister walk away.