“Hello, my friend,” I called to Han Solo. “I imagine this looks very suspicious.”

“You got that right,” said Solo, still pointing his blaster at us. He was waving the business end back and forth between Mahjo and me. And his face was all scowly, with his eyebrows doing that crinkling thing.

Well, I could see his anger mounting. The important thing in such a situation was to keep him talking and not blasting.

“Yes, well,” I said. “So I can see how one could easily draw the wrong conclusion. Here am I. Here is Mahjo. We have just exited the Undervaults pit side by side. You thought I was chasing her. But now she and I are talking calmly. As if we were in cahoots. Yes, it certainly looks as though we were plotting together against you and the Wookiee.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” said Solo.

“Perhaps I have said it too well,” I continued. “And yet, my friend, would you believe me if I told you that that is not the case?”

“No.”

“That is most unfortunate,” I said. “And yet, I will say it anyway. That is not the case. You have it all wrong.”

“How do you figure that?” said Solo. “Don’t expect me to believe you wouldn’t pull a double cross for twice your share of the rubies.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Yes, of course I would. But while it is certainly true that I would betray you without hesitation for even one single additional Novian ruby (And really, who can blame me? Do you know how much they are worth?), still, I have not done so. Because, you see, and this is the important bit—there are no rubies here.”

“Nonsense,” said Solo. “You’re joking.”

“My friend, I do not joke about profits. As much as it pains me to say it, there are no rubies to be had here today.”

Solo looked from me to Mahjo.

“What is he talking about, no rubies?” he said to her.

“It’s true,” Mahjo replied. “I lied about the rubies to get you to bring me here to Gwongdeen.”

“I’m having a little trouble believing you,” Solo said. “You know, I can have Chewbacca search you both. Ever been searched by a Wookiee? They aren’t exactly known for their gentle touch.”

“Ha, ha,” I laughed again. “I am glad you have still got your sense of humor. What? Oh, you are not joking.” I turned to Mahjo. “My dear, perhaps you had better fill Captain Solo in on everything that you told me.”

“Grrrgarrrr.”

“Oh, and Chewbacca, as well,” I added, seeing the Wookiee had joined us. Then I indicated the entrance to the room, where some more Undervaults patrons were making their way in. “And perhaps you could holster your blaster. It is less conspicuous that way.”

Solo’s frown shifted from one side of his face to the other, but he put the blaster away. And Mahjo Reeloo told him and Chewie of the real purpose of her trip. As she explained, Solo did not exactly stop frowning, but at least his frown moved around his face in interesting ways.

“Now, my friends,” I said when she had finished speaking, “you see that there are no Novian rubies.”

“But what’s so important that you need to use a defoliator bomb?” asked Solo. “What was in the other box?”

“A thornsuckle plant,” she said.

“A what?” Solo replied.

“A thornsuckle.”

“I have never heard of it,” I said.

“Grregaaggerrraw,” agreed Chewbacca.

“That’s because it’s extinct,” she replied. “Or it was supposed to be. It’s very deadly, even in small parts. Look, that Kaminoan Hondo saw. His name is Kolac Pru. He is a rogue scientist who offers his services on the black market. There is nothing Kolac Pru won’t do if it means money and a chance to continue practicing his art.”

“And how do you know of this?” I asked.

“I…I have sources,” she said. “But listen. Recently, Kolac Pru was contacted by someone who said they’d found a sample of a thornsuckle plant. Maybe the last one in the galaxy. And they wanted him to replicate it.”

“So there would be more?” I asked.

Mahjo nodded.

“They wanted to mass-produce it, to make something that could be injected into a planet’s atmosphere. Do you understand? A poison like that could wipe out whole populations.”

“What do they want it for?” asked Solo.

“What wouldn’t you want it for?” I said. “With such a weapon, you could blackmail an entire planet. You could sell it to the highest bidder. You could even make the Empire do your bidding.”

The others were looking at me, their faces a little shocked.

“Do not blame me just because I have a healthy ambition.…I am not saying I would do these terrible things, probably, only that I can imagine how someone could.”

“Maybe you could imagine with a little less enthusiasm,” said Solo. I suppose he had a point.

“Well,” I said, “this has all been very interesting, but it is obviously not the concern of a buccaneer such as myself. I am sorry that we do not have a chance to share in profit together, but that being the case, I will take my leave of you.”

Solo stared at me a moment, then he turned to Chewbacca.

“Same goes for us, Chewie. This job has already cost us more than we were initially paid.”

“No,” said Mahjo. “You have to help me.”

“Lady, I don’t have to do anything,” said Solo. “And you have a lot of nerve thinking I’m going to help you now, after you used me to get here.”

Mahjo turned her eyes to me.

“Please,” she said. “For your pirate’s honor.”

“I am sorry,” I said, “but as I said before, there is only the Empire, those under its boot, and scum like us. If there was some other path, I think you would walk it well. But even if that were so, it is not my walk, and my pirate’s honor is not in the mood to help any more today.”

I started to leave. And so did Solo.

But Chewbacca did not move.

“Come on, Chewie,” said Solo. He turned a shocked face to his hairy friend. “Get a move on, fur ball.”

“Grrraaaaaawrrrrruh,” said Chewbacca.

“No,” said Solo. “We don’t stick our necks out when there is nothing for us in it.”

“RrrrrooooruuuuuuUUUU!”

“No,” said Solo.

“RRRRRUUUUUUU!”

Solo’s expression was furious. But he turned to Mahjo.

“Chewie wants to know, what’s the name of the outfit that is bankrolling Kolac Pru?” he asked.

“It’s someone called the Mandragonian Mob,” said Mahjo.

“The Mandragonian Mob?” I said in shock, because of all the scoundrels and scum in the galaxy, the Mandragonian Mob was the worst. Worse than the Obsidian Combine. Worse even than the Randolean Ring. The Mandragonian Mob would not just resort to blackmail. They would actually do all the horrible things I had imagined. “That is very bad news.”

“It’s bad news for the whole galaxy,” agreed Solo.

“The whole galaxy,” I replied. “Well, it seems we have to do something then. After all, I live in the galaxy.”

“Rurururu,” agreed Chewbacca.

Solo looked from me to the Wookiee. Then he sighed.

“Great,” he said. “This is just great.”

“So we are all in,” I said. “Very well, Mahjo. You will have the help of three scoundrels. Tell us what to do.”

“Well, for starters,” she said, stepping onto the turbolift, “let’s get my bomb back.”

We all jumped on the lift. It wobbled a little bit when Chewbacca stepped on. And then it was down to poor Jayyar’s box once again. But when we opened it…

“Oh, no,” said Mahjo. She held up the little black egg, and I saw that its blinking light had begun to flash very rapidly.

“What now?” grumbled Solo.

“It’s the defoliator bomb,” she said, lifting it out of the box. “The countdown has started.” She looked at me. “You must have bumped the activation button when you lifted the controller band from me.”

“Well, turn it off again,” I said, and I offered her the controller wristband. But she waved it away.

“I can’t,” she explained. “Once the countdown has been activated, it’s on. This bomb is going off now no matter what.”

“How long have we got?” asked Solo.

Mahjo glanced at the display on the tiny bomb.

“Fifteen minutes!”

“Get rid of it!” I yelled.

“I can’t. We still need to get this to the thornsuckle before it goes off.”

“And be nowhere around when it does,” I added. “Don’t forget that little detail. Otherwise, bye-bye.”

Well, we were off and running after that.

We had to catch Kolac Pru before he left the planet.

Fortunately, we saw him immediately as we ran into the spaceport.

“There he is!” I shouted.

The Kaminoan scientist was moving through the crowd, heading in the direction of the docking bays.

“You have to get him before he reaches his ship,” said Mahjo. But even as she directed us, she hung back. I was surprised.

“My friend,” I said, “why do you hesitate?”

“He can’t see me,” she said.

“Why not?” said Solo.

“Because I used to work for him.”

Suddenly, many things made sense. Her knowledge of Kolac Pru’s business. Her knowledge of the safety-deposit box that Pru used as a drop box for genetic material—she had obviously gone there with him before, at least enough times to have seen Jayyar Lu-wehs using an adjacent box. But mostly what made sense was Mahjo’s driving need to make amends for some past wrong.

“But you have to get the thornsuckle,” Mahjo said.

“That’s not a problem that a good blaster won’t solve,” said Solo, reaching for his weapon.

“Careful, my friend,” I said, resting a hand on his arm. “Do not alert him to our presence too soon, or he may escape us.”

Solo nodded, and instinctively he, Chewbacca, and I began spreading out, moving through the crowd. We hoped to converge on Kolac Pru from many sides and stop him that way.

The Kaminoan, with the enormous finlike crests rising high above his long slender neck, was very easy to keep track of. His head bobbed along ahead of us like a balloon on a string. There were not many beings in the spaceport who were taller than he, and one of them was the Wookiee currently creeping along to my left.

Then a swarm of Vulptereen were pushing through the crowd, heading against the general flow. They were everywhere, rudely shoving and squeezing past the other pedestrians. Unfortunately, it had the effect of temporarily separating me from my companions.

So it was that I closed on Kolac Pru first. Ah, krong it! I cursed internally, for I still had not replaced my missing blaster. The little details were still tripping me up. No matter—one lone Kaminoan scientist was no match for Hondo Ohnaka.

I reached for Kolac Pru, the end of our arduous adventure finally at hand. The universe would have much to thank me for.

But at the last instant, a figure beside him suddenly moved to block my grasp.

It was a woman. A somewhat familiar woman. Human. About so tall. With hair.

I did a double take.

The woman with Kolac Pru—it was Mahjo Reeloo.

But wasn’t she behind me, staying back, afraid to be seen? And yet there she was, right in front of me and with Kolac Pru.

“Mahjo?” I said.

The woman’s eyes narrowed.

“Who the kriff are you?” she said.

Well, I was stung. And not by a zappity-zappy.

“What do you mean, who am I? I am your companion through hardship and adventure.”

The woman shook her head.

“Is Hondo Ohnaka the famous pirate so easy to forget?” I asked.

“Pirate?” said Mahjo, and her eyes narrowed. Then she whipped out a blaster. And she fired it at me.

Well, I was too stunned to move.

And I would be dead, and not telling you this story now, except that suddenly I was knocked from behind.

I tumbled forward, falling to the dirty ground of the spaceport, and the blaster bolt passed over my head. It had missed me by a hair’s breadth, which was pretty close considering that my own hair and I had parted company some time before!

I fell on my face, but I was quick to flip over and stand up. You do not live as long as I have by staying down. Then I turned and saw my savior, standing where he had shoved me out of the way.

“Han Solo,” I said, “you have saved me!”

“I’m as surprised as you are,” he replied.

But then Mahjo Reeloo was lining up another shot, blaster raised to fire again.

And then someone careened into her, knocking her aside.

And that new person, she was also Mahjo Reeloo.

There were two Mahjo Reeloos before me, and they were identical in every respect, including their clothing. The other Mahjo even wore the same slender wrist controller band that worked the zappy-zappy and the defoliator bomb.

“How can this be?” I said. “Two Mahjo Reeloos.”

“She’s a clone, you idiot,” said Solo.

And then I understood.

“Of course, of course, of course,” I said. “Of course a Kaminoan scientist would grow his own assistants. Mahjo Reeloo is a clone.”

But the new Mahjo Reeloo, she turned her blaster on my Mahjo. I chopped at her wrist with my hand, knocking her blaster off its aim.

It fired into the air.

People around us were screaming. Pedestrians began to run every which way.

“Get to the ship!” the new Mahjo yelled to Kolac Pru.

You know what? From here, let us call her Evil Mahjo to aid in what is going to be a confusing enough situation as it is.

Evil Mahjo and Good Mahjo began to struggle over the blaster.

“Don’t let him get away!” Good Mahjo shouted at me.

Well, the two Mahjos looked about evenly matched—no joke—so I ran after Kolac Pru.

To my left, I saw Han Solo converging on the Kaminoan, as well. And to my right, there was Chewbacca, tossing panicking Vulptereens out of his way.

But Kolac Pru was fast—have you seen the long legs on a Kaminoan?

And then he ducked behind a Gwongdeenian sub-subterranean gastropod that was waiting for everyone to get out of its way.

And wouldn’t you know it? The Kaminoan had a blaster, too.

Luckily, I threw myself aside at the last minute as the bolts went bdew-bdew over my head.

Behind me, I heard the scream of a Vulptereen who was not so lucky.

Behind the cover of the snail, Kolac Pru ran for a cargo bay.

I glanced back to see the two Mahjos still in combat with each other. Then Solo, Chewbacca, and I ran into the bay.

The Kaminoan fired more shots.

There were bundles of cargo boxes everywhere, ready to be loaded for transport.

We ducked behind some, as did he.

“Just give us the thornsuckle!” hollered Solo. “Then you can walk away.”

Kolac Pru laughed.

“And double-cross the Mandragonian Mob?” he replied. “I would not walk very far.”

Well, it was a standoff, waiting for something in the situation to change.

And then it did.

A further complication!

Because who should come rushing up behind Kolac Pru, blasters blazing, but Trunc Adurmush and his gang of Pakiphantos.

“Oh, look,” said Kolac Pru. “My ride is here.”