Star Wars Character Cafe - Heavy Lifting Chapter 5

HEAVY LIFTING

CHAPTER 5

Maxx smiled as he looked across the corridor just aft of the cockpit and saw Lo resting in her berth. She looked so peaceful lying there on her side, snuggling up to her favorite overstuffed pillow. This had to be better than lying in some odd contorted position in skin tight pants. Lo had been much easier to live with since they had played that game of Truth three nights ago. She drank less, was much nicer to Maxx and the droids and spent most of her time working. It was strange, for most of the past year Maxx had wanted nothing as much as getting Lo Price off of his ship. Now that she might actually be leaving, he found himself wanting her to stay.

After he had taken his morning shower and gotten dressed, he walked back to the berths and gave Lo’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. Lo had asked him to wake her as soon as the refresher station was available. As Maxx released Lo’s shoulder, she murmured.

“But I don wanna go to school Trace. The students hate me, the teachers hate me, the administrators hate me, even the droids hate me. Can’t I just stay home and sleep a little longer?”

Maxx smiled as he remembered an old joke.

“But you have to go to school; after all, you’re the principal.”

Lo’s eyes suddenly flew open.

“Maxx?” she asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

“You were expecting Darth Vader?” Maxx asked wryly.

“I was just having a bad dream; I was back in school, having the usual bad time. I’m much happier being here with you.”

“I’m glad to have you here,” Maxx replied, actually meaning it. “By the way, who’s Trace?”

“Oh,” Lo replied blushing a little. “Trace Anders was the governess that Dad hired after Mom was arrested.”

Maxx nodded somberly.

“I see,” he replied gently.

“Is the refresher station ready?” Lo asked drowsily.

Maxx smiled.

“That’s why I woke you,” he replied.

“Good,” Lo responded as she swept the covers aside and stood up.

Maxx quickly turned around and strode to the ship’s lounge. If Lo had picked up one disturbing habit during the past few days it had to be the increasing lack of physical modesty that she displayed around him. In the past his former partner had shown him the dignity of slipping on a robe after she climbed out of bed. She now seemed to delight in parading around the ship half naked. When Maxx made the mistake of complaining about her sudden exhibitionism, Lo accused him of being a prude and reminded him that she often walked around Freighter House wearing considerably less.

Maxx didn’t like being called a prude but that didn’t bother him as much as the increasing attraction that he felt towards Lo. It just felt so weird. A few days ago she was just this antagonistic nitwit that Maxx wouldn’t have kept on board if he had the choice. Now that they had become friends of some sort, Lo was parading around like this. The problem was that Maxx wasn’t sure if this was Lo’s way of opening up and being friendly or whether she was trying to attract his attention. He used to spend hours wondering what he should do about her.

He once asked TC-23J about the matter while Lo was taking a shower. The droid suggested that he should forget being attracted to the Corellian all together. She reminded Maxx that, as agreeable as Lo had become, he was the captain and now the sole owner of the Wild Nerf. If Maxx acted on his impulses, he could easily create a situation where his responsibilities as a captain would conflict with his private feelings and that was a recipe for disaster. Besides, TC-23J doubted that Lo was mature enough to handle the kind of relationship that Maxx would want. Maxx sighed. He was painfully aware that the droid was probably right; the problem was that Lo was presenting him with a temptation that was hard to ignore.

When Lo sat down at the breakfast table, Maxx felt relieved that she had shown him the courtesy of donning a robe. This robe may have been a bit short for Maxx’s comfort, but he wouldn’t be able to see that while they were seated. Lo set up her datapad while she waited for her food.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to interrupt your work this afternoon.” Maxx said cheerfully.

“Oh?” Lo asked.

“I’ve scheduled the Nerf to go into the spaceport’s paint booth this afternoon and the shop requires all biologicals be off ship during painting.”

“I see,” Lo replied in a distracted voice, “why are you repainting the Nerf? I thought the old paint was holding up well.”

“Its not doing badly,” Maxx replied with a smile. The Wild Nerf looked rough, but no worse than most of the older freighters he had seen. “It’s just that the current red and white paint job is a little too distinctive for a serious smuggling ship. I’m repainting her light gray so that she’ll blend in with the other freighters.”

Lo looked up from her datapad as TC-23J had put a plate containing roast nerf meat, bread and a cup of caf beside her.

“Thanks mother,” Lo replied merrily. “Do you know of any place I can hole up with my datapad while the Nerf is being sprayed?”

“I could find you a nice safe café where you and Twenty Three Jay could wait while the Nerf is being taken care of, or you could join me while I rent a truck and go shopping.”

Lo stared into Maxx’s eyes and tried to guess at the meaning behind the hint of mischief in his voice.

“It depends what you’re shopping for,” she replied playfully.

“Engine parts,” Maxx answered. “You seemed to be fairly confident about the contents of your parts list last night, so I had Trouble scan the classifieds while we were sleeping. He seems to have found almost everything but the new turbothrusters and the power cores. He even has a lead on the power cores, but I’m reluctant to pursue it.”

“Why?” Lo asked between forkfuls of roast nerf.

“Because the cores are located on Nar Shaddaa,” Maxx replied gravely, and I’d rather not return to Hutt space for awhile.”

“I see,” Lo replied. She remembered the trouble they had the last time they were there. “Any reason why they might be worth pursuing?”

Maxx frowned thoughtfully.

“The asking price seemed good,” he replied, “about half the price of new units from CEC. That makes me wonder if they’re faulty.”

“Or stolen,” Lo replied, “Do you think we could repair them?”

“Maybe, but I’m not counting on it.” Maxx replied, “I don’t think I need to explain the hazards of working on damaged power cores without the proper facilities.”

“Sith!” Lo replied with a chuckle, “it can be dangerous to mess with a damaged power core even when you have the proper facilities. I remember an accident we had in a lab during my freshman year. The instructor forgot to make certain that the old YT-1210 power core we were inspecting was properly safetied and several of us got hit with serious levels of ion radiation.”

“I’m sorry,” Maxx replied gravely, “I hope that the injuries weren’t…”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” Lo replied with a mischievous grin. “Thankfully I got most of it in my pelvic area. I had to have an operation during winter break, but the school paid for it and the 2-1B used lasers so that you can’t even see any scars. Want to look?”

Maxx blushed and looked away as Lo stood up and prepared to open her robe.

“That’s quite alright, I already have the holograph.”

“In a way it was one of the best things to happen to me, besides, I don’t think I’m cut out to be the maternal type.” Lo chirped.

“Yea, I’ve already gathered that,” Maxx replied with a sheepish grin. “Would you like to join me on today’s expedition?”

Lo nodded after she had swallowed another sip of caf.

“It’s the best offer I’ve had in days.”

***

Maxx frowned nervously as the stars slowed down and the Wild Nerf returned to real space. It may have made some sense to visit Smuggler’s Moon in search of the remaining parts that he needed to complete the Nerf’s new sublight engine, but Maxx had this nagging feeling that he was going to regret returning to Hutt space. Lo could barely contain her excitement as she stared at the various ships traveling to either Nal Hutta or Nar Shaddaa. She often grabbed her electrobinoculars to get a better view of one of the ships that caught her fancy. Maxx had to smile as he watched his first mate gawk like a little girl at her first carnival. She was definitely dressed for a carnival in her loose fitting red tunic and her blue and yellow leggings. For his part, Maxx had ditched his long overcoat for a rumpled pair of mechanics coveralls. The holster strapped to his belt and left leg held a heavy BlasTech pistol. He would have preferred the aim and balance of his old Tapani hunting pistol, but the hand tooled blaster was very distinctive and Maxx wanted to remain anonymous.

“Hutt control, this is the Star Chaser requesting vectors to Nar Shaddaa.”

TC-23J’s transmission in Huttese woke Maxx out of his reverie and set his attention back outside the cockpit. The Hutts’ fighters weren’t paying any particular attention to the Nerf, and that was a good sign. As far as they seemed to be concerned, the “Star Chaser” was just another smuggling ship with business on Nar Shaddaa.

“Star Chaser, this is Hutt control,” a pleasant sounding feminine voice replied. “Our records show that you have not visited our system before, please state the nature of your business on Nar Shaddaa.”

“Hutt Control,” TC-23J continued using her alternative masculine sounding voice. “The Star Chaser has been working in the Corporate Sector for the past three years and Captain Walker is looking for parts for a planned upgrade, not to say he would turn down the right business opportunity.”

“Star Chaser, this is Hutt control. Please follow the vectors we are transmitting, and happy hunting.”

Maxx breathed a sigh of relief as the vectors checked out in the navicomputer. If anybody suspected that the Star Chaser was really his Wild Nerf, they weren’t doing anything about it yet. He switched on the autopilot and turned to Lo.

“Ok Belle, do you feel ready for what we are about to do?”

Lo put her electrobinoculars down and turned towards Maxx.

“Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. I’m Belle Plain, technician and first mate of the Star Chaser. We hooked up at a spaceport cantina in the Corporate Sector and have been making legal and illegal runs together for the past year and a half. We’re in the outer rim looking for work and some parts for a few outlaw tech friends of ours. We’re here specifically to look at the YT-2400 power cores we saw advertised in the holonet classifieds, though we may be interested in other items.”

“Sounds good,” Maxx replied with a smile.

“One thing.”

“Yes?”

“What if we’re asked about these outlaw tech friends of ours?” Lo asked nervously.

Maxx nodded sagely.

“Just say we can’t talk about it, that should satisfy most people. After all, secretiveness and anonymity are almost the cornerstones of criminal society.”

Eventually the vectors brought the Nerf to the entrance to a corridor that was large enough to handle a Corellian Corvette. Maxx put his hand on the side stick and switched off the autopilot. Maxx felt a sinking feeling as he entered the corridor. He didn’t like the constraining feeling that large corridors like this gave him. He wouldn’t have many options if he had to make a quick escape.

Finally the Wild Nerf touched down and Docking Bay M-27 pressurized. Maxx waited for Nar Shaddaa control to break contact before hailing Trouble.

“Hey buddy, what’s your opinion of the force field keeping the atmosphere inside this docking bay?”

The R5 unit quickly launched into a critique of the systems based on his scans. He noted that while the force shield was too strong to fly through, they should be easy to bring down. He could slice into the shield’s controls and drop them in short order. If he couldn’t, it wouldn’t take the Nerf’s laser cannons long to blast the shield generators to slag.

“Perhaps,” Maxx replied somberly, “but could you do a little subtle investigation and see how quickly we could bring them down without opening fire?” Be careful, I don’t want to alert the Hutts.”

Trouble whistled that he would be extremely careful.

Lo eyed Maxx nervously as she listened to the conversation.

“Do you really think that’s necessary?” she asked.

“I hope not,” Maxx replied, “but I’d be a fool not to expect trouble. We’re on a Hutt world and we’ve just crossed two Hutts. Besides, the route we took to get to our docking bay makes me uneasy, a quick getaway will be nearly impossible.”

“Still,” Lo replied trying to remain optimistic, “we have our false IDs, they should protect us.”

“False IDs are only good until someone recognizes you,” Maxx replied sternly. “The one I’ve been using for the past three years seems to have held up, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not constantly looking over my shoulder just in case.”

Lo shook her head.

“That has to get old.”

Maxx smiled.

“Having an Imperial death mark on one’s head can be bothersome, but then it can be quite liberating at times.”

Lo blinked.

“How?” She asked.

“The risk of being arrested and executed forces me to remain alert and aware of my surroundings. Being alert gives me the option to do a lot of things that would never occur to normal people. At times having nothing to lose can be the most liberating feeling that there is.”

Lo’s eyes narrowed.

“You may be right, but that’s more liberation than I’d want.”

Maxx grinned.

“Its more liberation than most people could handle. Still, I couldn’t go back to being a normal person anyway, so I choose to make the most of the life I have.”

Lo nodded as if somehow understanding.

“I may not have a deathmark, but I’m different enough and don’t think I’d want to be normal even if I knew how.”

“That’s the spirit!” Maxx replied with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

***

Before leaving the Nerf, Maxx checked his heavy blaster and the two small holdout blasters that were concealed in the pockets of his coveralls. He wasn’t bothered that Lo wasn’t paying any attention to the pistol slung at her hip. If the last time he saw her at a firing range was any indication, the weapon was little more than a prop anyway. He had a few last words with TC-23J about comlink frequencies and code words before he had Trouble lower the starboard boarding ramp and the pair walked down. Maxx had an uneasy feeling as he watched the boarding ramp rise back into the hull. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was making a terrible mistake.

Maxx walked right behind Lo as the two blended into the crowds of Nar Shaddaa. He would have liked nothing better than to have held Lo’s hand in a death grip, but holding hands would have seemed a little too quaint for a place like this. By following Lo closely, he should be able to keep an eye on her without it seeming too obvious. If they became separated, he had to trust that Lo would remember how to get to their rendezvous point, a small cantina that was close to their docking bay, and hope that Lo didn’t get so drunk that she blew their cover.

Their long walk to the shop that was selling the power cores was uneventful until Maxx heard a Wookiee bellow. Suddenly something slammed into his left ear. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was Lo’s scream.

***

Maxx finally regained consciousness and glanced at his chronometer. He had been glancing at it during regular intervals and quickly estimated that he had been out for no more than thirty minutes. He staggered to his feet and looked around; Lo was not to be found. Maxx shook his head to clear it and moved into the other side of the corridor. He touched his left ear; it was sticky with drying blood. He then remembered the comlink. He switched it to TC-23J’s frequency and tried to speak as calmly as he could.

“Forty Four Exx?

“Yes?” The droid replied, she noted the disorientation and tension in her master’s voice but feigned calmness, “is there something I can do?”

“Yeah,” Maxx replied, struggling to remain calm. “I’m afraid that I forgot to ask Gee Six to run a diagnostic on the repulsor lift and the power core, could you have him do that for me?”

“Certainly sir,” TC-23J replied conversationally, “anything else?”

“Yes, please run a diagnostic on the com system for me. Belle’s looking into something and I’ll be returning alone. I should be back within thirty minutes.”

“Very good sir,” TC-23J replied, “I’ll see you then.”

“Out!”

***

As soon as contact was broken, TC-23J turned to look at Trouble. Before she could even ask him if he had heard Maxx’s instructions, he hooted that he knew what he needed to do and started warming up the engine. As TC-23J looked up at the engineering station’s com equipment and started scanning transmissions for any thing suspicious, she tried to calm her fears. Maxx was very resourceful for a human, together they should be able to save Lo. Still it didn’t look good. Maxx was worried, Lo was missing and Maxx wanted the ship ready to lift off in 15 minutes.

Maxx was running on adrenaline as he quickly walked back to the ship. He had tried contacting Lo’s comlink on the odd chance that she had escaped but there was no response. His best hope was to return to the Nerf and hope that between Trouble’s talent for slicing into databases and TC-23J’s scan of spacecraft communications, he could pick up a good lead as to where Lo was being kept. Then it would be up to him to do whatever he needed to do.

As soon as Maxx entered Docking Bay M-27, Trouble started lowering the boarding ramp. He marched in and quickly made his way to the cockpit. As soon as Maxx sat down in the captain’s chair, he hit the comm switch.

“Twenty Three Jay, anything to report?”

“Yes sir, there have been transmissions between the Dutiful One and Hutt control regarding a request for direct clearance from Nar Shaddaa to Nalma the Hutt’s rural home on Nal Hutta.”

“Good! Trouble, have you figured out how to shut down the docking bay’s force fields?”

The droid hooted that he had figured out how to shut down not only the force field, but the docking bay’s tractor beam and automated ion cannon.

“Good, do it now. Twenty Three Jay, is there any way to know what kind of ship we’re looking for?”

“It will be a TIE Boarding Shuttle; I remember the name from our past run in with Nalma. By the way, do you want me to tend to your injury?”

“No, I need you at the com station, I’ll use the cockpit medipac when I have time.”

“I’ve had an Asp bring a vacuflask of herbal tea, please take a sip and do some breathing exercises. It will help you calm down before we lift off.”

“Thanks Jay.”

With that, Maxx found the flask and took a healthy swig. He then performed one of the quick breathing exercises that TC-23J had taught him many years ago. This one had always served him well during his courier days on Tapan. By the time that Trouble hooted that the docking bay’s defenses were off line, Maxx felt calm and ready to chase that shuttle.

As soon as the “Star Chaser” had lifted off, Maxx started receiving warnings from Nar Shaddaa control. He left them for TC-23J to deal with and quickly maneuvered the ship into the corridor. Then Maxx shoved the throttle forward and started threading the Nerf around the outgoing traffic. Maneuvering the light freighter around the slower moving ships had an oddly familiar feeling. As a swoop courier, Maxx had often evaded capture by weaving through speeder traffic and racing around in Tapan’s sewers. This was like a strange combination of the two with the Nerf filling in for his trusty swoop.

Suddenly, a large Corellian bulk freighter loomed up ahead. Maxx rolled the Nerf up on her starboard side and hugged the corridor’s right wall. A metallic screech and a small tug on the side stick told Maxx that he had just gotten a little too close to the wall. Later, when Maxx had a little time to think, he would say a little prayer thanking Marshal for having the upper sensor tray installed with break away mounts.

As soon as the Nerf shot out of the corridor, Maxx shoved the throttle all the way forward and switched on emergency thrust. This didn’t seem to be the time to quibble about damaging the sublight engines a little further. Besides, he should be able to catch the shuttle inside of thirty minutes. Maxx called TC-23J and asked her to have the Asps get the explosives packs that they had procured on Ord Mantell and have one each brought to each of the Nerf’s docking rings.

It wasn’t long before Maxx made out a TIE Shuttle being escorted by two TIE fighters in the distance. Maxx charged up the ship’s weapons and the panels in front of the Nerf’s mandibles opened to reveal a pair of ion cannons on the port side and two laser cannons on the starboard. Maxx thumbed a small lever on the side stick, choosing the ion cannons. Maxx knew that shots at this distance were iffy, but he needed to catch the TIEs off guard. Maxx was painfully aware that the Hutts had their X-Wings patrolling the area and even if he could easily best Nalma’s pilots, he couldn’t afford to waste time dogfighting the TIEs.

His first shots were slightly wide, but it didn’t take too many extra shots before Maxx hit the first TIE dead in the center, causing blue lightning to caper over the ship’s spherical hull.

By the time Maxx turned to face the second fighter, laser cannon fire was already raining down on his shields. As Maxx faced his attacker, he was amused to note that the TIE pilot was so focused on trying to burn through the Nerf’s shields that he didn’t bother to try any evasive maneuvers. “Bad call,” Maxx thought as he aimed his ship at the TIE and opened fire. He was rewarded with a hit dead center on the TIE’s forward viewport.

“Yes!” Max screamed as he raced past the stricken fighters and chased after the Dutiful One.

Ioana Moretti may not have been Nalma’s best pilot, but she had seen what the freighter had done to the fighters and the last thing she wanted was to be the one who had to explain their failure to Nalma. Ioana threw the shuttle’s yoke wildly in hopes of staving off the freighter until help could arrive. Maxx relaxed his grip on the stick as he tried to anticipate the shuttle’s future position. It didn’t take long for the shuttle’s seemingly erratic flight path to fall into a pattern. Maxx’s first shot may not have hit the craft dead center, but it damaged enough of the shuttle’s control system that Maxx’s subsequent shots disabled the craft.

Maxx smiled grimly as he closed on the stricken vessel. As gratifying as it was to have the shuttle at his mercy, he was painfully aware that he still had to board the craft, overpower the guards and rescue Lo before the Hutts’ fighters closed on his position. With the sensors off line, Maxx couldn’t know where the Hutts’ X-Wings were, but he knew that they couldn’t be that far away.

Maxx passed the Dutiful One on the right and then backed off the throttle and used his braking thrusters to match the drifting shuttle. He then used his maneuvering thrusters to yaw the Nerf to the right and slowly back up so that the starboard docking ring was facing the forward docking ring on the TIE Shuttle’s post pod. He then called the droids.

“Jay, are the explosives packs ready?”

“Yes sir,” the droid replied crisply, “on both sides as ordered.”

“Thanks Jay,” Maxx replied. “Okay Trouble, initiate autodock!”

As Trouble hooted affirmatively, Maxx unstrapped the crash webbing and stood up. One of the better parts of CEC’s single pilot package for the YT-1300, was an autodock feature that used small tractor beams to move the freighter and whatever it was docking with together. The tractor beams were powerful enough to move the ship if need be and precise enough for fine maneuvering. As Maxx exited the cockpit, he wondered if Marshal Thonas had imagined how this feature might be used when he had the Nerf retrofitted with CEC’s single pilot package.

As the two ships pulled together, Maxx carefully walked to the starboard docking ring. He opened the explosives kit and took out an explosive strip that was designed to blow open hatches and examined it. He also pocketed a couple of stun grenades. Maxx walked up to the docking ring and flattened himself up against the wall. He suddenly felt a jolt as the two ships bumped into each other, seconds later, he heard Trouble hoot that the docking was successful.

“Okay Trouble, open the starboard docking hatch.”

As soon as the hatch opened, a hail of blaster bolts erupted into the corridor. Maxx silently cursed as he pressed his back tightly against the wall and carefully drew his blaster. It hadn’t occurred to him that his enemies would go on the offensive so quickly. Still, if he was careful, he might be able to turn things around. Maxx waited silently as two men climbed through the hatch. “Just one more meter,” Maxx thought as he carefully raised the pistol. Then, one of the men thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Maxx leveling his pistol on the duo.

“I wouldn’t do that,” the stranger growled, “Nalma wouldn’t like it if you vaped two of his men.”

Maxx narrowed his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to waste time in a standoff against two gunmen. If either of them figured out that his blaster was set on stun…

“I’ll take my chances,” he replied, “now drop ‘em.”

Maxx pressed his lips together as the two men lowered their weapons to the floor. Soon he would be able to stun both of them, rescue Lo and get out.

“Good, now hands high!” he bellowed.

Maxx never saw the stun grenade being tossed through the docking ring. By the time it exploded, it was too late. Maxx tried to hold his breath and put on a rebreather mask but he had already taken in too much. He sank to the floor, losing consciousness.

“Idiots!” Ioana growled into her flight suit mask as she entered the Nerf. If those two gundarks had possessed the sense to use a stun grenade before boarding, they wouldn’t be lying on the floor with their target. Still, she couldn’t complain. Ioana was certain that Nalma would overlook her failure to evade the smuggler now that she could say that she captured him and his Wild Nerf single handedly. Ioana was so busy admiring her handiwork that she didn’t notice the figure hidden in the corridor who was training a blaster on her.

TC-23J winced as she pulled the trigger. Firing a blaster, even when it was set to stun, violated most of her programming. Still, her former mistress’ instructions were painfully clear. Maxx was to be protected at all costs. EVERYTHING depended on that. The droid was painfully aware that she didn’t have much time and waited only a few seconds to see if anyone else was going to slip through the docking ring. She then stepped onto the boarding ramp and carefully injected each member of the boarding party with a powerful sedative.

As TC-23J stepped into the shuttle’s passenger compartment, she was relieved to see that Lo was alone. As TC-23J approached the unconscious woman, she found herself wishing that she had one of the ship’s labor droids at her side. An ASP could have easily carried Lo back to the Nerf, but they were not terribly bright and TC-23J was concerned that a labor droid’s lack of intelligence could have ruined everything. “Oh well,” TC-23J thought as she grasped Lo’s arms and pulled. It was too late to worry about that now. The protocol droid wasn’t built for lifting, but she was able to keep Lo’s shoulders high enough that her head didn’t hit the floor.

As soon as TC-23J had dragged Lo through the docking ring, she closed the freighter’s hatch. This was Trouble’s signal to disengage the docking mechanism and fire up the sublight engines. Without the sensor tray, they had no idea where the Hutts’ fighters were, but the droids were certain that they had to be very close.

***

“Impressive, most impressive.”

Nalma the Hutt chuckled ruefully as he pondered the news. This smuggler had managed to disable the docking bay’s security system, intercept and disable his shuttle and two fighters, free his companion and leave Hutt space before the Hutts’ X-Wings had been able to intercept him. “…talented, inventive, daring and determined…” indeed. A man like that could be very useful to have in his employ, and dangerous to provoke. Nalma was not timid by any means, but he didn’t survive for so many centuries by being foolish. Nalma was certain that he could eliminate the smuggler if he needed to, but he also suspected that this Maxx could stir up more than his share of expensive trouble before he died. It was wise to leave this one alone for now and not bother with him until he needed to. There would be plenty of time to deal with this Maxx Murtel if it became necessary.

***

Lo Price was surprised to wake up in her berth on the Wild Nerf. If it wasn’t for the clothes she was wearing, the bruises on her bottom and the grogginess that she felt, she might have wondered if it had all been a bad dream. Lo swung her feet to the floor and sat up. She didn’t feel much worse than she did lying down, so she stood up and gingerly walked to the cockpit. Maxx was sitting in the captain’s chair, still wearing his mechanics coveralls. He turned to face Lo as she entered.

“Look who the droid just dragged in,” he said jovially. “How’s your head feel?”

“Not bad,” Lo replied, “I’ve walked back to the Nerf feeling worse.”

Maxx smiled warmly.

“That’s good,” he replied gently. “We were concerned that the drugs the Hutt’s men used might have had lasting effects”

“Then it was you?” Lo asked feeling somewhat surprised.

“Actually it was Jay,” Maxx replied sheepishly. “I’m afraid that my little rescue didn’t quite work out as planned.”

Lo shrugged as she sat down.

“Seems to have worked out alright,” she replied, “I’m here and we’re safe.”

Maxx smiled.

“Yes, but it was a much nearer thing than it should have been. I’ll have to be more careful in the future.”

“Whatever,” Lo replied as she looked out of the cockpit’s segmented canopy and saw the light of two suns.

“Where are we?” She asked, still feeling confused and disoriented.

“The Tatoo system,” Maxx replied nonchalantly. “I need to make a stop on Tatooine and drop off a trio of not necessarily invited passengers.”

“Oh?” Lo replied, her confusion growing, “who?”

“The two men guarding you on the shuttle and the pilot,” Maxx replied conversationally.

Lo stared ahead feeling dazed as she looked for the world where they would soon be landing. She noted a slight roughness in the engines and glanced at the engine monitor

“The power and temp readouts are fluctuating pretty bad, what have you been doing?”

“I did what I needed to do to return you to your rightful place,” Maxx replied flatly. “Don’t worry; Trouble has already informed me that my little stunt in Hutt space has nearly slagged the turbothrusters. I have already found a world where we can let down for repairs once the Nerf has left Tatooine. It has a large number of small shops that should be able to fabricate a thruster bank to your specifications, and we should also be able to get a new sensor dish to replace the tray I left in Nar Shaddaa.”

“Oh?” Lo asked, how did you lose that?”

“It’s the price I paid for hot rodding around the corridors of Nar Shaddaa,” Maxx replied with a wolfish grin.”

Lo frowned as she returned to the computer readout. The targeting computer was tied to the sensor panel that Maxx had apparently left on Nar Shaddaa. How was Maxx able to disable and board the shuttle without a working targeting computer? She stared at the computer screen and pondered the matter until it was crowded out by an even greater mystery.

“Why?” she asked.

“Why what?” Maxx replied feeling puzzled.

“Why did you risk your life, nearly tear up your beloved ship and piss off the Hutts like that? I mean, you already have your new engine designed and I don’t think you like me THAT much.”

Maxx frowned.

“It was my fault that you got captured in the first place,” he replied. “You never would have been Nalma’s prisoner if I hadn’t brought you to a dangerous place where I knew we had powerful enemies to go on some wild bantha chase to find a pair of cheap power cores. Rescuing you was the least I could do. Besides, I don’t know if I want to live in a galaxy where Lo Price isn’t safe and free.”

Lo felt something inside of her melt as she listened to that last sentence.

“Oh Maxx,” she moaned as she turned to him and smiled.

Maxx returned the smile and reached out with his right hand.

“Here’s to you partner.”