#creation time

Oh, I love this father-daughter duo! Great idea, thanks.

68. “Let’s dosomething crazy.”

“Any ideas?” Jaina asked.

There was a pause, then her father’s face lit up. “Let’s dosomething crazy.”

It was the exact phrase and grin Jaina remembered from whenshe was a little girl, only this time they weren’t sneaking out of theirapartment on a Septday morning to take the Falconthree systems over for breakfast treats. Instead, they were caught in thetractor beam of a decidedly unfriendly space station after what was supposed tohave been a blue milk run turned into…notthat.

Still, Jaina couldn’t help herself. “What, we’re going toRyloth for pastries?”

“Maybe later,” Han laughed. He pulled up the schematic forthe station on the screen and jabbed his finger toward the part in question.“There,” he said. “Full power.”

Now Jaina was wearing a grin identical to Han’s. “We takeout the beam from inside,” she said, understanding immediately. “We’ll fit?”

“Be a squeeze, but we should. If we fly ‘er right. Youready?”

Jaina was already in the pilot’s seat, turning the shiparound. “I was born ready,” she said.

“Yes, you were,” he agreed, firing up the front guns asJaina accelerated into the superstructure of the station, careening toward thepower supply Han had pinpointed on the screen.

It was indeed a tight fit, with a number of sharp turns andsurprise obstacles involved. Not to mention the fleet of patrol ships thatappeared a bit later, having just recovered from the shock of a captured shipflying further into the station. Hanworked furiously to bolster the shields as Jaina maneuvered around barriers andevaded proton blasts. Those Jedi reflexes do come in really handy sometimes…

“There,” he pointed, and in moments they’d blasted thetractor beam’s power supply and begun storming their way out of the station,turning the patrol ships from pursuers to pursued.

Jaina gave a sigh of relief when they burst out of thestation and past the reach of the tractor beam. Han was already on his feetagain, putting the coordinates into the navicomputer for the jump.

He sank into the copilot seat, grinning at his daughter. “Thatwas a hell of a run, kid.”

“Thanks,” Jaina said. She got a bit of a twinkle in her eye.“Now can we go to Ryloth forpastries?”

25. “We always have a choice.”

“I can’t believe you sent him away!”

Han could not believe the nerve of this woman. They wereliterally on the run from a pack of Imperials—well, as quickly as they couldrun, with Leia limping—and she was still berating him for telling their contactto make himself scarce.

“Look, Sweetheart, didn’t exactly have a choice,” he said.“Imps were surrounding the building, and I’m pretty sure they would’verecognized you.”

Leia was breathless behind him. “We always have a choice. And we were seconds away from theexchange. You couldn’t have waited two minutes?”

“Thought you said seconds,”he said, pulling her around a corner and behind one of the dumpsters, hidingthem from view. The Imperials passed them and kept going, and Han let out abreath.

“Better wait here for a bit,” he said quietly, and shenodded. 

It was a hot day, and the garbage in the bin beside them wasespecially….ripe. Han made a face, but kept silent.

“What a wonderful smell you’ve discovered,” she whispered.

“Getting nostalgic for old times, Sweetheart?” he whisperedback, pulling her closer to him.

“No—and what do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.

He nodded toward the outside of the bin. “They’re doin’ asearch. Make yourself small.”

She raised her eyebrow, but let him pull her in even closer,hiding their faces from view. She was flushed and sweaty from their mad dashthrough the streets, and she was still catching her breath. He grinned at her,and she scowled, until he produced something from the pocket of his vest: thedata chip they’d come for. She sighed quietly in relief, collapsing againsthim.

Her face stayed buried in his shoulder for a bit longer thanhe’d expected, a pleasant surprise. He tipped her face up to look at him. Nowwasn’t really the time, but…

“You smell good,” she said, wriggling away to bury her facein his shirt again.