Марта Уэллс - From a Certain Point of View

Kiren was already sliding down the side of the ship. “I just don’t want to end up under the Empire’s boot,” said Baudu.

“Clever. You think that one up yourself?” Tal teased. Baudu responded with a gesture, a side effect of spending too much time with Kiren. “Come. You’ll see what I thought up.”

—

The Mining Guild was not supposed to know about the mining operation on Bespin—certainly not now. Lando’s negotiation with the Empire was supposed to keep the mines independent from the Imperials and secret from the Mining Guild. But that didn’t seem to bother the three in the market one bit. They met in the open, directly under the glowing lights in the market district, their signature yellow-striped uniforms shining under the bright market lights.

The clean white stalls were starting to bustle with activity. The citizens of Cloud City would soon be bringing their children for an early-morning stroll through the market for fresh fruits and greens. The aromas of savory and sweet blended in the air, and even Baudu lingered for a moment over an unreasonably large papple fruit. Its bored seller looked up from whatever he was viewing behind his kiosk and began reaching for a bag.

“Not now!” said Tal. Kiren slapped Baudu’s hand away from the fruit, and Tal nodded appreciatively at them. The seller settled back behind his console.

Tal pulled Baudu into the entrance of a narrow hallway that led from the fresh marketplace to the verandas, as Kiren did their best to follow suit. Few bothered with the verandas in the morning, so Tal didn’t have to worry too much about foot traffic walking by and blocking their view of the market.

“What is the Mining Guild doing here?” Baudu whispered.

“I miiiight have invited them.”

Kiren grunted, surprised and confused.

“Just three of them. Relax.”

“If you say that one more ti—” started Baudu.

“Shh!” said Tal as she strained to listen. They clung close to the wall and kept a trained eye on the Mining Guild operatives.

One of them, a Rodian whose antennae seemed constantly in motion, nudged his colleague, who looked more like a slug than anything. “We shouldn’t be here. If we want the workers we’re promised, we better leave before the Empire gets wise.”

The slug shook his head. “The Empire’s not gonna enforce this deal for long. Vader’s gone. The Cloud City guy that made it is gone. We’ll have the run of this city in a handful of months. You’ll see.”

“Yeah, as long as we don’t get on the Empire’s bad side in the meantime.”

“Brougg, we are the Empire’s bad side.” He stood up taller, undulating slightly. “Cloud City here needs to know it.”

As much as Tal would’ve loved to glean more information from their riveting conversation, her mind kept returning to the miners on board the U-33 loadlifter back on the platform. She hadn’t anticipated this part of the plan taking quite so long—the Imperial ships were scheduled to leave that morning. The operatives appeared to be in no hurry, and Tal only now realized that was intentional. They had no agenda. The entire purpose of the meeting was to be seen. To mark their new territory. Just as she was about to scrap her plan in favor of the backup plan—or was it the backup backup plan? she’d lost track—one of the members received an alert.

The three operatives headed toward where Tal and her companions were waiting. Tal definitely was feeling her luck change.

“Comrades!” Tal stepped forward, putting on her best sales pitch. “I have quite an offer for you—you want three months of Tibanna gas?”

He shoved her aside. “Out of the way, mucks.”

Guess she couldn’t complain about that dig since she’d been calling him the slug. “But wait—Sir!” The slug ignored her. “Idiot!” None of them were listening. “Slug?”

No use. She was forced to watch all three of them pass her into the otherwise empty hallway.

“So, what do we—” started Baudu.

Tal smashed the last one on the back of the neck with the butt of her blaster, dropping him and her weapon in the process.

“Oh.”

Kiren needed no further instruction and sent the one closest to them crashing down with a well-placed blow from their wrench.

The third, finding his companions collapsed on the floor around him, tried to run back into the marketplace, ducking Baudu’s lunge. Tal rushed ahead of him, having nothing to stop him but her own slight frame. She cast around for something she could use as he tried to move past her. She grabbed the papple from its display with both hands and cracked it over his head. He collapsed in a rain of red pulp and black seeds. The seller looked up, gaped at the prone Rodian and the remains of his papple, then quietly turned around and walked away.

Baudu and Kiren ran up to her, and both gave her the same look. “It worked,” Tal said with a shrug.

Kiren and Baudu helped her drag the unconscious operatives back behind the now abandoned stall. If anyone had witnessed what went down, they had the same wisdom as the papple seller and minded their own business. They began to relieve the operatives of their signature jackets and weapons.

Tal holstered a blaster and hefted the helmet the slug had been wearing at her side. “Put these on. We’re going to hit the Empire where it hurts.”

Kiren struggled with their jacket, a size too small, while Baudu tested the weight of his new Mining Guild blaster. “Was this part of the plan?”

Tal smiled slyly. She swept the Mining Guild jacket around her shoulders with a flair that would’ve made Lando proud.

“It is now.”

—

Lieutenant Ela Radodan typed her authorization code into the datapad and passed it off to Fool #203. His gray uniform indicated his ensign rank, but she didn’t have time or interest in learning his name. He was just the latest in a long line of interchangeable, clean-shaven faces. Faces that Commander Kelos routinely dismissed for their incompetence. That Ela often made sure Kelos did so was lost on him. Which made Kelos Fool #1, she supposed.

From the center of the circular platform, she could see the sky brightening. A light freighter could have easily landed where she stood, but they needed something bigger for this operation. Instead, Ela had ordered a bulk freighter, its immensity forcing it to hover off the edge. Its two rectangular canisters guzzled Tibanna gas through an attached pump guarded by a handful of stormtroopers and fools.

To her left, on the far side of the platform, the entrance to the large white city pod beckoned to more docks as well as the pleasures of Cloud City. She had learned that quite a few secret passages led off from certain platforms, hiding a multitude of sins from prying eyes, both Imperial and mercantile. She suspected Cloud City was built on this very premise.

But neither the pod nor the freighter held her attention. From the lower dock, she couldn’t quite see the U-33 loadlifter that was holding the miners captive, but that didn’t stop her from looking up with concern to the dock where she knew they were waiting.

She caught Fool #204’s attention. “Make sure there’s also Tibanna gas on the U-33.”

“Ma’am, we have filled the ship with miners. There isn’t room for freight.”

“Then put Tibanna canisters in the extra fuel pods if you have to. You have your orders.”

Fool #204 obviously thought these orders were foolish, but he had served the Empire long enough not to ask questions. Off he went. She looked above her again, as if this time she would be able to see the ship with the miners aboard.

Behind her, a voice spoke. “Something of interest in the sky?”

“Cloud City miners prepared for transport to the labor colonies, Commander.” She didn’t bother turning around to face Kelos, having heard his peculiar loping step approaching her. “As well as mines on Cynda, Raxus Prime…”