Honor Among Thieves: Star Wars (Empire and Rebellion) Read Online Free

guess we back her plays until we learn otherwise.”
    Chewbacca grunted agreeably and pushed the pad back to Han, who hit the button that melted the insides with a quiet sizzling sound and a tiny curl of smoke. He tossed it into a disposal unit in the wall.
    â€œWell, we’re earning our pay on this one. And maybe we have to get past a couple hundred Imperial troops, dozens of cams and observation points, and not draw attention to ourselves on one of the most heavily controlled planets in the Empire, but there’s a silver lining to that.”
    Chewbacca cocked his head and growled.
    â€œNobody who works for Jabba’s going to be here.”

Three
    The Staton Memorial Park and Recreation Area was twenty-five hectares of green on the roof of the massive Imperial Water Processing Authority. Half a kilometer of bureaucracy rising from the street level of Cioran, topped by a sward of hydroponic grass, trees, and fountains. A flier station perched at the building’s edge, and thin, sleek machines docked or hovered, waiting to ferry citizens of the Empire to their next hygienic, clean, constrained appointment once their recreational period was done. Han felt about as inconspicuous as a Messian flame lizard.
    â€œWill there be anything else, sir?” the flier intoned as he stepped off it.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œI can provide the menus of the park’s food and drink vendors, if you are in need of refreshment.”
    â€œThanks. No.”
    â€œPerhaps a guide for the statuary and memorials that adorn this, the most lovely of the recreation centers of Greater Cioran?”
    Chewbacca lumbered up out of the flier’s too-small seats. It was probably only Han’s imagination that the vehicle floated a little higher afterward.
    â€œWe just want to explore it all for ourselves,” Han said, trying to sound like a tourist.
    â€œThe Jaino Personal Transport Collective thanks you for your business. We hope you’ll keep us in mind for all your travel needs,” the flier said, then pulled out of the slip and joined the line of hovering machines waiting to carry people away again. Han stepped to the park’s edge and looked down. The building was like a chalk cliff, pale and huge and windowless.
    â€œPlease step back from the edge, sir,” an automated voice said. “For your safety and comfort, viewing platforms are at the northwest and southwest corners of the park.”
    Han gritted his teeth at the little service droid in something like a smile. “Why, thank you,” he said. “I’ll just go take a look.”
    â€œPlease enjoy your stay at the Staton Memorial Park and Recreation Area,” the droid said, cheerfully. It waited for Han to walk away first.
    Chewbacca grunted amiably, stretching his massive arms.
    â€œYes, getting here did go very well,” Han said.
    Chewbacca growled again, craning his neck and smiling under his fur.
    â€œMakes me nervous, too. I don’t know. Maybe we caught a break.”
    The park was beautiful. Trees lifted their boughs a uniform six meters above the colonnades, and half a meter more in the open field. Grass so green it hurt to look at grew up four centimeters from the gel mats that took the place of actual dirt. All the paths formed perfect right angles, and discreet service droids lurked politely in the shadows, waiting for a bird to make a mess so that they could swoop in and clean it away. The soft cool breeze smelled of nothing.
    Han had dealt with enough spies and criminals to understand that how a person worked said a lot about who they were. The profile on Scarlet Hark didn’t have much character to it. Data and history, but nothing about who she was or how she operated. That she’d chosen the park for her dead drop told Han more about the woman than an intelligence profile could. The place was everything bad about the Empire. Every single element was regulated, controlled, built to specification,