Ahsoka pulled on the ties. The Imperials must have thought it was rigged to explode or something. The package was only sealed with knots. The wrapping fell away to reveal the bits and bobs Ahsoka had collected on Raada. She still couldn’t have said why any of them were important to her, but she knew she didn’t want to hand them over to any Imperials.
“Nothing here, sir,” said one of the stormtroopers. “Just scrap metal.”
The officer drew himself up in front of Fardi.
“It might be wise to limit your exposure to those people who are outside your family,” he sneered. His eyes trailed to Ahsoka and then back to Fardi. “We’ve noticed a certain criminal element in this city, and we would hate to trace it to your home.”
“I’ll take it under consideration,” said Fardi.
“Good,” the officer replied. He signaled to the stormtroopers, and they all marched out of the house.
Fardi deflated as soon as they were gone.
“Everyone out,” he said, sounding defeated. “Except Ashla. We need to talk.”
“I’LL GO,” AHSOKA SAID, getting to her feet once the room was clear. “It won’t take me long to gather my things.”
“Ashla,” Fardi said. “I’m sorry we’ve put you in the cross fire here. We didn’t mean for the Empire to pin our activities on you.”
That brought her up short.
“Your activities?” she said. “But I’ve been—”
She and Fardi looked at each other in stunned silence for a moment, and then, of all things, Fardi began to laugh.
“You used our ships to run mercy missions of your own,” he said, and Ahsoka realized he hadn’t known for sure until just then. “You thought the Imperials were here for you.”
“Um, yes,” Ahsoka said. “They weren’t?”
“Well, they might have been here for all of us, as it turns out,” Fardi said. “I don’t know what you’ve been up to, but we have taken contracts and moved merchandise counter to Imperial regulations. You did some of the runs for us. My wife was furious that I was putting you in danger, but apparently you could handle it.”
“I thought it was ordinary smuggling,” Ahsoka admitted. “And it bothered me a bit at first, but then I saw how needed your supplies were throughout the sector. Every time I dropped something off, it felt like I was making a difference—but it wasn’t enough. The first time I heard a distress call, I knew that I could do more.”
“I did wonder why you were deviating from your schedule so randomly,” Fardi said. “Perhaps if we had talked about this, organized it for real, we could have had a longer run at it. As it is, I think you’ll have to leave, and we’ll have to go straight for a while to get our reputation back.”
“I’m in your debt again,” Ahsoka said. “This is the second time you’ve taken me in when I had nowhere else to go and the second time you’ve turned me loose instead of turning me in.”
“You’re a good mechanic,” Fardi said with a grin. “There aren’t so many of those that I am willing to throw one away just because of a few Imperial entanglements.”
“Thanks,” Ahsoka said. She started to move toward the door and then stopped. It was a risk to say the words out loud, but she had to do all she could before she left. “Fardi, you need to be careful with Hedala.”
The change in the older man was instant. His brow furrowed, and there was a determined gleam in his eyes.
“What about her?” he asked.
“She’s…” Ahsoka trailed off. She wasn’t sure how to say it without giving too much away. “She’s special. It’s important that no one realizes how special she is.”
Fardi blinked, putting the pieces together. Ahsoka wondered what he’d seen the little girl do, if he’d ever found her behavior odd and then dismissed it because he was busy. If he had, he was remembering it now.
“Do you think she’ll grow up to be a mechanic?” he said, and Ahsoka knew he’d understood everything she hadn’t said.
“There isn’t anyone to teach her,” Ahsoka said, choosing her words carefully. It was more than she wanted to reveal about herself, but so far the Fardis had given her every reason to trust them. “She won’t exactly grow out of it, but eventually she’ll grow into other things.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Fardi said. “I promise.”
“Thank you,” said Ahsoka. “I’m sorry I can’t do more.”
“I am very much aware of what you have done, Ashla,” Fardi said. “And now that I know why you came back, I think we are even.”
Fardi held out his hand, and Ahsoka shook it. Then she picked up the package of tech pieces and went back to her room. She stood in the center of it, looking at her bed and the little shelf where she kept her few belongings. Then she knelt and spilled the contents of the bag onto the mattress to examine them again.
The bag was starting to fray, which wasn’t really a surprise considering all the oddly shaped pieces it contained. She spread them out, finding the pairs and the few pieces that had no match. She liked the colors of the metal and the weight of the pieces in her hands.
