“Six minutes,” Qennto said, his voice grim. “Whoever these guys are, they’re good.”
“You don’t recognize them, either?” Maris asked, looking out at their silent guard.
“I don’t even recognize the design,” he grunted, popping his restraints and standing up. “Let’s go check on the damage, see if we can at least get her ready for company.
Car’das, you stay here and mind the store.”
“Me?” Car’das asked, feeling his stomach tighten. “But what if they—you know—signal us?”
“What do you think?” Qennto grunted as he and Maris headed aft. “You answer them.”
2
The victors took their time poking or prodding or gloating over whatever was left of the Hutt ship. From the number of maneuvering drives Car’das could see winking on and off, he guessed there were just the three ships that had been involved in the battle itself, plus the one still standing watchful guard off their flank.
Connor nets, like ion cannons, were designed to disable and hold rather than destroy, and Qennto and Maris had most of the systems back online by the time their keeper finally made its move. “Qennto, he’s shifting position,” Car’das called into the comm, watching as the gray ship drifted leisurely past the canopy and settled into a new spot with his stern above and in front of the Bargain Hunter‘s bow. “Looks like he’s setting up for us to follow him.”
“On our way,” Qennto called back. “Run the drive up to quarter power.”
The gray ship was starting to pull away when he and Maris returned. “Here we go,” Qennto muttered, dropping into his seat and easing them forward. “Any idea where we’re going?”
“The rest of the group’s still over by the Hutt ship,”
Car’das said, squeezing carefully past Maris as he headed back to his own station. “Maybe he’s taking us there.”
“Yeah, looks like it,” Qennto agreed as he fed more power to the drive. “So far, they’re not shooting. That’s usually a good sign.”