Vision of the future

* * *

Their first warning was a sudden, subtle jerking motion from Lobot. 'What is it?' Lando asked, peering at the other.

'What is what?' Han asked from Lobot's other side.

'He seemed to hesitate right there,' Lando said, pulling back the floppy-brimmed hat that had taken over the job of camouflaging Lobot's head implant and studying the tiny indicator lights there. The pattern wasn't the same one that had been showing the last time he looked.

'Maybe he just stumbled,' Han said impatiently, looking around the crowds. 'Come on, we've got to keep moving.'

'Hold on a minute,' Lando insisted, widening his examination to the suddenly introspective expression on Lobot's face. He knew the other far better than Han did, and it was clear to him that both the jerking movement and the other's strange look were indications that something odd was going on. Ignoring it would be just begging for trouble.

'Lando—'

'Just a minute,' Lando cut him off. Abruptly, Lobot jerked a second time, the indicator lights again changing their pattern. They held the new array a moment, then changed back—

And with a sudden hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach, Lando realized what had just happened. 'They're doing a comm echo search,' he told Han. 'Keyed to Verpine biocomm frequencies.'

'Terrific,' Han said, catching Lobot's arm to steady him and frowning under the brim at the implant. 'They have the right frequency yet?'

'Doesn't look like it,' Lando said, looking around for inspiration. They were still a half hour away from the spaceport if they stayed on foot. A landspeeder could get them there faster, but that would mean either hiring or stealing one. Each option carried its own set of risks. His eyes fell on a large, glistening sign over one of the shops just down the street. A sign bragging in large print about hundreds of droids in stock, the best prices in the Empire, and everything on sale for one day only...

'Come on,' he said, taking Lobot's other arm and pulling him toward the droid shop. 'In here. I've got an idea.'

They made it inside before the Imperials' frequency search hit the right one again. 'What now?' Han muttered, looking around the wall-to-wall crowd of bargain-hunters.

'Over there,' Lando told him, shouldering his way toward an overhead sign marking the astromech droid section. 'We need about a dozen R2 or R8 models.'

'No problem,' Han assured him, craning his neck to look over the mass of shoppers. 'I see at least twenty of them. I hope you remember what our cash supply is like.'

'We're not going to buy them,' Lando said. 'All we're going to do is talk to them.' They pushed their way through the crowd and into the astromech droid section, which was—not surprisingly—less densely populated than the servant and chef droid areas seemed to be. 'Good afternoon, worthy citizens,' a silver-colored protocol droid said, stepping up to them. 'I am C-5MO, human-cyborg relations. May I assist you in your selection?'

'Yes, thank you,' Lando said. 'We're looking for a droid that can serve as a long-range comm interface on certain very select frequencies.'

'I see, sir,' the droid said, half turning to gesture toward the lines of shiny rounded cylinders behind him. 'May I suggest something from either the R2 or R8 line. Both lines come with full-frequency comm systems as standard equipment.'

'Sounds good,' Lando said, stepping toward the line of R8s. 'Do you mind if I give them a little test?'

'Of course not, sir,' the protocol droid said. 'Feel free to administer any test you choose.'

'Thank you.' Lando gestured to the first R8. 'You—first in line—I'd like you to transmit a multitonal signal on the following frequency.' He rattled off the number. 'Next one: I'd like you to do different tones on a different frequency.' He supplied the number.

'Just a moment, sir,' the protocol droid interrupted, sounding distressed. 'I'm afraid you can't simply transmit unauthorized comm signals in the middle of the city—' One of the R8s twittered a short message. 'Oh,' the protocol droid said, somewhat taken aback.

'You're certain neither frequency is used here? By anyone?'

The R8 gave an affirmative warble. 'I see,' the droid said. 'My apologies, sir. Please continue.' Lando continued down the line, giving each droid one of the major Verpine biocomm frequencies to transmit on. 'All right,' he said