Corran.'
'And that Ho'Din tapcafe,' Corran continued, ignoring her as he ran a finger down their list. 'It's sitting right on top of one of the power-cable conduits to the generator building.'
'And has been there for ten years,' Moranda reminded him.
'Except that the day manager mentioned they'd just hired a couple of humans for the late cleanup shift, remember?' Corran countered. 'There's something about that that bothers me.' Wedge eyed him over his cup. Corran, he knew, had never had much luck with the mind-reading aspects of the Force, not like Luke or Leia. But if he couldn't retrieve other people's thoughts, he could still pull out impressions and hints and textures. Combined with his old CorSec detective training, it meant that anything that bothered him was worth taking a hard look at.
'And then, of course,' Corran added, 'there are our friends at the Exoticalia Pet Emporium.' Wedge looked at Moranda, waiting for her rebuttal. But it didn't come. 'There's them, all right,' she said instead, frowning down at the tabletop. 'I don't like that one at all.'
'I thought you said none of them had jumped out at you,' Wedge reminded her.
'No, they didn't,' Moranda agreed. 'That's just the point. The pet guys acted just perfect. But how many pet shop owners do you know who also happen to be experts at getting rid of vermin?
And exotic ones like metalmites, yet?'
'We should be able to backcheck them and see if that kind of experience shows up in their records,' Corran said. But he didn't look any happier than Moranda did. 'I just wish we knew where exactly this metalmite invasion had taken place.'
'Has to be someplace with really high security,' Wedge said. 'They weren't even going to let them in at first.'
'And at the same time, that decision got overruled real quick,' Moranda said, nodding.
'Someplace with ultra high security, but yet extremely sensitive and vital.' For a moment the three of them looked at each other. Corran broke the silence first. 'It's the shield generator building,' he said. 'There's nothing else in Drev'starn that fits.'
'Agreed,' Moranda said, sipping at her drink. 'Question now is, was the metalmite incursion the attack or the bait? If it's the attack—'
She broke off at a muffled beep from Wedge's comlink, buried deep in a pocket of his jacket.
'Who knows you're here?' she asked.
'Our shuttle,' Wedge told her, digging out the instrument. 'We set up a relay for any incoming transmissions.' Thumbing it on, he keyed for low volume. 'Go Red Two,' he gave the codeword. The message was very short. 'This is father,' Bel Iblis's familiar voice said. 'All is forgiven; come on home.'
Wedge squeezed the comlink hard. 'Acknowledged,' he said. 'On our way.' He keyed the comlink off and looked up to find Corran's gaze hard on him. 'Dad?' Wedge nodded. 'Dad,' he confirmed. 'Time to go home.'
'Meaning?' Moranda asked.
'Meaning we have to leave,' Wedge told her. 'Right now.'
'Oh, that's convenient,' Moranda growled, glaring at him. 'What about the shield generator?'
'From now on the Bothans are on their own,' Wedge said, draining his drink and sorting out coins onto the table. 'I'm sorry, but we were only on temporary loan anyway.' Moranda grimaced, but nodded. 'I understand,' she said. 'Well, it was fun while it lasted.'
'You should probably give Bothan Security a call,' Wedge said, standing up. 'Point them to our friends at the pet shop.'
'Whatever,' Moranda said, waving a hand. 'Happy flights.'
'Thanks,' Wedge said. 'Come on, Corran.'
'Just a second,' Corran said. He hadn't moved from his chair, and there was a glint in his eyes as he looked at Moranda. 'I want to know what Moranda's going to do now.'
'Oh, go on,' she chided him, making little shooing motions with her hands. 'I'll be fine.'
