My mom dreamed a lot.
She came from a long line of hyperspace prospectors—explorers charting unknown regions of our galaxy and finding safe routes home. That was her magic, I used to think—that wherever she was in the galaxy, she could always find her way home. So whenever she went out onexcursions, I never worried. Sometimes she’d be gone for a day or two, sometimes for an entire tour itinerary, but she always came back.
Until she didn’t.
I remembered that I had begged her not to go. It was almost my eighth birthday, and she had promised to take me to my favorite restaurant on Naboo. But she went anyway. She took the lander and left on an errand.
On the day she was supposed to come home—my birthday—I stood outside of the cockpit as my father talked with her over the communicator. He sounded worried—no, that wasn’t right. He soundedfrightened.
“Audra, don’t. It’s too dangerous,” my father warned. “Just hide the lander somewhere. Repair the droid. Then come home.”
“I can’t, Fred,” she replied. Her voice was filled with static. She must have been a long way away. “I promised Arie. I’ll be fine. You worry too much.”
“I worryjust enough.”
She laughed. “I’ll see you soon, and Arie willloveher present. I’ll be fine,” she added, softer. “I’ve jumped this a thousand times before.”
Dad sounded unsure. “But I was with you.”
Mom laughed through the communicator. “You’re with me now, silly. Love you wide.”
“Audra, love, don’t—Audra!” Dad’s voice broke. Heshouted for our ship’s droid, N2-0, to help him get a lock on the shuttle, and for a moment in my memory, he did. Though, that might have just been a haze of my imagination filling in the blurry bits.
She never came home.
I couldn’t disappear like Mom. I couldn’t do that to Dad. I had to make it out of this alive—no matter what.
I curled my hands tight around the saber hilt, pressing it against my chest. My knuckles were white from gripping it so hard. My heart beat so loud, it thundered in my ears, and I was terrifyingly aware just how screwed we were if they found us—and how much of my body was wedged against this stranger.
When he breathed, I breathed.
In. And out.
In. And. Out.
He was so warm and solid, grounding me in a way that pinned my panic so it couldn’t rise any higher. He smelled like the strangest thing—dust. Like something older than ships and stars. It made my chest ache in a way I couldn’t name—like bittersweet nostalgia, the scent of something I’d never known I lost.
The Wild Spacer’s arms wrapped around me tightly.The side of my face pressed against his chest, and his heart was hammering, and hammering, and hammering.
For all the cool smooth-talking, he was just as scared as I was.
“Do you think they went down that other alley back there?” one of the men asked.
“I think they’re still here,” said their leader.
Strange—weren’t there three of them left? Where had the other one gone?
I heard the Wild Spacer curse under his breath. The next moment happened so quickly. He reached for something on his hip. The men pushed back the scrap of metal blocking the crevice—
The Wild Spacer drew a pistol and fired off two shots. One of the men fired back before both of our hunters went down for the count. White-hot static buzzed over them. Their bodies jerked, eyes rolling into the backs of their heads.
He pried himself out of the crevice first, and numbly I followed suit.
“Did you…” My voice wobbled.
“They’re only stunned.” He glared down at the men in disdain. “But that was probably a mistake.”
“Why—” I sucked in a breath as I noticed a blaster hole on the right side of his cloak. “You’re hurt!”
