Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn, #2)(66)

Padmé frowned. “Mokivj factories come with their own prisons?”

“No, the Bins were storage compartments for extra-valuable stuff,” LebJau said. “The duke changed them into holding cells for people who break the rules or go where they’re not supposed to. Anyway, what I was going to say is that we’re not using the west wing at all. If you’re quiet and don’t go near the windows during the day you could probably hide there until Uncle Anakin gets here with the money.”

“Really,” Padmé said, feeling a surge of hope. Wristband or no wristband, if she could get into the factory proper she could at least get started on some rudimentary surveillance. “What’s it like in there?”

He shrugged. “Quiet. Empty. Everything movable was taken out when the duke showed up and kicked everyone out. But our back door into the wing isn’t easy to use. Once you’re in there, you’re not getting out without my help.”

“That’s okay,” Padmé assured him. “Not much different than here, really, except more comfortable. When can we go?”

“I want to make sure you understand,” he persisted. “You can’t go into the south wing where we are, not without a wristband. The only way into the west wing is through the service level underneath everything.”

Padmé pricked up her ears. There was a service area that offered access to the whole place? “They haven’t blocked it off?”

“They’ve blocked off everything that matters,” LebJau said.

“Like the refinery areas?”

“There’s no refining here,” LebJau said, sounding puzzled. “Why would there be? The stuff they’re bringing in just needs sifting and sorting, and that’s all done in the western part of the north wing. After that they take the stuff to the east wing and the eastern part of the north wing.”

“Ah,” Padmé said. So it wasn’t doonium after all? “You said you used to work in one of the electronics factories. Where was it?”

“West wing, third floor,” he said. “But like I say, once you’re in you’re not coming out. And there’s still no guarantee the metalheads won’t catch you.”

“You said all the important work is in the north and east wings,” Padmé reminded him. “So that’s where the metalheads will be watching. Shouldn’t be too many left to bother with the west wing.”

LebJau sighed. “Okay, if you’re sure,” he said. “I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing.”

“I do,” Padmé said. “Just get me inside the west wing. I’ll handle everything else.”

His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, everything else?”

“Just that I won’t get caught,” Padmé said, wincing. She’d spent so much time soothing frightened people and assuring them the Republic was on their side that the words had automatically slipped out.

“Uh-huh,” he said, glowering. “I was right, wasn’t I? Back when we first saw you. You’re a spy.”

“I’m here to help you,” Padmé said. “All of you. This place, with all its secrecy—do you really think the Separatists will just leave you all alive when they close it down?”

“They’d have a job of it,” he rumbled. “Just because we’re not in the big fancy center of the galaxy doesn’t mean we don’t know how to fight.”

“You haven’t seen what vulture droids can do to a town,” Padmé said grimly. “And trust me, you don’t want to. I’m your only hope of keeping that from happening.”

LebJau stared down at the empty food wrapper on her lap. “I don’t believe you,” he muttered. “But I suppose it doesn’t really matter. When do you want to go?”

“Right now,” Padmé said, setting the wrapper aside and picking up her backpack. “The sooner we find out what they’re up to, the sooner we can stop it and chase them off your world.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Victory or death, huh? Yeah. Probably death. Fine. Come on, and stay close.”



* * *



—

Earlier, during one of the long, tense nights Padmé had been stuck on the boat, she’d considered trying to find LebJau’s secret door into the factory on her own.

Now, as he led her through the darkness, she was very glad she hadn’t.

For starters, the dry riverbed itself was trickier than she’d realized. Not only was it littered with debris that had probably been part of the washed-out road, but the gaps beneath some of the larger pieces had become home to various creatures or even whole families of them. Padmé didn’t know which of them were dangerous, and it wasn’t something she wanted to find out the hard way. Luckily, LebJau knew where to walk to avoid unpleasant encounters.

The entrance itself, once they got there, also proved a surprise. The door LebJau had talked about was still there, an imposing panel set into the wall about five meters above the rocky floor with a small section of the old road still attached to a support mesh at its base. But LebJau didn’t even glance at it, instead leading Padmé to another pile of debris and a hidden gap tucked away behind a large slab of broken permacrete. Twenty meters and three switchback turns later, they were finally inside.