The girl had folded her long limbs up onto a packing crate. The padding of her snow gear only enhanced the curves beneath it. A soldering rod thrust through her honey blond hair held it up off the nape of her neck. She was disassembling a blaster rifle, spreading the plasteel components around her on the box top.

Kelly didn't mean to be caught staring.

She wasn't too much older than Kelly, but her composure was scary. She held his gaze as she pulled a spice stick from a pocket in her parka. "Got fire?"

He patted through his pockets, knowing full well he didn't. He was hoping some clever response would occur to him.

" 's okay." She slipped the soldering iron out of her hair. A wave of blond spilled over her shoulders. She ignited the soldering wand, puffed on the spice stick, then set the soldering iron down on the crate. "Help you?" she drawled, exhaling smoke up over her head.

"Ah...I was looking for the Supply Commander."

"Staff meeting." She nodded at the closed door over her shoulder. "What d'you need?"

"Power packs."

"That, I can help you with. Standard size or rifle?"

"Hand blaster."

"How many?"

"Um..."

"Look, I just brought 'em in. Nobody'd mind if you needed a couple. They're in those crates. Help yourself. Let me know what you take."

Kelly felt around the nearest packing crate for its latch. After he popped the lid, he discovered the power packs inside stacked with mechanical precision. Imperial precision. He realized they must've been hijacked out of an Imp supply convoy. He stared up at the girl again.

She'd gone back to tinkering with the blaster rifle.

"I didn't know those came all apart so easy," he said.

She looked up at him sideways, half her attention still on the gun. "They pack up pretty small, once you get 'em apart. Easier to conceal." As she talked, she began snapping the plasteel pieces back together. "The drawback is carrying around extra power cells. These take the heavy-duty ones. Two or three of those, and you got an energy signature hot enough to tip an Imp detector. So much for concealment."

One final snap and the rifle was back in one lethal piece.

Kelly swallowed. So what if she was showing off? He was impressed. She'd done the assembly with gloves on, too.

A Gotal stuck her head out of the Supply Commander's office and called, "Ariel? We're ready in here."

The blond swung herself down off the packing crate. As she shouldered the rifle, she asked Kelly, "How many of those you taking?"

He looked down into the open crate. "Six? That'd be two each."

She was already crossing the ice cavern toward her meeting. "Which unit are you with?"

"I'm Kelly Phalfa from the Plague."

"I'll pass the requisition on." She smiled and added, "See ya, Kelly."

Kelly thought, I hope so.

*

The commander of Supply Division was human. Ariel realized she should have expected that — humans composed most of the Alliance hierarchy. Being the token human on Heddryn's team had already changed her perspective.

She slid the rifle's strap off her shoulder and held the weapon out with both hands.

Colonel Tibbs sighted down it at the door. "Is this charged? It's awfully light."

"Yes, sir. That's BlasTech's latest improvement. The plasteel alloy is similar to stormtrooper armor: lightweight, very durable."

He handed it back to her. "These break down?"

"Yes, sir." She took the rifle apart as before, placing the pieces in precise stacks to emphasize their compact design. "When completely disassembled, the rifle easily fits into a shoulder satchel."

He examined the blaster's components. "Will they stand up to combat?"

"They're not designed for continuous fire, sir, as manufactured. The firing mechanism was purposefully created to overheat and jam, in order to conform to Imperial restrictions on civilian firearms. These are sold strictly as sporting weapons." Ariel selected the firing mechanism and handed it to him. "BlasTech weapons are modular, as you know. That's the main selling point: easy to find parts and qualified repair droids. Firing mechanisms from the old A280 rifles snap right into these 380s, converting them to battle readiness."

Colonel Tibbs walked around behind his desk and sat down like a man who'd been on shift too many hours in a row. Realizing he still held the rifle's firing mechanism, he reached across the cluttered desk to return it to her. "When can we have them?"

Ariel glanced over her shoulder to Heddryn, who nodded.

"Well, sir." She reassembled the rifle, to give her hands something to do. If Tibbs asked too many questions about where the rifles were coming from, Ariel would need to admit things it was safer if no one but Heddryn knew. "I've tapped into the computers of BlasTech's sales rep for the Outer Rim," Ariel said. "He expects a shipment of these rifles direct from the factory in two days. The weapons usually travel on a nondescript commercial freighter, without any military escort. These deliveries have never been raided by the Alliance. Any move we make will be completely unexpected."

She laid the rifle on his desk.

He chuckled. "How long did it take you to reassemble that?"

"35 seconds, sir. With a fair amount of practice."

"What's its range?"

"With the sight, it's accurate to 2000 meters. It will burn through unshielded heavy armor in under three seconds. At full power, in continuous fire, it will drain a powerpack in 25 time-parts."

"You've certainly done your homework."

Ariel smiled for the first time. "I know blasters, sir."

Colonel Tibbs stood and Ariel straightened back to attention. He reached across the desk to offer his hand. "Welcome back, Captain Shaad. You'll be an asset to Supply Division."

"Thank you, sir. I'm eager to help any way I can."

Dismissed, she left the office. She sat outside to fill out the requisition for Kelly Phalfa.

As she finished, Heddryn came out of the office. Grinning, she said, "That went well."

"You told them about Ralltiir?" Ariel asked.

"Of course. Intelligence checked your record before we brought you in. They know you were captured while the base was under attack, that you could not possibly have betrayed it. You'll be glad to know Imperial records list you as dead in custody — from injuries sustained under questioning. The Imps don't seem to know you've escaped."

"Thank the Stars for that." Silently, Ariel also thanked Raena. When her sister sliced a computer system, it stayed sliced.

*

Sam felt a bead of sweat trickle from behind his ear and head for his collar. The engine compartment of the snow speeder he worked on was tight and warm, despite the frigid weather outside. He finished up and squirmed out just as Kelly approached.

Of all the Core-forgotten places the crew of the Plague had followed the Rebellion to, this was the worst. Sure, Hoth had breathable atmosphere, but the air was so cold that taking a deep lungful of it felt like inhaling something sharp. Nobody but the dangerously insane would settle out here. Which, Sam reminded himself, was exactly the point.

Just another day in paradise.

"Hey," Kelly greeted, pulling something from his jacket pocket. "Look 'at I found."

Sam raised an eyebrow at the two power packs Kelly held. "Found?"

"Well, not exactly," the boy admitted, shrugging. "But somebody else is takin' care of the paperwork."

He passed them to Sam and pulled two more out of a cargo pocket on his pants. "Two for you and Doc, each." Then he pulled another pair out of his jacket's inside pocket.

Sam shook his head. The kid was getting more Corellian by the day. "You sure these are okay?" Sam asked, stowing them in his own vest pockets.

Kelly nodded. "The girl that gave 'em to me — she's the one who brought 'em in. Hey, you shoulda seen her blaster. It musta been state of the art. It was big —" he gestured with his hands "— an' shiny. It was really bazz."

Sam shook his head at the envy in Kelly's voice. "Hardware like that, you're just walkin' around, askin' for a fight."

Kelly craned his neck to give Sam a grin. He looked like what he was: a kid on an adventure. No matter what horrible place the Rebellion dropped them in, Kelly always saw the adventure in it.

"You remember that girl Ariel we were lookin' for?" Kelly asked.

"She's workin' in Supply?" Sam guessed.

"Yeah. Funny how we gave up on findin' her and here she is."

"You give her the message?"

"Didn't get a chance to."

Sam thought about warning the boy against girls who carried big guns and were friends of Raena Vader's, but what good would it do? Warnings hadn't kept him away from Vader herself.

"You on your way home?" Sam asked him.

"Uh, well, as soon as I..." Kelly looked away. "You know, get the —"

"Oh, yeah. Doc's damned Ambersi," Sam grumbled. "Hurry it up. I'm not waiting dinner."

To be continued...