Harra the Hutt nodded and licked the corner of her mouth with her warty tongue. “It’s good to be not-the-same,” she said to Dec, who laughed.
“Yeah, it’s good to be different,” he agreed. Gherd cackled and waved a furious farewell to Mattis and Cost.
Harra the Hutt slithered off toward her palace, carrying her favorite pet and a Jedi’s weapon, and flanked by her droid companion. She hummed softly and murmured “I’m a Jedi,” and made lightsaber-ish noises as she disappeared into the fog to take back what was rightfully hers.
“Can you fly that thing?” Lorica asked AG, motioning toward the boxy fighter ship.
“I can fly anything,” AG-90 told her.
“Ymmoss and Cost are coming with us,” Mattis told Dec.
“Good. We’re gonna need all hands if we’re gonna rescue Jo,” Dec responded.
They all boarded the ship. It was close quarters, and Ymmoss had to duck her head to fit inside, but soon they were all strapped in and AG-90 was behind the control panel.
“Where to?” he asked.
“It’s a big galaxy,” Dec admitted. He sounded unsure.
But Mattis wasn’t. “Our friend is out there somewhere,” Mattis said. “We’ll find him.”
With that, the boxy ship lifted from the mud of Vodran with a squish and a hiss, and then the blast of thrusters took them out into the atmosphere, out into the stars to rescue their friend.
Acker & Blacker wish to thank Michael Siglain for the opportunity, Jen Heddle for being the strongest and gentlest of editors, and Annie Wu for the beautiful, inspiring art. Thanks to Julie Lacouture for patience and early reads. And thanks to all of you Adventurekateers for your constant enthusiasm. Clink.
BEN ACKER & BEN BLACKER are the creators and writers/producers of the Thrilling Adventure Hour, a staged show in the style of old-time radio that is also a podcast on the Nerdist network. In television, they have written on shows for the CW, Netflix, FX, and others. They’ve developed original pilots for Fox, USA (twice), Spike, Paramount, Nickelodeon, AMC, and other entities. In comics, they’ve written for Marvel, Dynamite, Boom!, and others.
Blacker is the creator and host of The Writers Panel, a podcast about the business and process of writing.
ANNIE WU is an illustrator currently living in Chicago. She is best known for her work in comics, including DC’s Black Canary and Marvel’s Hawkeye.
Escape from Vodran Page 18
