Star Wars - Kenobi

He slammed headfirst into the pourstone surface, and then his limp frame dropped to the floor, like an insect falling off a windshield.
    Orrin blinked. Had a whistler grabbed Boopa? He couldn’t understand how. The creatures weren’t large enough. One settled on Boopa’s body now and began to feast. Hearing no others, Orrin crept out from beneath the desk. There was no one standing atop it. Who had Boopa seen?
    Above, through the square gap in the mesh, the broken chain continued to sway, light from the slit windows glinting off it. One window was open to the outside, but there were no whistlers to escape through it. Apart from the one now busy with Boopa, all were gone.
    Stumbling off the edge of the platform, Orrin witnessed the mess the room had become. Two Gamorreans lay dying, as well as two henchmen Orrin hadn’t seen before. There was his blaster on the floor near the overturned table, along with his white comlink. He could hear the red one, beeping somewhere in the debris; he didn’t bother to look for it. His hat was crushed beneath the cage.
    And then there were the credits, scattered everywhere from Mosep’s desk. Without thinking, Orrin began stuffing his pockets. Some of it was surely his money, after all. No one here would be the—
    “H-hello?”
    Orrin stopped dead at the sound of the voice. From underneath a Gamorrean, Mosep moaned. “Is someone out there? I believe I’m fractured.”
    “I didn’t do this, Mosep,” Orrin said, forgetting the credits and edging toward the door. “I’m just a businessman!”
    Stopping in the doorway, Orrin calculated for a moment, then turned. With a strong heave, he rolled the Gamorrean off Mosep’s body. The Nimbanel gasped for air.
    Weakly, Mosep turned his head to the right. Seeing the mess, he sighed. “I’m beginning to think this particular trap is ill conceived.” He looked back at Orrin. “You have my gratitude,” the accountant wheezed, still prone.
    “And anything else?” Orrin asked, clutching his sides to hide the currency bulging in his pockets.
    “Twenty-four hours.” Mosep beheld the room. “I expect I’ll have some remodeling bills to pay before Jabba returns.”
    Orrin gave the room a last look and ran.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
    ANNILEEN CLICKED OFF HER red comlink. “Orrin’s still not answering,” she said. What good was having a direct communications link to the man if he never answered?
    That is, if he could answer. Standing beside her new landspeeder in front of the Mos Eisley Inn, Annileen fought to dispel the thought. Orrin and Ben had been gone for more than an hour. She and Jabe had fetched Kallie, and then she’d dropped Jabe off to retrieve the LiteVan, to give him something to do. Anything to keep the boy from rushing into the town house to save Orrin, if he needed saving.
    Tired of waiting, she pocketed the comlink. “I’m just going to go to the door.”
    Kallie tugged her sleeve. “Wait, Mom. Here comes Jabe!”
    The LiteVan hovered to a stop next to the new landspeeder. “Look who I found,” Jabe said, hopping out. The side door opened, and Mullen and Veeka disembarked.
    “Oh, joy,” Kallie said.
    “Hush.” Annileen walked up to Mullen, who looked more bewildered than usual. “Mullen, have you been able to reach your father?
    The young man mumbled something inaudible. Beside him, Veeka shook her head.
    Annileen pressed them. “What are you all doing in Mos Eisley?”
    Tongue-tied, Mullen looked at his sister. Veeka shrugged, uncomfortably. “We were just, you know, in town.”
    Annileen stared at the pair. “You’re a wonderful help.”
    The Gault siblings clearly knew something, which was an unusual enough condition for them in Annileen’s eyes. But before she could ask further, a horrific screech pierced the air.
    “Look there!” Jabe said, pointing up the street.
    The heavy front door to the town house opened. Half a dozen people of various species bolted from it, running for their lives. In the next second, three winged creatures jetted through the doorway, one after another. They soared low over the heads of panicked pedestrians before angling for the rooftops.
    “Kayven whistlers,” Annileen said, unbelieving. She was on offworld safari, after all, without ever leaving Tatooine!
    Last, Orrin emerged from the town house. Flushed, hair mussed, the man looked as if he’d lost an argument with a Wookiee. He started to head one way up the street before changing his mind and turning in a