The Force Awakens

Chapter 7

Leaving Chewbacca to guard the Falcon, my father led Rey, Finn, BB-8, and I up a flight of stone stairs to the fortress proper. It had been years since he'd been here and seen its owner. He hoped her good opinion of him hadn't changed. Otherwise, we might have been better off with the rathtars.

"Why are we here again?" Finn asked.

"To get your droid on a clean ship. You think it was luck that Chewie and I found the Falcon? If we can find it on our scanners, the First Order's not far behind. Want to get BB-8 to the Resistance? Maz Kanata is our best bet. She's run this watering hole for a thousand years. Maz is an acquired taste," Han told us, "so let me do the talking. And whatever you do, don't stare."

"At what?" Rey asked.

"Any of it," Han said gruffly.

At the top of the stairs, we passed through the open gate, then went down a corridor that directed us into a great hall. The place was as rowdy and rough as any cantina I had ever frequented. At the many tables sat blue-bearded Narquois, chortling Ubdurians, and puffy yellow Frigosians. A woman in a black-and-white baffleweave bodysuit sat in the lap of a heavyset Dowutin. Lurching about on a peg leg was a saggy Gabdorin. Three white-furred bipeds Han knew as the Hassk triplets snarled from a corner. Han snarled back. He never showed fear in holes like this. Walking through the throng with the three of us, he hurled glares and vicious threats to ward off any would-be aggressors.

There was one whom Han did not insult. Short and slim, she had skin wrinkled like my fathers but with the color of spoiled citrus. The ends of a tightly tied bandana drooped from her bald head, though the rest of her apparel was loose fitting. Gadgets of all sorts dangled from an animal-hide belt around her waist, and rings and bracelets adorned her fingers and wrists. But the most striking features of her person were the scope-sized lenses around each eye—and the voice that shrieked from her tiny mouth.

"Haaaan Sooolo?"

The great hall became so quiet we could've heard a worm move. "Hiya, Maz," he said.

"Under the radar," I whispered. "Perfect."

"You still in business?" Han called out to Maz.

"Barely!" she shouted, heading toward them from across the hall. "Thanks to a certain mooch who still hasn't paid me back after nearly twenty years." She reached Han and looked up at him. "Can you imagine something so horrible?"

Han twitched. "I might be able to."

"Where's my boyfriend?" Maz asked.

"Chewie's repairing the Falcon."

"That's one sweet Wookiee." Maz looked over at Finn, Rey, and I. "I'm sorry."

"About what?" Finn asked.

"Whatever trouble he's dragged you into." Maz turned to Han again. "Come! Sit! I can't wait to hear what you need from me this time."

Finn and I ate our fill of the feast Maz served us, but Rey gorged. I watched the slender girl scarf down anything and everything served on the long tiled table, as if it might be taken away at a moment's notice. Taste and appearance did not factor in to what she crammed in her mouth. Getting food into her stomach seemed to be her primary goal. What had she been eating on Jakku? Or perhaps more accurately, what hadn't she been eating?

Han regaled Maz with his account of their escape from the Guavians and Kanjiklubbers, conspicuously omitting any mention of the rathtars. Maz grew excited when he spoke of what BB-8 carried. "A map leading to the first Jedi Temple! To Skywalker himself! I've never given up hope for him."

"That's good to hear, because I have a favor to ask," Han said.

Maz cocked her head at Han. "You need a loan." Han's grin wavered. "Yes, I heard about the rathtars." She looked over at Rey. "How's the food?"