She nodded. "But you'd be surprised what you can get used to... with enough practice."

"I don't want to find out," Lando said, lightly. "How could I give all this up?" He waved a hand at the ele-gant restaurant, and, beyond it, the glittery clamor of the gaming tables.

She nodded. "I have to admit, I have a hard time imagining you in a Rebel uniform."

"At least not without extensive re-tai!oring," Lando said, and they both laughed.

"Have you ever been in combat?" she asked him, on a more serious note.

"Oh, sure," Lando said. "I'm a decent gunner as well as a better-than-average pilot these days. I've seen ac-tion here and there. And, of course, there was the Bat-tle of Nar Shaddaa. Han, Salla and I were in the thick of it."

"Tell me about that," she said. "It just amazes me that smugglers-as independent and hard-headed as most of the ones I've known are-could band together like that to beat the Imperial fleet."

Always pleased to talk about himself and his es-capades to an admiring audience, L~do launched into a fairly detailed narrative of how the smugglers had joined forces with Drea Renthal's pirate fleet to destroy many Imperial fighters and several big capital ships. Bria listened with grave and knowledgeable attention, asking strategic or tactical questions every so often to encourage the gambler in his story.

Finally, when Lando was finished, and they'd or- dered dessert, Bria sat back as the server cleared their plates away. "What a story!" she said. "I'm really im- pressed by the smugglers' daring and expertise. They are 'all marvelous pilots, aren't they?", "You have to be good to stay 'ahead of the Imp cus-toms ships," Lando replied. "Smugglers can handle just about anything-they fly through asteroid fields, play tag with nebulas and s.p.a.ce storms, and they can land on anything. Nothing fazes a good smuggler. I've seen them land ships while fighting uneven gravity fields on asteroids barely bigger than their vessels. Gravity shifts, atmospheric turbulence, sandstorms, blizzards, ty-phoons... you name it, they know how to handle it."

Bria was looking at him intently. "Of course. Smug-glers would naturally be the most experienced pilots in the galaxy .... but they're also good fighters .... "

Lando waved a hand. "Oh, they have to be that, too, with the Imps apt to pop out and start blasting at any moment. Of course, during the Battle of Nar Shaddaa they were fighting to protect their homes and property, else most of them would have demanded payment for their services."

She blinked, as though a sudden idea had occurred to her. "You mean... you think the smugglers would hire themselves out for a military action?"

Lando shrugged. "Why not? Most smugglers are just like privateers. If there~ a decent profit in it, most of them would dare just about anything."

She tapped her bottom lip with a manicured nail as she thought. Lando suddenly looked at her hand in-tently. "Hey..." he said, leaning forward to take her hand in both of his and examine it gently, "what hap-pened, Bria?"

She drew a deep breath. "These old scars? A sou-venir of working in the Ylesian spice factories. I usu~ly cover them with cosmetics for social occasions, but I lost everything aboard the Queen, remember?"

"Drea promised me you'd get your stuff back," Lando said. "I told her your cabin number." He looked embarra.s.sed. "I feel terrible for mentioning them. I just... well, I care about you. It's painful to see them and know how much you were hurt on that world."

She patted his hand. "I know. You're sweet to be concerned, Lando. But I'm not the one you should be concerned about. People are dying every day on Ylesia. Good people. People who deserve better than a life of unending toil, malnutrition, and cruel deception."

He nodded. "Han talked to me about it once. He feels the same way... but there's not much we can do about it, is there?"

She gave him a fierce look. "Yes, there is, Lando. And while there's breath in my body, I'm not going to give up on those people. Someday, I'm going to shut that h.e.l.lworld down for good." Bria grinned suddenly, recklessly, and at that moment, she reminded Lando very much of his absent friend. "As Han would say, 'trust me.'"

Lando chuckled. "I was just thinking that you re-mind me of him at times."

"Han was an important role model for me," she said. "He taught me so much. How to be strong, and brave and independent. You wouldn't believe what a spineless little crybaby I used to be."

Lando shook his head. "I don't believe it."

She was looking down at her scars. They criss-crossed her hands and forearms in thin, white lines, like glow-spider webs against the tanned skin. "It used to hurt Han to look at them, too..." she murmured.

Lando studied her for a long moment. "He'S the only one, isn't he?" he said, finally. "You still love him."

She drew a long breath, then looked up at him, her expression very serious. "He'S the only one," she said steadily.

Lando's eyes widened slightly. "You mean . . . the only one? Ever?"

She nodded. "Oh, I've had a couple of offers. But my life is the Resistance. And..." she shrugged, "frankly, u after Hah... other men seem sort of... bland." Lando chuckled ruefully, realizing that, despite his best efforts and his fondest wishes, Bria's heart was with Han-and there it was likely to stay. "Well, at least when he comes back from the Corporate Sector, I won't have earned myself a punch in the nose for stealing you away," he said. "I have to try and look on the bright side, I suppose."

She looked at him and smiled, then lifted her wine-gla.s.s. "I propose a toast," she said. "To the man I love. Hah Solo."

Lando lifted his, clinked it against hers. "To Hall," he agreed. "The luckiest guy in the galaxy .... "

Interlude 3: Ka~shyyyk, on the way back from tile Corporate Sector...

Han Solo stood in the middle of Mallatobuck's living room, in her horne on Kashyyyk, watching his best friend tenderly cradle his infant son.

They'd landed on Chewie~ homeworld just an hour ago, on their way back from the Corporate Sector. The Falcon was safely docked in the secret wroshyr-limb docking bay. This time, for Han} benefit, the Wookiees provided a series of vine ladders for the Corellian to make the ascent through the wroshyr trees. Knowing now what a quulaar was, the Corellian had flatly re-fused to climb into one.

The moment that they'd landed; Hah had noticed something odd. All of the Wookiees they met kept giving Chewie amused sidelong glances and nudging each other. Chewbacca had seemed oblivious to the byplay, however, so eager was he to see his lovely wife. After all, the Wookiee hadn't seen Malla in nearly a year. . . .

And then, when they'd walked into Malla} house, there she stood, holding a small bundle wrapped in a blanket in her arms. Chewbacca had stood frozen in the doorway, a look of ineredulous joy dawning on his furry visage.

Hah had slapped his friend on the back with almost Wookiee force. "Hey, congratulations, Chewie! You're a dad!"

After a few minutes to admire the baby (whom even Hah had to admit was awfully cute), Han wandered into Malla~ kitchen to give Chewie sorrm time alone with his family. He dug around in the refrigeration unit and found some odds and ends of things to munch on, pleased that MaUa had told him to make him,~elf at lmme.

As he sat there, listening to Cbewie and MaUa dis-cuss names for their son in the next room, Han~ thoughts wandered back to the Corporate Sector and the Tion Hegemony, and all the adventures he'd had there. He wasn't coming home rich, that was for .rare... but he hadn't done too badly, he decided.

And he'd certainly met a host of memorable individuals-some good, most not. Of course there had been the lovely ladies... Jessa, FioUa . . . and Ht~ti ....

Hah smiled, remembering.

And then there had been the bad guys. The ones who had tried to stiff him out of credits, or, worse, tried to snuff him like a candle. Quite a host of them . . . . Ploovo Two-tier-One, Hirken, Zlarb, Magg, Spray... and Gal-landro. That was one tough fellow, GaUandro. Be fun to watch him in a free-for-all against Boba Fett, weapons being equal. Gallandro could probably outdraw the bounty hunter . . . but Fett~ armor would give him some protection ....

Hah couldn't decide which of them would win. And speculation wc~s moot, after all, since GaUandro had, been reduced to a pile of charred meat and bone back on DeUalt, in Xim~ "treasure" vaults.

It had been fun running into Roa and Badure. He'd have to remember to tell Mako that Badure had sent his greetings ....

Hah was surprised to realize that he actually missed BoUux and Blue Max. He'd never realized droids could have so much personality. He hoped that Skynx was treating them both okay ....

The Corellian fingered the newly healed knife-wound on his chin. He'd never had time to get it prop-erly treated~ and it had healed with a noticeable scar. He wondered whether he should get it remeved~ . . .

Wasn't it Lando who always insisted that women couldn't resist a rogue? That~ why the gambler had grown his mustache, claiming it gave him a rakish, pi-ratical air. Hah decided to keep the scar fi~r now. After all, it was a conversation piece... or could be. He pic-tured himself in some of his favorite haunts on Nat Shaddaa, telling the story to some lovely, fascinated lady ....

Next stop, Nar Shaddaa, Han thought. Wonder if Jabba missed me?

Away with you!" Durga Besadii Tai rolled his bul-bous eyes and motioned the small Ubese chime player to vacate his throne room. "Enough? The high-pitched, chaotic notes were pleasant, but did noth-ing to help him work up the fort.i.tude necessary to do what he had to do.

Month after frustrating month, hour after inconclu-sive hour... nothing he had done had brought him any closer to a definitive answer about who had arranged the murder of his beloved parent. Durga had run into a wall as blank as the metal part.i.tions that he now acti-vated to drop from the ceiling and seal off the room from potential eavesdroppers. Tapping his comm unit, Durga grimly activated its privacy field, too. He didn't want anyone to know what he was about to do. Zier... Osman, his majordomo... no one.

After all his work, all his searching, Durga had been unable to establish even a tenuous link between Aruk's death and either Teroenza or Desilijic; nor was there any evidence to establish collusion between them.

It was time. The sour churning in his gut grew stronger, and he wriggled a bit to ease the pressure. His tail jerked and twitched, the Hutt equivalent of nervous pacing. I can manage to keep my head out of the noose if I'm just careful enough, he told himself. Even so, the price will be very, very dear. But I can stand the uncer-tainty no longer....

The privacy field was established, and the walls around him were secure. Durga ran one final security scan, and turned up no possibility of surveillance or a leak. Activating the comm system, the Hutt lord routed the signal through the most secure channel. Perhaps Xizor will not be there..., he thought, almost hoping.

But it was not to be so simple. The Hutt was routed from one subordinate to another, each more obsequious than the last. Just as Durga was beginning to suspect that this was some kind of run-around, the haze of the transmission coalesced into the translucent figure of the Falleen prince. Xizor's dusky greenish complexion brightened slightly as he recognized his caller. He smiled affably. Was there a hint of smugness in that smile? Durga told himself not to be paranoid ....

Now that he'd committed himself to this, the Hutt lord wanted to get on with it. He bobbed his head at the Black Sun leader, and said, "Price Xizor... greetings."

Xizor smiled, and his eyes, made even more baleful by the light shining through the image, shifted to con-template the Hurt. "Ah, Lord Durga, my dear friend. So many months have pa.s.sed... over a Standard Year.

Are you well? I was growing worried about you again.

To what do I owe the honor of this communication?"

Durga steeled himself. "I am fine, Your Highness. But I still have no definitive proof as to the ident.i.ty of my father's murderer. I have considered your offer of a.s.sistance in discovering my father's killer, and would like to accept it now. ! wish for you to use your intelli-gence networks and operatives to either confirm or lay to rest my suspicions."

"I see . . ." Xizor said. "This is most unexpected, Lord Durga. I thought you were under a family obliga-tion to discover the killer's ident.i.ty yourself?"

"I have tried," Durga admitted stiffly, hating how Xizor was fencing with him. "Your Highness... you of-fered Black Sun~ help once before. Now I would like to accept your offer... if the price is right," Durga added.

Xizor nodded and smiled rea.s.suringly. "Lord Durga... have no fear, I am at your service."

"! must know who killed Aruk. I will pay your price... within limits."

Xizor's smile vanished, and he drew himself up. "Lord Durga, you do me wrong. I want no credits in re-turn, only your friendship."

The Hutt stared at the image, trying to read the real message through the prince's verbal sleight-of-hand. "Forgive me, Your Highness, but I suspect you want more than that."

Xizor sighed. "Ah, my friend, nothing is ever as simple as we would like, is it? Yes, there is something I would request of you. A simple act of friendship. As head of Clan Besadii, you are privy to the planetary de-fenses of Nal Hutta. I would like a complete rundown of the weapons and shields, with exact strengths and locations."

The Faleen prince smiled, and this time there was more than just the suggestion of a sneer.

Durga flinched, then forced himself to control his sudden fear and dismay. Nal Hutta~ defenses? What could he possibly want them for? Black Sun can't be planning an attack... or could they?

Perhaps this was just a test. It seemed unlikely that Xizor was planning something... but there was no way to know for sure. Durga envisioned the broad, river-carved expanse outside his palace, silvery Nar Shaddaa a permanent sliver on the distant horizon. Worst case scenario-Nal Hutta was no longer necessary to Be-sadii; his clan could do without the glorious jewel con-quered so long ago. After 'all, they had the Ylesian system ....

And as for the rest of the clan, the non-Besadii citi-zens of Nal Hutta-well, they were fast becoming his enemies anyhow. There was that litfie matter of the offi-cial censure and that million-credit fine ....

Durga glanced at the likeness of portly old Aruk en-sconced in its little niche on his dais, then back at the holo-image. "The information is yours," he said, "but I must know."

Xizor inclined his head. "As soon as it is received, we shall do everything in our power to a.s.sist you, Lord Durga. Farewell .... "

Durga inclined his head again, as cordially as he could, then cut the connection. His stomach was in knots. He had a bad feeling about this ....

Xizor turned away from his communications console to face Guri, a genuine smile tugging at the corners of his well-shaped mouth. "That-was much easier than I thought it would be. The wedge has been driven deep now, and Durga and Besadii will soon split off from the other Hutts. I wonder what it is in Durga's slimy heart that makes him betray his entire species just for a taste of revenge."

Guri gazed at him, serene as 'always. "My Prince, your patience with these Hutts is finally gaining results. It is fortuitous that Besadii was censured so strongly by the other kajidics."

"Yes," replied the Falleen, steepling his hands and tapping his long fingernails together, "Durga has no love for his fellow Hutts now, if he ever did. His grief and emotional instability will provide us with the key to Hutt s.p.a.ce. That, and the Desilijic penchant for sin~ple solutions to complex problems. You have the proof that Durga requires, Guri, do you not?"

The HRD'S expression did not change. "Of course, my Prince. Citizen Green was most helpful in acquiring' it and sidetracking the pathologists at the Forensic In-st.i.tute. He is a very competent human."

Xizor nodded, and shook his ponytail off his shoul-der. "Wait two hundred standard hours, long enough for it to seem as though we have conducted an investi-gation, then you will deliver the material to Durga per-sonally," he said. "When Durga sees it, he will wish to move immediately against Desilijic. Go with him, Guri. a.s.sist him, if necessary, in gaining his revenge on Jiliac. But no harm must come to Jabba. Jabba has been use-ful to me in the past, and I expect him to be useful to me in the future. Teroenza, too, has a part to play in our plans, and should not come to harm. Understood?"

"Understood," said Guri. "It shall be as you wish, my Prince." Moving with lithe, swift strides, she left the room.

Xizor watched her go, admiring her. Nine million credits she had cost him, and worth every decicred. With Guri at his side, Xizor was ready to challenge the Hurts ....

Perhaps, some day, he would even challenge the Emperor himself....

When Han Solo arrived home from the Corporate Sector, he was welcomed back with open arms by 'all and sundry-except Lando and Salla Zend. 'Lando, he discovered, had gone off for a romantic getaway with Drea Renthal, and wouldn't be back for several da)3s.

And as for Salla... Han hadn't really been expecting to take up their relationship where they'd left off, but he 'also hadn't expected her to completely snub him. He saw her once or twice, at a distance, in Shug's s.p.a.cebarn, but the moment she caught sight of him or Chewie, Salla Zend would turn and depart the premises.

When he asked about Salla, his friends 'all a.s.sured him that she'd been fine during his absence, had even been seeing several fellows, though none of the rela-tionships were termed "serious." She'd apparently worked with Lando for a while, though there was no evidence that Salla and Lando were ever anything but business partners.

Jarik had broken up with his girlfriend, and had re-turned to his normal self, happy to have his friends back. Even ZeeZee seemed pleased to have the rightful owners of the apa~ment back again.

When Han heard that Lando had returned, he went right over to his friend's fiat to see him. They exchanged handshakes, backslaps and a brief hug, then 'Lando stepped back to regard his friend. "You look good," he said. "Need a haircut."

"I always need a haircut," Han said, dryly. "Comes from spending time with Wookiees. To them, 'scruffy' is a compliment."

Lando laughed. "Same old Hah. Hey, let's go down to the Golden Orb. I'm buying!"

Minutes later, when they were seated at a booth, tall mugs before them, Lando said, "So... tell me. Where've you been, and how'd you get that scar, buddy?"

Hah launched into a shorthand description of his ad-ventures in the Corporate Sector. Even so, they were working on their third round by the time he finished.

Lando shook his head. "Wow, sounds like some of the stuff that happened to me in the Centrality. One bad guy 'after another. Get a fortune, lose a fortune. So... how's my ship?"

Han took a swig of Alderaanian 'ale, then wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Your ship?" He laughed, enjoying the familiar byplay. "The Falcon has never been better, my friend. She'll make point five past lightspeed, now." Lando's dark eyes widened. "You're kidding!" "Nope," Han said. "There's an old guy in the Corpo-rate Sector who can make a hyperdrive whirl on its axis and give you two decicreds change. Doc's a master, 'all right."

"You'll have to take me for a spin," Lando said, impressed.

"So, tell me what's been happening with you," Han said.

Lando fortified himself with a long drink, then said, "Han, there's something I have to tell you. I ran into Bria a couple of weeks ago."

Han sat up straight. "Bria? Bria Tharen? How?

Why?"

"It's a long story," Lando said, and smiled wickedly.

"So get busy and start tellin' it," Han snapped, his ex-pression darkening.

"Man, that is one lovely armful, that lady," Lando said, and sighed.

In one swift motion, Han lurched forward and grabbed Lando by the collar of his embroidered shirt.

"Whoa!" Lando gasped. "Nothing happened! We just danced, that's 'all!"