The Corellian swallowed. "Uh, yeah, about that load, Jabba. Well, you see... it was 'almost like they'd set a trap for me! The Imps were waitin' and they-"

"The customs officials have my spice?" Jabba roared, so loudly and suddenly that Han couldn't help flinching back. "How couM you, Solo?"

"No! No, no, Jabba? Han cried. "They didn't get it! Honest, they've got nothin' on you, nothin'! But... in order to keep the customs guys from finding it, I had to dump it. I marked it, but they wouldn't let me go right away. And when I went back for it . . . it was gone, Jabba."

"My spice is gone," Jabba said, staring blearily at Han, his voice ominously quiet.

"Uh... yeah. But, hey, Jabba, don't worry. I'll make it up to you, I promise. Me and Chewie will work it off, we'll pay you the value, don't worry. You know we're good for it. And honest, Jabba, I got a feelin' I was set up, you know? How many people besides you and Moruth Doole knew I was goin' on a Run?"

Jabba ignored Han's question. His bulbous eyes blinked rapidly as he took several puffs on the hookah. Then, reaching out, he grabbed a wriggler from the liquid-filled globe and stuffed the squirming thing into his mouth.

"Han. . . Hah, my boy, you know I love you like a son," he said slowly, portentously. "But business is busi-ness, and you've broken my primary rule. I can't make exceptions just because I am fond of you. That load cost me twelve thousand four hundred credits. Deliver the spice or the credits to me within ten days, or face the consequences."

Hah wet his lips. "Ten days... but, Jabba-"

The connection was abruptly broken. Hah sagged back in his pilot's seat, wrung out. What am I gonna do?

Six days later, having tried and failed to sc.r.a.pe up the credits from some of the sentients who owed him money, Han went back to Nar Shaddaa; He hated to do it, but he was going to have to borrow the credits from friends.

He discovered that someone involved in that night-mare Run... some Imp officer, or trooper... had evi-dently talked about what had happened. His fellow smugglers regarded him with a mixture of awe and trepidation.

Awe because he'd set a new record for the Run, trepi-dation because the news was out-Jabba was displeased, most displeased, with his former favorite pilot.

Shug was off-planet, and Hah cursed when he dis-covered that the master tech was gone. He knew Shug was good for that much, though it would strain his resources.

Hah made the rounds, managed to pick up a couple of thousand credits by calling in some old favors. But news of what had happened to some of the captains on Ylesia had spread, and several people simply looked the other way when Hah approached.

Han finally went to Lando's place. He didn't want to, but he was out of options.

He knocked on the door, and heard the gambler's sleepy voice from inside. "Who is it?" "Lando, it's me," he called. "Han."

The Corellian heard steps, then suddenly Lando jerked the door open. Before Hah could utter a single word, the gambler's fist lashed out in a vicious sucker-punch, catching Han in the jaw and sending him flying back across the hallway. The Corellian slammed into the wall, then slid down, landing on his rear.

Han grabbed his jaw, spots dancing before his eyes, struggling to speak. Lando loomed over him. "You have got to have the most colossal nerve in the entire galaxy, coming here after what you pulled on Ylesia!" he yelled. "You're lucky I don't just shoot you, you lousy, lowlife, double-crosser!"

"Lando..." Han managed to croak, "I swear, I didn't know what she was plannin'. I swear .... "

"Right," Lando sneered. "Sure you didn't!"

"Would I have come here like this if I wasn't inno-cent?" Han mumbled. His jaw wasn't working very well. He could feel it swelling. "Lando... she did it to me, too. I didn't get nothin' from that trip. Nothin'!"

"I don't believe you," Lando said, coldly. "But if I did, I'd say, 'good!' You two deserve each other!"

"Lando," Han said, "I lost a load of spice I was carryin' for Jabba. I'm desperate, buddy. I need to borrow-"

"What?" Lando grabbed Han's jacket in both hands and yanked the pilot to his feet. He slammed the Corel-lian against the wall. The gambler's dark face was barely a handsbreadth from Han's. "You came here to ask me for a loan?"

Hah managed to nod. "I'm good for it... honest .... "

"Get this through your head, Solo," Lando snarled. "We've been friends in the past, so I'm not going to do what you so richly deserve and blow your head off. But don't ever come near me again!"

Slamming Han against the wall one more time, Lando let the Corellian go. Hah slid down the wall again, as Lando stormed back into his fiat. The door banged shut, and Han heard the lock click.

Slowly, painfully, Hah got to his' feet. His jaw was throbbing, and he tasted blood.

Well, that~ that, he thought, staring at the closed door. Now what?

"We're not going to get out of here, are we?"

Commander Bria Tharen ignored the barely audible question as she ducked down behind the pile of rubble and ejected the spent power pak from her blaster. Or tried to. The pak was jammed. Looking at her weapon, she saw that the constant firing from the past few min'-utes of battle had fused the power connectors together, making it impossible toremove the empty pak.

She swore under her breath, and crawled over to the body next to her. Jace Paol's features were frozen into an expression of tight, concentrated anger. He'd died fighting, the way he would have wanted to go. Grabbing his weapon, she eased it out from beneath his body, but before she had it .all' the way out, she saw the barrel was fused. It was as useless as her own.

Glancing over at the pitiful remains of Red Hand Squadron, Bria said, "Anyone who can, give me cover. I've got to scrounge me up something to shoot with."

Joaa'n nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. "Ready, Commander. I don't see anything moving out there at the moment."

"Okay," Bria said. Tossing the useless weapon aside, the Rebel commander peered carefully over the rubble, then stealthily slid around to the side, out from behind her cover. She didn't bother getting to her feet, not sure that her wounded leg would support her. Instead, she scuttled forward on ,hands and knees, keeping low, through the ragged hole in the outside wall of the half-destroyed Imperial comm center where they were mak-ing their last stand.

A few meters away, an Imperial trooper lay, a hole still smoldering in his breastplate.

Quickly, Bria crawled over and stripped the dead man of his weapon and spare power paks, noting wryly that the trooper must have used 'all his grenades before he'd been shot.' Too bad... I could have made good use of a couple of grenades ....

Bria thought about taking the man~ body armor, but it hadn't done him any good, had it?

Here, outside the remains of the Imperi'al corem center on the restricted world of Toprawa, she could hear better. And breathe better, too. The stench of bat-tle was replaced by a cool night breeze. Bria crouched behind a fallen block of permacrete, daring to pull off her helmet for a second, then wipe her grimy face. She sighed with pleasure as the gentle breeze cooled her sweaty hair. The last time she'd felt a cool, pleasant breeze like that had been on Togoria ....

Where are you, Han? she wondered, as she often did. What are you doing right now?

She wondered if Hah would ever know what had be-come of her. Would he care if he did? Did he hate her now? She hoped not, but she would never know ....

Bria thought about that day on Ylesia, and wished things could have been different. Yet... if she'd had it to do over again, would she have done things any differently?

She smiled sadly. Probably not ....

The credits she'd raised had come in handy, and had led directly to this a.s.signment. Torbul and the other Rebel leaders had sent intelligence units to infiltrate Ralltiir, and they'd discovered that the Empire was shipping vital plans for its new secret weapon to its records center on Toprawa.

Torbul had been straight with her when he'd dis-cussed the mission, using terms like, "recovery iffy," and "expendable."

Bria had known what she was getting into, but she'd volunteered Red Hand Squadron anyway. She knew they needed the best for this job, and she was confident her people could deliver. And they had ....

This was the biggest anti-hnperial offensive of the Resistance so far, a coordinated offensive a.s.signed to transmit the plans for the latest Imperial secret weapon. Bria didn't know all the details, but her a.s.signment had been to seize this Imperial comm center on Toprawa and hold it, while the comm techs transmitted the stolen plans to a Rebel courier ship . . . a Corellian corvette that would "accidentally" pa.s.s through this highly restricted star system.

When Torbul told Bria that the Rebel Alliance needed volunteers to accompany the intelligence team to Toprawa, to hold off the Imps while the comm techs did their job, Bria hadn't hesitated before volunteering. "Red Hand will go, sir," she said. "We can handle it."

She looked out across the plaza, seeing the carnage of war reflected dimly in the streetlights. Bodies, over-turned ground-cars, wrecked speeders... the place was a mess.

Bria thought about Ylesia, reflecting that place had been an even bigger mess . . . and she was proud that she had some responsibility for that. Glancing up at the sky, she thought about Retribution. They'd lost contact with her, and Bria feared the worst.

Time W get back to work, she thought, and crawled back into the wrecked comm center.

Hearing the deep thrum of heavy repulsorlift units behind her, Bria sheltered behind the wall and peered out. Looking up, she saw the faint glint of light from the armor of a ma.s.sive rectangular object floating above the permacrete of the ruined plaza. The hnpe-rial heavy armor, one of the "Floating Fortress" cla.s.s units, settled down into a covered position behind the remains of the communications and sensor tower, obvi-ously getting ready for yet another a.s.sault on Red Hand Squadron... or what was left of it.

Bria scrambled backward, crawling quickly, to pa.s.s the word to her remaining troops.

"Listen up, people," she said, to the survivors-so few! who were sheltering behind the barricade. She began pa.s.sing out the power paks, dividing them up equally. "They're coming again. We've got to look sharp, hold them off as long as possible."

They didn't talk, just nodded, and prepared to go to work. Bria was proud of them. ProfessionMs. Dedicated professionals.

It won't be long now, she thought, finding a good spot for herself behind the barricade. "People..." she said aloud, "has everyone got their lullaby?"

Murmured a.s.sents. Bria checked her own. She'd stuck the tiny pill to the collar of her fatigues, so that all she had to do was turn her head and stick her tongue out to get it. You never knew if your arms would be working, after all.

Come on, she thought to the Imperials. It~ rude to keep us waiting.

What the Imps didn't know was that they were al-ready too late. Red Hand had managed to hold the Im-perial reaction force at the outer perimeter while the Rebel comm techs transmitted the plans to the courier vessel. It had been close; the Imps had chopped the corem/sensor tower in half just seconds after the trans-mission had ended-but Bria had seen the acknowledg-ment from Tantive IV with her own eyes. "Transmission complete."

Bria had 'also seen, before the sensors were cut off, the image of an Imperial Star Destroyer closing in on the Rebel Blockade Runner. Had that courier gotten away? She'd never know ....

Bria wondered exactly what they'd been transmit-ting, but knew she'd never know that, either. As it was, she and her people knew too much... that's why they couldn't risk being taken alive.

Not that the Imperials seem inclined to take prison-ers anyway today, she thought.

As she bent down to check the bandage around her thigh, the trooper next to her voiced the same quiet question she'd refused to answer earlieru "We're not go-ing to get out of here... are we?"

Bria looked at him, pale under his battered helmet, his eyes wide and stating. Sk'kot was a good trooper, loyal to her, loyal to their causeu But he was so young ....

Still, he deserved a straight answeru "No, we're not, Sk'kot," Bria repliedu "You know that. The Imps have destroyed our shipsu No retrieval. And even if we didn't have orders to hold this comm center for as long as possible, there's nowhere for us to go on this world. Even if we could get past the troopers u . . we've got no transport." She gave him a wry grin, and gestured at her wounded leg. "I'd look really silly trying to hop out of here, wouldn't I?"

He nodded, and his face twisted with anguish.

She looked at him closelyu "Sk'kot . . . we can't be captured. You understand that, right?"

He nodded again, then took out his lullaby and stuck it to his collar, the way Bria had. "Yeah, Commander. I understand." His voice was shaking, but his hands on his weapon were steadyu He leaned closer to her, not wanting the others to hear. "Commanderu.. I... I don't want to die." His ad-mission seemed to drain him, and he trembled.

"Help me with this bandage, would you, Sk'kot?" she said, motioning for him to tighten the medpac tighter on her leg. The kid's hands steadied a bit as he pulled on the straps binding it to her wound. "Tighter!" she told him, and he leaned back, putting his weight into it. A jolt of pain got though to Bria, past the painkillers that let her move about despite her injury. "There, that's got it." Young Burrid sagged down next to her. Bria put her arm around him, as she would a brother she loved, and leaned close to him.

"I don't want to die either, Sk'kot. But I sure 'as blazes don't want the Empire to win. I don't want good people ma.s.sacred, or taken as slaves, or taxed until they can't feed their families or live a decent life. Or just murdered by some Imperial Moff who woke up cranky that morning."

Sk'kot smiled slightly at her turn of phrase. "So it's okay that we're not going to get out of here, right, Sk'kot? It's okay that we're going to go down doing our jobs, because they-" she jerked her chin at their dead comrades, "did theirs. We can't let them down, right?"

"Right, Commander," Sk'kot said. Bria hugged him tight, with a small, sad smile, and he returned it. He'd stopped shaking.

Just then, Joaa'n, keeping lookout, called, "They're moving out there."

Bria rolled aside, pushing Sk'kot toward his positionu She looked quickly between two pieces of rubble, and without taking her eyes off the opening, issued orders. "Joaa'n, you stay down at first and get your launcher ready. After the rest of us open up, try to duck out and nail that Floating Fortress. Got that?" "Yes, Commander?

"People, remember to change positions after shoot-ing, or they'll zero in on you with the repeating blasters. Everyone ready?"

Murmured affirmatives answered her. Picking up her borrowed blaster carbine, Bria checked the charge. Sighting down the barrel, she thought, Goodbye, Han ....

Something moved in the breached wall. Bria took a deep breathu "Open fire!"

Tatooine is such a dump, Han thought, as he and Chewie made their way along the night-dark back streets. Jalus Nebl was so.right ....

The two smugglers had arrived just hours ago. Han had decided that the only way to approach Jabba for more time to pay off the dumped load of spice was to talk to him in person. But things weren't looking too promising. So far he'd been unable to reach Jabba on the comm to request an audience. And back in Docking Bay 94 where the Falcon was berthed, he'd encoun-tered that dumb Rodian, Greedo, nosing around. The fool had tried to shake Hah down for a payoff, implying that Jabbahad taken a bounty out on the Corellian.

As if echoing Han's thoughts, Chewbacca observed quietly that word was out on the streets that the RodJan kid, Greedo, was hanging around in the company of a has-been bounty hunter, one Warhog Goa.

Han snorted. "Chewie, you know as well as I do that Jabba~ just sendin' us a little message, hirin' that dumb thug, Greedo. If Jabba really wanted me dead, he'd hire somebody competent to do the job. Greedo~ so stupid he couldn't find his behind with both hands and laser-torch."

"Hrrrrrrnnnnnn..." Chewbacca also had a low opin-ion of the Rodian.

Han had a few spare credits, and he'd decided to check out the local games of chance. Maybe he could win enough credits to make a substantial downpayment that would satisfy Jabba for the moment, then he could concentrate on sc.r.a.ping up the rest of the credits ....

They walked into The Krayt Dragon Lounge, and stood looking around. Over in the corner, sure enough, there was a sabacc game in progress.

As Han and Chewie approached, the Corellian looked more closely at one of the players, a slender man with red hair and regular features. "Hey!" Han ex-claimed. "Small universe! How are you, Dash?"

Dash Rendar looked up, gave the Corellian a wary smile. "Hey, Solo! Hey, Chewbacca! Long time no see. What~ this I hear about some caper on Ylesia?"

Han groaned aloud. Dash Rendar gestured to empty seats, and Han and Chewie took them. "Deal me in, gentles," Han said, digging out a handful of credits. "Chewie, you wanna play?"

The Wookiee shook his head, and wandered off to the bar in search of liquid refreshment. Han glanced at Rendar. "Hey, Dash, where'd you hear about the Yle-sian raid?" After the way people had treated him on Nar Shaddaa, it felt good to run into someone he knew who was still speaking to him.

"Oh, I ran into Zeen Afit and Katya M'Buele last week, and they told me," Rendar said, dealing card-chips. "They said their group of Rebels treated them square, but the ones you had thrown in with stiffed everyone. That true?"

Hah nodded. "Yep. True. They stiffed me, too, but n.o.body will believe me." He scowled. "But I ain't lyin' when I say it. Jabba's on the verge of takin' out a real bounty on me, 'cause I can't pay him what I owe."

Rendar shrugged. "Tough luck," he said. "Personally, I make it a policy never to get mixed up with those Rebel groups."

"Well, that~ always been my policy, too," Han said.

"But this seemed like such a sweet deal .... "

"Yeah, Katya and Zeen were real happy, throwing credits around like they were bantha fodder," Rendar said.

They'd only been playing for a few minutes, and Han was losing, when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down to see a little Chadra-Fan standing there. "Huh?"

She squeaked at him, and Han frowned. He wasn't too good with her language.

"Kabe says there~ someone outside wants to see you," Rendar translated.

Jabba/ Jabba finaUy got my messages and wants to see me, Han thought. He~ sent someone to bring me to him. Now I can talk to him, smooth things over....

Han tossed in his card-chips and stood up, motioning to Chewie to finish off his drink. "Okay, deal me out on this hand. I might be back later."

With one hand on the grip of his blaster, Han and the Wookiee followed the street urchin out the back door, into the 'alley. They stood there for a second, looking around, but saw no one.