Star Wars: The Han Solo Trilogy I: The Paradise Snare (30 page)

“Very well.” After spending a moment checking the board before her, she nodded. “I can do this. Who shot at us?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” Han said tightly, studying his readouts. “I don’t think the priests have surface-to-air stuff, but I’m hanged if I can see—”

He broke off with a whoop of laughter, just as the
Talisman
shuddered again. Mrrov looked at Han, who was still chuckling, as if he were crazy.

“It’s okay,” he said.

She pointed at the technical readout of their surrounding space. It showed several storm cells, safely removed in distance from their escape vector, but it also showed a small, teardrop-shaped craft rapidly gaining on the
Talisman
. “What do you mean, ‘okay’? There is someone pursuing us and shooting at us, and they are gaining!”

“Aahhhh … it’s just old Jalus Nebl in the
Ylesian Dream
,” Han said, waving a dismissive hand. “The priests must’ve ordered him to come up here and shoot our asses down.” He chuckled again.

Talisman
lurched slightly. Han laughed again.

Mrrov was staring at him, obviously wondering if his mind had snapped from the strain. Han grinned at her cheerfully. “You don’t understand,” he said.

“No,” agreed Mrrov. “Would you care to explain it to me?”

“Sure. Jalus Nebl and I are friends. He wouldn’t shoot me down any more than I’d shoot him. So he’s firing his laser cannon, just missing us by a hair each time, making it look good. We’re gaining speed every minute, and soon, we’re gonna be out of the atmosphere, and five minutes after
that
, we’ll be out of the planet’s gravity well. We’re fine, Mrrov. Trust me.”

Mrrov’s whiskers twitched. “I believe I am beginning to understand. Your friend Jalus Nebl is putting on a show of attempting to shoot us down? So we have nothing to worry about?”

“Right,” Han said cheerfully. “We’re almost clear of the atmosphere, and if Nebl’s got a grain of sense, he’ll take the
Ylesian Dream
and get his droopy-jowled little carcass off Ylesia, too. Or maybe he’s decided to hang in with the priests and ask for a raise. They’ll be desperate, with only one pilot left.”

Another near-hit caused the
Talisman
to shiver. “That was close,” Han muttered, checking his ship’s hull and systems. “The little so-and-so’s showing off.”

He continued to track the
Ylesian Dream
as it followed them up through the last of the stratosphere, into the thin layer of ionosphere. Ahead lay the thinnest whisper of upper atmosphere—the exosphere.

As they burst upward, Han turned his attention to the navicomputer, checking on the programming for their jump to hyperspace. They wouldn’t be clear of Ylesia’s gravity well for several minutes yet, but he wanted to be ready.

“I see a vehicle on our sensors,” Mrrov said. “Above us, in our path.”

“That’s just the space station. It orbits in a synchronous orbit with Colony One,” Han said, not looking up. “That’s where they off-load the pilgrims when the ships bring them in. You must’ve been there.”

“No, Han.” Mrrov’s voice was suddenly urgent. “I remember it very well, but that’s not it. That’s no space station—it’s a
spaceship
! A big one!”

Finally alarmed, Han looked up—and abruptly swore in six languages. “That’s a Corellian corvette! What’s it doing here?”

His hands flew over the controls as he began evasive maneuvers, increasing speed and sheering away from the huge vessel. With one part of his mind, Han noted the blip that was the
Dream
streaking off in the opposite direction.

Suddenly the
Talisman
jerked hard and bucked. The engine began to strain. “What’s wrong?” Mrrov demanded, just as Bria burst into the cabin.

“Han … what happened?” she asked.

Han cut in the auxiliary power, felt the Ylesian yacht strain, but … it … wasn’t … going … to … be … enough—

“No!” he yelled, frustrated, on the verge of panic. “No, we
can’t
go back!”

His passengers stared at him, wide-eyed with fear, as Han began shutting down his engines to avoid burning them out.

As he did so, a voice erupted from the comm unit. “Attention,
Talisman
. This is Captain Ngyn Reeos in command of the Corellian corvette
Helot’s Shackle
out of Kessel. We advise you to shut down your engines. You are caught in our tractor beam.”

“I know!” Han yelled, not bothering to activate his comm unit. “Thanks for telling me!”

Captain Reeos went on, inexorably. “We have detained you because I have been advised by planetary authorities that you have taken the
Talisman
without authorization. These same planetary authorities have asked that we deliver you back to Ylesia to face charges there. Prepare to be boarded. Any attempt at resistance will be met with summary force.”

Han stared at the narrow-waisted vessel with its eleven huge reactor tubes. The corvette was easily twenty times the size of his ship. He noted that the corvette had been modified so it had a docking bay.

“That’s a huge ship,” Bria whispered. “We’re being pulled toward it, Han.”

“There’s nothing I can do, sweetheart,” Han said dully. “They’ve got us caught—we can’t break free.”

“How many crew aboard that ship?” Mrrov asked, staring as if mesmerized at the slave ship—the ship that had come to fetch her and the other pilgrims to a grim fate in the mines.

“With a Navy crew aboard, the complement is 165. But this is a
modified
corvette. It’s been altered to dock in space—probably to make it easier to take on cargo—or slaves. Crew size is probably forty or fifty.”

“Too many to fight,” Bria said, her voice ragged.

“They’re not getting
me
without a fight,” Han said. He drew his blaster and looked at them. “Who’s with me?”

Bria just shook her head. “The three of us? Against forty? Han, you’ve got more courage than sense!”

He shook his head and, with a sudden, vicious gesture, holstered his blaster again. “You’re right. But I don’t have to like it.”

Without warning, a sudden crackle of a different frequency filled the control cabin. A voice spoke in rapid-fire Sullustan. “Full throttle. Port turn. Seven seconds—Mark!”

“What the—” Han’s fingers moved automatically as he throttled back up, using every bit of power he could squeeze out of the main and auxiliary engines. The sound of the straining engines was painful to hear as they revved, uselessly fighting the inexorable tractor beam.

By now the
Talisman
had been nearly drawn into the gaping maw of the ship’s docking bay. Only a few hundred meters separated the two ships.

Han programmed his controls for a hard port turn, and his hand hovered, ready to implement the command. The engines strained and revved. In moments they’d burn out. “What’s that crazy little—”

He broke off with a gasp as the
Ylesian Dream
came streaking toward them, moving at terrible speed.

Everyone in the
Talisman
’s control cabin ducked as the little freighter flashed by overhead, then banked hard to starboard. Jalus Nebl took the
Ylesian Dream
between the
Talisman
and
Helot’s Shackle
at full throttle. The distance was so tight that the little Sullustan had to turn the
Dream
on her side to make it between the two closing vessels.

“Go!” cried Han. “Go, Nebl!” He activated the controls, turning the
Talisman
as hard to port as he could.

When the
Dream
rushed between the two ships, it broke the tractor beam for a few precious seconds. Han’s suddenly released ship ricocheted away from the Corellian corvette like a blaster bolt, sheering off to the left, while Jalus Nebl sped away to the right.

“Yeeeeehah!” Han yelled in sheer exultation as he felt his ship soaring away from the
Helot’s Shackle
. As he swooped by the huge vessel, just for good measure, Han fired two concussion missiles at the
Shackle
’s principle solar
collector and stabilizer fin, which was located dorsally amidships.

He watched, openmouthed, as the first missile wiped out the minimal shield that had been all that was protecting the fin, allowing the second missile to explode with deadly force, destroying most of the fin. “They had their heavy shields down, those
idiots
!” he whooped. “They thought they had us, so they left that fin almost unshielded!”

He knew the corvette could still be a threat to them, so he didn’t slow down. Neither did Jalus Nebl. The little Sullustan was still gaining speed when Han’s sensors reported several minutes later that he’d successfully made the jump to hyperspace.

“And we’re next,” Han said, grinning at Bria. “Say goodbye to paradise, sweetheart …”

With a flourish, he stabbed down at the controls that would take them into hyperspace, and gloried in the sudden surge of power that thrust them out of realspace and into star-streaked brilliance.

“Home free,” Han whispered, and slumped into his seat, only just now aware of how very, very tired he was.

Bria smiled at him and squeezed his hand. Mrrov gave him a cheek rub. “Thank you,” they both whispered.

Han had never felt so good …

H
an awakened to the sound of soft, muffled sobbing. He had been sleeping on the floor in Teroenza’s living area, on a pile of expensive carpets he’d dragged into place. He’d insisted that Bria take the one human-style bed. Since Mrrov had been the only one who’d gotten any rest the previous night, she’d volunteered to doze in the pilot’s seat and keep an eye out for alarms—though now that they’d reached hyperspace, there wasn’t much that could go wrong.

Han sat up with a groan, feeling stiff. Yesterday had been a hard day, and he now remembered, belatedly, that he hadn’t eaten anything. Thirst was even worse than hunger. Climbing to his feet, he staggered over to the room’s water dispenser and drank several cups.

As he did so, his hand brushed his face, and he frowned
as he touched his chin and felt thick, generous stubble. He had forgotten to shave since before they’d landed on Nal Hutta.

The sounds of human sobbing had stopped. Han grabbed his clothes and went into the luxurious refresher unit, glad that it contained appointments for almost all types of species. He even managed to find a shaver.

Minutes later, clothed and feeling considerably better, he went in search of Bria.

He found her in the tiny guard’s room, sitting up on the little bunk, arms around her knees, her face pressed against them. “Hey …” Han whispered. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

She didn’t raise her face, just waved him away. “No … please, just … let me … alone. I’ll be … all right. I don’t want you … to see me like this.” She sniffled. “I look … terrible.”

Han sat down beside her, but didn’t touch her. “I look terrible, too,” he said. “We could all do with a change of clothes. Hey …” he joked, trying to make her look at him, “at least I got rid of the beard. That’s a big improvement.”

She raised her head and gave him a watery smile. Her nose and eyes were red, but she still looked lovely to Han. “You did look kind of … scruffy … last night.”

Han drew himself up, pretending to take umbrage. “
Scruffy? Me?
Never!” He slid an arm around her gently. “Bria, honey … what’s wrong? Tell me.”

She began to shudder. “It’s the Exultation, Han. I woke up and realized that the pilgrims are gathering for devotions right now. And I realized I’ll never have it again—never feel that good again!”

Han didn’t know what to say. He realized that Bria was missing the physical and emotional sensations that accompanied the Exultation just as an addict would miss a dose of his or her drug of choice. The realization scared him. Would Bria be able to fight this dependency and win? Or would she go through life mourning what she’d lost?

“I think that’s natural,” he said cautiously, not wanting to
frighten her by voicing his real thoughts. “Of course you’d miss it for a day or so, maybe a week. But we’ll all help you through it, honey. You’re a strong person. You’ll get through it. And then”—he made an all-encompassing gesture with his hand—“it’s a big galaxy, sweetheart. And it’s all ours, now. We’ll sell Teroenza’s stuff, and sell the
Talisman—
”

“Sell the
Talisman
?” she broke in.

“Yeah, I’m afraid it’s too recognizable. I’ll take Muuurgh and Mrrov home, and then we’ll look for a place to sell this ship. I think I know one. A used-ship dealer on Tralus, in the Corellian system. But we can easily book passage on a ship from there to Corellia.”

He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “And there’s one big advantage to that … I won’t be busy piloting. You’ll have my”—gently he kissed her cheek—“
undivided
attention.”

She swallowed and looked flustered. Han started to lean toward her again, but she pulled back, slightly, and he took the hint.

She bit her lip, her blue-green eyes haunted. “Oh, Han … what if I can’t get over this … this … 
longing?
Han”—she twisted her hands together in a convulsive gesture—“it’s worse than a longing! It’s like a … a
craving
! My whole self is crying out to be Exulted! I feel like someone punched a big hole in me and
took
part of me away!”