Zorba the Hutt's Revenge (4 page)

"I want the passkey to Jabba the Hutt’s suite!" Zorba demanded. "It’s the penthouse suite."

"I’m sorry, but the penthouse suite is no longer reserved for Jabba the Hutt," the clerk droid replied. "And I am not at liberty to give anyone the passkey." Zorba scowled. "I won’t put up with rude remarks from droids! You’re speaking to Zorba the Hutt, Jabba’s father! And Holiday Towers is now my property!"

"Perhaps you’re not aware of the change of ownership of this establishment," the clerk droid responded. "The government of Cloud City took over this hotel and casino after Jabba the Hutt died." The droid’s metal face gave a programmed metallic smile. "Governor Lando Calrissian runs Holiday Towers now. And he lives in the penthouse suite. I’m sorry, but I can’t oblige you."

Zorba spit on the polished marble floor. "Notify that thief, Lando Calrissian, that Zorba the Hutt is waiting to talk to him! He’ll find me at the sabacc tables!" A short while later, Lando arrived at the game room in the lobby. As he approached the sabacc tables, he saw the huge Hutt with the braided white hair and white beard. And right alongside Zorba the Hutt were Tibor and the dusty, barrel-shaped droid, CB-99. Zorba was playing sabacc, and he was losing. Lando watched Zorba open his pouch and take out some gemstones to buy more credits for gambling.

"Hello, I’m Governor Calrissian," Lando said, introducing himself. Zorba’s drooling tongue slid across his mouth as he hissed: "I’m Zorba, Jabba the Hutt’s father. Get your things out of Jabba’s penthouse suite now, because I’m moving in. And tell the clerk droid at the front desk to give me a passkey, or my friend Tibor here will send what’s left of you to the nearest Cloud City mortuary." Lando knew that there was no way to reason with a Hutt. The only way to get the better of a Hutt was to trick him, outsmart him, or wound his pride.

Lando had been around Cloud City casinos long enough to know how to recognize a miserable sabacc player when he saw one. And from the number of gemstones he had seen Zorba lose, it was obvious that Zorba was an amateur, totally inexperienced at the game. If Lando could talk Zorba into settling their dispute by playing a game of sabacc, then getting rid of this meddlesome Hutt would be a breeze.

"Tell you what, Zorba," Lando offered. "I’m a gambling man and a fair sport. I challenge you to a game of sabacc. If you lose, you agree to get out of the casino, leave Cloud City, and never come back."

"And if you lose the game," Zorba said to Lando, "you will leave Cloud City and never come back. And before you go, you’ll appoint me as your replacement as governor! Do we have a bargain?"

Lando scratched his chin, thinking it over, recalling the time he’d gambled away the Millennium Falcon to Han Solo in a sabacc game. But Lando had learned a lot about sabacc since then. In fact, he was now the best player in Cloud City, second to none.

"We have a deal," Lando said with a grin.

Zorba spit into the palm of his right hand and held it out toward Lando. "Shake on it, then."

Lando’s heart sank as he thought about having to touch Zorba’s saliva-covered hand. He held up two fingers like a Junior Galaxy Scout. "What if I just say, ’Cross my heart and hope to die’?" Lando asked.

"Then you will die."

Reluctantly Lando spit into his own palm. And in the most disgusting moment of his life, Lando clasped Zorba’s scale-covered hand and shook it.

Then Zorba opened up his pouch that had the gemstones and took out his own deck of sabacc cards. "What’s that deck for?" Lando asked.

"We play with my deck," Zorba replied.

"Now wait just a minute," Lando protested. "We’re in the Holiday Towers Hotel and Casino. So we’ll play with a deck that belongs to the house-"

Zorba wagged his fat tongue and chuckled. "I own the house," he said. "This is my casino, therefore we shall use my deck."

"You don’t have any legal claim to this casino," Lando replied. "Jabba the Hutt died without a will. This hotel and casino automatically belongs to the government of Cloud City."

Zorba roared out a belly laugh. "A-HAW-HAW-HAWWW! ." Then, with his huge, glaring reptilian eyes, Zorba glanced at the barrel-shaped droid at his side. "CB-99, show Lando the hologram of your file called JTHW --Jabba the Hutt’s Will!"

As instructed, the little droid projected a hologram into midair. It showed the bloated, wrinkled face of Jabba the Hutt, reading his will. His instructions for what to do with his property upon his death were perfectly clear: "Since I have no wife or children," the hologram of Jabba explained, "if I should die before my dear father, then everything I own shall belong to Zorba the Hutt, including my palace on Tatooine, my hacienda in Mos Eisley City, the Holiday Towers Hotel and Casino in Cloud City, and-"

The list of Jabba’s possessions went on and on. Then the hologram ended. And with it Lando’s self-confident mood also ended.

Zorba laughed again, exposing the inside of his slimy mouth. "A-HAW-HAW-HAWWWW! . . ." he roared. "Just as I said, since I own the house, we shall play with my deck of sabacc cards!"

Lando’s heart sank again. He inspected Zorba’s deck-twice. And to his surprise, he couldn’t find anything wrong with Zorba’s sabacc cards.

Was it possible that it wasn’t a rigged deck after all, Lando wondered? Lando wasn’t able to discover the answer. He did discover, however, that it was the worst day he had ever lived. He lost every single round of the game. His foolish bet had wrecked his life.

Lando didn’t know-or even suspect-that Zorba had won because the deck had marks that could only be detected by a creature that could see ultraviolet light!

For the moment, all Lando knew was that within an hour of his losing, he was up in his penthouse suite for the last time, packing his things, ready to depart forever. And now Governor Zorba the Hutt was running the hotel and casino-and all of Cloud City!

CHAPTER 5

Trioculus’s Factory Barge

Han Solo was disappointed that his party ended without Lando Calrissian ever showing up. But he was delighted with his housewarming gift, Kate, the housekeeping droid. The guests departed, except for Han and Chewbacca’s closest friends. And within two hours, the evidence of Kate’s hard work could be seen in every room. The floors were suction-cleaned, the dishes were sanitized, the trash was compacted and recycled, the leftover food was preserved in a cooling chamber, and thank-you messages were written for each and every single one of the presents Han had received.

"Roww-groooowwf!" Chewbacca howled, with a big smile.

"You’re right, Chewie," said Han Solo, shaking his head in amazement. "No way that I could make it as a homeowner without the help of a housekeeping droid like Kate!" Han gave Luke a nudge. "Thanks a lot, old buddy. You sure had a good idea!"

"Don’t thank me for the idea," Luke said. "Thank Ken. He thought of it."

"The idea just popped into my head," Ken explained, smiling. Both Luke and Han gave Ken an appreciative pat on the back.

"I hope you will all give credit where credit is due," piped up the golden droid, See-Threepio, in a jealous tone, turning to face Han. "I was the one who finally persuaded Luke of the merits of Ken’s idea. I pointed out that you and Chewbacca seldom keep the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon neat and tidy. Without a housekeeping droid, in two weeks your house would end up looking like the trash compactor on board the Death Star. Do you remember when you were trapped in the trash compactor, and I said-"

"Yes, yes, I remember, I remember-" Han said quickly, shutting Threepio up. "My thanks to you, too, Threepio."

"Bzeeepooosh! " beeped Artoo-Detoo.

"And to you, too, Artoo," Han added. Then he put his arm around Princess Leia. "And Princess, thank you so much for coming. The party wouldn’t have been the same without you."

"I wouldn’t have missed it for anything," she replied. Leia smiled and gave Han a peck on the lips.

Han smiled back and gave her a long kiss in return.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Han’s communication beeper was buzzing. Oh no, he thought. Who could be calling me now?

"Excuse me, folks," Han said. "I’ll just be a minute." Han went into his bedroom, where an ultrahigh-density household communication screen was located. He tuned in the large wall screen, and received the incoming message. An image of Lando’s face popped onto the screen, and he didn’t look very happy.

"Sorry I missed your party, Han," Lando said. "But a whirlwind of trouble came along and set my head spinning."

"What’s wrong, Lando?" asked Han.

"This is good-bye, old buddy. My political career in Cloud City has just come to an end!"

"What are you talking about? You can’t just leave! You’re Cloud City’s governor!"

"I only wish that were true," said Lando. "I blew it, buddy. Remember how cocksure and self-confident I was the day I bet the Millennium Falcon and lost it to you in a sabacc game? Well, I had another attack of extreme self-confidence today-and I bet my position as governor in a game with Zorba the Hutt, Jabba the Hutt’s old man." Han’s mouth fell open. "Jabba the Hutt’s father? That old slug? Nobody’s seen him for years!"

"Well, he’s back. And the bad news is, he aced me. So Zorba is your new governor. Cloud City is sure to go to ruin." Lando glanced at his watch. "I’m on my way. My bags are packed, and my spaceship for the Zabian System is all set to leave."

"But what’ll you do, Lando? You’re out of a job!"

"Don’t worry about me," Lando replied. "I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve. I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at the theme park business." A shocked expression swept over Lando’s face. He could no longer put off telling Han the worst news of all. "Han, I overheard Zorba talking. He found out that Princess Leia killed Jabba. He’s got the look of revenge in his big, ugly reptilian eyeballs. Whatever you do, don’t let him find out that Leia is here on the planet, or she’s a goner, for sure!" CLICK!! The screen went black. It was the end of the message. All the color was drained from Han’s face. He called Luke and Leia into the bedroom and told them the news in private.

"We’d better get you off this planet, Leia-and fast!" Han said. "With Zorba out for revenge, he won’t be satisfied until he succeeds. And if he manages to get his big ugly Hutt hands on you, it’s your funeral!"

Suddenly, on the other side of the door, they heard Ken scream out, "Oh no! Kate!" Then Ken came bursting into the bedroom without even knocking. "Commander Skywalker!" Ken yelled frantically. "Kate fell!"

"What? Fell? How?" Luke asked.

"She was outside cleaning the observation balcony," Ken explained. "And she leaned over and fell into the clouds!"

"I’m going after her!" Luke shouted.

Luke hurried out the front door and walked along the yard platform. Struggling to keep his balance, he headed for the cloud car convertible he had borrowed from Lando, taking Han’s macrobinoculars with him.

Luke leapt into the car. Then someone jumped into the seat alongside him. "Leia. But I thought you’d stay behind and-"

"Move it, Luke. Or she’ll be halfway down to the Rethin Sea." Luke powered up. WHOOOOOSH!

The cloud car took off and plunged down into the clouds at a steep angle, straight into the thick braze.

Luke triggered the hyperaccelerator. Now they were zooming faster than a droid would fall. Luke aimed the cloud car pointing straight down, and accelerated even more. Soon, through the misty braze, they could see Kate falling down below. Once Luke had been saved from a fall at the bottom of Cloud City. He had tumbled right into the hatch of the Millennium Falcon as it flew underneath to rescue him. Now he used the same strategy to rescue Kate. He flew the cloud car convertible beneath her, adjusted his angle and speed, and ever so gently she plopped right into the back seat.

"How can I ever thank you?" Kate asked, calmly. "But what will Master Han Solo say? I fell down on the job."

"You sure did," Princess Leia said. She pointed straight down, as the cloud car convertible kept descending. "You fell practically all the way down to the Rethin Sea. Look down below-there’s the liquid metal core of the planet."

"And look over there!" Luke said excitedly. "There’s Trioculus’s factory barge!" The barge was vast-a huge metal platform floating above the Rethin Sea. And on the platform were several dozen enormous factories.

The barge was an Imperial base for making weapons and ammunition-antivehicle laser cannons, Comar tritracker artillery, anti-orbital ion cannons, field missile launchers, and turbolaser emplacements. All molded from rethin and other metals found in Bespin’s liquid core.

Towering above the factory barge were smokestacks, thick and tall, spewing out foul clouds of brown gas.

"Now that we’re here, let’s take a closer look," Princess Leia suggested.

"How about some other time?" Luke said.

"We’re this close, Luke. We might as well see if we can come up with any ideas on how to stop this braze."

Luke reluctantly agreed. It was a bold idea on Leia’s part. Maybe too bold, Luke thought. As they flew nearer, their cloud car was observed down below. Suddenly the laser defense system of the factory barge came to life.

Luke swerved to dodge the blasts, but he was much better at piloting spaceships and landspeeders than cloud cars. They were hit.

The underside of their vehicle was cracked down the middle. For the moment Luke still had control, but they were losing altitude fast.

Steering frantically, Luke made their car weave in and out among the smokestacks. The car took another hit from laserfire, and within seconds, it smashed into the barge. SCREEEEEECH! came the sounds of metal scraping metal.

The cloud car convertible skidded along a road on the factory barge. At last it came to a crashing halt, right in front of a factory covered with brown soot.

"Don’t look now," Luke said, "but we’ve got company coming up the road." It was a vehicle full of Imperial stormtroopers policing the area, looking for the cloud car they’d just shot down.

In a flash, Luke, Leia, and Kate were out of the car, hurrying along the road on foot. And just as fast the stormtroopers reached the wrecked cloud car, swarming all around it. Then they divided up to hunt for the passengers who’d escaped. At the same moment, Luke suddenly spied their best hope for safety-a narrow tunnel with a ladder that went straight down, a sort of passageway underneath the factory barge. Kate popped down the tunnel first, to make sure the ladder was safe. Then Leia started to descend.