THE HAN SOLO TRILOGY
By A. C. CRISPIN

The Paradise Snare

This book is dedicated to my friend, Thia Rose.
When we were twelve, we swore we'd always be best friends . . . . .
and, more years later than we like to count, we still are.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing in the Star Wars universe is like becoming a part of acommunity-or, even, a family. The writers are encouraged to read eachother's books, and there are dozens of nonfiction and technical booksdevoted to the characters, hardware, planets, and so forth. Writerstrade information and tips back and forth, and generally help eachother out. Thus, many, many people helped me with this book. With the caveat thatany mistakes readers may find are my own, I would like to thank thefollowing Kevin Anderson, who gave me my first chance to write in the Star Warsuniverse. Kevin and Rebecca Moesta also helped with information aboutthe Star Wars background and characters, as well as hand-holding,encouragement, and sage advice. Michael Capobianco, fellow writer and significant other, forbrainstorming, research help, intelligent advice, and fixing dinnerwhen I was too busy writing to even realize I was hungry. Thanks,dear. Bill Smith and Peter Schweighofer of West End Games for helping mefigure out answers to such odd and esoteric questions as, "What doesHan wear for underwear?" They "unstuck" me from quandaries more timesthan I can count. Tom Dupree and Evelyn Cainto of Bantam Books for assistance, advice,and encouragement. Sue Rostoni and Lucy Autrey Wilson of Lucasfilm for the "true facts." Michael A. Stackpole, for help figuring out how to break a tractorbeam, and other advice relating to ships and piloting. Steve Osmanski, for reading the manuscript and giving sage advice on"techie" stuff. As always, Kathy O'Malley, friend and writing buddy, for hand-holdingand an occasional, well-deserved kick in the pants. And, of course, George Lucas, who started it all. Star Wars blew meaway the first time I saw it, and it's been an honor to contribute tothe saga in a small way. Thanks again, and may the Force be with you all.

one

Trader's Luck

The ancient troopship, a relic of the Clone Wars, hung in orbit overthe planet Corellia, silent and seemingly derelict. Looks weredeceiving, however. The old Liberator-class vessel, once calledGuardian of the Republic, now had a new life as Trader's Luck. Theinterior had been gutted and refitted with a motley assortment ofliving environments, and now contained nearly one hundred sentientbeings, many of them humanoid. At the moment, however, only a few ofthem were awake, since it was the middle of the sleep cycle.

There was a watch on the bridge, of course. Trader's Luck spent muchof its time in orbit, but it was still capable of hyperspace travel,even though it was slow by modern standards. Garris Shrike, the leaderof the loosely allied trading "clan" that lived aboard the Luck, was astrict taskmaster, who followed formal ship's protocols. So there wasalways a watch on the bridge.

Shrike's orders aboard the Luck were always obeyed; he was not a man tocross without a good reason and a fully charged blaster. He ruled theclan of traders as a less-than-benevolent despot. A slender man ofmedium height, Garris was handsome in a hard-edged way. Streaks ofsilver-white above his temples accentuated his black hair and iceblueeyes. His mouth was thin-lipped; he seldom smiled--and never with goodhumor. Garris Shrike was an expert shot and had spent his early yearsas a professional bounty hunter. He'd given it up, though, due to bad"luck"meaning that his lack of patience had caused him to lose therichest

bounties reserved for live delivery. Dead bodies were frequentlyworth far less.

Shrike did possess a warped sense of humor, especially if the pain ofothers was involved. When he was gambling and winning, he was subjectto bouts of manic gaiety, especially if he was also drunk.

As he was at the moment. Sitting around the table in the formerwardroom of the enlisted officers, Shrike was playing sabacc anddrinking tankards of potent Alderaanian ale, his favorite beverage.

Shrike peered at his card-chips, mentally calculating. Should he holdpat and hope to complete a pure sabacc? At any moment the dealer couldpush a button and the values of all the card-chips would shift. Ifthat happened, he'd be busted, unless he took an additional two andtossed most of his hand into the interference field in the center ofthe table.

One of his fellow players, a hulking Elomin suddenly turned his tuskedhead to glance behind him. A light on one of the auxiliary "status"panels was blinking. The huge, shaggy-furred Elomin grunted, then saidin guttural Basic, "Something funny about the lockout sensor on theweapons cache, Captain."

Shrike insisted on "proper" protocol and chain of command, especiallyas it applied to himself. Unless engaged in some planetside caper, healways wore a military uniform while aboard the Luck--one he'd designedhimself, patterned on the dress uniform of a high-ranking Moff. It washung about with "medals" and "decorations" Shrike had picked up inpawnshops across the galaxy.

Now, hearing the Elomin's warning, he glanced up a little blearily,rubbed his eyes, then straightened up and dropped his card-chips ontothe tabletop. "What is it, Brafid?"

The giant being wrinkled his tusked snout. "Not sure, Captain. It'sreading normal now, but something flickered, as though the lock shortedout for a second. Probably just a momentary power flux."

Moving with such unusual grace and coordination that even the foppish"uniform" couldn't detract from his presence, the captain rose andwalked around the table to study the readouts himself. All signs ofintoxication had vanished.

"Not a power flux," he decided after a moment. "Something else."

Turning his head, he addressed the tall, heavyset human on his left.

"Larrad, look at this. Somebody shorted out the lock and is running asim to fool us into thinking it's just a power flux. We've got a thiefaboard. Is everyone armed?"

The man addressed, who happened to be Shrike's brother, Larrad Shrike,nodded, patting the holster that hung on the outside of his thigh.

Brafid the Elomin fingered his "tingler"--an electric prod that washis weapon of choice--though the hairy alien was large enough to pickup most humanoids and break them over his knee.

The other person present, a female Sullustan who was the Luck'snavigator, stood up, patting the scaled-down blaster she wore. "Readyfor action, Captain!" she squeaked. Despite her diminutive height,flapping jowls, and large, appealing bright eyes, Nooni Dalvo appearedalmost as dangerous as the hulking Elomin who was her closest shipboardfriend.

"Good," Shrike grunted. "Nooni, go post a guard over the weaponslocker, just in case he comes back. Larrad, activate the biosensors,see if you can ID the thief and where he's heading."

Shrike's brother nodded and bent over the auxiliary control board.

"Corellian human," he announced after a moment. "Male. Young.

Height, 1.8 meters. Dark hair and eyes. Slender build. Thebioscanner says it recognizes him. He's heading aft, toward thegalley."

Shrike's expression hardened until his eyes were as cold and blue asthe glaciers on Hoth. "The Solo kid," he said. "He's the only onecocky enough to try something like this." He flexed his fingers, thenhardened them into a fist. The ring he wore, made from a single gem ofDevaronian blood-poison, flashed dull silver in the bulkhead lights.

"Well, I've gone easy on him so far, 'cause he's a good swoop pilot,and I never lost when I bet on him, but enough is enough. Tonight, I'mgoing to teach him to respect authority, and he's going to wish he'dnever been born."

Shrike's teeth flashed, much brighter than the gem in his ring. "Orthat I'd never 'found' him seventeen years ago and brought hissniveling, pants-wetting little behind home to the Luck. I'm apatient, tolerant man . . ." he sighed theatrically, "as the galaxyknows, but even I have my limits."

He glanced over at his brother, who was looking rather uncomfortable.

Garris wondered if Larrad was remembering the Solo kid's lastpunishment session a year ago. The youth hadn't been able to walk fortwo days.

Shrike's mouth tightened. He wouldn't tolerate any softness among hissubordinates. "Right, Larrad?" he said too softly.

"Right, Captain!"

Han Solo gripped the stolen blaster as he tiptoed along the narrowmetal corridor. When he'd wired into the sim and jimmied the lock intothe weapons cache, he'd only had a moment to reach in and grab thefirst weapon that came to hand. There'd been no time to pick andchoose.

Nervously, he pushed strands of damp brown hair back from hisforehead, realizing he was sweating. The blaster felt heavy andawkward in his hand as he examined it. Han had seldom held one before,and he only knew how to check the charge from the reading he'd done.

He'd never actually fired a weapon. Garris Shrike didn't permit anyonebut his officers to walk around armed, Squinting in the dim light, theyoung swoop pilot flipped open a small panel in the thickest part ofthe barrel and peered down at the readouts. Good. Fully charged.

Shrike may be a bully and a fool, but he runs a taut ship.

Not even to himself would the youth admit how much he actually fearedand hated the captain of Trader's Luck. He'd learned long ago thatshowing fear of any sort was a swift guarantee of a beating---orworse.

The only thing bullies and fools respected was courage--or, at least,bravado. So Han Solo had learned never to allow fear to surface in hismind or heart.

There were times when he was dimly aware that it was there, deep down,buried under layers of street toughness, but anytime he recognized itfor what it was, Han resolutely buried it even deeper.

Experimentally, he swun g the blaster up to eye level and awkwardlyclosed one brown eye as he sighted along the barrel. The muzzle of theweapon wavered slightly, and Han cursed softly under his breath as herealized his hand was trembling. Come on, he told himself, show somebackbone, Solo. Getting off this ship and away from Shrike is worth alittle risk.

Reflexively, he glanced over his shoulder, then turned back just intime to duck under a low-hanging power coupling. He'd chosen thisroute because it avoided all the living quarters and recreation areas,but it was so narrow and low-ceilinged that he was beginning to feelclaustrophobic as he tiptoed forward, resisting the urge to turn andlook back over his shoulder.

Ahead of him, the near tunnel widened out, and Han realized he wasalmost at his destination. Only a few more minutes, he told himself,continuing to move with a stealthy grace that made his progress assoundless as that of a wonat's furred toe-pads. He was skirting thehyperdrive modules now, and then a larger corridor intersected. Hanturned right, relieved that he could now walk without stooping.

He crept up to the door of the big galley and hesitated outside, hisears and nose busy. Sounds . . . yes, only the ones he'd beenexpecting to hear. The soft clatter of metal pans, the splooooch ofdough being punched, and then the faint sounds of it being kneaded.

He could smell the dough, now. Wastril bread, his favorite. Han's

mouth tightened. With any luck, he wouldn't be here to eat any ofthis particular batch.

Sticking the blaster into his belt, he opened the door and stepped intothe galley. "Hey . . . Dewlanna . . ." he said softly. "It's me.

I've come to say goodbye."

The tall, furred being who had been vigorously kneading the wastrildough swung around to face him with a soft, inquiring growl.

Dewlanna's real name was Dewlannamapia, and she had been Han's closestfriend since she'd come to live aboard Trader's Luck nearly ten yearsago, when Han had been about nine. (The young swoop pilot had no ideaof when he'd been born, of course. Or who his parents had been. If ithadn't been for Dewlanna, he wouldn't even have known that his lastname was "Solo.") Han couldn't speak Wookiee--trying to reproduce thegrowls, barks, roars, and rumbling grunts made his throat sore, and heknew he sounded ridiculous--but he understood it very well. For herpart, Dewlanna couldn't speak Basic, but she understood it as well asshe did her own language. So communication between the human youth andthe elderly Wookiee widow was fluent, but . . . different.

Han had gotten used to it years ago and never thought about itanymore.

He and Dewlanna just . . . talked. They understood each otherperfectly. Now he hefted the stolen blaster, careful not to point itat his friend.

"Yes," he replied, in response to Dewlanna's comment, "tonight's thenight. I'm getting off Trader's Luck and I'm never coming back."

Dewlanna rumbled at him worriedly as she automatically resumed kneadingher dough. Han shook his head, giving her a lopsided grin. "You worrytoo much, Dewlanna. Of course I've got it all planned. I've got aspacesuit stashed in a locker near the robot freighter docks, andthere's a ship docked there now that will be departing as soon as it'sunloaded and refueled. A robot freighter, and it's headed where I wantto go."

Dewlanna punched her dough, then growled a soft interrogatory. "I'mheading for Ylesia," Han told her. "Remember I told you all aboutit?

It's a religious colony near Hutt space, and they offer pilgrimssanctuary from the outside universe. I'll be safe from Shrike there.

And"--he held up a small holodisk where the Wookiee cook could seeit--"look at this! They're advertising for a pilot! I already used upthe last of my payout credits from that job we pulled, to send amessage, telling them I'm coming to interview for the job."

Dewlanna roared softly.

"Hey, I can't let you do that," Han protested, watching the cook setthe loaves into pans and slide them into the thermal grid to bake.

"I'll be

okay. I'll lift some credits on my way to the robot ship. Don'tworry, Oewlanna."

The Wookiee ignored him as she shuffled quickly across the galley, herhairy, slightly stooped form moving rapidly despite her advanced age.

Dewlanna was nearly six hundred years old, Han knew. Old even for aWookiee.

She disappeared into the door of her private living quarters, and then,a moment later, reappeared, clutching a pouch woven of some silkymaterial that might even, from the look of it, be Wookiee fur.

She held it out to him with a soft, insistent whine.

Han shook his head again, and childishly put his hands behind hisback.

"No," he said firmly. "I'm not taking your savings, Dewlanna. You'llneed those credits to buy passage to join me."

The Wookiee cocked her head and made a short, questioning sound. "Ofcourse you're going to join me!" Han said. "You don't think I'm goingto leave you here to rot on this hulk, do you? Shrike gets crazierevery year. Nobody's safe aboard the Luck. When I get to Ylesia andget settled in, I'm going to send for you to join me. Ylesia's areligious retreat, and they offer their pilgrims sanctuary. Shrikewon't be able to touch us there."

Dewlanna reached inside the pouch, her hairy fingers surprisinglydexterous as she sifted through the credit vouchers inside. She handedseveral to her young friend. With a sigh, Han relented and tookthem.

"Well . . . okay. But this is just a loan, okay? I'm going to payyou back.

The salary the Ylesian priests are offering is a good one."

She growled her assent, then, without warning, reached out to rufflehis hair with her massive paw, leaving it sticking out in wilddisarray.

"Hey!" Han yelped. Wookiee head rubs were not to be taken lightly.

"I just combed my hair!"

Dewlanna growled, amused, and Han drew himself up indignantly. "I donot look better scruffy. I keep telling you, the term 'scruffy' ain'tcomplimentary among humans."

He stared at her, his indignation vanishing as he realized that thiswas the last time he'd see her beloved furry face, her gentle blueeyes, for a long time. Dewlanna had been his closest--and frequentlyonly--friend for so long now. Leaving her was hard, very hard.

Impulsively, the Corellian youth threw himself against her warm, solidbulk, hugging her fiercely, His head reached only to the middle of herchest. Han could remember when he'd barely stood as tall as herwaist.

"I'm going to miss you," he said, his face muffled against her fur, hiseyes stinging. "You take care of yourself, Dewlanna."

She roared softly, and her long, hairy arms came around him as shereturned the embrace.

"Well, ain't this a touching sight," said a cold, all-too-familiarvoice.

Han and Dewlanna both froze, then wheeled to face the man who'd enteredthrough the Wookiee's quarters. Garris Shrike lounged in the doorway,his handsome features set in a smile that made Han's blood coagulate inhis veins. Beside him, he could feel Dewlanna shudder, either withfear or loathing.

Two other crew members--Larrad Shrike and Brafid the Elomin--werevisible over Shrike's shoulder. Han balled his fists withfrustration.

If it had only been Shrike, he might've chanced jumping the Luck'sCaptain. With Dewlanna to help him, they might have been able tosubdue Garris, but with Larrad and the Elomin also present, they didn'thave a chance.

Han was acutely conscious of the stolen blaster shoved into his belt.

For a moment he considered going for it, but he abandoned that idea.

Shrike was known for being fast on the draw. There was no way he couldbeat him, and that might get both Dewlanna and himself killed. Shrikewas clearly in a rage.

Han licked dry lips. "Listen, Captain," he began. "I can explain--"Shrike drew himself up, his eyes narrowing. "You can explain what, youcowardly little traitor? Stealing from your family? Betraying thosewho trusted you? Stabbing your benefactor in the back, you snivelinglittle thief?"

"But--" "I've had it with you, Solo. I've been lenient with you sofar, because you're a blasted good swoop pilot and all that prize moneycame in handy, but my patience is ended." Shrike ceremoniously pushedup the sleeves of his bedizened uniform, then balled his hands intofists. The galley's artificial lighting made the blood-jewel ringglitter dull silver. "Let's see what a few days of fighting offDevaronian blood-poisoning does for your attitude--along with maybe afew broken bones. I'm doing this for your own good, boy. Somedayyou'll thank me."

Han gulped with terror as Shrike started toward him. He'd lashed outat the trader captain once before, two years ago, when he'd beenfeeling cocky after winning the gladitorial Free-For-All onJubilar--and had been instantly sorry. The speed and strength ofGarris's returning blow had snapped his head back and split both lipsso thoroughly that Dewlanna had had to feed him mush for a week untilthey healed.

With a snarl, Dewlanna stepped forward. Shrike's hand dropped to hisblaster. "You stay out of this, old Wookiee," he snapped in a voicenearly as harsh as Dewlanna's. "Your cooking isn't that good."

Han had already grabbed his friend's furry arm and was forciblyholding her back. "Dewlanna, no!"

She shook off his hold as easily as she would have waved off anannoying insect and roared at Shrike. The captain drew his blaster,and chaos erupted.

"Noooo!" Han screamed, and leaped forward, his foot lashing out in anold street-fighting technique. His instep impacted solidly withShrike's breastbone. The captain's breath went out in a great whooshand he went over backward. Han hit the deck and rolled. A tinglerbolt sizzled past his ear.

"Larrad!" wheezed the captain as Dewlanna started toward him.

Shrike's brother drew his blaster and pointed it at the Wookiee.

"S top, Dewlanna!"

His words had no more effect than Han's. Dewlanna's blood was up--shewas in full Wookiee battle rage. With a roar that deafened thecombatants, she grabbed Larrad's wrist and yanked, spinning him aroundand snapping him in a terrible parody of a child's "snap the whip"game. Han heard a crunch, mixed with several pops as tendons andligaments gave way. Larrad Shrike shrieked, a high, shrill noise thatcarried such pain that the Corellian youth's arm ached in sympathy.

Grabbing the blaster from his belt, Han snapped off a shot at theElomin who was leaping forward, tingler ready and aimed at Dewlanna'smidsection.

Brafid howled and dropped to the floor. Han was amazed that he'dmanaged to hit him, but he didn't have long to wonder about theaccuracy of his aim.

Shrike was staggering to his feet, blaster in hand, aimed squarely atHan's head. "Larrad?" he yelled at the writhing heap of agony thatwas his brother. Larrad did not reply.

Shrike cocked the blaster and stepped even closer to Han. "Stop it,Dewlanna!" the captain snarled at the Wookiee. "Or your buddy Solodies!"

Han dropped his blaster and put his hands up in a gesture ofsurrender.

Dewlanna stopped in her tracks, growling softly.

Shrike leveled the blaster, and his finger tightened on the trigger.

Pure malevolent hatred was etched upon his features, and then hesmiled, pale blue eyes glittering with ruthless joy. "Forinsubordination and striking your captain," he announced, "I sentenceyou to death, Solo. May you rot in all the hells there ever were."

As Han froze, expecting the bolt to fry him any moment, Dewlannaroared, shoved Han aside, and leaped for Shrike. The blaster'senergy

beam caught her full in the chest, and she went down in a heap ofcharred fur and burned flesh.

"Dewlanna!" Han yelled in anguish. With a quickness he hadn't knownhe possessed, he dived at Shrike, hitting the captain in a drivingtackle around his knees. Shrike went over backward again, and thistime his head impacted solidly with the deck. He sagged, out cold.

Han crawled back to his friend, turning her over gently, seeing thegreat hole the blaster beam had bored into her chest. He knewimmediately that the wound was mortal. No medical droid everconstructed could heal this.

Dewlanna moaned, gasped, and fought with all her great Wookiee strengthto breathe. Han slid his arms beneath her shoulders and tried to easeher struggle. Her blue eyes opened and, after a moment, fixed onhis.

Lucidity returned, and she rumbled softly.

"No, I won't leave you!" Han replied, clutching her harder. Tearsblurred his vision, and she swam below him in a sea of brown fur. "Idon't care if I get away! Oh, Dewlanna . . ."

Making a great effort, she raised a huge, furred paw-hand and graspedhis arm. Han had to struggle to translate her speech. "I know," hechoked, talking aloud so she'd know he understood her. "I know youcare about me .

. ." she rumbled again, "as much as you do your own children."

Han swallowed, his throat tight and aching. "I . . . I feel the sameway, Dewlanna. You're the closest thing to a mother I'll ever have."

A long moan of anguish made her shudder. She rumbled at him again.

"No," Han insisted. "I'm not leaving you. I'll stay with you till .

. . till . .

." He couldn't finish the sentence.

Dewlanna grabbed his arm with a ghost of her old strength and growledat him urgently. "If I . . ." Han was having trouble comprehendingher slurred speech, "if I die . . . nothing? Oh, you're saying thatif I don't live, you'll have died for nothing?"

She nodded, her eyes in their nest of hair holding his with all theintensity she could muster. Han shook his head stubbornly. How couldhe abandon her to die alone?

Dewlanna rumbled softly, faintly. "Yeah, I'm sure you'll be safe, onewith the life-power," Han said, trying to sound sincere. He knew someWookiees believed in a unifying power that bound all of existencetogether.

Personally, he thought this power--he'd never been able to translatethe term accurately, the Wookiee word could have meant "strength," or"force," too--that Dewlanna believed in so steadfastly was justsuperstition.

But if it comforted her to believe in it during her dying moments, Hanwasn't going to argue with her. He remembered the words she'd said tohim several times. "Dewlanna, may the life-power be with you . . ."

For a moment he wished that he, too, could believe . . .

She moaned with pain. Han could see she was going fast. Then Dewlannarumbled feebly, and again he automatically translated. "Your lastrequest . . ." He choked, barely able to get the words out, "You wantme . . to go . . . to live. And to be . . . happy."

Han struggled not to break down. "Okay!" he agreed. "I'll go. Istill have time to get aboard that robot ship before it takes off."

Dewlanna whined faintly.

"I promise," he agreed, his voice ragged. "I'll go now. And I swearI'll always remember you, Dewlanna."

She was beyond speech now, but he was sure she'd heard him. He laidher gently on the deck, then rose and picked up the blaster. Then,after giving Dewlanna one final look, Han turned and raced out thedoor.

His running feet resounded through the corridors of Trader's Luck; thetime was past for stealth. He had to reach the docking bay, and thatrobot Ylesian freighter! Han had no idea when it was due to blast awayfrom the Luck, but the loading schedule posted for the space dockworkers had listed it as being ready for blastoff as soon as the droidsfinished fueling. And when he'd swiped the spacesuit and hidden it,they'd just started that process.

The Ylesian Dream might be leaving any moment!

Gasping, Han sprinted for the lock, his feet thudding along the decksthat had been his playground ever since he was old enough toremember.

In the distance, he could hear sleepy voices, interspersed with shoutsand orders.

I can't let them catch me. Shrike will kill me. The certainty lentspeed to his flying feet.

He skidded around the final turn and grabbed the spacesuit he'd hiddenbehind some fueling equipment. The helmet flopped over his arm,banging him in the midsection as he hastily keyed in the code he'dstolen into the airlock door.

Seconds passed The sounds of pursuit were growing louder. But surelythey'd think he was headed for the shuttle deck or even the lifepods.

Nobody would guess he'd be crazy enough to try stowing away on a robotfreighter--at least that's what he was counting on . . .

The lock hissed open. Han leaped inside, closed the hatch, and beganyanking on the spacesuit. He checked the air storage. Full. Good.

He'd originally planned to bring along some extra air paks, but hedidn't dare venture back out. The pak on the suit was good for twodays. That should

be enough, unless the Dream was a really slow vessel. Since it was arobot drone, he had no way of discovering what course it would befollowing, or how fast it was scheduled to go.

Han grimaced. Only a desperate man would use this method of escape.

He was desperate, all right. He just hoped he wouldn't arrive onYlesia dead because he'd run out of air.

Let's see . . . food pellets . . . full. Water tank . . . full.

Good. That was Captain Shrike again, insisting that all ship'sequipment be maintained in perfect working order.

Han dragged the suit up over the arms of his ship's gray jumpsuit andclosed the seam running up the front. He picked up the helmet, clumsybecause of the gloves, and settled it over his head. It was mostlyglassine, and he could see every direction except directly behindhim.

A bank of bolos ran around the bottom rim of the helmet, giving him hisvitals, amount of air remaining, and all the other information heneeded to survive. Han could "talk" to his suit in a limited fashionby bumping his chin against the communications lever and giving thesuit instructions concerning his temperature, air mix, and so forth.

Okay, this is it, the young man thought as he clumped over to theconnecting hatch and keyed in the final sequence to equalize pressuresbetween the lock and the Ylesian Dream. He could faintly hear a hissas the air was pumped out of the lock. The Dream, being a robot,didn't need air to operate. The ship would be filled only withvacuum.

Finally, the hatch opened, and Han stepped inside.

It was crowded with equipment and cargo, and the corridors were verynarrow. The Dream wasn't constructed to accommodate a living crew,only for routine maintenance, and Han had to turn sideways to squeezein. The youth was fleetingly grateful that all standard engineeringwas designed to function in gravity. Otherwise, he might've had tocontend with zero gee, and that would have been a real pain.

He'd been outside the Trader's Luck with the welding crew in spacesuitsseveral times since he'd been considered old enough for hazardousship's duty, hanging in space, tethered to the ship only by a seeminglyfragile umbilical. It had been kind of exciting the first couple oftimes, but Han didn't particularly care for weightlessness, and he'dsoon learned never to look "down." Seeing nothing but space beneathhis feet for light-years and light-years was enough to make his headswim.

Han clumped toward the "bridge," figuring that was where the maximumamount of room would be. He reached it in only moments--the Dream wasa small ship. If her cargo list was correct, she'd brought in ashipment of top-grade glitterstim spice, and would be leaving with acargo of high-quality Corellian electronic components that could be used infactory maintenance.

Han wondered for a moment whom Garris Shrike had paid off to be able toreceive a shipment of spice. The substance was rigidly controlled bymost planetary governments and also by the Imperial trade commission.

He turned sideways to enter the bridge--and fr oze.

What in the name of all the Sons of Barab is an astromech droid doingon the bridge? Everyone knew a droid couldn't pilot a ship by itself,so it couldn't be piloting. Han grimaced behind the glassine helmet.

This droid must be there as a sort of burglar alarm, a sophisticatedcommunications device to help deter portside thieves or spacepirates.

Han knew that one of the reasons the Ylesian priests were eager to hirea pilot--preferably a Corellian, their ad had read--was that they'dbeen losing robot ships to piracy.

As he froze, hoping the droid wasn't aware of his presence, the youngman felt the Dream shudder. We're undocking! I've got to get bracedfor breakaway thrust!

Quickly he edged away from the bridge and headed back toward the cargoarea. Finally, he found what he was looking for, and just in time. Asmall space that he could sit down in, just the right size to allow himto brace himself with his arms and legs.

The Dream shuddered again, and then again. Mentally, Han pictured thedocking clamps falling away, one by one. One more to go, then-The shipshuddered one more time, then lurched violently. Since the Dreamwasn't supposed to be manned, it could utilize acceleration patternsthat were much rougher than those used in a vessel with a livingcrew.

Wham! Han's body jerked, then he braced himself against the thrust ofviolent acceleration. The Dream was undocked and away!

Mentally, Han pictured them thrusting away from Trader's Luck, out ofthe embrace of Corellia's gravity field. Closing his eyes, he picturedhis homeworld turning lazily against the backdrop of stars. Corelliawas a pretty planet, with narrow blue seas, green-brown forests, tandeserts, and large cities. On the nightside it glittered like a battleremote studded with lights The hardest thrust of acceleration hit then,and Han was pinned uncomfortably against the cargo container. We'vemade the jump to lightspeed, he realized.

Moments later, as the ship's speed evened out, he was able to moveagain.

He flexed his arms and legs, wincing as bruises made themselves

felt. From the fight in the galley, he realized. The thought madehim remember Dewlanna with a sudden, visceral sadness. Tears stung hiseyes, and he fought them back fiercely. Crying in a spacesuit helmetwas a lousy idea, since you couldn't wipe your face.

Han sniffed, trying to blink back the tears. Dewlanna... he thought.

His friend had given her life to give him this chance.

Get hold of yourself, Solo, he ordered himself sternly. His throatached, but Han gulped, swallowed hard, then bit his lip until the urgeto cry receded. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried, andwhat was the point? It wouldn't bring Dewlanna back . . .

Han knew Dewlanna believed in an afterlife of the spirit. If she wasright about that, then maybe she could hear him now.

"Hey, Dewlanna," Han whispered, "I made it. I'm on my way. I'm goingto Ylesia, and I'm going to become the best pilot in the sector. I'lllearn enough--and earn enough--to apply for the Academy, the way wealways dreamed. I'm free, Dewlanna." His voice broke. We're safe,Dewlanna.

Shrike can't touch either of us, now . . .

Wedged into his little crevice, the young pilot smiled with grimdetermination. I'm free, and I owe it all to you. I'll never forgetit, either. If I ever get a chance to pay you back by helping one ofyour people, I swear to anything that's out there--any god, orlife-power, or force--I won't hesitate.

Han Solo took a long, deep breath of canned spacesuit air. "Thank you,Dewlanna," he whispered.

Wherever she was now, he hoped she could hear him.

two

Ylesian Dreams When Han awoke from exhausted sleep, he was completelydisoriented at first. Where am I? he wondered groggily. Memory camerushing back in swift, violent images His own hand holding a blaster.

. . Shrike's face twisted with hatred and rage . . . Dewlanna,gasping, dying alone . . .

He swallowed hard, his throat aching. Dewlanna had been part of hislife since he was just a little kid, eight, perhaps, or nine. Heremembered the day she'd come aboard with her mate, Isshaddik.

Isshaddik had been outlawed from the Wookiee homeworld for some crimethat Dewlanna had never referred to. She'd followed her mate intoexile, leaving behind all that she'd ever known--her home and theirgrown cubs.

A year or so later, Isshaddik had been killed during a smuggling run toNar Hekka, one of the worlds in the Hutt sector. Shrike had announcedto Dewlanna that she could remain aboard Trader's Luck as cook, sincehe'd grown to like the foods she prepared. Dewlanna could have goneback to Kashyyyk--after all, she'd committed no crime--but she'd chosento stay aboard the Luck.

Because of me, Han thought as he located the water dispenser nippleinside his helmet and took a cautious sip. Then he tongued up a coupleof food pellets and washed them down with another swallow. It wasn'tthe same as food, but they'd keep him going for the day... She stayedbecause of me.

She wanted to protect me from Shrike . . .

He sighed, knowing it to be true. Wookiees were among the moststeadfast and loyal companions in the galaxy, or so he'd heard.

Wookiee

loyalty and friendship was not lightly given, but once bestowed, itnever wavered.

He leaned back in his alcove, checking the air pak. Three quartersleft.

Han wondered how far the Dream had traveled while he'd slept. In alittle while he'd go to the control room, see if he could decipher theinstrumentation on the autopilot.

Han's mind drifted back in time, remembering Dewlanna sadly, then as herelaxed, his mind wandered to even earlier days. His earliest "real"memory---everything else was just meaningless fragments, snatches ofimages too old and distorted to have any meaning--was of the day GarrisShrike had brought him "home" to Trader's Luck . . .

The child huddled in the mouth of the dank; filthy alley, trying not tocry. He was too big to cry, wasn't he? Even if he was cold and hungryand alone. For a moment the child wondered why he was alone, but itwas as if a huge metal door slammed down on that thought, shuttingeverything behind it. Behind the door lay danger, behind that door lay. . . bad things.

Pain, and ... and...

The boy shook his head, and his lank; filthy hair fell straggling intohis face. He pushed it back with a hand that was so grimed with dirtthat his natural skin color barely showed. He wore only a pair ofragged pants and a torn, sleeveless tunic that was too small. HIS feetwere bare. Had he ever had shoes?

The child thought that perhaps he remembered shoes. Good shoes, niceones, shoes that someone had put on his feet and helped him fasten.

Someone who was gentle, who smiled instead of scowled, someone who wasclean and smelled good, who wore pretty clothes-SLAM!!

The door came down again, and little Han (he knew that was his name,but knew of no other that went with it winced from the pain in hismind. He knew better than to let those thoughts fill his mind.

Thoughts and memories like that were bad, they hurt.., better not tothink them.

He sniffled again and wiped futilely at his runny nose. He realized hewas standing in a puddle of foulness, and that his feet were so cold hecould barely feel them. It was night now, and it promised to be a coldone.

Hunger twisted in Han's stomach like a living thing, a creature thatbit painfully. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. Had itbeen this morning when he'd found that kavasa fruit in a garbage dump,the ripe, juicy one that was only half-eaten? Or had that been lastnight?

He couldn't keep standing here, the little boy decided. He had tomove.

Han stepped out of the alley, onto. the pathwalk. He knew how tobeg...

who was it that had taught him?

SLAM!

Never mind who'd taught him, they had taught him well. Adjusting hisfeatures to their most pitiful, Han shuffled toward the nearestpasserby.

"Please . . . lady . . ." he whimpered. "Hungry, I'm so hungry . .

." He held out his hand, palm up. The woman he addressed slowedfractionally, then suddenly looked down at his dirty palm and recoiled,holding her skirts back so they wouldn't brush against him.

"Lady . . ." Han breathed, turning with more than professionalinterest to watch her walk away. She had on a nice dress, soft andshiny, sort of...

glowing . . . in the harsh streetlights of the Corellian harbortown.

She reminded him of someone, with her big, dark eyes, her smooth skin,her hair-SLAM!

He began to sob, hopelessly, his small body shaking from cold, hunger,grief, and loneliness.

"Hey, there! Han!" the sharp but not unfriendly voice broke throughhis wall of misery. Sniffling and gulping, Han looked up to see a tallform bending over him. Black hair, pale blue eyes. He smelled ofAlderaanian ale, and the smoke from half a dozen proscribed drugs, buthe was steady on his feet, unlike many of the other passersby.

Seeing that Han was looking up at him, the man squatted down onto hisheels, which brought him to only a little above Han's eye level.

"You're too big to cry in the street, you know that, don't you?"

Han nodded, still sniffling, but trying to control himself. "Yeth . .

.

yes." At first he lisped a little, the way he had when he'd firstlearned to talk. That was a long, long time ago, Han thought. He'dbeen talking since the cold season, and it was soon going to be coldseason again. He'd been talking since . . .

SLAM!

The child shuddered again as his mind resolutely shut away all hismemories of that beforetime. Something else surfaced, something he'doverlooked at first in his misery. Han's eyes widened. This man hadcalled him by name!

How does he know my name?

"Whou . . . who are you?" Han whispered. "How do you know myname?"

The man grinned, showing many teeth. It was meant t o be a friendlyexpression, Han could tell, but there was something about it that madehim shudder. It reminded him of the packs of canoids that hunted preyin the alleys. "I know lots of things, kid," the man replied. "Callme Captain Shrike. Can you say that?"

"Y-yes. Captain Shrike," Han parroted uncertainly. He hiccuped ashis sobbing died away. "But... but how did you know my name? Please?"

The man put out a hand as if to ruffle his hair, then seemed to take inthe dirt and scritchies inhabiting his young scalp and think better ofit. "You'd be surprised, Han. I know almost everything that goes onhere on Corellia.

I know who's lost and who's found, who's for sale and who's sold, andwhere all the bodies are buried. Matter of fact, I've had my eye onyou.

You seem like a smart lad. Are you smart?"

Han drew himself up, eyed the man levelly. "Yes, Captain," he said,forcing his voice to be steady. "I'm smart." He knew he was, too.

Anyone who wasn't didn't last for months on the streets, the way hehad.

"Good, that's the lad! Well, I could use a smart lad to work for me.

Why don't you come with me? I'll give you a square meal and a warmplace to sleep." He grinned again. "And I just bet you'd like to seemy ship." He pointed up at the darkening sky.

Han nodded eagerly. Food? A bed? And especially . . . "Aspaceship?

Yes, Captain! I want to be a pilot when I grow up!"

The man laughed and held out his hand. "Well come on, then!"

Han let the big hand engulf his, and the two of them walked awaytogether, toward the spaceport...

Han stirred and shook his head. I should never have gone with him thatday, he thought. If I hadn't gone with him, Dewlanna would still bealive . . .

But if he hadn't gone with Shrike, he'd probably have awakened somenight in the alley to find that vrelts had chewed his ears and noseoff, the way they had one of the other "alley urchins" that GarrisShrike had "rescued."

Han smiled grimly. Captain Shrike didn't have an altruistic bone inhis body. He collected children and used them to turn a profit.

Almost every planet the Luck visited, Shrike loaded up a group of his"rescuees" and took them down to the streets in the shuttle. There heleft them under the supervision of a droid he'd programmed himself,F8GN. Eight-Gee-Enn assigned them to their "territories" and kepttrack of their proceeds as the children roamed the streets, begging andpickpocketing.

They used the littlest ones, the skinniest ones, the deformed ones forbegging. The vrelt-gnawed girl, Danalis, had always done well. Shrikekept her working hard for years by promising her that when she'd earnedenough for him, he'd get her face fixed for her, so she'd look humanagain.

But he never had. When she was about fourteen, Danalis evidentlyrealized that Shrike was never going to make good on his promises.

One

night" she went into the Luck's airlock and cycled it--without firstputting on a suit.

Han had been on the cleanup crew. He shuddered at the memory. PoorDanalis. He could still picture her in his mind, handing over a day'sbegging receipts to Eight-Gee-Enn. The droid was tall and spindly,made from coppery-reddish metal. It had been repaired so many timesthat it had patches everywhere, as though the droid were wearing a muchmended garment. Copper patches, gold-colored patches, steel coloredpatches--and one round, silvery one on the top of its head.

Han could still hear the droid's voice in his mind. Eight-Gee-Enn hadhad something wrong with its speakers, and its "voice" had alternatedbetween sounding deep and unctuous, to shrill, mechanicalsqueakiness.

But no matter how the droid sounded, they'd all paid attention to whatEight-Gee-Enn said . . .

"Now, dear children, have you all got your territory assignments?" Thecopper-colored droid swiveled its head a little rustily on itspipe-stem neck, regarding the eight children from Trader's Luck as theystood ranged before it.

All of the children, including five-year-old Han, affirmed that theydid, indeed, have their territories. "Very well, then, dear children,"the droid continued in its deep, then squeaky tones, "let me now giveyou your job assignments. Padra" the droid looked down at a small boyonly a year or so older than Han--"today we're going to give you yourfirst chance to show us how helpful you can be to these poor citizenswho are burdened with credit vouchers, jewelry, and expensive privatecomlinks." The droid's eyes glittered eerily. They were differentcolors---one had burned out long ago, and Shrike had replaced it with alens scavenged from a junked droid, giving F8GN one red "eye" and onegreen.

"Are you willing to help out these poor, benighted citizens, Padra?"

Eight-Gee-Enn asked, cocking its metal head inquiringly, its voicedripping artificial camaraderie.

"Sure am!" the boy cried. He gave Han and the other small children atriumphant glance. "No more baby begging for me!" he whisperedexcitedly.

Han, who was barely beginning to learn the skills necessary to pickpockets swiftly and undetectably, felt a stir of envy. Picking pocketswas easy, once you learned how to do it well. It was far easier tomeet Eight-Gee-Enn's quota for a day's "work" picking pockets than itwas by begging. Begging required accosting at least three marks,roughly, in order to gain one donation.

But pickpocketing . . . now, that was the best way to earn bigmoney!

If you chose the right mark; you could gain enough in one grab to giveEightGee-Enn your quota before noon, and then you were free to play.

Han wondered whether Eight-Gee-Enn would give him some practice time ifhe hurried and begged his quota for the day before the othersfinished.

It was fun to practice with the spindly reddish droid, becauseEight-Gee-Enn looked so funny in clothes! The droid would put onstreet clothes typical to the planet they were on, and then eitherstand still or stroll past his student. Han had learned to relieve thedroid of the concealed chrono, credit vouchers, and even some kinds ofjewelry without Eight-Gee-Enn detecting his fingers in the process.

But he couldn't do it one hundred percent of the time. Han scowled alittle as he trudged away. Eight-Gee-Enn demanded perfection from itslittle band, especially from the pickpockets. The droid wouldn't lethim start picking pockets until it was sure that Han could do soperfectly, every time.

Absently, he picked up a handful of dirt and rubbed it into his hands,then smeared his already sweating face. What planet was this,anyway?

He couldn't recall hearing its name. The native people were greenishskinned, with small, swively ears and huge dark purple eyes. Han hadonly learned a few words in their language, but he was a quick study,and he knew that by the time Trader's Luck moved on, he'd be able tounderstand it well, and speak it--at least the gutterargot--passably.

Wherever this was, it was hot. Hot and humid. Han glanced up at thepale, greenish-blue sky, in which blazed a pale orange sun. Theprospect of spending several hours on his appointed street, whining,begging, and cajoling passersby for alms wasn't an attractive one. Ihate begging, Han thought sourly. When I get a little older, I'm goingto make them let me steal, instead of beg. I'm sure I'll be a goodthief, and I'm not that good a beggar.

He knew his appearance was all right--he'd gotten taller in the pastcouple of years, but he was still underweight enough to be calledskinny.

And he knew how to make his voice servile, his manner cringing andcowering, as though only desperation were driving him to plead foralms.

Maybe it was his eyes, Han thought. Maybe the secret resentment andshame he felt at having to beg showed in them and potential marks couldsee it.

Nobody respected a beggar, and Han, more than almost anything; had anundeclared desire to be respected.

Not just respected, he wanted to be respectable. He couldn't recallmuch about his life before Garris Shrike had found him begging onCorellia, but Han somehow knew that once upon a time, things had beendifferent.

Long ago, he'd been taught to believe that begging was shameful. Andthat stealing.., stealing was worse. Han bit his lip angrily. He knewthat

someone, perhaps the parents he couldn't remember, had taught himthese things. Once, long ago, he'd been taught different ways . . .

different values.

But now--what could he do? Aboard Trader's Luck, there was onecardinal rule. If you didn't work you begged or stole. If you refusedto work beg, or steal, you didn't eat. Han had no other skills tooffer. He was too little to pilot, not strong enough to load smuggledcargo.

But I won't always be! he reminded himself "I'm growing every day!

Soon I'm going to be big, in just five more years I'll be ten, andthen, maybe, I'll be big enough to pilot!"

Han had discovered that when he made up his mind to accomplishsomething, he could do it. He was sure that piloting would be noexception.

And when I can pilot, that'll be my way off Trader's Luck, he thought,his mind slipping automatically into an old dream, one that he nevertold anyone about. Once he'd confided it to one of the other children,and the little vrelt blabbed it to everyone. Shrike and the otherslaughed at Han for weeks, calling him "Captain Han of the ImperialNavy, "until Han wanted to crawl away, hands over his ears. It tookall his control to just shrug and pretend not to care...

Yeah, and when I'm the best pilot around, and I've made lots ofcredits, I'll apply to the Imperial Academy. I'll become a Navalofficer. Then I'll come back and get Shrike, arrest him, and he'll getsent to the spice mines on Kessel. He'll die there . . . The thoughtmade Han's mouth curl up in a predatory smile.

At the far end of his fantasy, Han pictured himself, successful,respected, the best pilot in the galaxy, with a ship of his own, lotsof loyal friends, and plenty of credits. And . . . a family. Yeah, afamily of his own. A beautiful wife who adored him, who'd shareadventures with him, and kids, maybe. He'd be a good father. Hewouldn't abandon his children, the way he'd been abandoned . . .

At least, Han supposed that he'd been abandoned, though he couldn'tremember a thing about it. He didn't even know his last name, so hecouldn't try to trace his family. Or maybe . . . maybe his parentshadn't abandoned him...

Maybe they'd been killed, or he'd been kidnapped away from them. Handecided that he preferred that scenario. If he thought of his parentsas dead, he wasn't so mad at them, because people couldn't help it ifthey died, right?

Han decided that from now on, he'd think of his mother and father asdead It was easier that way...

He knew he'd probably never know the real truth. The only person whoknew anything about Han's background was Garris Shrike. The captainkept telling Han that if he was good, if he worked and begged hard, ifhe earned

enough credits, someday Shrike would tell him the secrets behind howhe'd come to be wandering the streets of Corellia that day.

Han's mouth tightened. Sure, Captain, he thought. Just like you weregoing to get Danalis's face fixed . . .

The child glanced up at the street signs. He couldn't read the ones inthe native language, but there was a Basic translation beneath each.

Yeah, this was his territory, all right.

Han took a deep breath, then rearranged his features. A green skinnedfemale clad in a short robe was coming toward him. "Lady . . ." hewhined, cringing his way toward her, little hand held out in appeal,please, beautiful gracious lady, I beg your help . . . alms, just onelittle credit, I'm so hungreeeeee . . ."

The little cupped green ears swiveled toward him, then she averted herhead and swept past.

Under his breath, Han muttered an uncomplimentary term in smuggler'sargot, and then turned to wait for the next mark . . .

Han shook his head and forced himself out of his reverie. Time to goand check on the Ylesian Dream's progress.

Hauling himself up out of his cubbyhole, the young pilot made his waythrough the cramped passageways until he reached the bridge. Theastromech droid was still there, its lights flashing away as it"thought" its own thoughts. It was a relatively new R2 unit, stillshiny-bright silver and green, with a clear dome atop its head. Insidethe dome Han could see lights blinking as it worked. It was hookedinto the ship's robot controls by means of a cable.

The R2 droid must have been equipped with a motion sensor, because itswiveled its domed "head" toward Han as he clumped boldly onto thebridge in his spacesuit.

The lights flashed frantically as it "talked," but of course the soundwaves didn't travel in vacuum. Han turned on his suit's communicationsunit, and suddenly his helmet was filled with distressed bleeps,blurps, and wheeps.

"Whee... bleewheeeep.., wheep-whirr-wheep!" the R2 astromech announcedin evident surprise. Han looked around for its counterpart droid anddidn't see one. He sighed. His suit's communicator would transmitwhat he said to the droid, but how was he supposed to actually talk tothe consarned R2 without an interpreter? How did whoever hadprogrammed the droid talk to it?

He activated his suit communicator. "Hey, you!"

"Blurpp... wheeep, bleep-whirrr!" the unit replied helpfully.

Han scowled and cursed at the unit in Rodian, trader argot, and,finally, Basic. "What am I going to do now?" he snarled. "If onlyyou had a Basic-speech module."

"But I do, sir," announced the droid in a matter-of-fact voice. Itswords were flat, mechanical, but perfectly understandable.

Han gaped at the machine for a moment, then grinned. "Hey! This is afirst! How come you can talk?"

"Because there was not room aboard this vessel for both an astromechunit and a counterpart unit, my masters programmed me with aBasic-speech transmissions module so I could communicate more easily,"the droid replied.

"All right!" Han cried, feeling a surge of relief. He didn't likedroids much, but at least he'd have someone to talk to, and it mightactually prove necessary for the two of them to communicate. Spacetravel was usually routine, and safe . . . but there wereexceptions.

"I regret, sir," the R2 added, "that you are guilty of unauthorizedentry, sir. You are not supposed to be here."

"I know that," Han said. "I hitched a ride on this ship."

"I-beg-your-pardon, this unit does not understand the term used,sir."

Han called the R2 unit an uncomplimentary name. "I-beg-your-pardon,this unit does not understand--" "Shut up!" Han bellowed. The R2 unitwas silent.

Han took a very deep breath. "Okay, R2," he said. "I am a stowaway.

Is that word in your memory banks?"

"Yes it is, sir."

"Good. I stowed away aboard this ship because I needed a ride toYlesia.

I'm going to take a job piloting for the Ylesian priests,understand?"

"Yes, sir. However, I must inform you that in my capacity as awatchdroid assigned to safeguard this vessel and its contents, I mustseal all the exits when we reach Ylesia, then inform my masters thatyou are aboard, thus expediting your capture by their securitystaff."

"Hey, little pal," Han said generously, "when we reach Ylesia, you justgo right ahead and do that. When the priests see that I fit all theirrequirements, they won't give a vrelt's ass how I arrived there."

"I-beg-your-pardon, sir, but this unit does not--" "Shut up."

Han glanced down at his air pak readout, then said, "Okay, R2, I'd liketo check on our flight path, speed, and ETA to Ylesia. Please displaythat information."

"I regret, sir, that I am not authorized to give you thatinformation."

Han was coming to a slow boil; he barely restrained himself fromkicking the recalcitrant droid with his heavy space boot. "I need tocheck our flight path, speed, and ETA because I've got to compute howmy air is holding out, R2," he explained with exaggerated patience.

"I-beg-your-pardon, sir, but this unit--" "SHUT UP!"

Han was starting to sweat now, and the suit's refrigeration unit rebbedup a little faster. He struggled to keep his tones calm. "Listencarefully, R2," he said. "Don't you have some kind of operatingsystems program that orders you to attempt to preserve the lives ofintelligent beings whenever you can?"

"Yes, sir, that programming is included with all astromech droids. Fora droid to deliberately harm or fail to prevent harm to a sentientbeing, its operating system module must be altered."

"Good," Han said. That fit in with what he knew about astromechprogramming. "Listen to me, R2. If you don't show me our flight path,speed, and ETA, you may be responsible for my death, from lack ofair.

Do you understand me now?"

"Please elaborate, sir."

Han explained, with exaggerated patience, his situation. When hefinished, the droid was silent for a moment, evidently cogitating.

Finally, it whirred once, then said, "I will comply with your request,sir, and will display the information requested on the diagnosticinterface screen."

Han breathed a long sigh of relief. Since the ship was basically agiant robot drone, it had no controls visible on its control boards,just assorted blinking lights. But, in order to service the ship,there was a screen built into the control board. Han stepped carefullyaround the R2 unit and stared down at the screen.

Information scrolled across it, so rapidly no human could have readit.

Han turned to the R2 unit. "Put that data back up, and this time,leave it there until I can read it! Get it?"

"Yes, sir." The droid's artificial voice sounded almost meek.

Han studied the figures and diagram that appeared on the screen forseveral minutes, feeling his uneasiness grow into real fear. He hadnothing to write with, and no way to access the navicomputer, but hehad a bad feeling about what he was seeing. Biting his lip, he forcedhimself to concentrate as he ran the figures in his head, over andover.

Ylesian Dream's flight path had been set to take it in a circuitousroute to the planet, in order to avoid the worst of the pirate-infestedareas of Hutt space. And the little freighter's speed was set farlower than the

ship was capable of, slower than even Trader's Luck normally traveledthrough hyperspace.

Not good. Not good at all. If their speed and course weren't altered,Han realized, he'd run out of air about five hours before the Dream setdown on Ylesian soil. The ship would land with a corpse aboard . ..

his.

He turned back to the R2 unit. "Listen, R2, you've got to help me. IfI don't alter our course and speed, I won't have sufficient air to makethe trip. I'll die, and it will be your fault."

The R2 unit's lights flashed as the machine contemplated thisrevelation.

Finally, it said "But I did not know you were on board, sir. I cannotbe held responsible for your death."

"Oh, no." Han shook his head inside his helmet. "It doesn't work thatway, R2. If you know about this situation and do nothing, then youwill be causing the death of a sentient being. Is that what youwant?"

"No," the droid said. Even its artificial tones sounded faintlystrained, and its lights flickered rapidly and erratically.

"Then it follows," Han continued inexorably, "that you must do whateveryou can to prevent my death. Right?"

"I . . . I . . ." The droid was quivering now in agitation. "Sir, Iam constrained from assisting you. My programming is in conflict withmy hardware."

"What do you mean?" Han was worried now. If the little droidoverloaded and went dead, he'd never be able to access the manual"diagnostic'' controls that he knew had to be in these panelssomewhere. They'd be tiny, something for the techs to use to test therobot drone's autopilot. "My p rogramming is constraining me frominforming you . . ."

Han took one huge stride over to the little droid and knelt in front ofit. "Blast you!" He pounded his fist on top of the droid's cleardome.

"I'll die! Tell me!"

The droid rocked agitatedly, and Han wondered if it would simply fallapart with the strain. But then it said, "I have been fitted with arestraining bolt, sir! It prevents me from complying with yourrequest!"

A restraining bolt?" Han seized on this bit of information withalacrity.

Let's see, where is it?

After a moment he spotted it, low down on the droid's metal carapace.

He reached down, grasped it, and tugged.

Nothing. The bolt didn't move.

Han gripped harder, tried twisting. He grunted with effort, reallysweating now, imagining he could feel those molecules of oxygen runningout in a steady stream. He'd heard that hypoxia wasn't an especiallybad

way to die---compared to explosive decompression or being shot, forexample--but he had no desire to find out firsthand.

The bolt didn't move. Han tried harder, jerking at it, swearing inhalf a dozen alien tongues, but the stubborn thing didn't budge.

Got to find something I can hit it with, Han thought, glancing wildlyaround the control cabin. But there was nothing--not a hydrospanner, awrench--nothing!

Suddenly he remembered the blaster. He'd left it on the floor in hislittle cubicle. "Wait right here," Han instructed the R2 unit, andthen he was squeezing back through the narrow corridors.

Shooting a blaster inside a spaceship--even an unpressurizedspace-ship--wasn't a good idea, but he was desperate.

Han returned with the weapon, and examined the settings. Lowestsetting, he thought. Narrowest beam. Clumsy in his spacesuit gloves,he had trouble adjusting the power setting and beam width.

The R2's lights had been flashing frenetically ever since he'dreturned, and now it wheeped plaintively. "Sir? Sir, may I ask whatyou're doing?"

"I'm getting rid of that restraining bolt," Han told it grimly. Aimingand narrowing his eyes, he squeezed delicately.

A flash of energy erupted, and the little droid WHEEEEPPPPED. soshrilly it sounded like a scream. The restraining bolt fell to thedeck, leaving behind a black burn scar on the otherwise shining metalof the R2 unit.

"Gotcha," Han said with satisfaction. "Now, R2, be good enough topoint me toward the manual interfaces and controls in your shiphere."

The droid obediently extruded a mobile wheeled "leg" and rolled over tothe control banks, its interface cable trailing behind it. Han wentover and crouched before the instrument panel, awkward in his suit.

Following the droid's instructions, he wrenched off the top of onefeatureless control panel and studied the tiny bank of controls.

Cursing at the awkwardness of trying to manipulate the controls whilewearing spacesuit gloves, Han began using the manual interface mode todisengage the hyperdrive. Altering course and speed could only be donein realspace.

Once they were back in realspace, Han painstakingly computed a newcourse, using the R2 unit to perform the more esoteric calculations forthe jump that would send them back into hyperspace.

It took the young Corellian a while to lay in their new course andspeed, but finally Han triggered the HYPERDRIVE ENGAGE switch again. Asecond later he felt the lurch as the drive kicked in. Han clunggrimly to

the instrument panel as the ship hurtled into hyperspace on its newcourse, at a greatly increased rate of speed.

As the ship steadied around him, Han drew a long, long breath and letit out very slowly. He slumped to the deck and sat there, his legsstuck out before him. "Whew!"

"You realize, sir," said the R2 unit, "that you will now have to landthis craft manually. Altering our course and speed has invalidated theexisting landing protocols programmed into the ship."

"Yeah, I know," Han said, leaning wearily back against the console. Hetook another sip of water and then ate two tablets. "But there's noother way. I just hope I can work the controls fast enough to landus." He glanced around him at the nearly featureless control room. "Iwish this bucket of bolts came with a viewscreen."

"An autopilot cannot see, sir, so visual data is useless to it," the R2unit pointed out helpfully.

"No!" Han said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I thought droidscould see just like we can!"

"No, sir, we cannot," R2 told him. "We recognize our surroundings byvisual relays that translate into electronic data within our--" "Shutup," Han said, too tired even to enjoy baiting the droid. Leaning backagainst the console, he closed his eyes. He'd done all that he couldto save his life, by bringing the ship to Ylesia on a much more directroute, at a faster speed.

Han drifted into sleep and dreamed of Dewlanna, as she had been longago, when they'd first known each other . . .

Han was halfway through the window when he heard the shout behindhim.

"We've been robbed!"

Clutching his small sack of loot, he kicked, wriggling, trying tosqueeze through the narrow enclosure. In the dark outside laysafety.

A feminine cry of dismay "My jewelry!"

Han grunted with effort, realizing he was stuck. He fought backpanic.

He had to get away! This was a rich house, and when someone summonedthe authorities, they were certain to come immediately.

Silently he cursed the new vogue in Corellian architecture that hadcaused this luxurious home to be built with floor-to-ceiling narrowwindows. The windows were advertised as being able to thwartburglars.

Well, there might be some truth to that, he decided grimly. He'dsneaked in earlier through one of the doors that led to the gardens,then hidden out until he'd felt safe in believing that all theinhabitants were asleep. Then he'd ventured out to pick and chooseamong their treasures. He'd been confident that he

could wiggle his skinny, nine-year-old self through those windows andmake good his escape.

Han grunted with effort again, kicking frantically. It was possible hewas wrong about that...

A voice behind him. The woman. "There he is! Get him!"

Han turned a little more sideways, wriggled violently, and thensuddenly he was through the window and falling. He didn't let go ofhis sack, though, as he crashed down onto the manicured bed offlowering dorva vines. Breath whooshed out of his lungs, and for amoment he just lay there, gasping, like a drel out of water. HIS leghurt, and so did his head.

"Call the security patrol!" The masculine shout came from inside. Hanknew he had only seconds to make good his escape. Forcing his leg tobear his weight, he rolled over and staggered to his feet.

Trees ahead in the moons-light . . . big ones. He could lose himselfin them, easy.

Han half limped, half ran to the shelter of the trees. He resolved notto let Eight-Gee-Enn know what had happened. The droid might accusehim of slowing down now that he was going on ten.

Han grimaced as he ran. He wasn't slowing down, he just hadn't beenfeeling well today. He'd had a dull headache ever since he'd awakened,and had been tempted to turn himself in on sick call.

Since Han was almost never ill, he'd probably have been believed, buthe didn't like showing weakness in front of other denizens of Trader'sLuck.

Especially Captain Shrike. The man never missed an opportunity to ridehim.

He was in the shelter of the trees, now. What next? He could hear thesound of running footsteps, so he didn't have much time to decide. Hismuscles made that decision for him. Suddenly the sack was clenched inhis teeth, there was bark against his palms, and the soles of hisbeat-up boots were braced against branches. Han climbed, listened,then climbed again.

Only when he was high in the tree, above the range of a casual glanceby pursuers, did he slow down. Han settled back on a limb, against thetree trunk, panting, his head whirling. He felt dizzy, nauseated, andfor a moment he was afraid he'd be sick and give himself away. But hebit his lip and forced himself to stay still, and presently he felt alittle better.

Judging from the star patterns, it was only a few hours until dawn.

Han realized that he was going to have trouble making the rendezvouswith the Luck's shuttle. Would Shrike just abandon him, or would hewait?

Far below him, people were searching the wooded area. Lights strobedthe night, and he huddled close to the tree trunk, eyes closed,clinging desperately despite his dizziness. If only his head didn'tthrob so . . .

Han wondered whether they'd bring in bioscanners, and shivered. Hisskin felt hot and tight, even though the night was cool and breezy.

Dark waned on toward dawn. Han wondered what Dewlanna was doing,whether she'd miss him if the Luck left orbit without him. Finally,the lights went out, and the footsteps faded away. Han waited anothertwenty minutes to make sure his pursuers were truly gone, then, holdingthe sack gripped in his teeth, he carefully climbed down, moving withexaggerated care because his head hurt so much. Every jar, evenwalking, made his head swim, and he had to grit his teeth against thepain. He walked . . . and walked. Several times he realized he'dbeen dozing while he walked, and a couple of times he fell down and wastempted to just stay there. But something kept him moving, as dawnbrightened the streets and houses around him. Corellian dawns werebeautiful, Han noticed dazedly. He'd never before noticed how prettythe colors were in the sky. If only the light didn't hurt his eyes so. . . Dawn turned to day. Cool gave way to warmth, then heat. He wassweating, and his vision was blurred. But finally, there it was. Thespaceport. By this time Han was moving like an automaton, one foot infront of the other, wishing he could just lie down and sleep in theroad.

Before him, now . . . the Luck's shut tle! With a gasp that was nearlya sob, the boy drove himself forward. He was almost to the ramp when atall figure emerged. Shrike. "Where in the blazes have you been?"

There was nothing friendly in the captain's grasp upon his arm. Hanheld up the sack; and Shrike grabbed it. "Well, at least you didn'tcome back empty-handed," the captain grumbled. Quickly he siftedthrough the contents, nodding his satisfaction. Only when he wasfinished did Shrike seem to notice that Han was swaying on his feet.

"What's wrong with you?"

Now beyond coherent speech, Han could only shake his head.

Consciousness was fading in and out on him like a jammedtransmission.

Shrike shook him a little, then put a hand on the boy's forehead. Whenhe felt the heat, he cursed. "Fever... should I leave you here? Whatif it's contagious?" He frowned, clearly struggling to decide.

Finally he hefted the sack of loot again. "Guess you've earned a sickday, kid," he muttered. "C'mon." Han tried to make it up the ramp,but then he stumbled and everything went . . . dark.

He swam up into partial consciousness a long time later, to the soundof voices arguing, one in Wookiee, the other in Basic. Dewlanna andShrike.

The Wookiee growled insistently. "I can tell he's really sick," Shrikeagreed, "but you can't kill one of my kids with a blaster set onfull.

He'll be

okay after a couple of days rest. He doesn't need a medical droid,and I'm not springing for it."

Dewlanna snarled, and Han, automatically translating, was surprised athow insistent the Wookiee was being. He felt a furred paw-hand laysomething cold on his forehead. It felt wonderful against the heat.

"I told you no, Dewlanna, and I meant it!" Shrike said, and with that,the captain stomped out, cursing the Wookiee in every language heknew.

Han opened his eyes to see Dewlanna bending over him. The Wookieerumbled gently at him. Han struggled to speak. "Pretty bad ..." heconceded, in response to her question. "Thirsty . . ."

Dewlanna held him up and gave him water, sip by slow sip. She told himthat he had a high fever, so high that she was afraid for him.

When Han finished the water, she stooped down and scooped the child upinto her arms. "Where... where're we.." She told him to hush, thatshe was taking him planetside, to the medical droid. Han's head wasswimming, but he made a great effort. "Don't...

Captain Shrike . . . really mad . . ."

Her answer was short and to the point. Han had never heard her cursebefore.

He faded in and out as they moved through the corridors, and his nextclear memory was of being strapped into the seat of a shuttle. Han hadnever known Dewlanna could pilot, but she handled the controlscompetently with her huge, furred hands. The shuttle slipped loosefrom its moorings, and then accelerated toward Corelia.

The fever was making Han light-headed, and he kept imagining that heheard Shrike's voice, cursing. He tried to say something about it toDewlanna, but found he didn't have the strength to get the wordsout...

He next regained consciousness in the medical droid's waiting room.

Dewlanna was sitting down, with Han's scrawny form still clutchedprotectively in her arms.

Suddenly a door opened, and the droid appeared. It was a large,elongated droid, equipped with anti-gray units so that it floatedaround its patient as Dewlanna placed Han on the examining table. Hanfelt a prick against his skin as the droid took a blood sample.

"Do you understand Basic, madame?" inquired the droid.

For a moment Han was about to answer that of course he understoodBasic, and who was Madame?--but then Dewlanna rumbled. Oh, ofcourse.

The medical unit was talking to her.

"This young patient has contracted Corellian tanamen fever," the droidtold Dewlanna. "HIS case is quite severe. It is fortunate that youdid not wait

any longer to bring him to me. I will need to keep him here andobserve him until tomorrow. Do you wish to stay with him?"

Dewlanna rumbled her assent.

"Very well, madame. I am going to use bacta immersion therapy torestore his metabolic equilibrium. That will also bring his feverdown."

Han took one look at the waiting bacta tank and feebly tried to make arun for the door. Between them, Dewlanna and the medical unitrestrained him easily. The boy felt another needle prick his arm, andthen the whole universe tilted sideways and slid into blackness . .

.

Han opened his eyes, realizing his reverie had turned into sleep, thendreams. He shook his head, remembering how wobbly he'd been whenDewlanna and the droid helped him out of the bacta tank. Then Dewlannapaid the droid out of her own small store of credits and piloted themback to Trader's Luck The young pilot grimaced. Boy, Shrike had beenmad. Han was worried that he'd space them both. But Dewlanna nevershowed even the slightest sign of fear as she stood between the captainand Han, insisting that she'd done the right thing, that otherwise theboy would have died.

In the end, Shrike subsided because one of the pieces of jewelry Hanhad stolen that night turned out to be set with a genuine Krayt dragonpearl. When the captain discovered what it was worth, he wasmollified.

But he didn't pay Dewlanna back for Han's medical bills . . .

Han sighed and closed his eyes. Dewlanna's loss was like a knifewound--no matter how he tried, he couldn't get away from the pain, andthe memories.

He'd let down his guard and suddenly find himself thinking of her asstill alive, visualize himself talking to her, telling her about histroubles with the recalcitrant R2 unit-only to be brought up short withpain nearly as searing and immediate as he'd felt yesterday when he'dheld her dying body.

Han swallowed another sip of water, trying to ease the tightness in histhroat. He owed Dewlanna . . . owed her so much. His life---even histrue identity--he owed Dewlanna for that, too . . .

Han sighed. Until he was eleven years old, his only name had been"Han."

The boy often wondered and worried about whether he had a last name.

One time he mentioned his concern to Dewlanna, along with hisconviction that if anyone knew who he really was, it was Shrike.

Very soon after that, Dewlanna learned to play sabacc . . .

Han heard the soft scratch on the door to his tiny cubicle and wokeinstantly. Listening, he heard the scratch again, then a soft whine.

"Dewlanna?" he whispered, sliding out of bed and sticking his barefeet into his ship's coveralls. "Is that you?"

She rumbled softly from outside the door. Han yanked up his jumpsuit,sealed it, and opened the door. "What do you mean, you have excitingnews for me?"

Dewlanna came in, her huge, furred body fairly bouncing withexcitement.

Han waved her past him, and she sat on the narrow bunk. Since therewas no place else to sit, Han settled down beside her. The Wookieecautioned him to keep his voice low, and glancing at the chrono, Hanrealized it was the dead of night.

"What are you doing up now?" he asked, puzzled. "Don't tell me youwere playing sabacc this late?"

She nodded at him, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement amid her tanand chestnut hair.

"So what's going on, Dewlanna? Why did you need to talk to me?"

She rumbled softly at him. Han sat up straight, suddenly transfixed.

"You found out my last name? How?"

Her answer was a single name. "Shrike, "Han muttered. "Well, ifanyone knows, it's him. What... how did it happen? What's my name?"

His name, she told him, was "Solo." Shrike had gotten very, verydrunk, and he started bragging about how much the Krayt dragon pearlwas worth, what a good deal he'd gotten when he sold it. Dewlannaasked Shrike innocently if Han came from a long line of successfulthieves. Shrike, she reported, exploded into laughter at thesuggestion. "Maybe some branches of the family, but this Solo?" hesputtered, wheezing with merriment, pausing to gulp more Alderaanianale, "I'm afraid not, Dewlanna. This kid's folks were .. ."

And at that point, the captain suddenly halted in midword, fixing theWookiee with a suspicious glare. "So why do you care, anyhow?" hedemanded, his momentary good humor gone.

Dewlanna answered only by covering Shrike's bet, and raising.

"Solo," Han whispered softly, trying it on for size. "Han Solo. Myfull name is Han Solo."

He looked up at Dewlanna, and a wide grin spread across his features.

"I like itt It sounds great!"

Dewlanna whined softly and, slinging a long arm around him, gave theboy a hug . . .

Han smiled, remembering, but it was a sad smile. Dewlanna had meantwell, but her discovery that his name was "Solo" had led to one of theworst episodes of his young life. The next time the Luck was in orbitaround Corellia, he'd stolen time away from his pickpocketing andburglary duties and had gone to one of the public archives to do someresearch.

Shrike didn't like his "rescuees" to spend any time on furtheringtheir education. Each child aboard Trader's Luck was given anelementary level education via the ship's computer, so he, she, or itcould learn to read and count money. Beyond that, Shrike discouragedthe children from pursuing higher learning.

It was partly because he automatically wanted to flout Shrike's wishes,and partly due to Dewlanna's encouragement, that Han had kept up hisstudies in secret. He had a tendency to ignore subjects he didn'tlike--such as history--and to spend all his time on subjects heenjoyed--such as reading adventure stories and solving mathequations.

Han knew how important math was to anyone who wanted to be a pilot, sohe worked hard at mastering as much of it as he could.

Once Dewlanna discovered what he was doing, she monitored hiscurriculum, making him study subjects that he would otherwise haveskipped, leaving gaps in his knowledge. Reluctantly, Han tackled thephysical sciences, and hi story.

He was surprised to discover that some real historical battles werejust as exciting as anything he'd read in adventure sagas.

That day in the public archives on Corellia, Han applied some of hisnewly learned research skills to learning about his new surname. Theresults were surprising. When Han looked up the last name "Solo" inthe historical records, he was astounded to discover that the name waswell known on Corellia. A "Berethron Solo" had introduced democracy onHan's homeworld three centuries ago. He'd actually been a ruler, aking!

But there'd been another Solo, more recently, who was equallyfamous--or, to put it more accurately, infamous. About fifty yearsago, a descendant of Berethron, Korol Solo, had fathered a son named"Dalla Solo." The young man, taking the alias "Dalla Suul" in aneffort to disguise his identity, had made quite a name for himself as amurderer, kidnapper, and pirate.

"Dalla the Black" had become a name to make children quake in theirbeds on lonely outpost colonies or tramp freighters . . .

The child Han wondered whether he was related to these men. Did royalblood run in his veins? Or the blood of a pirate and murderer? He'dprobably never know, unless, somehow, he could persuade Shrike todivulge what he knew. He read about Dalla Suul's exploits as a thief,and smiled grimly, wondering if he was actually following some kind offamily tradition.

Then he began checking the more recent Corellian news files and societypages in the computer. A search for the surname "Solo" brought up aname.

Tiion Sal-Solo. She was a wealthy but reclusive widow with

one child, a son. Thrackan Sal-Solo was six or seven years older thanHan, in his late teens.

What if I'm related to this Tiion Solo, or she knew my parents? Hanwondered. This could be my best chance yet to get away.

When he went back to Trader's Luck; Han talked it over with Dewlanna.

The Wookiee agreed with him that while it was risky, Han had to takethe chance of contracting the Solo family.

"Of course," Han said, resting his chin on his fist and lookingdejectedly at the table, "once I did that, I couldn't see you again,Dewlanna."

The Wookiee growled softly, telling Han that of course he'd see her.

Just not aboard Trader's Luck.

"The last time I ran away, Shrike beat me so hard I couldn't sit downfor days," Han said softly. "If Larrad hadn't reminded him that he hadsomething else to do, I really think he might've killed me."

Dewlanna rumbled. "You're right," Han agreed. "If this Solo familytakes me in, they're powerful enough and rich enough to protect me fromShrike."

Han even knew something about the rules and manners required of peopleliving in Corellian high society. Every so often, Shrike would run amajor scam on rich folks on Corellia. Han had been part of thebackground during several such con operations.

Shrike would rent a wealthy estate on Corellia, and then set up a"family unit," to provide a respectable backdrop to the scam. Han andthe other children detailed to such a "family" would be sent to live onthe estate.

He'd go to a rich-kids school, and one of his jobs during the scam wasto make friends with the children of the wealthy and bring them home toplay.

Several times, this had resulted in valuable contacts whose parents hadbeen duped into "investing" in Garris Shrike's current scam.

Just a few weeks past, Han had been attending such a school--a schoolso well known that it had merited a visit from the famous Senator GarmBel Iblis. Han had raised his hand and asked the Senator two questionsthat had been insightful and intelligent enough to make the Senatorreally notice him. After class was over, Bel Iblis had stopped Han,shaken his hand, and asked him his name. Han had glanced aroundquickly, seeing that nobody else was within earshot, and proudly toldthe Senator his real name. It had felt great to be able to do that .

. .

Shrike recruited Han frequently for his scam operations, partly becauseof the boy's easygoing charm and winning smile, and partly becauseHan's clandestine studies made him fit into his grade level better thanmost of the other children. Han had also gained a small reputation asan up-and-coming swoop and speeder pilot--a rich man's sport if thereever

was one. He'd met lots of kids from wealthy families while swoopracing, and several times Shrike had managed to lure their parents intowhatever scam he was currently running.

In a year, Han would be eligible to race in Corellia's JuniorChampionship division. That would mean big prize money--if he won.

Han both liked and disliked these assignments. He liked them becausehe got to live in the lap of luxury for weeks, sometimes months. Swoopand speeder racing was life and breath to him, and he got to practiceevery day.

He disliked these con operations because he always wound up caringabout some of the kids he was ordered to befriend, and all the while heknew they and their families would be irrevocably injured by Shrike'sscheme.

Mostly, Han managed to stifle any guilt feelings he felt. He wasbecoming good at putting himself first. Other people--with the soleexception of Dewlanna--had to come second or not at all. It wasselfpreservation, and Han was very, very good at that.

I still am, Han thought as he got up from the deck of the Ylesian Dreamand went to check on their course and speed. The young Corelliansmiled and nodded as he read the instrument readings. Right in thegroove, he thought. We're going to make it.

He checked his air pak, seeing it was more than half-gone.

For a moment Han was tempted to explore the Dream further, but heresisted the impulse. Moving around would just cause him to use up hisoxygen faster, and he was skirting the edge of safety as it was.

So he settled back down, and the memories came back. Aunt Tiion. Poorwoman. And dear cousin Thrackan. As he remembered, Han's lips pulledback from his teeth in a feral grin that was more like a canoid's snarl. . .

Han swung down off the high stone wall and landed lightly on the ballsof his feet. Through the trees he could see a large structure built ofthe same native stone as the wall, so he headed toward it, staying inthe treeshadow whenever possible.

When he reached the house, he halted, staring at it in amazement. He'dseen a lot of rich mansions, even lived in more than a few, but he'dnever seen anything like the Sal-Solo estate.

Towers festooned with creeping vines, four of them, stood at eachcorner of a large, squarish stone building. An ancient gardener droidmoved about arthritically, pruning the bushes that grew down to theedge of a large trench filled with water. Han walked around to theside and saw, to his surprise, that the stretch of water completelysurrounded the house. There was no way to

enter the place, except to cross a narrow wooden bridge that spannedthe water and led up to the front door.

Han had been interested in military tactics ever since he was small,and he'd read up on them. He studied the Sal-Solo mansion, realizingit was built to almost military fortress standards of impregnability.

Well, that sort of fit in with what he'd read about the Solo family.

They didn't socialize, didn't attend charity events or go to plays orconcerts.

In all the times he'd posed as a rich kid, he'd never heard anyonemention the Solo family--and the way those rich people talked abouteach other, he'd have heard something if they ever mingled with theirpeers.

Han walked cautiously toward the house. He'd exchanged his ship's grayjumpsuit for a "borrowed" pair of black pants and a pale gray tunic.

He didn't want anyone finding out where he'd come from.

When he was nearly to the beginning of the causeway, he stood behindone of the large, ornamental bushes and warily peered across the waterto the house. What should he do now? Just walk up and activate thedoor signal?

He bit his lip, undecided. What if they called the authorities on him,reported him as a runaway? Shrike would descend on him sofast-"Gotcha!"

Han gasped and jumped as a hand closed over his upper arm, hauling himaround bodily.

The person who'd grabbed him was head and shoulders taller than theyounger boy. He had darker hair than Han, and was stockier as well.

But it was his face that made Han stand staring at him in blankamazement.

Han gaped, speechless, at the older boy. If he'd ever doubted that hewas really related to the Solo family, those doubts died an instantdeath. The face of the youth who was holding his arm looked like anolder version of the face Han saw in the mirror every morning.

Not that they were twins or anything. But there was too muchresemblance in their features to be coincidence. The same shape of thebrown eyes, the same kind of lips, the same quirk to the eyebrows . .

. the same nose and jawline . . .

The other boy was gaping back at Han, having evidently noticed the samething. "Hey!" He shook Han's arm roughly. "Who are you?"

"My name is Han Solo," Han replied steadily. "You must be ThrackanSal-Solo."

"So what if I am?" the other said sullenly. Han was beginning to feeluneasy about the way the boy was eyeing him. He'd seen vrelts withmore warmth in their eyes. "Han Solo, eh? I never heard of you. Where do you come from? Who's your mother and father?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that," Han said evenly. "I ran away

from where I was staying, because I wanted to find my family. I don'tknow anything about myself except my name."

"Huh . . ." Thrackan was still staring. "Well, I guess you must beone of the family . . ."

"Looks like it," Han agreed, not realizing until he spoke that it was apun. But Thrackan didn't appear to notice. He seemed mesmerized byHan and, releasing his grip on the other's arm, walked around him,studying him from every angle.

"Where did you run away from?" Thra ckan asked. "Will anyone comelooking for you?"

"No," Han said shortly. He wasn't about to trust Thrackan withanything that could come back to haunt him. "Listen," he said, "welook alike, so we must be related, right? Could we . . . could we bebrothers?" Funny, but after all his dreaming about finding a familythat would rescue him from Trader's Luck, Han found himself hoping thatwasn't the case.

"Not a chance," Thrackan said with a curl of his lip. "My dad died ayear after I was born, and my mom shut herself up here ever since.

She's kind of... a loner."

That fit with what Han had read about the Sal-Solo family. Tiion Solohad married a man named Randil Sal, some twenty years ago. The publicrecords had carried his obituary.

"Maybe she'd know something about me, "Han said. "Could I see her?"

He took a deep breath. "Please?"

Thrackan seemed to consider. "Okay," he said finally, "but if she gets .

. upset, you've got to leave, okay? Mom doesn't like people. She'slike her grandfather, won't have human servants, just droids. She sayshumans betray and kill each other and droids never do."

Han followed Thrackan into the huge house, through rooms full ofshrouded furniture and paintings draped against dust. The family,Thrackan explained, used only a few rooms, to save the cleaning droidstime and effort.

Finally, they came to Thrackan's mother's sitting room. Tiion Solo wasa pale, dark-haired woman, plump and unhealthy-looking. She was farfrom attractive. But, looking at her, studying her face, seeing thebones beneath the puffy flab, Han thought that once, long ago, shemight have been beautiful. Seeing her features, a memory stirredwithin him, so faint . . .

Once, he'd seen features similar to hers, Han thought. Long ago, faraway.

The "memory, "if memory it was, was as fleeting and elusive as a driftof smoke.

"Mother," Thrackan said, "this is Han Solo. He's related to us, isn'the?"

Tiion Sal-Solo's gaze traveled to Han's face, and her eyes widened in

distress. She stared at the boy in horror. Her mouth worked, and athin, shrill mewling sound emerged. "No . . . no!" she cried. Tearsgathered in her brown eyes, coursed down the flabby cheeks. "No, itisn't possible!

He's gone! They're both gone!"

Burying her face in her hands, she began to weep hysterically.

Thrackan grabbed Han by the arm and dragged him out of the house. "Nowlook what you did, you little idiot," the youth said, glancing uneasilyup at his mother's window. "She'll be a mess for days, she always iswhen she gets like that."

Han shrugged. "I didn't do anything. She just looked at me, that'sall.

What's wrong with her?"

With a muffled curse, Thrackan backhanded Han across the face so hardit split the younger boy's lip. "Shut up!" he snarled. "You've gotno right to talk about her. There's nothing wrong with her, hear me?

Nothing!"

The blow stung, but Han had been hit often, by experts, and one thinghe knew was how to take a punch and stay on his feet. For a moment hewas tempted to fly at the older boy's throat, but he made himselfrelax. There had been genuine pain in Thrackan's eyes as he defendedhis mother. Han figured he might have done the same thing, if he'dever had a mother. I have to stay here, he reminded himself. Anythingis better than Shrike . . .

"Sorry," he managed to say.

Thrackan looked a little abashed. 'Just watch what you say about mymom, okay?"

The next six weeks were some of the strangest of Han's life. Thrackanallowed Han to stay with him in his rooms (Tiion almost never came intoThrackan's part of the house), and the two of them spent time talkingand getting to know each other.

Thrackan was a demanding host, Han soon learned. Han had to agree withhim completely, and rush to do his bidding, or he lost his temper andcuffed the younger boy. Thrackan made Han pilot him around thecountryside in an aging landspeeder, and the two of them even went on afew expeditions to vacant estates Thrackan knew about, whoseinhabitants were away on vacation. Thrackan would demand that Han pickthe locks and disable the security systems, and then the older boywould steal whatever took his fancy.

Han began to wonder whether he'd done himself any favor by running awayfrom Trader's Luck. Two things kept him at the Solo estate his fearthat if he displeased Thrackan, the older boy would turn him over tothe authorities--thus allowing Shrike to locate him; and his hope thatThrackan would break down and tell Han everything he knew about who Hanreally was.

He kept hinting that he knew how they might be related.

"All in good time," Thrackan would say when Han tried to pryinformation out of him. "All in good time, Han. Let's go flying. Iwant you to teach me to pilot the speeder."

Han tried, but Thrackan wasn't very good at it. The older boy nearlycrashed them several times before he mastered even the rudiments offlying the small craft.

I have to get out of here, Han kept telling himself. I'll run away tosome other world, where they'll never find me. Maybe I can get adoptedor get a job or something. There's got to be some way . . .

But he couldn't think of any way to get free of Thrackan. The olderboy was vindictive, sadistic, and just plain mean. Several times Hansaw him torture insects or animals, and when he realized that hisactions disturbed the younger boy, he did it frequently. Han had neverhad a pet, but he tended to like furred creatures because ofDewlanna.

He missed her every day.

The situation became more and more explosive, until one day Thrackanreally lost his temper with Han. Grabbing the younger boy by the hair,he dragged him to the kitchen, picked up a knife, and held it beforeHan's eyes. "See this?" he snarled. "If you don't apologize, anddon't do exactly what I say, I'm going to cut your ears off. Nowapologize!" He shook Han hard. "And you'd better make me believeit!"

Han stared at the shining blade of the knife, and wet his lips. Hetried to force out words of apology, but a huge burst of red ragewelled up in him.

All the insults, all the cuffs and blows and beatings--Shrike's as wellas Thrackan's--seemed to come to a head.

With a bellow as loud as a Wookiee's, Han went berserk. He slammed hisfist against Thruckan's arm, sending the knife flying, and slammed hisother elbow into Thrackan's stomach. The breath whooshed out of theolder boy, and before Thrackan could recover himself, Han was all overhim.

Kicking, biting, punching, gouging--Han used every dirty trick he'dlearned on the streets to beat up Thrackan. Stunned and reeling fromHan's fury, Thrackan never did recover, until the fight ended with Hansitting astride Thrackan, holding the knife to the older boy'sthroat.

"Hey . . ." Thrackan's eyes glittered like a trapped vrelt's. "Hey,Han, stop kidding around. This isn't funny."

"Neither is cutting off my ears," Han said. "Listen, I've had it. Youtell me what you know, and you tell me right now, or I swear I'll cutyour throat wide open. And then I'm leaving here. I've had it withyou."

Thrackan's dark eyes were wide with fear. Something he'd seen on Han'sface must have convinced the older boy that Han was so angry he wouldbe wise not to push him. "Okay, okay!"

"Now," Han said. "Talk."

Stammering with fear, Thrackan told the story.

Years ago, Thrackan's grandfather, Denn Solo, and his grandmother, TiraGama Solo, had lived on the fifth inhabited planet in the Corelliansystem, a colony world called Tralus. Those were perilous times, androving bands of raiders and pirates threatened many outlying worlds.

The raiders never reached Corellia, but they reached Tralus. A fleetof them landed and devastated the entire colony.

"Grandma Solo was pregnant," Thrackan gasped, because it was hard tobreathe with Han sitting on his chest. "And the night their town wasattacked, she had her babies. Twins. One of them was later namedTiion.

Grandma Solo took her and ran away from the raiders. She managed tohide in a cave in the hills."

"Tiion," Han said. "Your mother."

"Right. The other baby was a boy, Grandma Solo said. Her husband tookhim.

There hadn't even been time to name them. Grandma said it wasterrible.

Fires everywhere, and people running and screaming. She and GrandpaDenn got separated in the rush to escape."

"And?" Han flexed his hand slightly, and the blade moved againstThrackan's throat.

"Like I said, Grandma Solo and Tiion escaped. But Grandpa Solo and thebaby boy vanished. They were never heard from again."

"So who does that make me?" Han said, completely baffled.

"I don't know," Thrackan said. "But if I had to guess, I'd guess thatyou're my cousin. That somehow Grandpa Solo and his son got away, andthat you're the son of his son."

"Doesn't anybody know anything but that?" Han demanded, feelingdesperate.

This was a total dead end--the disappointment was crushing.

"Servants?"

"Grandpa Solo didn't like human servants. He always had droids. Andwhen Grandma Solo made it back to her family on Corellia, Great grandpaGama had all the droids' memories erased. He thought it would beeasier on her that way. He wanted her to get married again, start anew life." Thrackan struggled to take a deep breath. "But she neverdid."

"So what happened to your mom?"

"I don't know. She's always been afraid to trust people, and she hatescrowds. After my dad died, she just wanted to shut herself away. Soshe did."

Han's knife hand drooped, and he shook his head. "Okay," he said.

"I'm go--" With a sudden heave, Thrackan threw him off, and then,before Han could counter the move, their positions were reversed. Hangazed up at his

cousin, knowing that he'd be lucky to live through this. Thrackan'sdark eyes blazed with hate, rage, and sadistic pleasure. "You're goingto be very, very sorry, Han," he said quietly.

And Han was.

Thrackan locked him in a bare storeroom for three days, giving him onlybread and water. On the afternoon of the third day, as Han was sittinglistlessly in a corner, Thrackan unlocked the door. "I'm afraid thisis goodbye, coz," he said cheerfully. "Someone's here to take youhome."

Han looked around desperately as Garris and Larrad Shrike followedThrackan into the room, but as he already knew, there was nowhere torun.

Han shook his head and refused to let himself think about the days thathad followed. Shrike had been held back in his punishment only by thefact that he hadn't wanted to "damage" Han permanently because of hisgrowing reputation as an expert speeder and swoop pilot. But there hadbeen lots of things he could do that wouldn't cause permanent damage,and he had done most of them . . .

The only time Han had been beaten more severely was after the debacleon Jubilar, when he was seventeen. Han had already been bruised andsore from the gladitorial Free-For-All he'd been forced to fight in,after being caught cheating at cards. That time, Shrike hadn'tbothered with a strap, he'd just used his fists--battering the boy'sface and body until Larrad and several others had pulled him off Han'sunconscious form.

And now he's killed Dewlanna, Han thought bitterly. If anyone everneeded killing, it's Garris Shrike.

For a moment he wondered why it had never occurred to him to kill theunconscious Shrike before he'd made his getaway aboard the YlesianDream.

He'd have been doing the inhabitants of Trader's Luck a favor. Whyhadn't he? He'd had the blaster in his hand . . .

Han shook his head. He'd never shot anyone before yesterday, andkilling an unconscious man just wasn't his style.

But Han knew, without being told, that if Garris Shrike ever caught upwith him in the future, he was a dead man. The captain never forgotand he never forgave. He specialized in carrying grudges againstanyone who had ever wronged him.

Han got up again to check their course, and his air pak. Only a fewhours worth of air left, now. He did some mental calculations, whilestaring at the display. Close. It's going to be close. I'd better beready to pop the cargo door on this crate as soon as we land . . .

It's going to be very, very close . . .

three

Crash Landing

Although he'd flown hundreds of hours in swoops and speeders, Han'sexperience with piloting larger vessels was confined to the timesGarris Shrike had permitted him to pilot the Luck's shuttle on easyruns. He'd taken off and landed, but he'd never before tried to landanything as large as the robot freighter. Han hoped he'd be able tohandle it. He had confidence in his ability as a pilot--after all,hadn't he been the junior speeder champion of all Corellia three yearsrunning? And, last year, hadn't he won the swoop racing championshipof the entire Corellian system?

Still, compared to the Luck's shuttle, this freighter was huge . . .

Han dozed again, then when he awoke, roved restlessly around the cabin,knowing he should be conserving his energy and his air, but unable tostop himself.

"Sir?" The R2 unit that had been so quiet for so many hours suddenlycame back to life. "I must advise you that we have reached the orbitof Ylesia.

You must stand ready to make your descent and landing."

"Thanks for telling me," Han said. Going over to the control banks, hescanned the instruments, mentally calculating their descent. Thiswasn't going to be easy. He had no way to interface with thenavicomputer, except via the R2 unit. A pilot had to make split-seconddecisions, at times, and in cases like that, Han wouldn't be able towait for the R2 unit to reply.

The ship suddenly shivered, then rocked slightly.

They were hitting atmosphere, Han realized.

He took a deep breath and glanced at his air pak reading, realizing itwas going to be close . . . very, very close.

Here we go, he thought, switching to manual control of the YlesianDream. "Hey, R2," he said tightly, adjusting his course slightly.

"Yes, sir?" "Wish me luck."

"I-beg-your-pardon, sir, this unit is not--" Han swore, and the YlesianDream headed down, for the surface of a planet he couldn't even see.

He could see the sensor readouts and the infrared scanners, though, andhe realized that Ylesia was a world of tempestuous air currents, evenin the upper layers of the atmosphere. Mapping sensors created aglobal portrait of the planet Shallow seas studded with islands, andthree small continents. One lay nearly at the north pole, but theother two, the eastern and western continents, lay nearer the equator,in what must be temperate zones.

"Great," he muttered to himself, locating the ship's home-in beacon.

He could use it as a guide to plan his landing. The landing field wason the eastern continent. That must be where the Ylesian colony ofpriests and religious pilgrims was located.

The Dream rocked wildly, swooping through the swirling air currentslike a child on a rope swing. Han's suit gloves were clumsy on theundersized diagnostic controls as he used his stabilizers to steadytheir descent.

Trying to get the feel of the controls, Han yawed them to port, thenovercompensated, sending them skittering to starboard.

On the infrared image, a huge blob of red suddenly loomed up. That's ahuge storm--Han thought, using his laterals to even out theirdescent.

He allowed the Dream to drift a few degrees north, figuring that he'dmiss the storm, then swing back south later, when he was beneath themaelstrom.

The ionized particles left in the wake of all that lightning wereplaying havoc with his instruments, Han realized. He gulped air, felthis chest tighten, and had to fight back panic. Good pilots couldn'tafford to let their emotions get in the way, or they'd wind up dead andthat would end their trip real quick, wouldn't it?

"R2," Han said tightly, "see if you can chart me those storm areas so Ican avoid the ion trails that lightning is leaving. Concentrate on thedirect flight path between our present location and the landing fieldon that eastern continent."

"Yes, sir," the R2 unit said.

Moments later the electrical storm sites appeared before him. "Give mea scaled-down version of that chart in the corner of this screen,R2,"

Han ordered. Usually it would be the navicomputer's job to "merge"the intended flight path with the geographical features and the stormcells, and to suggest an intended course, which the pilot could thenimplement and modify as needed.

Han had never missed having a navicomputer at his disposal more than hedid at this moment.

He slowed their headlong rush fractionally, then was forced to kick intheir thrusters to get them out of the way of yet another wind shearfrom a storm cell.

Sweat was dripping down his face now as he fought the tiny controls,forcing Ylesian Dream into maneuvers only a swoop or a military fightercould reasonably be expected to tackle. Han realized he was stillgasping, and wondered for a split second whether it was from stress andadrenaline or whether his air was running out.

He couldn't spare the second it would take to check the air pak. Theywere now only a kilometer above the surface of the planet, coming inwith a rush. Too fast! Han slowed them, using the braking thrustersroughly. Gee forces seized him, and he felt as though something weresqueezing his chest in a giant vise. He was gasping steadily now, andhe dared to look down at his air pak.

Empty! The status indicator was solidly in the red zone.

Hold together, Han, he counseled himself. Just keep breathing.

There's got to be enough air in your suit to support you for a coupleof minutes--at least.

He shook his head, feeling light-headed and dizzy. His breath began toburn in his chest.

But they were almost slow enough now to land. He braked again,lightly, and the ship bucked suddenly. I've lost my forwardstabilizer!

Han fought to compensate. Still too fast, but there was nothing morehe could do about that. He flicked on the repulsorlifts and began toset her down, feeling the ship's vibration through his knees and legsas he knelt on the deck.

Hold together, baby! he thought at the Dream. Hold together-With ahuge whooooommpppp! the forward portside repulsor shorted out. TheDream yawed wildly to port, hit the ground, then bounced upward. Thestarboard repulsor blew, and then its entire starboard side impactedwith the ground, nearly flipping the vessel over.

Veham! With a hideous crunch that Han could feel through his entirebody, the Ylesian Dream crashed into the surface of the planet,shuddered once, and was still.

Han was thrown violently across the cabin. His helmet impacted with

the bulkhead, and he lay there, arms and legs flung wide, dazed. Hefought to stay conscious. If he passed out, he'd never wake upagain.

Trying to pull himself up into a sitting position, Han grunted witheffort. Waves of blackness threatened. He triggered his suitcommunications channel. "R2

... R2 ... come in!"

"Yes, sir, I am here, sir." The droid's mechanical tones sounded a bitshaken. "If you don't mind my saying so, sir, that appears to havebeen a most unconventional landing. I am concerned that--" "Shut UPand OPEN THE CARGO AIRLOCK!" Han wheezed. He managed to push himselfup into a sitting position, but he was afraid he wouldn't be able tostay up. He was swaying like a drunk in a high wind.

"But, sir, I warned you that in the interests of security, allentrances would be sealed pending--" Han found the blaster he'd stuckinto the outside pocket on his suit and, drawing it, leveled the weaponat R2. "R2, YOU OPEN THAT AIRLOCK NOW, OR I'LL BLAST YOUR METAL HIDEINTO ATOMS!"

The droid's lights flashed frantically. Han's finger tightened on thetrigger as he wondered whether he'd have the strength to crawl to theairlock. Blackness ho vered at the edges of his vision.

"Yes, sir," the R2 said. "I am doing as you request."

Moments later Han felt the concussion as air whoomped into the Dreamwith near-explosive force. Gasping, he counted to twenty, then, withthe last of his remaining strength, wrenched off his helmet. He lethimself sink back down onto the deck.

He gasped, found he could breathe, and gulped huge lungfuls of freshair.

Warm air, humid air, air laden with smells he couldn't identify. Butit was rich with oxygen, eminently breathable, and that was all hecared about at the moment.

Closing his eyes, Han concentrated on simply breathing, and feltexhaustion overwhelm him. His head throbbed, and he needed just amoment to rest.

Just a moment . . .

When Han swam back up to full consciousness and opened his eyes, hefound he was staring into a face out of a nightmare. That is theugliest critter I've ever seen! was his first thought. Only years ofexperience in dealing with nonhumans of all varieties made him able tocontrol his initial reaction.

The face was broad, with two bulbous, protruding eyes, and covered withleathery grayish-tan skin. No visible ears, and only slits fornostrils.

Above the nostril slits was a large, blunt horn that was nearly aslong as Han's forearm. The mouth was a wide, lipless split in the hugehead.

Han shook his own pounding head and managed to sit up, noting from hissurroundings that he appeared to be in some type of infirmary. Amedical droid hovered across the room, lights flashing.

His host (if that was who the creature was) was big, Han realized.

Much bigger even than a Wookiee. It somewhat resembled a Berrite, inthat it walked on four tree-trunklike legs, but it was far larger.

This creature's head was appended to a short, humped neck that wasattached to a massive body. Han figured its back would reach hisshoulders when he was standing up. The leathery skin covering its bodyhung in creases, wrinkles, and loose folds, especially on its short,almost nonexistent neck. The skin shone with an oily gleam.

The four short legs ended in huge, padded feet. A long, whippy tailwas carried curled over its back. For a moment Han wondered if thecreature had any manipulatory limbs, but then he noticed two undersizedarms that were folded against its chest, half-hidden by the loose foldsof neck skin. The being's hands were delicate, almost feminine, withfour long, supple fingers on each hand.

The being opened its mouth and spoke in accented, but understandableBasic. "Greetings, Mr. Draygo. Allow me to welcome you to Ylesia.

Are you a pilgrim?"

"But I'm not . . ." Han muttered, his head spinning. For a momentthe name didn't connect, then things snapped into place. Of course.

He clamped his mouth shut, thinking that maybe he'd gotten a worseknock on the head than he'd realized. Vykk Draygo was the alias whoseID he'd currently been carrying.

Han had several alter egos, with proper documentation to back themup.

Ironically, he had nothing by way of ID under his true name.

"Sorry," he muttered, holding his hand to his head, hoping his slipwould be excused as a result of his head injury. "I'm still kind ofshaken up, I guess. No, I'm not a pilgrim. I came here to answer ajob advertisement for someone--preferably a Corellian--to do thepiloting here."

"I see. But how did you happen to be aboard our ship when itcrashed?"

the creature inquired.

"I wanted to reach Ylesia as quickly as possible, so I took theopportunity to stow away on the Ylesian Dream," Han said. "I'd havehad to wait a week for a commercial flight, and the ad said a pilot wasurgently needed. Did you get my message?"

"Yes, we did," the being said. Han watched it intently, wishing he

could read its expression. "We were expecting you--but not in theYlesian Dream."

"See, I brought the ad with me." Han reached for his jumpsuit that washanging over a chair beside the bed and extracted the holo-cube thatfeatured the Ylesian advertisement he'd replied to. "It says you needsomeone to start right away."

He handed the cube over. "So . . . Vykk Draygo here, and I'm applyingfor this job. I'm Corellian, and I fit all your qualifications. Ijust . .

well, I wanted to say that I'm sorry about crashing the Dream. Yourship's a different model than any I ever piloted, but a couple of hourson a simulator will fix that. And I'm afraid that your atmosphericcurrents came as a surprise."

The being scanned the cube, then placed it on the table. The cornersof the massive, lipless mouth turned upward slightly. "I see. Mr.Draygo, I am the Most Exalted High Priest of Ylesia, Teroenza. Welcometo our colony. I am impressed at your initiative, young human.

Traveling aboard a robot ship in order to answer our ad so quicklyspeaks well for you."

Han frowned, wishing his head didn't hurt quite so much. "Well . .

.

thanks."

"I am impressed that you managed to control and land a robot craft.

Few human pilots have been able to react quickly enough to deal withthis world's challenging weather patterns. The damage to our ship isnot serious, and repairs are already under way. You landed on softground, which was fortunate."

"Does that mean I get the job?" Han asked eagerly. Great! They'renot mad!

"Would you be willing to sign a year's contract?" Teroenza asked.

"Maybe," Han said, leaning back and relaxing, hands behind his head.

"How much?"

The High Priest named a sum that made Han smile inwardly. Even thoughit was more money than he'd hoped for, he was too much of a trader notto automatically bargain.

"Well, I dunno . . ." he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Imade more than that in my previous position . . ."

A lie, but not one they'd be able to disprove. Vykk Draygo had indeedmade more than that--Han had paid well to make sure his alter ego's jobrecord showed that he could command the highest wages. It had takenall of Han's savings, plus the proceeds from two dangerous heists thatGarris Shrike hadn't known anything about, to finance those alterationsin his alter ego's job record--but Han had wanted Vykk Draygo to beable to command a high salary.

Teroenza pondered that information, then said, "Very well, I can offeryou thirty thousand for the year, with a bonus of ten at the end of thefirst six months, providing you make every assigned flight onschedule."

"Bonus of fifteen," Han said automatically. "And you provide thetraining sims."

"Twelve," countered Teroenza. "And you pay for the sims." "Thirteen,"Han said. "You supply the sims."

"Twelve and a half, and we provide the sims," the High Priest said.

"Final offer."

"Okay," Han said, "you got yourself a pilot."

"Excellent!" Teroenza actually chuckled, a deep, booming, oddlymelodious sound.

Quickly the contracts were produced, and Han signed them, then alloweda retinal scan as proof of his identity. Hope they're like everyoneelse , he thought, and just do a general, system-wide check of myretinal patterns.

If the priests ordered a comprehensive--and very expensive--allsystemssearch to determine whether "Vykk Draygo's" retinal scan was unique,they'd eventually discover that it wasn't. Vykk Draygo, Jenos Idanian,Tallus Bryne, Janil Andrus, and Keil d'Tana all shared the exact sameretinal patterns--which wasn't surprising, as all of those individualswere, in fact, Han Solo.

Before Han left Trader's Luck, he'd taken the precaution of stashing asmall hoard of credits and complete ID sets in two lockboxes onCorellia, in case he ever needed a quick change of identity. GarrisShrike had provided the boy with different sets of ID for each scam Hanparticipated in, and Han had kept each set and updated them asnecessary.

The Corellian knew, however, that none of his forged IDs would stand upto Imperial scanners. Before he'd be able to take the Academy entranceexams, Han was well aware that he'd have to pay out a small fortune inbribes on Coruscant to gain ID documentation so genuine that it wouldpass an Imperial security clearance check.

With all of the business details taken care of, Teroenza then summonedan Under-Priest, or Sacredot, as they were called, and instructed himto take Han on a tour of the complex. Han was left in private to puton his jumpsuit, after being assured that clothing bearing the Ylesiansymbol--a huge, wide-open eye and mouth--would be furnished to him.

As he donned the clothes and his boots, he realized that he wassweating heavily. Hot and humid, he thought. Wonderful climate. Butfor the money the priests were paying, he was willing to put up with ayear's discomfort. By taking this job, he'd get lots of practiceflying big ships and

access to training sims. That ought to ensure that he could pass theentrance exams to enter the Academy.

The money would mean that he had the proper amount for bribes to makesure his application was processed quickly and actually reached theadmissions officers. He knew from his research that without bribes itfrequently took a month or more for a cadet candidate to apply, passall relevant exams, be interviewed, and finally accepted for entranceinto the Imperial Academy.

The Sacredot arrived and introduced himself as "Veratil." Han followedhim down a corridor, past a large amphitheater, and what appeared to bea registration area. "Our Welcome Center," the priest explained.

Veratil led him outside. Han stepped through the door, and even beforehe could draw a deep breath, he was immediately bathed in sweat.

Steaming heat and humidity smote him in the face, almost like aphysical blow. The air was rich with smells--heavy perfume fromflowers, rotting vegetation and another odor, one he'd smelled beforebut couldn't quite identify.

Han stood at the top of the short ramp that led down from the buildingand looked up at the sky, seeing that it was a translucent blue gray The sun overhead was an orangey-red, and looked larger than he was usedto. This star must be closer to its planet than Corel was toCorellia.

Han glanced at the shadows, seeing it was far past noon, and thenglanced at his wrist-chrono. "How long is the day here?" he askedVeratil.

"Ten Standard hours, sir," the Sacredot replied.

No wonder the weather is so stormy, Han thought. We've got a hot, wetworld with a really rapid rotation.

Han looked out across the cleared area. The permacrete ended abruptly,giving way to the natural ground and vegetation. Pools of waterattested to recent torrential rain. Reddish mud made an arrestingcontrast to lush, blue-green vegetation. The flowers hanging from thevines and trees in the encroaching jungle were huge andmulticolored--scarlet, deep purple, and vivid yellow.

"This is Colony One," Veratil explained. "We have also established twonew colonies for our pilgrims. Two years ago we founded Colony Two,and last winter we built Colony Three, which is still very small.

Colony Two lies about one hundred fifty kilometers north, and ColonyThree about seventy kilometers south of here."

"How long has Colony One been here?" Han asked.

"Nearly five Standard years."

Han looked out across Colony One. Directly across from the WelcomeCenter lay the landing pad. A little freighter lay there, listing onher repulsors. That must be the Dream, Han thought, realizing he'dnever seen the ship from the outside.

The Ylesian Dream was a small vessel, shaped like a fat, somewhatirregular teardrop. On her underside was a bulge where there was a gunwell, proving that the ship hadn't always been a robot freighter.

Another, larger bulge denoted the location of the primary cargo hold.

She was a graceful ship, small enough to be agile. Corellian-built,almost certainly.

Han could see massive ship dock droids working on the Dream, beginningto repair her repulsors. The ship, droids, and everything nearby wassplashed with reddish mud from the crash landing.

Off to the northeast, high above even the jungle giant trees, Han couldmake out a glimpse of snowcapped heights. He pointed. "What mountainsare those?"

"The Mountains of the Exalted," Veratil told him. "The Altar ofPromises where the faithful gather each night to be Exulted lies beforethem. You shall see it tonight, when you attend devotions."

Oh, great, Han thought. Do I have to attend services, too? Then heremembered how much the Ylesians were paying him. Han nodded. "I'llbet it's something to see."

To the pilot's left, he could make out a large expanse of the reddishmud.

Several beings of Teroenza's and Veratil's race lolled in mudholes,tended by droids and servants of assorted species. Han recognized acouple of Rodians, several Gamorreans, and at least one human. "Thoseare the mudflats," Veratil said, waving a dainty hand at the mudbathersand their attendants. "My people relish our mudbaths."

"What are your people?" Han asked. "Are you native to Ylesia?"

"No, we are native---or as native as our distant cousins, the Hutts--toNal Hutta," Veratil replied. "We are the t'landa Til."

Han resolved to learn the t'landa Til's language as soon as he could.

Knowing a language that people didn't know you knew could often provean asset...

The Sacredot led Han around to the rear of the Welcome Center. Han'seyes widened as he took in the huge cleared area before him. Clearingthat much jungle must have been quite a chore. The cleared area wasroughly rectangular, and at least a kilometer on each side. Themountains were now behind and to his left, and he could see, on hisextreme right, the blue-gray glitter of water. "Lake?" he asked,indicating it.

"No, that is Zoma Gawanga, the Western Ocean," Veratil informed him.

Han counted the huge buildings that lay before the mudflats. There

were nine of them. Five were three stories high, the other four wereonly one story. Each was easily the size of a Corellian city block.

"Homes for the pilgrims?" he asked, waving at the buildings.

"No, the dormitory for our pilgrims is over there," Veratil said. Thepriest waved at a massive two-story building on the far left. "Themultistory buildings are where we process ryll, andris, and carsunum.

The sin-glestory buildings you see extend far underground, a necessityfor processing glitterstim, which must be handled in completedarkness."

Andris, ryll, carsunum, and glitterstim . . . Han's nostrils flared.

Of course, that explains the odor! These are factories for processingspice!

He remembered that the Ylesian Dream had originally carried a cargo ofhigh-grade glitterstim, the most expensive and exotic variety ofspice.

The other types were usually cheaper--though they were still one of themost profitable cargoes a smuggler could take on.

"We receive shipments of raw materials from worlds such as Kessel,Ryloth, and Nal Hutta several times a month," Veratil went on. "In thebeginning, the robot freighters which supplied us landed here at ColonyOne, but that practice soon had to be discontinued."

"Why?" Han asked, wondering if he really wanted to know.

"Two ships--most unfortunately---could not negotiate our trickyatmosphere, and crashed. So we built a space station and decided touse living pilots to ferry the raw spice material down to thefactories. We used to have three pilots, but now we are down to one,and the unfortunate Sullustan who is currently serving as our pilot hasbeen . . . ill. That is why we need you, Pilot Draygo."

It's so nice to be needed, Han thought sarcastically. "Uh . . .

Veratil .

. what happened to those other guys?"

"One crashed, the other simply . . . disappeared. We have also lost anumber of robot vessels, which has cut down on our profit margin mostgrievously," Veratil said sadly. "Spice is a high-credit export, butspaceships are very expensive."

"Yeah," Han agreed sourly. "All those crashes would tend to put acrimp in your business." No wonder they didn't have pilots beatingdown their doors, he thought. Most of the experienced pilots haveprobably spread the word about how dangerous this planet is for pilots. . .

Han knew a little bit about the various kinds of spice, mostly fromhearing Shrike and the other smugglers discuss their properties.

Glitterstim, mined on Kessel, was by far the most valuable. Whenexposed to light, then quickly ingested, it gave the user a temporarytelepathic ability to sense surface thoughts and emotions. Spies usedit, lovers used it, and the Empire used it when interrogatingprisoners. Matter of

fact, the Empire claimed all the glitterstim mined on Kessel as itsrightful property, which was why it was so rare and so lucrative tosmuggle.

Ryll came from the Twi'lek world, Ryloth, where it was perfectly legalto mine, and was used for analgesic purposes. There were illegalapplications, however, and it could be used to produce severalintoxicants and hallucinogens.

Carsunum was a black spice that came from Sevarcos, and it was quiterare and very valuable. Users experienced euphoria, and an increase intheir abilities--while under the influence they became stronger,faster, and more intelligent. There was a downside, of course. Afterthe effects wore off, users frequently became listless, depressed, andsome even died when the substance had a toxic effect on theirmetabolisms.

Sevarcos also supplied the galaxy with andris, a white powder that wasadded to foods to enhance flavor and preserve them. Some users claimedthat the drug caused a mild euphoria and increase in sensation.

They're not mining it here, Han thought. These factories process theraw material to turn it into the finished product.

"Factories?" Han echoed. "They're huge . . ."

"Yes, and Ylesia has admirable production rates, enabling us tofavorably compete with the cost of the spice shipped directly fromKessel, Ryloth, or Sevarcos," Veratil explained. "And we are the onlyfacility that offers such variety of spice. Buyers frequently wish topurchase several different kinds of spice for their customers, and weprovide that."

Han saw figures entering and leaving the factory buildings. Manyhumans, some nonhumans. He recognized Twi'leks, Rodians, Gamorreans,Devaronians, Sullustans . . . and there were others that were unknownto him. All the humans and bipedal aliens wore tan-colored robes thatcame down below their knees and tan-colored caps that covered theirhair.

He gestured at the people. "Factory workers?"

The Sacredot hesitated, then said, "They are the pilgrims that havechosen to serve the Oneness, the All, in our factories."

"Oh," Han murmured. "I see."

He saw a lot of things, now, more and more clearly each instant. Andhe had a bad feeling about what he was seeing, These pilgrims come hereto attain religious sanctuary, and wind up working in spicefactories.

I smell a vrelt---a dead one.

The Ylesian sun was far down in the sky by now, almost to thehorizon.

Han noticed that throngs of tan-clad workers were streaming northeast,toward the mountains. Veratil beckoned Han with one undersized hand.

"It is time for the blessed pilgrims to attend devotions and to be

Exulted in the One, render their prayers to the All. Let us take thePath of Oneness to reach the Altar of Promises. Come, Pilot Draygo."

Han obediently followed the priest up a well-worn paved path. Eventhough they were surrounded by pilgrims, Han noticed that no oneventured very close to them. All of the pilgrims gave Veratil deepbows, hands folded over their hearts. "They offer thanks for theExultation they are about to receive," Veratil explained to Han as theywalked along.

As they moved away from the buildings, the jungle around them closedin, until the path they were walking on was shadowed and overhung withgiant branches. Han almost felt as though he were walking in atun nel.

They passed a huge open area that was evidently some kind of swamp,because it was completely covered in huge blooms that were so beautifuland exotic that Han had never seen anything like them. "The FloweredPlains," Veratil, still playing tour guide, pointed out. "And this isthe Forest of Faithfulness."

Han nodded. I wonder how much more of this I can take, he thought. Ihope they don't expect me to become a convert, because they've got thewrong guy.

After a twenty-minute walk, the group reached a large, paved area thatwas fronted with a partially roofed area supported by three monstrouspillars.

Veratil indicated that Han should stay with the crowd of pilgrims, thenthe Sacredot moved on, heading for the pillars. Han saw several of thet'landa Til assembled beneath the pillars, including one that hetentatively identified as Teroenza. They were ranged around a lowaltar carved from some translucent white stone that seemed to glow withan inner light.

The high, snowcapped mountains made an impressive backdrop to thescene, as they towered high above the jungle. Han craned his neck,looking up . .

. up . . . the tops of the highest peaks were hidden by driftingclouds, stained red from the sunset. The snows on the western sides ofthe peaks glowed crimson and rose.

Impressive, Han was forced to admit. The simplicity of the naturalamphitheater, with its paved floor and pillared altar, made it seemlike some vast natural cathedral.

The faithful filed into ranks and stood waiting.

Han stood at the back, shifting impatiently, hoping whatever religiousservice was about to take place wouldn't last long. He was hungry, hishead was throbbing, and the heat was making him sleepy.

The High Priest raised his tiny arms and intoned a phrase in his nativelanguage. The Sacredots, including Veratil, echoed him. Then the

assembled throng (Han estimated four or five hundred in the crowd)echoed the High Priest's phrase. Han leaned closer to the nearestpilgrim, a Twil'lek. "What are they saying?"

"They said, 'The One is All,'" the Twi'lek, who spoke excellent Basic,translated. "Would you like me to interpret the service for you?"

Since Han was determined to begin learning the t'landa Til's language,he nodded. "If you wouldn't mind."

The High Priest intoned again. Han listened to the ritual phrasesrepeated by the Sacredots, then droned forth by the faithful pilgrims"The All is One."

"We are One. We belong to the All."

"In service to the All, every One is Exulted."

"We sacrifice to achieve the All. We serve the One."

"In work and sacrifice we are All fulfilled. If every One has workedhard, we are All Exulted."

Han stifled a yawn. This was awfully repetitious.

Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of chanting, Teroenza and all thepriests stepped forward. "You have worked well," the High Priestpronounced. "Prepare for the blessing of Exultation!"

The crowd gave forth a sound of such greedy anticipation that Han wastaken aback. Moving in a great wave, as though they were truly One,they dropped to the pavement and lay there, arms and legs huddledbeneath their bodies, in an attitude of breathless hope and yearning.

All of the priests raised their arms. Han watched as the loose,wrinkled skin that hung below their throats inflated with air and beganto pulse. A low, throbbing hum--or was it a vibration?--graduallyfilled the air.

Han's eyes widened as he felt something invade his mind and body. Partvibration, part sound? He wasn't sure. Was it empathy, or telepathy,or did that vibration trigger something in his brain? He couldn'ttell. He only knew that it was strong...

It rolled across him in a great wave. Emotional warmth, physicalpleasure, it was all of that and more. Han staggered back, off thepermacrete, until he was brought up short by the trunk of one of theforest giants. He braced himself against the tree, his headswimming.

He dug his fingernails into the bark, hanging on to the tree. Hishands against the bark seemed to be the only thing keeping him frombeing swept away by that wave of warm feeling and ecstatic pleasure .

. .

Han hung on to the tree physically, and himself mentally, refusing tolet himself be sucked under with that wave. He wasn't sure where hefound the strength, but he fought as hard as he ever had. All hislife, he'd

been his own person, master of his own mind and body, and nothing wasgoing to change that. He was Han Solo, and he didn't need aliensinvading his mind or his body to make him feel good.

No! he thought. I'm a free man, not some pilgrim, not your puppet!

Free, do you hear?

Gritting his teeth, Han fought that invasion as he would have fought aphysical opponent, and then, as quickly as it had started, thesensation was gone--he was free.

But it was obvious the pilgrims weren't. Their bodies writhed on thestone, and muffled moans of happiness and pleasure made a soft swell ofsound.

Sickened, Han looked over at the priests. They obviously weren'taffected as the pilgrims were. So this is why these poor dupes stay,once they find out they're expected to work in the spice factories, Hanthought, feeling a surge of bitter resentment on behalf of thepilgrims. They slave all day, then they hike up here and get a jolt offeel-good vibrations that makes even the best spice pale bycomparison.

Han wondered whether he'd be expected to attend these "eveningdevotionals" every night, and hoped that he wouldn't. It had been hardenough to push away that rush of warmth and pleasure tonight. He wasafraid that if he had to be exposed to it every night, he wouldn't havethe strength, the resolution, to reject the Ylesian priests' "happypill."

By this time, the pilgrims were beginning to get up, some of themweaving unsteadily. All of their eyes were glazed, and many lookedlike addicts Han had seen in spice and oobalah dens on Corellia andother worlds.

"Do they do this every night?" he muttered to the Twi'lek.

The alien's reddish eyes were shining with joy. "Oh, yes. Wasn't itwonderful?"

"Great," Han said, but the Twi'lek was so enraptured he missed thesarcasm.

"Do they ever not hold these 'devotions'?" Han asked, curious. "Theyare only canceled if there has been trouble in the factories. One timea worker went mad and took a foreman hostage, then he demanded passageoff-planet. Evening devotions and the Exultation were canceled--it washorrible."

"So what happened to the mad worker?" Han asked, reflecting that the"madman" sounded completely sane to him.

"Before morning, we managed to overpower him and turn him over to theguards, thank the One," the Twi'lek said.

Yeah, I'll bet, Han thought. They couldn't stand being without theirlittle nightly charge.

The service was evidently over.

Veratil joined Han for the walk back to the central compound. Han wasdisinclined to talk, and truthfully pleaded fatigue. The Sacredot,saying that he understood perfectly, showed the Corellian pilot back tothe infirmary.

"You may eat and sleep here tonight," he said, "and tomorrow we willtake you to your permanent quarters in our Administration Building."

"Where's that?" Han asked, pausing halfway through a bite ofindifferent--but filling--reedoxstew.

The Sacredot waved his arm roughly northeast. "Not visible from here,but there is a path through the trees. I will meet you back here in,say, six Standard hours? Will that provide you with sufficientsleep?"

Han nodded. He could always try to snatch a nap later. "Fine." Whenthe priest was gone, Han dragged off his clothes and boots, realizingthat he had to get something clean to wear by tomorrow, or he wouldn'tbe fit for polite society. He considered taking a shower before bed,but he was just too tired.

Han had always been able to set himself to wake up whenever he wishedto, so he mentally programmed himself to wake up in five and a halfhours.

Then, his mind whirling with images and impressions, he lay down on thenarrow infirmary bunk and was instantly asleep.

It took him a few minutes the next morning to remember just who he was(Vykk Draygo, and don't forget it!) and what he was doing in thissticky-hot place. Han ventured into the shower and was pleased to findthe refresher unit contained everything necessary for a human being.

He hummed tunelessly as he soaped himself, but when he lifted a foot towash it, Han froze in surprise and dismay. Fuzzy, bluegreen, mossystuff was growing between his toes!

Alarmed, Han checked further and was disgusted to find patches startingin his armpits, at the back of his neck, and other, even more personalareas.

Cursing, he scrubbed the disgusting fungus away, leaving raw skinbehind, and then, realizing he was running late, he bolted out of theshower. What kind of place is this, anyway?

When he walked back into the sleeping area, he found the medical droidwaiting for him, with a new pilot's uniform draped over one arm.

The droid held a jar of slimy gray stuff in its other hand. "Pardonme, sir," the droid said. "But may I ask whether you are experiencingany . .

. outbreaks of fungus growing on your skin?"

"Yeah," Han snarled. "The climate in this place is miserable. Nobodydeserves to live in this dump."

"I quite understand, sir," the droid said, actually managing to soundsympathetic. "May I offer the contents of this jar? It should preventfungal growths with regular application."

"Thanks," Han said shortly, and retired to treat the affected areas.

The stuff smelled horrible, but it soothed the irritation. Then he gotdressed, admiring himself in his first real pilot's uniform. Thecolorful patches looked quite spiffy.

Han refused to let himself worry about the pilgrims he'd seen lastnight.

Nobody had forced the weak-minded fools to come here, so he wasn'tgoing to waste any time imagining their fate. He was going to takecare of H an Solo--or, more accurately, he was going to take care ofVykk Draygo.

Besides, Han told himself, I'm going to be piloting for theseYlesians.

I'll have access to a ship. If I decide I don't like it, I'll justtake my money and . . vanish. What can they do to stop me, afterall?

Feeling cocky, Han smiled at his reflection in the mirror and gavehimself a snappy salute. "Cadet Han Solo reporting for duty, sir!" hewhispered, trying it on for size. His dream of the Academy had neverseemed so close, so attainable.

When Han stepped out of the infirmary, the first person he saw wasTeroenza. Han nodded pleasantly to his employer. "Good morning,sir!"

The High Priest inclined his massive head. "And to you, PilotDraygo.

Allow me to present someone you are going to be spending a lot of timewith, during your employment with us." The High Priest beckoned, andHan heard someone behind him. He whirled around, and couldn't stophimself from taking a quick step back.

His first impression was of height, and the second was of sharp teethand knifelike claws. This being stood nearly three meters tall, tallereven than a Wookiee. The creature had a mouthful of needle like fangs,and claws that looked like they could rip through durasteel. It wasfurred, but it wore a pair of breeches. A curved knife hung on itsbelt, and a holstered blaster was strapped to its thigh. Sleek musclesrippled everywhere.

The newcomer grinned, baring even more of those teeth. "Greetings . .

." it said, speaking Basic with a pronounced lisp. "This is Muuurgh,"Teroenza introduced the being. "He's a Togorian, one of the mosthonorable sentients in this galaxy. The Togorian reputation forhonesty and loyalty is unparalleled, did you know that?"

Han looked up at the huge being and swallowed. "Uh, no . . ." hemanaged.

"We've assigned Muuurgh to be your . . . bodyguard, Pilot Draygo. Onplanet or off, Muuurgh will accompany you everywhere . . . isn't thatcorrect, Muuurgh?"

"Muuurgh has given word of honor," the Togorian affirmed.

The High Priest folded his undersized arms across his massive body, andhis mouth curved up in what almost appeared to be a mocking smile.

"Muuurgh is going to make very sure, Pilot Draygo, that no matter whereyou go, or what you do . . . you will be . . . safe."

Four

Muuurgh

Han stared at the huge, black-furred creature, realizing that the jigwas definitely up. Teroenza's meaning was unmistakable--step out ofline, and Muuurgh will rip you in two. Han eyed the Togorian,realizing that the alien could easily do just that.

He managed to pull himself together and smiled up at the Togorian.

"Pleased to meet you, Muuurgh," he said. "It'll be nice to have realcompany on those long flights."

"Yess . . ." the bodyguard said, stepping closer. Han realized withdismay that the top of his head barely reached the Togorian'sbreastbone. The alien appeared so feline that Han was surprised torealize he didn't have a tail. "Muuurgh enjoys space travel . . ."

the bodyguard said in his strongly accented, lisping Basic. His facialfur was black, but his whiskers and chest fur were white. His eyeswere a startling light blue, with brilliant green slitted pupils.

"Muuurgh goesss many spaceports, the more the better."

Han had a little trouble understanding the Togorian's Basic, but hecould make it out. The young Corellian wondered just how smart thisbeing was.

Have to get to know him, Han decided. Just because he can't speak goodBasic doesn't mean he's dumb. But if he is . . .

Han smiled.

"We'd thought we'd give you a day to settle in, Pilot Draygo," Teroenzasaid. "Move into the quarters we've assigned you, in theAdministration Building. Muuurgh will show you where it is. Then,tomorrow, we'd like you to begin ferrying goods and personnel back andforth between the colonies. By the time our next shipment of spice isdelivered to our space station, you will be ready to ferry that downfor us. After today, I am going to order Jalus Nebl, our other pilot,to take a rest. He has been working too hard."

Han nodded. I've got to meet up with this Sullustan and comparenotes.

"That will be fine. Can I . . . look around a bit? I'd like to checkout the lay of the land."

Teroenza inclined his massive head. "Certainly, as long as Muuurghaccompanies you, and you follow all safety regulations while touringthe factories."

"Of course," Han agreed.

Teroenza bowed slightly. "If you will excuse me, we are expecting ashipment of pilgrims to come down from our orbiting space station thismorning. I have much to do as I prepare to welcome them."

Han nodded, thinking about what lay ahead for those pilgrims. He knewthat mining spice was considered dangerous, an extremely unpleasantduty--matter of fact, being sent to the spice mines of Kessel was acommon punishment for felons--but he knew very little about whathappened to the spice once it was mined.

Well, he intended to find out. Maybe there was some way he could turnthis situation even more to his advantage. You never knew . . . andit never paid to leave stones unturned. In Han Solo's book, knowledgefrequently led to power---or at least to a faster escape . . .

Muuurgh led Han up a paved path through the jungle, until they reacheda large, very modern building. "Administration Center," the Togoriansaid, indicating the building.

The "bodyguard" led Han around to a side entrance, and then down acorridor until he reached a door. "You, Muuurgh, sleep here," he said,opening the door.

Inside was a small suite consisting of a bedroom, refresher unit, and asmall sitting room. Han was pleased to see that Teroenza had beenmindful of the terms of the contract. In one corner of the bedroom wasa fully equipped sim unit. Muuurgh walked to the door of the bedroomand waved a clawed hand at it. "Yours. Pilot sleep here."

"But where will you sleep?" Han asked.

As expected, Muuurgh indicated the sitting room. "Muuurgh here."

Great, Han said. These priests don't trust me any more than I trustthem. With Muuurgh sleeping between me and the door to the outside,I'd be taking a big chance trying to sneak out at night. Just great.

"That doesn't look very comfortable to me," Han said, doing his best

imitation of wide-eyed innocence. Inwardly, he was wondering whetherMuuurgh was a sound sleeper. "Maybe you should get a room of your own,so you could sleep comfortably."

"Muuurgh most comfortable when he is keeping word of honor," theTogorian said. Han stared at the catlike being. Had he glimpsed aflash of humor in those blue-green eyes with their slitted pupils?

"Muuurgh give word of honor to watch Pilot always, so Muuurgh mostcomfortable here." Han nodded. "Right."

He stared for a moment at the blaster in the Togorian's holster. "Ihad a blaster when I came here, but I don't know where it is, now," hecommented. "I guess I'll need to ask about getting it back."

"Pilot not need blaster." Muuurgh flexed his fingers and theretractable claws popped out. "High Priest say Pilot not needblaster."

"But what if I get attacked by some kind of . . . predator?" Hanwaved at the omnipresent jungle outside the building. There wereprobably dozens of predators who might enjoy hunting an off-worlder,either for food or fun.

The giant alien shook his whiskered head. "Never happen. Pilot haveMuuurgh, who has blaster."

"Uh . . . that's true," Han said. Mentally, he made a note to askTeroenza for some kind of weapon. He felt naked without one, evenafter only having had one for a couple of days.

"So, Muuurgh, shall we go exploring?" Han asked. "I don't have anybaggage to unpack, as you can see."

"Explore where?" the Togorian asked.

"I'd like to tour the factories," Han said. "And this AdministrationCenter."

"Fine," the Togorian said. "Come, Pilot."

"Right behind you," Han said, suiting his action to his words.

They walked the corridors of the Administration Center, glanced in atthe mess hall, toured the guards' wing, and peeked at the priests'quarters.

When Han caught a glimpse of the Armory, he realized that the Ylesianpriests must be afraid of a pilgrim uprising, because the percentage ofguards to workers was high. The Armory boasted a lot of heavyduty riotcontrol armament--force pikes and stun gas. The guards they met camefrom many different worlds. Besides humans, Han saw Rodians,Sullustans, Twi'leks, and porcine Gamorreans.

"So let me get this straight," he said to Muuurgh as they skirted anarea in the Administration Center that signs in many languagesidentified as RESTRICTED ACCESS. "The guards all sleep here most ofthe time? But

why don't they sleep near the pilgrims' dormitory if the priests wantto make sure the workers stay under control?"

"Sleep-time not the problem," the Togorian said in his halting Basic.

"After pilgrims are Exulted, can barely walk back, go sleep rightaway.

Only time pilgrims get mad, angry at bosses, is before Exultation."

Makes sense, Han thought dourly. Give the addicts their fix, and thenthey just sleep it off until the next day. "Then the guard patro--"The pilot stopped in midword when he glimpsed something large andgrayish gliding far down the corridor in the off-limits area. Hansquinted into the dimness. "Hey . . . what was that?" he muttered.

"That looked just like a--" Han broke off as the object turned thecorner. He started after it at a good clip.

Muuurgh made a futile grab for his charge, but Han was quicker than thebig alien and dodged. He jogged down the "forbidden" hallway,listening hard for the sound of footsteps, but none came.

When he reached the junction of the corridors, Han turned to stare upthe one where he'd glimpsed that flicker of gliding motion. His eyeswidened.

Hey, it is a Hutt! What's a Hutt doing here? There was no mistakingthe identity of that h uge, sluglike form reclining on its repulsorliftsled.

As he hesitated, Muuurgh pounced on him as though he were a vrelt, andpicked up the Corellian bodily. Han repressed a yelp of dismay as theTogorian tucked him under one muscled arm and ran back down thecorridor, until they were back in the UNRESTRICTED ACCESS section ofthe Center.

Muuurgh set Han back on his feet and flexed a hand under theCorellian's nose. "My people teach, everyone entitled to ONE mistake,"the bodyguard said. "Pilot just have his. No more mistakes, orMuuurgh have to teach Pilot like little cub. Muuurgh has given word ofhonor, remember.

Understood?"

Han eyed the claws that gleamed under his nose, sharp and shiny asrazors.

"Uh . . . yeah," he managed to say. "I understand, Muuurgh. Humansjust get . . . curious, you know?"

"Curiosity fatal sometimes," Muuurgh growled.

"I can see your point," Han said dryly. "Or, rather, your points."

Muuurgh stared at the sharp, shining tips of his claws, then his muzzlelifted back from his fangs, and he made a low, mewling sound. For amoment Han froze, then he looked at the Togorian and realized this wasthe alien's form of laughter. Evidently Muuurgh had caught the joke.

Han managed a weak chuckle. "So, how about we get some food, thencheck out those factories, eh, pal?" he asked.

"Muuurgh always hungry," the Togorian agreed, leading the way towardthe mess hall. "What means this word 'pal'?"

"Oh, a pal is a friend, a buddy, you know. Someone you spend time withthat you like," Han explained.

"Yessss . . ." the Togorian said, nodding. "Pilot means 'packmate."""Right."

"Good," the bodyguard said. "Muuurgh misses his packmates."

Han recalled Teroenza saying that his people came from Nal Hutta, theHutt homeworld, but Han hadn't realized that that meant there wereHutts living on Ylesia. When questioned, Muuurgh confirmed that he hadseen several of the "slug masters who ride on air" as he called them.

There's only one reason Hutts are here, Han thought. They're the realmasters of Ylesia. After all, they dominate the contraband spice trade. .

.

Lunch was good, if unimaginative and (to Han's taste) lacking inseasoning. Still, the cook was no slouch. His or her bread was verygood, Han thought as he chewed on a bite of Alderaanian flatbread. Herealized suddenly, with a pang, that it had been nearly a day sincehe'd thought of Dewlanna. The thought made him feel vaguely disloyal,but then he took himself in hand. Dewlanna wouldn't want him to mopeand grieve over her.

She'd always enjoyed life, and she wouldn't expect Han not to, justbecause she was gone . . .

He came back out of his reverie to find Muuurgh watching himcuriously.

"Pilot is thinking of someone far away," the Togorian observed, wavingthe bone he had just finished gnawing. Tiny fragments of raw meatstill clung to it, but Muuurgh had cleaned it impressively, Hanthought. He had to get every little bit. It required a lot of rawmeat to keep that massive body going.

"Yeah," Han agreed with a sigh. "Someone about as far away as anyonecan be."

"Pilot have sweetheart?"

Han shook his head. "Well, there've been a few girls here and there,"he admitted, "but nobody special. No, I was thinking of the person whomore or less raised me."

Muuurgh took a huge gulp of some foamy stuff from a tankard. "Humansraise young much differently than my people do," he said. "Really?

Tell me about your world."

Muuurgh obediently launched into a description of Togoria, a worldwhere males and females, though equal, did not mix their societies.

Males

lived a nomadic hunting existence, flying over the plains on theirhuge, domesticated flying reptiles, called "mosgoths." They hunted inpacks.

The females, on the other hand, had domesticated animals for meat, sothey did not need to hunt. They lived in cities and villages, and itwas the female Togorians who had developed all of the planet'stechnology.

"Well, if your people don't live together, how do you"--Han searchedfor a polite term--"uh . . . get together, you know, to . . . uh...

reproduce?"

"We travel to city to stay with our mates once each year," Muuurghsaid.

"Betweentimes, we think often of each other. Togorians very emotionalpeople, capable of great love," he added earnestly. "Especiallymales.

Great love is why Muuurgh is here. Males of my species rarely leaveour world, does Pilot know that?"

"I do now," Han said. "So . . . Muuurgh . . . when you say greatlove made you come to Ylesia, what do you mean? Do you have a mate?"

The Togorian nodded. "Promised mate. Someday be mated for life, ifMuuurgh can but find her." The huge alien sighed, looking so woefulthat Han felt sorry for him.

"What's her name?"

"Mrrov. Beautiful, beautiful Mrrov. As Togorian females do, shedecided to take look at big galaxy. Muuurgh begged her not to go, butfemales very stubborn."

The alien looked at Han, who nodded. "Yeah, I've run into thatmyself."

"Mrrov gone long time, years. When she not come home to be mated,Muuurgh so sad that he cannot stay on Togoria. Must discover whathappened to her."

"So . . . did you?" Han took a sip of his Polanis ale. "Muuurghtraced her, from world to world to world." "And?" Han prompted whenthe Togorian paused.

"And Muuurgh lost her. Someone on Ord Mantell said he saw her boardship at spaceport. Muuurgh check schedules, find out ship had manypilgrims on board. Several ports of call for ship. Muuurgh takechance, come here, because so many pilgrims come here." The bigfelinoid sighed heavily and nibbled on a meat-dripping bone. "Gambleno good. Muuurgh ask, priests say no Togorians here. Muuurgh not knowwhere else to go. Muuurgh need credits to continue search . . ." Thealien swallowed a last bite, and his whiskers actually drooped.

"So you decided to take a job as a guard here, while you got enoughmoney to go on searching," Han said, guessing at the logical end of thestory.

"Yessss . . ."

Han shook his head. "That's sad, pal. I hope you find her, I reallydo.

It's tough to lose people that you love."

The bodyguard nodded.

After lunch, they headed down to the factories and walked around thehuge buildings. Han sniffed the air, smelling the odor of thedifferent spices mingling. His nose tingled slightly, and he wonderedif just smelling the spice could be intoxicating. He waved at theglitterstim building. "Let's go inside. I've heard about how theyprocess this spice, and I'd like to see it for myself."

When they walked into the cavernous building, a guard stopped them andconferred with Muuurgh, who explained who Han was. The Rodian guard onduty gave them badges and infrared goggles, then waved them on in.

"Goggles?" Han said in Rodian. He understood the language perfectly,but his pronunciation was a bit laborious. "We have to wear them?"

The guard's purple eyes sparkled at hearing a human speak hislanguage.

"Yes, Pilot Draygo," he said. "Below the ground floor, there are novisible lights permitted. You take the turbolift down. Each leveldown represents a one-grade increase in the quality of the spice. Thelongest and best fibers are processed far below ground, to eliminateany possibility of their being ruined by light."

"Okay," Han said, beckoning to Muuurgh. The two walked between aislesof supplies, to reach the platform turbolift in the center of thefacility.

"Let's go all the way down and see the really good stuff," he said tothe Togorian. Privately, Han was wondering whether he might be able tolight-finger some of those tiny black vials. Selling a littleglitterstim on the side in a port city would increase his creditaccount by leaps and bounds . . .

Han pushed the button for the bottom floor, and the platform, swayingslightly, started down.

Cool air wafted up from the depths as the turbolift went down inpitch-darkness. The draft felt wonderful after the humid heat of theYlesian jungle.

Within one floor, all light was gone. Han fumbled for his goggles,pulled them up over his eyes. Immediately he could see, thougheverything was in shades of black and white. The illumination camefrom small light inserts in the walls. The turbolift plunged downward,and Han could see the workers as they crouched over theirworkstations.

Piles of raw, fibrous threads studded with minuscule crystals lay piledbefore them.

Finally, six floors down, the turbolift ground to a halt. Han andMuuurgh got off. "Have you ever been here before?" he asked thebodyguard softly.

Muuurgh's neck fur was standing on end, and his white whiskers bristledbeneath his goggled eyes.

"No . . ." the Togorian whispered back. "My people areplainsdwellers. Not like caves. Not like dark. Muuurgh will be happywhen Pilot wishes to leave this place. Only Muuurgh's word of honorkeeps him here in wretched darkness."

"Steady," Han said. "We won't be here that long. I just want to get alook around."

He led the way into the factory. The cavernous area was filled withsoft swishings, but was otherwise silent. Long tables lined the wallsand were ranged in the isleways. Each table was a workstation, and aworker sat or crouched, according to his, her, or its individualanatomy, before the table. There were many humans, Han realized,sitting on tall stools, hunched over their work.

Few looked up as Han and Muuurgh went up to the level supervisor, afurred Devaronian female, and identified themselves. The supervisorwaved a reddish, sharp-nailed hand at the floor. "My workers are themost skilled," she said proudly. "It takes skill to measure and trimthe number of fibrous strands so each dose will contain the correctamount of spice.

It is essential--but very difficult--to line up the fibers so preciselythat they will all activate at the same moment when exposed to visiblelight."

"Is it a mineral?" Han asked. "I know it's mined."

"It is naturally occurring, but we don't know how it's formed, Pilot.

We believe it may have a biological origin, but we're not sure. It'sfound deep in the tunnels on Kessel, and it must be mined in totaldarkness, just as you see here."

"And the strands have gotta be put into these casings just right."

"Correct. Improper alignment can cause the tiny crystals to fractureagainst each other. If that happens, they grind each other into a farless potent--and valuable--powder. It can take a skilled worker anhour to properly align just one or two cylinders of glitterstim."

"I see," Han said, fascinated. "Do you mind if we just wanderaround?

I promise we won't touch anything."

"You may. However, please avoid distracting any of the workers whilethey are aligning the spice. One inadvertent twist, as I said, couldruin an entire thread."

"I understand," Han said.

The raw glitterstim threads were all black, but Han knew from hearingabout it that they would shine blue when they ignited in visiblelight.

Han stopped behind one of the human workers and watched in fascinationas the worker separated out threads of ebony-colored spice, aligningthem with the utmost care. The threads curled around the worker'sfingers, some of them as fine-spun as silk, but the tiny crystals madethem incredibly sharp.

The worker positioned one group of incredibly tangled threads in thejaws of a tiny vise, then proceeded to painstakingly separate out thethreads, until the crystalline structures were aligned. The worker'sfingers moved almost too fast to watch, and Han realized that he waswatching a highly skilled craftsman--no, woman. He was amazed thatthese pilgrims could actually accomplish something requiring this muchdexterity. After seeing them last night following the "Exultation,"he'd more or less assumed that they were dull-witted cretins. They'dcertainly looked like it...

The glitterstim worker took out a minuscule set of pliers to untangle aparticularly bad snarl. She wormed the narrow-nosed pliers into thetangle, peering intently to find the place where the sharp littlecrystals were caught together. The fibrous glitterstim curled aroundher hands like tiny, living tentacles, the sharp little crystalglimmering. The worker abruptly brought her hand back, tugging, andsuddenly the snarl straightened out until all the fibers alignedperfectly.

Except one.

Han watched in distress as one sharp-studded strand cut between thewoman's forefinger and thumb. A thin line of blood welled from thedeep gash. Han sucked in a breath. A few centimeters deeper, and thetendon in her thumb would have been severed. She hissed with pain,then muttered something in Basic and, freeing her hand, held it to stopthe bleeding.

Han froze as he heard her accent. This pilgrim was Corellian!

He hadn't even looked at her before, hidden as she was by the shapelesstan robe, her cap pulled down tightly over her goggled head. But nowhe realized she was young, not old. She grimaced slightly as sheexamined the cut. Turning her hand over, she twisted in her seat andheld her hand over the floor, so the blood wouldn't drip onto herworkstation.

Han knew he wasn't supposed to speak to the worker, but she wasn'tworking at the moment, and he was concerned. She was bleedingprofusely. "You're hurt," he said. "Let me call the supervisor so shecan fix you up."

The girl--she was his age, possibly younger--started slightly, thenlooked up at him. Her face was a whitish-green blur beneath hergoggles

and cap, and seemed deathly pale in the infrared light. No wonder,Han thought, cooped up down here all day long, no exposure tosunlight.

"No, please don't," she said, speaking Basic with that soft accent thatplaced her as being from Corellia's southern continent. "If she sendsme to the infirmary, I'll miss the Exultation." She shivered at thethought--though it might also have been from the cold. Han himself wasbeginning to feel chilly, and he hadn't been down here for hours. Howdid these pilgrims stand it, working down here in the cold darkness allday? "But that cut looks nasty," Han protested. She shrugged. "Thebleeding is stopping."

Han could see that was true. "But what about--" She shook her head,halting him in midsentence. "I appreciate your concern, but it'snothing. Happens all the time." With a wry smile, she held out herhands. Han sucked in a breath. Her fingers, wrists, and forearms werecrisscrossed with tiny slashes. Some were old and white and healed,but many were dark weals, still fresh and painful.

Han saw small, phosphorescent spots between her fingers and realizedthey must be the fungus he'd discovered on himself that morning. As hewatched, a phosphorescent tendril of the stuff suddenly spread, growingtoward the cut between her finger and thumb. She uttered a softexclamation and pulled it free.

"The fungus loves fresh blood," she said, evidently noticing hisdistaste.

"It can infect a cut and make you sick very easily."

"Disgusting stuff," Han said. "Are you sure you don't need to get thattreated?"

She shook her head. "As you can see, it happens all the time. Excuseme, but . . . you're Corellian, aren't you?"

"So are you," Han said. "I'm Vykk Draygo, the new pilot. And youare?"

Her mouth tightened slightly. "I'm . . . not really supposed to betalking. I'd better get back to work."

Muuurgh, who had been watching in silence, suddenly spoke up. "Workeris correct. Pilot must let worker return to work now."

"Okay, pal. I understand," Han said to the Togorian, but then he addedto the Corellian woman, "But maybe we could talk some other time. Oversupper, maybe."

She shook her head silently and turned back to her work. Muuurghmotioned for Han to move on.

The Corellian moved one step away, but continued talking. "Okay, but.

. .

you never know. We're bound to run into each other, this place ain'tall that big. So . . . what's your name?"

She shook her head again, not speaking. Muuurgh growled, Low in histhroat, but Han just stood there, stubbornly.

The woman seemed disturbed by Muuurgh's implied threat. As shefastened a bandage over her cut, she said, "We give up our names whenwe leave all worldly things for the spiritual sanctuary of Ylesia."

Han was feeling increasingly frustrated. Here was someone who knewthis place intimately, and she was the first person from his homeworldhe'd discovered here. "Please," he said as Muuurgh pushed himslightly. "There must be some kind of way they refer to you," he said,smiling his most reassuring, charming smile. Muuurgh growled again,more loudly. He showed his fangs.

The woman's eyes opened wide at the display of teeth. "I am Pilgrim921," she said hastily. Han got the impression that she had spoken upto save him from Muuurgh's are.

Muuurgh grabbed Han's arm and began walking away, effortlessly draggingthe Corellian. "Thank you, Pilgrim 921," Han called back to her,waving jauntily, as though being half carried away by the Togorian wasa normal occurrence. "Good luck with those fibers. I'll be seeingyou."

She didn't respond. When Muuurgh finally let him go, at the end of theaisle, Han followed the Togorian obediently, half expecting a lecturefrom the giant being. But Muuurgh seemed satisfied that Han would nowobey him, and had relapsed into his former wary silence.

Han glanced back once and saw that the Corellian woman was again intenton her work, as though she'd already forgotten him.

Pilgrim 921, he thought. I wonder if I'd even be able to recognize her .

. Between the goggles, the cap, and his impaired vision, he had no realidea of what she looked like, except for the fact that she was young.

Han walked all the way around the facility, watching several otherworkers as they aligned threads and crystals so they were entirelysymmetrical. He didn't attempt to speak to any of them. Finally hecame back to the Devaronian supervisor. "So, when they've finishedtheir work, who encases the threads and crystals in the vials?" heasked.

"That is done on the fifth floor," the supervisor told him.

"Maybe I'll just head up there," Han said. "This is fascinating, youknow."

"Certainly," she said.

Okay, so they finish up the processing of the really high-grade stuffup here, Han thought as he and Muuurgh ascended into the darkness. TheTogorian let out a low yowl of protest when Han only took them up onefloor.

"Take it easy, Muuurgh," Han said. "I just want to take a quick lookaround here."

He wandered the aisles, trying unobtrusively to spot the place wherethe high-grade glitterstim was enclosed in the tiny black vials thatall glitterstim users would recognize. When he reached that area,however, his heart sank. Four armed guards stood by the conveyor belt,watching the little vials as the workers brought their full basketsover and dumped them. Han felt an air current waft past him, realizingthat there was a small heating unit down there, warming the chill,evidently for the comfort of the guards.

Four guards? Han peered harder into the dimness. No, hold on asecond. He saw a blur of movement, but couldn't discern anything for along second.

Then, as he focused his eyes, he slowly made out oily, pebbledblackness barely visible against the black stone wall. But there wereeyes in the midst of that blackness--beady reddish-orange eyes. Fourof them. Han squinted, holding still, straining his vision. Then hesaw two blasters, each strapped to a warty black thigh.

Aar'aa! he realized. Skinchangers!

The Aar'aa were an alien species from a planet on the other side of thegalaxy. Denizens of Aar could gradually change color to match thecolor of the background behind them. This ability made them verydifficult to see, especially in darkness.

Han had heard of the Aar'aa before, but he'd never run into any until now.

They were reptilian creatures, which explained why this section of thebelowground factory was heated. Many reptiles became sluggish anddull-witted when it was cold.

Han peered into the dimness, and slowly, gradually, made out theoutlines of the two Aar'aa guards. They had pebbly-textured skin,clawed hands and feet, and a small frill of skin running down theirbacks. Their heads were large, with overhanging brow ridges, beneathwhich their eyes seemed doubly small. Their faces had short muzzles,and when one of the creatures opened its mouth, Han glimpsed a narrow,sticky red tongue and sharp white teeth. An upstanding frill of skinran from between their eyes, back over the tops of their heads, toconnect with the frill running down their backs.

Despite their clumsy appearance, they seemed fast on their feet. Handecided that he didn't want to tangle with them. Although shorter thanhe was, they were broad in the shoulders, and certainly outweighed himby a considerable margin.

Han sighed. Scratch Plan A.

The Aar'aa aside, the other guards--two Rodians, a Devaronian

male, and a Twi'lek--looked mean, and obviously meant business. Theyweren't Gamorreans, so there wasn't much chance of being able tobewilder, confuse, distract, or otherwise fast-talk any of them intohanding over a fortune in spice. Han grimaced and started back forMuuurgh and the turbolift. And there is no Plan B, he thoughtglumly.

Guess I'll just have to earn all my credits the honest way.

It never even occurred to him that ferrying spice around the galaxywas, in itself, highly illegal . . .

Pilgrim 921 nibbled on a stale grain-cake and tried to forget the youngCorellian she had seen earlier. She was a pilgrim after all, part ofthe All, one with the One, and worldly concerns such as goodlookingyoung men were behind her forever. She was here to work, so that shemight be Exulted and offer her prayers for the blessing of the One aspart of the All--and conversations with young men named Vykk had nopart in that.

Still, she wondered what he looked like beneath those goggles. Whatcolor was his hair? His eyes? That smile of his had made warmthblossom inside her, despite the cold . . .

Shaking her head, Pilgrim 921--I miss my name!--tried to exorcise thememory of Vykk Draygo's lopsided, heart-stopping smile. She needed topray, to offer proper devotion. She must do penance for separatingherself from the One, lest she be cast out from the All.

Still those sacrilegious thoughts kept intruding. Thoughts . . .

memories, too. He was Corellian . . . and so was she.

Pilgrim 921 thought of her homeworld, and for just an instant allowedherself to remember it, to remember her family. Were her parents stillalive? Her brother?

How long had she been here? 921 tried to remember, but the days herewere all the same . . . work, a few morsels of unappetizing food,Exultation and prayers, then exhausted sleep. One day flowed into eachother, and Ylesia had almost no seasons . . .

For a moment she wondered just how long she'd been here. Months?

Years?

How old was she? Did she have wrinkles? Gray hair?

921's scarred hands flew to her forehead, her cheeks. Bones beneathflesh, prominent bones. Much more prominent than they had ever beenbefore.

But no wrinkles. She was not old. She might have been here months,but not years. How old had she been when she'd heard of Ylesia andsold all her

jewelry to buy passage on a pilgrim ship? Seventeen . . . she'd justfinished the last of her undergraduate schooling and had been lookingforward to going off-world to attend the university on Coruscant.

She'd been going to study . . . archaeology. With an emphasis onancient art.

Yes, that was it. She'd even spent a couple of summers working on adig, learning to preserve ancient treasures.

She'd wanted to become a museum curator.

As a child, history had always been her favorite subject. She lovedlearning about the Jedi Knights, and was fascinated by theiradventures.

She'd grown up in the aftermath of the Clone Wars, and had beeninterested in that, too. And the birth of the Republic, so very, verylong ago . . .

921 sighed as she swallowed a bite of dusty grain-cake. Sometimes itbothered her when she realized that her memories were fading, that herintelligence seemed to be fading, along with her ability to perceivethe world outside. She knew that as a pilgrim, she was supposed toeschew all worldly things, to expunge from her mind and body theappreciation of fleshly pleasures.

In the old days, pleasure and having fun had been the focus of herlife.

In those days, her life had had little purpose, compared to now. Inthe old days, she'd drifted from place to place, subject to subject,party to party . . .

And it had all been so meaningless.

Life now had meaning. Now she was Exulted. Every night, the Oneconferred blessing upon her, through the priests. Exultation was theway the All communicated with the pilgrims. It was a deeply spiritualexperience--and it felt so good...

921 thought that she'd successfully managed to expunge all memory ofVykk Draygo and his smile from her mind, so she went back to work onher glitterstim pile--only to find herself wondering, minutes later,whether he'd really look for her, try to talk to her again . . .

921 shivered in the ever-present dank chill and tried very hard toforget Vykk Draygo and all he stood for . . .

That night, Han skipped devotionals in favor of spending time withseveral of the sims. This was his first opportunity to earn an"honest" living, and he didn't want to mess up. Han knew that citizenscomplained about how hard they had to Work, and he figured that wasessential for success. It was true that begging, pickpocketing,burglary, and scamming

citizens frequently required considerable time and effort, but Hanknew that somehow it just wasn't comparable.

Heading for the sim station in his bedroom, Han began skimming throughthe system, accessing what was available to him. Teroenza had been asgood as his promise, and the simulations were there. He scanned whatwas available, chose the sims he wanted to work on, and ordered thesystem to prepare several sequences. He was careful to specify"atmospheric turbulence" to be included in each training exercise.

He looked up at Muuurgh, who was standing there, watching him. "I'vegot to work for a while," he said. "Why don't you take some time foryourself?"

Muuurgh shook his head slowly. "Muuurgh not leave Pilot alone.

Against orders."

"Okay." Han shrugged. "Your choice."

Muuurgh watched nervously as Han put on the visi-hood, cutting himselfoff from contact with his real surroundings and plunging himself into atraining flight that felt exactly like the real thing. The Togorianwas uncomfortable with technology.

Han let himself sink into the sim, and within minutes the sim hadaccomplished one of its primary purposes--Han quite forgot that it wasa sim. He was convinced that he was really piloting--reallynegotiating asteroid fields at high speeds, really piloting through theYlesian atmosphere, really landing the craft under all sorts of adverseconditions.

The Corellian emerged from the sim two hours later, having successfullylanded, flown, taken off, and performed the full range of maneuverspossible with the shuttle he'd be flying to Colony 2 and Colony 3 onthe morrow. He'd also reviewed the controls on the transport vesselshe'd be flying--the Ylesian Dream was being converted to manualpiloting--as well as those on Teroenza's private yacht.

By this time, the short Ylesian day was far spent. Muuurgh was dozingon the chair, but awoke instantly when Han stretched. Han eyed theTogorian, regretting that the alien was so alert. It was going to bevery difficult to do the nighttime prowling that he had in mind . .

.

Muuurgh walked along behind Pilot, pleased that his charge hadsuggested heading over to the mess hall for a late supper. TheTogorian was always hungry. His people were used to hunting andkilling, then sharing their kill, so fresh meat was a constant part oftheir diets. Here, he had to make do with raw meat that had beenfrozen.

Before Pilot had come into his life, he'd been free at times to enter

the jungle and hunt, so he could keep his claws--and hisskills--sharpened.

He missed his mosgoth, missed flying through the air on her back,feeling her powerful wing muscles propelling them through the skies ofTogoria.

Muuurgh sighed. The skies on Togoria were a vivid blue-green, muchdifferent from the washed-out blue-gray color of Ylesia's skies. Hemissed them. Would he ever see them again, would he ever fly hismosgoth toward a crimson sunset in those vivid skies?

The priests had made him sign a six-month contract for his services asa guard. He'd given his word of honor to fulfill that contract. Itwould be many ten-days before he could return to his search forMrrov.

Muuurgh pictured her in his mind, her cream-colored fur, her orangestripes, her vivid yellow eyes. Lovely Mrrov. She'd been part of hislife for so long now that not knowing her whereabouts was like anaching wound inside him. Could she have gone back to Togoria? Was sheback on their world, waiting for him?

Muuurgh wished he could send a message to his homeworld, ask whetherMrrov had returned, but messages sent over interstellar distances werevery expensive, and sending one would add nearly two months to his timehere on Ylesia.

Still . . . Muuurgh considered, then thought that perhaps on one oftheir trips to fly spice to Nal Hutta, Pilot would not mind if Muuurghsent a message. The Togorian didn't really trust the Ylesian priestsenough to send a message from this world.

Pilot seemed like a decent fellow, for a human, Muuurgh mused. Sly,quick, always looking for a way to get around things, but humans werefrequently like that. At l east Pilot had accepted Muuurgh's dominanceas pack leader.

That was smart of him. He'd live much longer that way . . .

Muuurgh really hoped that Pilot would continue to be smart. He likedhim, and didn't want to have to hurt him.

But if Pilot tried to break the rules, Muuurgh would not hesitate tohurt---even kill--the Corellian. Teroenza had given Muuurgh specificorders, and the Togorian would carry them out to the best of hisability.

He'd given his word of honor, and that was the most important thing inthe universe to his people.

The Togorian absently groomed his whiskers and facial fur, reflectingthat as long as Pilot didn't step out of line, everything was going tobe just fine . . .

five

Spice Wars The next day Han took the Ylesian shuttle to Colony Two andColony Three.

He discovered that he really enjoyed piloting bigger ships, and hispiloting was perfect. He managed to find a few extra minutes on hisreturn run to Colony One to practice low altitude flying, swooping theshuttle so low that the belly nearly brushed the tops of the jungletrees. Beside him in the copilot's seat, Muuurgh alternated betweenexhilaration and terror as the Togorian experienced swoops, barrelrolls, and even upside-down high-speed flying. Han was in his element,putting the shuttle through maneuvers he'd only done previously duringsims. The Corellian found himself whooping joyously at the sheerthrill of it all.

For his last, best bit of precision flying, Han sent the shuttlehurtling down a river-cut canyon, skimming between the rock walls withso little room to spare that Muuurgh yowled, shut his eyes, and refusedto open them. Once they were soaring through open skies again, Han hadto shake the Togorian's arm and repeatedly reassure the big alien thathe was finished practicing for the day.

"Muuurgh certain that Pilot is crazy," the Togorian said, cautiouslyopening his eyes and straightening up in his seat. "Muuurgh flies onhis mosgoth at home, but not like that. Mosgoths have more sense thanto fly like that. Muuurgh have more sense, too. Pilot"--the Togoriangave Han a plaintive glance--"promise Muuurgh not to fly crazyagain."

"But, Muuurgh," Han said, carefully setting them down on the landingfield at Colony One, "I've got to practice every chance I get! You

see . . ." he hesitated, then decided to trust Muuurgh with part ofthe truth, "I sort of stretched the facts a little when I told Teroenzaabout my flying experience. I really am a champion pilot, that's thetruth, but . . . I need to practice with this shuttle. And with thebigger ships. Sims are fine, but they can't beat the real thing."

Muuurgh gave Han a long level look, then nodded. "Muuurghunderstands.

Pilot trusts Muuurgh not to say this to Teroenza?"

"Yeah, something like that," Han said. "Can I? Trust you, I mean?"

The Togorian groomed his white whiskers thoughtfully. "As long asPilot does not crash, Muuurgh does not talk."

"Fair enough, pal," Han said with a grin.

When he and Muuurgh came down the ramp from the ship, Veratil was therewaiting for them in the pouring rain. By this time Han was growingused to the daily downpours, though the steamy heat still exhaustedhim. "The High Priest wishes to see you at once, Pilot Draygo,"Veratil said.

The Sacredot led the Corellian and his bodyguard to the High Priest'spersonal quarters, which occupied a large part of the underground levelof the Administration Center. When Veratil keyed in the securitybypass codes and they walked through the huge double doors into theHigh Priest's personal sanctum, Han couldn't repress a low whistle ofamazement. "Nice place!"

"This is the High Priest's display room," Veratil said. "He is an avidcollector, and very proud of his collection of rarities."

"He deserves to be," Han said sincerely.

The room was easily ten times the size of Han's little apartment on thefirst floor. Display tables, shelves, and racks showcased treasuresand antiquities from around the galaxy. Sculpture from a dozen worlds,paintings, and other art objects were scattered amid ornate antiqueweapons. Tapestries hung from the walls. Rugs of exquisite beautywere covered by protective force fields that felt squishy underfoot asHan walked on them.

Semiprecious gems adorned the collection of pipes and other musicalinstruments. Bottles of the rarest liquors in the entire galaxy weresuspended in a gold-embossed rack.

Han's fingers literally itched for the whole time it took him totraverse the display room. If I could have five minutes alone in here,I'd be set for life--he thought wistfully as he slowed down to peer ata drreelb carved from living ice. The tiny statue was covered with alayer of dust, which was disturbed by Han's breath. It wafted up intothe air, and the pilot sneezed thunderously.