Star Wars - Han Solo Adventures 02 - Han Solo's Revenge by Brian Daley

Author:Brian Daley [Daley, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-06-09T10:33:37+00:00

Youthful looks belied the fact that he was a survivor in a calling with a very high rate of attrition.

Watching Roa’s retreating back, Han thought about tax-and-tariff men and fingered the business card.

“Solo, hey, wake up!” Fiolla assailed him. “It’s our necks we’re supposed to be preoccupied with here.”

He sauntered off toward the interstellar reservations desks. Things could be worse, Han reflected.

“Bugging your eyes out at them won’t help,” said Fiolla, referring to the gambling tables and other games of chance in the swank wagering compartment just off the passenger liner’s main salon. She was wearing a sheer, clinging gown and soft evening slippers of polychromatic shimmersilk. She had brought the outfit with her, packed away in her upper-right thigh pouch and lower-left calf stuffpocket, on the assumption that her coveralls would do for all but the most formal places. She wore it now for a change of pace and a morale booster. Han still wore his ship clothes, but had closed his collar.

“We could go over what we know so far,” she proposed. “That’s all we’ve been doing since we came onboard,” he grimaced.

That wasn’t entirely true. They had spoken of any number of things during the trip; he found her a spirited and amusing companion, much more so than any of the other passengers, aside from a frustrating tendency to keep her stateroom door locked during the liner’s “night.” But they had exchanged stories.

For instance, Fiolla had explained to him how she and her assistant, Magg, had been doing an audit on Bonadan when her portable command-retrieval computer terminal malfunctioned. She had turned to Magg’s, which, having a more comprehensive cybernetic background, was a more complicated instrument with a number of keyboard differences. Some miskeying or accident had opened up a restricted informational pocket in Bonadan’s system. There she had found records of the slavery ring’s activities and the notation of Zlarb’s impending payoff.

Han’s eyes were still riveted to players trying their luck or skill at Point Five, Bounce, Liar’s Cut, Vector, and a half-dozen other games. For two Standard timeparts, ever since coming aboard the passenger liner Lady of Mindor, he had been trying to come up with a way to get into a game. Now that he was completely rested, inactivity was nearly intolerable.

Fiolla had absolutely refused to back him, though Han had promised bountiful returns on her investment.

He then pointed out that if she hadn’t squandered money on separate accommodations, she would have had plenty to loan him.

I “I didn’t have time to brush up on my hand-to-hand” had been her retort. “And besides, if you’re such a good gambler, how come you’re flying around in that cookie-box freighter instead of a star yacht?”

He changed the subject. “We’ve been on this mud cart for two Standard timeparts. To get to Ammuud!

No wonder I’m going crazy; the Falcon could’ve gotten us there in the tune it took these idiots to clear port.”

He rose from the little table-where they had eaten an indifferent meal. “At least we’ll make planetfall soon.

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