Hero's Trial: Agents of Chaos I by James Luceno

Author:James Luceno
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780307795533
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

“The nerve of him,” Leia said, venting to Luke and Mara as she paced the tile floor of their apartment on Coruscant. “Telling me I’m incapable of understanding his grief, then running off to who knows where.”

“You can take the boy out of Corellia, but you can’t take Corellia out of the boy,” Mara remarked from the couch.

Luke smiled faintly. “Leia, this isn’t the first time Han’s done something like this. Remember when he and I went to Crseih Research Station?”

“That was different,” Leia said, shaking her head. “All right, he might have been yearning for the good old days, but that trip was more about his resignation from the military.” She took a seat opposite her brother and his wife. “What he’s doing now has nothing to do with nostalgia or his feeling hemmed in by an honorific. It’s all about Chewie.”

“But that’s natural,” Mara offered carefully.

“The grief and confusion, yes,” Leia said. “But I think he’s bent on vengeance.” She sighed with purpose. “An old friend came to see him—a man named Roa. And off they went to Ord Mantell. Why would they venture so close to enemy-held space unless Roa had information of some sort?”

“But of what sort?” Luke asked. “The Yuuzhan Vong directly responsible for what happened on Sernpidal are dead. Han helped see to that himself at Helska 4.”

“Luke, if that was any consolation, he wouldn’t be out there,” Leia said.

Luke saw the truth of it. “Even so, Han’s beyond doing anything rash.”

Leia pinched her lower lip between her teeth.

“When Han and I first met, he had me convinced that he was as reckless as he pretends to be,” Luke continued. “But Obi-Wan said something I’ll never forget. He said that there was more to Han than met the eye, and that he had real substance beneath his callous front.” He smiled in recollection and looked at Leia. “Obi-Wan also said that only a special person would have a Wookiee for a companion—and that not just any Wookiee would be found roving the galaxy in the company of someone like Han.”

Leia smiled sadly. “You don’t have to remind me that Han’s special. But that’s just the problem. He needs that kind of companionship. Chewie and Han, I don’t know, they seemed to steady each other. Chewie kept Han in check.” Forcing herself to brighten, she turned to Mara. “I’m sorry to unleash on you two. I haven’t even asked how you are.”

“I’m feeling a lot stronger,” Mara said, and let it go at that.

Leia smiled to herself, thinking about how deeply she cared for Mara. She asked herself how she could ever have distrusted her. “I thought you would have returned to Yavin 4 by now,” she said after a moment.

Luke and Mara traded secretive looks. “Have you been informed that a Yuuzhan Vong has defected?”

Leia gaped at him. “What? When?”

“Shortly before you left for Ord Mantell. She’s being brought to Coruscant for further debriefing.”

“That’s great news.” Leia’s eyes lit up briefly, then she trained them on Luke.

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