Star Wars - The Han Solo Trilogy - Hutt Gambit, page 9
The Maw was all around them now as they skirted the dangerous black-hole clusters. Han knew that it would be possible to make the Run by looping wide around this en-tire perilous sector, but the cost-m fuel, in time, and in the extra distance that had to be traveled-made negotiat-ing the obstacle course of the Maw worthwhile. Barely.
So far, Roa had not spoken as Hah took the Wayfarer along the twisting, tricky course that was the shortest safe way through the Maw. Han figured that must mean he was doing all right. He tried to take a deep breath as they sped past a whorl of bluish gas and dust, but it was as though a durasteel band was tightening around his chest.
When Roa spoke softly in the silent cabin, the sound made Han jump. Past the halfway point. Good job, lad. Watch this one coming up. Its a bit tricky.
Hah nodded, and felt a greasy drop of sweat slide past his eyebrow. He flipped Wayfarer up on her side as they hurtled past the whirlpool of cosmic dust that had once been a star.
Nearly an hour later, when Han felt as though he hadnt drawn a deep breath for the whole trip, they were out of the Maw and entering the Pit.
An asteroid whizzed by. Han throttled back a bit as he tried to watch every direction at once, wishing for eyes in the back of his head like a Moloskian.
Roas voice was sharp. Hard to port!
Hah caught barely a glimpse of the onrushing asteroid, the size of a mountain. His sweaty hand found the control to implement Roas order-and slipped!
Panic erupted in Hans chest as he clamped slick fingers onto the controls, overcompensating and causing them to nearly skid into the path of yet another asteroid!
Chewbacca howled, and Roa cursed. Han managed to miss the chunk of rock by the skin of his teeth. Sorry, he said tightly. Fingers slipped.
Without another word, Roa reached into a storage bin and pulled something out. Here. My present for making it past the Maw. Ill take over while you put era on.
Han grabbed the pair of pilots gloves with their nonslip finger pads and tugged them on, snapping them securely into place. He flexed his fingers. Thanks, Roa.
Dont mention it, tile older smuggler said. I always wear em, and I suggest you do, too. Hah nodded. I will.
Several hours later, when Hah had finished his first Kes-sel Run, and they were relaxing in the relative safety of hyperspace, Roa leaned back in the copilots seat. So, he said, I have to say, Ive never seen anyone fly the Run any smoother on his first try, Han. Youre a natural, son. Hah grinned at his friend. Youre a good coach. Chewbacca commented sourly that he wouldnt have ob-jected to a bit more coaching from Roa-Han had fright-ened him so badly it was a wonder his hair hadnt fallen out.
Hah turned around and glared at his furry friend. Hey, just keep it up, and Ill give Wynni our home address the next time I see her.
Chewie subsided into glaring silence.
So, what are you going to do now, Han? Roa asked. Not every smuggler can brag that hes flown tile Kessel Run, and you made it in excellent time. Whats your next move?
Han had been thinking about that. I want a ship of our own for me and Chewie, he told Roa. First Ill have to lease one, of course, but then maybe someday Ill find one I can buy. But Ill need a pile of credits, Roa. So when I get back to Nar Shaddaa, Im going where the credits are. Roas eyebrows went up. The Hutts, he said.
Han checked his stabilizers. YealL the Hutts.
Roa shook his head, frowning. Vorking for the Hurts has its dangers, Han. Hutts make risky employers. Dis-please them, and you can end up swimming through vac-uum without a suit.
Han nodded. Yeah, he agreed bleakly. Ive worked for them before. But to make the big money, youve got to be willing to take those risks . . .
Two weeks and yet another bounty hunter later, Hah and Chewbacca walked up to the largest building in the Hutt section of Nar Shaddaa. Once a luxury hotel, The Jewel was now headquarters to the Desilijic kajidic.
When The Jewel had been a hotel, the management had boasted that it could provide quarters for over half the known sentient races in the galaxy. Aquatic beings, meth-ane breathers, and beings who could only be comfortable in low gravity-The Jewel had accommodated them all, and more.
As he approached the old building, Han could see that it had been vastly remodeled to suit its new tenants. The giant lobby area was now festooned with glide ramps lead-ing to higher levels. The carpeting had been pulled up, and the stone floors were polished to a brilliant shine to ease a Hutts passage when gliding along.
Han checked, for the fourth time, that he had Tagtas message cube safely in his pocket. He glanced over at Chewbacca. You dont have to come in, pal. I can probably handle this interview myself.
Chewies only response was a firm shake of his head.
Han shrugged. Okay, then, but let me do the talking.
Jiliacs majordomo on Nar Shaddaa proved to be a hu-man woman, a striking redhead who was approaching mid-dle years. She wore a simple green gown, modest in cut. Hah was impressed by her dignity and presence as She introduced herself. I am Dielo, Lord Jiliacs assistant. You said that you had a letter of recommendation, sir?
Hah nodded, feeling rather shabby by comparison, even though hed worn his best pants, shirt, and jacket. Inside he felt defensive, but hed learned long ago never to show discomfort or nerves. So his insouclant smile never wa-vered, and not the slightest crack showed in his air of casual bravado. Yes, I do. May I see it?
Sure, long as you dont leave with it. Han produced the small holocube, handed it to her. She glanced quickly at the greenish smear on the side, scanned the message, then nodded. Very well, she said, handing the holocube back. Please wait here. I will call you in presently.
Forty-five minutes later, she reappeared and ushered Hah into lord Jiliacs audience chamber.
Han was a little nervous, wondering whether Jiliac the Hutt would recognize him as one of the messengers who, five years ago, had delivered a message to him in his palace on Nal Hutta. The message had come from Jiliacs arch-rival, Zavval. The Ylesian overlord had challenged Jiliac and threatened him with dire consequences. When hed heard it, Jiliac had flown into a rage and wrecked a large portion of his audience hall.
Han hoped the Hutt Lord wouldnt recognize him. Hed never told Jiliac his name, after all. Besides, he was no longer nineteen . . . he looked different. His face was thinner, older, and hed put on weight and muscle from his time in the Academy. Not to mention that in all probability most humans looked pretty much alike-to a Hutt.
Still, Hans mouth was dry as he stepped through tile door into the innermost chamber.
Han was surprised to see two Hurts in the room. One was nearly twice the size of the other, which Han knew meant that it was older. Hutts grew throughout their life spans, and some of them reached impressive proportions indeed. The average Hutt underwent several growth spurts after reaching adulthood. Han had heard that some of them could more than double in size in a matter of a few years.
Han squinted at the Hutts. He was pretty sure that Jiliac was the larger of the two.
The room was huge and ornate; this audience chamber had evidently been the hotels main ballroom. Mirrors lined the walls, and Hah caught sight of himself on both sides.
When Hah finally stood before the two Hutts, he bowed deeply. Dielo waved a hand at him and spoke in passable Huttese. Lord Jiliac, this is the Corellian pilot your cousin I_x)rd Tagta recommended to you. His name is Hah Solo. The Wookiee is named Chewbacca.
Han bowed again. Lord Jiliac, he said, in Basic, it is a privilege to meet you, Your Excellency. Your cousin Lord Tagta says that you are always in need of good pilots.
Pilot Solo-Jiliac turned bulbous eyes layered in fat upon Han, and peered down at him with faint curiosity-
do you speak and understand Huttese?
I understand it, Your Excellency. I do not speak it well enough to convey the beauty of the language, therefore it is not proper for me to attempt to utter it, Han said ear-nestly.
Fortunately, Hutts were easy to flatter, and this one bought it. Ah, a human that understands the beauty of our language, Jiliac said, turning to the smaller Hutt. Truly an insightful and sensitive member of his species.
That isnt saying much, the other Hutt replied with a deep chuckle. I wonder if Captain Solo can pilot as well as he dissembles?
Han glanced over at the younger, smaller Hutt. Sharp intelligence shone in his narrow-pupiled eyes. He was about Hans height, and only about four or five meters long. Jiliac noticed Han looking at his companion.
Captain Solo, this is my nephew, Jabba. He has become indispensable to me in rnnning the Desilijic kajidic.
Han bowed to the younger Hutt. Greetings, Your Ex-cellency.
Greetings, Captain Solo, Jabba replied with a gracious wave of his small hand. Your reputation precedes you.
Jiliac held out his own hand. Enough chitchat. Tile holocube, Captain?
Certainly, Your Excellency. Han produced it, handed it to Jiliac.
The Hutt Lord examined the holocube for several min-utes, then passed a small scanning device over the green smear. Finally satisfied, he looked at Hah. You come highly recommended, Captain. We can always use expert pilots.
Han nodded. Id like to work for you and your nephew, Your Excellency.
Very well, then you are hired, Captain. But what about your companion here? Jiliac indicated Chewbacca. Were a team, Your Excellency. Chewie is my copilot. Indeed? said Jabba. He looks more like a bodyguard to me.
Han could feel Chewie stiffen next to him, and he felt, more than heard, the soft rumble of anger emanating from his furred chest. Chewies a good pilot, Han insisted.
These are perilous times for honest business persons, Jiliac pointed out. Is one of you trained in weapons sys-tems?
Im the gunner, Your Excellency, Han said. Chewie is a pretty fair shot, I admit, but Im better.
Ah! Jabba sounded delighted. Finally, a human who does not deluge us with his silly notion of modesty. Glad you approve, Han said dryly.
Kessel, Jiliac said thoughtfully. Our sources say you have been to Kessel.
Han nodded. Yes, Your Excellency. And I did the Run in nearly record time, my first time through.
Excellent! boomed Jabba, who had a voice nearly as deep as his far larger uncle. He chuckled, a low ho-ho-ho sound. Then you are willing to tackle the Kessel Run while hauling cargo for us?
Depends on the cargo, Your Excellency, Han said.
We have no way to determine, at this time, what the
cargo will be, Jiliac said. Obviously, you will leave Kessel
carrying a cargo of spice, probably glitterstim, for Kessel is
where that spice is mined. But as to what you will be carry-
ing when you land on Kessel, that is bound to vary a great
deal. Food, luxuries, a shipment of slaves, or-
No slaves, Han interrupted curtly. He had to make this clear. If they dumped him over it, hed keep on looking for work. Ill haul most anything for you, Your Excellency. But not slaves.
Both Hutts stared at Hah, obviously taken aback by his temerity. Finally Jabba spoke. Why not, Captain Solo?
Personal reasons, Your Excellency, Hah said. Ive seen slavery up close-and I didnt like it.
Oho! Jabba chuckled again. Our brave captain has scruples . . . morals, even, perhaps!
Han refused to be baited. He just stood his ground. Jiliac made a curt gesture to Hah to stay where he was, then he and the younger Hutt wriggled toward each other. Watching them move, Han couldnt decide whether they reminded him more of a snake or a slug. They undulated along, using muscular contractions to move.
The two Hutts put their heads together and conferred. After a couple of minutes, they broke apart and turned back to Han and Chewie. Very well, Captain Solo, Jiliac boomed, we will not assign you to transport slaves.
Thank you, Your Excellency, Han said, feeling a wash of relief.
Slaving is not a large part of our business, Jabba said, with a touch of scorn in his voice. We leave most of that trade to the Besadii kajidic that operates out of Ylesia.
Have you ever heard of Ylesia, Captain Solo? Jiliac asked.
Han tensed, but kept it from showing. Yes, Ive heard of it, Your Excellency.
Our main shipment these days is ryll, Captain, Jabba said. We have just discovered a new source to trade with on Ryloth, the Twilek world. Have you been there?
Yes, Your Excellenc I have. I know the spacelanes in that area.
Good, Jabba said. He studied Han closely with his huge, rarely blinking eyes. Tell me, Captain, have you ever piloted a space yacht?
Han had to stifle an ironic grin. The reason all these bounty hunters were after him was that in addition to swip-ing the cream of Teroenzas treasure, hed stolen Zavval and Teroenzas personal space yacht.
Yes, Your Excellency, Han said. I have.
Jabba regarded Hah thoughtfully. I shall keep that in mind.
Jiliac made a dismissive gesture. We shall be in touch, Captain. At the moment, you have our leave to depart.
Han bowed to the Hutts, and as he did so, he surrepti-tiously gave his Wookiee friend a poke. Chewbaeca growled softly, but he, too, bobbed his upper body forward.
Han left the audience, feeling sweat trickling down be-tween his shoulder blades. Slowly, carefully, he let out a deep sigh of relief.
This had better be worth it . . .
During the next three months, Hah worked for Roa on and off, but he also flew many missions for the Hutts. He developed a reputation for being able to coax top speeds out of even inferior vessels, and for being willing to do whatever it took to get his smuggled cargo through to its destination.
He flew the Kessel Run so many times he lost count. There were times when the Hutts didnt need him for days or weeks at a time, and he took assignments from Mako, Roa, or other employers. But Jiliac and Jabba pro-vided him with fairly steady work, and most of his income.
Both Jiliac and Jabba had personal space yachts. Han discovered that each of them had sizable holdings on other worlds than Nal Hutta-matter of fact, Jiliac was the de facto ruler of Dilbana, and Jabba was the top crime lord on a backwater world called Tatooine.
One day Han and Chewie were called upon to pilot Jabbas personal yacht, the Star Jewel, to Tatooine. Hah wouldve rather hauled spice, frankly. Jabba was tempera-mental and used to getting his own way, and made a de-manding, irascible passenger. Han was glad that the Hutt had brought several of his personal servants along to tend to him, so that all he, Hah, had to do was pilot the ship.
Foremost among Jabbas entourage was a Twilek valet named Lobb Gerido. Jabba treated Gerido terribly, order-ing him around, snapping at him, and insulting him. Han was just glad that he didnt have to put up with that sort of thing. Jabbas entourage also included several humanoid dancing girls, a nalargon player nicknamed Whizz-Bang and Jabbas and Jiliacs chef from their residence on Nar Shaddaa, an Ishi Tib named Totoplat.
The purpose of Jabbas voyage was to transport a pet hed recently acquired to his palace on Tatooine. The thing was a nightmare-slashing claws, a huge suckerlike mouth, and an insatiable appetite. Han discovered it was called an Oskan blood eater. Hans stomach turned over the one time he watched its keeper feed it. The entire hold area stank from the creatures occupation. It was a messy eater, and its effiuvia was enough to gag a Corellian corpse-grub.
The yacht was a big ship, a Ubrikkian cruiser. It was fast, powered by a pair of Ubrikkian N2 ion engines, with auxil-iary power provided by three smaller Kuat T-c40 ion en-gines. It was also well shielded and heavily armed with six turbolasers. In its docking bay was space for six Z-95 Head-hunter fighters, as well as two small landing shuttles.
This trip, as happened frequently, Star Jewel was down to two Headhunters, with two pilots to crew them. The little fighters were tough, but they had no hyperdrive, and Jabba was known to order them deployed as a rear guard while he took off into hyperspace. Jabba was tough on Headhunters and their pilots.
Tatooine was a remote world, back of beyond, and Han had to make several hyperspace jumps to reach it. His next-to-last jump put him into a little-traveled spacelane, but it was the most direct route to Tatooine.
Thats where the pirate ships were waiting for them. Four Drell teardrop-shaped vessels, sleek and shining, small but deadly. Hah had faced their like before, when hed been piloting for the Ylesians. The moment he saw them his mental alarm bells went off. Pirates!?! They cntM be! Be tter to be safe than sorry . . .
Chewie, shields on maximum! Han snapped, sending the yacht into an evasive maneuvering pattern while his copriot adjusted their deflectors to maximum strength. Han flipped on the comm unit. Attention! Gunnery crew, stand ready! We may be seeing some action! He switched fre-quencies. Headhunter pilots, report to your snubs! This is not a drill!
Even as the words left his mouth, the closest ship spat a salvo of quad laser fire at them. I was right! Han mentally congratulated himself. Thanks to his caution, the Drell ships fire went wide.
The ships were only a third the size of Jabbas massive space yacht, but their quad laser cannons spat deadly bursts at the bigger ship as they rushed in at top speed. They were so small they were going to be difficult to hit. Han banked the Star Jewel around and yelled, Gunnery crew . . . fire at will!
Even as the crews manning the yachts six heavy turbo-lasers began returning fire, Han switched to another corem frequency. Attention, passengers and crew-we are under attack! Prepare for evasive maneuvers. Activate your re-straint systems.
Beside him Chewie was performing his job ably, leaving the piloting mostly to Han, but busy balancing and distrib-uting power to their shields, monitoring the ships status, checking on how much power they could channel to the weapons. The Hutt yachts turbolasers, mounted discreetly beneath the ridge of the yachts superstructure, actually tapped directly into the ships power core, thus giving them far more destructive capability than any opponent would expect.
