Star Wars - [Han Solo 03] - Rebel Dawn (by A C Crispin)

VIP免费
2024-12-20 0 0 451.26KB 147 页 5.9玖币
侵权投诉
Winners and Losers,
Han Solo leaned forward in the pilots seat of the Way-ward Girl. Entering atmosphere, Captain, he said.
He watched the systems big, pale sun slip into the great curve of ruddy light at the worlds edge and
disap-pear behind the planets limb. Bespins huge, dark nightside loomed up to blot out the stars. Hah
checked his sensors. They say Bespins got some big flyin-or should I say, floatin-creatures in its
atmosphere, so keep those forward shields at maximum strength.
One-handed, his co-pilot made an adjustment. Whats our ETA to Cloud City, Hah? she asked, a hint of
strain in her voice.
Not long now, Han replied reassuringly, as the Girl sliced into the upper atmosphere, swooping over the
planets dark pole, lightning far below making ia flickering fog of dim light. ETA twenty-six minutes. We
ought to be in Cloud City in time to catch a late dinner.
The sooner the better, she commented, grimacing as she flexed her right arm in its pressure-sling. This
thing itches like fury.
Just hang on, Jadonna, Han said. Well get you straight to the reed-facility.
She nodded. Hey, Han, no complaints from me. Youve done great. Ill just be glad to get this arm into
bacta.
Han shook his head. Ripped cartilage and liga-ments... thats gotta hurt, he said. But Cloud Citys sure to
have adequate meds.
She nodded. Oh, they do. Its quite a place, Han.
Youll see.
Jadonna Ve10z was a short, stocky, dark-skinned woman with long, straight black hair. Han had met her
two days ago, after shed advertised from Alderaan on the spacer-nets for a pilot to fly her ship to
Bespin. Velozs arm had been injured when it was struck by a malfunctioning anti-grav loader, but,
determined to meet her tight shipping deadline, shed postponed real treatment until she delivered her
cargo.
After paying Hans passage from CoreIlia on a fast shuttle to Alderaan, hed taken over as pilot, and
brought them to Bespin right on schedule.
The Wayward Girl was through the wispy exosphere now, and plunging deeper, moving toward the
evening twilight, blue sky building above them. Han altered course, heading southwest, toward where the
setting sun must be. As they streaked along, the tops of the piled, puffy masses of clouds far below began
taking on colors, deep crimson and coral, then yellow-orange.
Han Solo had his own reasons for needing a ride to Bespin. If it hadnt been for Jadonnas ad on the nets,
hed have had to dip into his rapidly dwindling stash of credits to buy passage for himself on a commercial
vessel.
Velozs accident couldnt have come at a better time, far as Han was concerned. With the credits shed
prom-ised him, hed be able to afford a cheap room and a few meals during the big sabacc tournament.
The buy-in alone was a staggering ten thousand credits. Han had barely managed to scrape those credits
together by fencing the small golden palador figurine hed stolen from the Ylesian High Priest Teroenza,
plus the dragon pearl hed discovered in Admiral Greelanx office.
The Corellian wished for a moment that Chewie was here with him, but hed had to leave the Wookiee
be-hind in their little flat on Nar Shaddaa because he couldnt afford to buy his passage.
They were deep into the atmosphere now, and Han could actually see Bespins sun, a squashed looking
or-ange ball just clearing a massive bank of clouds. The Girl was surrounded by a golden glory of heaped
clouds-as golden as Han Solos dreams of wealth.
Han was staking everything on this big gamble . . . and hed always been lucky at sabacc. But would luck
be enough to let him win? Hed be playing against profes-sional gamblers like Lando.
The Corellian swallowed, then resolutely concen-trated on his piloting. This was no time to get an attack
of nerves. Hah made another adjustment to the Girl approach vector, thinking that he ought to be within
range of Cloud City traffic control any time now.
As if in answer to his thoughts, a voice spoke up from his comm. Incoming vessel, please identify
yourself.
Jadonna Veloz reached left-handed to activate their comm. Cloud City traffic control, this is the
Wayward Girl out of Alderaan. Our approach vector is . . . she glanced at Hans instruments and reeled
off a string of numbers.
Wayward Girl, we confirm your vector. Cloud City is your destination?
Thats an affirmative, traffic control, Jadonna said. Han grinned. From what hed heard, Cloud City was
about all there was to Bespin. There were the mining facilities, of course, and gas refining, storage and
ship-ping facilities, but more than half of all incoming traffic was probably bound for the luxurious resort
hotels. In the past few years, bored tourists had made the city in the clouds one of their favorite vacation
playgrounds.
Traffic control, Jadonna continued, we have a pri-ority shipment for the Yarith Bespin kitchens. Neff
tenderloins in stasis. Request a landing vector.
Permission granted, Wayward Girl, came the voice of the traffic controller. The controller voice took on
a more informa] note. Nerf steaks, eh? Ill have to take. my wif out this week. Shes been wanting
some-thing fancy, and that a treat we dont get too often.
These are prime cuts, traffic control, Veloz said.
Hope the chef at the Yarith Bespin appreciates them.
Oh, he good, the voice said, then the controller reverted to his official tones. Wayward Girl, I have you
slotted in at Level 65, Docking Bay 7A. Repeat. Level 65, 7A. Do you copy?
We copy, Cloud City Controller.
And your assigned landing vector is . . . the voice hesitated, then gave them more coordinates.
Han punched them into the navieomputer, then they settled back to enjoy the ride. He found himself
looking forward to seeing the fabled Cloud City. Bespin itself had already been famous, even before the
resort was built. They mined tibanna gas here, which was used in starship engines, and in powering
blasters.
Han wasnt sure how they actually mined the gas, but he knew that tibanna gas was very valuable, so the
miners must be doing well. Before it was discovered in Bespin atmosphere, tibanna gas had usually been
found in stellar chromospheres and nebular clusters- which made harvesting it hazardous, to say the least.
Then somebody had stumbled across the fact that Be-spin atmosphere was loaded with it.
Picking up a sudden burst of electrical activity on his sensors, Han hastily changed course. Hey-whats
that? He pointed at the viewscreen. To their right now, was a monstrous, half-seen shape, drifting amid
those incredible aurulent clouds. The thing was so large that it would have dwarfed many small Corellian
cities.
Jadonna leaned forward. Thats a beldon! she ex-claimed. Theyre really rare. In all the years Ive been
flying through these clouds, Ive never seen one.
Han squinted at the mammoth creature as the Girl streaked by it. The beldon resembled some of the
gelatinous ocean creatures hed seen on some worlds, with a huge, dome-like top, and many small feeding
tentacles hanging down beneath it.
Hah checked his landing vector. Right on the cred-its, Captain, he said. Behind them, the leviathan faded
into the distance. Han saw another, smaller shape ahead of them that almost resembled an upside-down
beldon, and realized it was Cloud City.
It hung in the clouds like some kind of exotic wine-glass, topped with a jeweled crown of rounded
towers, domed buildings, communication spires, and refinery stacks. In the last wash of sunset, it glowed
like a cor-usca gem.
Staying on their approach vector, Han sent them skimming over the domed buildings of the cityscape in
the clouds. Moments later, he brought the Girl down in a perfect landing on their assigned spot.
After receiving his pay, and saying farewell to Cap-tain Veloz, Han went looking for a robo-hack to take
him to the posh Yarith Bespin hotel, where the sabacc tournament was being held.
Moments later he was punching in his destination on a keypad, sending the little robo-hack zipping
through the city streets, up and down levels, traveling at a pace that would have made most humans
dizzy-especially when tile little vehicle hopped low-lying buildings, giving Hah a glimpse of the clouds
surrounding them and the yawning depths below them. It was almost full night now, and the city sparkled
like a ladys open jewel box.
Minutes later the robo-hack pulled up before the Yarith Bespin. Han waved the luggage droid aside and
walked through the massive entrance. Hed been in posh hotels before, while touring with his magician
friend, Xaverri, so the opulent interior with its spidery, crisscrossing glidewalks that spanned the
stories-high atrium didnt phase him. He saw a sign reading Tour-nament Registration in at least 20
languages, and fol-lowed the arrow up the glide-lift to the mezzanine.
When he stepped off the floating walkway, he headed purposefully toward the large tables. The place
was thronged with gamblers of all species, sizes and de-scriptions. Hah registered, checked his blaster
(all weapons had to be checked), received an ID badge, and a voucher that hed cash in as he needed
betting chips. The first game would start tomorrow at midday.
Just as he turned away from the registration area, chip voucher tucked securely into a pocket inside his
shirt, next to his skin, Hah heard a familiar voice. Han! Hey, Han! Over here!
He turned and saw Lando Calrissian waving to him from across the mezzanine. Waving to show hed
heard, Hah jogged over to the glidewalk and hopped aboard, even as Lando leaped aboard the one
coming toward Hans side of the enormous room.
When hed last seen Lando, the gambler was head-ing off for action in the Oseon system. But hed been
talking about this tournament for months, so Han had been expecting to run into him here.
Hey, Han! Landog dark features broke into a wide grin as their respective glidewalks brought them f
ace-to-face. Long time no see, you old rascal!
Hah leaped nimbly across open air from his glide-walk to the one Lando was standing on. Hed barely
landed before Calrissian grabbed him in a hug that would have done Chewbacca credit. Good to see
you, Lando! he gasped, as Calrissian thumped him on the back one final time.
The friends stepped off the glidewalk back at the registration area, and stood there a moment, eyeing
each other. Han studied his friend, realizing that Lando looked very prosperous-the gambling tables out in
the Oseon must be loaded with easy marks. The gambler was wearing an expensive outfit made from
Askajian fabric, the best in the galaxy. A new black and silver cape swung behind him, draped in the
latest fashion.
Han smiled. The last time hed seen Lando, the gam-bler had barely begun growing a mustache. Now his
fa-cial adornment was mature, though trimmed. It lent his features a rather piratical air. Han pointed at it.
I see you decided to keep the lip-fur.
Lando stroked the mustache proudly. Every woman Ive met has been most complimentary, he said. I
should have done it long ago.
Some people need all the help they can get, Han teased. Its a shame you dont have my way with the
ladies, old pal.
Lando snorted derisively.
Han looked around. So... wheres your little red-eyed droid buddy? Dont tell me you went and lost Vuffi
Raa in a sabacc game?
Lando shook his head. Han, its a long story. To tell it properly, I need a tall glass of something refreshing
in front of me.
Well, whats the short version, then? Han asked. Dont tell me the little guy got tired of calling you Master
and decided he could do better selling his Class Two abilities somewhere else?
Lando shook his head, his expression suddenly seri-ous. Han, youre not going to believe this, but Vuffi
Raa decided to go back to his people and grow up. Ful-fill his destiny.
Han grimaced. Huh? HeS a droid. What do you mean, destiny?
Wuffi Raa is . . . was . . . a baby starship. I know it sounds crazy, but its true. He comes from a...
unique... species. Gigantic droid-ships that roam the stars. Sen-tient, but not biologicd, life-forms.
Han stared at his friend. Lando, you been sniffing ryll? You sound like you spent the whole day in the
bar.
Lando held up a hand. Its the truth, Han. You see,
there was this evil sorcerer named Rokur Gepta, who
turned out to be a Croke, and these vacuumbreathers,
and a big fight in this huge Star Cave, and-
Cheater/ A deep, raspy voice shouted, startling the friends. Get him! Dont let him play! Thats Han Solo,
and he cheats at sabacc!
Hah wheeled around to find an enraged Barabel fe-male bearing down on him. The alien limped slightly
from a stiff knee, but she was closing at a respectable clip, massive teeth bared. Barabels were huge,
black reptiloids, and Han had only met a few of them in his travels. And only one female.
This femme, as a matter of fact.
Hah gulped and his hand went down to his blaster, only to slap impotently against his thigh. Damnation/
He began backing up, holding up his hands placatiugly. Now, Shallamar... he began.
Lando, always quick on the uptake, made sure he was nowhere near the Barabels approach vector.
Secu-rity! he shouted. We need security here! Somebody call security!
The Barabel sputtered and hissed with rage. He uses skifters! Cheats! Arrest him!
Han backed up until he bumped into one of the reg-istration tables, then, one-handed, he vaulted it. The
Barabels teeth flashed. Coward! Come out from be-hind there! Arrest him!
Now, Shallamar, Hah said. I beat you fair and square that time. Holding grudges isnt very sports-manlike
....
With a bellow, she rushed him-
only to stop and fall heavily to the floor as a tangle-field encased her feet. Shallamar thrashed, slapping
the carpet with her tail, cursing and bellowing.
Hah looked over at the hotel security forces, and drew a long breath of relief.
Ten minutes later, with the Barabel still under re-straints, Han, Lando and Shallamar were in the security
offices, facing the security chief. Shallamar was sulking, because the chief had sensor-scanned Han from
the tips of his toes to the top of his head, and the Corellian had proved to be absolutely free of any
cheating devices.
Now the Barabel hunkered uncomfortably, her feet still restrained in the tangle-field, as the security chief
warned her that any further displays would get her ejected from the competition. ... and I think you owe
Solo here an apology, the chief concluded.
Shallamar snarled . . . but softly. I will not molest him further. You have my honor-word, But- the
security chief started.
Han waved a hand at him. Lets not push it, sir. If Shallamar leaves me alone, thats fine with me. Im just
glad to prove that Im an honest player.
The chief shrugged. Whatever you say, Solo Okay, you two are free to go. He glanced at Han and
Lando. Ill release the tangle-field and turn her loose in a cou-ple of minutes. He turned back to the
Barabel. And you, my lady, will be under surveillance. Please keep that in mind. Were running a
tournament here, not a free-for-all. Is that clear? Clear, she rasped.
Han and Lando left the office. Han didnt say any-thing, but he knew Lando too well to think that his
friend would let this pass. Sure enough, when they stepped onto the glidewalk leading to the cafe, Lando
grinned broadly. Han, Hah... yet another old flame, eh? Youre so right... you certainly have a way with
the ladies, you old rogue!
Hah bared his teeth in a snarl nearly as fearsome as Shallamars. Shut up, Lando. Just... shut up.
By then, Lando was laughing too hard to speak anyway...
It took the two friends several hours to catch up on events. Han heard the whole story of Lando
adven-tures in the Oseon system. He discovered that since hed last seen his friend, Lando had won and
lost sev-eral fortunes, most recently a cargo of gemstones. You should have seen them, Han, Lando said,
mournfully. They were gorgeous. Filled half the Falcons cargo bay. If only Id hung onto them, instead of
using most of them to buy half of that dratted berubian mine!
Hah looked at his friend with mingled sympathy and exasperation. Salted, right? Proved to be worthless.
You got it. How did you know?
I knew somebody once who ran that scare. Only it was a duralloy asteroid. Han neglected to mention
that hed once lost out on a half-million-credit uranium mine that hed won in a sabacc game. The mine had
been genuine, but the books had been so cooked that hed been lucky to escape prosecution when the
stock-holders began their investigation ....
But all that was in the past, and Han Solo made it a policy never to indulge in regrets over failed ventures.
Speaking of the Falcon, he said, whereve you got her docked?
Oh, shes not here, Lando said. I left her back at the lot on Nar Shaddaa. Half the trick to winning big at
the ta-bles is being able to psych your opponents out, presenting yourself as someone who can afford to
play big, win big and lose big. Makes bluffing much more effective ....
Ill remember that, Han said, filing away the ad-vice. So, howd you get here?
I came in on one of those big luxury liners, the Queen of Empire, Lando said. Arrived in style. Not to
mention that the ships casino is one of the finest Ive encountered. The Queen and I go way back.
Hah smiled slyly. I ran into Blue a few weeks ago, and she told me that you were traveling in style aboard
that new ship of Drea Renthals. Renthal Vigilance, that Carrack-class picket ship she salvaged after the
Battle of Nar Shaddaa.
Lando cleared his throat. Dreas a great lady, he said. For a pirate, she surprisingly... refined.
Han snickered. Whoa, Lando! Isnt she a little old for you? She gotta be at least forty! Howd you like
bein a pirate queen favorite plaything?
Lando bristled. I wasnt... She not...
Hah laughed. Almost old enough to be your mother, huh?
Landos teeth flashed beneath his mustache. Hardly. And Hah . . . my mother was nothing like Drea.
Trust me.
So whyd you break up? Han wanted to know.
Life aboard a pirate vessel is... interesting, Lando said. But a little too... coarse... for my taste.
Han, eyeing his friend dandified clothes, nodded.
Ill bet.
Lando sobered. But, hey . . . Drea and I parted friends, he added. These last few months I needed... I
was... he shrugged, obviously uncomfortable. Well, Drea came along at a good time. I was... Well, it was
nice having the company.
Han eyed his friend. You mean you missed Vuffi Raa?
Well . . . how can you miss a droid? But . . . you know, Hah, he was really a companion. There were
times I didnt even think of him as mechanical. Id gotten used to having the little guy around, you know?
So when the little vacuum cleaner went off with his kinfolk, I did find myself actually... missing him.
Han thought about what it would be like to lose Chewie, and could only nod in silent agreement.
The two sat quietly for a moment, sipping their drinks, enjoying the companionship. Finally Hah fought
back a yawn, and stood up. Gotta get some sleep, he said. Tomorrows going to be a big day.
See you at the tables, Lando said, and they parted.
Sabacc is an ancient game, dating back to the early days of the Old Republic. Of all the games of
chance, sabacc is the most complex, the most unpredictable, the most thrilling-and the most
heartbreaking.
The game is played with a deck of seventy-six card-chips. The value of any card-chip can alter
throughout the game at random intervals, via electronic impulses transmitted by the randomizer. In less
than a second, a winning hand can change to a bomb out.
There are four suits in the deck sabers, staves, flasks and coins. Numbered cards range from positive
one to positive eleven, and there are four cards of r ank the Commander, the Mistress, the Master and
the Ace, with numerical values of positive twelve to fifteen.
Sixteen face cards complete the deck, two of each type, with assorted zero or negative values the Idiot,
the Queen of Air and Darkness, Endurance, Balance, Demise, Moderation, the Evil One and the Star.
There are two different pots. The first, the hand pot, is awarded to the winner of each hand. In order to
win the hand pot, a player must have the highest card total that is less than or equal to twenty-three-either
positive or negative. In case of a tie, positive card value beat negative card value.
The other pot, the sabacc pot, is the game pot, and can only be won in two ways-with a pure
sabacc-that is, card-chips totaling exactly twenty-three, or an idiot array, consisting of one of the Idiot
face cards, plus a two, and a three-literally, 23--of any suit.
In the center of the table is an interference field. As the rounds of bluffing and betting proceed, sabace
play-ers can freeze the value of a card by placing it into the interference field.
The Cloud City Sabacc Tournament had attracted over one hundred high-rollers from worlds all over the
galaxy. Rodians, Twileks, Sullustans, Bothans, Devaro-nians, humans... all these and more were
represented at the gaming tables. The tournament would last for four intensive days of play. Each day,
roughly half of the players would be eliminated. The number of tables would dwindle, until only one table
remained, where the best of the best would compete during that last hand.
Stakes were high. Winners stood a good chance of walking away with two or three times the
ten-thousand-credit buy-in-or even more.
Sabacc was not traditionally a spectator sport the way mag-ball or null-gee polo was, but, since only
players were allowed in the tournament hall, the hotel had arranged a huge holo-projection lounge for
those who wished to watch the tournament. Companions of play-ers, hangers-on, eliminated players and
other interested sentients wandered in and out of the lounge, keeping an eye on the tournament, silently
rooting for his, her or its favorite to win.
There was a ranking list displayed beside the holo, IDing the players, and showing the progress of the
play. On this, the second day of the tournament, about fifty players clustered around ten tables. The
ranking beside their names showed that Han Solo had made it through the first day of play on luck and
by the skin of his teeth. Hed lost the sabacc pot, but had won enough hand pots so that he was still a
contender.
One of the onlookers in the lounge was rooting for Hah to win, though the Corellian had no idea She was
anywhere within parsecs of Bespin-and, if Bria Tharen had anything to say about it, he wouldnt find out.
In her years of working with the Corellian resis-tance, Bria had become an expert at disguise. Now her
long, red-gold hair was hidden beneath a short black wig, her blue-green eyes covered by bio-lenses that
turned them as dark as her hair. Carefully inserted padding in her elegant business outfit made her look
voluptuous and muscled instead of slender and wiry. The only thing she couldnt disguise was her height-
and there were many tall human women.
She stood at the back of the lounge, watching the holo intently, hoping for another close-up of Han.
Silently, she rejoiced that hed made it this far. If only hed win, she thought. Han deserves a big break. If
he had a lot of credits, he wouldnt have to risk his life as a smuggler. . . .
For a moment, the holo showed a close-up of Han table. Bria saw that his opponents today were a
Sullus-tan, a Twilek, a Bothan and two humans, one male and one female. The woman was evidently
from a heavy-gee planet, judging from the thick, corded muscles in her neck, and her short, stocky build.
Bria knew little about sabacc, but she knew Han Solo-even after being separated from him for seven
years now, she knew him. She knew every line of his face, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when
he smiled, or narrowed when he was angry or suspicious. The shaggy tufts of his hair, perennially
overdue for a haircut. She could still recall the shape of his hands, the fine hairs on the backs of them ....
Bria knew Han Solo so well that she realized she could still tell when he was bluffing... as he was at the
moment.
Smiling confidently, Han leaned across the table to push another heap of chips into the center. Seeing the
size of his bet, the Sullustan hesitated, then threw in her hand. The two humans also folded, but the
Bothan was made of sterner stuff. He met Han bet, and then, ostentatiously, raised it by a goodly
amount.
Brias expression didnt change, but her hands curled into fists at her sides. Will he fold, or play the hand
through and hope his bluff will work?
The Twilek pushed another card-chip into the inter-ference field, and matched the bet. All eyes turned to
Hah.
The Corellian grinned as though he hadnt a care in the world. Bria could see his lips move as he issued
some verbal challenge or wisecrack, then he pushed forward another stack of credit-chips . . . such a
huge bet that Bria bit her lip. If he lost his hand, hed bomb out. There was no way he could cover it!
The Bothan glanced from side to side, for the first time seeming uncertain. Finally, he tossed in his hand.
The Twilek head-tails twitched with frustration and nerves.
Finally, slowly, the Twilek laid his hand down. Hans grin broadened, and he reached forward to scoop
up yet another hand pot. Did he genuinely have a winning hand, Bria wondered, or was I right? Was it all
a bluff?
The Sullustan, her droopy jowls working, made a sudden grab for Hans card-chips, but the dealer spoke
up, clearly warning her against such an action. By now the dealer would have signaled for a change in the
card-chip values, anyway.
Bria nodded emphatically at the holo. Great! Keep it up, Han! Beat them! Win!
Beside her, someone snarled, then spoke in raspy, hissing tones, May all the Blights of Barabel curse that
villain Solo! He wins again! He must be cheating!
Bria glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw a huge Barabel female, obviously a very irritated
Barabel. The corners of her mouth twitched. Han has such a way with people . . . what do you suppose
he did to make her so mad?
Something rustled on Brias other side, and she turned to find her aide, a Corellian named Jace Paol,
beside her. The man lowered his voice until even Bria could barely hear him, though his mouth was barely
a handspan from her ear. Commander, the representa-tives from Alderaan have arrived. They are on
their way to the meeting site.
Bria nodded. Ill be right up, Jace.
As her aide left the lounge, Bria checked her expen-sive datapad (a dummy, she committed as little as
pos-sible of her real business to any readable form), smiled vaguely at the Barabel, and left the lounge.
Time to get on with her mission here in Cloud City.
When shed discovered that Cloud City would be hosting the big sabacc tournament, Bria had realized
that this was the ideal location for a top-secret meeting between representatives of several of the
rebellions. Resistance groups were growing by leaps and bounds on many Imperial worlds, and it was
essential to estab-lish links between them. But such meetings had to be kept clandestine. The Imps had
spies everywhere.
Any intelligence operative knew that the easiest place to hide was in a crowd. And Cloud City was pretty
far from the Imperial Core, so the Imps didnt pay it much attention. A big tournament provided perfect
cover. With so many ships coming and going, both alien and human, a few humans, a Sullustan and a
Duros meeting in a hotel conference room on Cloud City would arouse little interest from anyone.
Bria wouldnt admit even to herself that part of her reason for selecting Cloud City during the tournament
was that shed hoped to catch a glimpse of Han Solo. She couldnt be sure hed attend, of course, but
know-ing Han, when there was the chance of winning big, he was there, ready and eager.
As she rode the glidewalk to the nearest turbolift, Bria imagined removing her disguise, then going to
Hans room late that night. He would still have vivid memories of the last time hed seen her, when shed
been posing as Moff Sam Shilds mistress, but surely hed believe her when she explained-that shed been
spying for the Corellian resistance, and that there had been nothing between her and Shild.
So after shed told him the truth about their last en-counter, they would talk. Perhaps theyd sip some
wine. After a while, theyd hold hands. And then...
The Rebel operative closed her eyes as the turbolift swept her upward amid the crystalline and pastel
splen-dor of the Yarith Bespins fifty-story atrium. Perhaps, when shed explained everything, Hah would
want to join the resistance, help his fellow Corellians as they plotted to free their planet from that tyrant
Emperor who held so many worlds in a death-grip.
Perhaps .... Bria envisioned the two of them, doing battle shoulder to shoulder on land or in space,
fighting bravely, covering each others backs during the battles, i winning victories over the Imperial
forces... then hold- i ing each other close when the days fighting was over. Bria couldnt imagine anything
better than that. Feeling the turbolift decelerate, she sighed and opened her eyes. Fantasies were all very
well... some-times they were all that kept her going. But she couldnt allow them to interfere with her
mission.
As the turbolift doors slid open, she was ready. Mov-ing with confident strides, she exited the lift and
headed down the carpeted corridor.
When she reached the meeting room, she tapped out her coded signal, and was admitted. She glanced at
Jace, and his nod confirmed that hed checked the room for surveillance devices and found it safe. Only
then did Bria turn to greet the other members of the conferen ce.
The first representative to step forward was a typi-cally mournful-faced, blue-skinned Duros, Jennsar
So-Billes. He had come alone, as had Sian Tevv from Sullust. Bria greeted the two aliens warmly,
thanking them and their respective groups for allowing them to make the dangerous journey-and it was
dangerous. just last month one of the high-ranking Rebel leaders from Fibrin had been captured while on
his way to such a conference. The Ishi Tib was forced to suicide in or-der to avoid the Imp mind-probes.
Alderaan had sent three representatives, two human and one Caamasi. The senior member of the
delegation was a middle-aged man with grizzled hair and beard, one Hric Dalhney, Deputy Minister of
Security, and a trusted member of Viceroy Bail Organas cabinet. Ac-companying him was a young girl,
not even out of her teens, with long, crystal-white hair. Dalhney introduced her as Winter, commenting
that they were posing as father and daughter as their cover during this trip. The non-human member of
the delegation was a Caa-magi. Bria was intrigued by him, never having met one before. Their species
was now somewhat rare in the galaxy.
Caamas had been essentially destroyed after the Clone Wars, thanks to the efforts of the Emperors
min-ion, Darth Vader, but it was a little-known fact that many of its people had managed to flee to
Alderaan and lived there, mostly in seclusion.
The Caamasis name was Ylenic Itkla, and he intro-duced himself as an advisor to the Viceroy of
Alderaan. Tall, even taller than Bria, the Caamasi wore a single kilt-like garment and jewelry. Generally
humanoid in appearance, Ylenic was covered in golden down, with purple stripes marking his face. His
eyes were large, dark and held a faint air of calm sadness that touched Bria, knowing what sufferings this
being must have witnessed.
Ylenic said little as the delegates exchanged greet-ings, but something about him impressed Bria. She
re-solved to seek out his opinions if he did not offer them. The Caamasi had an air of quiet power, of
confidence, that told the Rebel Commander that this was a being to be reckoned with.
After a few minutes of chitchat, Bria seated herself at the long table, and formally brought the meeting to
or-der. Fellow Rebels, she said, speaking with the quiet authority of someone who had done this many
times be-fore, I thank you for risking your lives in our cause. We of the Corellian Rebel movement are
contacting other underground groups like our own, urging all the various Rebel groups to unite. Only as a
strong, cohe-sive group can we have any hope of confronting the Empire that is strangling our worlds,
and killing the spirit of our peoples.
Bria took a deep breath. I know what a daunting and dangerous proposal this is, believe me. But only if
we can unite, form an alliance, can the Rebel groups have any hope of eventual victory. As long as we
remain fragmented, planet-bound groups, we are doomed to failure.
She paused. The Corellian movement has long con-sidered this proposal. We are fully aware what a
radical change this would entail-and how difficult such an al-liance would be. As long as we are individual
groups, the Empire cannot wipe us all at one blow. If we were to unite, they might conceivably be able to
destroy all of us in one battle. We also know how taxing it can be for different species to work together.
Disparate ethical and moral systems, ideologies, religions-not to men-tion equipment and weapon design
differences-all of these things can present problems.
Bria faced her onlookers steadily. But, my friends, unite we must. Somehow we must find ways to work
around our differences. Surely we can do that... and thats the subject of this conference.
The Duros representative tapped his fingers on the table. Your words are stirring, Commander. In spirit,
I agree with them. But let us face facts here. In asking the non-human worlds to ally with you, you are
asking us to put ourselves at far greater risk. Everyone knows the Emperors disdain for non-humans. If
an alliance challenged Palpatines forces, and lost, the Emperors wrath would be mostly directed at the
non-human worlds. He might well destroy us as a lesson to the hu-man Rebels.
Bria nodded. Your point is well taken, Jennsar. She glanced around the table. Minister Dalhney, what are
your thoughts?
We of Alderaan have supported the Rebel move-ment from the beginning, the man said. We have
pro-vided intelligence, funding, and technical expertise. But this talk of battles is anathema to us.
Alderaanian cul-ture is built on the absence of weapons and violence. We are a peaceful world, and the
way of the warrior is abhorrent to us. Count on us to support your efforts- but I cannot imagine that we
would ever be able to join you as combatants.
Bria gazed at Dahlney somberly. It is possible, Min-ister, she said, that Alderaan may not have the option
to refrain from violence. She turned to the little Sullus-tan. Sian Tevv, what are your initial thoughts?
Commander, my people are so crushed beneath the heel of the Empire that few of them have the
where-withal to plot any kind of rebellion. The little allens jowls quivered, and his dark, liquid eyes were
sorrow-ful. Though many complain about the Imperidl troops under their breaths, only a handful of my
people have ever dared to openly resist. Our caves are places of fear. The Soro Suub Corporation
essentially controls my world, and their biggest client is the Empire. If we were to join a Rebel Alliance, it
would cause civil war!
Bria sighed. Itg going to be a long conference, she thought bleakly. I recognize that all of you have valid
concerns she said, keeping her voice level and neutral. But it wont hurt anything, or commit you to
anything, simply to discuss these issues, right?
After a moment, the delegates from the three worlds agreed to talk. Taking a deep breath, Bria started in
....
I cant believe Ive made it this far, Han thought wearily, as he eased himself into the seat at the one
re-maining sabacc table. It was night on the fourth day of the tournament, and only the finalists were left.
If only my luck holds out a little longer...
Slowly he stretched the kinks out of his back, wishing he could sleep for about twenty hours. The past
few days had been grueling... hours of unending play, with only a few breaks for meals or sleep.
The other finalists had also taken their places around the table. A diminutive Chadra-Fan, a Bothan male,
and a Rodian female. Han wasnt sure whether the Chadra-Fan was a male or a female. Both sexes wore
the same long robes.
As Han glanced around at his fellow players, the last player, another human, sat down opposite Han in
the last empty chair. Hah groaned inwardly. Somehow I knew this would happen. What chance can I
have against a professional like Lando ?
Han was very conscious of the fact that he was probably the only amateur player at the table. It was a
fair bet that the others, like Lando, made their primary living by winning at sabacc.
For a moment he was tempted to just call it quits, walk away. To lose now, after all these days of play...
Lando nodded tightly to his friend. Han nodded back.
The dealer approached. In most games of sabacc, the dealer actually played for credits, but in
tourna-ment games, the dealer only dealt the card-chips and monitored the game... he or she was
prohibited from playing.
The deder was a Bith. The alien large, five fingered hands featured both an opposable thumb and little
fin-ger, giving the dealer considerable dexterity as he de.tit. The lights of the monstrous chandelier in the
ballroom gleamed on the aliens large, bare, cranium.
The dealer ostentatiously opened a fresh pack of card-chips and riffled them, then triggered the
randomizer several times, thus demonstrating that nobody could predict the order the card-chips would
be dealt. After this initial demonstration, the randomizer itself altered the values of the card-chips at
random intervals.
Han looked over at Lando, and was cheered to note that his friend was showing signs of strain. Landos
natty outfit was creased, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes. His hair looked as though it hadnt
been combed all day.
Han knew he was no prize himself. He rubbed his hand blearily across his face, and only then realized
hed forgotten to shave. Stubble rasped his fingernails.
Forcing himself to sit up straight, Han picked up his first hand of card-chips ....
Three and a half hours later, the Bothan and the Ro-djan had been eliminated. Theyd left without a
back-ward glance. The Bothan male had bombed out-bet his entire trove of credit-chips on the game.
When Lando took that hand, the alien had stalked away with-out a farewell. The Rodian female had
folded, but she hadnt bombed. Han figured that shed decided to cut her losses and get out while she still
had a profit. The stakes were getting very high. The sabacc pot alone contained nearly twenty thousand
credits.
Hang luck had held. He had enough credit-chips to cover any of the bets hed seen tonight. Mentally, he
added them up. If he folded now, hed leave Bespin with twenty thousand credits, give or take a couple
hun-dred. His eyesight was getting blurry, and the card-chips were hard to Count when they were in
stacks.
The Corellian considered. Twenty thousand was a lot of money. Almost enough to buy a ship of his own.
Should he fold? Or should he stay in?
The Chadra-Fan raised the bet another five thou-sand. Han covered it. So did Lando, but it took nearly
all his credit-chips.
Han assessed his hand. He had the card-chip for En-durance, which had the value of negative eight.
Appro-priate, Han thought. This battle is becoming one of endurance .... He also had the Ace of Staves,
with a value of positive fifteen. And the six of flasks. Value, positive six.
Thirteen. He needed to take another card, and hope that he didnt get a r anked card, which would put
him out of the game. Ill take a card, Hah said.
The dealer tossed one down on the table. Han
picked it up, saw with a sinking feeling that it was
Demise; which was negative thirteen. Great/Im far-
ther away than ever/
And then the cards rippled and changed before his eyes ....
Han now had the Queen of Air and Darkness, with a value of negative two, plus the five of coins, the six
of staves, and the Master of coins, with a value of four- . teen. Total value . . . twenty-three. His heart
leaped.
Pure sabacc/
With this hand, he could take both the hand pot and the sabacc pot... to win the tournament.
There was only one hand that could beat him, and that was an idiotg array.
Hah took a deep breath, then pushed forward all but one of his stacks of credit-chips. For a moment he
con-sidered tossing all his cards into the interference field, but then his opponents would know for sure
he wasnt bluffing. He needed them to cover his bet if he was go-ing to clean up.
Hold steady, he thought to his card-chips, willing the randomizer not to change the patterns. Honest
ran-domizers truly were random. Sometimes they changed card-chip patterns multiple times per game.
Other times, they did so only once or twice. Han figured the odds for his card-chips changing within the
next three minutes-the average time for a round of betting with this many players-were about 50-50.
Hah kept his features composed, his body relaxed, with an effort of will that was nearly painful. He had
to make them think he might be bluffing!
On Han right, the little Chadra-Fans huge ears flickered rapidly back and forth, then he (Han had learned
that he was male during the hours of play) ut-tered the faintest of squeaks. Deliberately, precisely, the
alien folded his card-chips and placed them on the table, then got up and walked away.
Han stared at his card-chips. Hold . . . hold! His pulse was hammering, and he hoped Lando couldnt see
it.
The professional gambler hesitated for a long sec-ond, then requested a card. Han blood rushed in his
ears as, slowly and deliberately, Calrissian extended a hand, and placed a card-chip facedown into the
inter-ference field.
Han stiffened. Hed caught just a glimpse of the pri-mary color of the card-chip reflected against the faint
ionization of the field. Violet. If Han bleary eyes werent playing tricks on him, that meant the card-chip
was the Idiot. The most vital card in the Idiot Array.
Han tried to swallow, but his mouth was too dry. Lando is an expert at this, he thought. He could have
put that card cbwn in just that manner, knowing Id see its telltale color, and guess that he holding the
Idiot. But why? To bluff me? Scare me into folding? Or am I imagining things?
摘要：

WinnersandLosers,HanSololeanedforwardinthepilotsseatoftheWay-wardGirl.Enteringatmosphere,Captain,hesaid.Hewatchedthesystemsbig,palesunslipintothegreatcurveofruddylightattheworldsedgeanddisap-pearbehindtheplanetslimb.Bespinshuge,darknightsideloomeduptoblotoutthestars.Hahcheckedhissensors.TheysayBespi...

展开>> 收起<<
Star Wars - [Han Solo 03] - Rebel Dawn (by A C Crispin).pdf

共147页,预览30页

还剩页未读， 继续阅读

声明：本站为文档C2C交易模式，即用户上传的文档直接被用户下载，本站只是中间服务平台，本站所有文档下载所得的收益归上传人(含作者)所有。玖贝云文库仅提供信息存储空间，仅对用户上传内容的表现方式做保护处理，对上载内容本身不做任何修改或编辑。若文档所含内容侵犯了您的版权或隐私，请立即通知玖贝云文库，我们立即给予删除！

相关推荐

更多
立即下载
分类：外语学习 价格：5.9玖币 属性：147 页 大小：451.26KB 格式：PDF 时间：2024-12-20

开通VIP享超值会员特权

  • 多端同步记录
  • 高速下载文档
  • 免费文档工具
  • 分享文档赚钱
  • 每日登录抽奖
  • 优质衍生服务

作者详情

相关内容

更多

热门标签

人际关系 配电装置 动力学连接体 力的合成 高考理综 全宋诗作者索引 公务员考试
/ 147
评分 收藏
分享
立即下载 VIP免费下载
客服
关注