C H A P T E R 20
“No, I assure you, everything is fine,” Threepio said in Leia’s voice, looking just about as unhappy beneath his headset as a droid could possibly look. “Han and I decided that as long as we were out this way we might as well take a look around the Abregado system.”
“I understand, Your Highness,” Winter’s voice came back over the Falcon’s speaker. To Han, she sounded tired. Tired, and more than a little tense. “May I recommend, though, that you don’t stay away too much longer.”
Threepio looked helplessly at Han. “We’ll be back soon,” Han muttered into his comlink.
“We’ll be back soon,” Threepio echoed into the Falcon’s mike.
“I just want to check out—”
“I just want to check out—”
“—the Gados’s—”
“—the Gados’s—”
“—manufacturing infrastructure.”
“—manufacturing infrastructure.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Winter said. “I’ll pass that information on to the Council. I’m sure they’ll be pleased to hear it.” She paused, just noticeably. “I wonder if I might be permitted to speak with Captain Solo for a moment.”
Across the cockpit, Lando grimaced. She knows, he mouthed silently.
No kidding, Han mouthed back. He caught Threepio’s eye and nodded. “Of course,” the droid said, sagging with obvious relief. “Han—?”
Han switched his comlink over. “I’m here, Winter. What’s up?”
“I wanted to know if you had any idea yet when you and Princess Leia would be returning,” she said. “Admiral Ackbar, particularly, has been asking about you.”
Han frowned at the comlink. Ackbar probably hadn’t spoken two words to him outside of official business since he’d resigned his general’s commission a few months back. “You’ll have to thank the Admiral for his interest,” he told Winter, picking his words carefully. “I trust he’s doing all right himself?”
“About as usual,” Winter said. “He’s having some problems with his family, though, now that school is in full swing.”
“A little squabbling among the children?” Han suggested.
“Bedtime arguments, mainly,” she said. “Problems with the little one over who’s going to get to stay up and read—that sort of thing. You understand.”
“Yeah,” Han said. “I know the kids pretty well. How about the neighbors? He still having trouble with them?”
There was a brief pause. “I’m … not exactly sure,” she said. “He hasn’t mentioned anything about them to me. I can ask, if you’d like.”
“It’s no big deal,” Han said. “As long as the family’s doing okay—that’s the important thing.”
“I agree. At any rate, I think he mainly just wanted to be remembered to you.”
“Thanks for passing on the message.” He threw Lando a look. “Go ahead and tell him that we won’t be out here too much longer. We’ll go to Abregado and maybe look in on a couple of others and then head back.”
“All right,” Winter said. “Anything else?”
“No—yes,” Han corrected himself. “What’s the latest on the Bpfasshi recovery program?”
“Those three systems the Imperials hit?”
“Right.” And where he and Leia had had their second brush with those gray-skinned alien kidnappers; but there was no point in dwelling on that.
“Let me call up the proper file,” Winter said. “… It’s coming along reasonably well. There were some problems with supply shipments, but the material seems to be moving well enough now.”
Han frowned at the speaker. “What did Ackbar do, dig up some mothballed container ships from somewhere?”
“Actually, he made his own,” Winter came back dryly. “He’s taken some capital ships—Star Cruisers and Attack Frigates, mostly—cut the crews back to skeleton size and put in extra droids, and turned them into cargo ships.”
Han grimaced. “I hope he’s got some good escorts along with them. Empty Star Cruisers would make great target practice for the Imperials.”
“I’m sure he’s thought of that,” Winter assured him. “And the orbit dock and shipyards at Sluis Van are very well defended.”
“I’m not sure anything’s really well defended these days,” Han returned sourly. “Not with the Imperials running loose like they are. Anyway. Got to go; talk to you later.”
“Enjoy your trip. Your Highness? Good-bye.”
Lando snapped his fingers at Threepio. “Good-bye, Winter,” the droid said.
Han made a slashing motion across his throat, and Lando shut off the transmitter. “If those Star Cruisers had been built with proper slave circuits, they wouldn’t have to load them with droids to make container ships out of them,” he pointed out innocently.
“Yeah.” Han nodded, his mind just barely registering Lando’s words. “Come on—we’ve got to cut this short and get back.” He climbed out of the cockpit seat and checked his blaster. “Something’s about to burn through on Coruscant.”
“You mean all that stuff about Ackbar’s family?” Lando asked, standing up.
“Right,” Han said, heading back toward the Falcon’s hatchway. “If I’m reading Winter right, it sounds like Fey’lya has started a major push toward Ackbar’s territory. Come on, Threepio—you need to lock up behind us.”
“Captain Solo, I must once again protest this whole arrangement,” the droid said plaintively, scuttling up behind Han. “I really feel that to impersonate Princess Leia—”
“All right, all right,” Han cut him off. “As soon as we get back, I’ll have Lando undo the programming.”
“It’s over already?” Lando asked, pushing past Threepio to join Han at the lock. “I thought you told Winter—”
“That was for the benefit of anyone tapping in,” Han said. “As soon as we’ve worked through this contact, we’re going to head back. Maybe even stop by Kashyyyk on the way and pick up Leia.”
Lando whistled softly. “That bad, huh?”
“It’s hard to say, exactly,” Han had to admit as he slapped the release. The ramp dropped smoothly down to the dusty permcrete beneath them. “That ‘staying up late to read’ is the part I don’t understand. I suppose it could mean some of the intelligence work that Ackbar’s been doing along with the Supreme Commander position. Or worse—maybe Fey’lya’s going for the whole sabacc pot.”
“You and Winter should have worked out a better verbal code,” Lando said as they started down the ramp.
“We should have worked out a verbal code, period,” Han growled back. “I’ve been meaning for three years to sit down with her and Leia and set one up. Never got around to it.”1
“Well, if it helps, the analysis makes sense,” Lando offered, glancing around the docking pit. “It fits the rumors I’ve heard, anyway. I take it the neighbors you referred to are the Empire?”
“Right. Winter should have heard something about it if Ackbar had had any luck plugging the security leaks.”
“Won’t that make it dangerous to go back, then?” Lando asked as they started toward the exit.
“Yeah,” Han agreed, feeling his lip twist. “But we’re going to have to risk it. Without Leia there to play peacemaker, Fey’lya might just be able to beg or bully the rest of the Council into giving him whatever it is he wants.”
“Mmm.” Lando paused at the bottom of the ramp leading to the docking pit exit and looked up. “Let’s hope this is the last contact in the line.”
“Let’s hope first that the guy shows,” Han countered, heading up the ramp.
The Abregado-rae Spaceport had had a terrible reputation among the pilots Han had flown with in his smuggling days, ranking right down at the bottom with places like the Mos Eisley port on Tatooine. It was therefore something of a shock, though a pleasant one, to find a bright, clean cityscape waiting for them when they stepped through the landing pit door. “Well, well,” Lando murmured from beside him. “Has civilization finally come to Abregado?”