Make sure no other t’landa Til realize that he is dead.”
“Correct.” Durga than recited his ship ID codes, and Fett assured him that he had them.
“I would like to remind you of the terms regarding a Priority bounty,” Fett said. “I will concentrate on reaching the target you have specified, and will take no other bounties until I have delivered the High Priest’s horn to you. And the Priority bounty for Teroenza is three hundred thousand.”
“Correct,” Durga confirmed.
“Fett out.”
The fuzzy holo-image of the armor-clad bounty hunter rippled, then vanished.
Durga then activated his comm for local frequencies, so he could check in with Zier. His Hutt lieutenant had assured him that he had narrowed the search for Teroenza’s successor down to three t’landa Til. Durga would go to interview them personally, and select the new High Priest of Ylesia.
Durga ruminated about how pleasant it would be to have the bloody horn of the High Priest in his two dainty hands. Perhaps he’d have it mounted, and hang it on his wall ….
Over the next two days, Bria Tharen and Han Solo traveled around Nar Shaddaa together, recruiting smugglers and privateers to serve as pilot guides and—in the case of the privateers—potential backup for her Ylesian operation. They stressed the easy pickings to be had on Ylesia, the wealth of spice stockpiled by Besadii.
Both were careful to stick by their “just business” agreement, but Bria sensed a growing tension in Han, and knew that it reflected her own feelings.
He told her about what he’d been doing for the past ten years, and she told him a little about her life with the Resistance. She explained to him that after leaving him on Coruscant, she’d wandered from world to world, constantly fighting her craving for the Exultation. “Two times I actually bought a ticket and stood in line to board a ship back to Ylesia,” she said. “And both times when it came down to it, I just couldn’t. I stepped out of line and went off and collapsed.”
Finally, she’d found a group on Corellia that had helped her deal with her addiction, helped her realize why she felt so empty, so driven.
“It took me months of hard digging into myself,” she said. “Months to figure out why I wanted to hurt myself. I finally got it through my head that just because my mother hated and despised me for not being what she wanted me to be, I didn’t have to hate myself. I didn’t have to destroy myself in some twisted attempt to please her.”
Han, remembering Bria’s mother, gave her a sympathetic glance. “I used to feel cheated that I’ll never know who my parents were. That is ˇ .
. until I met your mom, Bria,” he said. “There are worse things than being an orphan.”
She gave a shaky laugh. “You are right, Han.”
Many smugglers and privateers were very intrigued by Bria’s proposition, and they signed up droves of them. It didn’t hurt that Jabba was backing the enterprise and urging those who piloted for him to go. Many of the pilots who’d worked for him in some capacity were agreeing to be pilot guides.
All the while, the Rebel Alliance was assembling ships out in space so the captains and ground commanders could be drilled on the battle plan.
After Bria and Han had recruited enough smuggler captains so they’d have at least one smuggler per group of Rebel assault ships, they took the Millennium Falcon to rendezvous at the Rebel deep space coordinates—a spot well off the regular shipping lanes, but within one easy hyperspace jump of Ylesia.
Bria was fascinated by the Falcon and suitably impressed by her speed and armament. Han enjoyed showing her around his ship, pointing out all his special modifications. In preparation for this ground assault, he’d finally gotten around to getting Shug and Chewie to help him install that belly gun he’d wanted for so long. Since this was a ground assault, there was a good chance that it would come in handy.
When the Falcon was on an approach vector to dock with the Retribution, Bria smiled at Han. “You showed me yours … now let me show you mine,” she said.
Han laughed, and it was the most relaxed moment they’d had since they’d met. “Beautiful ship,” he said, admiring the Marauder corvette’s clean, streamlined silhouette against the starfield.
They were greeted when they disembarked by the captain of the Retribution, Tedris Bjalin. Han regarded him in astonishment.
“Tedris!” he exclaimed, staring at the tall, balding man in the Rebel uniform. “How in the galaxy did you get here?”
Bria looked from one to the other. “You know each other?”
“We sure do,” Han said, pumping Tedris’s hand, and exchanging backslaps.