[Han Solo] - 03(124)

Chewie made a sympathetic, mournful sound.

“Well, we have to get moving,” Han said. “Tell you what, keep an eye on the time, and trot through the compound. Maybe they dropped some vials of glitterstim or something. I’ll scour Teroenza’s living quarters. I think he had some valuables in there. Meet me back here in seventeen minutes, pal.”

“Hrrrrrrnnnnnnggggggghhhh!”

The Wookiee took off.

Han scoured the treasure room and Teroenza’s apartment, finding a few odds and ends, and a sobbing Ganar Tos. Han looked at the old humanoid coldly.

“You are lucky you never married her,” he said. “Get outta here, Tos.

This building is gonna blow in fifteen minutes.”

The ancient Zisian scuttled out the door like a bug. Han snorted in disgust and ransacked the apartment.

When he carried a sack of minor collectibles out to the Falcon, Han looked around for Chewie. Hurry up, furball, he thought.

He went inside the ship to warm her up, and then heard Chewie’s roar, demanding that Han come out and see what he’d found!

Han’s heart leaped. A box of glitterstim vials!

He raced out of the ship, only to stop short in confusion. Chewbacca stood there with a group of big-eyed, ragged children, hollowcheeked and scared.

He held the littlest tyke in his arms. The other eight looked to be between the ages of four and twelve.

Han stared. “What? Where in blazes did they come from?” Chewbacca explained that he’d been scavenging amid the deserted buildings, when he’d heard sobbing down in a cellar at the back of the dorms. These children had apparently been born to some of the Pilgrims, and forgotten by their Exultation-addicted parents in the aftermath of the raid.

All the children were human, and Han guessed they were Corellian. He groaned aloud. “Chewie! You were supposed to find somethin’ valuable!”

Chewbacca indignantly pointed out that children were valuable.

“Only if we sell the little darlings as slaves,” Han snarled.

Chewie’s upper lip drew back, and he snarled, too.

Han raised his hands. “Okay, okay, I was just kidding! You know I’d never deal in slaves! But what are we gonna do with them?”

Chewbacca pointed out that since the buildings were going to blow up in less than five minutes, now was not a good time to argue about the best course of action.

Han scowled. “Okay, kids. Get on board. C’mon, c’mon. I can rustle up some emergency rations I suppose …. ” Two minutes later, the Falcon took off, and Han circled once around the Colony. Below him, the buildings blossomed one by one into giant fireballs. After a few hours, there would be nothing left but charred, slagged remains to be re-conquered by the jungle ….

Durga, Lord of Besadii, stared down at the Ylesian nightside through the viewport of his yacht in disbelief. Infernoes blossomed, clearly visible from space. The former sites of the colonies were marked by massive forest fires, whipped by the ever-present winds.

There were survivors, Durga knew that. The Nova Force troopers who’d surrendered … old Ganar Tos. They’d contacted Durga aboard his yacht from a few portable comm units they’d salvaged. The moment the Hutt yacht achieved orbit, there they were, yammering to be rescued.

But of the factories and warehouses … nothing was left except burning rubble.

Gone … Durga couldn’t believe it. Between one day and the next—in a matter of hours ….

Gone. All gone.

Durga drew a deep breath and thought about the call he’d received only minutes ago from Prince Xizor. A pleasant, reassuring call, reminding Durga that he still owed Black Sun credits, but that in the wake of this disaster, Xizor would be happy to work out payment arrangements.

The Black Sun leader had hinted that he’d be pleased to help Besadii rebuild the Ylesian enterprise.

No, thought Durga. Not again …

For one thing, the Rebels had carried away thousands of Pilgrims, and Xizor’s intelligence indicated that they seemed to have found a “cure” for the Exultation addiction. With that many Pilgrims telling the truth about Ylesia, it would be hard to gain new recruits.

And the t’landa Til High Priest whom Zier had recruited had taken one horrified look at the planet, and flatly refused to have anything to do with the whole scheme.

No, Durga thought. I’ll try something else next time.

And there would be a next time, of course. He’d find another way to make Besadii richer than ever. And if he, Durga, had to serve Prince Xizor, well, then, he would rise to the top of Black Sun.

His immediate goal was to become a Vigo. And after that … perhaps he’d challenge Xizor himself. Or even the Emperor. Durga knew he was clever, and he figured he was just as capable of ruling Imperial space as anyone ….