[Han Solo] - 03(32)

When Han awoke in the morning, the celebration was over, and Chewie and Malla, he was informed, had gone off into the woods for that time of privacy that was the Wookiee equivalent of a honeymoon. Han was sorry . .

. in a couple of days his negotiations with Katarra would be concluded, the Falcon would be reloaded with her new cargo, and he’d be leaving Kashyyyk. He wouldn’t get to tell Chewie goodbye.

But you couldn’t expect a guy to remember his best friend on his wedding night, Han mused, with a hint of regret. Besides, he fully intended to come back to Kashyyyk again, so it wasn’t as though he’d said goodbye to Chewie forever ….

Safe in the privacy of his office on Nal Hutta, Durga the Hutt wriggled closer to Myk Bidlor’s holo-image as it solidified. His bulbous, slit-pupiled eyes protruded even further in his eagerness as he demanded, “You have news about the autopsy results? You have identified the substance?”

“Your Excellency, this substance was so rare that we could not at first identify it, or be certain as to its effects,” the senior forensic specialist looked tired and harried—as though he really had been working night and day, as he claimed. “But our tests on that substance, and our tracing of it, is now conclusive. Yes, the substance is a poison. We have traced its origin to the planet Malkii.”

“The Malkite poisoners!” Durga exclaimed. “Of course! Secret assassins who specialize in exotic and almost undetectable poisons . .

. who else could come up with a substance that would prove fatal to a Hutt? My people are very difficult to poison …. ” “I am aware of that, Your Excellency,” Myk Bidlor said. “And this substance—so rare that we have been unable to find a name for it—is one of their crowning achievements in toxins. We call it X-1 for want of a better name.”

“And X-1 does not occur in nature anywhere on Nal Hutta,” Durga said, wanting to make absolutely sure. “This could not possibly have been an accident.”

“No, Your Excellency. X-1 must have been deliberately administered to Lord Aruk.”

“Administered? How?”

“We cannot be certain, but ingestion seems the most likely method.”

“Someone fed my parent a fatal dose of poison,” Durga said, his voice going cold and deadly with rage. “Someone is going to pay … and pay .

. . and pay.”

“Uh … not exactly, Your Excellency.” The specialist licked his lips nervously. “The scheme was not nearly so … obvious … as that. It was actually … rather ingenious.”

If it was that clever, it must certainly have been a Hutt, Durga thought.

He glared at the scientist. “What, then?”

“The substance is deadly in large quantities, Lord Durga. But in small quantities, it would not kill. Instead, it would concentrate in the brain tissues, causing the victim to experience a progressive deterioration of the thought processes. And the substance is also highly addictive. Once the victim grew accustomed to ingesting it in high enough doses, the abrupt withdrawal of the substance would cause the symptoms you described—wracking pain, convulsions, and death.” He took a breath. “And that, Lord Durga, is why your parent died. Not from the X-1 in his system … but from its abrupt withdrawal.”

“How long,” Durga said, gritting the words out, “would this substance have to have been given to my parent for him to become addicted to it?”

“I would suspect a period of a few months, Lord Durga, but I cannot say for certain. Weeks, at minimum. It would take time to build up the dosage until the withdrawal would prove quickly fatal.” The specialist hesitated.

“Lord Durga, our investigations also revealed that X-1 is very expensive.

It is produced from the stamens of a type of plant that grows only on one world in the galaxy—and the location of that world is a sworn secret held by the Malkite Poisoners. So only a person or persons of great wealth could have purchased enough of it to kill your parent.”

“I see,” Durga said, after a moment. “Continue with any tests that may shed further light on the subject, Bidlor. And send me all of your data. I intend to find out just where that X-1 came from.”

Bidlor bobbed in a nervous bow. “Certainly, Your Excellency. But ˇ .

. sir … these investigations are not … inexpensive.”

“Price is no object!” Durga snarled. “I must know, and I will pay what it takes to find the truth! I will find the source of that X-1, and I will trace it to whomever fed it to my parent! Besadii’s resources are my resources! Do you understand, Bidlor?”