[Han Solo] - 03(99)

“I had to change—or die,” she said, flatly. “And don’t worry, I’m not going to jump up and run away. I need to talk to you, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. If you’ll listen.”

He nodded, grudgingly. “Okay. I’m listening.”

“First of all, let me tell you that I’m sorry for the way I left you.

I’m sorry about a lot of things in my life, but that’s the one I regret most,” she said. “But I had to do it. Otherwise you’d have never made it through the Academy.”

“Fat lot of good it did me,” Han said, bitterly. “I got cashiered less than a year after getting my commission. Cashiered and blacklisted.”

“For rescuing a Wookiee slave,” she said, and smiled at him—a smile that made his heart lurch. “I was so proud when I found that out, Han.”

an wanted to smile back, but the anger was still in control, and he found himself saying, “I don’t want you to be proud of me. I owe you nothin’, sister. I did it all on my own.”

He could tell that gibe hurt her. Color stained her cheeks, and her eyes flashed, then, for a moment, it almost seemed as though she were fighting back tears. Then her face was under control again, cold and chiseled. “I know that,” she said quietly. “But I was still proud.”

“I hear you got a real thing for Wookiees yourself,” Han said, and the edge in his voice was sharp enough to draw blood. “Or so Katarra and Ralera told me.”

“You were there? On Kashyyyk?” She smiled. “I helped to organize the Resistance group there.”

“Yeah, I hear you’re some kinda officer in the Corellian Resistance,” Han said.

“I’m a commander,” she confirmed, quietly.

Han slanted her a look. “Well, now, that’s impressive, ain’t it? For a scared kid who’d never fired a blaster, you’ve come a long way, Bria.”

“I just did what I had to along the way,” she said. “Promotions come fast in the Resistance. You should think about joining up, Han.”

It was said lightly, but some nuance in her tone told Han she wasn’t kidding. “No thanks, sister,” he said. “I’ve seen the Imp forces up close and personal. No way your Rebellion’s got a chance against them.”

She shrugged. “We have to try. Otherwise the Emperor is going to swallow us all whole. He’s evil, Han. I think he engineered that whole business with the Battle of Nar Shaddaa just to get rid of Sam Shild.”

“Oh, yeah,” Han said. “Good old Sam Shild. ‘Darling’ Shild, wasn’t it? You made such a cute couple.”

She winced at the sarcasm. “As I explained to Lando, that wasn’t what it looked like.”

“It looked pretty bad, Bria,” Han said. “Not one of my better days, you know? To see you there, cooing at him …”

Her lips tightened. “I was on assignment. I know how it looked, but Shild wasn’t interested in me that way. I was lucky. But I’ve done things for the Resistance I didn’t much like … and I’ll do them again if I have to. Whatever it takes.”

Han was mulling over what she’d said. “You really think the whole invasion of Hutt space was something the Emperor engineered? But Shild did it! How is that possible?”

“I was with him, Han, and something very strange was going on, believe me,” Bria said. “Shild changed, Han. It was scary. Between one month and the next, he became a different man. Suddenly he was plotting to take over Hutt space, and started talking about overthrowing the Emperor.”

Han shook his head. “That’s crazy.”

“I know. I can’t account for it, except …” she hesitated. “If I tell you, you’ll think I’m losing it.”

“What? Tell me.”

She took a deep breath. “They say the Emperor has … abilities.

That he can influence people to do things. Some kind of mental influence.”

“Like mindreading?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe. I know it sounds impossible, but that’s the only explanation I can come up with that makes sense. Shild was popular and ambitious and corrupt, and he posed a threat to the consolidation of power. So the Emperor just … encouraged . , .

Shild’s ambition until he destroyed himself with that assault on Nal Hutta.”

Han frowned. “What about Greelanx? How did he figure into the plan?

And who killed him? I kept expecting them to pin it on me, but they just hushed it up. I never heard anything about it on the news.” Han repressed a shudder at the memory of standing in that locked room next to Greelanx’s office and listening to that loud, uncanny breathing, that heavy, ominous tread ….