[Legacy Of The Force] - 02(31)

“Come on out, Solo,” said the voice. It was a man, probably young. He didn’t identify himself: so he wasn’t CorSec. Chancer. Out for a bit of glory, a reward. “Thought nobody would spot your ship, did you?”

Han held his breath, keeping an eye on the play of light that told him someone was creeping back and forth in front of the drive housing. He was trapped under a hunk of metal with only one way out. That was toward his attacker. Fine. He could do that, too. It only made him mad-mad that he hadn’t set the intruder alert again, and even madder that someone was on his ship. It was the ultimate insult.

Lying flat under the housing, he had a 150-degree arc in front of him.

He flicked the blaster to the continuous fire setting with his thumb and braced his forearm on the deck. There was blood on the back of his hand: he must have scraped himself on something sharp. He hadn’t felt a thing.

What if this guy had a gang backing him up? “Come and get me, kid.”

Boots moved again. “You’re stuck.”

Han swung a stream of fire, left to right, just to make sure he hit something. There was a loud shriek of surprised pain. “And your dancing days are over.”

Someone thudded onto the deck with a grunt of pain, and blasterfire hit something, because Han saw the flash and smelled the burn: but he hadn’t killed anyone, and that meant he was still pinned down under the drive housing. He was working out just how fast he could get out from under the housing and realizing it wouldn’t be a fast exit at all when he heard a startled “Uhh!” and a distinctive and very welcome sound.

Vzzzmmmm.

A lightsaber cut an arc through the air, once, twice, three times. Then there was silence. He waited, breathless.

“You can come on out now, old man.” The voice was Leia’s. Han detected a slight edge to it. “I’ve cleared up the mess for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Ever seen a Bothan well-spider?” Leia peered through the gap, on all fours. “They fight like you. They fire strands of caustic silk out of their burrows at predators. I couldn’t help but be reminded. That and the gangly legs.”

Han eased himself out of the drive housing space, realizing for the first time how many bruises and scrapes he’d have in the morning. It was one thing thinking you were as fit and fast as you ever were, but healing wasn’t quite so quick at sixty as it was at twenty.

“You think you’re funny, Princess, but you’re not …”

“You’re welcome. I thought I’d keep an eye on you.”

“Because you sensed danger?”

“That, and I know how you shut the whole world out when you’re thinking about this ship.”

“Yeah, love’s blind.”

Han dragged himself out, catching his scalp on something and cursing. When he straightened up, Leia was standing over what Han could only describe as a dead guy. He was in civilian clothing and looked about thirty. He wouldn’t be seeing thirty-one, that was for sure.

Leia held the lightsaber hilt in one hand, visibly jumpy. She tossed her head as if the novelty of having shoulder-length hair instead of a braid almost to her waist was taking some getting used to.

“Suits you,” said Han.

“Feels weird … like my whole head’s lighter.”

“They say really long hair is aging for mature women, anyway.”

“You looking for trouble, nerf herder?”

“Like we don’t have enough?”

“I think we’d better disappear right now.”

“What about the body?”

“Dump it out the air lock when we’re clear.”

“When did a nice girl like you learn to do things like that?”

“You taught me.”

“Nice to know I have my uses.” Han secured the drive housing cover plate, and they headed for the cockpit. It was like old times again, but old times he really didn’t want to keep reliving.

“Where to?” said Leia.

“Coruscant,” Han said. “For spare parts.”

“And nobody on our tail there. Not trying to kill us, anyway.”

“Luke can read me the riot act instead.”

“At least the droids and the Noghri will be happy to have us back.”

Han fired up the Falcon’s drive and hoped for the best. “I was planning on coming back once I’ve fixed the drive.”

“That’s smart,” said Leia. She fell into the role of copilot automatically now. It was almost like having Chewie: almost, but that was a space not even Leia could fill. “Is this some macho thing? There’s a time when a man’s got to stop running and all that guff?”

“I’m going to be ready for Thrackan when the time comes.”