“Ahhhhh …” The deep voice boomed in the massive chest. “I see.
What shall I tell my clan lord? Shall I tell him that you are brazen and greedy, Captain Solo?”
Han grinned, suddenly daring. He was learning that Hutts had a sense of humor—twisted, but definitely a sense of humor. “If you think it would help, Lord Tagta.”
“Ho-HO!” the Hutt leader boomed a mighty shout of laughter. “Well, let me tell you, Captain Solo, there are not many humans with the intelligence to claim those qualities as virtues. But among my people—they are, indeed, sterling attributes.”
“As you say, sir,” murmured Han, not quite sure what to reply to this.
The Hutt Lord bellowed, “Scribe!” in Huttese, and a bipedal droid came scuttling from behind the drapes in the cavernous room. “Yes, Your Impressiveness?”
Tagta waved a hand at the droid and gave it an order in Huttese so rapid that Han had trouble following it. Something about “seals” and “messages.”
Moments later the droid reappeared with a small, palm-sized holocube.
After handing it to the Hutt, it stood back respectfully. Tagta took the little holocube, perused the message it contained, and grunted with satisfaction.
Then, quite deliberately, the Hutt licked one side of it, leaving a green smear.
After holding the cube for a moment, Tagta activated the side of it, and a clear film slid down to cover the greenish smear. “Here, Captain Solo,” the Hutt said, handing Han the holocube. “By this Lord Jiliac will know that I sent you. He is indeed in need of good pilots. Work hard for him, and you will be rewarded. We Hutts are known for our generosity and beneficence to lower life-forms who serve us ably.”
Han took the cube rather gingerly, but it was no longer wet. He looked at the greenish smear, realizing that Jiliac would be able to do a sensor analysis and verify that the holocube had indeed come from his relative.
Clever, even if it is disgusting, he thought.
He bowed deeply, and nudged Chewbacca, who also bowed. “Thank you, Your Excellency!”
Then, clutching his holocube, Han left the Hutt overlord behind. As they were walking down the ramp outside the Hutt mansion, Han insisted on divvying up the credits from the voyage. “Just in case one of us gets robbed,” he explained, to quiet Chewbacca’s protests. “That way one of us is sure to have some money.”
Once back out on the street, Han suggested that they get some food before heading to the shuttleport to catch the next ship for Nar Shaddaa.
Stopping by a flower-seller’s booth, Han asked the proprietor, a spindly humanoid with long, wiry whiskers and tufted ears, whether there was a good restaurant in the vicinity. The sentient directed him to the Starfarer Diner, a few blocks away.
They were halfway there, strolling casually and chatting, when Han suddenly stopped in midsentence and swung around, alarmed—and not even sure why. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a paleskinned humanoid with two long fleshy tails instead of hair. The Twi’lek was just stepping out of a doorway behind him. There was a drawn blaster in his hand. As Han turned, the Twi’lek shouted, in accented but understandable Basic, “Halt, both of you, or I shoot you now!”
Han knew instinctively that if he obeyed the command to stop, he’d wind up dead, sooner or later. He didn’t hesitate for even a second. With an earsplitting yell, the Corellian threw himself to the side, hit the ground, rolled, and came up on one knee, blaster in hand.
The Twi’lek’s weapon spat a blue-green burst. Han dodged.
Stun blast!
Han aimed, fired, and the reddish beam struck his attacker midtorso.
He went down, dead or incapacitated. The Corellian made sure the Twi’lek wasn’t getting up anytime soon, then he turned to look for Chewbacca. The Wookiee was leaning heavily against a parked speeder, dazed. He’d evidently been grazed by the stun beam. Han ran over to him, his heart pounding from the rush of adrenaline. “Did he get you bad, pal?”
With a muffled growl, Chewbacca assured his partner that he’d be fine.
Han peered up into the Wookiee’s furry face, saw that his eyes were clear, the pupils even. Only then did he draw a long breath of relief.
He hadn’t realized until that moment that he was getting used to having the big hairy lug around. If anything had happened to Chewie …
Going over to the Twi’lek, Han knelt down. One glance at the huge blaster wound that had turned the Twi’lek’s chest to blackened slag was enough to tell him the being was dead. Han experienced a quick pang—he’d killed before, but he didn’t like doing it.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to search the dead sentient.