THE HUTT GAMBI(43)

“And you’ll have Solo,” Fett promised.

As Teroenza stood watching, Boba Fett turned and walked away. Teroenza strained his excellent hearing, but he could hear nothing.

Soundlessly, Fett vanished through the door. The High Priest knew he wouldn’t see him again, until the day he brought Han Solo back to Ylesia, to face a terrible fate.

Just wait, Solo, he thought. You are a dead man. You just don’t know it ˇ .

yet.





5


The Thirteenth Bounty Hunter Two months and three bounty hunters later, Han and Chewbacca were well on their way to saving the credits they’d need to lease a ship of their own.

Jabba and Jiliac were sticklers when it came to keeping schedules, but they paid well if their orders were followed to the letter.

There were no further attacks on the Hutt yachts. But it was obvious to Han that a confrontation was brewing between Desilijic and Besadii ˇ . .

he knew that Jiliac’s messengers had made some kind of proposal to Aruk the Hutt’s representatives. Aruk had come back with a request for a face-to-face conference. Han gathered that such conferences were highly unusual in Hutt society. He kept his eyes and ears open, wondering if he’d be ordered to fly Jabba and Jiliac to attend the meeting.

Han and Chewie worked long hours, but sometimes days went by between missions. During their off-hours, they hung out with the other smugglers in the Corellian sector, playing sabacc and other games of chance.

Always ready for entertainment, and intrigued by novelty, Han was attracted one day by a huge holosign on one of the ancient, though still maintained, hotelcasinos. Headlining at The Chance Castle was a stage magician who was, by all reports, one of the best illusionists in the galaxy.

Her name was Xaverri. Han checked out the admission price, and when he discovered they could afford it, he suggested to Chewbacca that they attend a magic show that night.

Han didn’t believe in magic any more than he believed in religion.

But he’d had some experience at sleight of hand in learning pickpocketing and card tricks, and he enjoyed trying to figure out how each trick was done.

Chewbacca proved strangely reluctant to go. He whined and shook his head, telling Han that they should go out with Mako that night, or over to see Roa, who had bought a small, one-man snub fighter that pirates had salvaged, and was working on it. Several times Han and Chewie had given him a hand fixing it up.

Han pointed out that they could help Roa any night, but that Xaverri was only scheduled to appear for a week’s run.

Chewie shook his head, silent, but obviously unhappy. Han stared at the Wookiee, wondering just what in the name of blazes was wrong with him.

“Hey, pal, what’s the matter? This would be fun!”

Chewie just grunted and shook his head, not answering. Han regarded him, puzzled, when suddenly he had a flash of insight. Wookiees were still a primal people. They’d incorporated and adapted advanced technology so it fit into their society, but they weren’t naturally technological. Wookiees were a very intelligent species who had learned to pilot spaceships through hyperspace, but they’d never built any of their own. Wookiees who left Kashyyyk—though that was rare now that the Empire had declared Kashyyyk a slavelabor world—did so on ships built by other sentients than themselves.

Wookiee society still contained rites and customs that many citizens of the Empire would consider primitive. Chewie had his own beliefs, and they included a certain amount of what Han regarded as superstition.

Wookiee legends contained frightening tales of supernatural beings that prowled, hungered, and thirsted by night, as well as stories of evil magicians and sorcerers who could work their will on others for nefarious purposes.

Han stared at his hairy partner for a long moment. “Hey, Chewie,” he said, finally, “you know as well as I do that what they’re calling ‘magic’ in Xaverri’s act ain’t nothin’ but a bunch of simple tricks and nonsense, right?”

Chewbacca hrrrrnnnned, but he didn’t sound too positive about it. Han reached up and ruffled the hair on the top of the Wookiee’s headˇ Dewlanna had often caressed him in just that way. It was the Wookiee equivalent of a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Believe me, Chewie,” he continued, “these stage magicians don’t actually do real magic. Not the kind in Wookiee legends. What this Xaverri does is all sleight of hand, like what I can do with cardchips. Either that or it’s done with holo-projections or mirrors or something like that. No real magic.

Nothing supernatural.”

Chewie whined, but he was beginning to look reassured. “I’ll bet you that if you come with me tonight, I can spot how this Xaverri does all of her tricks,” Han said. “How ‘bout it, pal, is it a deal?”