THE HUTT GAMBI(76)

“Listen, pal”—Han’s voice dripped sarcasm—”in case it ain’t occurred to you, it’s all over for Nar Shaddaa. Moff Sam Shild has probably already ordered his fleet to assemble out near Teth. We’re shakin’ the dust of that miserable excuse for a moon off our feet for good.” What fleet? Chewbacca wanted to know.

“Oh, each Imperial Moff has his own discretionary ‘peacekeeping’ squadron,” Han said, propping his boots on the console, not bothering to look before he plunked them down. Chewie was relieved to see that he missed the DEC control. Sudden decelerations while in hyperspace were not a good idea.

“No doubt Shild has one, too. His fleet’s probably not the best, but it’ll be more than enough for the mission.”

Chewbacca was confused. Why wouldn’t the Moff’s fleet be the best available?

“Oh, it’s just the way things go in the Imperial Navy. Since Hutt space is out here in the Rim, far from ‘civilization’—that is, Coruscant—I’d bet Sam Shild got stuck with all the older ships and weaponry, while all the newest, best stuff went to Rampa 1 and Rampa 2,” Rampa 17 Chewie asked. He’d thought only Rampa 2 had experienced an uprising. “Yeah, well, when the citizens of Rampa I heard about what was going on, they rose up, too,” Han said. “For all the good it’s gonna do ‘em.”

Chewie commented that he hated the Empire that had enslaved him, and wished he could help bring it down. Han snorted. “Hey, pal, don’t hold your breath. Palpatine’s got more weapons and starships than he knows what to do with. Any rebellion against the Empire is doomed.”

The Wookiee pilot did not believe his partner’s pronouncement, and said so. It made sense to him that at some point the Imperial worlds, tired of Palpatine’s iron fist, would unite and rebel.

Han shook his head sourly. “Never happen, Chewie. And if it did, they’d be doomed. Just like Nar Shaddaa is doomed.”

Chewie commented that it wasn’t the Wookiee way to run away from a fight.

Didn’t Han want to fight back against the Imperial fleet? He was certain that the smugglers were much better pilots—and certainly better shots—than the Imperials. Maybe they could defeat the Imperial attack.

Han laughed out loud at the suggestion.

Annoyed, Chewie’s lips skinned back from his teeth, and he snarled at his human partner.

Han sat up in a hurry, looking startled. Chewie rarely showed temper to the Corellian, and Wookiee anger was not something to be taken lightly.

“Hey, no need to get sore about it! I can’t help it if Nar Shaddaa doesn’t stand a chance! It ain’t my fault!”

The Wookiee growled, low in his throat.

“Okay, okay,” Han soothed. “I’ll definitely warn ‘em, so they can get away. I’ll talk to Mako about it, soon as we’ve reported in to Jiliac, okay?”

Chewbacca subsided, and went back to piloting. But the Wookiee was still thinking, still adding things up. He commented on Han’s ill temper.

“Whaddaya mean, I’ve been hard to live with?” Han was indignant.

“Nothin’s wrong!”

Chewbacca’s comment was short and to the point.

Han flushed. “Whaddaya mean, this has somethin’ to do with a woman?”

he demanded indignantly. “What makes you think that?”

Chewie reeled off a list of reasons, then put forth his best guess as to exactly which woman Han was upset about.

Han cursed, scowled, then, finally, slumped down and put his hands over his face. He rubbed his forehead and groaned aloud. “You’re right, Chewie,” he mumbled. “It was her. Bria. With Sam Shild. I couldn’t believe it. How could she?”

Chewbacca noted that appearances could sometimes be deceiving.

Han shook his head. “Not this time,” he said miserably. “She called him ‘Sam darling.”” The Wookiee wondered whether Bria might be married to the Moff.

Han sighed. “Nope. It wasn’t that … formal … a relationship.

Chewie, I can’t believe she’d do that! It’s so … cheap!”

Chewbacca tried to be comforting, reminding Han that sometimes sentients had to do things they didn’t particularly like because they were necessary. Maybe there were extenuating circumstances in Bria’s case, too.

Han tried to smile. “Thanks, pal. I wish I could say I thought you were right. But …” He shook his head, and subsided into silence.

It was a very silent flight back to the landing platform on Nar Shaddaa.

Han and Chewie reported to Jiliac and Jabba the moment they returned to Nar Shaddaa. The Hutts were not pleased to hear that Sam Shild was no longer in their pay. “We shall have to do some investigating about this fleet and the situation,” Jiliac said. “Come back in two hours, Captain Solo.”