THE PARADISE SNARE(106)
Bria stared down, shaking. If she were to lean a little farther, just a tiny bit farther, she’d fall down that shaft. It would be effortless. She wouldn’t have to jump, no. Just … lean …
and if she did that, she’d never have to feel the pangs of longing for the Exultation again. She’d be free from the pain, the craving. She’d be free …
Both drawn and repelled, Bria swayed, leaning farther toward the edge .
.
. farther …
“What are you doing?”
A hand grabbed her shoulder, yanking her back, away from that yawning drop into nothingness. Bria looked up dazedly, to see Han staring at her, his features twisted with worry. “Bria, honey! What were you doing?”
She put a hand to her head, shook it dizzily. “I … I don’t know, Han.
I felt … so strange.” Gulping, black dots dancing before her eyes, she struggled not to faint or be sick.
Han pushed her head down between her knees, then knelt beside her as she trembled. He stroked her hair, hugged her tightly as her shudders intensified. She was shaking all over. “Easy … easy … just take it easy.”
Finally, Bria looked up, feeling her shivers abate a little. “Han, I don’t know what happened. I felt so strange for a moment there. I think I almost fell . .”
“You did,” he said grimly. “It’s called vertigo, sweetheart. I’ve seen people get it before, out in space, when they look ‘down’ and lose their bearings. C’mon. I know which way to go, now. We’re gonna take a horizontal tube for a ways.”
In the tube, Bria huddled against Han, and he held her gently.
Gradually, her shivering eased. “Doesn’t it bother you?” she asked.
“This world? It oppresses me. Fascinates me, but oppresses me, too.”
“Don’t forget, I grew up in space,” Han reminded her. “Not much room for vertigo or claustrophobia there. I must’ve gotten adjusted long ago, because this place doesn’t bother me. But you … you grew up on Corellia, with a sky above you all the time. No wonder you freaked.” “I’m not going to try looking down again,” Bria said. “Good idea.”
After several more turbolift descents, they reached the little hostel where Han had reserved a room and paid for it in cash out of their dwindling funds. “When are you going to get our money at the Imperial Bank?” Bria asked, throwing herself down on the bed and stretching out with a tired sigh.
“I’ll go first thing tomorrow morning,” Han said. “Listen, honey, you look beat. I’ll go get some food and bring it back here. We’ll turn in early.”
“But don’t you want to see the sights?” Bria asked, thinking privately that his plan sounded like the best thing she’d heard all day.
“Plenty of time for that. I just want to eat and then sleep. Maybe watch the vid-unit, see what kind of propaganda Imperial City is putting out these days.”
“Okay,” Bria said, smothering an exhausted yawn. “I like your plan.”
The next morning Han left Bria munching a pastry in their room and sipping stim-tea. “I’ll be back in an hour or so,” he told her. “Once I’ve got the money, we’ll head over and find that bar I told you about.
What’s its name?”
“The Glow Spider,” she repeated dutifully.
“And where is it?”
She recited the location.
“That’s great,” Han said approvingly. “If I get lost, you can get me there.”
She chuckled. “Is this place harder to navigate than space?”
“In some ways,” Han said. He gave Bria a kiss between the eyes. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, see you later.”
With a cheerful wave, he was gone. Bria lay back on the bed with a sigh.
Maybe I’ll just sleep late, she thought, stretching luxuriously.
The Imperial Bank of Coruscant took up three levels in a monstrous, top-level skyscraper. Han walked up to the doors, and looked in. The lobby was enormous, all smoked glassine, black duracrete and marble, and dully shining transparisteel.
Taking a deep breath, and still missing the weight of his blaster, he walked in and up to the high, shining counter. The lobby was bustling with business types and citizens, and Han both looked and felt out of place in his old pilot’s coverall, now stripped of all insignia, and his battered old jacket and boots.
The more uncomfortable he felt, the more arrogantly he held himself.
He had to wait in line for several minutes, but then found himself facing a woman clerk. She was young and pretty, but her gaze was impersonal—until Han gave her his best lopsided grin. Almost against her will, she smiled back. “Good morning,” Han said. “I opened an account a little while ago, on Corellia, knowing I’d be comin’ here.