THE PARADISE SNARE(15)

Han realized that he was going to have trouble making the rendezvous with the Luck’s shuttle. Would Shrike just abandon him, or would he wait?

Far below him, people were searching the wooded area. Lights strobed the night, and he huddled close to the tree trunk, eyes closed, clinging desperately despite his dizziness. If only his head didn’t throb so …

Han wondered whether they’d bring in bioscanners, and shivered. His skin felt hot and tight, even though the night was cool and breezy.

Dark waned on toward dawn. Han wondered what Dewlanna was doing, whether she’d miss him if the Luck left orbit without him. Finally, the lights went out, and the footsteps faded away. Han waited another twenty minutes to make sure his pursuers were truly gone, then, holding the sack gripped in his teeth, he carefully climbed down, moving with exaggerated care because his head hurt so much. Every jar, even walking, made his head swim, and he had to grit his teeth against the pain. He walked … and walked. Several times he realized he’d been dozing while he walked, and a couple of times he fell down and was tempted to just stay there. But something kept him moving, as dawn brightened the streets and houses around him. Corellian dawns were beautiful, Han noticed dazedly. He’d never before noticed how pretty the colors were in the sky. If only the light didn’t hurt his eyes so … Dawn turned to day. Cool gave way to warmth, then heat. He was sweating, and his vision was blurred. But finally, there it was. The spaceport. By this time Han was moving like an automaton, one foot in front of the other, wishing he could just lie down and sleep in the road.

Before him, now … the Luck’s shuttle! With a gasp that was nearly a sob, the boy drove himself forward. He was almost to the ramp when a tall figure emerged. Shrike. “Where in the blazes have you been?”

There was nothing friendly in the captain’s grasp upon his arm. Han held up the sack; and Shrike grabbed it. “Well, at least you didn’t come back empty-handed,” the captain grumbled. Quickly he sifted through the contents, nodding his satisfaction. Only when he was finished did Shrike seem to notice that Han was swaying on his feet.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Now beyond coherent speech, Han could only shake his head.

Consciousness was fading in and out on him like a jammed transmission.

Shrike shook him a little, then put a hand on the boy’s forehead. When he felt the heat, he cursed. “Fever… should I leave you here? What if it’s contagious?” He frowned, clearly struggling to decide.

Finally he hefted the sack of loot again. “Guess you’ve earned a sick day, kid,” he muttered. “C’mon.” Han tried to make it up the ramp, but then he stumbled and everything went     … dark.

He swam up into partial consciousness a long time later, to the sound of voices arguing, one in Wookiee, the other in Basic. Dewlanna and Shrike.

The Wookiee growled insistently. “I can tell he’s really sick,” Shrike agreed, “but you can’t kill one of my kids with a blaster set on full.

He’ll be okay after a couple of days rest. He doesn’t need a medical droid, and I’m not springing for it.”

Dewlanna snarled, and Han, automatically translating, was surprised at how insistent the Wookiee was being. He felt a furred paw-hand lay something cold on his forehead. It felt wonderful against the heat.

“I told you no, Dewlanna, and I meant it!” Shrike said, and with that, the captain stomped out, cursing the Wookiee in every language he knew.

Han opened his eyes to see Dewlanna bending over him. The Wookiee rumbled gently at him. Han struggled to speak. “Pretty bad …” he conceded, in response to her question. “Thirsty …”

Dewlanna held him up and gave him water, sip by slow sip. She told him that he had a high fever, so high that she was afraid for him.

When Han finished the water, she stooped down and scooped the child up into her arms. “Where… where’re we..” She told him to hush, that she was taking him planetside, to the medical droid. Han’s head was swimming, but he made a great effort. “Don’t…

Captain Shrike … really mad …”

Her answer was short and to the point. Han had never heard her curse before.

He faded in and out as they moved through the corridors, and his next clear memory was of being strapped into the seat of a shuttle. Han had never known Dewlanna could pilot, but she handled the controls competently with her huge, furred hands. The shuttle slipped loose from its moorings, and then accelerated toward Corelia.

The fever was making Han light-headed, and he kept imagining that he heard Shrike’s voice, cursing. He tried to say something about it to Dewlanna, but found he didn’t have the strength to get the words out…