[Thrawn Trilogy] - 01(10)

Han gave himself a three-count before turning casually to face the voice. “Well, hello, Dravis,” he nodded. “Long time no see. Have a seat.”

“Sure,” Dravis said with a grin. “Soon as you and Chewie both put your hands on the table.”

Han gave him an injured look. “Oh, come on,” he said, reaching up to cradle his mug with both hands. “You think I’d invite you all the way here just to shoot at you? We’re old buddies, remember?”

“Sure we are,” Dravis said, throwing Chewbacca an appraising glance as he sat down. “Or at least we used to be. But I hear you’ve gone respectable.”

Han shrugged eloquently. “Respectable’s such a vague word.

Dravis cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, well, then let’s be specific,” he said sardonically. “I hear you joined the Rebel Alliance, got made a general, married a former Alderaanian princess, and got yourself a set of twins on the way.”

Han waved a self-deprecating hand. “Actually, I resigned the general part a few months back.”

Dravis snorted. “Forgive me. So what’s all this about? Some kind of warning?”

Han frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t play innocent, Solo,” Dravis said, the banter gone from his tone. “New Republic replaces Empire-all fine and sweet and dandy, but you know as well as I do that it’s all the same to smugglers. So if this is an official invitation to cease and desist our business activities, let me laugh in your face and get out of here.” He started to get up.

“It’s nothing like that,” Han told him. “As a matter of fact, I was hoping to hire you.”

Dravis froze, halfway up. “What?” he asked warily.

“You heard right,” Han said. “We’re looking to hire smugglers.”

Slowly, Dravis sat back down. “Is this something to do with your fight with the Empire?” he demanded. “Because if it is-“

“It isn’t,” Han assured him. “There’s a whole spiel that goes along with this, but what it boils down to is that the New Republic is short of cargo ships at the moment, not to mention experienced cargo ship pilots. If you’re looking to earn some quick and honest money, this would be a good time to do it.”

“Uh-huh.” Dravis leaned back in his chair, draping an arm over the seat back as he eyed Han suspiciously. “So what’s the catch?”

Han shook his head. “No catch. We need ships and pilots to get interstellar trade going again. You’ve got ‘em. That’s all there is to it.”

Dravis seemed to think it over. “So why work for you and your pittance directly?” he demanded. “Why can’t we just smuggle the stuff and make more per trip?”

“You could do that,” Han conceded. “But only if your customers had to pay the kind of tariffs that would make hiring smugglers worthwhile. In this case-” he smiled “-they won’t.”

Dravis glared at him. “Oh, come on, Solo. A brand-new government, hard-pressed like crazy for cash-and you want me to believe they won’t be piling tariffs on top of each other?”

“Believe anything you want,” Han said, letting his own tone go frosty. “Go ahead and try it, too. But when you’re convinced, give me a call.”

Dravis chewed at the inside of his cheek, his eyes never leaving Han’s. “You know, Solo,” he said thoughtfully, “I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t trust you. Well, maybe I was curious, too, to see what scam you were pulling. And I might be willing to believe you on this, at least enough to check it out myself. But I’ll tell you right up front that a lot of others in my group won’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’ve gone respectable, that’s why. Oh, don’t give me that hurt look-the simple fact is that you’ve been out of the business too long to even remember what it’s like. Profits are what drives a smuggler, Solo. Profits and excitement.”

“So what are you going to do instead, operate in the Imperial sectors?” Han countered, trying hard to remember all those lessons in diplomacy that Leia had given him.

Dravis shrugged. “It pays,” he said simply.

“For now, maybe,” Han reminded him. “But their territory’s been shrinking for five years straight, and it’s going to keep getting smaller. We’re just about evenly gunned now, you know, and our people are more motivated and a lot better trained than theirs.”

“Maybe.” Dravis cocked an eyebrow. “But maybe not. I hear rumors that there’s someone new in charge out there. Someone who’s been giving you a lot of trouble-like in the Obroa-skai system, for instance? I hear you lost an Elomin task force out there just a little while ago. Awfully sloppy, losing a whole task force like that.”