[Thrawn Trilogy] - 01(24)

Leia found his hand, squeezed it. He squeezed back, to show that he wasn’t mad. Though she probably already knew that. “We’d better get going,” she told Mon Mothma, using her grip on Han’s hand to start steering him away from the table. “We still have to collect our droids before we leave.”

“Have a good trip,” Mon Mothma said gravely. “And good luck.”

“The droids are already on the Falcon,” Han told Leia as they wove their way around the various conversations that had sprung up between the Councilors and staff members. “Chewie got them aboard while I came here.”

“I know,” Leia murmured.

“Right,” Han said, and left it at that.

She squeezed his hand again. “It’ll be all right, Han. You, me, and Luke together again-it’ll be just like old times.”

“Sure,” Han said. Sitting around with a group of half-furred, half-size aliens, listening to Threepio’s precise voice all day as he translated back and forth, trying to penetrate yet another alien psychology to figure out what exactly it would take to get them to join the New Republic- “Sure,” he repeated with a sigh. “Just exactly like old times.”





Chapter 6


The waving alien trees shied back like some sort of huge tentacles from the landing area, and with the barest of bumps Han set the Millennium Falcon down on the uneven ground. “Well, here we are,” he announced to no one in particular. “Bimmisaari. Fur and moving plants a specialty.”

“None of that,” Leia warned him, unstrapping from the seat behind him and running through the Jedi relaxation techniques Luke had taught her. Political dealings with people she knew were relatively easy for her. Diplomatic missions with unfamiliar alien races were something else entirely.

“You’ll do fine,” Luke said from beside her, reaching over to squeeze her arm.

Han half turned. “I wish you two wouldn’t do that,” he complained. “It’s like listening to half a conversation.”

“Sorry,” Luke apologized, climbing out of his seat and stooping to peer out the Falcon’s nose window. “Looks like our reception committee coming. I’ll go get Threepio ready.”

“We’ll be there in a minute,” Leia called after him. “You ready, Han?”

“Yeah,” Han told her, adjusting his blaster in its holster. “Last chance to change your mind, Chewie.”

Leia strained her ears as Chewbacca growled out a curt reply. Even after all these years she still couldn’t understand him nearly as well as Han could-some subtle level of harmonics in the Wookiee’s voice, apparently, that she had trouble picking up.

But if some of the words were less than distinct, the overall meaning came through crystal clear. “Oh, come on,” Han urged. “You’ve been fawned over before-remember that big awards thing back at the Yavin base? I didn’t hear you complaining then.”

“It’s all right, Han,” Leia put in over Chewbacca’s response. “If he wants to stay aboard with Artoo and work on the stabilizers, that’s fine. The Bimms won’t be offended.”

Han looked out the nose window at the approaching delegation. “I wasn’t worried about offending them,” he muttered. “I just thought it’d be nice to have a little extra backup along. Just in case.”

Leia smiled and patted his arm. “The Bimms are very friendly people,” she assured him. “There won’t be any trouble.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Han said dryly, pulling a comlink from a small storage compartment beside his seat. He started to clip it to his belt; changed direction in midmotion and fastened it to his collar instead.

“Looks good there,” Leia said. “Are you going to put your old general’s insignia on your belt now?”

He made a face at her. “Very funny. With the comlink here, all I have to do is casually switch it on and I’ll be able to talk to Chewie without being obvious about it.”

“Ah,” Leia nodded. It was a good idea, at that. “Sounds like you’ve been spending too much time with Lieutenant Page and his commandos.”

“I’ve been spending too much time sitting in on Council meetings,” he countered, sliding out of his seat and standing up. “After four years of watching political infighting, you learn the occasional value of subtlety. Come on, Chewie-we’ll need you to lock up behind us.”

Luke and Threepio were waiting when they got to the hatchway. “Ready?” Luke asked.

“Ready,” Leia said, taking a deep breath. With a hiss of released airseal the hatchway opened, and together they walked down the ramp to where the yellow-clad, half-furred creatures waited.