[Thrawn Trilogy] - 01(25)
The arrival ceremony was short and, for the most part, unintelligible, though Threepio did his best to keep up a running translation of the five-part harmony the whole thing seemed to have been written in. The song/welcome ended and two of the Bimms stepped forward, one of them continuing the melody while the other held up a small electronic device. “He offers greetings to Distinguished Visitor Councilor Leia Organa Solo,” Threepio said, “and hopes your discussions with the Law Elders will be fruitful. He also requests that Captain Solo return his weapon to the ship.”
The droid said it so matter-of-factly that it took a second for the words to penetrate. “What was that last?” Leia asked.
“Captain Solo must leave his weapon aboard the ship,” Threepio repeated. “Weapons of violence are not permitted within the city. There are no exceptions.”
“Terrific,” Han murmured into her ear. “You didn’t tell me this one was coming.”
“I didn’t know this one was coming,” Leia countered quietly, giving the two Bimms a reassuring smile. “Doesn’t look like we’ve got any choice.”
“Diplomacy,” Han growled, making a curse out of the word. Unfastening his gun belt, he wrapped it carefully around the holstered blaster and set the package up inside the hatchway. “Happy?”
“Aren’t I always?” Leia nodded to Threepio. “Tell them we’re ready.”
The droid translated. Stepping aside, the two Bimms gestured back the way they’d come.
They were perhaps twenty meters from the Falcon, with the sounds of Chewbacca sealing the hatchway coming from behind them, when something abruptly occurred to Leia. “Luke?” she murmured.
“Yes, I know,” he murmured back. “Maybe they figure it’s just part of the proper Jedi’s outfit.”
“Or else their weapons detector doesn’t read lightsabers,” Han put in quietly from Leia’s other side. “Either way, what they don’t know won’t hurt them.”
“I hope so,” Leia said, forcing down her reflexive diplomatic misgivings. After all, if the Bimms themselves hadn’t objected to it … “Good skies, would you look at that crowd?”
They were waiting where the path exited the trees-hundreds of Bimms, standing perhaps twenty deep on both sides of the way, all clothed in the same tooled yellow. The official reception committee shifted to single file and started down the gauntlet without giving the crowd a second glance; bracing herself, Leia followed.
It was a little strange, but not nearly as uncomfortable as she’d feared it would be. Each Bimm reached out a hand as she passed, touching her with a feathery lightness on shoulder or head or arm or back. It was all done in complete silence, and complete order, with the aura of perfect civilization about it.
Still, she was glad that Chewbacca had decided not to come. He hated-rather violently-being pawed by strangers.
They passed through the crowd, and the Bimm walking nearest Leia sang something. “He says the Tower of Law is just ahead,” Threepio translated. “It’s the location of their planetary council.”
Leia peered over the heads of the leading Bimms. There, obviously, was the Tower of Law. And next to it … “Threepio, ask what that thing is beside it,” she instructed the droid. “That building that looks like a three-level dome with the sides and most of the roof cut away.”
The droid sang, and the Bimm replied. “It’s the city’s main marketplace,” Threepio told her. “He says they prefer the open air whenever possible.”
“That roof probably stretches to cover more of the dome framework when the weather’s bad,” Han added from behind her. “I’ve seen that design in a few other places.”
“He says that perhaps you can be given a tour of the facility before you leave,” Threepio added.
“Sounds great,” Han said. “Wonderful place to pick up souvenirs.”
“Quiet,” Leia warned. “Or you can wait in the Falcon with Chewie.”
The Bimmisaari Tower of Law was fairly modest, as planetary council meeting places went, topping the three-level marketplace beside it by only a couple of floors. Inside, they were led to a large room on the ground floor where, framed by huge tapestries covering the walls, another group of Bimms waited. Three of them stood and sang as Leia entered.
“They add their greetings to those given you at the landing area, Princess Leia,” Threepio translated. “They apologize, however, for the fact that the talks will not be able to begin quite yet. It appears that their chief negotiator became ill just moments ago.”