[Thrawn Trilogy] - 01(60)

Luke looked up sharply, as if sensing the flow of Leia’s thoughts. “We were talking about Lando’s smuggler contacts,” he said. The message was clear: this was not the time to ask him about it.

“Right,” Han said quickly. Apparently, he’d gotten the hint, too. “I need to know which of your marginally legal friends you can trust.”

The other shrugged. “Depends on what you need to trust them with.”

Han looked him straight in the eye. “Leia’s life.”

Seated on Han’s other side, Chewbacca growled something that sounded startled. Lando’s mouth fell open, just slightly. “You’re not serious.”

Han nodded, his eyes still locked on Lando’s face. “You saw how close the Imperials are breathing down our necks. We need a place to hide her until Ackbar can find out how they’re getting their information. She needs to stay in touch with what’s happening on Coruscant, which means a diplomatic station we can quietly tap into.”

“And a diplomatic station means encrypt codes,” Lando said heavily. “And quietly tapping into encrypt codes means finding a slicer.”

“A slicer you can trust.”

Lando hissed softly between his teeth and slowly shook his head. “I’m sorry, Han, but I don’t know any slicers I trust that far.”

“Do you know any smuggler groups that have one or two on retainer?” Han persisted.

“That I trust?” Lando pondered. “Not really. The only one who might even come close is a smuggler chief named Talon Karrde-everyone I’ve talked to says he’s extremely honest in his trade dealings.”

“Have you ever met him?” Luke asked.

“Once,” Lando said. “He struck me as a pretty cold fish-calculating and highly mercenary.”

“I’ve heard of Karrde,” Han said. “Been trying for months to contact him, in fact. Dravis-you remember Dravis?-he told me Karrde’s group was probably the biggest one around these days.”

“Could be,” Lando shrugged. “Unlike Jabba, Karrde doesn’t go around flaunting his power and influence. I’m not even sure where his base is, let alone what his loyalties are.”

“If he has any loyalties,” Han grunted; and in his eyes Leia could see the echoes of all those fruitless contacts with smuggling groups who preferred to sit on the political fence. “A lot of them out there don’t.”

“It’s an occupational hazard.” Lando rubbed his chin, forehead wrinkled in thought. “I don’t know, Han. I’d offer to put the two of you up here, but we just don’t have the defenses to stop a really serious attack.” He frowned into the distance. “Unless … we do something clever.”

“Such as?”

“Such as taking a shuttle or living module and burying it underground,” Lando said, a gleam coming into his eye. “We put it right by the dawn line, and within a few hours you’d be under direct sunlight. The Imperials wouldn’t even be able to find you there, let alone get to you.”

Han shook his head. “Too risky. If we ran into any problems, there also wouldn’t be any way for anyone to get help to us.” Chewbacca pawed at his arm, grunting softly, and Han turned to face the Wookiee.

“It wouldn’t be as risky as it looks,” Lando said, shifting his attention to Leia. “We should be able to make the capsule itself foolproof-we’ve done similar things with delicate survey instrument packs without damaging them.”

“How long is Nkllon’s rotation?” Leia asked. Chewbacca’s grunting was getting insistent, but it still wasn’t loud enough for her to make out what the discussion was all about.

“Just over ninety standard days,” Lando told her.

“Which means we’d be completely out of touch with Coruscant for a minimum of forty-five. Unless you’ve got a transmitter that would operate on the sunside.”

Lando shook his head. “The best we’ve got would be fried in minutes.”

“In that case, I’m afraid-“

She broke off as, beside her, Han cleared his throat. “Chewie has a suggestion,” he said, his face and voice a study in mixed feelings.

They all looked at him. “Well?” Leia prompted.

Han’s lip twitched. “He says that if you want, he’s willing to take you to Kashyyyk.”

Leia looked past him to Chewbacca, a strange and not entirely pleasant thrill running through her. “I was under the impression,” she said carefully, “that Wookiees discouraged human visitors to their world.”

Chewbacca’s reply was as mixed as Han’s expression. Mixed, but solidly confident. “The Wookiees were friendly enough to humans before the Empire came in and started enslaving them,” Han said. “Anyway, it ought to be possible to keep the visit pretty quiet: you, Chewie, the New Republic rep, and a couple of others.”