“Because during the war, this was the only place his Bothans ever seined to care about defending-“
He broke off, grabbing Lando’s arm and turning both of them hard to the right toward the central column of the spiral walkway. “What&mdahs;” Lando managed.
“Quiet!” Han hissed, trying to simultaneously hide his face and still watch the figure he’d spotted leaving the ramp one level down. “That Bothan down there to the left-see him?”
Lando turned slightly, peering in the indicated direction out of the corner of his eye. “What about him?”
“It’s Tav Breil’lya. One of Fey’lya’s top aides.”
“You’re kidding,” Lando said, frowning down at the alien. “How can you tell?”
“That neck piece he wears-some kind of family crest or something. I’ve seen it dozens of times at Council meetings.” Han chewed at his lip, trying to think. If that really was Breil’lya over there, finding out what he was up to could save them a lot of time. But Luke was probably sitting in the tapcafe downstairs right now waiting for them : “I’m going to follow him,” he told Lando, shoving his data pad and the city map into the other’s hands. “You head down to the Mishra, grab Luke, and catch up with me.”
“But-“
“If you’re not with me in an hour I’ll try calling on the comlink,” Han cut him off stepping toward the outside of the ramp. They were nearly to the Bothan’s level now. “Don’t call me-I might be someplace I wouldn’t want a call beep going off.” He stepped off the ramp onto the walkway.
“Good luck,” Lando called softly after him.
There was a good scattering of aliens among the humans wandering around Ilic, but Breil’lya’s cream-colored fur stood out of the crowd enough to make him easy to follow. Which was just as well. If Han could recognize the Bothan, the Bothan could probably recognize him right back, and it would be risky to have to get too close.
Luckily, the alien didn’t seem to even consider the possibility that anyone might be following him. He kept up a steady pace, never turning around, as he headed past cross streets and shops and atria toward the outer city wall. Han stayed with him, wishing he hadn’t been so quick to give the city map to Lando. It might have been nice to have some idea where he was going.
They passed through one final atrium and reached a section of warehouse-type structures abutting a vast mural that seemed to have been painted directly on the inner city wall. Breil’lya went straight to one of the buildings near the mural and disappeared through the front door.
Han ducked into a convenient doorway about thirty meters down the street from the warehouse. The door Breil’lya had gone through, he could see, carried the faded sign Amethyst Shipping and Storage above it. “I just hope it’s on the map,” he muttered under his breath, pulling his comlink from his belt.
“It is,” a woman’s voice came softly from behind him.
Han froze. “Hello?” he asked tentatively.
“Hello,” she said back. “Turn around, please. Slowly, of course.”
Han did as ordered, the comlink still in hand. “If this is a robbery-“
“Don’t be silly.” The woman was short and slender, perhaps ten years older than him, with closecut graying hair and a thin face which under other circumstances would look friendly enough. The blaster pointed his direction was some unfamiliar knockoff of a BlasTech DL-18-not nearly as powerful as his own DL-44, but under the circumstances the difference didn’t matter a whole lot. “Put the comlink on the ground,” she continued. “Your blaster, too, as long as you’re down there.”
Silently, Han crouched down, drawing his weapon out with exaggerated caution. Under cover of the motion, with most of her attention hopefully on the blaster, he flicked on the comlink. Laying both on the ground, he straightened and took a step back, just to prove that he knew the proper procedure for prisoners. “Now what?”
“You seem interested in the little get-together yonder,” she said, stooping to retrieve the blaster and comlink. “Perhaps you’d like a guided tour.”
“That would be great,” Han told her, raising his hands and hoping that she wouldn’t think to look at the comlink before putting it away in one of the pockets in her jumpsuit.
She didn’t look at it. She did, however, shut it off. “I think I’m insulted,” she said mildly. “That has to be the oldest trick on the list.”
Han shrugged, determined to maintain at least a little dignity here. “I didn’t have time to come up with any new ones.