Star Wars - The Han Solo Trilogy - Rebel Dawn Read online

  Han eyed his friend. You mean you missed Vuffi Raa?

  Well . . . how can you miss a droid? But . . . you know, Hah, he was really a companion. There were times I didnt even think of him as mechanical. Id gotten used to having the little guy around, you know? So when the little vacuum cleaner went off with his kinfolk, I did find myself actually... missing him.

  Han thought about what it would be like to lose Chewie, and could only nod in silent agreement.

  The two sat quietly for a moment, sipping their drinks, enjoying the companionship. Finally Hah fought back a yawn, and stood up. Gotta get some sleep, he said. Tomorrows going to be a big day.

  See you at the tables, Lando said, and they parted.

  Sabacc is an ancient game, dating back to the early days of the Old Republic. Of all the games of chance, sabacc is the most complex, the most unpredictable, the most thrilling-and the most heartbreaking.

  The game is played with a deck of seventy-six card-chips. The value of any card-chip can alter throughout the game at random intervals, via electronic impulses transmitted by the randomizer. In less than a second, a winning hand can change to a bomb out.

  There are four suits in the deck sabers, staves, flasks and coins. Numbered cards range from positive one to positive eleven, and there are four cards of r ank the Commander, the Mistress, the Master and the Ace, with numerical values of positive twelve to fifteen.

  Sixteen face cards complete the deck, two of each type, with assorted zero or negative values the Idiot, the Queen of Air and Darkness, Endurance, Balance, Demise, Moderation, the Evil One and the Star.

  There are two different pots. The first, the hand pot, is awarded to the winner of each hand. In order to win the hand pot, a player must have the highest card total that is less than or equal to twenty-three-either positive or negative. In case of a tie, positive card value beat negative card value.

  The other pot, the sabacc pot, is the game pot, and can only be won in two ways-with a pure sabacc-that is, card-chips totaling exactly twenty-three, or an idiot array, consisting of one of the Idiot face cards, plus a two, and a three-literally, 23--of any suit.

  In the center of the table is an interference field. As the rounds of bluffing and betting proceed, sabace play-ers can freeze the value of a card by placing it into the interference field.

  The Cloud City Sabacc Tournament had attracted over one hundred high-rollers from worlds all over the galaxy. Rodians, Twileks, Sullustans, Bothans, Devaro-nians, humans... all these and more were represented at the gaming tables. The tournament would last for four intensive days of play. Each day, roughly half of the players would be eliminated. The number of tables would dwindle, until only one table remained, where the best of the best would compete during that last hand.

  Stakes were high. Winners stood a good chance of walking away with two or three times the ten-thousand-credit buy-in-or even more.

  Sabacc was not traditionally a spectator sport the way mag-ball or null-gee polo was, but, since only players were allowed in the tournament hall, the hotel had arranged a huge holo-projection lounge for those who wished to watch the tournament. Companions of play-ers, hangers-on, eliminated players and other interested sentients wandered in and out of the lounge, keeping an eye on the tournament, silently rooting for his, her or its favorite to win.

  There was a ranking list displayed beside the holo, IDing the players, and showing the progress of the play. On this, the second day of the tournament, about fifty players clustered around ten tables. The ranking beside their names showed that Han Solo had made it through the first day of play on luck and by the skin of his teeth. Hed lost the sabacc pot, but had won enough hand pots so that he was still a contender.

  One of the onlookers in the lounge was rooting for Hah to win, though the Corellian had no idea She was anywhere within parsecs of Bespin-and, if Bria Tharen had anything to say about it, he wouldnt find out. In her years of working with the Corellian resis-tance, Bria had become an expert at disguise. Now her long, red-gold hair was hidden beneath a short black wig, her blue-green eyes covered by bio-lenses that turned them as dark as her hair. Carefully inserted padding in her elegant business outfit made her look voluptuous and muscled instead of slender and wiry. The only thing she couldnt disguise was her height- and there were many tall human women.

  She stood at the back of the lounge, watching the holo intently, hoping for another close-up of Han. Silently, she rejoiced that hed made it this far. If only hed win, she thought. Han deserves a big break. If he had a lot of credits, he wouldnt have to risk his life as a smuggler. . . .

  For a moment, the holo showed a close-up of Han table. Bria saw that his opponents today were a Sullus-tan, a Twilek, a Bothan and two humans, one male and one female. The woman was evidently from a heavy-gee planet, judging from the thick, corded muscles in her neck, and her short, stocky build.

  Bria knew little about sabacc, but she knew Han Solo-even after being separated from him for seven years now, she knew him. She knew every line of his face, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, or narrowed when he was angry or suspicious. The shaggy tufts of his hair, perennially overdue for a haircut. She could still recall the shape of his hands, the fine hairs on the backs of them ....

  Bria knew Han Solo so well that she realized she could still tell when he was bluffing... as he was at the moment.

  Smiling confidently, Han leaned across the table to push another heap of chips into the center. Seeing the size of his bet, the Sullustan hesitated, then threw in her hand. The two humans also folded, but the Bothan was made of sterner stuff. He met Han bet, and then, ostentatiously, raised it by a goodly amount.

  Brias expression didnt change, but her hands curled into fists at her sides. Will he fold, or play the hand through and hope his bluff will work?

  The Twilek pushed another card-chip into the inter-ference field, and matched the bet. All eyes turned to Hah.

  The Corellian grinned as though he hadnt a care in the world. Bria could see his lips move as he issued some verbal challenge or wisecrack, then he pushed forward another stack of credit-chips . . . such a huge bet that Bria bit her lip. If he lost his hand, hed bomb out. There was no way he could cover it!

  The Bothan glanced from side to side, for the first time seeming uncertain. Finally, he tossed in his hand. The Twilek head-tails twitched with frustration and nerves.

  Finally, slowly, the Twilek laid his hand down. Hans grin broadened, and he reached forward to scoop up yet another hand pot. Did he genuinely have a winning hand, Bria wondered, or was I right? Was it all a bluff?

  The Sullustan, her droopy jowls working, made a sudden grab for Hans card-chips, but the dealer spoke up, clearly warning her against such an action. By now the dealer would have signaled for a change in the card-chip values, anyway.

  Bria nodded emphatically at the holo. Great! Keep it up, Han! Beat them! Win!

  Beside her, someone snarled, then spoke in raspy, hissing tones, May all the Blights of Barabel curse that villain Solo! He wins again! He must be cheating!

  Bria glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw a huge Barabel female, obviously a very irritated Barabel. The corners of her mouth twitched. Han has such a way with people . . . what do you suppose he did to make her so mad?

  Something rustled on Brias other side, and she turned to find her aide, a Corellian named Jace Paol, beside her. The man lowered his voice until even Bria could barely hear him, though his mouth was barely a handspan from her ear. Commander, the representa-tives from Alderaan have arrived. They are on their way to the meeting site.

  Bria nodded. Ill be right up, Jace.

  As her aide left the lounge, Bria checked her expen-sive datapad (a dummy, she committed as little as pos-sible of her real business to any readable form), smiled vaguely at the Barabel, and left the lounge. Time to get on with her mission here in Cloud City.

  When shed discovered that Cloud City would be hosting the big sabacc tournament, Bria had
realized that this was the ideal location for a top-secret meeting between representatives of several of the rebellions. Resistance groups were growing by leaps and bounds on many Imperial worlds, and it was essential to estab-lish links between them. But such meetings had to be kept clandestine. The Imps had spies everywhere.

  Any intelligence operative knew that the easiest place to hide was in a crowd. And Cloud City was pretty far from the Imperial Core, so the Imps didnt pay it much attention. A big tournament provided perfect cover. With so many ships coming and going, both alien and human, a few humans, a Sullustan and a Duros meeting in a hotel conference room on Cloud City would arouse little interest from anyone.

  Bria wouldnt admit even to herself that part of her reason for selecting Cloud City during the tournament was that shed hoped to catch a glimpse of Han Solo. She couldnt be sure hed attend, of course, but know-ing Han, when there was the chance of winning big, he was there, ready and eager.

  As she rode the glidewalk to the nearest turbolift, Bria imagined removing her disguise, then going to Hans room late that night. He would still have vivid memories of the last time hed seen her, when shed been posing as Moff Sam Shilds mistress, but surely hed believe her when she explained-that shed been spying for the Corellian resistance, and that there had been nothing between her and Shild.

  So after shed told him the truth about their last en-counter, they would talk. Perhaps theyd sip some wine. After a while, theyd hold hands. And then...

  The Rebel operative closed her eyes as the turbolift swept her upward amid the crystalline and pastel splen-dor of the Yarith Bespins fifty-story atrium. Perhaps, when shed explained everything, Hah would want to join the resistance, help his fellow Corellians as they plotted to free their planet from that tyrant Emperor who held so many worlds in a death-grip.

  Perhaps .... Bria envisioned the two of them, doing battle shoulder to shoulder on land or in space, fighting bravely, covering each others backs during the battles, i winning victories over the Imperial forces... then hold- i ing each other close when the days fighting was over. Bria couldnt imagine anything better than that. Feeling the turbolift decelerate, she sighed and opened her eyes. Fantasies were all very well... some-times they were all that kept her going. But she couldnt allow them to interfere with her mission.

  As the turbolift doors slid open, she was ready. Mov-ing with confident strides, she exited the lift and headed down the carpeted corridor.

  When she reached the meeting room, she tapped out her coded signal, and was admitted. She glanced at Jace, and his nod confirmed that hed checked the room for surveillance devices and found it safe. Only then did Bria turn to greet the other members of the conferen ce.

  The first representative to step forward was a typi-cally mournful-faced, blue-skinned Duros, Jennsar So-Billes. He had come alone, as had Sian Tevv from Sullust. Bria greeted the two aliens warmly, thanking them and their respective groups for allowing them to make the dangerous journey-and it was dangerous. just last month one of the high-ranking Rebel leaders from Fibrin had been captured while on his way to such a conference. The Ishi Tib was forced to suicide in or-der to avoid the Imp mind-probes.

  Alderaan had sent three representatives, two human and one Caamasi. The senior member of the delegation was a middle-aged man with grizzled hair and beard, one Hric Dalhney, Deputy Minister of Security, and a trusted member of Viceroy Bail Organas cabinet. Ac-companying him was a young girl, not even out of her teens, with long, crystal-white hair. Dalhney introduced her as Winter, commenting that they were posing as father and daughter as their cover during this trip. The non-human member of the delegation was a Caa-magi. Bria was intrigued by him, never having met one before. Their species was now somewhat rare in the galaxy.

  Caamas had been essentially destroyed after the Clone Wars, thanks to the efforts of the Emperors min-ion, Darth Vader, but it was a little-known fact that many of its people had managed to flee to Alderaan and lived there, mostly in seclusion.

  The Caamasis name was Ylenic Itkla, and he intro-duced himself as an advisor to the Viceroy of Alderaan. Tall, even taller than Bria, the Caamasi wore a single kilt-like garment and jewelry. Generally humanoid in appearance, Ylenic was covered in golden down, with purple stripes marking his face. His eyes were large, dark and held a faint air of calm sadness that touched Bria, knowing what sufferings this being must have witnessed.

  Ylenic said little as the delegates exchanged greet-ings, but something about him impressed Bria. She re-solved to seek out his opinions if he did not offer them. The Caamasi had an air of quiet power, of confidence, that told the Rebel Commander that this was a being to be reckoned with.

  After a few minutes of chitchat, Bria seated herself at the long table, and formally brought the meeting to or-der. Fellow Rebels, she said, speaking with the quiet authority of someone who had done this many times be-fore, I thank you for risking your lives in our cause. We of the Corellian Rebel movement are contacting other underground groups like our own, urging all the various Rebel groups to unite. Only as a strong, cohe-sive group can we have any hope of confronting the Empire that is strangling our worlds, and killing the spirit of our peoples.

  Bria took a deep breath. I know what a daunting and dangerous proposal this is, believe me. But only if we can unite, form an alliance, can the Rebel groups have any hope of eventual victory. As long as we remain fragmented, planet-bound groups, we are doomed to failure.

  She paused. The Corellian movement has long con-sidered this proposal. We are fully aware what a radical change this would entail-and how difficult such an al-liance would be. As long as we are individual groups, the Empire cannot wipe us all at one blow. If we were to unite, they might conceivably be able to destroy all of us in one battle. We also know how taxing it can be for different species to work together. Disparate ethical and moral systems, ideologies, religions-not to men-tion equipment and weapon design differences-all of these things can present problems.

  Bria faced her onlookers steadily. But, my friends, unite we must. Somehow we must find ways to work around our differences. Surely we can do that... and thats the subject of this conference.

  The Duros representative tapped his fingers on the table. Your words are stirring, Commander. In spirit, I agree with them. But let us face facts here. In asking the non-human worlds to ally with you, you are asking us to put ourselves at far greater risk. Everyone knows the Emperors disdain for non-humans. If an alliance challenged Palpatines forces, and lost, the Emperors wrath would be mostly directed at the non-human worlds. He might well destroy us as a lesson to the hu-man Rebels.

  Bria nodded. Your point is well taken, Jennsar. She glanced around the table. Minister Dalhney, what are your thoughts?

  We of Alderaan have supported the Rebel move-ment from the beginning, the man said. We have pro-vided intelligence, funding, and technical expertise. But this talk of battles is anathema to us. Alderaanian cul-ture is built on the absence of weapons and violence. We are a peaceful world, and the way of the warrior is abhorrent to us. Count on us to support your efforts- but I cannot imagine that we would ever be able to join you as combatants.

  Bria gazed at Dahlney somberly. It is possible, Min-ister, she said, that Alderaan may not have the option to refrain from violence. She turned to the little Sullus-tan. Sian Tevv, what are your initial thoughts?

  Commander, my people are so crushed beneath the heel of the Empire that few of them have the where-withal to plot any kind of rebellion. The little allens jowls quivered, and his dark, liquid eyes were sorrow-ful. Though many complain about the Imperidl troops under their breaths, only a handful of my people have ever dared to openly resist. Our caves are places of fear. The Soro Suub Corporation essentially controls my world, and their biggest client is the Empire. If we were to join a Rebel Alliance, it would cause civil war!

  Bria sighed. Itg going to be a long conference, she thought bleakly. I recognize that all of you have valid concerns she said, keeping her voice level and neutr
al. But it wont hurt anything, or commit you to anything, simply to discuss these issues, right?

  After a moment, the delegates from the three worlds agreed to talk. Taking a deep breath, Bria started in ....

  I cant believe Ive made it this far, Han thought wearily, as he eased himself into the seat at the one re-maining sabacc table. It was night on the fourth day of the tournament, and only the finalists were left. If only my luck holds out a little longer...

  Slowly he stretched the kinks out of his back, wishing he could sleep for about twenty hours. The past few days had been grueling... hours of unending play, with only a few breaks for meals or sleep.

  The other finalists had also taken their places around the table. A diminutive Chadra-Fan, a Bothan male, and a Rodian female. Han wasnt sure whether the Chadra-Fan was a male or a female. Both sexes wore the same long robes.

  As Han glanced around at his fellow players, the last player, another human, sat down opposite Han in the last empty chair. Hah groaned inwardly. Somehow I knew this would happen. What chance can I have against a professional like Lando ?

  Han was very conscious of the fact that he was probably the only amateur player at the table. It was a fair bet that the others, like Lando, made their primary living by winning at sabacc.

  For a moment he was tempted to just call it quits, walk away. To lose now, after all these days of play...

  Lando nodded tightly to his friend. Han nodded back.

  The dealer approached. In most games of sabacc, the dealer actually played for credits, but in tourna-ment games, the dealer only dealt the card-chips and monitored the game... he or she was prohibited from playing.

  The deder was a Bith. The alien large, five fingered hands featured both an opposable thumb and little fin-ger, giving the dealer considerable dexterity as he de.tit. The lights of the monstrous chandelier in the ballroom gleamed on the aliens large, bare, cranium.

  The dealer ostentatiously opened a fresh pack of card-chips and riffled them, then triggered the randomizer several times, thus demonstrating that nobody could predict the order the card-chips would be dealt. After this initial demonstration, the randomizer itself altered the values of the card-chips at random intervals.