Star Wars_ Children of the Jedi - Barbara Hambly [146]
Chapter 21
Even before he and Chewie got up the steps of the lightless house, Han had a bad feeling about things.
“I’m terribly sorry, General Solo.” The Bith in charge of the MuniCenter Records Office—and of the sales, invoice, and workers’ benefits archives of the three major corporations that actually owned Plawal’s central computer—tilted its domed, putty-colored head in the dim shiver of the holo field and regarded with huge black oil-slick eyes the point before it where Han’s holo-phone image would be. “Her Excellency does not appear to be in the building.”
Han glanced out the long windows, to the black fog pierced only by the raveled blurs of the orchard lights. Chewbacca, standing beside the glass, turned his head with a sound between a growl and a moan.
“Can you tell me when she left?” It was even possible, thought Han, that she might have stopped at the Bubbling Mud—which did serve pretty decent meat pies—for dinner, though that was something she liked company for …
“My apologies,” said the Bith politely. “Her Excellency does not appear to have been in the building all day.”
“What?”
“There is no record of her access card in any of the file banks, nor has—”
“Get me Jevax!”
The Bith inclined its head. “I will endeavor to do so, sir. Will you remain at your current location?”
“Yeah, just find him and get him … Uh, thank you,” added Han belatedly, remembering Leia’s repeated admonitions. “I appreciate it. I knew it, Chewie,” he added as the slight image faded, “I knew she shouldn’t have gone out with Artoo!”
The Wookiee made a questioning noise and flipped in his paw the restraining bolt they’d found on the table.
“Of course she pulled it off him,” said Han. “She wouldn’t think any harm of that little can of bolts if he … Well, he did try to murder her, dammit!” He surged to his feet, paced like a caged Endoran vethiraptor to the table where the bolt had lain beside Chewie’s open toolkit.
The Wookiee growled again.
“I know she stands by her friends! But she—”
The holo phone blipped again, and Han leaped at the pickup switch as if it were the cancel toggle on a planetwide self-destruct cycle. But instead of the green local light, the blue star of the subspace receiver flickered on. A moment later Mara Jade’s slim, leather-clad form appeared in the booth.
“Got your coordinates for you.” She held up a yellow plastene wafer. “What’s your receiving speed?”
“Why didn’t you tell us you were after Nubblyk the Slyte?” demanded Han roughly.
“Because I don’t lie to my friends,” replied Mara sharply. “And if that’s all you’ve got to say—”
“I’m sorry.” Han looked away, angry with himself. “But I heard …”
“What’s the matter, Solo?” She took another look at his face and all the sarcasm sponged away like yesterday’s makeup.
“Leia’s disappeared. She went up to the MuniCenter this afternoon and I just found out she never made it there. She’s with Artoo-Detoo … He went haywire last night and tried to kill us, we had him in a restraining bolt but it looks like Leia pulled it off him and took him with her …”
Mara made an extremely unladylike comment and Lando Calrissian appeared behind her shoulder, waxed and combed and dressed in his best purple satin for an evening out.
“What is it?”
Han told him, adding, “We’re waiting on Jevax now. She talked about visiting the city repair center, so maybe she took Artoo with her to get him checked, but it’s after dark already and there’s been too many weird things going on lately.”
“Why’d you ask about Nubblyk?” asked Mara. “Who told you I was after him? I spent all of about twelve hours on that ball of ice and I don’t think I could finger Nubblyk in a lineup if he’d picked my pocket.”
“He told his toady the Emperor’s Hand was after him,” said Solo. “The Emperor’s Hand was on the planet, and he had to get out of there before she found him. Nubblyk disappeared about seven years ago—after you’d said you’d been and gone. I figured you’d come back …”
He fell silent, just from the change in her eyes.
For a moment she said nothing, but