Star Wars_ Darksaber - Kevin J. Anderson [69]
Leia sat in the hammerhead-shaped command compartment of her Corellian Corvette, a diplomatic ship much like the blockade runner in which Darth Vader had captured her while searching for the stolen Death Star plans near Tatooine. See-Threepio hovered beside her, newly polished so that he gleamed under the bridge lights. Han, though dressed in less diplomatic finery than he had worn during Durga’s visit, fidgeted in his clean uniform.
“They’ve spotted us,” Han said as alarms began to go off.
“They already knew we were coming,” Leia said. “We sent the Hutts full notice at least … half an hour ago.” She chuckled. “Okay,” she said more seriously to the crew, “time for our performance: I’m going to make a transmission.” She stepped to the upper bridge, alone under the lights. She held the rail, primped herself for a moment, then composed a miffed expression on her face. “Please open a channel,” she said.
When the Hutts responded, Leia began her tirade. “Why is there no official escort fleet? I expected Lord Durga to have taken care of that personally. What have you been doing all this time?”
The Hutt respondent was a lowly worm, thin and with a narrow head, obviously not a powerful crime lord like Jabba or Durga. His huge eyes flicked from side to side as he spoke in Basic. “Um, excuse me, Madam President, but Lord Durga is not here. We regret that we are unable to meet—”
“What do you mean, Durga isn’t here?” Leia snapped. “He sent us an express invitation to visit him at our convenience. I trust you’re not implying that he lied to the New Republic’s Chief of State—or do you mean to suggest that he is in fact retracting his offer to repay our hospitality? This is an outrage! How does he expect to form some sort of treaty with the New Republic? I’d say the chances are becoming vanishingly small, in light of this snub.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the scrawny Hutt.
“I’m sorry, Madam President, but Lord Durga is away … on business.” He waved his stubby hands, totally flustered. “If only you had given us some warning,” the Hutt continued, “we would have prepared for your visit. But as it is, we have no facilities—”
Leia glared at him coldly. “You don’t actually expect us to turn around and meekly go home after the enormous expense and trouble we went to for this highly visible expedition, do you? I hardly think Lord Durga would want to risk such a galaxy-spanning diplomatic incident. Don’t be absurd.”
The timid Hutt looked around, as if seeking someone else to consult, but found no one. “What do you expect me to do?” he wailed. “I don’t have the authority to—”
“Nonsense,” Leia said, and raised her chin haughtily. “We are coming down at Durga’s personal invitation —what further authority could you need? We expect to be well treated. See to it!” She signed off, then burst out laughing.
Han came over and hugged her. “I think you enjoyed that,” he accused, trying to restrain spasms of laughter. He stepped back and applauded her performance.
Threepio meanwhile was totally baffled. “Oh dear! Perhaps we should have given the Hutts more time, Mistress Leia. At least they would have had the opportunity to prepare. I’m afraid they’re so flustered now, this could put them completely off balance.”
“That’s the point!” Han and Leia said, raising their voices in unison.
Threepio staggered backward and shook his golden head. “Well, I’m sure this sort of approach wasn’t covered in any of the protocol programming I received. Once again, I feel I’ll never understand human behavior.”
Leia sat next to Han at one of the discussion tables in her ready-room, and she reached over to clasp his hands. “Thanks for coming with me, Han. I’m glad we’re finally going somewhere together, instead of splitting up all the time.”
“Yeah, I like it too,” he said with a lopsided grin. “It’s a nice change.”
She sighed, then her lips tightened. “We can’t cut them any slack. The Hurts