Star Wars_ Legacy of the Force 07_ Fury - Aaron Allston [44]
The war raged on.
There were other annoyances. Caedus’s subordinates reported that Dr. Seyah, failed spy of Centerpoint Station, had disappeared minutes before they moved in to arrest him. In subsequent days, no sign of him turned up, suggesting strongly that Caedus had been right to suspect him—he was obviously a double agent and had been rushed to safety by his Corellian masters.
Allana was responding with less and less enthusiasm to her time with Caedus. He had to keep his frustration in check and wait for her to get over missing her mother. Perhaps it was time to work on her a bit, to diminish her affection for Tenel Ka by judiciously erasing some of her memories here and there. Some faint misgivings stayed his hand for the time being, but if the situation continued worsening, he would take that step.
And the war raged on.
KASHYYYK, MAITELL BASE, HANGAR HOUSING THE MILLENNIUM FALCON
Han eased the Falcon off the duracrete roadway and into the shadow of her usual hangar. The ship, he knew, was covered in soot from the firefighting mission they had just concluded—no firebreak mission, this time they had gone in to rescue a unit of Wookiee firefighters who had been cut off by fire moving more rapidly than expected. He was sure the freighter was covered in soot because Leia, in the copilot’s seat, certainly was, from head to foot, except for a goggle-shaped patch of pink around her eyes and a breather-mask-shaped oval around her mouth. The Wookiees she had brought aboard were similarly discolored by, and stank of, smoke.
As soon as the Falcon entered the hangar and Han’s eyes adjusted to the deep shadow there, he and Leia spotted a new visitor. Parked in the bay next to the Falcon’s was a long yacht with curved lines and a swirling sky-blue-and-green hull. Its exterior, too, was marred with patches of soot and burn, evidence of its own recent contribution to the firefighting mission.
Han winced. “Do you suppose, when Lando’s back is turned, we could get some Wookiee teenagers to vandalize her? Put graffiti all over her hull?”
Leia’s tone was more thoughtful. “I thought Lando was stationed halfway across Kashyyyk.”
“He was.”
Lando was nowhere in sight. Han and Leia had set the Falcon down, ushered the Wookiee firefighters off, and called in for routine refueling before Lando made his appearance. The boarding ramp of the Love Commander came down and he stood at its top, clad in purple synthsilk and a flowing velvet hip cloak in black.
But it wasn’t the same old Lando. His face was fixed, nearly emotionless, his complexion waxy.
Leia didn’t wait for him to descend. She started up the ramp toward him. “Lando, what’s wrong?”
“I have to go.” Lando managed two faltering steps down the ramp before Leia reached him. She held him there, steadied him on his feet, then turned and assisted him down the ramp.
Han tried to keep his own voice steady, unperturbed, but Lando’s appearance set off alarm bells in his head. “What’s going on, old buddy?”
At the bottom of the ramp, Lando reached into a tunic pocket. He fetched forth a datacard, which he looked at blankly for a moment before handing to Han. “That’s everything you need for the Love Commander. Registration, annotated schematic, everything. Thought I’d donate her to the cause. Firefighting, side missions…You can sell her if you’re ever strapped for credits.”
“Lando, what’s wrong?” By this point, Leia could no longer keep a sharp edge of worry out of her voice.
“It’s Tendra…”
Leia paled, and Han felt a jolt of dread. Tendra had to be dying—or already dead—for Lando to be so affected.
It wasn’t fair. Lando had found his perfect match long after he had given up on the thought that he ever would, and so much of his and Tendra’s life together had been interrupted by protracted crises, including the Yuuzhan Vong War.
And now this…
Lando was clearly struggling to