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Chewbacca growled.

"All we need to know about him is that he's willing to pay us forty thousand,"

Han said.

Chewbacca growled again, and Han rolled his eyes.

"No, it's got nothing to do with the fact that it's an Imperial station," Han said.

"I told you, I don't care what Leia and the rest of them think of me."

Chewbacca issued a low moan.

"Well of course we'll let them know if we find out something that can help,"

Han said irritably. "But that's not why I'm doing it. This is just a job, that's it."

"And Han Solo never lies down on the job," a familiar voice growled from behind him. "Ain't that right?"

Han reached for his weapon—then froze as he felt the cold muzzle of a blaster press against the back of his neck.

The Balosar crept into the dim alley behind the gambling club, his palm extended. The man in the tattered gray robe was waiting, his face still shrouded by a heavy hood.

"He says he needs to think it over," Griggs Pe'et said. "But if I know Solo, he'll take the job. You got my payment?"

The man slipped a credit chip out of his utility belt. "You'll find an additional ten thousand, to cover your silence," he said. "You'll get the rest when Captain Solo accepts the job. And, as agreed, if Solo is successful, you can keep the shipment."

The Balosar shoved the chip into a fold in his loose-fitting robe. "I still don't get it. You hire me to hire Solo, to steal a shipment that you don't even want?

Doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't have to make sense. Not to you," the man said. "You just have to give Solo the coordinates of the Imperial station and then forget you ever met me."

"Met who?" the Balosar asked, and slipped away into the darkness.

The man waited a moment, tipping his face up, as if breathing in the night.

Only once he'd assured himself that he was truly alone, did he speak. "It is done."

CHAPTER SIX

Jaxson slammed his glass down on the table. He narrowed his eyes and leaned across the table toward Luke. "I said, the Rebellion is full of traitors," he repeated. "So if Biggs was a Rebel, then he was a traitor, too."

Luke stood up. "That's enough!"

"Oh yeah?" Jaxson asked, rising to his feet. He stood several centimeters taller than Luke, and his arms were broad and muscled from long days working on his family's moisture farm. "You gonna stop me, Wormie?"

"Maybe I am," Luke said, balling his fists.

"Guys, take it easy," Windy said.

"Luke, just let it go," Leia advised.

"Yeah, Luke," Jaxson simpered, in a parody of Leia's voice. "Be a good little boy and let it go."

Luke knew he should listen to Leia.

But.

Han wouldn't let it go, he thought to himself. And after all, he'd told all his friends he was a pilot now, a smuggler, a tough and dangerous guy. Shouldn't he act the part?

Shouldn't he defend Biggs's honor, the only way a tough and dangerous smuggler would know how?

"Biggs was a hero," Luke said. And then he punched Jaxson in the stomach.

" Oooof! " Jaxson wheezed, doubling over. But in an instant, he was upright again, fists swinging wildly. He lunged at Luke. Windy jumped into the fight, trying to separate the two. Jaxson swung, Luke ducked, and Windy took the blow on his chin. He wheeled backward, slamming into Fixer, who toppled over in his chair.

"Watch it!" Fixer shouted, climbing to his feet and lashing out at Windy.

The station was still mostly empty, but there were a few stragglers loitering around the table who'd been waiting too long for a good fight. In Anchorhead, not much else ever broke the monotony of the day. Soon they were all on their feet, cheering and stomping and throwing punches and kicks at random.

A slim, rat-faced Ranat went sailing through the air and crashed through a window, spraying the station with a shower of transparisteel, There were a few cries of "traitor!" and "Imperial slime!" but it was obvious that most people didn't know what the fight was about nor did they care. Tosche Station was filling up, as passersby heard the commotion and hurried in to join the fun. A stocky,