Star Wars_ Rebel Force 03_ Renegade - Alex Wheeler [28]
With a swift chopping motion, the stormtrooper smacked Han's blaster out of his hand, then headbutted him, hard. Han shook off the ringing in his ears to deliver a solid punch to the guard's stomach. But the white armor was impervious to the blow. "Little help here?" Han called to Lore, who was watching the fight, looking almost bemused.
"Sure," Lore said, as Han wrestled the stormtrooper to the ground, trying to pin him down long enough to reach for one of the fallen blasters. But every time he got the upper hand, the stormtrooper struck back, with a fist to Han's nose or an armored boot to his gut. And Lore was, inexplicably, taking his time. Out of the corner of his eye, Han saw him scoop up first the stormtrooper's fallen blaster, then Han's. Only then—Han darted out of the way just in time—did Lore take his shot.
The stormtrooper went limp. His helmet slipped off, and Han, as always, experienced a moment of surprise to see the human face beneath the white plastoid mask. "Took you long enough," Han snapped at Lore. "But thanks."
"Don't thank me yet," said Lore, raising his blaster.
Han didn't have enough time to ask what he was doing.
Only enough time to think: should have known better.
And then Lore swung, hard.
The weapon struck the back of Han's head.
Lights out.
When Han woke up, he was propped against the wall of the cargo hold, his arms tied behind his back with a loop of fibra-rope. Lore was packing the final vials of glitterstim into the toolboxes. He smiled wryly at Han, without a hint of shame.
"Don't tell me this is payback for Dubrillon," Han said. He groaned at the sharp pain shooting through his head with every motion.
"Oh, please," Lore said. "This isn't personal, it's business."
"Someone trusses me up like a rong boar, I take that personally," Han warned him.
"Come on. Why split the payment in half when I can take it all? You'd have done the same thing, if I hadn't done it first."
"Never," Han said.
Lore laughed harshly. "Come on, Solo, you're the one who showed me the ropes in this game. Is it my fault you forgot the first thing you taught me?"
"Don't chew nerf steaks with your mouth open?"
"Trust no one," Lore said. "Look out for yourself, because no one else will."
He grinned. "This must be a proud moment for you. The student surpasses the teacher." Moving quickly, he relieved the stormtrooper of his uniform, and then donned the armor himself. "Now, because we're old friends, you get a choice,"
he told Han, brandishing the stormtrooper's comlink. "I leave you for the Imperials to find…or I put you out of your misery, here and now."
"How about you untie me and we forget this whole thing ever happened?"
Han suggested.
Lore didn't bother to respond.
Han ran out of patience. "Okay then, how about you take that blasted comlink and shove it in your frinking—"
"We have an intruder in the aft cargo hold, sector five," Lore said into the comlink, affecting the flat monotone of a stormtrooper. "Repeat. Intruder in aft cargo hold, sector five. Send reinforcements."
Moments later an alarm sounded, and the room lit up with flashing red lights.
Lore holstered his blaster, hoisted the tool cases, and slipped through the door, offering Han a farewell salute. "Remember, nothing personal!" he shouted over his shoulder.
"Nothing personal. Right. And I'm a gundark's uncle," Han grumbled, as a thunder of footfalls rumbled down the hall, and a sea of white armor flooded through the open door.
It looked like the reinforcements had arrived.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The stormtroopers yanked him to his feet.
"This is all a big mistake," Han said. "I'm just here to fix the cargo lifts."
"The cargo lifts don't need fixing," one of the stormtroopers responded, marching him into the corridor.
"All a big misunderstanding