Star Wars_ The Han Solo Trilogy 01_ The Paradise Snare - A. C. Crispin [115]
“Oh, dear!” Sera said. “Do you mean that the boy is a thief?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying, Mother,” Pavik said.
“I should go and check to see whether anything is missing,” Sera Tharen gasped. “Oh, dear, oh, dear, where shall I have him sleep tonight?”
“Mother, he’s not going to be here, tonight,” Pavik said. “I’m calling security. I’m sure this guy is wanted for all kinds of things.”
“Don’t you dare!” Bria cried. “If you call security I’ll never speak to any of you again! You’re wrong about Han! He had absolutely no idea my family was wealthy when we met. I never told him until we got here!”
“A guy like that has sources to check,” Pavik pointed out. “He probably checked you out within days of knowing you, and found out everything he needed to know.”
“No, he didn’t!”
“Bria … I’m not trying to be an ogre!” Pavik said. “I’m just trying to make you see reason! I don’t want you to be hurt, and I don’t want you to get involved with someone who lives on the wrong side of the law!”
“Han isn’t like that!” Bria cried, then taking a deep breath, she amended, “Okay, I admit that in the past he probably was. But he’s different now. He’s going to enter the Imperial Academy and become an officer. Can’t you give him a chance? He’s trying to change his life!”
“That’s what he’s told you, Bria, but guys like that lie for a living,” Pavik said. “I’m calling security.”
“Oh, dear!”
“No!” Bria stared wildly at her brother, for a moment wishing she were wearing a blaster. She couldn’t let him do this!
Pavik’s hand was actually on the CONNECT button on the comlink, when a voice from the doorway stopped him in his tracks. “Don’t, Pavik. I forbid it.”
All of them turned to see Renn Tharen standing there.
“But, Dad, you don’t know—” Pavik began.
“Yes, I do,” Tharen said. “I’ve been in my study, and the door was open. I’ve been listening to this entire disgraceful scene, and I’m telling you, Pavik, you’re not calling security.”
“But, Renn …” Sera Tharen began. Her husband turned to her, his glance scathing.
“Sera, I’m tired of you trying to use our daughter as a pawn to further your social ambitions. You’re most of the reason she ran away last year. So stop it. Do you understand me?”
“Renn!” Sera Tharen gasped. “How dare you speak to me like that?”
“Because I’m angry, Sera, angry clear through,” Bria’s father snarled. “How can you be so blind? You don’t understand the danger our daughter was in on Ylesia! Look!”
Seizing Bria’s hand, her father dragged her over to stand before her mother. Taking her hands, he thrust them out before his wife’s eyes. “Look, Sera! See her hands? See these scars? Those people mistreated Bria, they made her a slave. She might have died, Sera, if not for Han. I’m grateful to him, even if you don’t have the common decency to realize that! He’s a good kid, and I say that Bria could do far worse.”
“But—” she whispered, wringing her hands and beginning to cry. “Oh, Bria, your poor hands, darling …”
“Not one more word, Sera. I forbid it.”
Sera Tharen subsided into her chair, weeping softly.
Renn Tharen whirled around to confront his son. “Pavik, you’ve become as judgmental and class-conscious as your mother. I’m tired of you, too.” Renn glared at the young man. “You’re talking about a man who risked his life to save Bria from slavery. Bria’s right about him applying to the Imperial Academy. Han Solo is a decent guy. He reminds me of myself when I was his age. There are some incidents in my past I’m not proud of, either. He deserves a chance, not jail. He deserves our thanks, not a call to CorSec.”
When Renn Tharen stopped speaking, silence reigned. Then, with a sobbing gasp, Bria ran to her father and threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Dad!”
Han had walked the entire length of the Tharen estate, and was on his way back when he saw someone coming down the path toward him. It was Bria, and she carried a good-sized bag slung over her shoulder.