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Han stood there for a long moment; then with a shrug he unbuckled the tie-down strap from around his thigh, then released the big buckle that fastened his gunbelt. Wrapping the belt around the holster and weapon, Han handed it over to the official and received a numbered token in return. “Just give this to the official before boarding your return transport,” the man said, “and you’ll receive your weapon, sir.”

Han and Bria got back into line. Han grimaced at how light his right leg felt without the customary weight against his thigh. “I feel naked,” he mumbled to Bria. “Like I’m in one of those nightmares when you show up for something important and suddenly realize you forgot your pants.”

She began to giggle at the idea. “I didn’t know men had dreams like that, too.”

“I don’t have ’em often,” Han said grimly.

“Well, if nobody’s armed, then it’s still even,” she pointed out reasonably.

Han gave her a look as they started down the aisle of the surface shuttle. “Honey, don’t be naive. There’s an underworld on this planet, and you can bet your pretty eyes they’re armed.”

She glanced over at him as they fastened their seat restraints. “How do you know?”

“I took a look at the Imperial guards. They were all armed. I saw security guards on Alderaan, and none of the ones I saw were armed. So it’s a good bet whoever they would be going up against wasn’t either. But these Imperials are armed, and wearing armor, too. Gotta be a reason for it.”

Bria shrugged. “I have to admit, your reasoning makes sense.”

“I’m gonna feel strange walking into that bank tomorrow, with no blaster at my side,” Han said, looking sadly at his empty thigh.

“Come on, Han,” she whispered, “of all the places in the world, they wouldn’t let you walk into a bank armed!”

“Why not?” Han asked. “It’s not like a guy could swipe the credits. They don’t keep hardly any credit disks there, or coins either. It’s all electronic data entry onto personal IDs. Good system,” he added thoughtfully. “Saves on guards.”

“Well, it’s a moot point, since you had to leave your blaster,” she said, watching the city-world grow in the viewport. Soon they’d be entering the atmosphere.

“Yeah. Listen, Bria, I guess this is as good a time as any to discuss contingency plans,” Han said.

“For what?” she demanded, alarmed. “Are you expecting trouble?”

“Keep your voice down,” he cautioned. “Nope, I’m not expecting trouble. This should be a smooth operation, a piece of cake. ‘Jenos Idanian’ is clean, ’cause I only used him to open the account and deposit the money. He should be laser-proof. But, baby … I learned long ago to always plan for trouble.”

“Okay,” she said. “What do you want to plan for?”

“That’s a big city, a big world,” Han pointed out, just as the shuttle kissed the upper edges of the atmosphere. “If anything happens and we get separated, I want to set up a meeting place.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” she said. “Where?”

“The only address I know, ’cause I memorized the location a long time ago, is a bar called ‘The Glow Spider.’ That’s where I’ll be contacting Nici the Specialist,” he said, keeping his voice very low, but not … quite … whispering. Whispers drew attention, Han had learned long ago, where low-voiced conversations did not.

“That’s the guy who can get people IDs so perfect that even the Imperials can’t detect them?”

“Yeah. He’s got contacts with the people in the Imp offices who actually make the IDs. They’re perfect, trust me. Okay, so it’s Nici the Specialist. He hangs out at The Glow Spider. Got that?”

“Nici the Specialist. Glow Spider,” she repeated. “Where is it?”

“Level 132, megablock 17, block 5, subblock 12,” Han recited. “Memorize that perfectly. This world is a maze, Bria.”

Silently she repeated the location to herself over and over, until she could say confidently, “I’ve got it.”

“Good.”

When they reached the “surface”—the rooftop landing field where the shuttle landed—Han left Bria with their scanty luggage while he went over to an automated tourist center to get information