Star Wars_ The Han Solo Trilogy 02_ The Hutt Gambit - A. C. Crispin [22]
That had been a tough few days, all right, Han thought, remembering exactly how he’d earned the decoration. His right thumb rubbed the bloodstripe as he pulled his right boot on. The bloodstripe was designed so it could be removed and reaffixed to each new pair of trousers. Han had discovered that most non-Corellians had no idea what a mark of distinction it was—many just thought it was pure decoration.
Which suited Han just fine. He wore it, since it was his only remaining military decoration, but he never discussed where and how he’d earned it.
Some things it was better not to dwell on.
He finished getting dressed, pulling on a pale gray shirt and a darker gray vest. He hurried, knowing they must be approaching Nar Shaddaa by now.
His small travel knapsack slung over his shoulder, Han went out into the corridor and moved toward the observation lounge. This transport hauled both passengers and cargo, so it had few amenities, but it did have a large viewport. Watching the stars was something that amused and soothed most beings, and almost every transport ship had one.
When Han reached the lounge, he discovered Chewbacca was there already, staring out at the stars. Han went over to the viewport and stood beside him, looking at their destination.
They were racing toward a large planet, bigger than Corellia, that boasted brown deserts, sickly green vegetation, and slate-blue oceans. Han recognized it at once. He’d been there before, five years ago. He nudged Chewie. “Nal Hutta,” he told his companion. “Means ‘Glorious Jewel’ in Huttese, but trust me, pal, it ain’t pretty. Bunch of swamps and bogs, and the whole place stinks like a sewer in the middle of a garbage dump.” The Corellian wrinkled his nose at the memory.
As the partners watched, the Stellar Princess swung past the Hutt homeworld, using the planet’s gravity to cut velocity. Chewie whined a question. “Nope, I’ve never been to Nar Shaddaa,” Han replied. “When I was here five years ago, I never even got a close look at it.” They could see the edge of the big moon now, as it crept over the horizon. Chewie made an inquiring sound. “Yeah, the planet and its moon are tidally locked, so they always keep the same hemispheres facing each other,” Han replied. “Synchronous orbit.”
As the Princess glided around the big world, Han saw that space on this side of the planet was studded with floating debris. As they drew closer, the debris proved to be derelict spaceships of all shapes and sizes. Han’s Imperial training allowed him to ID many of them, but there were some that even he’d never seen.
The Smuggler’s Moon was a big moon, one of the biggest Han had ever encountered. It was surrounded by the derelict spaceships, and they were numerous enough that the Princess had to change course several times to avoid them. Many of them were burned-out hulks, or shells with great holes blasted in their hulls.
From the amount of space-scarring on their sides, it was plain to Han that many of them had been there for decades, even centuries. Han wondered why there were so many, but then he caught a faint glimmer of planet-light off an ephemeral field that enclosed the waiting moon. A moment later a piece of space junk blazed up in a bright explosion.
“Hey, Chewie … that explains these hulks,” Han said, pointing. “See that glimmer surrounding Nar Shaddaa? The place is shielded. These ships came calling, and if they didn’t want to let ’em land, they just refused to drop shields, then used ion guns to blast ’em. Guess they must’ve had their share of pirates and raiders, huh?”
Chewbacca made a low noise that sounded like “Hrrrrrnnnn …” and meant “Right.”
The faint haze caused by the moon’s shield made it difficult to see specifics about their approaching destination. But Han could tell that the landscape was almost completely covered with structures. Communication spires stuck up in spikes from the