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As the Drells reached firing range, Han wrenched his controls, rolling the big ship to port, turning it up on its side.

Seeing that Han hadn’t lost his mind after all, the Drell pirates scattered wildly, trying to evade the bursts from the turbolasers that were now aiming directly at them!

One Drell pirate managed to evade, but the other one was trapped in the middle of the full barrage pattern. The blast from starboard gun two caught it dead center.

This time, the Star Jewel was close enough to the explosion to lose a starboard deflector when it was repeatedly pummeled by wreckage. Han watched the indicators on his instruments leap as the Hutt yacht sheered through the zone of destruction, then out the other side.

He glanced at the port viewscreen. The other Drell ship was slowly spinning, a huge hole blown in its side. Only one of the Headhunters was visible. The fourth Drell ship, the one that had escaped the barrage pattern, was hightailing it.

Han considered giving chase, but he knew the pirate had too much of a headstart. Instead he turned the yacht and headed back to pick up the remaining Headhunter.

By the time he remembered to flick the comm unit back on, Jabba’s threats and imprecations had died away. Han cleared his throat. “We’re okay, Your Excellency. Hope I didn’t jounce you around too much back there.”

“My precious cargo is upset!” Jabba grumbled. “I may have to sacrifice one of my dancers to appease his appetite. Blood eaters are sensitive creatures, Solo!”

“Uh … yessir. Sorry about that, sir. But I had to fight. Otherwise we’d have been blown out of space. Those pirates weren’t just looking for loot and salvage, Your Excellency. They knew we were coming. They were waiting at exactly the right spot to intercept a ship making the last leg of a trip to Tatooine.”

“Really?” Jabba’s petulant tones suddenly hardened. Now the crime lord was all business. “What do you think they were attempting to do, Captain?”

“Disable or destroy us, Your Excellency,” Han said, opening the landing-bay doors so the one remaining Headhunter could limp in. “I believe they were after you, sir.”

“Another assassination attempt …” Jabba sounded very thoughtful. Han knew that devious mind was working at lightspeed.

“I think so, sir.”

“Interesting,” Jabba grunted. “Captain, may I ask where you learned those … unorthodox … maneuvers?”

“At the Imperial Academy, Your Excellency.”

“I see. They proved most useful, I must admit. You are to be doubly commended for foiling this cowardly attempt to murder me, Captain Solo. Remind me of that when we return to Nar Shaddaa.”

“You bet,” Han promised.

“Solo knows something,” Jabba the Hutt said to his Uncle Jiliac two weeks later as they shared a light repast in the small lounge that adjoined Jiliac’s audience chamber on Nar Shaddaa.

Jiliac reached into his elegant combination snackquarium and water pipe—a gift from the long-dead Zavval—and extracted a wriggling morsel. Holding the frantic creature in midair, he regarded it absently. “Really?” he said after a moment’s silent consideration. “Knows what?”

Jabba wriggled closer to the snackquarium and, at a wave from his clan lord, reached in for a choice little snack. Green slime gathered at the corners of his mouth as he anticipated the delicious rubbery warmth of the little amphibian sliding down his gullet. Even with this distraction, he was still able to focus on Jiliac’s question. Jabba was nothing if not practical.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I suspect the only way to find out is to ask him.”

“Ask him what?” demanded Jiliac as Jabba popped the treat into his mouth.

Glunk … Jabba swallowed noisily before answering, “Ask him how he knew to react so quickly with those Drell ships. Ship’s log showed he was tracking with his weapons systems and taking evasive maneuvers even before they fired on us. How did Solo know those Drell ships meant trouble?”

“We have hired Drell pirates ourselves, in the past,” Jiliac reminded