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It was only then that Jabba realized, for the first time, that if Jiliac were out of the picture, that he, Jabba Desilijic Tiure, would be Desilijic’s next leader. He would have to answer to no one.

Jabba lay there, his tail twitching thoughtfully, then glanced sideways at his aunt. Suddenly her belly rippled, and her baby slithered out. “Mama’s precious!” she exclaimed. “Jabba, look! Getting bigger every day!”

She cooed at her baby. Jabba grimaced, belched, and then wriggled rapidly out of the room, unable to stand the sight of either of them for one second longer.

Bria Tharen picked up her glass of wine, sipped it slowly, appreciatively, then smiled at her escort. “That’s wonderful. Thank you so much, Lando. You don’t know how long it’s been since I had an evening where I could just relax.”

Lando Calrissian nodded. Bria had returned to Nar Shaddaa aboard the shuttle from Nal Hutta today, following what she’d said was a “disappointing” interview with the Desilijic leader. To cheer her up, the gambler had promised to take her out for a nerf tenderloin dinner at one of the Smugglers Moons finest hotel-casinos, the Chance Castle. Bria was wearing a softly draped gown of turquoise that matched her eyes, and Lando was wearing his black and scarlet outfit, “for old time’s sake.”

“How long?” Lando asked, twirling his own wineglass slowly in his fingers. “Well … I imagine being a Rebel commando leader is fairly time-consuming. Almost as time-consuming as being the mistress of a Sector Moff.”

Her eyes widened, then narrowed. “How did you find that out? I never told you.…”

“Nar Shaddaa is the criminal nexus of the galaxy,” Lando said. “An information broker owed me a favor, and I called it in. Commander Bria Tharen, right?”

Her lips tightened, and she nodded curtly. “Hey,” Lando said, reaching out to touch the back of her hand gently, “didn’t I tell you you can trust me? You can. I have no love for the Empire. If I weren’t such an arrant coward, I’d join the Rebels myself. I know lots of secrets, and I’m good at keeping them.”

She smiled faintly. “Whatever you are, you aren’t a coward, Lando. Nobody who stood up to Boba Fett like that could be called cowardly. You should think about joining the Resistance. You’re a good pilot, you can think on your feet, and you’re smart. You’d be an officer in no time.”

She hesitated, then added, more seriously, “And about Moff Sarn Shild … all I can say is that appearances can be deceiving. I was on assignment for the Resistance, but I was nothing more than a social hostess and aide for him, though he wanted everyone to think otherwise.”

“But you were also spying on him.”

“ ‘Gathering intelligence’ is a nicer term.”

He chuckled. “So where will you go tomorrow, after you leave Nar Shaddaa?”

“I’ll head back to my squadron, and my next assignment … whatever that may be. I’m missing two of my senior officers now … plus an excellent combat trooper.” Her expression darkened. “Fett killed them with no more thought or caring than you or I would step on an insect.”

“That’s why he’s the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy,” Lando pointed out.

“Yes.…” She took another sip of wine. “He’s like a one-man army. Too bad he’s loyal to the Empire. I could certainly use him in combat!”

Lando looked at her. “It means everything to you, doesn’t it? Defeating the Empire?”

She nodded. “It’s my life,” she said, simply. “I would give anything I have—or am—to further that dream.”

Lando picked up a piece of flatbread, drizzled Kashyyykian forest honey on it, and took a bite. “But you’ve already devoted years to that goal. When does Bria Tharen get a chance to have a life of her own? When do you just say, ‘enough’? Don’t you want to have a home, a family, someday?”

She smiled sadly. “The last person to ask me that question was Han.”

“Really? When the two of you were on Ylesia? That was a long time ago.”

“Yes,” she said. “It’s been wonderful to be able to talk to you, find out what he’s been doing. Do you know, Lando, in just a few months it will be ten years to the