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“I might,” Han said, then sobered. “Lando, I’m afraid I got some bad news yesterday.”

“What?”

“It’s Mako Spince. Seems he got himself into some kind of confrontation out in the Ottega System with some NaQoit bandits. They found him, barely alive, and brought him back here. He’s in the rehab-facility in the Corellian section. Shug told me he’s crippled. Won’t ever walk again.”

Lando shook his head, his expression bleak. “Oh … hey, that’s terrible! I’d rather be dead than crippled, I think.”

Han nodded grimly. “Me too. I was thinkin’… you want to go see him tomorrow? I ought to. Me and Mako go back a long ways. But … I’d rather not go alone, ya know? Between the two of us, maybe we could kinda cheer him up some?”

Lando shrugged. “Sounds like a tall order, considering the circumstances,” he said. “But, sure, I’ll go with you. Least we can do. Mako’s one of us.”

“Thanks.”

The next day, the two friends went to the rehab-center. Han had only rarely been inside one, and found himself extremely ill-at-ease. After querying the clerical droid at the desk, they were directed to a room. Han and Lando hesitated outside. “Lando … I ain’t sure I’m up to this,” Han confessed, in a whisper. “I’d rather fly a run with Imps on my tail.…”

“I feel the same way,” Lando agreed. “But I think I’d feel worse if I went home without seeing him.”

Han nodded. “Me too.” Taking a deep breath, he walked into the room.

Mako Spince was lying in a special treatment bed. There was a whiff of bacta in the air, and the scars on his rugged features were mostly healed, though Han could tell his old friend must have been a mess. The NaQoit bandits weren’t known for their kind hearts.…

Spince’s shoulder-length hair was spread out on the white pillow. Last Han had seen him, it had been black mixed with gray. Now it was the color of iron, dull and lank. Mako’s pale, ice-colored eyes were closed, but somehow Han knew he was awake.

The Corellian hesitated, then plunged ahead. “Hey, Mako!” he called out, breezily, “It’s me, Han! Back from the Corporate Sector. Lando’s here, too.”

Mako’s pale, cold eyes opened, and he stared at his friends with no expression. He did not speak, though Han knew he could. Mako’s right arm was damaged, and he’d lost the use of his legs, but there was nothing wrong with his mind or his voice.

“Hey, Mako,” Lando said. “It’s good to see you alive. Sorry to hear that things got so rugged out there in the Ottega system … uh …”

When Lando ran out of words, Han jumped in. Anything was better than the echoing silence. “Yeah, those NaQoit are scum. Uh … well, this is a tough break, all right, but, hey … don’t you worry about a thing. Me and the others, we took up a collection, you know? Plenty there to get you set up with a repulsor chair. Those things scoot right around … you’ll be up and around in no time, they say.”

Han finally ran out of words, and he turned to Lando, questioning with his eyes. Mako still hadn’t moved or spoken.

“Uh, yeah,” Lando said, trying valiantly to keep up his end. “Listen, Mako, is there anything you need? You just ask, and we’ll get it. Right, Han?”

“Sure,” Han said. He struggled for something else to say, but words utterly failed him. “Uh … Mako?” he said. “Hey, buddy …”

Mako’s expressionless face never altered. But slowly, finally, he turned his face away from his friends, and the unspoken message was clear. Go away.

Han sighed, shrugged, then looked at Lando.

Quietly, they walked out of the room, leaving Mako Spince alone with his silence.

Han got a much better welcome from Jabba the Hutt. He went to see the Desilijic leader in the kajidic’s headquarters on Nar Shaddaa. Jiliac’s Nar Shaddaa majordomo, a human woman named Dielo, looked up when he walked in, and smiled welcomingly. “Captain Solo! Welcome back! Jabba instructed me to bring you in immediately.”

Since Han was used to being kept waiting when he visited Jabba, this was indeed encouraging news.

When Han walked into the huge, bare, audience chamber, he found Jabba alone. The Hutt lord undulated