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“Wish I had Chewie back as a copilot,” Han muttered, rolling his eyes. “At least he didn’t say such hokey things.”

At the mention of Chewbacca, both men subconsciously looked toward the glowing tapestry of ragged gases surrounding the Maw cluster. Somewhere inside, Chewbacca and the rest of the strike force should be mopping up their efforts to retake the Maw Installation. The black holes made communication impossible, so they had no way of knowing what had happened during the occupation.

“I hope he’s all right, Han,” Lando said quietly.

Han leaned forward to finger the controls on the comm unit. He hesitated, and his face sagged for an instant; he flicked on the transmitter, then cleared his throat, businesslike again. “This is Han Solo on the Millennium Falcon, approaching Kessel.”

Lando watched Han’s left hand drift to the hyperspace controls. A new course had already been programmed into the navicomputer. Han was ready to dash away at a moment’s notice if anything suspicious happened.

“We’re looking for Mara Jade, a representative of the Smugglers’ Alliance,” Han continued. “We, uh, request permission to land on the garrison moon. Please acknowledge before we come any closer.” Han’s face was lined with concern.

“Don’t be so nervous, Han,” Lando said. “Things have changed on Kessel. You’ll see.”

Han’s voice took on a defensive tone. “I just don’t want to take any chances after what’s already happened.”

Before Lando could respond, Mara Jade’s crisp, businesslike voice came over the speaker. Lando felt his heart warm at hearing her subtle tones. He imagined her soft lips moving, forming the words.

“You’re half a day late, Solo,” she said.

“Well, Lando here wanted to make himself look presentable,” Han said, grinning, “and you know how much time that could take.”

Mara gave a short, sharp laugh, and Lando glared at Han. “Come on in, then,” she said. “I’ve brought a defensive fleet from the Smugglers’ Alliance. The garrison moon is secure. We’ll discuss our business there. I have an escort coming for you—something I think Calrissian will appreciate.”

Lando smiled broadly. “She’s planned some kind of surprise for me! Probably a token of her affection.”

“Oh, brother.” Han rolled his eyes again.

Han checked the coordinates on his navigation console and vectored in toward the large station on Kessel’s moon.

Disguised as potential investors in the spice-mining operations, Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker had been shuttled up to this moon by froglike Moruth Doole. Doole had done his best to show off the spice-mining operations in hopes that Lando would sink his blob-won credits into the facility.

With a shudder Lando remembered how all the ships in the hangar bay had launched after them when he and Luke had stolen Han’s repaired Falcon. The Kessel pirate fleet had run headlong into Admiral Daala’s Star Destroyers, as they charged out of the Maw cluster after Han Solo. The two fleets had crashed into each other, inflicting horrendous damage, but Han, Luke, and Lando had fled into hyperspace before seeing the outcome of the battle.…

Now a single small ship appeared over the misty horizon of Kessel. “This is Jade. I’m your escort. Follow me.”

The space yacht approached, then spun about to dart toward the moon. Han increased the Falcon’s speed.

Lando sat up sharply, his eyes blinking in astonishment. “Hey, that’s my ship!” he cried. “That’s the Lady Luck. That’s—”

“Well,” Han said, “at least that saves us the trouble of looking for it.”

Lando grabbed the comm unit. “Mara, you found my ship! I can’t thank you enough.” He lowered his voice. “If there’s anything I can do to repay you, anything in your wildest dreams …”

“Keep talking like that, Calrissian, and I might just send this ship on autopilot into the sun.”

Lando leaned back in the seat with a sigh and a smile. He flashed a glance at Han. “She’s such a kidder.”

The space yacht Lady Luck looked sleek and angular with propulsion pods slung below. Her hull gleamed, none the worse for wear, somehow unscathed from the devastating battles on Kessel.