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“You’re crazy, Solo,” Shalo said.

“Now, is that polite? Listen, Shalo. I can wipe out you and your whole petty operation if I want—or you can cooperate. I …” Han smiled and shook a finger. “You know—I did know about your employees with the blaster rifles. So did my colleagues. One of them—do you know Shada D’ukal? She can be very disarming.”

“D’ukal is here?”

“I love the way you say my name,” a woman’s voice said from just behind Jacen. She stepped into view.

Shada D’ukal was a strikingly handsome woman in perhaps her late forties with long black hair streaked liberally with pure white. The man next to her was a good match to her with his silver-streaked hair and impeccable goatee.

“Captain Karrde,” Han said, standing. “I’m so glad you could make it. Shada, good to see you again. You’ve both met my son Jacen.”

Karrde stroked his goatee and studied the offered seat with mock suspicion. “Oh, well,” he said at last. “If I can’t trust a scoundrel and a pirate, who can I trust?”

“Hey, I trusted you.”

“A good thing, too,” Shada said. “Two of the sharpers were assassin droids.”

“Shalo, I’m impressed.”

The two newcomers sat down. “Hello, Jacen,” Shada said. “I’m a little surprised to see you here.”

“You’re not the only one,” Jacen replied.

“It’s the Solo blood,” Han opined. “It comes with the looks. So how’s things with you two?”

“Things are going well enough on our end,” Karrde said. “I think I can meet whatever needs you have. But first, I have a little present for you.”

“Hey?” Shalo said. “Could you please have your Jedi get that thing away from my throat?”

Han raised both brows skyward. “Oh, you mean this Jedi? My eldest son? The one you were going to turn in for the biggest bounty in the galaxy?”

“I wouldn’t have actually done it,” Shalo explained. “I was going to try to extort protection from you, that’s all.”

“Yeah, right. You’re slime, Shalo. You give the Hutts a good name. And now you’re going to give me something.”

“Wh-what?”

“What I asked for, you vac-head.”

“Oh. The shipping company.”

Han nodded. “That’s right, the shipping company.”

“Berths fifteen through eighteen. It’s all I can tell you.”

Han leveled a finger. “Shalo …”

“Hey, it’s not like they have a name and a logo. They just come and pick ’em up.”

“The slaves?” Jacen asked. “What do you suppose happens to them?”

“I don’t know. I don’t ask questions.”

“You know where they go,” Jacen accused.

“I deny that.”

Jacen caught something then, in the Force.

“Hey, Dad?”

“In a minute, son.” Han jerked his chin toward Shalo. “Let him deny it,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll check out your story, Shalo, and if it turns out you’re lying to us—”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll be back, I know.”

“No. Oh, no. You’re going with us. But for right now, I’m going to turn you over to this nice lady here, okay? I need to talk to my other friends.”

Shalo turned to see the “nice” lady and blanched when his eyes fell on a towering, white-furred, heavily fanged humanoid. The beast hissed and spat something that might have been a language.

“No, H’sishi,” Karrde said gently, apparently answering. “You can’t eat him. Yet.”

Shalo’s face was nearly as white as the Togorian’s fur as she led him off.

“Now,” Han said, “what’s my surprise?”

Karrde smiled. “I had my slicer look into those ships you’ve been hitting, the ones coming out of Kuat. It took some doing, even for him. The funds for the ships were washed so many times they ought to be random molecules by now. But in the end, it looks like the allocation can be traced back to the office of Kuat Photonics.”

“Kuat Photonics?” Jacen asked.

“A privately held corporation.” Karrde handed Han a data card. “A list of the owners.”

“Would Viqi Shesh be on that list?” Jacen asked.

Karrde studied him. “You expect her to be?”

“We had some trouble with her at Duro,” Jacen said. “It was just a feeling.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Karrde said. “Not under that name.”

“Maybe you could check the names?” Jacen asked. “See if they’re legitimate?”

Karrde laughed sardonically and looked at Han. “Is that the Solo sense