Star Wars_ The New Rebellion - Kristine Kathryn Rusch [138]
“Oh, I can’t go along, sir. I’m in enough trouble already. Mistress Leia expects me to stay here.”
“The President resigned, Threepio, without telling you. I think she’d appreciate it if you helped prevent another bombing. The first one nearly killed her.”
See-Threepio tilted his golden head as if he were trying to see inside Cole’s. “You do have a point, Master Fardreamer.”
“I thought so,” Cole said.
Artoo squealed at them from inside the freighter.
“Let’s go,” Cole said.
See-Threepio climbed onto the boarding ramp, and walked into the freighter.
“I think I’m going to regret this,” he said.
Thirty-six
Chewbacca rode as copilot with Blue. After their experiences on Skip 6, Han wasn’t about to take any more chances. He’d known Blue as long as he’d known Kid, and not nearly as well.
The betrayals hurt, no matter how he could justify them. He sat in the air-breather’s section of Nandreeson’s Skipper. This Skipper was larger and slimmer than Blue’s, and had a pond on the lower deck. Neither Han nor Lando wanted to get near slimy water again. They sat in the tiny compartment near the top, filled with old, moldy couches (which Han suspected came from drained ponds) and mildew-covered tables.
Lando was resting beside him. His old friend had his eyes closed. His normally pristine clothing was water-stained and he had lost weight.
Han sighed and went over the events in his mind. There had been nothing he could do. Kid and Zeen had gone with the intent of betraying him. They hadn’t been his friends. They had made that clear from the moment he had arrived. Perhaps then they had been trying to warn him away.
That explained how Nandreeson’s men had known to find him on Skip 5.
Chewbacca had said that he thought Wynni would have helped them if Chewie hadn’t fought her intentions. Han wasn’t so certain. She probably knew about Chewie’s loyalty to his wife, or she might have felt rebuffed by Chewie all those years ago. With Wynni, the situation was always complex. She never did what was expected of a Wookiee.
Not even at the end.
He wondered how she was faring, alone in Nandreeson’s lair.
He was glad that she, at least, was alive. Zeen and the Kid, no matter what they had done, would always ride on his conscience.
“You couldn’t have done anything,” Lando said. His voice grated against his throat, his exhaustion evident. He had eaten all the human stores in Nandreeson’s Skipper and had drunk water as if he hadn’t been trapped in it at all.
“About what?” Han asked.
“About what?” Lando opened his eyes and pushed himself up on his elbows. His face wasn’t as gray as it had been before. “About Kid and Zeen. They never were your friends.”
“Stop trying to make me feel better,” Han said.
“I’m not. I’m just trying to make you see the truth.” Lando leaned his head against the steel wall. “You never belonged here, Han. We all knew it. Kid and Zeen, they tried to corrupt you from the beginning. They thought they could make you into one of them. But there were some lines you’d never cross. I think that made them mad.”
“I did everything they wanted,” Han said.
“No, you didn’t. Profit was never the most important thing to you. You had this layer you kept trying to hide. It’s what made you go on that wild-goose chase with Skywalker right from the beginning. He’s told me about it. You could have bailed out at any time. You never did.”
“It was an exception.”
“It was the rule. Remember the case of the Wookiee slave you found?”
“Chewbacca doesn’t count. That circumstance was unusual.”
“Yeah,” Lando said. “As unusual as all the others. They hated it, Han. With every breath you took, you showed them that the life they led was dirty, ugly, and hate-filled.”
There was passion in Lando’s words. Han turned. Lando was staring at him.
“Did you hate me too?”
“No,” Lando said. “But you sure as hell made me ashamed of myself.”
He pushed off the cot and paced around the room. Then he yelped, bent over, and grabbed his calves. His face had gone gray again. Han got up and helped Lando back to the cot.
“Who