Star Wars_ The New Rebellion - Kristine Kathryn Rusch [38]
Artoo bleeped and moaned.
Luke put a hand on Artoo’s head. “I’m sorry, old friend. I don’t think this can wait. I trust you to make sure the X-wing is repaired.”
Artoo whined.
“And I’ll let Leia, Threepio, and Wedge know you’re here. Nothing will happen to you.” Then Luke looked at the boy. “Will it?”
“He’s an outmoded R2 unit, sir. They—”
“No,” Luke said firmly. “He’s a hero of the Rebellion. Neither Leia nor I would be alive without this little guy. You will treat him as you would treat me.”
“Sir—”
“What’s your name, son?”
The boy took a deep breath. “Cole Fardreamer.”
The name made Luke start. “You’re from Tatooine?”
The boy nodded. “I grew up hearing stories about you, sir. How wonderful you are, and how you were once just a moisture farmer. I came here because of you.”
Luke had no real sense of himself as an inspiration to anyone. He resisted the urge to step back. “And now you work on X-wings.”
“It’s a place to start.”
Luke nodded. “That it is.” He took a deep breath. “Take good care of my X-wing and my R2 unit, Cole. See that nothing happens to either of them. When I come back, I want them both intact, ready to use.”
“If you want, sir, I can have the X-wing for you by this time tomorrow.”
Luke studied the boy’s face. He had no doubt Cole would give the repair of the X-wing his all. But that wouldn’t be enough. “I’d wait if I could,” Luke said softly. “But I have a feeling that time is running out.”
Smugglers Run hadn’t changed. The Run was an asteroid belt that had, over the years, become the hideout for hundreds of smugglers. The entry into the Run was complex: Han was surprised he had remembered it after all the years.
But he had. He landed the Falcon on Skip 1, the thirty-fifth asteroid in the system, and the one first settled. Skip 1 had always supported human life the best and was extremely well-protected.
The hideouts were deep inside the Skip, carved centuries ago by creatures that Han didn’t even want to think about. As he and Chewie made their way down the old, familiar passages, he remembered the feeling of claustrophobia distinctly. He’d always associated it with the feeling of being on the run. But he wasn’t on the run these days, and the feeling remained.
Chewie growled.
“Yeah,” Han said. “You’d think that they’d have controlled that stink by now.”
The corridors smelled of sulfur, rancid meat, and rotting flesh. The stench had always been a part of the Run. Chewie complained about it each and every time they came.
The source of the odor was a greenish-yellow ooze that ran down the center of the corridors and into the main trading areas. When Han had first arrived on the Run, he’d witnessed the first and only attempt to block the ooze. Some Bothan got it into his brain to plug the ooze at its source. He did, and Skip 1 was instantly rocked by the biggest groundquake in its history.
“The place has gas,” the Bothan later explained. “Either we let it stink around here, or Skip 1 will explode.”
The smugglers chose to live with the stink. They hadn’t found a better hiding place in the entire galaxy.
Or a better-defended place. Han knew that the Falcon was being watched from the moment of her approach. What he hadn’t expected were the armed guards at the end of the corridor.
Five of them, all old friends.
Chewie roared in indignation. Han put a restraining hand on his friend’s furry arm. He scanned the group. Kid DXo’ln, bald now, had taken Han on his first run to Kessel. Zeen Afit, his craggy face even more lined than Han remembered, had first brought Han and Chewie to the Run. Sinewy Ana Blue, looking more beautiful than ever, had run the sabacc games in which Han won a lot of credits. Wynni, the Wookiee who had tried to seduce Chewbacca on his first visit to Skip 1, looked exactly the same. And Seluss, the Sullustan who usually traveled with Jarril, clutched his blaster as if he couldn’t wait to use it.
Han held out his hands. “Is this any way to greet an old friend?”
“You’re no friend, Solo,” Sinewy Ana Blue said.
“So how soon until your friends in