Star Wars_ The New Rebellion - Kristine Kathryn Rusch [71]
“You’re going to have to stop complaining about the stench, fuzzball,” Han said. “Between the heat and the Jawas—”
“Between the heat and the Jawas what, General Solo?” The voice came from behind him.
Han whirled, blaster out. Six Glottalphibs stood behind him, their big feet buried in the sand. They all stood taller than Chewie. Five of them held swamp stunners on him, the stub-nosed weapons covered with mud and dried algae. Han had been hit with a swamp stunner once, and the pain had been so intense, he never wanted it to happen again.
“You should lower your blaster, General Solo,” said the unarmed Glottalphib. Smoke curled out of his snout as he spoke. He was as tall as the others, but his scales were a motley gray-black color instead of the normal yellow-green. His tiny green hands were clasped over his elongated chest. “Else someone might think you were threatening us. You wouldn’t threaten us, now, would you, General Solo?”
Han didn’t glance over his shoulder, but he knew from experience that Chewie had his bowcaster down and was facing them. Han had never fought six Glottalphibs before. Even with a Wookiee on his side, the odds were poor.
“You have me at a disadvantage,” he said. “You seem to know who I am, and I have no idea who you are.”
“Nonsense, General Solo. How many Glottalphibs have you encountered in your career?”
“Enough to know that you all look different, pal. And I’ve never met you.” He was stalling; they both knew it. The only Glottalphib of any repute was Nandreeson, who had a stranglehold on Skip 6.
“I rarely make such a serious oversight, General Solo.” The Glottalphib smiled, and as it did, a tiny lick of flame emerged from its nostril. “My name is Iisner. I work for Nandreeson. He’s heard that the concubine of the great Princess Leia is on the Run, and he would like to meet you.”
Han’s finger edged toward the trigger. The comment was supposed to make him angry. He knew that. And he was even angrier that it had. “I’m no one’s concubine,” he said, unable to stop himself.
Chewie growled a warning.
“I’m her husband.”
“Ah, yes,” the Glottalphib said. “Human customs are so perverse. I have never understood the proprietary needs of your people. Better for the gene pool to leave eggs where any wandering male can fertilize them.”
“You didn’t pull swamp stunners on me to discuss mating habits.” Out of the corner of his eye, Han glanced at the cavern beyond. The sand crawler’s door had closed. It would be coming toward him at any moment.
“No, I came to invite you to Skip 6.”
“An invitation made with five swamp stunners isn’t an invitation,” Han said. “It’s an order.”
The Glottalphib’s smile grew. Another lick of flame, longer this time, extended from its right nostril. “I suppose you would see it that way. Our customs differ so much. But we do ask out of kindness and polite interest. We get so little news of the New Republic. It would be nice to hear some directly from the husband of one of the great leaders.”
Chewie’s growled warning grew louder. This time, Han bit back the angry response. Leia was a great leader.
“Put down the swamp stunners, call off your goons, and maybe I’ll come with you.”
“Ah, General Solo, I can’t make such drastic changes on the strength of a maybe.” Flame arced out of the Glottalphib’s left nostril. Each fire blast added to the heat in the cavern.
The sand crawler was nearly to the cavern door. The floor was shaking. The Glottalphibs didn’t seem to notice.
“Okay,” Han said. “Put down the swamp stunners, call off your goons, and Chewie and I will follow you to Skip 6.”
“We have no landing pads for conventional ships, General Solo.”
“Then maybe Nandreeson should come to me. I have rooms in Skip 1.” Han backed up slowly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have business to finish.”
“Not so quickly, General Solo,” the Glottalphib said. “No business is as important as ours.”
The sand crawler entered the cavern. The Glottalphib turned toward it, as if it surprised him.
Han pushed against Chewie. “Run!” he said.
They both started up the slope. Blue