• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Zekk grinned back at her. "And my bug repellent."

Lando followed them up and cast a glance over his shoulder to Jacen, Tenel Ka, Lowie, and Anja. "See? The Bith live in a marvelous place.

Don't you guys wish you were coming along?"

"Gracious no! I can assure you that we will do our utmost to put our time here to valuable use," Em Teedee answered quickly.

"Sure, but I do kind of like Bith music," Jacen said.

Anja waved a dismissive hand and looked bored. "I prefer Ishi Tib.

Besides, you've heard one swamp band you've heard 'em all."

Jacen looked up at the clean white trappings of Cloud City, the ornate embellishments even on the docking bay balcony; he thought of the fine towers, the culture, and the beautiful sky rodeo rehearsal they had seen the night before.

"I guess we'll just have to rough it here," he said with a feigned sigh.

Clak'dor VII had once been a paradise, perfectly suited for organic carbon-based life and thriving with countless species. But centuries of ecological damage and intercultural warfare among factions of the Bith race had ruined the world.

"Looks like a muddled mess," Zekk said, looking out the Lady Luck's front windowport as they approached.

"A long time ago there was a pretty nasty conflict here," Lando said.

"Two rival groups disagreed on the decision of a private arbitrator-that's the way the Bith solve problems-and both factions unleashed biochemical weapons, strange viruses, and mutation gases that all but ruined this world's ecosystem. The planet has settled down some, but it'll be thousands of years more before it completely recovers."

"I read in the database that most Bith cities are enclosed in sealed domes and the people stay inside," Jaina said.

"Is that where you think we'll find Figrin D'an and the band?"

Zekk asked. "Inside a dome?"

"Not a chance," Lando answered. "It wouldn't be that easy. My sources tell me they're in complete isolation, outside the protective domes.

I've already sent tracers out. Remember, the Modal Nodes are scared and on the run. Fortunately for us, they're not overly bright about hiding their tracks."

"Huh. I thought Biths were intelligent," Jaina said, thinking of their enlarged pink heads and their highly developed craniums.

"It varies," Lando said. "That Figrin D'an is a die-hard sabace player. I should know, since I've played against him quite a few timesand so has your father, Han. Figrin recently spent a bunch of hot credits, registered some property, and bought wilderness supplies. It seems he and the rest of the band have gone into hiding on one of the dense bayous."

"Good thing we brought our swamp boots, huh?" Jaina said with a sidelong glance at Zekk.

"I've got the coordinates of where they've gone," Lando said as he arrowed toward the swirling mud-green landmass to the south.

"If they're so scared and so anxious to hide," Zekk asked, "how'd you track them down so easily?"

Sitting in the Lady Luck's padded andornately carved captain's chair, Lando smiled. "I happen to know a lot of Figrin's gambling buddies... and they know me. I called in a few favors."

"Then it shouldn't be too hard for someone else to find him and the band, either," Jaina said with alarm.

"We'd better hurry," Lando agreed. He brought the ship down low, cruising over a cluster of transparisteel domes protruding like giant bubbles from the middle of a steaming swamp. The domed city was surrounded by covered watercourses and an open-air spaceport. Vines and moss had grown over the bases of some of the hemispheres, and Jaina could see tiny figures and small dwellings stacked in hivelike structures under the protective glass.

"We're not going there," Lando said. "I just needed a starting point, to orient my land coordinate system."

The Lady Luck cruised over the encased Bith city without stopping and then headed southward, deeper into the mangled wilderness areas that had long ago been devastated.

On a screen in front of him, Lando called up a detailed topographical map of the