Part 15 (1/2)

Behind the gambler, the portal shut. ”What's going on?” Lando demanded, only to hear his voice emerge in m.u.f.fled, subdued tones. Seeing the direction of Bria's gaze, the gambler turned and found an Anomid regard-ing him.

”Nice to see you again, Calrissian,” the Anomid said. ”You are fortunate that I never mix business and pleasure.”

”What-” Lando started, then he caught a glimpse of the big case, lying open on the floor. His dark eyes widened. ”Fett...” he said.

”Yes,” the bounty hunter said. ”That had better be the last word I hear out of you, Calrissian. I am not here for you. Cooperate, and I may let you live. You might come in handy.”

Lando knew better than to argue. Meekly, he put down the wine and flowers. Moments later, he found himself sitting several meters away from Bria, just as ef-ficiently bound, his back propped against the sofa.

Boba Fett regarded Bria intently. ”Tomorrow, when we dock with Nar Hekka's docking platform, you and I are going to leave the Queen, walking closely together. I will be armed, but not with any weapon a visual in-spection or security scan could discern. You will stay close by my right side at all times, and remain silent. Understood?”

She nodded. ”Yes. But what about Lando?” The note of fear in her voice for him made the gambler glance at her appreciatively.

”Calrissian's life depends on you, Bria Tharen. If you give me your word that you won't 'alert anyone, I will leave him behind, bound and gagged, but 'alive.”

Bria raised her eyebrows. ”You would trust my word?”

”Why not?” he asked, with ~tn undertone of mockery. ”You value the lives of innocents more than you do your own. I know your type. But just to make sure... I plan to wire Calrissian before we leave with a remote control detonator. If we encounter any problems, the cleaning droids will have to sc.r.a.pe his remains off the walls.” Lando swallowed painfully.

Bria glanced at the gambler and gave him a rea.s.sur-ing smile. ”You're fight about me. I give you my word that I won't cause any trouble.”

”Good,” Fett responded. ”At the moment-”

The bounty hunter broke off as an alarm suddenly shrieked through the Queen of Empire with an ear-splitting volume. Lando sat bolt upright, his eyes widening. What the...

Fifteen seconds later the entire Queen bounced- there was no other word for it. The huge s.h.i.+p heaved like a buoy on a stormy sea. Lando~ stomach lurched, ~and he fell over on his side. He looked over at Bria, who had managed to remain upright, saw her gagging, strug-gling not to be sick.

”What~ going on?” she gasped. Lando, remember-ing Boba Fett~ order to remain silent, struggled to right himself.

”We came out of hypers.p.a.ce,” Fett said. ”The fail-safes must have encountered a sudden gravity shadow and reacted automatically.”

Lando silently applauded the bounty hunter for his ac.u.men as he managed to roll back over and sit up. It was hard work, with his hands bound behind him.

”What would cause that?” she said. ”An engine malfunction?”

”Possible,” Fett said. ”But more likely an attack. An Impefial Interdictor cruiser could bring a s.h.i.+p out of hypers.p.a.ce.”

”But why would the Imperials attack a cruise s.h.i.+p?”

Bria asked.

Lando had been wondering that same thing, and couldn't think of an answer. Bfia frowned as she con-centrated on the straining vibrations of the s.h.i.+p. ”You're fight about the attack,” she said. ”We're caught in a tractor beam.”

Grabbing his case, the bounty hunter dragged it be-hind the oruamental screen that decorated one wall of the luxury suite. Faintly, Lando could hear the swish of robes being doffed.

The gambler managed to catch Bria's eye and mouthed, ”Trust me, Lady Bfia. Follow my lead if we get an opening.” He had to repeat it several times, until she nodded in comprehension and flashed him a shaky smile.

Minutes later the bounty hunter emerged, clad once more in his Mandalorian armor. He carried his blaster rifle, which was his only visible weapon, but Lando knew from experience that the bounty hunter was a walking a.r.s.enal of camouflaged weaponry. Walking over to Bria, he removed the restraints from her ankles, and then did the same for Lando. ”You two come with me,” he said. ”And... Calrissian... remember. You're ex-pendable. Lady Tharen . . . if you try anything, Calris-sian dies. Clear?”

”Yes,” Bria said.

Lando nodded, then managed to get to his feet un-aided, despite his bound arms. Boba Fett, in a parody of gentlemanly behavior, a.s.sisted Bria to rise. She wob-bled a bit on her high-heeled shoes, flexing her feet and grimacing at the pins-and-needles.

Fett picked up the sound sponge and deactivated it, stowing it in a pocket of his trousers. With the m.u.f.fling device turned off, Lando could hear the sounds of blaster fire, screams and running feet. A public address system boomed: ”All pa.s.sengers . . . please remain calm and in your cabins. There is an intruder 'alert, but your crew is working to restore order. We will advise you as matters progress. Please remain calm. All pa.s.sengers...”

Right, Lando thought. They're going to restore order... sure they are .... The gambler glanced at Bria, and she looked at him and shrugged slightly.

They reached the door, and Fett gestured to Lando.

”Open it.”

The corridor was pure chaos. They had to wait in the doorway until a mob of screaming pa.s.sengers, most of them dressed only in nightgowns and robes, fled past. Fett glanced at a small, palm-sized device he held.

”Turn right,” he instructed.

Lando and Bria obeyed. The gambler found it surprisingly difficult to walk with his arms bound be-hind him. It affected his balance.

Several times they had to step into doorways to allow shrieking hordes of pa.s.sengers to run past. The sounds of blaster fire were closer, now, as they neared the boat decks.

They left the pa.s.senger cabins behind, and took a se-ries of glidewalks that Fett directed them to. From the sounds, most of the pitched fighting was going on near the docking areas. Sounds of battle grew louder, closer. As they neared the shuttle deck, they saw sprawled bodies littering the corridor, most of them wearing uni-forms marking them as the liner~ crew. A number of the bodies belonged to pa.s.sengers, but none wore Im-perial uniforms. Bria glanced at Lando as they stum-bled along. He was surprised at her composure in the face of carnage-dead bodies made most citizens sick.

Lando strained his eyes for a glimpse of the attack-ers, but so far they hadn't encountered any. He licked dry lips, knowing that, even with bound arms, he had to try to make some move before the three of them climbed into a shuttle together. In a shuttle, they had no chance. He glanced sideways at his fellow captive, a.s.sessing her ability to possibly back him if he tried something.

For a moment it occurred to h!m to wonder just why this lovely young woman-she couldn't have been much over twenty-five-had Boba Fett 'after her. She must be more than what she seemed, and his observa-tions of her so far backed that up. Most citizens,' faced with the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, would be reduced to quivering lumps of protoplasm. But Bria was plainly not your ordinary citizen ....

They rounded a corner that led to the shuttle deck, only to run smack into a boarding party. Lando froze, Bria beside him, faced with twelve or thirteen unsavory characters dressed in loud, gaudy, mismatched clothes that gravely offended Lando's fas.h.i.+on sense. They were festooned with garish jewelry. Bria whispered, ”Pirates!”

Suddenly things fell into place and Lando realized exactly what had happened to the Queen. He'd seen this trick before. These pirates had brought the Queen out of hypers.p.a.ce by towing a good-sized asteroid into the reMs.p.a.ce an'dog of her hypers.p.a.ce coordinates. Then the gravity ”shadow” of the asteroid's gravity well had caused the hyperdrive failsafes to cut in, abruptly reverting the Queen to reMs.p.a.ce. An audacious and cunning plan-and it took big s.h.i.+ps to implement it. Big s.h.i.+ps and a daring leader. For the first time, Lando felt a surge of hope. It~ got to be. n.o.body else would dare to attack a cruise s.h.i.+p this big ....

”Back the other way!” Boba Fett shouted, and his captives obediently reversed course. Lando and Bria tried to run, but if Lando had thought that walking with bound arms was tough, he'd never imagined that run-ning would be so much worse. At every moment he imagined himself falling down, then being summarily shot by Boba Fett for his clumsiness.

The two captives managed a clumsy jog, and Boba Fett urged them on. But as they approached another curve in the corridor, Lando caught a flash of bright color. More pirates!

”Stop!” Boba Fett barked, his voice sounding doubly harsh because of the mechanical speakers.

Quickly the bounty hunter pushed Bria into a door-way, then yanked Lando over to stand in front of her as a s.h.i.+eld. ”Don't move, Calrissian,” Fett hissed, and moved out until he was in full view.

The pound of running feet approached, and then, more or less at the same time, both groups of pirates converged from opposite sides of the corridor. Boba Fett, who had been checking his weaponry, tensed, ready to do battle. Against how many pirates? Twenty-five? Thirty? Maybe rru~re ....Lando guessed. The two groups drew nearer, then slowed uncer-tainly. Lando didn't blame them. He wouldn't want to be the first person to fire on Boba Fett, even at these odds. Chances are that the bounty hunter would take quite a few attackers with him.

”What's going on?” a familiar strong alto bellowed from the back of one of the packs. Lando let out a gasp of relief. ”Boba Fett, in the name of all the h.e.l.ls of Barab, what are you doing here?”

”Collecting a bounty,” the hunter replied. ”No quar-rel with you, Captain Renthal. I'll take my bounty and a shuttle, and go.”

'Lando filled his lungs, shouted, ”Drea! It's me .... 'Lando! Hey, am I glad to see-” Lando~ breath went out in a whoosh as the bounty hunter took one fast step back-ward and the b.u.t.t of Fett~ blaster rifle connecKed with his solar plexus. The gambler doubled over, wheezing. Slowly, the ranks of pirates parted, and Drea Ren-thal, pirate captain and Lando~ former girlfriend, emerged. She was a big, squarish woman of about forty-five, with fas.h.i.+onably striped silver and gold hair, a fair complexion, and the coldest gray eyes Lando had ever seen. Renthal wore her typical wild jumble of clothes- red striped stockings, a purple skirt kilted up on one side, a pink silk s.h.i.+rt and armored vest. Her short, spiky hair was half-hidden by an outrageous beret with a long, trailing orange feather.

Lando tried painfully to straighten up. He wanted to wave, but of course his arms were .bound. Besides, Boba Fett would probably blast him for his temerity. Renthal surveyed them, and said, ”Lando, you never told me you had a bounty on your head.”

Actually, Lando knew of several bounties on his head, in the Centrality, but this was Imperial s.p.a.ce. ”No bounty, Drea,” he called, his voice harsh and breathless. ”I was just... in the wrong place... at the wrong time.”

Renth,M looked back at the bounty hunter. ”Fett, that true? No bounty on C,Mrissian?”