Part 13 (1/2)

”Watch,” she whispered.

Now just Lando, the bald man, and the Rodian female were left in the round.

”Match,” the bald man said.

”Plus a tenth,” the Rodian said.

”Redouble,” Lando said. ”In red, maximum count.”

”He can't possibly achieve that,” Threepio whispered.

Chewie growled at him.

”How rude. I was merely stating the truth-”

”Be quiet,” Leia said. She was interested in seeing how the others reacted to Lando's gambit.

The bald man shook his head and tendered his cards. ”Too steep for me.”

The Rodian looked at her cards, held in such a way that Leia could not see them, then glanced at Lando.

Lando smiled at her. The expression was at once warm and mocking. He looked self-satisfied, confident, even smug.

Oh, he was good.

The Rodian muttered something Leia didn't catch, though she guessed it was probably a curse of some kind. She shoved her cards into the collector.

”Round to player number three,” the droid said.

Lando tossed his cards into the collector and turned to grin at Leia.

Threepio said, ”I can't believe it.”

Leia said, ”Sometimes the appearance of strength can be as effective as strength itself. Think about the Bulano serpent, which has no teeth or claws or poison but which can blow itself up to five times its normal size, making itself look fiercer and more dangerous. It might not really matter whether you can beat an opponent if he believes you can.”

”I suppose you have a point,” Threepio said. But he did not sound convinced.

Leia hoped Lando was having fun; she wasn't. They'd been here for three days, and since she didn't care to wager on the games of chance in this pit, it wasn't interesting for her. She'd practiced with a Rodian electrodictionary and learned a few words and phrases. She'd gone outside a couple of times, Chewie staying with her like a shadow, but that wasn't much fun, either. Like Mos Eisley this time of year, it was hot. Unlike that wretched place, there was an ocean not too far away from the gambling complex, so the humidity was much higher. It was thus hot and sticky, hardly an improvement.

She could, she supposed, go to that body of water and sit on a beach or something. Avaro had made it known that many tourists did that, swam or motosurfed while their friends or relatives spent time in the casinos. Of course, sitting on a beach and enjoying the breeze and a cold drink might be fun, but probably not as much fun with a grumbling Wookiee complaining about the sand in his fur.

Besides, if something came up, she wanted to be right here.

There was a row of holoboard games set up in one corner of the casino, with players betting on their skills there, and Chewie seemed interested, the way he kept looking in that direction.

She shook her head. ”Come on,” she said to Chewie. ”You want to play, play. I'll watch and Threepio can stand behind you and offer bad advice.”

The Wookiee raised his eyebrows.

The three of them left Lando and headed toward the board games. Amazing how fast a path cleared for them. Leia didn't know if that was because of their connection to Avaro, who deigned to pa.s.s through the smelly room from time to time, or because Chewie led the way. There was a ”no shooting inside” policy, they'd been told, but almost everybody seemed to be sporting a weapon of some kind, and Chewbacca's bowcaster looked particularly lethal.

She was surprised there didn't seem to be any Imperial presence. No stormtroopers, no off-duty officers, nothing. Maybe it was because Black Sun had some interest in the complex.

She sighed. Somehow when she'd signed on to help the Alliance, she'd never pictured herself in a ninth-rate, bug-chewed casino waiting to be contacted by a representative of the galaxy's largest criminal organization. If somebody had told her that even a few months ago, she would have laughed and told them to see a medic.

Trying to guess your own future turned out wrong almost all the time.

Life was strange that way.

13.

Artoo fired a crackling beam of electricity at Luke. Tatooine's desert morning air sizzled with a spark that arced a full two meters long.

Luke, in the grip of the Force, had already snapped the lightsaber over to block the artificial lightning bolt. The charge cascaded harmlessly from the blade.

”Too easy,” he said.

Artoo whistled.

”I know, I know, it's not your fault you're no Darth Vader.”

Luke relaxed a hair. It took a few seconds for the capacitor that ran Artoo's electroprod to build up enough of an electrical overload for another discharge. With the Force, the blue flash was easy to deflect; without the Force, it would zap him pretty good, since there was no way he could dodge the bolt.

Not that there was any danger. The electrostatic charge would make his hair stand on end and tickle some, but even with almost two hundred thousand volts, the amperage was so low that it couldn't do much more than that, unless he was standing in a puddle of water.

Freestanding water was unlikely out here in the Wastes.

Luke heard a distant drone. It was a faint noise but quickly grew louder.

He turned and looked into the morning desert-Bzzzhhtttt!

Luke jumped a meter, came down rubbing at his backside. ”Hey, ow!” Artoo made a noise Luke had come to believe was his version of a laugh.

”That's not funny!”

Artoo chirped and whistled, punctuated his reply with a bladder squeeze.

”I know I didn't tell you to quit, but you saw me turn and look away!”

Artoo said something that was probably derogatory.

”Yeah, well, you just remember that next time you need a lube.” Artoo whistled, sliding up and down the scale. Master Yoda would be shaking his head. So much for Luke's control of the Force. One little slip in concentration and poof! it was gone.

Luke quickly forgot his irritation at himself and the little droid. Those sounds were getting louder, and he could see the dust trail now, pointing like a comet right at him. Engines.

Somebody was coming to call, and there appeared to be a lot of them.