“So long!” Han calls. He steps into the lift and closes the doors. The Gamorreans waste several tremendous blows against the durasteel door, then an agonizing scream informs Han of Sodarra’s fate. “Good riddance,” Han mutters. The lift drops to the first floor.
Han steps into the empty tavern and wastes no time rushing outside. He weaves his way down the walkway for thirty seconds before the goons reach the street. They fire and a blaster bolt strikes the building to his right. Han ducks.
A flatboat passes two meters from the walkway. Han jumps for it without breaking stride. He lands inside and rolls, then screams in pain as his bruised should scrapes across the rough deck.
When he looks up, he sees the barrel of a blaster pistol. A bipedal alien with sturdy curled horns and short thin arms holds the business end.
“You might not know me,” Han says. “But you’ll die with me if we don’t get moving.”
As if to emphasize the warning, several blaster bolts sizzle around the boat. The allen’s great brown eyes open wide and it accelerates. Han fires over its head at the pursuing goons.
When they are safely away, the alien pulls alongside a walkway and motions Han out of the boat. The smuggler complies quickly, then rushes down a side canal’s walkway until he comes to a main waterway. There, he flags down a public boat.
“Mud Station.,” he tells the grimy driver-Droid. “And don’t give me the scenic tour.”
“Do I look like a crook?”
Han finally allows himself to relax and begins rehearsing his story for Sodarra’s men. He will tell them that they ran into trouble at Taslo’s, and that Sodarra has died. That much is true. But getting the crate and the troopers off the ship will require creativity.
Half-an-hour later, he approaches the Falcon’s lowered entrance ramp. Two guards greet him. “Where’s Captain Sodarra?” they demand.
Han ignores their challenge and walks up the ramp. Birdloe is waiting for him just inside. “Well?” he asks.
“Sodarra’s dead. I couldn’t save him.”
“Do you take us for fools?” Birdloe says. “The Captain left very specific orders for this contingency.”
The two guards come up behind Han.
“Where’s Chewbacca?” Han demands.
“You’ll join him shortly.”
Something strikes Han in the back of the head. His ears ring and his knees collapse.
What have the stormtroopers done with Chewbacca? How will the smugglers get out of this predicament? They’ll have to be creative and careful, but that’s another story. This one is over. Click Here to return to the beginning and try again.