And that was not all that had happened on Corellia The night before the attack on Corona House, all three children had eavesdropped on a meeting between their parents, Governor-General Micamberlecto, and Mara Jade, and overheard a lot of top-secret things about the starbuster plot, stuff that had not gotten out to the general public.
The children hadn't meant to hear such vital information, but they had.
Jacen was virtually certain that Ebrihim, Q9, and Chewbacca knew nothing about that meeting.
And that made the three children the only people off the surface of Corellia who knew about the plotxcept the bad guys, of course.
And what they were supposed to do about that, Jacen had not the faintest idea.
Ebrihim looked through the viewport at the surface of Drall, compared it against the map display, and then nodded. "This is approximately the right position," he said. "You may begin your descent from orbit."
Chewbacca grunted unhappily, but worked the controls and started bringing the Falcon in.
"I still don't see how we are reduced to navigation by dead reckoning," Q9 said. "How could this ship have such primitive location equipment?"
Chewbacca looked back over his shoulder at Q9 and bared his fangs.
"If you wish to place blame, Q9, place it with me and with my Aunt March a. I did not memorize the precise coordinates of her estate last time I visited, and it would seem she has never gotten around to installing a landing beacon in her back garden."
For once, Q9 had no reply.
The Millennium Falcon moved down from orbit as she had moved into it-stealthily and slowly as she could, doing as much of her maneuvenng as possible over run
populated parts of the planet, where detection would be more unlikely.
The ship drifted into atmosphere and the night sky over Drall, cruising silently along. Ebrihim did not much like the idea of coming in during local night. It would be difficult to find his aunt's home even in broad daylight.
But no one had any idea what sort of reception the Falcon might receive if it were detected.
There had been reports of disturbances on Drall, but there was no way to know the current state of affairs.
All interplanetary communications had been shut down by the hugely powerful jamming that had started up after the attack on Corona House.
Still, Ebrihim couldn't quite believe that things could be too bad on Drall.
Drall were too sensible to be swept up in the sort of hysteria that seemed to be gripping Corellia Even so, there was no point in taking chances.
Chewbacca moved the Fakon lower and lower, down into the night.
At last he pulled her nose up and brought her into a gentle banking turn. They had reached the point on the map Ebrihim had noted as being more or less near his aunt's country estate.
"Good, good," Ebrihim said as he looked out over the low rolling hills. "I must admit I wasn't sure how close we were going to be, but we are quite near indeed.
I have often flown this way in an aircar. There," he said, pointing out the window. "Follow that river to the north. Aunt Marcha lives on the western bank."
Chewie turned the Falcon northward and brought her in to treetop level-then below treetop level, swooping down to fly only ten or fifteen meters over the surface of the river itself.
"Goodness!" Ebrihim cried out, in a voice that was embarrassingly close to a squeak. "I appreciate that we need to avoid detection, but do we need to fly quite so low?"
But it seemed Wookiees had little patience for the faint of heart.
Chewbacca merely laughed, and brought the Falcon down just a trifle lower.
Ebrihim was more than a little unnerved, but even so, it was a breathtaking experience, swooping so low over the blue-black waters of the wide river, the trees to either side little more than indistinct shapes that rushed past in the darkness, coveys of startled white-winged aviars springing into the air as the Fakon soared past their roosts. It took an act of will to break away from the scenery and look forward, upriver, watching for his aunt's house.
He had not been this way in many a year, but the night flight over the water brought back any number of memories. When he was a cub, he had played on the banks of this river, swum in it, frolicked on the great lawns of his aunt's mansion. Peaceful, splendid days.
But now-now the world, the Galaxy, had changed, and not for the better.
Wait a moment. That small island in the river. Yes.
Yes. "Gain some altitude, friend Chewbacca. That island is a bit larger than it looks. And slow the ship as well. We are getting close. Very close."
Chewbacca brought the Falcon to about a hundred meters' altitude and slowed it almost to a hover, so the ship was barely crawling forward.
"There!" Ebrihim pointed toward the tree-lined riverbank. "That small pier there, with the white boat tied up. That is my aunt's. Ely in away from the river, past the tree line."
Chewbacca swung the ship around and moved over the trees. A large white house came into view, and he brought the Falcon to a halt, so it hovered in place, a silent shape in the sky.
The house was a central hemispherical structure about twenty meters high, with two long wings on either side. The unbroken white of the dome made a striking contrast with the dark slate roofs of the wing& The
wings were three stories high, and the whole house was easily a hundred meters from one end to the other.
Though there was little decoration on the exterior of Aunt Marcha's home, it was not a severe-looking building, and even in the darkness, it seemed a welcoming place. The gardens and the trees were lovely, and decorative vine plants crept up the side of the dome and the walls of the two wings. It was the sort of place Ebrihim's vast family could visit all at once-and often did.
"Yes, that is my aunt's home," Ebrihim said eagerly.
"But "But what?" Q9 asked.
"But something is wrong. It is only an hour after dark.
The house should be brightly lit and full of people-but all the windows are dark."
Q9 extended his dataport and plugged mt0 the Falcon's sensor system. "I read nothing unusual," he said.
"No signfficant weapons or shielding. No communications activity.
An infrared sweep reveals two Drall-sized life-forms. Four vehicles in the outbuilding to the rear of the house. Power charge near depletion on three of them, if that tells us anything."
"You have just read a great number of things that are unusual," Ebrihim said.
"There should be, at the very least, four or five Drall in the house.
Even if Aunt Marcha herself were not in residence, the staff would still be there. And the house staff would never let the power charge on the vehicles get that low."
Chewbacca let out a low rumbling hoot.
"I don't know what we should do," Ebrihim said. "Let me think for a moment." He and the others were practically fugitives. They needed help. They needed someone who would hide them. But who was that down below in the house? Was one of the Drall Q9 detected indeed Aunt Marcha? Or was she not there for some reason?
Were those interlopers down below? Or suppose it was Aunt Marcha?
What was she doing in the house with just one attendant and the lights off? Could she be in trouble? And would they bring more trouble on her by coming here? But where else could they go? On the other hand, if she were in trouble, perhaps Ebrihim and his party could help her.
A highly maneuverable modified Corellian stock light freighter with turbolasers, shields, and all the rest of it did have its uses, and those aboard the Fakon did have a fair number of skills.
That decided him. "Put her down," he said. "Th' and get her in down under the trees as much as possible so she won't be so easy to spot from the air." Even if Ebrihim had n0t understood Wookiee, the dirty look he got from Chewbacca would have told him what the hoot and the blat meant. Don't tell me my business.
The Millennium Falcon eased her way down toward the ground and sidled over to one side of the h
ouse, moving over the spacious lawns toward the woods.
Chewbacca brought her to a halt in midair well under the forest canopy, and then brought her in for a gentle, perfect landing.
Ebrihim breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe.
"Q9, for heaven's sake unstrap me from this blasted pilot's chair." Q9 unclamped himself from his position in the rear of the cockpit and rolled forward. He extruded a pair of worker arms and rapidly undid the straps. Ebrihim hopped down from the chair and stretched, grateful to be free.
Q9 hit the cockpit door control and they all stepped out into the ship's corridor. Ebrihim went to the door of the children's cabin and knocked. "Jaina, Jacen, Anakin. We've landed safely. You can unstrap now and come out."
Ebrihim tried to step out of the way quickly, but he was nearly trampled all the same as the three children tumbled out of the cabin.
AAULK AT 3tLO 79
78 Dogm MocSr A-v By the time he got himself untangled from them, Chewbacca and Q9 were ready to open the airlock bulkhead door and lower the access ramp. "Wait just a moment!"
Ebrihim called out, and hurried over. "I'd best go first, alone. There was a brief chorus of protests from all hands, but Ebrihim shook his head firmly. "No," he said. "I go alone. I am known here, and you are not. They might well have spotted our landing from the house, and could be a trifle nervous about it. Things could go badly if they saw a stranger coming out of the ship."
"Well," said Jaina, "I guess you're probably right. But hurry back! We've been cooped up in this ship way too long."
"I'll be back as fast as I can. However, friend Chewbacca, it might be just as well if we were ready for a quick takeoff. It's possible that my aunt isn't here, and that we'll encounter a somewhat, ah, less hospitable welcome than we might like."
Chewbacca nodded his agreement.
"Anakin, if you would be so kind as to open the hatch and let the ramp down," Ebrihim said.
"Sure thing!" Anakin cried, delighted at the chance to do real work with real machinery. He punched in the proper codes and watched with obvious pride as the inner hatch opened and the ramp dropped smoothly down into the dark night. The night air of Drall wafted into the ship, cool and inviting, redolent with the soft, flat tang of a river breeze.
"I'll be back as soon I am able," Ebrihim said, trying not to sound nervous. And, indeed, why should he feel nervous? This was his family seat, his home. If there were any place in the universe that he ought to feel safe, and comfortable, it was here.
He walked down the ramp, out into the dark night of home. As he stepped onto the soil of Drall for the first time in years, he was surprised by how soft it felt underfoot.
Stepping clear of the ship, he walked a little ways toward the house, but then stopped. There is a bit of folklore common to the spaceways, a little piece of knowledge that all believe to be true. In its crudest terms, it is that there is no place like home. You can never be as comfortable as on your own home planet, with the air pressure, the atmosphere, the gravity, and all the other things exactly as you knew them as a child.
It felt good to Ebrihim to be back under Drall's lighter gravity, breathing its sweet air. Even the hooting and cawing of the night creatures, the hums and buzzes of the local insects, seemed to reach out to him, soothe him, remind him of days gone by. The very air seemed perfumed, laden with all sorts ofBLAM!
A high-powered blaster bolt blew up the ground right in front of him.
Ebrihim dove for the ground and landed face-first in a thicket of big, blue, foolish-looking flowers that gave out a cloyingly sweet scent. His aunt's prized garden.
"Who's there?" a familiar voice cried out. "Did I hit anybody?"
His aunt. What was she doing out here packing heavy weapons?
"Don't shoot!" Ebrihim cried out. "Don't shoot. It's me, your nephew Ebrihim!"
"Ebrihim?" his aunt's voice asked. "What the devil are you doing out there? Did you come on that raider ship that's lurking back there?"
"It's no raider!" he called out. "Those aboard are friends! We are here seeking help!"
"Then why land like thieves in the night?" she asked, coming close enough for Ebrihim to see her by starlight.
She looked a bit older and stouter than he remembered, but seemed as vigorous as ever. Of course, the oversized blaster rifle she was carrying added to the impression of vigor. "It is you, Ebrihim," she said, in a slightly irritated tone of voice, as if she were expecting him to have changed into someone else.
"Get yourself up. You look ridiculous down there.
"Yes, ma'am," Ebrihim said, scrambling to his feet and brushing the dirt out of his fur.
"Now then, tell me quick and no foolish answers.
Why did that pilot sneak up on the house? Why did he land in the trees, if you have nothing to hide?"
"We weren't hiding from you" Ebrihim said. "We were afraid someone from the outside might spot us.
The pilot put down there to try and keep out of sight from above."
"Hppphm. I see," said Aunt Marcha. She slung the blaster rifle over her shoulder and bent down to examine one of the bright blue flowers Ebrihim had crushed when he dove for cover. Straightening up, she surveyed the ground under the Millennium Fakon's landing pads.
"Next time," she said, her voice more peeved than ever, "tell your pilot friend to land somewhere besides my nannarium beds."
CHAPTER FIVE
Seems Like Old Times
The bucketful of water hit Han square in the face.
"Wake up," an unpleasantly familiar voice told him as he sat upright, spluttering and coughing.
"Show's over."
Han opened his eyes cautiously, and instantly knew that caution was called for. He was back in his cell, and Fthe light was none too bright. Even so, it hurt his Feyes. For that matter, pretty much every part of him hurt. That Selonian, Dracmus, packed one heck of a wallop.
Thrackan tossed the empty metal bucket into the far corner of the cell, and its clattering was enough to set off a pounder of a headache at the base of Han's skull.
"Come on," Thrackan said, his voice impatient.
``Snap out of it. My medics checked you over, and they told me you'd live. Said you were too mean to kill easy.
"Being mean was always your department, Thrackan," Han said, his voice barely more than a croak. He opened his eyes a bit more fully, and watched as his cousin laughed, pulled up a stool, and sat down facing Han on the cot.
"There's the Han I always knew," Thrackan said.
"Good to hear you show some spirit."
Thrackan was close to Han. Oddly close. Han suddenly realized he could smell alcohol on his cousin's breath. He noticed that Thrackan was carrying a bottle of what looked very much like Vasarian brandy.
His cousin was at least a little drunk. "What do you want now, Thrackan?" Han asked, nOt sure of what was going on. "You've had your entertainment."
"Don't push it, Han. Don't have much patience left for you, believe me."
"So why are you here?" Han asked, unable to control his temper completely. "Is it a slow day, and you want to kill an hour or two pulling my fingernails out?"
"Don't give me ideas," Thrackan said. "I don't need any. I already have an idea. A surprise for you. But I'll show you that in a little while. First I want to talk with you.
Han tried to laugh, but the sound came out as a strangled cough.
"Yeah, we have a lot of catching up to do.
What is it that brings you down here?" Besides that bottle you have in your hand At a guess, his cousin had started feeling just a trifle guilty about what he had done, and had come down here to force Han to say it was all right. Not the most logical train of thought, but it was the sort of thing Thrackan would do.
"Wanted to see you," Thrackan said, a trifle indistinctly.
"Besides, there's something I wanted to tell you before the surprise.
And something I need you to do."
"All right," Han said. "What did you want to tell m
e?"
Thrackan let out a sigh. "I'm here because I need your help.
Otherwise, I'd have executed you by now for the attack on the spaceport."
"Did you think that having a Selonian beat me to a pulp would inspire me to help you?"
"That was necess'ry," Thrackan said dismissively.
"Real-life theater for the officers. You're the mOst important prisoner we have taken-and you know as well as I do about family loyalty on this damn planet. All those stories about a man who sacrifices principles and duty to take care of his family. My men needed to see I wasn't influenced by that sort of thing."
"Glad I could help demonstrate your integrity," Han said. He remembered those stories a bit differently, of course. The moral of those stories was that it was good to put family first. Apparently, there would be none of that nonsense in the Human League. "But why do you need me?"
Thrackan looked his cousin straight in the face. "For two reasons. First, I'm gonna let everyone know you are where I am.
You'll be a sort of insurance policy. This place is hidden pretty good, but they've found betterhidden places than this. Pretty strong place, too, but get a big enough bomb and aim it carefully enough, and no structure will stand."
Han smiled. "If anyone gets a chance to take a crack at you, I doubt they'll be much worried about taking me out at the same time."
"Brave words, but not true. If-and it is a veiy big ifGovernor-General Micamberlecto manages to stage a counterattack, or if the New Republic manages to join the party, they won't wanna make any attack that would endanger you. Do you really b'lieve the GovernorGeneral and your wife would order a bombing run `against the structure you were in? Or that a fleet of New Republic ships, captained by all your old buddies, would wanna try it? Never," Thrackan said, with a flat finality.
"Maybe they'd take a crack at some sort of crazy commando raid to rescue you, but lemme tell ya, we are all set to deal with that eventa'lity." Thrackan seemed to realize that he had a little trouble with that last word and frowned.
There was enough truth in what Thrackan was saying
that Han didn't wish to pursue it further. "What was the second reason you need me?" he asked, hoping to change the subject.
Star Wars - The Corellian Trilogy - Assault At Selonia Page 8
