"Brian Daley "Han Solo at Stars' End"" - читать интересную книгу автора

Around him he could see and hear the wobble of the tunnel-tube as packed prisoners were gradually absorbed into the assault craft and the Millennium Falcon.
Everyone in the two ships and the tunnel-tubes was so busy crowding elbow to pseudopod, or helping the injured or the dying, that only one survivor thought to watch the towers fall.
As his mother and Dec labored over the Falcon's controls, conning the freighter under its extreme bur-den and maintaining tractor-grip on the junction sta-tion, Pakka hung from an overhead conduit in the cockpit, the only one with both an unoccupied mind and a vantage point.
The cub stared down at Stars' End's descent, the flawless trajectory of an airless world. And even the sudden, brilliant flash of its impact didn't distract the others, who had lives to worry about. But Pakka, un-bJinking, unspeaking, saw the symbol of Authority flare and die with the brevity of a meteor.
The wind pulled hard across the landing field on Urdur, a no-nonsense wind, chilling, biting, but fresh and free. The former inmates of Stars' End, those who had lived to reach this latest outlaw-tech base, breathed it without complaint as they were herded off to tem-porary quarters.
But Hah still pulled his borrowed greatcoat tighter around him. "I'm not arguing," he argued. "! just don't understand, is all." He was addressing Doe, but Jessa was listening, as were Pakka, Atuarre, and her mate, Keeheen.
Nearby rested the Falcon, the t'smnel-tube junction still clamped to her side, and the Espo assault craft. Dec had guided both stuffy, overcrowded ships into quick contact with $essa, and they'd been directed to this latest hide-out world.
Chewbacca was still onboard the Falcon, surveying the damage done to her since the last time he'd seen her. A new yaup of inconsolable sadness echoed from the ship each time he found another item of damage.
Dec, rather than reiterate his explanation, said, "Youngster, check the 'droid out for yourself. There." Outtaw-techs were just offioading Bollux's mutilated, beam-scorched form from the ship. An entire segment of his cranium had been shot away by Uul-Rha-Shan. At Doc's order, his men brought over the repulser-lift handtruck with the 'droid strapped to it. With force bars and pinch-jacks, they prized open the plastron.
And there sat Blue Max, unscathed, running Off his Own power pack. Han leaned over him. "Uh, Maxie?" The computer's voice still sounded like a child's. "Captain Solel Long time no see. In fact, long time no see anything."
"Gotcha. Sorry; things were really jumping this trip.
Is Bollux in there with you for a fact?"
In response, he heard the nnhulTied drawl of the labor 'droid coming from Max's grille, sounding strangely high-pitched through the vocoder. "Right enough, Skipper. Blue Max was in direct !ink with me when the disrupter hit me. He pulled all my essential information and basic matrices down here, safe and sound with him, in microseconds. Imagine that? Nat-urally, I've lost a lot of specifics, but I guess I can al-ways relearn camp sanitation procedures if I have to." The voice became dejected. "I suppose my body's un-salvageable, though."
"We'll get you a new one, Bollux," Doe promised. "One for both of you, a custom puff; you have my word. But now you have to go; my boys will make sure all that circuitry in there remains stable."
"Bollux," Han said, and found himself with nothing to say. He hit that problem from time to time. "Take it slow."
"I always do," the vocoder drawled.
"G'bye, Captain SOlo1" Blue Max added.
Jessa, shading her eyes, pointed to the assault craft.
"There's a problem we won't solve in the shop."
A dark-skinned figure sat by the ship's ramp, head bent to his chest. "He took his uncle's death pretty hard," Jessa continued. "Rekkon was quite a man; losing him would be hard on anybody." She looked to Han. Hah was studiously looking elsewhere. He saw the boy's head come up from his private grief; he bore a startling resemblance to Rekkon.
"What do we do with him?" Jessa went on. "Most of the prisoners will find a new life somehow, even Torm's father and brother. The majority of them will leave the Corporate Sector; a few hotheads plan to take it to the courts, as if they had a prayer. But the boy's by far the youngest you rescued, and he's got no one now."
She was watching her father expectantly. Doc's eye-brows shot up. "Don't goggle at me, girlie. I'm a cer-tified businessman and criminal. I don't collect strays."
She giggled. "But you never turn them away, either.
And you always say there's always room for one more
at the table, we'll just-"
"mscramble the eggs," he anticipated her, "and wa-ter the soup. I know. Well, I suppose I could at least talk to the lad. He might have some usable aptitude, hmm, yes. Atuarre, you worked with his uncle quite closely; would you mind coming with me?"
Dec went off with all three Trianii at his side. Pakka turned and 'spped Han a parting wave, his other paw-hand caught up in his father's.
]essa looked at Han. "Well, Solo, thanks. See you around." She turned to go.
He couldn't stifle an involuntary "Hey/" She turned
back with a cant to her head that let him know he'd
have to talk fast. Which he did. "I put my life-my
one and precious life, mind you-on the line for your
father-"
"-and all those other fine people," she cut in, "including your good friend Chewie---"
"---and went through a couple of types of hair-raising situations, and all you have to say is thanks?"
She evinced shock. "Why, you only carried out your part of our deal. And I carried out mine. What else did you expect, a parade?"
He glared at her, hoping she'd wither from his gaze. She didn't. He spun on his toe and headed for the Fal-coifs ramp with long strides. "You winl Women, hahI I've got the whole galaxy, sweetheart, the whole galaxy. Who needs this?"
She caught up, whirled him around. lessa looked good even in cold-weather gear. "Numbskull! What's wrong with striking another deal?"
His brow furrowed. I am somehow slipping into something tricky here, he thought, but I can't quite see what. "What kind of deal?"
She considered it, looking him over. "What are your plans? Are you going to join this campaign against the Authority? Or clear out of this part of space?" He looked up, sighing. "You should know better than that. Rob 'em blind, that's my kind of revenge." Jessa leaned around him and called up into the ship: "Hey, Chewie, how'd you like an all-new guid-ance system? And a complete overhaul?"
The Wooldee's delighted honks, preceding his ap-pearance at the ramp, sounded like a happy foghorn. Jessa finished cheerily, "And to show you what a sport I am, boys, I'll throw in some body work, repair all minor hull damage. I'll reroute the ducting in the cock-pit, too; get all those conduits and other head-knockers out of your way."
Chewbacca was close to tears of joy. He threw his hairy arm around the Falcon's landing gear and gave it a wet Wooldee kiss.
Jessa said, "See, Solo? It's easy when you're the bess's daughter."
He was fiummoxed. "Jess, what am I supposed to offer?"
She slipped her arm through his, grinning slyly. "What're you got, Han?" She led him away, ignoring his objections. His outbursts became fewer as the pair walked across the landing field toward the distant buildings. Halfway there, Chewbacca saw, Han held his greatcoat open so that she could slip into it, safe from the bitter winds of Urdur, though her own suit was quite well insulated.
Leanlng casually on the Falcon, the Wooldee watched them go, and thought about what he and Hah Solo could do with a ship milled and tuned fine by the full resources of the outlaw-techs. His m, zzle wrinkled back from his fangs. He was glad for the breather they'd have here on Urdur.
But after that, everybody had best hang on to his cash with both hands.