"Ann Crispin "Han Solo. Rebel Dawn"" - читать интересную книгу автора

"Oh," said Kibbick, his brow furrowing. "Yes, I guess that would be correct. Very well."
Idiot/
"Which brings to mind something I wanted to say to you, Your Excellency," Teroenza said. "Something that I hope you will mention to your cousin. We must have greater protection here on Ylesia. It is only a matter of time until we here on the planet are attacked again. These space-raids are bad enough, but if this Rebel group were to attack one of the colonies, you and I might conceivably be in danger."
Kibbick was staring at the High Priest, obviously ъ alarmed by the suggestion. "Do you think they'd dare?" he asked, his voice a trifle unsteady.
"They did before, Your Excellency," Teroenza reminded him. "Bria Tharen, that ex-slave, led them. Remember?"
"Oh, yes's that's true," Kibbick said. "But that was over a year ago. Surely they've learned the futility of trying to attack this world by now. They did lose a ship in our atmosphere."
Ylesia's turbulent atmosphere was one of its best defenses.
"True," Teroenza agreed. "But I would rather be safe than sorry, Your Excellency."
"Safe than sorry . . ." Kibbick repeated, as though Teroenza had said something startlingly original and clever. "Yes, well... perhaps you have a point. We must be protected here. I will speak to my cousin about that today. Safe than sorry . . . yes, indeed, we must be safe .... "
Still mumbling, Kibbick went back to his records. Teroenza relaxed back into his sling, and allowed him-self the luxury of another roll of his bulbous eyes.

Chewbacca and Mallatobuck's wedding day dawned bright with promise and hope. Han, who had been told about the wedding only that morning, was glad that his friend was happy, but saddened at the prospect of losing him. They'd had a good couple of years to-gether, though, and he figured that after a few years of marital joy, Chewie might be willing to come back and make occasional smuggling runs with him. Being a happy married guy was one thing, but being married didn't mean you were dead, right?
He and Chewie barely had a moment to speak to-gether before the bustle of the wedding plans took his friend off on other duties. Apparently Wookiees did not have "best men" companions the way humans did, but Chewie, in deference to Han, asked the Corellian to stand beside him. Han had grinned. "Okay, I get to be ‘best human,' eh?"
Chewbacca roared with amusement, and told Han that was as good a term for it as any.
As he sat in a comer in Attichitcuk's home, staying out from underfoot, Han thought about the only time he'd ever asked a woman to marry him. That had been Bria, when he was nineteen, and she was eighteen, and he'd been a lovestruck, moony-eyed kid, too young and dumb to know any better. Good thing for him that Bria had left him ....
Han opened the inner pocket of his vest and took out a much folded, aging piece of flimsy. Opening it, he read the first line:
Dearest Han,
You don't deserve for this to happen, and all I can say is, I'm sorry. I love you, but I can't stay ....
Han's mouth twisted, then he folded the flimsy again and shoved it back into his pocket. Until last year, just before the Battle of Nar Shaddaa, he'd thought that Bria must have gone crawling back to the Ylesians, un-able to live without the Exultation.
And then he'd encountered her, gorgeously gowned and coiffed, in Moff Sam Shild's fancy penthouse on Coruscant. She'd called Shild "darling" and there had been every indication that she'd been the Moff's concu-bine. Han had done his best to despise her ever since. The idea that Bria might have actually loved the Moff never entered his head... he knew who she still loved. When she'd first seen him she'd gone pale, and it was still there, in her eyes, though she'd tried to disguise it ....
Moff Shild had committed suicide shortly after the Battle of Nar Shaddaa. The news-vids had been full of it. Vids of his memoriM service (and Han had watched them deliberately) had shown no glimpse of Bria, though.
And now... to find out that she 's some kind of Rebel agent for CoreUia... Hah thought. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered whether that was what Bria had been doing in Moff Shild's house-hold. Had she been a Rebel intelligence operative, as-signed to spy on the Moff, and, through him, the Empire?
It made sense. Han didn't like it, but he found that he had more respect for Bria if she'd been sleeping with the Moff to gain information, than if she'd just been what she appeared to be-a spoiled, gorgeous plaything.
He wondered what she was doing, now that the Moff was dead. Visiting planets and helping their under-ground Rebel movements get organized, obviously.
Also... Hah had heard that a year or so ago, a group of human Rebels had hit Ylesia, attacking Colony Three and rescuing about a hundred slaves. Could Bria have been involved with that?
The way Katarra and the other Wookiees talked about her, she was some kind of warrior saint, risking her life to bring them arms and ammo from the Corel-lian rebels. And Kashyyyk was an Imperial slave world.
Han remembered how betrayed she'd been when she'd realized that the Ylesian religion was a hokey bunch of fake mumbo-jumbo. She'd been furious and bitter. She'd hated the fact that, in the space of a sec-ond, she'd been altered from Pilgrim to slave. In the years since that horrifying realization; had she taken that fury and translated it into action against the Yle-sians and the Empire's slavers?
Han Solo hadn't lacked for female company since Bria, by any means. Back on Nar Shaddaa, Hah and Salla Zend had been an item for more than two years now. Salla was a spirited, exciting woman, an expert tech and mechanic as well as a skilled pilot and smug-gler. She and Hah had so many things in common-and one of the foremost things that characterized their af-fair was that neither of them was interested in anything but having a good time-while it lasted.
Han's relationship with Salla was something that he could count on, without it getting in the way. They'd never made any promises to each other about anything, and that was the way they both liked it.
Han had often wondered whether he really loved Salla-or she him. He knew he cared for her, would do almost anything for her, but love? It was safe to say that he'd never felt about her or any woman the way he'd felt about Bria.
But I was a kid then, he reminded himself. Just a reckless kid, who didn't know any better than to faU like a ton ofneutronium. Now I'm a lot smarter....
As he sat musing in his corner, Kallabow, Chew-bacca's sister, who had been rushing back and forth with platters for the coming wedding feast, suddenly stopped, hands on hips, and glared at him. Then she beckoned to him, exclaiming indignantly. Han got to his feet. "Hey, of course I ain't hiding," he said, in re-sponse. "I was just tryin' to stay outta the way. Is every-thing ready?"
Kallabow agreed emphatically that everything was ready, and Han should come now.
Han followed Chewie's sister out into the sunlight amid the rustling treetops. As he walked, Jarik fell into step with him. The kid had stayed pretty close by Han's side, since he didn't understand Wookiee, and, unless Han was around, could only speak to Ralrra. "So, this is it?" he asked Han.
"This is apparently it, kid," Han said. "Chewie's mo-ments of freedom are numbered."
Kallabow, catching Han's words, gave the human males a scathing glance and an indignant, "Huuuuum-mmmpppppphhhhhhh!" that needed no translation. Han chuckled. "We better be careful, kid. She could break us both in two without half tryin'."
The Wookiee femme led them down one of the bough-roads that was as wide as a street on some worlds. They were headed away from the city, deeper into the treetop area where many Wookiees had built homes. Malla's house, Han had gathered, was one of the tree-house-type places, since she lived where she could be close to her work.
Within minutes, they branched off onto another trail, then another. "Wonder where we're going?" Jarik said, uneasily. "I'm lost. If she left us out here, I wouldn't have a clue as to how to get back to Rwookrrorro. Would you?"
Han nodded. "Remind me to brush you up on your navigation skills, kid," he said. "But if Kallabow walks us much farther, I'm gonna be too tired to party."
The little party turned onto yet another, smaller trail, and ‘ahead of them, Han and Jarik could see many Wookiees gathered. They walked, then the trail came to an abrupt end.
The wroshyr branch that they were standing on had been sheared off in some manner, and plunged down to rest atop lower branches. With the massive branch weighing the nearby treetops down, the effect was like looking out across a vast green va'sey-breathtaking. Rounded green hills rose in soft swells to the west. The yellow sun shone down, bright as a beacon, and every-where there were birds wheeling through the air. "Hey..." Hah said to Kallabow. "Nice view."
She nodded, and explained that this was a sacred place to Wookiees. Here, with this vista before them, they could truly appreciate the grandeur of their world.
The ceremony was ready to begin. There was no priest to officiate; Wookiee couples married themselves. Hah walked up to stand beside Chewbacca, then gave his friend, who appeared more than a bit nervous, a re-assuring grin, and reached up to ruffle the Wookieeg head-fur. "C'mon, relax," he said. "You're gettin' a great girl, pal."
Chewie replied that he knew that quite well... he just hoped he could remember his lines!
As they stood at the end of the trail, with a crowd of Wookiees between them and the pathway leading back to Rwookrrorro, the crowd suddenly parted in the mid-dle. Mallatobuck paced down the trail toward them.
She was covered from head to foot in a sheer veil of silvery gray. The veil was so light, so translucent, it ‘al-most appeared that she was clothed in some glimmer-ing energy field. But as she came up beside Chewie, Hah could tell that the veil-was actually some kind of knit or woven fabric, ‘almost completely transparent. Han could see Mallag blue eyes clearly through her bridal veil.
Han listened intently as Chewie and Malla ex-changed vows. Yes, they loved each other beyond all other beings. Yes, each otherg honor was as dear to them as their own, Yes, they promised to be faithful to each other. Yes, death could part them, but could not end their love.
The life-power was with them, they said. The life-power would make their union strong, and they would be complete... together. The life-power would be with them ... always.
Hah felt a wave of unaccustomed solemnity wash over him. For a moment, he almost envied Chewie. He could see love shining in Mallatobuck's eyes, and felt a pang. Nobody had ever loved him that much. Except rrmybe Dewlanna, he thought, remembering the Wookiee widow who had raised him.
Bria... he'd used to think she loved him that much.