"The Courtship Of Princess Leia (Dave Wolverton)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wolverton Dave)

with the queen mother three months ago," Leia said. "I asked her for aid in our
fight against Warlord Zsinj. She seemed very distant, noncommittal, but promised
to think about it. I can only guess they've come to give that aid."

Lately, Han had begun to realize that the war against the remnants of the Empire
might take years, even decades to win. Zsinj and some lesser warlords were
firmly entrenched in over a third of the galaxy, but the warlords now seemed to
be on the move?pillaging entire star systems as they swept toward the free
worlds. The New Republic could not patrol such a vast front. Just as the old
Empire had struggled to repel the Rebel Alliance, the New Republic battled the
might of the warlords and their vast fleets. Han didn't want Leia to get her
hopes raised for a Hapan alliance. He said, "Don't expect too much from the
Hapans. I've never heard of them giving anyone anything?except a hard time."

"You don't even know them. Just come to the Grand Reception Hall," Leia said,
suddenly all business. "Oh, and welcome back." She turned away. The transmission
ended.

"Yeah," Han whispered. "I missed you, too."

Han and Chewbacca hurried through the streets toward the Grand Reception Hall on
Coruscant. They were in an ancient part of Coruscant where the planetwide city
had not built over the top of ruins, so that all around them plasteel buildings
rose up like the walls of a canyon. The shadows thrown by the steep buildings
were so deep that overhead the shuttles streaming through the spaces between
buildings were forced to keep their running lights on even in the daytime,
creating a massive tapestry of light. By the time Han and Chewie reached the
Grand Reception Hall, the processional band was already playing an oddly mincing
marching song, using janglers and deep woot horns.

The Grand Reception Hall was an enormous building, more than a thousand meters
long, with fourteen levels for seating, but as Han neared the entrance, he found
that all of the portals were jammed with curious onlookers, eager to see the
Hapans. Han ran past the first five entrances, then suddenly saw a golden
protocol droid nervously trying to jump or stand on tiptoe to see over the
crowd. Many people claimed that all droids of a certain model looked alike, but
Han recognized See-Threepio instantly?no other protocol unit ever managed to
look quite as nervous or excited.

"Threepio, you hunk of tin!" Han shouted to be heard over the crowd. Chewbacca
roared in greeting.

"General Solo!" Threepio responded, a note of relief in his voice. "Princess
Leia asked that I find you and escort you to the Alderaanian ambassador's
balcony. I was afraid I'd missed you in the crowd! You're fortunate that I had
the foresight to wait for you here. This way, sir, this way!" Threepio led them
back across a broad street and up a side ramp, past several guards.

As they climbed a long winding corridor, passing door after door, Chewbacca
sniffed the air and growled. They rounded the corner and Threepio halted by a