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

'Shakal Leia, ereneseth a'apelle seranel Hapes. Rennithelle saroon.' " She
turned and clapped her hands six times, and dozens of women in shimmering gold
dresses began descending from the shuttle, running quickly and playing silver
flutes or drums while others sang over and over in clear high voices, "Hapes,
Hapes, Hapes."

Mon Mothma listened intently to her comlink as a translator broadcast the words
in Basic, but Han couldn't hear the translator.

"Do you speak this stuff?" Han asked Threepio.

"I am fluent in over six million forms of communication, sir," Threepio said
regretfully, "but I think I must be experiencing a malfunction. The Hapan
ambassador cannot have said what I heard." He turned and started to walk off.
"Darn these rusty logic circuits! Excuse me while I report for repairs."

"Wait!" Han said. "Forget about the repairs. What did she say?"

"Sir, I think I must have misunderstood," Threepio said.

"Tell me!" Han added more forcefully and Chewbacca growled a warning.

"Well, if you're going to be that way about it!" Threepio affected a hurt tone.
"If my sensors monitored her correctly, the delegate reported the words of the
great queen mother: 'Worthy Leia, I offer gifts from the sixty-three worlds of
Hapes. Take joy in them.'"

"Gifts?" Han said. "That sounds pretty straightforward to me."

"Indeed it is. The Hapans never ask a favor without offering a gift of equal
value first," Threepio said condescendingly. "No, what troubles me is the use of
the word shakal, 'worthy.' The queen mother would never apply that word to Leia,
for the Hapans use it only when speaking to equals."

"Well," Han hazarded a guess, "they are both royalty."

"True," Threepio said, "but the Hapans practically worship their queen mother.
Indeed, one of their names for her is Ereneda, 'she who has no equal.' So you
see, it would not be logical for the queen mother to refer to Leia as her
equal."

Han looked back down to the unloading ramp and shivered as a sense of foreboding
washed through him. The sounds of drums thundered. Three women in bright, almost
garish silks rushed from the shuttle bearing a large container the color of
mother-of-pearl. Threepio still spoke to himself, shaking his head and saying "I
really must have these logic circuits repaired," as the three women spilled the
contents onto the floor. The whole crowd gasped. "Rainbow gems from Gallinore!"

The gems glittered with their own fire in dozens of shades from brilliant
cardinal to blazing emerald. Indeed, the invaluable gems were not gems at all,