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

"Hey, Han!" Landog dark features broke into a wide grin as their respective glidewalks brought them face-to-face. "Long time no see, you old rascal!"
Hah leaped nimbly across open air from his glide-walk to the one Lando was standing on. He'd barely landed before Calrissian grabbed him in a hug that would have done Chewbacca credit. "Good to see you, Lando!" he gasped, as Calrissian thumped him on the back one final time.
The friends stepped off the glidewalk back at the registration area, and stood there a moment, eyeing each other. Han studied his friend, realizing that Lando looked very prosperous-the gambling tables out in the Oseon must be loaded with easy marks. The gambler was wearing an expensive outfit made from Askajian fabric, the best in the galaxy. A new black and silver cape swung behind him, draped in the latest fashion.
Han smiled. The last time he'd seen Lando, the gam-bler had barely begun growing a mustache. Now his fa-cial adornment was mature, though trimmed. It lent his features a rather piratical air. Han pointed at it. "I see you decided to keep the lip-fur."
Lando stroked the mustache proudly. "Every woman I've met has been most complimentary," he said. "I should have done it long ago."
"Some people need all the help they can get," Han teased. "It's a shame you don't have my way with the ladies, old pal."
Lando snorted derisively.
Han looked around. "So... where's your little red-eyed droid buddy? Don't tell me you went and lost Vuffi Raa in a sabacc game?"
Lando shook his head. "Han, it's a long story. To tell it properly, I need a tall glass of something refreshing in front of me."
"Well, what's the short version, then?" Han asked. "Don't tell me the little guy got tired of calling you СMaster' and decided he could do better selling his Class Two abilities somewhere else?"
Lando shook his head, his expression suddenly seri-ous. "Han, you're not going to believe this, but Vuffi Raa decided to go back to his people and grow up. Ful-fill his destiny."
Han grimaced. "Huh? He'S a droid. What do you mean, destiny?"
СWuffi Raa is . . . was . . . a baby starship. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. He comes from a... unique... species. Gigantic droid-ships that roam the stars. Sen-tient, but not biologic'd, life-forms."
Han stared at his friend. "Lando, you been sniffing ryll? You sound like you spent the whole day in the bar."
Lando held up a hand. "It's the truth, Han. You see,
there was this evil sorcerer named Rokur Gepta, who
turned out to be a Croke, and these vacuumbreathers,
and a big fight in this huge Star Cave, and-"
"Cheater/" A deep, raspy voice shouted, startling the friends. "Get him! Don't let him play! That's Han Solo, and he cheats at sabacc!"
Hah wheeled around to find an enraged Barabel fe-male bearing down on him. The alien limped slightly from a stiff knee, but she was closing at a respectable clip, massive teeth bared. Barabels were huge, black reptiloids, and Han had only met a few of them in his travels. And only one female.
This femme, as a matter of fact.
Hah gulped and his hand went down to his blaster, only to slap impotently against his thigh. Damnation/ He began backing up, holding up his hands placatiugly. "Now, Shallamar..." he began.
Lando, Сalways quick on the uptake, made sure he was nowhere near the Barabel's approach vector. "Secu-rity!" he shouted. "We need security here! Somebody call security!"
The Barabel sputtered and hissed with rage. "He uses skifters! Cheats! Arrest him!"
Han backed up until he bumped into one of the reg-istration tables, then, one-handed, he vaulted it. The Barabel's teeth flashed. "Coward! Come out from be-hind there! Arrest him!"
"Now, Shallamar," Hah said. "I beat you fair and square that time. Holding grudges isn't very sports-manlike .... "
With a bellow, she rushed him-
only to stop and fall heavily to the floor as a tangle-field encased her feet. Shallamar thrashed, slapping the carpet with her tail, cursing and bellowing.
Hah looked over at the hotel security forces, and drew a long breath of relief.
Ten minutes later, with the Barabel still under re-straints, Han, Lando and Shallamar were in the security offices, facing the security chief. Shallamar was sulking, because the chief had sensor-scanned Han from the tips of his toes to the top of his head, and the Corellian had proved to be absolutely free of any cheating devices.
Now the Barabel hunkered uncomfortably, her feet still restrained in the tangle-field, as the security chief warned her that any further displays would get her ejected from the competition. "... and I think you owe Solo here an apology," the chief concluded.
Shallamar snarled . . . but softly. "I will not molest him further. You have my honor-word," "But-" the security chief started.
Han waved a hand at him. "Let's not push it, sir. If Shallamar leaves me alone, that's fine with me. I'm just glad to prove that I'm an honest player."
The chief shrugged. "Whatever you say, Solo: Okay, you two are free to go." He glanced at Han and Lando. "I'll release the tangle-field and turn her loose in a cou-ple of minutes." He turned back to the Barabel. "And you, my lady, will be under surveillance. Please keep that in mind. We're running a tournament here, not a free-for-all. Is that clear?" "Clear," she rasped.
Han and Lando left the office. Han didn't say any-thing, but he knew Lando too well to think that his friend would let this pass. Sure enough, when they stepped onto the glidewalk leading to the cafe, Lando grinned broadly. "Han, Hah... yet another old flame, eh? You're so right... you certainly have a way with the ladies, you old rogue!"
Hah bared his teeth in a snarl nearly as fearsome as Shallamar's. "Shut up, Lando. Just... shut up."
By then, Lando was laughing too hard to speak anyway...
It took the two friends several hours to catch up on events. Han heard the whole story of Lando% adven-tures in the Oseon system. He discovered that since he'd last seen his friend, Lando had won and lost sev-eral fortunes, most recently a cargo of gemstones. "You should have seen them, Han," Lando said, mournfully. "They were gorgeous. Filled half the Falcon's cargo bay. If only I'd hung onto them, instead of using most of them to buy half of that dratted berubian mine!"
Hah looked at his friend with mingled sympathy and exasperation. "Salted, right? Proved to be worthless." "You got it. How did you know?"
"I knew somebody once who ran that scare. Only it was a duralloy asteroid." Han neglected to mention that he'd once lost out on a half-million-credit uranium mine that he'd won in a sabacc game. The mine had been genuine, but the books had been so cooked that he'd been lucky to escape prosecution when the stock-holders began their investigation ....
But all that was in the past, and Han Solo made it a policy never to indulge in regrets over failed ventures.
"Speaking of the Falcon," he said, "where've you got her docked?"
"Oh, she's not here," Lando said. "I left her back at the lot on Nar Shaddaa. Half the trick to winning big at the ta-bles is being able to psych your opponents out, presenting yourself as someone who can Сafford to play big, win big and lose big. Makes bluffing much more effective .... "
"I'll remember that," Han said, filing away the ad-vice. "So, how'd you get here?"
"I came in on one of those big luxury liners, the Queen of Empire," Lando said. "Arrived in style. Not to mention that the ship's casino is one of the finest I've encountered. The Queen and I go way back."
Hah smiled slyly. "I ran into Blue a few weeks ago, and she told me that you were traveling in style aboard that new ship of Drea Renthal's. Renthal} Vigilance, that Carrack-class picket ship she salvaged after the Battle of Nar Shaddaa."
Lando cleared his throat. "Drea's a great lady," he said. "For a pirate, she's surprisingly... refined."
Han snickered. "Whoa, Lando! Isn't she a little old for you? She's gotta be at least forty! How'd you like bein' a pirate queen's favorite plaything?"
Lando bristled. "I wasn't... She's not..."
Hah laughed. "Almost old enough to be your mother, huh?"