Star Wars.

Han Solo.

Rebal Dawn.

Winners and Losers,

Han Solo leaned forward in the pilot"s seat of the Way-ward Girl. "Entering atmosphere, Captain," he said. He watched the system"s big, pale sun slip into the great curve of ruddy light at the world"s edge and disap-pear behind the planet"s limb. Bespin"s huge, dark nightside loomed up to blot out the stars. Hah checked his sensors. "They say Bespin"s got some big flyin"-or should I say, floatin"-creatures in its atmosphere, so keep those forward shields at maximum strength."

One-handed, his co-pilot made an adjustment. "What"s our ETA to Cloud City, Hah?" she asked, a hint of strain in her voice.

"Not long now," Han replied rea.s.suringly, as the Girl sliced into the upper atmosphere, swooping over the planet"s dark pole, lightning far below making ia flickering fog of dim light. "ETA twenty-six minutes. We ought to be in Cloud City in time to catch a late dinner."

"The sooner the better," she commented, grimacing as she flexed her right arm in its pressure-sling. "This thing itches like fury."

"Just hang on, Jadonna," Han said. "We"ll get you straight to the reed-facility."

She nodded. "Hey, Han, no complaints from me. You"ve done great. I"ll just be glad to get this arm into bacta."

Han shook his head. "Ripped cartilage and liga-ments... that"s gotta hurt," he said. "But Cloud City"s sure to have adequate meds."

She nodded. "Oh, they do. It"s quite a place, Han.

You"ll see."

Jadonna Ve10z was a short, stocky, dark-skinned woman with long, straight black hair. Han had met her two days ago, after she"d advertised from Alderaan on the s.p.a.cer-nets for a pilot to fly her ship to Bespin. Veloz"s arm had been injured when it was struck by a malfunctioning anti-grav loader, but, determined to meet her tight shipping deadline, she"d postponed real treatment until she delivered her cargo.

After paying Han"s pa.s.sage from CoreIlia on a fast shuttle to Alderaan, he"d taken over as pilot, and brought them to Bespin right on schedule.

The Wayward Girl was through the wispy exosphere now, and plunging deeper, moving toward the evening twilight, blue sky building above them. Han altered course, heading southwest, toward where the setting sun must be. As they streaked "along, the tops of the piled, puffy ma.s.ses of clouds far below began taking on colors, deep crimson and coral, then yellow-orange.

Han Solo had his own reasons for needing a ride to Bespin. If it hadn"t been for Jadonna"s ad on the nets, he"d have had to dip into his rapidly dwindling stash of credits to buy pa.s.sage for himself on a commercial vessel.

Velozs accident couldn"t have come at a better time, far as Han was concerned. With the credits she"d prom-ised him, he"d be able to afford a cheap room and a few meals during the big sabacc tournament. The buy-in alone was a staggering ten thousand credits. Han had barely managed to sc.r.a.pe those credits together by fencing the small golden palador figurine he"d stolen from the Ylesian High Priest Teroenza, plus the dragon pearl he"d discovered in Admiral Greelanx~ office.

The Corellian wished for a moment that Chewie was here with him, but he"d had to leave the Wookiee be-hind in their little flat on Nar Shaddaa because he couldn"t afford to buy his pa.s.sage.

They were deep into the atmosphere now, and Han could actually see Bespin"s sun, a squashed looking or-ange ball just clearing a ma.s.sive bank of clouds. The Girl was surrounded by a golden glory of heaped clouds-as golden as Han Solo"s dreams of wealth.

Han was staking everything on this big gamble . . . and he"d always been lucky at sabacc. But would luck be enough to let him win? He"d be playing against profes-sional gamblers like Lando.

The Corellian swallowed, then resolutely concen-trated on his piloting. This was no time to get an attack of nerves. Hah made another adjustment to the Girl~ approach vector, thinking that he ought to be within range of Cloud City traffic control any time now.

As if in answer to his thoughts, a voice spoke up from his comm. "Incoming vessel, please identify yourself."

Jadonna Veloz reached left-handed to activate their comm. "Cloud City traffic control, this is the Wayward Girl out of Alderaan. Our approach vector is . . ." she glanced at Han"s instruments and reeled off a string of numbers.

"Wayward Girl, we confirm your vector. Cloud City is your destination?"

"That"s an affirmative, traffic control," Jadonna said. Han grinned. From what he"d heard, Cloud City was about "all there was to Bespin. There were the mining facilities, of course, and gas refining, storage and ship-ping facilities, but more than half of "all incoming traffic was probably bound for the luxurious resort hotels. In the past few years, bored tourists had made the city in the clouds one of their favorite vacation playgrounds.

"Traffic control," Jadonna continued, "we have a pri-ority shipment for the Yarith Bespin kitchens. Neff tenderloins in stasis. Request a landing vector."

"Permission granted, Wayward Girl," came the voice of the traffic controller. The controller% voice took on a more inform"a] note. "Nerf steaks, eh? I"ll have to take. my wif~ out this week. She"s been wanting some-thing fancy, and that~ a treat we don"t get too often."

"These are prime cuts, traffic control," Veloz said.

"Hope the chef at the Yarith Bespin appreciates them."

"Oh, he~ good," the voice said, then the controller reverted to his official tones. "Wayward Girl, I have you slotted in at Level 65, Docking Bay 7A. Repeat. Level 65, 7A. Do you copy?"

"We copy, Cloud City Controller."

"And your a.s.signed landing vector is . . ." the voice hesitated, then gave them more coordinates.

Han punched them into the navieomputer, then they settled back to enjoy the ride. He found himself looking forward to seeing the fabled Cloud City. Bespin itself had already been famous, even before the resort was built. They mined tibanna gas here, which was used in starship engines, and in powering blasters.

Han wasn"t sure how they actually mined the gas, but he knew that tibanna gas was very valuable, so the miners must be doing well. Before it was discovered in Bespin~ atmosphere, tibanna gas had usually been found in stellar chromospheres and nebular cl.u.s.ters- which made harvesting it hazardous, to say the least. Then somebody had stumbled across the fact that Be-spin% atmosphere was loaded with it.

Picking up a sudden burst of electrical activity on his sensors, Han hastily changed course. "Hey-what"s that?" He pointed at the viewscreen. To their right now, was a monstrous, half-seen shape, drifting amid those incredible aurulent clouds. The thing was so large that it would have dwarfed many small Corellian cities.

Jadonna leaned forward. "That"s a beldon!" she ex-claimed. "They"re really rare. In all the years I"ve been flying through these clouds, I"ve never seen one."

Han squinted at the mammoth creature as the Girl streaked by it. The beldon resembled some of the gelatinous ocean creatures he"d seen on some worlds, with a huge, dome-like top, and many small feeding tentacles hanging down beneath it.

Hah checked his landing vector. "Right on the cred-its, Captain," he said. Behind them, the leviathan faded into the distance. Han saw another, smaller shape "ahead of them that almost resembled an upside-down beldon, and realized it was Cloud City.

It hung in the clouds like some kind of exotic wine-gla.s.s, topped with a jeweled crown of rounded towers, domed buildings, communication spires, and refinery stacks. In the last wash of sunset, it glowed like a cor-usca gem.

Staying on their approach vector, Han sent them skimming over the domed buildings of the cityscape in the clouds. Moments later, he brought the Girl down in a perfect landing on their a.s.signed spot.

After receiving his pay, and saying farewell to Cap-tain Veloz, Han went looking for a robo-hack to take him to the posh Yarith Bespin hotel, where the sabacc tournament was being held.

Moments later he was punching in his destination on a keypad, sending the little robo-hack zipping through the city streets, up and down levels, traveling at a pace that would have made most humans dizzy-especially when tile little vehicle "hopped" low-lying buildings, giving Hah a glimpse of the clouds surrounding them and the yawning depths below them. It was almost full night now, and the city sparkled like a lady"s open jewel box.

Minutes later the robo-hack pulled up before the Yarith Bespin. Han waved the luggage droid aside and u walked through the ma.s.sive entrance. He"d been in posh hotels before, while touring with his magician friend, Xaverri, so the opulent interior with its spidery, crisscrossing glidewalks that spanned the stories-high atrium didn"t phase him. He saw a sign reading "Tour-nament Registration" in at least 20 languages, and fol-lowed the arrow up the glide-lift to the mezzanine.

When he stepped off the floating walkway, he headed purposefully toward the large tables. The place was thronged with gamblers of all species, sizes and de-scriptions. Hah registered, checked his blaster ("all weapons had to be checked), received an ID badge, and a voucher that he"d cash in as he needed betting chips. The first game would start tomorrow at midday.

Just as he turned away from the registration area, chip voucher tucked securely into a pocket inside his shirt, next to his skin, Hah heard a familiar voice. "Han! Hey, Han! Over here!"

He turned and saw Lando Calrissian waving to him from across the mezzanine. Waving to show he"d heard, Hah jogged over to the glidewalk and hopped aboard, even as Lando leaped aboard the one coming toward Han"s side of the enormous room.

When he"d last seen Lando, the gambler was head-ing off for action in the Oseon system. But he"d been talking about this tournament for months, so Han had been expecting to run into him here.

"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 gla.s.s 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 "Master" and decided he could do better selling his Cla.s.s 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?"

"Wuffi 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, ma.s.sive 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. d.a.m.nation/ He began backing up, holding up his hands placatiugly. "Now, Shallamar..." he began.

Lando, "always 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 b.u.mped 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 compet.i.tion. "... 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 pa.s.s. 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 "afford 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-cla.s.s 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~ surprisingly... refined."

Han snickered. "Whoa, Lando! Isn"t she a little old for you? She~ gotta be at least forty! How"d you like bein" a pirate queen~ favorite plaything?"

Lando bristled. "I wasn"t... She~ not..."

Hah laughed. "Almost old enough to be your mother, huh?"

Lando"s teeth flashed beneath his mustache. "Hardly. And Hah . . . my mother was nothing like Drea. Trust me."

"So why"d you break up?" Han wanted to know.

"Life aboard a pirate vessel is... interesting," Lando said. "But a little too... coa.r.s.e... for my taste."