Star Wars: The Han Solo Trilogy I: The Paradise Snare

by A. C. Crispin

  At the same time, though, she was angry clear through. Bria could feel her face working. Her chin trembled as she tried to control herself. “No!” She clenched her hands. “No! That’s not true! You faked it. What are you … telepathic? How did you know about Sacredot Palazidar? You weren’t even here then!”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t know, Bria. I didn’t know, and I didn’t fake this recording. I’m gonna prove that to you.” Digging into his pocket, he held out a small black vial.

  Bria knew only too well what it was. “Glitterstim? Where did you get it?”

  “Light-fingered it during a delivery,” Vykk said. “You know what it can do, right?”

  Slowly Bria nodded.

  “This is the only way I can prove to you I’m not lying. If you open it, expose it to light, then swallow it, it’ll give you temporary telepathic abilities. You’ll be able to read my mind, and you’ll know that I’m not lying about the Exultation—and that I didn’t fake that recording. Here”—he reached out and dropped it into her hand—“take it.”

  Bria looked down at the tube. “I … I need to think about this, Vykk. I need to decide what to do.”

  “I’m not lyin’, honey, I swear.” He came closer to her, reached out to take her hands. “Trust me.”

  She backed away from him. “Just … leave me alone for now, Vykk. I’ll … see you later. After the devotion. Right now, I have to go.”

  He looked at her. “You could skip it, this once. It’s not like anyone takes roll call.”

  Skip the Exultation? Bria felt physically sick at the thought, and her reaction terrified her. What if Vykk was right? What if the Exultation was nothing more than a combination physical and mental vibration from an alien species? If no Divine Gift was present, then the pilgrims were no better than addicts getting a fix.

  Bria gazed into Vykk’s eyes and had a queasy feeling that he was telling the truth. Her fingers tightened over the small black cylinder of glitterstim. Here lay her answer. With this, she could find out the truth …

  She turned and began walking away, leaving him there on the beach. Bria heard Vykk call out to her, but she waved him away and kept moving. She didn’t have much time if she was going to make it to the devotion on schedule.

  Half an hour later she stood amid the hordes of pilgrims, watching the sun set in bloody splendor behind the Altar of Promises. It was almost time for the Exultation. She glanced around her, thinking that if she was going to do this, it had better be soon. Surreptitiously her fingers withdrew the black cylinder from the pocket of her robe. Light … she needed light to activate the glitterstim. And yet … she couldn’t do it while anyone would see …

  Finally, the moment came that she was waiting for—the signal to the faithful that the Exultation was about to begin.

  Bria had stationed herself in the crowd so that she had a clear view of the High Priest and the Sacredots as they led the pilgrims in the devotion. But she was far back in the crowd, far enough back that she ought to be able to shield the glitterstim with her wide sleeve, so its activation wouldn’t be noticed by the t’landa Til. And the other pilgrims would be so busy with the Exultation that they’d probably barely notice a blaster bolt.

  All around her, pilgrims were falling to their knees. Bria let herself follow them, and as she did so, she flipped open the top of the vial of glitterstim. Under the cover of her body as she bent forward from the waist, she pulled free the fibrous dose of the drug—and wondered, for an insane second, whether this was a dose she herself had prepared.

  As the pilgrims prostrated themselves, the priests’ throat pouches began to distend. As the beginnings of the vibrating hum resounded through the air, Bria held the glitterstim before her, full in the last rays of the setting sun.

  Within seconds it activated, sparking blue, but none of the pilgrims noticed, and the effect was hidden from the High Priest. Even though she’d never taken glitterstim before, Bria knew exactly how many seconds to wait. A moment later she shoved it into her mouth and allowed her saliva to quench the sparking substance.

  As she mouthed the drug, then swallowed it, the Exultation began.

  Bria shuddered as though she’d been blaster-shot. The effects of the glitterstim were immediate. Blood rushed through her body like a ship going into hyperspace. Her head pounded.

  But the physical effects were as nothing to the mental ones. Her mind opened in a way she’d never afterward be able to describe. As the waves of the Exultation took her, she experienced the pleasure of all the other pilgrims in the crowd.

  The sensation was so overwhelming that she almost passed out. Only the anger that had been simmering inside her ever since Vykk had played that recording kept her sane—and focused.

  Got to … open … my eyes … she thought. Focus …

  Gagging, gasping, Bria opened her eyes, shuddering as the waves of pleasure wracked her with such intensity they were nearly transformed into pain. She stared at Teroenza, forcing herself not to look away, to narrow her mind to only encompass his.

  Images, alien images, flooded Bria’s mind, stamping themselves indelibly into her consciousness. No matter how much she wished to forget, she knew she never, ever would. Teroenza’s mind, like that of every sentient, was full of surface trivia—wondering what he’d have for dinner, boredom with the ceremony, thoughts of the new security measures the Hutts had ordered him to implement, a minor gastrointestinal churn in his middle …

  There was not a hint of divinity in the High Priest’s mind. He did not believe in the One or the All. As a matter of fact, Teroenza was proud of himself for inventing the One and the All, so these credulous pilgrims could have something to believe in.

  Bria gagged, her mouth filled with the bitter aftertaste of the glitterstim. It was hard to think with the Exultation going on, but she forced herself to stay attuned to the High Priest’s mind … sifting, making absolutely certain that what he was doing was purely a physical and mental trick—something that all males of his species could do on demand.

  Suddenly Teroenza jerked, looking around him wildly. His mind filled with suspicion, then certainty—he knew he was being telepathically probed!

  The Exultation wavered, then lessened abruptly as the High Priest stopped humming. The Sacredots continued in a ragged chorus, but without their leader, the Exultation stopped dead. Pilgrims cried out with shock, and some even fainted.

  Bria pulled her mind free from Teroenza’s and joined the crowd of pilgrims who were moaning in distress, crying, and stumbling back and forth, disoriented. Some stood shivering and whining as they gazed beseechingly at the priests.

  Teroenza lumbered off the dais by the Altar and began thrusting his way into the crowd. The t’landa Til peered down into faces, distractedly muttering blessings, as he tried to cover up the fact that he was desperately searching for the pilgrim who had just scanned his mind.

  Luckily, Bria was far back in the crowd, quite near the end of the amphitheater. She let herself be shoved backward, off the permacrete, until her feet encountered gooey jungle loam. With a single quick, decisive movement, Bria dug her toe into a lump of trampled leaves and mud and lifted it. Her fingers released the glitterstim cylinder, and it fell, landing in the center of the hole.

  Bria turned, and as she did so, her foot pressed the lump of mud back down into the jungle floor. The entire sequence of events had taken only a second.

  She began edging her way along the back of the crowd, toward the path, allowing herself to be carried along with the tide of incoherent, querulous, confused, and dissatisfied pilgrims.

  A cautious glance behind her assured her that Teroenza had abandoned his search, apparently having realized how hopeless it was, and how much his atypical behavior was upsetting the pilgrims. Bria hoped that he’d put the entire experience down to some relative newcomer deciding to experiment with a stolen vial of glitterstim.

  She moved numbly down the path, her footsteps slow and unsteady. The effects of the glitterstim
had faded so much that she was barely aware of the thoughts and emotions of those immediately around her.

  She wasn’t surprised when Vykk fell into step beside her. As usual, he took her arm to help support her. Bria leaned against him, grateful for his support, and felt his arm go around her waist, until he was half holding her up.

  The swift equatorial dark was all around them, now. Bria could barely see Vykk. He led her down the path, avoiding the worst of the mud puddles. Then, when they reached the dorm, she stopped. “I’m … not going in there just yet,” she mumbled. “I need … I need to talk to you, Vykk.”

  He nodded, his features barely visible in the light cast from the open doors. “Okay. I don’t think anyone will mind if we go up to the mess hall for a cup of stim-tea. You look like you could use it.”

  Together, they turned away, into the darkness. Bria leaned on Vykk as they went up the path. She had never felt so weary. A droid would have moved with more animation.

  When they reached the mess hall, Vykk sat her down and fetched them cups of stim-tea, plus a sugared pastry, which he pushed at Bria. “Here,” he said. “Eat this. You look like you need it.”

  Obediently she sipped her tea and nibbled on the pastry. She hadn’t had dinner, and the food seemed to steady her, bring the world back into focus.

  She leaned toward Vykk, ready to talk, but even as she opened her mouth, he shook his head warningly. “Guess I’d better get you back to your dorm,” he said loudly. “That’ll teach you to skip meals, 921. I thought you were going to pass out on me back there.”

  Taking the hint, Bria got to her feet in silence and followed him out.

  When they reached the outside of the Administration Building, Vykk pulled out a pair of infrared goggles and pulled them on. “You got yours?”

  Nodding, Bria located them and pulled them into place. The night suddenly resolved itself into ghostly black and greenish-white images. She could see Vykk’s face now, half-hidden as it was by the goggles.

  His arm came around her again as they started down the jungle path together. “You took the glitterstim,” he said quietly.

  “Yes,” she said, feeling as numb as if she’d been beaten into unconsciousness. “You were right. Forgive me for doubting you …”

  “Hey,” he said, trying to sound cheerful and failing utterly, “I’d have wanted to check out my story, too, in your place. Was it … was it rough?”

  She nodded, and suddenly feeling rushed back, in a black tide, leaving her shaking and gasping. “Oh, Vykk!” she babbled. “I was in his mind, Teroenza’s mind, and it was terrible! No Divine Gift, just a bored, selfish sentient who wants to get richer so he can add to his collection!”

  “Take it easy,” he said, holding her shoulders to steady her. “You’ve had an awful shock.”

  “I feel … I feel … so … betrayed,” Bria got out, between chattering teeth. “It was … terrible …”

  “Hey, there, sweetheart …” His arms went around her, and the expression of sympathy was her undoing. Bria began to sob, huge, gulping, wracking sobs that hurt. Vykk helped her take her goggles off, then he just held her, stroking her hair, patting her back, murmuring soothing reassurances and endearments.

  She held on to the front of his coverall with both hands, twisting and wringing the fabric, and weeping so hard she scared herself. Bria had never cried like this before. The sense of desolation was terrible.

  “I … don’t … have anything left,” she choked out between spasms of crying. “Nothing … nothing …”

  “Of course you do,” Vykk murmured, kissing her cheek gently. “You’ve got us, right?”

  “Uh … us?” she whispered.

  “Sure. We’re gonna be together, sweetheart. We’re gonna get off this hellish planet, and we’re gonna be happy.”

  She raised her head, staring blindly into the darkness; her night-sight could barely make out the lighter blur of his face. “But they never let pilgrims go,” Bria mumbled. “I read that in Teroenza’s mind.”

  “We won’t ask ’em, honey. We’ll just up and go.”

  “Escape?” she whispered.

  “You got it,” he said. “As soon as I can figure out a way to do it, we’re gonna get out of here. I’ve already begun thinkin’ about it.” He gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. “Trust me. I’ve had experience at this kind of thing. I’ll figure it out.”

  “But … but your money,” she said. “You’re under contract, and you can’t break it. If you run away, you’ll lose your money. You told me you needed those credits they’re paying you to try and get into the Academy. How can you give that up?”

  He shrugged. “One credit is as good as another. I’ll just have to get it outta Teroenza another way.”

  Bria’s mind was fogged with exhaustion and the grief of betrayal. It took her a full minute to realize what Vykk was talking about. “The collection …” she whispered. “You’re planning to steal Teroenza’s collection and escape.”

  “Pretty good,” he said approvingly. “You sure you’re not still having some of those glitterstim insights?”

  “I don’t think so,” Bria said wearily. “I just know that you’ve asked me about it a lot of times, asked me what items are the most valuable. You really think you can break the security locks and steal the collection?”

  “Not the whole thing,” he said. “It’d take a bigger cargo ship than any on Ylesia to haul it all away. I’m just gonna take the small stuff—the really valuable small stuff.” He looked at her intently. “And you’re gonna help me, right?”

  She hesitated. Stealing antiquities was contrary to everything she’d ever believed in. But Teroenza’s antiquities weren’t in a museum, where the public could see them. They were being hoarded by a greedy private collector. If Vykk stole them, they’d be put back into circulation, and there was a good chance that at least some of them would wind up on public display in some store or gallery.

  “Okay,” Bria said. She drew a long, shaky breath. “I’ll help you, Vykk.”

  “Good. You and me, we’re gonna swipe a ship, and we’re getting ourselves off this planet. I’m sick of the heat, sick of the humidity, and sick to death of these priests and their hokey religion.”

  Bria took a deep breath. Leave here? Never attend devotion and receive the Exultation again? How can I live without it?

  Resolutely, she put the question out of her mind. She’d manage somehow. Maybe she could wean herself away from it over the next week or so, until they left.

  “There’s just one more thing, Vykk,” she said uncertainly.

  “What, sweetheart?”

  “Muuurgh. What about Muuurgh? You told me that he’d given his word to guard you—that he’s as much your guard as your protector. What will you do about him?”

  Vykk drew a long breath, and she saw the blur of his face move as he shook his head. “That’s the vrelt in the kitchen,” he said, using an old Corellian phrase for “bad luck” or “disaster.” “I don’t know what I’m going to do about him. I really like the big guy, but he’s told me about this word of honor code of his people. I’m afraid he’ll be loyal to Teroenza no matter what.”

  “You mean if he finds out what we’re planning, he’ll turn us in?”

  “Good chance of it.”

  “Oh, Vykk …” There was a catch in her voice. “What are we going to do? What if we can’t get away?”

  “Don’t worry, honey. Leave that to me.” Vykk sighed. “If I have to, I’ll deal with Muuurgh. I’m a better shot than he is, and much faster on the draw.”

  “You’d shoot him?”

  “If it’s a choice between you and me, or Muuurgh, yeah, I will. I just wish I could convince him to throw in with us. If he did, I’d take him wherever he wanted to go. And give him enough credits to continue his search.”

  “Search?”

  “Yeah. He’s looking for his mate, and he came here thinking she came to Ylesia. But he guessed wrong. Togorians are rare, so rare tha
t I’d never even heard of ’em till I got here. If a female Togorian was here, she’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

  Bria drew in her breath, startled. “But … Vykk! There was another Togorian here! I remember seeing one—oh, six, maybe eight months back. I just caught the one glimpse, but I’m sure of the species.”

  “Really? Was it a male or female? What’d it look like?”

  “I have no idea what sex,” she said. “I don’t think this Togorian was as big as Muuurgh. It was white, with orange stripes … I think. I saw it one evening, just after devotions, and it was getting dark.”

  “I’ll have to tell Muuurgh,” Vykk said. “Those priests lie for a living. It’s entirely possible Mrrov—I think that’s her name—has been here on Ylesia the whole time. Maybe at Colony Two or Three.”

  He fell silent. Bria stood there, mulling over what he’d just said, and finally, she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Please, Vykk,” she pleaded, “tell me you didn’t mean that about shooting Muuurgh if he tries to prevent us from stealing Teroenza’s collection! There’s got to be a way to avoid that!” Bria liked Muuurgh. Over the past couple of months she’d gotten to know him a little, and she admired the big felinoid.

  “I’ll take care of him, whatever it takes. If I have to, I’ll shoot him.” Vykk’s voice was grim. “But maybe I can just … stun him, or give him a knock on that thick skull of his, leave him tied up, so the priests won’t blame him when we make our getaway.”

  “Oh, Vykk …” Bria’s eyes filled with tears again. “Please try to figure out something, so Muuurgh doesn’t get hurt. You’re good at that.”

  “I will, sweetheart,” he said, “I will …”

  He leaned forward to drop a quick kiss on her forehead, and this time she did not remind him of her vows. I have no vows, Bria thought dully as they began walking back toward her dorm. No vows, no religion … nothing at all …

  She glanced sideways in the darkness.

  Nothing except Vykk …

  Muuurgh glided soundlessly out of the jungle and stepped onto the path. The Togorian’s night-vision was far better than a human’s; he could easily make out the distant pair walking down the path. They were almost to the dorm.