Mur Lafferty - Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition

Han summoned speed, but his boots could only run so fast.

He had meant to be on time, but there had been a Sabacc game going on and most everyone respected the need for a good game of Sabacc. Anyone worth playing Sabacc with, anyway.

And he was on time, if you considered half an hour late to be on time, and who counted half hours anyway, when youre meeting a shady back-alley dealer in a shady back alley in the poorly lit hours of the morning?

Unfortunately for Han, Kilmo, the shady back-alley dealer, was waiting for him. He, apparently, counted those half hours.

Han came skidding to a halt in front of him, his engineer boots sliding in some industrial goo. He grinned a hello, hoping his charm would win him some points here. Hey, Kilmo, youre looking good, he said, barely recognizing the tall, lanky human lurking in the shadows. A couple of larger shadows moved behind him. And Kilmos friends. Hey.

Friends. Lady Proxima had said nothing about Kilmo bringing friends.

Youre late, Kilmo rumbled. He sounded even taller than he was. Han wouldnt have said someone could sound tall, but that was Kilmo for you. He moved into the light, his pockmarked face half hidden by greasy blond hair.

Only a little bit, Han agreed amiably. But Im here now, and Ive got what you need. He winked, hoping they could see he was no threat.

One of the tall shapes behind Kilmo stepped forward. It looked like a Sabetue, gaunt, skeletal, and skin the rare, pure white indicating they were genderless. Han had never seen a white Sabetue before, but no matter their color, he thought it would be a good idea to keep his eyes on the claws. You really didnt want to deal with the claws on either their hands or feet. At all. Ever.

Less talk, they said. More showing.

Han fished around in his right-hand pocket, pulled out five small metal vials, and showed them to Kilmo. The finest hyperfuel credits can buy. Kilmo reached out his hand eagerly, but Han jerked his away. If you brought the credits, that is.

The Sabetue seemed to be the brains of the outfit, because while Kilmos eyes gleamed with greed, their ugly face frowned, adding at least two more degrees of ugliness to it. We agreed to seven vials of refined coaxium.

Hans eyes went wide. Seven? He looked at his hands and made a show of counting the vials. three, four, five. I couldve sworn she gave me seven.

The Sabetue stepped forward, flexing their claws, and Han took a quick step back. Hang on, hang on, let me see if I misplaced them, he said, holding up one hand to stop the advance as his other hand grasped the coaxium.

He rooted around in one trouser pocket, and then the other one, awkwardly reaching across his body while his right hand tightly grasped the treasure the gangsters wanted. His fingers brushed another vial, and he fished it out, sighing in relief. I misplaced it! he said triumphantly. Here you go.

Thats still only six, Kilmo said, finally catching on. Wheres the last one?

Well, Im sure Lady Proxima will accept a reduced payment for a reduced number of vials, Han said. You were going to pay forty-one thousand for seven? How about twenty thousand for six?

The gang advanced as one, and Han backed up, scrabbling for another answer. Eighteen? Sixteen! Give me a number! I can be reasonuh-oh. He had backed into something. It wasnt a wall, but it was about as solid, and a lot angrier.

If hed thought Kilmo and his friends were large, they were nothing compared with this person. Another human, a man, but bigger than any he had ever seen. The person was enshrouded in shadow, but Han could feel the muscles move under his skin, like busy rocks putting their affairs in order before an avalanche. Hands fell on his shoulder, and he staggered under the weight.

Another friend? he asked, smiling weakly and looking up. Thats when Kilmo hit him.

The first punch landed squarely on his left eye, rocketing his head backward and making him see stars in the overcast sky. The second attack was the lucky one, though. It was a onetwo that glanced off his nose and hit him in the gut. It was lucky not because the punches didnt hurthis eyes watered from the pain and he doubled over, desperately trying to get his breath backbut because they drove him backward into the man who held him.

Since Kilmo had been so helpful as to give him some extra force, Han drove back with his elbows as he hit the man behind him. He would have liked to slam his head back and break the guys nose as well, but the guy was too tall. Besides, Han was doubled over from the force of the blow to his stomach, but he could still hit the guy behind him so he, too, could feel the pleasure of a gut punch.

As Han had hoped, the man staggered backward, doubling over and losing his grip on Han. The coaxium vials fumbled through Hans fingers and rolled to the ground as he forced himself to run, still doubled over. At least hunched over in pain was a good position to avoid the Sabetues attempt to grab him as he scrambled away.

He gave one last mournful look at the coaxium, now being gathered by Kilmos greedy hands. Blast, he said under his breathexcept it was more like a croak, since his breath hadnt returned. He hadnt wanted to leave without the payment. Not having the credits would be a problem when he returned to Lady Proxima, but if Han had learned anything in his years on Corellia, it was to get away with your life first, and then later you could deal with all the other problems that getting away had caused.