Vision of the future

located—?'

He hesitated. Even with the transmission encrypted he didn't want to say the name aloud. Obviously, neither did Han. 'You mean the place we talked about at the Orowood?' the other said obliquely. 'I think so, yeah. Get Lobot and Moegid and meet me two systems Coreward from where you didn't have any choice.'

Lando smiled tightly. They arrived right before you did, the words echoed accusingly through his memory as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. I had no choice. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, too, Han had replied as he and Leia, a squad of stormtroopers behind them, had walked forward into that private dining room on Cloud City to face Darth Vader. 'Two systems Coreward it is,' he confirmed.

'I'll be waiting,' Han said.

The transmission ended. Lando leaned back in his seat, gazing unseeingly at the blank display. The place we talked about at the Orowood. They'd talked about several different places at that clandestine meeting. But only one of them could have gotten Han this riled up. Bastion. The latest site of the oft- moved Imperial capital, its location and name of its host planet hand-sealed secrets. Probably one of the best- defended worlds in the galaxy; certainly the central focus of Imperial power; most definitely a place where the names Han Solo and Lando Calrissian were rather less than admired.

And one of the last places in the galaxy where a complete set of Imperial records would be stored. Records that might have the names and clans of the Bothans who had helped destroy the world of Caamas half a century ago. Records that could end the increasingly violent argument about whether the entire Bothan species should pay the penalty for that handful of anonymous murderers. If they could find that crucial record. And get out with it alive.

He keyed the comm. 'Donnerwin, send a transmission to Lobot at Dive Central,' he ordered.

'Tell him to get himself and the Lady Luck prepped—we're going on a little trip.' For a moment he debated ordering Lobot to contact Moegid, decided against it. The Lady Luck had better encryption than the under-to-over comm, and the less information out there for snoopers to listen to, the better.

'And get me a seat on the next surface shuttle.'

'Acknowledged,' Donnerwin said, unfazed as always by this sudden change in his boss's plans.

'The shuttle leaves in twenty minutes. Do you want me to hold it?'

'No, I can make it,' Lando told him, running a quick mental list. Everything he was likely to need was already aboard the Lady Luck, and barring any major disasters the casino/mining operation should be able to run itself for a while. At least until Tendra got back. A pang of guilt jabbed into him. After all he and Tendra had been through together, she had a right to know why he was dropping everything like this. Especially if there was any chance at all that he wouldn't be coming back.

He swallowed, his mouth unexpectedly dry. He would come back, all right. Of course he would. Hadn't he flown right into the heart of the second Death Star and lived to tell about it? Sure he had. And he'd survived the destruction of Mount Tantiss, and that Corellian unpleasantness, and everything in between.

But he was older now, and wiser, with a business he really enjoyed and a woman who for possibly the first time in his life he felt truly and honestly connected to. He didn't want to lose any of it. Certainly not by dying.

But, hey, there was nothing to worry about. He was going with Han, and Han was about the luckiest old scoundrel he'd ever known. They'd come back okay. Sure they would. Guaranteed.

'Boss?'

Lando blinked, snapping out of his private pep talk and focusing on Donnerwin again. 'What?'

'Will there be anything else?' the other asked.

'No,' Lando said, feeling slightly ridiculous. 'Just keep things running smoothly until Tendra gets back.'

Donnerwin smiled. 'Sure thing, boss. Have a good trip.'

'Thanks.'

Lando keyed off the comm, and with a grimace pushed back his chair and stood up. No, there was nothing foolish about a little healthy caution. It was far worse than that. It was age. Lando was starting to feel old; and he didn't like it. Not a bit. So fine. He would go ahead and take this little jaunt into the heart of the Empire. It would do him good, and might just save the New Republic on top of it.

Sure. It would be just like old times.

* * *