Han and Chewie hide in a cave on Orleon, a rainy Mid-Systems world they once used as a hide-out. Skud and other killers in Jabba's gang attack, so they kill him. The gang wants to destroy the cave, but Jabba wants the Falcon . Dining on nutrient paste, Han wishes for prime sand lizard and five-year-old spice wine instead, and considers the past week's events: escaping a Star Destroyer at the Wheel, the Falcon began rattling "like a cantina dancer at a Tatooine Moisture Festival," so he stopped here for repairs, unaware Jabba put a tracer in the cave in case they returned; then, Jabba's freighter, Voidraker , arrived and kept him at bay for a week. Han sees a stone mite on his food tine; a biological weapon developed in the Clone Wars, they swarm in millions and secrete powerful acid. As the gang fires proton grenades, making the ceiling cave in, Han and Chewie find the Falcon covered with stone mites and fire a path to get aboard. When Voidraker detects Falcon 's engines, Jabba realizes his crew buried themselves, not Han. Ordering a laser-borer to blast the rubble, he finds the skeletal remains of his men. As his crew retreat to his ship, the mites hang onto the Falcon "like Sargonian behemoth ticks," so Han uses the de-icing system to scorch them off, but as more drop on, the system overloads. Finally, he blasts through the mountain, hollowed out by the mites. Voidraker meets the Falcon in space and Jabba tries to hide the fact that stone-mites got into equipment his men brought aboard, killed the crew, and cornered him in Airlock 13. Seeing through the bluff, Han offers to rescue him if he'll cancel their debt, drop the price on their heads, and include a bonus. Jabba agrees, but secretly begins planning his revenge.

Review not yet available. Please check back again soon.