Luke and company return to Arbra, mobbed by happy Hoojibs. Debriefing them on Iskalon, Rieekan says weeks of tracking Vanis and Argo proved fruitless, but he has heard Han may have also had access to data on a new Imperial weapon. Lando and Chewie know Han did no spying work without them but say nothing, anxious to find him. Rieekan sends Luke and Leia to look for Vanis on Kabray, a neutral space station that, pre-Empire, was a galactic hub, but now just a conference site, while Lando and Chewie search for Han. The droids remain to upload computer data from Gamandar, so Plif and the Hoojibs join Luke and Leia on the Falcon, posing as Arbran dignitaries visiting Kabray. At a Kabrayan party, Luke is shocked to see Dani, but realizes this is another Zeltron who looks like her; of course, she hangs on him as Dani would. Leia teases him, then is stunned to see a male Zeltron resembling Han. The host tries to bar them, but Plif threatens to report him to the Empire, and they enter amid many species, including Stenaxes and Lahsbees (reecent admissions). Luke feels out of place, but Leia once visited Kabray for Alderaan. As they split up to find Vanis' message, the crowd passes rumors regarding a planetary dispute between Pursin and Yugami. Luke hides as several Zeltron women track him down, while Leia finds entertainers' quarters, where a singer, Shirley, tells the proprietor, Morti, she won't work "freak shows." Pretending to fix Plif's meal in the kitchen, Leia sees a man poisoning a pot of soup. Luke and Plif check thirteen suites, finding Vanis's message in the room of the man with the poison. Hiding when he enters, they realize he plans to kill the governor for favoring Pursin. Luke decides to stop the murder, but is cornered by the Zeltrons. They want to take him to their room, but he brings them to the ballroom as "cover." As Leia sneaks to the ballroom, she hears a noise and ducks into Shirley's dressing room, donning a costume and wig. Morti enters, thinks she's Shirley, and makes her perform. As the governor grows impatient for dinner, Luke considers how to save his life at a nearby table, shocked to see Leia on stage as "The Chanteuse of the Stars," "direct from an engagement on Seezar's Planet." As she sings, an excited Lahsbee becomes a Huhk. The patrons panic and Luke spills the soup before the governor can drink it. Since the Hoojibs drained all weapons, Leia must keep singing to soothe the beast, and Luke hopes she knows many verses.

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