BITING OFF MORE THAN THEY CAN CHEW? CHAPTER 4
Writer: Hopefulwriter
Time Frame: Before the Original Trilogy
Rating: for everyone
Characters: Han Solo, Chewbacca
Summary: Continuing story of Han and Chewbacca's first haul as partners
Han and Chewbacca held their breath as the leader nodded to the other, who stood by
holding his weapon on Han.
"Check it out." The leader commanded.
The being moved to the edge of the opening, peering closely, then knelt on one knee and reached into it.
Chewbacca moved his body slightly and Han, almost imperceptively, gave an unsmiling nod.
"Nothing in there, sir." The being told the leader, who remained silent for a long moment.
Satisfied, the leader spoke to Han. "You're clean. You can replace those grates."
Han nodded to Chewbacca who once again helped replaced the heavy deck plates.
"There's been a lot of smuggling and illegal shipments in this area lately…have to check out everyone.. even you legal shippers. He told Han.
With a click, the deck plates were locked and Han stood and brushed his hands together, then placed them on his hips; Chewbacca took his place beside the hatch opening. "I understand." Han replied.
"Sorry to have cost you some time, but we had to be sure."
"We'll make up the time." Han assured him.
The leader nodded to the other as they made their way to the exit. "Remember to give that pass to the deck officer the next place you land."
Han nodded, secured the Clearance card in a shirt pocket and locked the hatch when the two were gone. He leaned his head against the doorway and gave a deep sigh of relief.
Chewbacca moved to his friend and placed a paw on his shoulder.
"It's alright, Chewie."
They headed back to the cockpit and after settling in their seats, Han retracted the in-flight
boarding connection and set computer coordinates for Axiotta. Working his part of the flight
console, Chewbacca woofed a question. Han smiled and continued pushing buttons. "No, I
didn't dump the cargo. I'm not going to give up that kind of pay. We're still loaded." He gave a wink to his partner. Chewbacca growled and shook his head, adamant to have an answer.
"Where's the cargo?" Han repeated the Wookiee's question. He again smiled, and leaned
over closer to Chewbacca…. "Under your bed."
"Give it just a little more power." Han told Chewbaca as he settled in his pilot's chair, cup of
hot kava in his hand. The ship's 'morning' had dawned and Han realized they needed to make it
to Axiotta soon. He worked on his side of the console, consulting the astrological charts. "Hey, Chewie, we only have 4 more revolutions of Cerpel's moon to carry out this job and we still have to deliver to Eperon.
Chewbacca pushed the power yoke and the acceleration could be felt. Stars, moons and asteroids
flew by and Han gave a light punch to the Wookiee's shoulder. "Look over there." Han instructed, pointing to the left. "That's the Belarian Shell nebula." Chewbacca watched in wonder as the nebula slowly changed color. "Been like that for eons." Han told Him. The Wookiee shook his head, beginning to appreciate the phenomenons of space as much as his partner.
"There it is." Han said a few 'ship hours' later. The planet was shrouded by clouds…flashes of
light snaking through them. "Lightning." Han muttered. "It's raining down there - hope we don't get struck by a bolt."
Chewbacca woofed a comment. "Lightning strikes the trees on Kashyyyx."
"Let's get below, carefully, cause we don't know the altitude of those clouds, could be closer to the surface than we realize." The Falcon drifted slowly down through the clouds, lightning flashing in front of them making Chewbacca flinch, the accompanying thunder deafening.
Han laughed. "It won't get you, pal."
Breaking through the storm, Han punched in coordinates to find a spaceport, while the location
was flashing on Han's screen, a flash-bolt struck the Falcon, knocking it sideways.
"Bells of Nedu!" Han cursed as he fought the controls to stabilize the ship; bells, buzzers and
alarms all sounding at once throughout the cockpit, causing Chewbacca to moan loudly and cover his sensitive ears against the din.
"You're not helping any, Chewie." Han complained.
One by one the alarms shut down as, under Han's expertise, the ship regained its course. "Sure hope we don't have any major damage." Han quickly scanned all the readouts and found things
just about normal. "Let's find that port fast and land." He urged.
Continuing to scan the readouts as the Falcon swooped along the planet's surface, the spaceport
soon came into view.
"Millennium Falcon requesting clearance to land." Moments passed and the pair exchanged glances. Han pressed the communicator, ready to request again, but was stopped by a response…"Millennium Falcon give us your specifications." Han gave the specs and was given a bay location in which to land.
"We got it, Chewie. Let's land and check out that lightning hit." Han guided his beloved ship smoothly into the assigned bay. "Put her on low-stability power, Chewie, I want to get that grain and get loaded as soon as possible."
The pair worked quietly together to partially shut down the Falcon. They left the cockpit, and after opening the hatchway, made their way quickly down the ramp and rushed to the side of the ship. Han spotted the bolt hit first. "There it is, Chewie." He said pointing to the ten meter, blackened gash on the ship's side. Chewbacca gave a low moan and placed a big, furry paw against the hull, as if to 'comfort' it." He'd grown to love the Falcon too.
Han walked slowly around the side and noticed, no burned out wires or major systems compromised. Satisfied, he said to Chewbacca. "Looks like it was a glancing blow…no real damage." The Wookiee gave a relieved woof.
Han stared at the gash, "You know, Chewie, it gives it a new characteristic…tough bird."
"Hail Falcon!" The spaceport deck officer approached the bay; thunder fading in the distance.
"Come on." Han started for the front of the ship, with Chewbacca following, and approached the uniformed man, extending a hand in greeting. "Han Solo, Captain of the Falcon."
"Officer Elon." The man took Han's hand. "Your ship alright? We could see on radar you took quite an electrical hit."
"Everything checks out fine." He replied. "We're here to pick up some tetra-ploid grain to haul to Eperon..can that be arranged?"
"It will take some time." The man answered.
"Can you give me an estimate of the time?" Han questioned.
"How much grain do you want?"
Han thought the less they could carry without raising suspicion the better. "Just a couple of
Metric-tons. Others are taking supplies there also." He lied easily.
Elon nodded his head. "Shouldn't take more than five planet hours to get you loaded and gone, if time is of the essence.
"It is." Han agreed. "Tell me the conversion of time from Universal." The deck officer gave
the information and Han adjusted his chronometer. "Any place around here to relax, have a drink?"
"There's a canteen, just outside the port. You should have a couple of dial revolutions until the grain gets here. You can supervise it's loading.
"That's fine." Han told him. "Come on, Chewie."
The two walked through the spaceport, Han taking note of the ships housed in other bays, as they passed pilots and shippers; some loading or unloading their cargo, others making repairs, some standing around and talking in various languages. Some gave the pair a nod of greeting, some suspicious glances, others turned their backs, not wanting to be noticed or recognized.
The rain had stopped and Han and Chewbacca walked around and stepped over puddles and mud
pits as they made their way to the large rock building. Passing through the doors, Han was surprise by the light in the large room. Most gathering places preferred shadows and darkness.
There weren't many in the canteen…pilots, mechanics, a few female beings; some servers, others pilots. Han chose a side booth and the pair slid into the seats. "Look, Chewie, you just punch in these buttons and it gives your order." Chewbacca gave a laugh and poked at the pad with a big furry paw, pushing several buttons at once. "You big dope," Han laughed cancelling the order. "You can't order everything." Han punched an order for a bottle of ale and mugs.
While waiting, Han allowed himself to relax…he was just a hauler, receiving cargo to take to
another planet….just an average 'jso', just like the others sitting around, not thinking about the
strange cargo secreted away in his ship.
The server brought the order and Han asked, "Some way around here to get copies of documents?" The server thought for a moment, then pointed to a three armed being at
a side table. "Ijoem. He's a scribe. He can help you."
Han took a big drink of the mug Chewbacca had just filled and said, "Be right back."
"You can copy documents?" Han asked as he stopped at the table. The being looked up,
one gray eye appraised the pilot from head to foot. He nodded a 'yes' and gestured for Han to sit.
'What do you want copied?' The being wrote on a slate and gave it to Han.
He pulled the Clearance Card from his pocket. "I need about a dozen of these." Han hoped he wasn't putting a noose around his own neck, he didn't know if this scribe would do counterfeit
work, but he had to take the chance. The being took the card and looked at it back, front and sideways.. ran his third hand over the face of the card, feeling its texture, then looked back up
at Han, no expression on his face. Han gave a nervous swallow as the being began writing on the slate again. The being's two hands held the slate for Han to read. 'Seven-Hundred- Fifty credits for this work.'
"When can you have it done?" Han asked, "We leave in four planet hours."
The being again wrote on the slate, 'I will have them for you in one planet hour.' The being stood, took the card and slid to the exit. "Guess I'll wait here." Han said to himself.
He rejoined Chewbacca at the table. "Let's look around a while. We'll come back to pick up
what we need here in about an hour." Chewbacca nodded and downed his last bit of ale.
Walking through the spaceport settlement, Han and Chewbacca stopped at several booths,
looking over goods that were offered; books, ornamental metal work, foods, weapons,
robes, boots, plants, exotic fruits. Chewbacca picked up a gray, oblong piece of fruit, gave
the merchant a coin and bit into the flesh, enjoying the unfamiliar taste. Han watched as
female beings ushered their young ones through the booths and streets, seloms (earth like
cat creatures) darting in and around the booths and people, their primal screech nerve shattering.
Looking at his chrono, Han nudged Chewbacca, "We need to get back to that Canteen and then the ship." The Wookiee gave a nod.
Once inside the canteen, Han glanced around the room, looking for the scribe and noticed him
now seated at the booth they had occupied earlier. Han slid into the seat opposite the being while
Chewbacca stood, scanning the room and doors.
The scribe began writing on the slate. 'Here is what you asked for.' And gave the packet to Han, which he opened and looked over as he counted; 13. He thumbed through the cards, "Which one is the original?" He asked.
The being smiled and wrote, 'if you can tell, then my work failed.'
Han gave a wry smile, he had no worries. He reached into a pants pocket for credits and counted out the required seven-hundred and fifty, which he laid on the table before the being.
All three hands reached out to gather up the credits. That done, the being stood and slid to the back exit.
Han stuffed the Clearance Cards into his vest pocket. "Let's get back to the ship, Chewie."
They left the canteen, walking the street toward the spaceport. Panic gripped Han as he recognized a group of men walking toward the canteen. Corellian Military Enforcers!