SO WHERE WERE YOU?
Chapter 11
Han, Jonash and Chewie ended up at a table Han had occupied frequently in the past.
Han smiled at Jonash. "This table is where my life completely changed about a decade back."
{One whiny farmboy, one weird old man, and two crazy droids. Who knew?}, Chewie shrugged.
"Yep," Han went on, "I was working for Jabba the Hutt at the time. Unfortunately, even I got boarded by the Imps sometimes and I had to dump a load of spice."
"You worked for the Hutts?" Jonash was aghast, as indicated by his raised eyebrows and alarm in his voice. "Those lizards are dangerous."
"I didn't have a lot of options. You get a dishonorable discharge from the Imperial Navy, no ethical employer wants to hire you. I liked eating and keeping my ship spaceworthy, so I went with the money. The Hutts were paying and I went along with it.
"So when I met up in the cantina with the old man and the kid, it was gonna be a nice, easy charter to Alderaan. I'd be out of debt, have a little bit left over, and move on to the next job. But, a funny thing happened on the way to Alderaan. We got there, but instead of a nice, friendly planet with good weather, great casinos and even better intoxicants, we came on to this group of asteroids and dust. Apparently the Imps wanted to demonstrate the power of the Death Star Version .oh, and they picked Alderaan to make a point to this pretty little princess who was waiting to be executed."
"The pretty little princess you married," Jonash said with a smile.
Han continued. "A lot more happened between then and when I married her. I was delivering two droids with the weird old guy and the kid, and one of the droids carried the info for locating a weakness in the Death Star that they could exploit.
"When did you know she was The One?" Jonash asked impishly.
Han contemplated the question. "I'd say about thirty standard minutes, give or take."
"Took you that long?" Jonash laughed.
"Hey, we were kind of busy getting shot at!" Chewie laughed, but then shuddered.
"I'm just hassling you," Jonash told Han affectionately. "C'mon, it's a father's prerogative! Don't tell me you don't do it with your kids!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Han said, chuckling.
Jonash became sincere. "You're a very good father. And a much better husband than I ever was."
"Seeing as I was never your wife, it's hard for me to say," Han responded in his usual dry manner.
Jonash rolled his eyes. "I get a kid who's a smartass."
"Consider it payback," Han told him. The two were laughing, though.
"So where did you meet Leia?"
"In a detention block on the Death Star.
When we approached what had been Alderaan, we were pulled in by this tractor beam that would have destroyed the Falcon if we'd fought against it. This, of course made everyone pretty unhappy." Chewie barked a response. "Yeah, I know, that was putting it mildly. We didn't even know that Leia was there at the time. Then, Artoo, who was more or less Luke's pet droid, was freaking out and saying he found her. Luke who at the time was totally naive, immediately switched into his 'we've gotta rescue the damsel in distress' mode. Marching into the detention area didn't sound promising for a long and healthy life, and I at first refused to do it. But, and this is embarrassing so keep in mind that it's been a while since I was this way, she was wealthy and she was paying, and I was desperate and broke, so I went along with it. Needless to say, Luke had given maybe five seconds as to how to pull this thing off. He wasn't exactly inspiring confidence, and so Leia took over and pushed into a trash chute."
{It smelled terrible}, Chewie added, wrinkling his nose.
Jonash was laughing, which Han felt appropriate. It was one of those life events that was horrible at the time it occurred, but provided great humor later on.
"It would have been all right if that was the worst of it," Han reminded his first mate. "But a couple minutes after Luke was coughed back up by gods only know what, the walls started to close in on us. Well, it was a trash masher and I suppose it was only realistic to suppose that we were going to be a lot thinner. Fortunately, the one droid wasn't completely useless and they managed to get the walls to stop caving in before we looked like yesterday's spoiled nerf roast."
"So then you escaped?"
"After nearly being killed a few times, yeah, we did. We headed for Yavin. I told Leia I was done. Hey, I owed Jabba credits and there was a death mark on my head."
{I wanted to stay with the Rebels}, Chewie reminded him crossly.
"Since when do I listen to you?" Han shot back.
{Never}, Chewie laughed.
"So we get to Yavin, and they found the weakness. Their plan was insane – small X-wings skimming down a trench to make a direct hit into the reactor core of the Death Star. I've done some crazy stuff in my time, but the idea of doing that was even beyond me, and that's saying something."
{No argument there}, Chewie said to him.
"So we headed out for Jabba's, but the Rogue Squadrons were making sure that there were gonna be a lot of funerals when it was over. I couldn't just let the kid go that way. I mean, I kind of liked him and he'd been upset that I'd left, and Chewie here was going to hassle me to death if I didn't turn back."
{Han and Luke received the Medal of Valor}, Chewie told Jonash.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but the best part of the victory was the after party," Han said. "I got to dance with Her Highness." Han grinned like a schoolboy talking about his crush.
{And then you spent the next three years arguing all the time}, Chewie reminded him.
"Three years arguing? What a waste of time!" Jonash chided his son.
"Not really," Han said, grinning. I did get the girl, you know! Besides, we provided the Alliance with more free entertainment than they deserved."
{Lots of gambling going on about when they'd mate}, Chewbacca added, amused by the memory.
"Yeah, someone made money off us," Han said to Chewie.
"So when did you decide to stop being amusement for the troops and do the right thing by the girl?" Jonash asked his son.
Han signaled the server for another round.
"Our unit was based on Yavin Four for a while, until we were attacked. It was determined that we should base our operations on somewhere that the Empire wasn't likely to attack, and they came up with going to Hoth. That made me wonder what I was sticking around for."
"I'm told they have vacation packages there," Jonash said, frowning.
"When we were on it, it was anything but resort like. I'd been to a lot of less than wonderful places in the galaxy, but this beat them all. It was impossible to get warm. The Falcon was the warmest place to sleep, and it wasn't very warm when you're talking that kind of cold. By this time, I'd been with the Rebellion three years. They protected me and paid for my services. I did supply runs, everything from beer to weapons. Leia accompanied me on runs occasionally; procurement was her main responsibility. We ended up doing a run to Ord Mantell, and I managed to run into a bounty hunter there, and I damn near got killed. Jabba had put such a huge price tag on my head that everyone wanted a piece of the action. I decided at that point I had to leave while I still had all of my body parts."
"I heard that there was a search for a Han Solo, but I was in the spice mines and all I heard were rumors," Jonash said. "And until I escaped, I wouldn't have been able to do anything."
"It was all real," Han assured him. "So I told General Riekkan that I had to leave. It wasn't easy because I respected him and he did me."
{Amazing. He actually respected someone}, Chewie added.
"You've been hanging around with this guy too long," Jonash said to the giant Wookiee as he pointed at Han.
Chewbacca was quite good at interpreting the humor of humans, but at this, he drew himself up in righteous anger. {I owe Han a life-debt. That is the most sacred of bonds, even surpassing family obligations}!
"Take it easy," Han urged his friend. "He's not familiar with Wookiee customs."
{And a life debt}, Chewie continued, {extends to the family of the one who saved your life. And that includes you}.
"I'm honored," Jonash said to him. "Do go on," he urged Han.
"So I told Leia that I had to go, and she chases off after me. I knew she liked me, and the thought of leaving her was awful, but I was in a pretty dire situation. I could easily compromise the Rebellion as well, and really, I didn't want that responsibility."
{Typical}, Chewie snorted.
"Hey, I'd gotten to know a lot of the soldiers and liked 'em. I didn't need their deaths on my head. They deserved better."
{And then Luke got lost in the storm}, Chewie chimed in. {Han was the only one brave enough to look for him}.
"Hey, he was my friend! I wasn't gonna leave him out to die!" Han exclaimed. "I did what needed doing. I was going to take off, but meteorites were pounding the glacier and Riekkan wasn't letting anyone leave. So the princess and I picked up where we left off, Luke got better and took off with the fleet, and Chewie and I were frantically trying to get the ship spaceworthy, but the base fell under attack by the Imps and we were evacuating. I tried to get Leia to her ship, but there was a cave in, so I got her and Threepio out on the Falcon."
{And then they mated}, Chewie added, self satisfied.
"Don't you ever think about anything else?" Han demanded of his Wookiee companion.
{Food, of course}.
"And that is how it started," Han said to Jonash. "We've been together ever since. We managed to have a few more adventures along the way, some I don't care to repeat, but we got married at Cantham House, with about a thousand more wedding guests than I wanted to have, but it didn't matter; Leia was now my wife and that's all I cared about."
Jonash smiled. "I'm guessing that that's where you consider your life to have started."
"Yeah." Han smiled. "Speaking of which, I think one more round and we're gonna have to crawl outta here."
"You're probably right," Jonash agreed. He was quite tipsy by this point.
As Han signaled the server, a tall figure crossed over to their table. The cantina was dimly lit, even during daytime hours, and the three were well on their way to being utterly and completely drunk, so the figure wasn't readily recognizable at first, but too soon, it became obvious.
"Salla Zend. What in the nine hells are you doing here?" Han asked, squinting.
Salla gave a bitter laugh, her orange eyes blazing. "I should ask you that. Don't you think you should be home with that obnoxious princess you married?"
"You should know from obnoxious," Han retorted. "And you don't dare speak of my wife that way."
Salla threw back her head, her laughter becoming even more menacing. "I've been waiting for a long time to do this." She slowly removed her blaster pistol.
"Oh, please, Salla, this is ridiculous! It's been over fifteen years since we knew each other! What's wrong, you kill off Shug Ninx?"
"Ninx was never the man you were. Or have you gone soft, all married with kids?"
Jonash stood up. "Young lady, please. I'm sure whatever went on between you and my son was a long time ago and there's no reason for this."
"He deserted me! We were going to be married!" Salla gave a cruel smile.
"I'm sure you're not the first woman who's ever lost someone she loved," Jonash told her quietly.
"Who the hells are you, anyway?" Salla demanded.
"I'm Han's father, that's who," Jonash informed him.
"I thought your parents were dead, Solo." Salla's face was twisted into a sneer.
"So did I. C'mon, Salla, move along," Han urged her, keeping his hand on his blaster. "We're history."
"Not in my mind!" she snapped. "I'd have made a real man out of you, Solo. We'd have had the best life together –"
{I'm going to find Tork}, Chewie announced, excusing himself from the table.
Salla laughed again, an extremely unpleasant, grating noise. "I see you're still hanging out with a Wookiee as your favorite playmate."
"Will you just go already?" Han said, trying to maintain his cool. Salla was an expert shot. "What happened was what happened. I'm sorry it didn't work out. I wasn't up for being married in those days. I finally met the right woman, and it just didn't happen to be you."
"Well, let's see how well she likes being a widow!" Salla said, snarling and pointing her weapon right at Han's heart. Her finger was solidly on the trigger.
She fired, and as the blast traveled, Jonash leaned over rapidly, right in front of Han...
Han gasped as he saw a sea of crimson spreading over his father's chest.
"No," he whispered. "No, Dad, not now."