Star Wars: The Han Solo Trilogy I: The Paradise Snare (22 page)

The Exalted One, Teroenza, had told Bria that she was free to put on regular clothing, in place of her bulky pilgrim garb, pointing out that it would make it easier to tend his collection … but so far the girl clung to her robes, as she clung to her vows.

The young Corellian woman reached the mudflats and paused to make an obeisance before the mud wallow where two priests lounged. Both ignored her, but Bria was used to that. Priests paid little attention to pilgrims, unless they needed to direct them in their work. That was natural … their minds were on higher things, soaring on spiritual planes that humanoids like Bria could not hope to reach …

The first time Bria had seen the priests wallowing in the red stinking mud, she’d been shocked. It was unsettling to see them indulging in such a … secular … activity. But over the past three months, ever since she’d come to work for His Exaltedness, Teroenza, Bria had gotten used to seeing them.

She was glad that she no longer had to work in the darkness of the glitterstim factory. Working in the Administration Building was much nicer. Climate-controlled, with good lighting and the food … the food was
much
better. It had taken Bria nearly a full month to be able to eat a regular meal. At first she’d been so listless, so drained of energy, she’d just picked at her food, as she’d been doing for months. The medical droid had had to treat her for
malnutrition, as well as traces of fungi-induced blood-sickness.

But now she was fine.

Things were much better for her, she had to admit, since Vykk had come into her life. If only …

Bria frowned, and sighed. If only Vykk were a pilgrim, too. Then they could worship together, attend prayer times together, and receive the sacrament of Exultation together. But Vykk … she couldn’t escape the fact that he was an unbeliever, even though he’d never admitted to it. Vykk believed in nothing but himself.

When they attended devotions together, he would hold her arm or her hand to steady her on the way back to her dorm. The touch of his hand made her question her devotion to the One, the All, and Bria didn’t like that. She wanted nothing to shake her faith or make her question her vows.

By now she’d reached the sand dunes. As she’d half expected, she heard the sound of a blaster bolt whine and sizzle. “Vykk!” she called, not wanting to sneak up on a man who was doing target practice. “Vykk, it’s me!”

As she climbed to the top of the dune, the wind grabbed her robes and whipped them about her legs. She had to hold onto her cap, lest it be blown off by the ocean wind.

Below her, on the beach, she could see Vykk, legs braced in a shooter’s stance, his blaster in its holster, which he wore slung low, far down his thigh. Muuurgh was some distance from the Corellian, holding several black ceramic target pieces. Without warning, the big Togorian flung two of the targets into the air, one high and to his left, the other low and to his right.

Vykk’s hand was a blur of motion so fast that Bria’s eyes could barely follow it. A blaster bolt shattered first the rightmost, then the left target piece. Tiny droplets of slagged ceramic rained into the restless Ylesian surf.

Muuurgh yowled his approval. Vykk turned, ready to practice distance shooting at the stationary target they’d set up, then he spotted Bria at the top of the dune. With a
wave and grin, he holstered his blaster and loped toward her.

Bria was struck, as she always was, by how good-looking he was, with his regular features, brown hair and eyes, and lean build. Taken all together, he wasn’t actually a classically handsome man—but any woman who’d ever been on the receiving end of his smile wouldn’t notice that.

“Hi!” he yelled, running up to her.

Before Bria could fend him off, he dropped a kiss on her forehead. Breathless, she pushed him away. “No, Vykk. That’s against my vows.”

“I know,” he said unrepentantly, “but someday, honey, you’re gonna kiss me back.”

“I wondered if you wanted to go for stim-tea before devotions,” she said.

“Not today,” he said, suddenly serious, looking down into her face. “There’s something we need to talk about, Bria. I’ve waited until you were … better, because I’m afraid it’s gonna be a shock. But you gotta find out sometime.”

Bria looked up at him, wondering what was going on. “What are you talking about, Vykk?”

“Let’s go and sit down,” he said. “Over here, on the beach, okay?”

He led her over to a smooth spot in the sand, and when Muuurgh came up to see if they were going back, Vykk shook his head. “Give us a little privacy for a while, pal, okay?”

The Togorian walked away, up the dune. Bria watched as his inky form vanished behind the hill of sand.

Her heart began to race as Vykk took a small device out of his pocket. “This is the audio-log recorder I pulled out of the
Dream
’s control panel,” he told her. “I’m going to play a recording I made a couple of months ago, before Teroenza asked you to look after his collection. Just be patient and listen, okay?”

“I don’t know … I can tell I’m not going to like this,” she muttered. “I’ve got a bad feeling about that recording.”

“Please,” he said. “For me. Just listen.”

Bria nodded, her hands twisting in her lap. Suddenly the ocean breeze, instead of seeming pleasant, made her shiver despite the sun dipping toward the west.

Vykk turned on the recorder. Bria listened to the conference that ensued … heard Vykk greet the priests and heard them invite him to take a mud bath. Bria recognized Exalted Teroenza’s and Sacredot Veratil’s voices talking to the pilot. Mud baths. They were saying how relaxing mud baths were. Bria stirred restlessly, and Vykk held up a warning finger and mouthed, “Wait.”

She forced herself to sit still, though she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Surely the priests had not known that Vykk was recording their conversation—his actions were worse than eavesdropping, more like outright spying!

Then—Bria caught her breath in dismay—she heard Veratil and Teroenza laughing and talking about the Exultation—they were saying it was
not
a Divine Gift, they were saying it had nothing at all to do with the One or the All!

Bria’s eyes widened, then narrowed in fury, and she shot to her feet. The wind whipped her pilgrim’s cap off, allowing her golden-red curls to spring free, but she paid no attention. She was trembling with anger as she faced Vykk. Seeing her reaction, he shut off the recorder and stood to face her.

“How
could
you?” Bria demanded, her voice low and shaking. “I thought you were my friend.”

He stepped toward her, hands raised placatingly. “Bria, sweetheart, I
am
your friend. I did it for you … you need to know the truth. I’m sorry you’re—”

Bria’s hand and arm seemed to move of their own volition, coming up in a roundhouse
slap!
that connected solidly with his cheek. Vykk staggered back, hand pressed to his face. “You’re lying!” she cried. “Lying! You faked that to make me break my vows! Admit it!”

He dropped his hand and stood staring at her, and his eyes were full of sadness and pity. Slowly, Vykk shook his head. “I’m sorry, babe,” he said. “Sorrier than I can say. But I didn’t fake it. What you heard is the truth, and gettin’
mad at me won’t change that. Teroenza and his crew don’t have any Divine Gifts. They invented this whole scam just to get factory workers and slaves to sell.”

The print of her hand was darkening on his cheek, dull red where she’d struck him. Bria could see the marks of her fingers. She fought the impulse to throw herself at him, babbling apologies. How could she have hurt him like that?

At the same time, though, she was angry clear through. Bria could feel her face working. Her chin trembled as she tried to control herself. “No!” She clenched her hands. “No! That’s not true! You faked it. What are you … telepathic? How did you know about Sacredot Palazidar? You weren’t even
here
then!”

He shook his head. “I didn’t know, Bria. I didn’t know, and I didn’t fake this recording. I’m gonna prove that to you.” Digging into his pocket, he held out a small black vial.

Bria knew only too well what it was. “Glitterstim? Where did you get it?”

“Light-fingered it during a delivery,” Vykk said. “You know what it can do, right?”

Slowly Bria nodded.

“This is the only way I can prove to you I’m not lying. If you open it, expose it to light, then swallow it, it’ll give you temporary telepathic abilities. You’ll be able to read my mind, and you’ll
know
that I’m not lying about the Exultation—and that I didn’t fake that recording. Here”—he reached out and dropped it into her hand—“take it.”

Bria looked down at the tube. “I … I need to think about this, Vykk. I need to decide what to do.”

“I’m not lyin’, honey, I swear.” He came closer to her, reached out to take her hands. “Trust me.”

She backed away from him. “Just … leave me alone for now, Vykk. I’ll … see you later. After the devotion. Right now, I have to go.”

He looked at her. “You could skip it, this once. It’s not like anyone takes roll call.”

Skip the Exultation? Bria felt physically sick at the thought, and her reaction terrified her. What if Vykk was right? What if the Exultation was nothing more than a combination
physical and mental vibration from an alien species? If no Divine Gift was present, then the pilgrims were no better than addicts getting a fix.

Bria gazed into Vykk’s eyes and had a queasy feeling that he
was
telling the truth. Her fingers tightened over the small black cylinder of glitterstim. Here lay her answer. With this, she could find out the truth …

She turned and began walking away, leaving him there on the beach. Bria heard Vykk call out to her, but she waved him away and kept moving. She didn’t have much time if she was going to make it to the devotion on schedule.

Half an hour later she stood amid the hordes of pilgrims, watching the sun set in bloody splendor behind the Altar of Promises. It was almost time for the Exultation. She glanced around her, thinking that if she was going to do this, it had better be soon. Surreptitiously her fingers withdrew the black cylinder from the pocket of her robe. Light … she needed light to activate the glitterstim. And yet … she couldn’t do it while anyone would see …

Finally, the moment came that she was waiting for—the signal to the faithful that the Exultation was about to begin.

Bria had stationed herself in the crowd so that she had a clear view of the High Priest and the Sacredots as they led the pilgrims in the devotion. But she was far back in the crowd, far enough back that she ought to be able to shield the glitterstim with her wide sleeve, so its activation wouldn’t be noticed by the t’landa Til. And the other pilgrims would be so busy with the Exultation that they’d probably barely notice a blaster bolt.

All around her, pilgrims were falling to their knees. Bria let herself follow them, and as she did so, she flipped open the top of the vial of glitterstim. Under the cover of her body as she bent forward from the waist, she pulled free the fibrous dose of the drug—and wondered, for an insane second, whether this was a dose she herself had prepared.

As the pilgrims prostrated themselves, the priests’ throat pouches began to distend. As the beginnings of the vibrating
hum resounded through the air, Bria held the glitterstim before her, full in the last rays of the setting sun.

Within seconds it activated, sparking blue, but none of the pilgrims noticed, and the effect was hidden from the High Priest. Even though she’d never taken glitterstim before, Bria knew exactly how many seconds to wait. A moment later she shoved it into her mouth and allowed her saliva to quench the sparking substance.

As she mouthed the drug, then swallowed it, the Exultation began.

Bria shuddered as though she’d been blaster-shot. The effects of the glitterstim were immediate. Blood rushed through her body like a ship going into hyperspace. Her head pounded.

But the physical effects were as nothing to the mental ones. Her mind
opened
in a way she’d never afterward be able to describe. As the waves of the Exultation took her, she experienced the pleasure of all the other pilgrims in the crowd.

The sensation was so overwhelming that she almost passed out. Only the anger that had been simmering inside her ever since Vykk had played that recording kept her sane—and focused.

Got to … open … my eyes …
she thought.
Focus …

Gagging, gasping, Bria opened her eyes, shuddering as the waves of pleasure wracked her with such intensity they were nearly transformed into pain. She stared at Teroenza, forcing herself not to look away, to narrow her mind to only encompass his.

Images, alien images, flooded Bria’s mind, stamping themselves indelibly into her consciousness. No matter how much she wished to forget, she knew she never, ever would. Teroenza’s mind, like that of every sentient, was full of surface trivia—wondering what he’d have for dinner, boredom with the ceremony, thoughts of the new security measures the Hutts had ordered him to implement, a minor gastrointestinal churn in his middle …

There was not a hint of divinity in the High Priest’s
mind. He did not believe in the One or the All. As a matter of fact, Teroenza was proud of himself for
inventing
the One and the All, so these credulous pilgrims could have something to believe in.

Bria gagged, her mouth filled with the bitter aftertaste of the glitterstim. It was hard to think with the Exultation going on, but she forced herself to stay attuned to the High Priest’s mind … sifting, making absolutely
certain
that what he was doing was purely a physical and mental
trick—
something that all males of his species could do on demand.

Suddenly Teroenza jerked, looking around him wildly. His mind filled with suspicion, then certainty—he knew he was being telepathically probed!

The Exultation wavered, then lessened abruptly as the High Priest stopped humming. The Sacredots continued in a ragged chorus, but without their leader, the Exultation stopped dead. Pilgrims cried out with shock, and some even fainted.