Log Date:
	10/4/97

Log Cast:
	Ackbar, John Bannister, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Luke Skywalker

Log Intro:
	On board the NR cruiser _Deliverance_, Han Solo and Chewbacca have
continued the work of wrestling the _Millenium Falcon_ back into something 
resembling flyable shape. With Leia safely back among the NR brass and doing
her own work, and having the news that Luke Skywalker and Jessalyn Valios
are in fact alright and out of Imperial hands, Han's appreciated the down 
time, the chance to work on his ship and the chance to get back on better 
terms with Chewie -- even if it has _also_ meant leaving himself open to the
teasing of Lando Calrissian....

----------
Hangar Bay -- NRSC Deliverance
The vastness of this hanger bay catches you off guard as you first step into 
  it. One end of the cavernous room looks as if it's completely open to the 
  vacuum of outer space, visible through the faint blue haze of the magnetic 
  air lock. The smell of machinery fills the air here, and you notice several 
  flight technicians wearing masks for good reason. Other repair crews dressed 
  in orange jump suits run around the room, and scurry like ants over the 
  hulls of damaged fighters. There is a lot of shouting of orders and 
  screeching of large machinery around you. Astromech droids dart around, 
  lending to the overall confused atmosphere. Halfway up the aft wall is the 
  Flight Control Room, where you see flight control operators giving a flurry 
  of handsignals to flight technicians below. This brightly lit bay is done in 
  the deep greys, whites, and greens like the rest of the ship.
                 -=-=-=-=-=-=<<Real Objects>>=-=-=-=-=-=-
=> STARFIGHTER: Sienar Lambda Class Shuttle -- Hope
=> STARFIGHTER: Alliance A-Wing Starfighter -- Ghost 3
=> STARFIGHTER: Koensayr BTL-S3 Y-wing -- Black 4
=> STARFIGHTER: Incom T-65B X-wing -- Black 2
=> R2-B5
=> STARFIGHTER: Incom T-65B X-wing -- Black 3
=> STARFIGHTER: Alliance A-Wing Starfighter -- Ghost 5
=> STARFIGHTER: Corellian YT-1300 -- Millenium Falcon
=> STARFIGHTER: Incom T-65B X-wing -- Ghost 2
=> STARFIGHTER: Alliance A-Wing Starfighter -- Ghost 6
=> STARFIGHTER: Incom T-65B X-wing -- Rogue 3
=> STARFIGHTER: Incom T-65B X-wing -- Rogue 4
=> STARFIGHTER: Incom T-65B X-wing -- Rogue 5
=> STARFIGHTER: Koensayr BTL-S3 Y-wing -- Black 5
=> STARFIGHTER: Sienar Lambda Class Shuttle -- Intrepid
=> STARFIGHTER: Incom T-65B X-wing -- Rogue 6
=> STARFIGHTER: Sienar Lambda Class Shuttle -- Tydirium
=> STARFIGHTER: Incom T-65B X-wing -- Rogue 1
=> STARFIGHTER: Slayn and Korpil B-wing -- Wyvern 3
=> STARFIGHTER: Koensayr BTL-S3 Y-wing -- Wyvern 5
=> STARFIGHTER: Incom T-65B X-wing -- Rogue 2
=> STARFIGHTER: Slayn and Korpil B-wing -- Wyvern 2
=> STARFIGHTER: Slayn and Korpil B-wing -- Wyvern 1
=> STARFIGHTER: Slayn and Korpil B-wing -- Wyvern 4
                  -=-=-=-=-=<<Visible exits>>=-=-=-=-=-
 <S>tarboard leads to Airlock Corridor -- NRSC Deliverance.
 <P>ort leads to Cargo Bay -- NRSC Deliverance.
 <F>ore leads to Muster Area -- NRSC Deliverance.
 <A>ft leads to Interdeck Lift -- NRSC Deliverance.
STARFIGHTER: Sienar Lambda Class Shuttle -- Hope arrives with a woosh and 
  slowly settles down on the landing area.

Ackbar has arrived.
Ackbar steps off of the Hope, the ramp closing behind him as he looks around 
  the bay.

From under the belly of the _Millenium Falcon_, flashes of welding light 
  can be seen, and the noises of metal against metal can be heard.

Ackbar steps into the bay, looking around it. Seeing John Bannister, he walks 
  towards him.

John_Bannister salutes casually, "Good evening, admiral"
John_Bannister coughs lightly, barely noticable

Ackbar hrms. "HOw are you feeling, Commodore?"

John_Bannister says, "Better than I have in weeks, sir. A little relapse now 
  and then, but.. such is life."

Ackbar ahhhhs. "I see. We need to have a discussion, Commodore. I believe we 
  have sit still for far to long."

John_Bannister says, "Aye sir"

Ackbar nods. "If you would follow me, then Commodore, we have much to discuss."

John_Bannister says, "YEssir"

Ackbar presses the lift call button.

The Interdeck Lift -- NRSC Deliverance arrives and the doors open.

Ackbar enters the lift.
Ackbar has left.

John_Bannister enters the lift.
John_Bannister has left.

The Interdeck Lift -- NRSC Deliverance's doors close as it is moved to another 
  level.

[And a short time later....]

The Interdeck Lift -- NRSC Deliverance arrives and the doors open.
Ackbar steps out of the lift.
Ackbar has arrived.
Ackbar steps out of the interdeck lift, taking a look around the crowded deck

Some rather cacophonous noises are still coming out from under the _Millenium 
  Falcon_. One of these is a hollered Corellian curse, as Han Solo gets the 
  flame of his welder just a touch too close to one hand. He doesn't drop the 
  welder -- it's caught by his other hand before it hits the deck -- but he 
  swears anyway, audible now that he's shut the device off.

Ackbar hrms as he walks over towards the Falcon, simply standing there

Solo sets down the welder, then shoves his goggles up and out of his eyes, 
  leaving his vision unimpaired as he glares down at the singed glove. But it 
  also leaves his vision unimpaired for the shadow nearby, and he looks up 
  from where he's crouched. "Admiral Ackbar..."

Ackbar nods. "Captain Solo. You realize, that we do have engineering 
  technicians that would be honored to aid you in working on your ship?"

The Corellian laughs gruffly, coming out from under the vessel, straightening 
  his tall frame and stretching. "Yeah. Chewie's runnin' 'em ragged during 
  usual work shift hours, too."

Ackbar ahhhs. "May I ask what is wrong?"

"More a question of what ain't wrong, mostly." As long as he's not actually 
  working, Solo pulls off the gloves and absently stuffs them into his work 
  belt. "Hull still needs patching, the sensor arrays are shorting right and 
  left, and Chewie's takin' the sublights apart from top to bottom."

Ackbar considers for a short moment, as if remembering something. "I see. If I 
  recall the last time the Millenium Falcon was on board my ship, that seems 
  to be just about ordinary."

Solo smirks; looking tired, but the tired of having worked all day rather than 
  anything more out of the ordinary, he answers dryly, "Well, yeah, though she 
  was worse off when we crashed. She's just about normal, now."

Ackbar ahhhhs quietly. "Then she is spaceworthy again?"

Hazel eyes flick upwards at the vessel, then back to the Admiral. "Gotta talk 
  to Chewie about the sublights, but at least the hull ain't gonna fall apart 
  if you sneeze on it."

Ackbar chuckles quietly and nods. "You may, Captain, wish to leave. I am 
  afraid taht we make quite a target out here."

Leaning a hand against his vessel, and gazing up at her for a moment with a 
  look that might almost be called fond, Solo then snorts and swings his gaze 
  back to Ackbar. One corner of his mouth curls up in amusement. "Used to 
  bein' a target, Admiral."

Ackbar says, "I imagine so, Captain. However, surely there is no need to risk 
  the life of Princess Leia?""

Solo's smile vanishes. "Well, Yer Admiralship... that's gonna be up to her, 
  I'd think."

Ackbar ahhhhs. "I understand, Captain."

[Admiral Ackbar goes about his business, but not too much longer afterwards,
 Lando Calrissian emerges from the _Lady Luck_....]

Lando enters from the Airlock corridor.
Lando has arrived.

Enh well... with Ackbar gone, Solo returns to his welding job, slipping the 
  goggles back over his face and his gloves back onto his hands. The Corellian 
  takes up his welder again, and sets to the job determinedly.

The sound of air gushing into the airlock echos through the hanger bay as the 
  doors come quickly apart. Walking casually, yet purposefully, Lando glides 
  along, black cape billowing behind him. Even before reaching the space 
  frieghter his voice can be heard to boom throughout, "Well it's about time 
  you got to work."

"Work? Since when do you recognize work when you see it?" calls Han, out from 
  under his ship.

Lando lets out a bellowing laugh, "You old rogue." He walks up beside his 
  friend and inspects his welding job. He brings a hand up and points to a 
  seam in the plates, "You'd better be careful not to come anywhere near that. 
  I suspect that little spot right is the only thing holding this thing 
  together. But I'll tell you what I'm gonna do Han old buddy. Seeing as how 
  you and I go way back. I'm gonna take the Falcon off your hands and find you 
  a great deal on a top of the line Grothic freighter. How's that sound?"

Han sticks his dark head out from under the ship, and smirks beneath his 
  goggles. "I'll pass," he says amiably.

Taking a nearby rag, Lando wipes a few smudges of dirt and grease off of his 
  shirt. He takes a few steps away from Han and leans back against a tool 
  chest, "You'll never guess who called me up today." He states in a casual, 
  conversational tone.

Han, still kneeling on one knee as he squints critically up through his 
  goggles at the sensor array before and slightly above him, quips blandly, 
  "That blonde number you were dating last time you went to Velga?"

Lando grins mischeviously and looks upward, lost in recollection. He blinks a 
  few times, smiling as mischeviously as ever, and shakes his head, "No but 
  thanks for reminding me. I have...*tokens* of hers that I've been meaning to 
  get back. This guy goes back to the Velga days, an old associate of mine, I 
  don't know if you remember him. We had a couple joint ventures, one of which 
  almost left us both bankrupt and dead. Talon Karrde's his name."

The Corellian goes still a moment, his head turning slightly towards 
  Calrissian -- but that's the only sign he registers of the name having any 
  effect on him. "That a fact?" he drawls. "Gonna find some new operation 
  somewhere to convince you're a respectable businessman or somethin'?"

Lando smiles wryly and lift his hands in protest, "Aw come on Han you know me, 
  those old days are a thing of the past. All I dable in know is legitimate 
  investments."

Hazel eyes swing round again to glance at Lando, and Han smirks, though not 
  unkindly. Deliberately understated, he replies, "Uh huh."

Lando chuckles rythmically and brings his hands down to either side, "Anyway, 
  he's got this investment idea. I don't know if you've heard, but the Lady of 
  Mindor as shut down operations in CSA space. That leaves a big gap in the 
  cruise line industry there."

Han_Solo smirks again, saying over his shoulder, "I ain't exactly been payin' 
  attention to gossip outta there, no." His welder fires up again, as he works 
  at setting the new hull patch into place around the sensor array, keeping 
  the flame down as low as possible and out of the way of the sensors.

Lando raises his voice so as to be heard over the torch, "Well, I haven't been 
  there in quite a while, but I do remember Arakli brothers making a killing 
  with just one ship. Anyway what I wanted to know is what's the Corporate 
  Sector like these days? Do those people still have credits coming out of 
  their ears?"

The welder comes off, as Han pauses to inspect his work. Then, his voice going 
  just a touch short, he answers, "All my news is nine months outta date, 
  Lando, you better try some other source."

"It's more recent than anything I've got." Lando chimes in quickly.

With a short rough sigh, Solo reaches up to shove the goggles back off his 
  eyes, and peers up and out at his friend. "They looked loaded enough, yeah. 
  From what I could see, before they locked me up."

Lando nods solemnly and gazes down towards the ground, "Sorry to bring up bad 
  memories buddy, but Karrde is talking a lot of money here. You know another 
  thing that caught my attention, he refused to come pick me up here. You well 
  know that the Lady Luck can't get within 10 parsecs of Imperial space 
  without have a VSD or two on my tail, so I told him to come over here so we 
  could go to Bonadan in his ship. He steadfastly refused, said he prefered to 
  meet in a neutral location."

"I'd do the same thing if I were in his boots," Han answers brusquely, 
  shifting position on the deck and trading welder for more delicate tools as 
  he goes to work on testing the sensor array near which he'd been 
  hull-patching.

Lando picks up a Hydrospanner and twirls it in one hand, "What, the Sullust 
  thing? From what I hear the Empire has spread themselves real thin and is 
  ripe for a counter attack. You can't honestly think we're in any kind of 
  jeopardy here."

"Nah," replies the Corellian, "the NR thing." He glances back at Lando and 
  says dryly, "C'mon, pal, you ain't been respectable _that_ long. What reason 
  does Karrde have to want to come anywhere near us?"

"I dunno pal, you tell me." Lando says grinning innocently.

Dark eyebrows crook over hazel eyes, and Solo smiles narrowly. "You're the one 
  talkin' to the man, pal, not me." Gravball back in Lando's court.

Lando just smiles and shakes his head, "Han, you don't just come out and ask a 
  possible business associate why he's hated by the NR. First off it's bad 
  manners and more importantly it gives him a chance to lie and to set the 
  mechanisms in motion to cover up his lie. It's always best to find out on 
  your own. So what's the story pal?"

"C'mon, Lando, if you know him from the Velga days he's at least as shady as 
  >I< am." Solo rolls blue-jacketed shoulders in a shrug, as he moves in a 
  slow circle beneath the sensor array, holding up a tiny diagnostic scanner 
  to it and squinting at its display. "And you know as well as I do that the 
  brass tends to frown on" -- and he smirks -- "businessmen of ill repute."

Lando smiles and slumps his shoulders in resignation, "What's it gonna take to 
  get a straight answer from you?"

"Howsabout a straight question?" Solo drawls.

"What's the story with Karrde? Why's he avoiding the NR like Hutts avoid 
  bathing?" Lando asks.

Bluntly, Han answers, looking steadily over at Calrissian, "I don't know. I've 
  seen him exactly twice -- which from what you're sayin' is less than you've 
  seen him." He shrugs again, a slight sardonic grin tugging at one end of his 
  mouth. "Like I said -- I ain't exactly up to date on news these days." His 
  tone's annoyed now, as if it aggravates him to have to admit that.

Grinning and shaking his head Lando asks, "Now was that so hard?" He asks, 
  slightly exasperated. He looks over your shoulder at the plate being 
  covering the sensor array and suggest, "You might want to go over that 
  sensor array carefully. As hot a flame as you were using is likely to have 
  burned it out."

"Yes," mutters the Corellian through gritted teeth, "I know. You wanna tell me 
  something helpful, Calrissian, or you just gonna stand around and make smart 
  remarks?"

STARFIGHTER: Sienar Lambda Class Shuttle -- Axis arrives with a woosh and 
  slowly settles down on the landing area.

Luke has arrived.

"Laser bolts and sublight engines don't mix." Lando says between chuckles.

Luke looks at you for a moment.

Satisfied with his scan, Solo shoots Lando a sour glare over his shoulder, and 
  rises enough from his crouch under the _Falcon_ to move to the next sensor 
  bank. "Glad you're here to tell me these things! Gosh, I'd never'a figured 
  THAT one out on my own...!"

Luke clomps down the shuttles ramp, scanning the rows of ships, eyes settling 
  on the Falcon and brightening. He smiles inwardly and dodges past various 
  tidbits of machinery as he makes his way over.

That's the _Falcon_, alright, looking if possible even more battered than 
  usual. Her pilot is apparently engrossed in trying to do something about 
  that, as well as fending off Calrissian's commentary.... and, accordingly, 
  doesn't notice Luke's approach. Hells, the hangar's been noisy all day, 
  what's one more shuttle, more or less?

Taking a few steps towards Han, Lando squats down to look into a hole in the 
  hull. He taps Han on the shoulder and says, "You've got a loose relay under 
  here. And you might want to patch this hole up."

Luke hangs back for a moment as his two friends come into view. He leans an 
  arm up against the opposing strut of a nearby X-Wing, tilting his head to 
  the side and smiling at the two of them. Meanwhile, the echoed clatter and 
  rattle of a typical hangar affords him his stealth. His eyes beam in the 
  reflected light from a welders torch close by. Finally he speaks up over the 
  din, "The Falcon just wouldn't be the Falcon if it didn't have something 
  wrong with it." He steps toward them.

Without missing a beat, Lando quips, "Well now that Han's gotten his grubby 
  mits on her yeah. When she was mine there wasn't a faster or more reliable 
  hunk of junk in the galaxy."

Solo's gloved hands very deliberately lay down the diagnostic scanner. Can't 
  break that, after all. And just as deliberately, they take up the dropped 
  welder, as Han turns towards Lando with his nastiest sort of smile, 
  preparing to inform him that he knows all about a few of those 'tokens' 
  Calrissian needs to return to that blonde number on Velga -- but the sound 
  of Luke's voice throws the Corellian off. Han instantly starts to rise, and 
  smacks the top of his head against the hull over him with a *clang* -- but 
  he's only deterred for a moment as he drops the welder again. Charging out 
  from under the ship, he rushes the younger man, yelling, "Luke!"

Luke beams some more, embracing his friend in a silent exchange of -how are 
  you's- and -I'm fine's- all communicated with a look between them. "It's 
  good to see you again Han... Lando." he nods to the gambler with that same 
  unspoken expression shared among close friends.

Solo swings Luke around in a half-circle, grinning ear to ear, before he sets 
  the slighter man on the deck again and jabs a gloved forefinger at him. 
  "Don't you _ever_," he orders the Jedi gruffly, "_ever_ cause rumors of your 
  death again!"

Lando smiles brightly as he finally catches up to his two friends. He pats 
  Luke on the shoulder, "I heard you ran into a little trouble on O'Paal."

Luke balances himself from the swing and drop, answering mildly, "It was the 
  only way to get into Dreven unnoticed." He then cocks his head at Han, "You 
  were concerned. Weren't you?" smiling impishly he replies to Lando, "Nothing 
  I couldn't handle Lando. Speaking of.. I need to ask you for something."

Han straightens, instantly putting on his most casual expression. "Nah, hell, 
  I knew you were okay -- _Leia_ was terrified," he corrects. The Corellian, 
  however, still sounds gruff.

Lando narrows his eyes at Han and gives him an unconvinced grin, "Yeah sure 
  Luke. Anything buddy." He says as turns back to face the Jedi.

Luke nods succintly toward Han with a look that says he won't reveal any 
  concern Han _may_ or may not have had either way. He smiles. "Lando. I need 
  5000 credits." he asks bluntly.

Lando just nods and continues smiling, "No problem. Just give me some time to 
  get them together. I normaly don't carry that much around with me."

"Thanks." Luke answers, "A journalist stuck his neck out for me. I promised 
  I'd pay him in exchange for his risk. It's important." he adds solemnly, 
  then turns back to Han quizzically asking, "How _is_ Leia? I hope she saw 
  the news reports for exactly what they were... a ruse."

Lando brings up his left hand upwards and quickly taps on his chrono, "In 
  fact, I might have enough in account here. I'll just have to get to Sluis 
  Van to make the withdrawl." He taps on a few more keys and studies the small 
  data screen for a moment, "That'll leave me a few thousand short. I can pick 
  those up in Nkllon. Oh well, I guess Karrde will just have to wait." He says 
  to no one in particular.

Solo casts a glance up at the _Falcon_, then blows out a sigh. "She's better, 
  now that we're off Mutanda, and we got the word for sure you were okay. Took 
  us a while. We, ah, kinda fell outta touch..." Is Han actually _blushing?_ 
  He might be, since he ducks his gaze off and shields it a moment by shoving 
  a gloved hand back through his hair and over the goggles atop his head.

Luke is listening to Han, considering things, thinking to himself then 
  suddenly turns sharply toward Lando, blurting, "Karrde!?" his confusion is 
  apparent. His former question to Han forgotten. "What _about_ Karrde?"

Solo lifts his head, then, not missing the shift in Luke's tone -- and 
  watching the younger man alertly.

Lando blinks a few times and looks up from his chrono at Luke, "He's made a 
  business proposition. It seems the Lady of Mindor has closed it's Airlocks 
  after years of service in the Corporate Sector. That leaves a huge gap in 
  the cruise liner market. Karrde approached me with this idea and wanted to 
  know if I would be willing to invest." Lando is wearing an expression that 
  cries out, now I'm getting somewhere.

"So you _do_ know him, kid?" Han asks Luke, eyes narrowed.

Luke looks at his glove, tugging at the cuff, "I know him. He not only rescued 
  me from Tatooine, but also tried to turn me over to a Grand Moff and shot at 
  me. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him." He shrugs marginally, 
  "Not that I blame the man. He was under some enormous pressure from the 
  Imperials." He sighs, glancing from Han to Lando, "I guess I just don't 
  understand businessmen. Never really did."

"He sold me the information that you'd gone to Dreven," Han says shortly. 
  Then, eyes still narrowed, he adds, "You know anything about a Mara Jade?"

Lando tilts his head slowly and glares at Solo, "I thought you said you didn't 
  know anything about Karrde?"

Luke's eyes sparkle like ice at the mention of Mara's name, "Yes. She 
  travelled with me to O'Paal, where she probably still belives I died. She 
  was very helpful. Knew all the Imperial passcodes." He shakes his head, 
  "Strange one that. Says she is sworn to kill me but..." He looks up at Han, 
  "..didn't." He breathes out, "You know her?"

"I don't," retorts the Corellian to Lando. "Which is why I don't trust him, u
  either. But this ain't exactly unusual with you and your business partners, 
  pal." Back to Luke, Han gives another stare for a moment, before he sighs, 
  tugs off the gloves, and starts to pace a bit. "It's like this, kid... Leia, 
  Chewie and me, we came after you to Tatooine. Ran head to head with a coupla 
  cruisers, shot us all to hell and back, we got away, but the sublights blew. 
  Had to go to Ithor. Ran into Karrde there, and he sold me the Dreven rumor. 
  _Then_ the Jade woman showed up, cornered me, and claimed you were dead. 
  Damned well fainted right in front of me, too, when I riled her up by not 
  believing her."

Luke nods slowly, speaking distantly, "Mara Jade has a latent ability with the 
  Force. I tried to teach her some things. To.. get her back from her apparent 
  dark path." He looks intently at Han, "The Emperor did something to her.. 
  something horrible. I want to find her again. I _have to_." He turns as an 
  aside to Lando, "I'd just be careful around that Karrde fellow. He seemed ok 
  to me at first. Saved my life in a way.. but he has close links with the 
  Imperials. To confuse the issue even more.." his gaze moving back to Han 
  again, "..Mara shot him. For me." He finishes with some incredulity in his 
  tone.

Lando takes humbrage with Han's remarks and replies, "What do you mean -MY- 
  business partners. You're the one that owed Jabba more credits than you'd 
  ever seen in your life."

Han snorts, and says sardonically, "I didn't trust _Jabba_, either, y'know." 
  He goes on to Luke, "Well, kid, last I saw her, I'd dropped 'er off with 
  Karrde on Kichnar. Before we, uh..." He pauses, then, looking rather less 
  sharp and distinctly more sheepish, he finishes, "... tried to go lookin' 
  for you. We didn't get too far, kid. The sublights kicked out on us and we 
  crashed on Mutanda. Stuck there for three weeks before we finally limped 
  here. It was... well, y'know. Drove Her Worship up the walls."

"I can imagine." Luke answers, "But everyone is safe now? Chewie.. Leia. Is 
  Threepio with you?"

Lando removes himself from the conversation and begins tapping quietly on the 
  keys of his chrono.

"Yeah, Chewie, Leia, we're all okay," says Han, though he smirks anew at the 
  mention of the droid. "Goldenrod, too. They didn't let me shoot him." Solo 
  looks morally affronted by this, or at least does a good job of pretending.

Luke chuckles softly at that, but his demeanor shifts to more somber, 
  "Something else happened on my trip. I met someone named Arkhan. He revealed 
  his plan to destroy a large civilian population with a virus he invented. I 
  need to talk to Ackbar about it."

Lando seems intent on wearing out the keyboard on his wristchrono as he 
  quietly, yet furiously taps away. Red, blue, green, and yellow lights 
  blipping in synchronization with his fingers.

A dark frown crosses Han's face at Luke's further news, and he answers, "I'll 
  bet. Yeah, Ol' Squid'll wanna pick your brains all about that." He glances 
  at Lando, determines that the other man does seem thoroughly occupied, and 
  mutters softly for the Jedi's ears alone, "Don't go nowhere without seein' 
  Leia, huh, kid?"

Luke smiles at Han, "I won't. I had hoped to catch her here. We need to talk 
  about things and.." he starts sheepishly, "There's still the question of her 
  training.. we didn't get to start that."

The Corellian is _definitely_ blushing. It's a little blush, but it's 
  definitely there. "Uh... yeah," he mumbles. "We did kinda lag behind you and 
  Major Valios there..."

Lando finally stops his furious tapping and stares intently at the small data 
  screen, occassionally tapping the yellow button, which produces a light 
  yellow blip.

Luke answers readily, "It's a good thing too. We were attacked." He glances 
  toward Lando.

"Coulda helped do somethin' about that," Han murmurs to Luke. There's an 
  apology lurking in the Corellian's gaze, even if it doesn't make it into his 
  actual words.

Luke looks up admiringly toward his old friend, "It's alright Han. You weren't 
  there. Everything turned out ok."

Lando clicks the yellow button a few more times before looking up at his two 
  friends, "I'm gunna have to go back to the Lady Luck and go over that 
  transmission from Karrde. I remember him saying something about negociations 
  being underway with CSA to open a legitimate business. If I could verify 
  that then maybe I could gain some insight into his intentions. 
  Unfortunately, I lost all my contacts in the CSA during purge when that last 
  ExO was arrested."

Luke nods to Lando, "Just be careful."

Solo cracks one of his lopsided grins, and gives Luke that pointed forefinger 
  again. "Well, I'll let it slide this time, kid, but you damn well better 
  deal me in on the next sabacc game you decide to get into with the Imps." 
  The unspoken acceptance of the unspoken apology seems to lift a shadow off 
  his gaze, making him subtly less tired, subtly less tense. But Lando's words 
  make him look up again. "Yeah, uh.... what he said, pal."

"Whatever you say Han." Luke replies, "I could've used you back there." He 
  relents. "I'm going to track down Ackbar about this virus threat. If you see 
  Leia..." he says while moving away, "..tell her I look healthy." he smirks 
  wryly and strides off through the machinery.

Lando nods quickly to both men and heads off towards the airlock, cape 
  flapping behind him, "I will."

Grinning after Luke and Lando, Han turns and eyes the sensor array he'd been 
  working on -- then thinks, _The hell with it._ He'll go tell Leia right now. 
  But only when the others are safely out of range does Han let palpable 
  relief creep into his expression -- and by then, he's already halfway up the 
  ramp of the _Falcon_.

[End log.]