Fame and Fortune

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

"Hello," Han said as he regained some of his composure, his cheek twitching nervously as he withdrew his hand from someone he'd once considered his closest friend next to Chewie. "Nice to meet you." He could tell that Luke knew... sense that he knew. Han glanced over to Lando, wanting to escape the apartment as quickly as possible. "Ya have the schedule for me?"

Oblivious to the two men's discomfort, Lando nodded and handed Han a datapad. "Hapes city of Ta'a Chume'Dan will be the first stop, thirty six days from now."

"Hapes?" Han whispered, dumbfounded. He always let Lando plan out the tour dates and cities, never giving it a second thought. It was Lando's job and he was paying him quite well to do that job. He was aware of Luke's keen interest in his reaction, and repeated calmly, "Hapes?"

"Why not, Evin?" Lando asked, frowning at Han. "You haven't been there, and the tickets are selling out as fast as the date and venues are announced. The first date will be in a fairly small arena, a dinner club actually. Only holds two thousand beings, but all the Hapan bigwigs and royals will be in attendance. I hope so, anyway. Good publicity. They've all been invited for dinner and a show, free of charge."

"Well, I've always heard Hapans are kinda nasty," Han mumbled, feeling his face grow warm. Hapan Royalty meant Leia would probably be there. This would have been uncomfortable but it was something he might have been able to push past. 'Evin' could have put on the show, aware she was in attendance, but she would never know who he really was - just some currently popular entertainer; a few hours of amusement or if she didn't care for his singing, something unpleasant she had to endure for a few hours. But things had suddenly, drastically changed in the past few seconds.

"Nonsense," Lando said, shaking his head. "Your music holo-cubes are incredibly popular. Their local shill-mag, Hapes Today, voted you 'Most Handsome Human Male in the Galaxy' just last month."

"Fine, we'll go to Hapes, why not," Han grumbled, scowling down at the datapad. At least if he focused on that, he wouldn't have to look directly at Luke. "I gotta get back to Corellia. Havin' some contractors meet me in a few days to give me estimates on putting up my own studio."

"Your own recording studio?" Lando asked, surprised.

"Nah, my own art studio," Han shot back sarcastically. "I've decided to switch gears and start painting or sculpting or something. Of course my own recording studio. I'm gettin' tired of having to troop back to Coruscant for everything.. rehearsals, recording. I want to stay on Corellia. Let everyone else come to me for a change." Han's initial obsession with remaining on Coruscant had waned over the years, and he had started to feel trapped by the endless skyscrapers and mobs of beings. When a beautiful Corellian country estate with over eight hundred hectares went on the market Han had snatched it up. With security fencing all around, it gave him a sense of protection in a galaxy that, increasingly, was confining him because of his fame.

Luke was aware he hadn't said a single word since Lando's introduction, as he was still reeling from the unexpected encounter. Lando must probably think he was star-struck. Then he reached out mentally to Lando and confirmed that the dark-skinned Corellian was completely unaware that 'Evin' was, in fact, Han Solo. He switched his Force probe back to Han, and suddenly realized his long-time friend was fully aware Luke was mentally snooping, which meant... Luke blinked. Han was now Force-sensitive! He needed to say something, and fast.

"It's nice meeting you, too, Evin."

Han turned his gaze slowly back toward Luke, unsure of what to say. "Uh, okay. I've, um, never met a Jedi before." Liar