It was strange, being back on Corellia after all these years away, Han thought, six months later. The streets were both familiar and strange, comforting and threatening. Bad things had happened to him on his homeworld, lots of bad things …

But maybe, just maybe, his luck was about to change. As he walked down the street, Han patted his pocket, which held the little dragon pearl, and a small gold statuette with ruby eyes. It was a palador, an extinct Corellian animal. Years ago, Han had cached the statuette, which he’d stolen from Teroenza’s collection, in a safe place on his homeworld.

Now he planned to fence both the statuette and the dragon pearl. He figured that, together, they were worth about ten thousand credits. The big sabacc game on Bespin would be held in ten days …

Han was relieved to find that Galidon Okanor’s shop was still there. Okanor paid top dollar, though, like all fences, he liked to haggle.

Ten thousand credits, Han thought. Never thought I’d be desperate enough to risk it all on one high-stakes sabacc game … especially if I’m playing against a sharpie like Lando …

But he had to have a ship of his own. And he could think of no other way to get the credits to buy one.

Han paused outside Okanor’s door to take a deep breath. Here goes nothing …

Then, clutching his hopes and dreams in a sweaty hand, he opened the door and walked in …