Adventures in Hyperspace: Shinbone Showdown

Shinbone Showdown is a young readers book in the Adventures in Hyperspace series, written by Ryder Windham. The second book in the series, it is centered on Han Solo and Chewbacca and set between the time when Solo acquired the Millennium Falcon and the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Publisher's summary
''After transporting rude aliens and unusual plants for Jabba the Hutt, Han and Chewbacca are in the mood for an easy job. But after Jabba sends them to the mining planet Shinbone for delivery and pick up, Han and Chewie learn that working for Jabba is never easy.''

Plot Summary
Han Solo and Chewbacca were in the Mos Eisley docking bay bargaining with Jabba the Hutt when the latter agreed to buy their dyadworms. Jabba then suggested Solo take a smuggling job for him, on the condition that he take a translator with him. Solo reluctantly agreed and took off for Gamorr with his Wookiee partner and the droid TC-72. In hyperspace, Solo could not stand TC-72's overly-talkative mannerism and locked the droid in the cargo bay. Once on Gamorr, Solo insulted a Gamorrean farmer, and she would have killed the smuggler if TC-72 hadn't been there to translate. Afterwards, Solo attempted to barter with the farmer, but she would not budge.

Back on Tatooine, Solo reported to Jabba. Jabba blackmailed Solo into doing another job, as Solo had violated part of his contract, which said he must pay Jabba if he does business on the side. When Solo asked how Jabba knew, TC-72 shows up. Knowing he must pay back Jabba, Solo reluctantly agrees to go to the [mining planet Shinbone to pick up gemstones. Carrying a load of plants, Solo and Chewbacca land on Shinbone and meet Jabba's contact, Torkil Mux. The miner was using an unidentified walking plant species to mine gems for him. Mux gives the two smugglers less gems than had been agreed on, saying it was a difficult season and accepts the delivery of the plants, which as it turns out, are the walking plants. They are grown in soil. Later, Chewbacca starts following one of the walking plants, who leads them to Mux's ship. Solo and Chewbacca realize Mux has been skimming gems from Jabba, and hatch a plan to take their revenge.

Solo distracts Mux, saying the plants he brought were diseased. Chewbacca rounds up all the walking plants and places them on Mux's ship. He then takes off after receiving Solo's signal. Mux, angry at seeing his ship disappear, demands Solo bring it back. Solo denies all knowledge of the incident and suggests he and Mux's security droid draw their weapons against each other. Mux starts counting up to three, but Solo cheats and shoots first, then walks away from Mux and heads back to the Millennium Falcon. In orbit, he meets up with Chewbacca and give the walking plants Mux's ship to take to [Kashyyyk]]. Returning once again to Tatooine, the two smugglers gave the extra gemstones to Jabba.