And then the alarm went off.
The alarm whooped loudly. Chewbacca and Han flung their hands up over their ears.
A moment later, the alarm stopped. While their ears were still ringing, they heard a man’s voice from behind. “Keep your hands away from your weapons! And turn around slowly!”
Han and Chewbacca followed the man’s instructions. They turned to face a security officer in a rumpled uniform with two droids.
Han said, “What’s going on here?”
“I’m Chief Smurdap, head of Fornax Security,” the man declared. “And you’re suspected of smuggling.”
“Smuggling?!” Han said, looking astonished. “Us?”
Chief Smurdap said, “I know you were seeking information about Imperial activity on Fornax Station… perhaps because you’re a fugitive from the Empire?”
“Huh?” Han said. He shook his head. “Oh… maybe you overheard me talking to a shoeshine droid earlier. The droid said something like, ‘I wish I shined more boots,’ and I said, ‘Maybe you should try working in Imperial space, because there’s lots of stormtroopers who need their boots polished,’ and he said—”
“Enough!” Chief Smurdap interrupted. “I demand to see what you put in that locker!”
Han grinned at the security chief. He said, “Take it easy. We’ve got nothing to hide.” Keeping his hands held high, he let his eyes flick to the locker that held Chewbacca’s travel bag. “Go on,” he said. “Help yourself.”
Chief Smurdap gave a slight nod to one of the two security droids. The droid extended a metal finger to tap at the locker door’s keypad. The locker door slid open. The droid yanked out Chewbacca’s knapsack.
Smurdap watched as the droid pried open the bag to reveal combs, brushes, and bottles of scented liquid. Smurdap said, “Grooming supplies?!”
Han said, “Sure, didn’t you know? Our ship is the Close Shave. We’re freelance barbers.”
Smurdap removed a large comb from the bag and examined it. Han said, “Careful with that one. It’s a hand-carved Wookiee special!”
Smurdap’s face went red with rage. “It appears there has been a misunderstanding,” he said as he dropped the comb back into the bag. “You are free to go about your business.” He turned and left. The security droids followed him.
The instant the security chief and droids were out of sight, Han turned to Chewbacca and said, “See, I told you those old brushes and combs might come in handy! Now, let’s do the switch.”
Moving fast, Han used Jabba’s datacard to open locker B-392. Inside was a small cargo container. While Han pulled the container out of the locker, Chewbacca quickly removed the grooming supplies from the bag and dumped them into the other open locker. They shut both locker doors, then stuffed the cargo container into the bag.
Chewbacca picked up the bag that now concealed the cargo container. He followed Han back to the storage center’s entrance.
The droid clerk saw the approaching man and Wookiee. Looking at the bag, she said nervously, “You… don’t want the locker?”
“What do you think?!” Han snapped. “It’s not our fault if you have a smuggling problem! We’ve never been so insulted! We’re leaving!”
Han and Chewbacca kept walking. They didn’t look back.
After leaving Fornax Station’s storage center, Han and Chewbacca walked back to the shoeshine stand they had visited earlier. When the shoeshine droid saw them, his photoreceptors jerked back with surprise.
“Oh!” the little droid exclaimed. “Everything all right? Did you, uh, want another shine?”
“No,” Han said flatly. “You’ve done enough already.”
Chewbacca bent forward and growled at the droid. The droid trembled nervously and said, “Please don’t tear me apart!”
Facing the droid, Han said, “You sent Fornax Security after us.”
“Nothing personal!” the droid cried. “Chief Smurdap ordered all droids to report anyone who asked suspicious questions!”
Chewbacca growled again. The droid trembled so hard that his parts clattered.
“Take it easy, Chewie,” Han said. Returning his attention to the droid, he said calmly, “If you search your memory banks, you’ll recall that all I asked for was a shoeshine. But don’t worry. I told Chief Smurdap it was just a misunderstanding.”
“Oh,” said the droid. “I… I’m sorry for any inconvenience.”
“I realize you’re only doing your job,” Han said, “just like Chief Smurdap. He certainly takes his work seriously.”
The droid nodded and said, “Chief Smurdap is a former Imperial Customs agent. He’s very determined to capture thieves and smugglers!”
“Imperial Customs, huh?” Han said. “Well, he sure is a long way from Imperial space in this—”
Suddenly, a woman’s scream echoed down the corridor. Chewbacca reacted immediately, bolting off in the direction of the scream. Han hollered, “Wait for me!”
Leaving the shoeshine stand, Han chased Chewbacca around a corner. The Wookiee came to a sudden halt, and Han nearly ran into him. They had both stopped short of the screaming woman, who stood beside a hovering luggage sled, along with the caped man whom Han had bumped into earlier.
They recognized Margravine Abominelle immediately.
Seeing Han, the woman screamed again.
Han said, “What’s wrong?!”
“My wedding gown!” she shrieked as she pointed to the luggage sled. “It’s been stolen!”
“Wedding gown?” Han said with annoyance. “Suffering comets, lady! Ya shouldn’t scream like that unless its an emergency!”
The woman glared at Han. “Again, you insult the Royal Margravine Abominelle,” she said scornfully. “And on the eve of my wedding day! If we were on Vena, I should have you imprisoned.”
“But we’re not on Vena,” Han said, “so why don’t you go jump through a Fire Ring!”
The woman gasped as her eyes went wide. Pointing to her open mouth, Han said, “You should get that fixed.”
Leaving the stunned woman, Han walked off with Chewbacca at his side. Han said, “If what that shoeshine droid said is true about Chief Smurdap being a former Imperial, that might explain why we picked up an Imperial signal earlier. Smurdap could be using a decommissioned Imperial ship or surplus transmitter.”
Chewbacca groaned.
Han replied, “Why didn’t you say so sooner? Sure, we can get a closer view of the Fire Rings before we go back to Tatooine!”
They returned to the docking bay that held the Falcon. Inside their ship, they removed Jabba’s cargo container from the travel bag and stowed it in a hidden compartment beneath the floor. Then they went to the cockpit.
Han contacted Fornax Flight Control. “This is the captain of the Close Shave,” he said. “May we have clearance for departure?”
The station’s flight controller replied, “That’s a negative, Close Shave.”
Keeping his voice calm, Han asked, “May I ask why we can’t leave?”
“Orders from Fornax Security,” the flight controller answered from the Falcon’s comm. “No arrivals or departures until further notice.”
Han switched off the comm. He said, “I’m getting very tempted to blast our way out of here.” Just then, from the cockpit, Han and Chewbacca saw Chief Smurdap and two security droids enter the docking bay. Smurdap didn’t look happy.
“Exit your ship at once!” Chief Smurdap called out from the docking bay floor. “And leave your weapons inside!”
Inside the Falcon’s cockpit, Han glanced at Chewbacca. Han said, “If we ever want to return to Fornax Station, we should play nice. But if Smurdap’s droids try anything funny, we’ll introduce them to our ‘Ground Buzzer.’” Han flicked a switch to set the Falcon’s concealed blaster cannon on automatic.
Chewbacca made a chuckling noise as he followed Han out of the cockpit.
Han removed his blaster pistol from the holster at his side and left it in the main hold. They lowered the Falcon’s landing ram
p and walked down it. They faced Smurdap and his droids. One of the droids was carrying a plastoid box.
Smurdap pointed at the Falcon and said smugly, “I suppose this is your flying barber shop?”
Han shrugged. “The Close Shave gets us where we have to go,” he said.
Smurdap grinned. He said, “I found something interesting in your locker at the storage center.” He gestured to the droid who carried the box. The droid tilted the box, and dumped the abandoned grooming supplies onto the floor.
Han rolled his eyes, then stared hard at Chewbacca and said under his breath, “I told you we should have just thrown that stuff out! But no, you had to leave it all in the locker!”
Chewbacca lowered his head and whimpered.
Impatient, Smurdap said, “Why did you leave these things?!”
Han replied, “Well, don’t take this the wrong way, Chief, but… some Wookiees think if other people touch their stuff, their stuff gets spoiled.”
Chewbacca whimpered again.
“Because you held his best comb earlier,” Han continued, “he thinks you spoiled all his supplies. I told him to chuck it all, but he left everything in the locker because he thought someone else might find a good use for them.”
Smurdap snickered. “That’s quite a story,” he said. “But there’s just one problem with it. The storage center’s droid clerk told me that you left carrying a full bag!”
Han shook his head. “The clerk’s mistaken,” he said.
“Really?” said Smurdap. He smiled, displaying several crooked teeth. “There has been a theft on Fornax Station. That’s why I ordered Flight Control to stop all ships from leaving. Would you know anything about a missing wedding gown?”
Han raised his eyebrows. “Wedding gown?” He glanced at Chewbacca and decided to tell the truth. “Now that you mention it, we did hear a dame yammering that someone had stolen hers.”
“It’s worth a fortune,” Chief Smurdap said. “It’s made of Tyrian shimmersilk.”
Because they were transporting Lashaa silk for Jabba, both Han and Chewbacca were surprised to hear the word silk, but they didn’t show it. “Oh,” Han said. “I guess that explains why the bride-to-be was so upset.”
Smurdap smiled at Han and Chewbacca. It wasn’t a pleasant smile. He said, “You’ll remain here while I inspect your ship. If you move, you’ll be shot.”
Smurdap gestured to one security droid, which promptly aimed its blaster rifle at Han and Chewbacca. The other droid followed Smurdap up the Falcon’s landing ramp and into the ship.
Keeping his eyes on the droid that guarded them, Chewbacca grunted a question to Han.
“Don’t worry about Jabba’s container,” Han whispered back. “His silk is safe! I can’t say we have nothing to hide, Chewie, but I can say that Smurdap won’t find it.”
Less than three minutes later, Smurdap and the droid stepped out of the Falcon. The droid was carrying Chewbacca’s travel bag. Han noticed the travel bag appeared to be no longer empty. He also noticed the security officer’s own boots had not been polished recently.
The droid held out the bag and Smurdap reached into it. He pulled out a luxurious shimmersilk gown.
Chewbacca snarled. Han replied, “It’s not my size, either.”
While the droids kept their weapons aimed at Han and Chewbacca, Chief Smurdap leered. “It appears the clerk droid was correct,” Smurdap said. “Your bag was full when you left the storage center. I expect the margravine from Vena will be most grateful for the return of her wedding gown.”
Han grinned. “She’ll probably give you a big reward, Smurdap. That is, unless she finds out that it was you who stole her gown and then faked finding it on my ship.”
Chief Smurdap stuffed the expensive gown back into the bag. Facing Han, he said, “I doubt very much the margravine will ever hear an accusation against me.”
“Let me guess,” Han said. “After you stole the gown, you hid it in a compartment inside the droid that boarded my ship with you. Then you placed the gown in my friend’s travel bag.”
Smurdap said, “And why would I do that?”
“Because you needed someone to blame for the theft,” Han continued. “Also, you figured if my friend and I did leave the storage center with a full bag, we might have taken something valuable… Maybe something we could give to you in exchange for letting us go.”
Smurdap smiled. “You’re close, but not quite,” he said. “I’m certain you two took something valuable. I intend to have it. And I don’t plan on letting you leave Fornax Station. At least not alive.”
Han sighed. “Well, I guess there’s no more point in playing nice,” he said. He looked at Chewbacca and shouted loudly, “Fire!”
In response to Han’s command, something popped out of the Falcon’s lower hull. It was the ship’s automatic blaster cannon. As Han and Chewie leaped away from Smurdap and the droids, the Ground Buzzer opened fire.
The security droids didn’t react fast enough to the Falcon’s cannon. The first volley of blaster bolts cut one droid in half. The other droid managed to squeeze off a single shot at the ceiling but was downed by another hail of blaster fire. Smurdap shouted as he ran for the docking bay’s exit.
Scrambling up the Falcon’s landing ramp, Han shouted “Chewie! Grab the travel bag!”
Hot on Han’s heels, Chewbacca seized the bag and the dress, and sprinted into the Falcon.
The docking bay’s emergency alarms began blaring, and the Ground Buzzer was still firing as Han raised the Falcon’s ramp and sealed the hatch. Chewbacca tossed the travel bag into the main hold.
As Han chased Chewbacca to the cockpit, he noticed the floor panels were still in place over the hidden compartment. Jabba’s cargo is safe! They entered the cockpit and jumped behind the controls. “Start the engines!” Han said. “Fast!”
Chewbacca threw switches and pressed buttons. He wailed a question.
“Let me deal with Flight Control!” Han replied as he switched off the Ground Buzzer. “Just be ready to launch!”
Two quad laser cannon turrets were located at the top and bottom of the Falcon. The quad laser cannons were more powerful than the Ground Buzzer. Although the laser cannons were more accurate when fired from the turrets, Han had rigged them to a control stick inside the cockpit.
Han was not very concerned about accuracy at the moment. He activated the upper laser cannon, aimed in the general direction of the docking bay’s tractor-beam projector, and squeezed the trigger.
An instant later, Han’s target exploded.
More alarms sounded in the docking bay. Robotic ceiling-mounted fire extinguishers sprayed at the blazing wreckage. Han aimed the cannons at a fuel storage tank and fired again. The explosion was incredible.
As the docking bay rapidly filled with fire and smoke, Han activated the comm unit. “Flight Control!” he shouted. “We have a weapons malfunction in Docking Bay 21! Request emergency evacuation!”
He fired at the far wall. “Drop the shield! Drop the shield!”
As Han expected, the bay’s energy shield lowered. Han fired another blast just because he felt like it. Then he cut the comm and said, “Punch it, Chewie!”
The Falcon zoomed out of the bay and into space.
As they sped away from Fornax Station, Han said, “Sorry to ruin your tour of the Fire Rings, Chewie, but we need to get into hyperspace now!”
Chewbacca made a quick series of adjustments to the controls. A red light flashed on a data console. Chewie pointed to the flashing light and groaned.
Han’s eyes went wide. “What?!” he replied, “What do you mean, the hyperdrive’s not working?!”
Chewbacca groaned again. He’d meant exactly what he’d said.
Han shook his head. “Why would the hyperdrive malfunction now?!” But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he thought, Smurdap!
Chewbacca let out a woeful yowl.
Han said, “Maintain this course, Chewie. Put as much distance between
us and Fornax Station as you can. I need to check something.”
Han bolted from the cockpit. He entered the main hold, nearly stumbled over Chewie’s travel bag, and quickly inspected the engineering station. What he found made him feel ill.
Han switched on the engineering station’s comlink and said, “Chewie, can you hear me?”
Chewbacca’s responsive grunts sounded from the comlink’s speaker.
“Good news and bad news,” Han replied. “First, the bad news. When Smurdap and his droid boarded our ship, they didn’t just stuff a wedding gown into your bag. They also locked a circuit-jammer onto the engineering console to shut down our hyperdrive.”
Hearing this, Chewbacca roared so loud that Han could hear him from the main hold without the comlink.
“Yeah, I’m not thrilled about it, either,” Han answered. “But here’s the good news. I think I can remove the jammer, but it’ll take time to—”
Han was interrupted by an unexpected rumble of explosive bursts from outside the ship. The Falcon shuddered violently. “Chewie!” Han shouted, “Who’s shooting at us?!”
Chewbacca answered with a hoot and a snort. “An Imperial signal?!” Han replied with surprise. “That must be Smurdap’s ship!”
Removing the circuit-jammer would have to wait. Han ran for the access tube that led to the Falcon’s laser-cannon turrets.
Another explosion rocked the Falcon. Han hollered, “Take evasive action, Chewie!”
Han grabbed ahold of the ladder that extended between the upper and lower turrets. He climbed quickly up the ladder and settled into the swivel-mounted gunner’s seat. Slapping a comlink around his head, he seized the cannon’s trigger-grips and shouted, “Chewie! I’m in the dorsal turret!”
Star Wars - Adventures in Hyperspace 001 - Fire Ring Race Page 2