by James Luceno
Leia nodded, reflecting her similar concerns.
“They haven’t got a thing that will take us out of the air once we’re up and fully powered,” Mara said firmly.
“Nothing that we know about,” Leia added, and that truth gave Mara pause.
“We could signal the Mediator for an escort,” Jaina offered.
Leia shook her head. “Just follow their course,” she offered. “But be ready to blast out of here at the slightest sign of trouble.”
They heard Bolpuhr give a low hiss in the hallway, apparently not pleased with that choice.
“Maybe your Noghri noticed Nom Anor’s resemblance to Darth Vader, as well,” Mara said with a tension-breaking grin.
But Leia shuddered visibly at the awful thought.
The Jade Sabre lifted off and skimmed across the city, barely above the rooftops, as the departure controller ordered. A few moments later, Leia understood the design of this course change, as the great square of Redhaven came into view, where a celebration was in full swing, great bonfires burning.
“What is that?” Jaina asked, pointing down at the huge pit, and Mara, equally curious, brought the Jade Sabre in for a low flyby.
C-3PO wailed and the three women crinkled their faces when the truth of that pit became apparent, when they saw the battered, pitiful droids, some still moving or sparking, and every motion invariably drawing a new volley of stones from the crazed crowd that ringed the pit.
“Barbaric!” C-3PO cried. “The inhumanity!”
“Get us out of here,” a disgusted Leia instructed, but Mara was already spinning the Jade Sabre up on end and punching full throttle, the roar of the twin engines making many of the fanatics in the square dive for cover. A squawk of protest came over the comm, but Mara just clicked it off.
“Well,” she said as they soared far, far away, “I warned you about Nom Anor. Still think I was exaggerating?”
“He is about as infuriating as any being I’ve ever met,” Leia agreed.
“And once again, my sensitivity to the Force revealed nothing about him,” Mara added. “Nothing. I even tried to silently call to him, just to get a reaction, but he didn’t respond at all—I don’t even know that he heard it—and so completely did he ignore me that there was little I could learn about him.”
“Same with me,” Jaina admitted. “It’s like he was totally devoid of the Force. I didn’t like the feel of that other one, Shok Tinoktin, either.”
Mara nodded. “But I don’t have the feeling that there was any hint of a bluff in Nom Anor’s rebuttal,” she said. “He brought us here for no better reason than to snub us, and even if Osarian puts the pressure on, I doubt that one will ever negotiate.”
Leia got up and rubbed her eyes, shook her head in utter frustration, and gave a helpless sigh. “I admire you,” she said to Mara. “Truly. You met him once and agreed to do so again. You’re a braver person than I.”
Luke and Jacen found the Millennium Falcon right where they left it, Docking Bay 3733, and judging from the sounds coming from the bay, the clank of metal wrenches, the hum of turbo drivers, and the stream of muttered curses, they figured that Han and Chewie were still trying to figure out how to fix the thing.
On the way to Coruscant, Han had given the controls over to Anakin, who was more than a bit jealous that Mara often let Jaina fly the Jade Sabre, and the fifteen-year-old, predictably, pulled a few hotdogging maneuvers on the way down. But while the Millennium Falcon was surprisingly agile for a ship that looked more like an old garbage scow than a starfighter, she was also much, much more powerful. The Falcon had the agility to pull the turns Anakin put her through—though with his inertial compensator dialed down only 2 percent, everyone on board had nearly passed out from the g’s—but the boy had apparently throttled up a bit too hard coming out of more than one. By the time Han had managed to take back the controls for the last remnant of the flight to dock, the Falcon was listing badly, with one engine and several repulsorlifts firing intermittently and unpredictably. Even now, secured in the bay, one of those repulsors popped off now and again, jolting the ship’s edge up a few degrees, to bounce back down as the repulsor sputtered back out.
Luke and Jacen exchanged a smile as the Falcon went up yet again, higher this time, nearly onto its side, then dropped fast to horizontal, slamming down against the floor.
“Weeow!” came the screech of R2-D2.
“Chewie!” Han cried, from somewhere above the open lower landing ramp, followed by a thud, a swear or two, and a wrench bouncing down the ramp to clang out into the docking bay.
Han staggered down behind, covered in grease and sweat, muttering every step of the way. He bent to retrieve the wrench, but stopped and glanced up at his returning son and brother-in-law.
“Teenagers,” he muttered.
“I thought you’d have it fixed by now,” Luke replied.
“All but that number-seven repulsor,” Han explained. “Something crossed and shorted in one of the kid’s rocker-rolls. Keeps firing off and on even if we power her down. Artoo got a bit of a shock when he plugged into the nav computer.”
Luke smiled widely. Ever since he had met Han and set eyes on the Falcon, he considered the two, pilot and ship, to be almost spiritually linked. Both were a patchwork of seemingly unrelated skills, and both were far more formidable than they appeared. And both, Luke thought now, always seemed to be breaking down and defying logic in the repair mode.
“Try it now!” came Anakin’s voice from within, answered by a Wookiee wail.
The Falcon hummed to life, repulsorlifts firing in testing sequence: one-ten, two-nine, three-eight, four … seven.
And seven fired beautifully.
“Kid’s got talent,” Han remarked, but even as he said it, something inside the Falcon exploded and thick smoke poured down the landing ramp, accompanied by another R2-D2 “Weeow!”
Chewie wailed again.
“You pushed it too fast!” Anakin yelled at the Wookiee, and Chewie’s wail became a growl, and a moment later, Anakin came running down the ramp, waving the smoke from his face, as filthy as if he had just dived face-first into a Tinuvian tar pit.
He skidded to a stop before his glowering father.
“He pushed it too fast,” Anakin sheepishly tried to explain.
“You pushed it too fast,” Han countered, anger rising.
“You said I—”
“I said you could fly it,” Han interrupted, poking his finger at the boy. “I didn’t say you could try to outdo your sister, because you can’t, you know. And you can’t turn the Falcon the way you turn a landspeeder!”
“But—” Anakin paused and looked to his uncle and brother for support, but while the two weren’t smiling any longer, neither did they have anything to offer against Han’s assessment.
With a sigh that sounded more like a snarl, Anakin waved his hands in frustration and stormed back up the landing ramp.
“Teenagers!” Han cried.
Now Luke did smile again, for he could envision a young Han Solo in exactly the same situation, hearing the exasperated cry of “Teenagers!” from every adult around him. There were many differences between Anakin and Han, with the son seeming far more introspective. But concerning many matters, like flying the Falcon, apparently, Anakin Solo had his father’s unbridled spirit. In cases like this, it almost scared Luke how much Anakin was like Han, in appearance and in temperament.
Chewie greeted the returning Anakin with a disapproving growl.
“We’ll fix it!” the boy replied with a sigh. “It’s just a stupid ship.”
Even before those last words had left his mouth, Anakin found himself up in the air, his head uncomfortably close to the myriad of wires in the Falcon’s main power grid. The powerful Wookiee held him there easily, with just one hand, while his other hand reached down to Anakin’s belt and pulled free his lightsaber.
“What—” Anakin started to ask, but then his surprise multiplied many times over and he y
elled out, “Hey!” as Chewie brought the lightsaber into his mouth and made a move as if he meant to bite the thing.
Aside from the risk of blowing his head off if he released the energy within that hilt, Chewie’s threats to scratch or damage Anakin’s precious instrument unsettled the boy profoundly. He yelled at Chewie again and reached up for the lightsaber, but the Wookiee elbowed his hand away and scolded him profoundly.
“Okay, I get it,” Anakin replied, head down, for the Wookiee’s comparisons between Anakin’s feelings for the lightsaber and Chewie’s own for the Falcon certainly hit the point. “I get it,” he said again.
Chewie howled, hardly seeming satisfied.
“We’ll fix it!” an exasperated Anakin assured him.
For a few moments, Luke continued to envision the problems a younger Han might have caused to those adults around him. Han cocked his head at Luke, apparently noting his expression, and smirked. “How’d your meeting go?”
“Wonderful,” Luke answered sarcastically. “How else could any meeting chaired by Borsk Fey’lya go?”
“They’ve got their problems,” Han said. “Borsk and his friends are finding that managing a galaxy isn’t as easy as they believed.”
“So they find scapegoats,” Luke said.
“Such as …,” Han prompted.
“A problem along the Outer Rim,” Luke explained. “Someone’s banging blasters with smugglers. Jedi, they believe, and that’s not to the liking of Fyor Rodan or Niuk Niuv.”
“Probably costing them a fortune,” Han reasoned with a wry grin.
“Whatever the reason, the council’s not happy about it.”
“Which means they’re laying it on you,” Han said. “Well, what are we to do about it?” Han’s tone made it pretty clear that he didn’t think highly of intervening.
“Didn’t you tell me that Lando was out there, mining asteroids or something?” Luke asked, and Han’s expression soured.
“He’s out there,” Han replied. “Pair of planets called Dubrillion and Destrillion, near an asteroid system he modestly named Lando’s Folly.”
“I need a thread to hang on,” Luke explained. “Maybe a little insider information.”
“That’d be Lando,” Han agreed. He didn’t sound particularly enamored of the idea.
Luke understood the man’s apparent reticence and recognized it for pure bluster. Han and Lando were friends—dear friends—but there always seemed to be a reluctance from both to publicly admit it. “Maybe,” Luke said. “Lando always seems to know what’s going on, and if I find out the inside story, I might be able to use it to persuade a couple of councilors to see things my way.”
Han started to nod, then blinked and stared at Luke curiously. “You’ve been hanging around me too long,” he remarked. “What are you smiling at?” he asked Jacen, who was beaming at Luke’s side.
“The belt,” Jacen said. “Jaina’s going to be pretty happy about this.”
“The belt?” Luke asked.
“Running the belt,” Jacen explained, but Luke’s expression remained curious.
“Lando’s got an operation going on the side,” Han explained. “Calls it running the belt. It’s a game—and there’s probably more than a little betting going on around it—where pilots test their skills by zipping around the asteroids, seeing how long they can stay in the place before getting bumped away.”
“Blasted away, you mean,” Luke said. “Into little pieces. Doesn’t sound like a promising career.”
“Only one pilot’s been hurt,” Jacen interjected, drawing a surprised look from Luke. “Jaina told me,” he explained. “Lando modified some TIE fighters with walls of repulsor shields so that they can take a hit, or two, or ten, and just bounce away.”
“It’s supposed to be one of the highlights of the galaxy,” Han replied. “But I’m betting there’s more to it than just a game.”
Luke nodded and didn’t have to ask for clarification. He had heard a couple of reports of smugglers diving into asteroid belts to evade pursuit. Perhaps Lando’s game was providing some interesting training.
“You want to go and visit him?” Han asked. “He’s not on especially good terms with the New Republic these days.”
“Is he ever?”
“He’s likely running a few side businesses the New Republic would see as less than legitimate,” Han added.
“Isn’t he always?”
That brought a chuckle from Han, but just for a moment. “What about Mara?” he asked seriously. “They’ll be back soon, and from what I hear, things didn’t go very well.”
That hit home to Luke, a reminder, as everything seemed to be a reminder, that his beloved wife was not well. The best doctors in the galaxy were shaking their heads helplessly, able to do nothing but watch as something inside Mara continually altered her molecular structure. No medicine, no therapy, had come close to treating the rare disease, and only her own internal strength, her use of the Force, was somewhat keeping it in check. Those others who had contracted the disease had not been so fortunate.
So what would a trek across the galaxy do to her? Luke had to wonder. Would it be too much? Would it put her in a dangerous position?
“Aunt Mara just went to Rhommamool,” Jacen reminded. “That’s three days’ travel, and she didn’t find any vacation once she got there.”
“True enough,” Han said. “Maybe a run to the Outer Rim, far away from the council, will do her, and my wife, good.”
Luke shrugged and nodded, and so it seemed settled.
They heard R2-D2 beeping wildly then, Chewie wailed, and the number-seven repulsorlift coil fired to life.
And then there came another explosion from inside the Falcon, and the lift coil sputtered out.
Anakin came storming down the landing ramp. “That’s it!” he grumbled. “I’m done.”
Before Han could even begin to yell at him, though, a huge, hairy paw landed on the boy’s shoulder and yanked him back inside, and Anakin’s feeble attempt at any protest was blasted away by a tremendous Wookiee roar.
Han blew a sigh and tossed his wrench over his shoulder, to clang on the metal floor.
“Teenagers,” Luke remarked, tossing a wink at Jacen.
Danni Quee pored over the charts again and again, checking coordinates and vectors. She was in the control room. Most of the scientists were spending the whole of their waking hours and some of their sleeping ones in there, now that they had something interesting to watch. Nine of the fifteen were in the room now.
“In the Helska system,” Garth Breise said to her. “The fourth planet.”
Danni nodded; it did indeed seem as if their incoming asteroid, racing along faster than any natural object they had ever witnessed, would soon enough sail into the Helska system. There, given its present course and speed—and there seemed to be no reason to expect either to change—it would collide with the fourth planet.
“What do we know of that planet?” Danni asked.
Garth Breise shrugged. “There isn’t much in the data banks about the Helska system. There’s not an easily inhabitable planet among the seven, and no one’s taken the time or trouble to build one up. None of them even have names—just Helska 1 to 7.”
“Point the orbiting scopes toward that fourth planet then,” Danni instructed. “Let’s find out what it’s made of.”
“Ice,” Yomin Carr said from Pod 7, the one now showing the clearest tracking of the asteroid.
The other scientists in the room turned to regard him.
“I did some research, and some personal viewing,” Yomin Carr explained. “Once we determined that the asteroid would make a close pass, or a hit, I took some shots from our orbiting scope.”
“So it’s just a frozen ball of rock?” Garth asked.
“Or a ball of frozen water,” Yomin Carr replied. “I could detect nothing more substantial than ice and vapor. No sign of minerals at all.” Of course, Yomin Carr knew much more about that planet, the fourth in the
Helska system. He had been there; he had studied it. He had left the villip beacons out by the galactic rim to steer the incoming brethren, the glory of the Praetorite Vong, to it.
“And you’re sure it’s going to hit it?” Tee-ubo asked.
“Looks like it,” Danni replied.
“How big’s that planet?” Tee-ubo asked.
“Not big,” Yomin Carr replied. “A few thousand kilometers in diameter.”
“If it’s nothing but ice, then that asteroid will disintegrate it,” Bensin Tomri remarked, and a grin widened on his face. All of them had been excited when they discovered that the incoming asteroid was on a path for a collision, for none had ever witnessed that rare event. Now, if Yomin Carr was right about the composition of the planet, the show might be amazing indeed!
“Let’s try to get a better reading on that planet,” Danni suggested. “And I think it’s time we send out the word so that ExGal and the New Republic can get some scientists out there.”
“And fast,” Bensin Tomri added. “They’ve only got a few days before—” He paused and smiled widely, then threw his hands out wide as he finished suddenly. “—boom!”
Tee-ubo went right to the transmitter in the raised section of the chamber and clicked open the normal channel for accessing the galactic net and contacting ExGal.
It didn’t work.
* * *
“Have the dovin basals tighten their lock on the planet,” the huge and powerful Prefect Da’Gara told his crew—his crew on the asteroid, which wasn’t an asteroid at all, but rather a huge, ten-kilometer chunk of yorik coral, a living worldship.
“You wish more speed, Prefect?” another of the tattooed warriors asked.
Da’Gara, not used to being questioned, looked at him curiously.
“Belek tiu,” the other said, snapping his fists against opposite shoulders, the reply and signal for both apology and permission to continue.
Da’Gara nodded. This one, Tu Shoolb, had proven resourceful and cunning in their trip across the galaxies.
“A change in speed might alert all those watching,” Tu Shoolb explained. “For natural bodies would not so obviously accelerate.”