whistle behind him.
Luke turned. “I don’t know, Artoo. You ever heard anything like it before?”
Artoo chirped and whistled.
Luke took that for a negative.
The malfunctioning R2 unit settled to the ground. The crew chief stepped in and stuck a restraining bolt on it before it could move.
Artoo moved closer, extruded an interface, and plugged it into the other unit. Somebody plugged a translation screen into the damaged R2 unit.
Artoo whistled frantically.
“Uh-oh,” Luke said, looking at the translation screen.
“What?” Wedge said.
“Look. According to this, the droid wasn’t malfunctioning. It was
programmed
to shoot at me.”
Wedge whistled, a counterpoint to Artoo’s astromechspeak. “Who would do that? Why?
How?
”
The chief pulled her comlink from her belt and spoke into it, listened. Luke couldn’t hear who was on the other end of the comlink.
“That’s Rendar coming in,” the chief said.
“What about Leia and Lando?”
The chief shrugged. “He didn’t say.”
To the chief, Luke said, “Keep an eye on this droid. Don’t let anybody touch it.” To Wedge, he said, “Let’s go.”
Luke hurried to the second hangar, where Rendar’s ship would arrive shortly.
“W e can’t get through!” Lando said. “They’ll pound us to pieces unless we get out of here! We’d better—”
His voice shut off.
“Lando? Lando!”
No answer.
“Chewie?”
No answer from there, either.
The
Falcon
seemed to be flying okay, but the comm was out.
Leia yelled, “Threepio! Where are you?”
“R-R-Right here,” came Threepio’s nervous voice from above her gun turret.
“Go find out what happened to the comm. Check and see if Lando is all right.”
“Yes, Princess Leia.”
Another TIE shot past. Leia fired at it, missed. The blasted things were fast.
The
Falcon
swung a hard turn to the left, then the right. Well,
somebody
was flying it.
Threepio leaned over her turret. “Princess Leia, Master Lando says the comm unit has been damaged; we no longer have internal or external communications. Master Lando says we must leave immediately or we’ll be destroyed!” There was a tinge of hysteria in Threepio’s voice.
“We can’t!” Leia said.
But they were already doing so. The
Falcon
arced away from the shipyard and dived between two half-constructed towers, twisted so it flew sideways. The metal support struts of one tower passed so close to Leia’s guns, she could read the part numbers stamped into them.
“No!” she yelled.
One of the TIE fighters chasing them wasn’t so well flown. Leia saw it smash into the tower and shatter into a fireball.
The
Falcon
twirled and flew parallel to the ground again, but only for a few seconds before Lando took it almost straight up.
Leia looked, saw they were outrunning their pursuers. She unbuckled herself from the turret. Hurried toreach the control cockpit. Threepio followed her, prattling on about something she couldn’t catch.
Lando was sweating when Leia arrived.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving our lives,” he said. “I used every trick in the manual, plus a few I made up, and I couldn’t get past those fighters. There were too many of them. It was just a matter of time before they knocked us down.”
“What about Boba Fett?”
“I lost sight of him.”
“He’s probably trying to run to hyperspace. Luke and Rogue Squadron …” she trailed off as she realized the problem.
“Yeah,” Lando said. “Our comm is dead. We can’t call Luke to tell him to chase Boba Fett.”
“Maybe we can circle around,” she said.
He shook his head. “He’ll be long gone.”
Chewie arrived, asked a question.
“No,” Lando said. “Sorry, buddy.”
Chewie expressed anger.
“Yeah, me too,” Lando said. “But we can’t do Han any good if we get scattered all over the landscape.”
Leia felt a great weight settle upon her. Like a blanket made of soft lead, it pressed on her; she could hardly sit there without
Luke turned. “I don’t know, Artoo. You ever heard anything like it before?”
Artoo chirped and whistled.
Luke took that for a negative.
The malfunctioning R2 unit settled to the ground. The crew chief stepped in and stuck a restraining bolt on it before it could move.
Artoo moved closer, extruded an interface, and plugged it into the other unit. Somebody plugged a translation screen into the damaged R2 unit.
Artoo whistled frantically.
“Uh-oh,” Luke said, looking at the translation screen.
“What?” Wedge said.
“Look. According to this, the droid wasn’t malfunctioning. It was
programmed
to shoot at me.”
Wedge whistled, a counterpoint to Artoo’s astromechspeak. “Who would do that? Why?
How?
”
The chief pulled her comlink from her belt and spoke into it, listened. Luke couldn’t hear who was on the other end of the comlink.
“That’s Rendar coming in,” the chief said.
“What about Leia and Lando?”
The chief shrugged. “He didn’t say.”
To the chief, Luke said, “Keep an eye on this droid. Don’t let anybody touch it.” To Wedge, he said, “Let’s go.”
Luke hurried to the second hangar, where Rendar’s ship would arrive shortly.
“W e can’t get through!” Lando said. “They’ll pound us to pieces unless we get out of here! We’d better—”
His voice shut off.
“Lando? Lando!”
No answer.
“Chewie?”
No answer from there, either.
The
Falcon
seemed to be flying okay, but the comm was out.
Leia yelled, “Threepio! Where are you?”
“R-R-Right here,” came Threepio’s nervous voice from above her gun turret.
“Go find out what happened to the comm. Check and see if Lando is all right.”
“Yes, Princess Leia.”
Another TIE shot past. Leia fired at it, missed. The blasted things were fast.
The
Falcon
swung a hard turn to the left, then the right. Well,
somebody
was flying it.
Threepio leaned over her turret. “Princess Leia, Master Lando says the comm unit has been damaged; we no longer have internal or external communications. Master Lando says we must leave immediately or we’ll be destroyed!” There was a tinge of hysteria in Threepio’s voice.
“We can’t!” Leia said.
But they were already doing so. The
Falcon
arced away from the shipyard and dived between two half-constructed towers, twisted so it flew sideways. The metal support struts of one tower passed so close to Leia’s guns, she could read the part numbers stamped into them.
“No!” she yelled.
One of the TIE fighters chasing them wasn’t so well flown. Leia saw it smash into the tower and shatter into a fireball.
The
Falcon
twirled and flew parallel to the ground again, but only for a few seconds before Lando took it almost straight up.
Leia looked, saw they were outrunning their pursuers. She unbuckled herself from the turret. Hurried toreach the control cockpit. Threepio followed her, prattling on about something she couldn’t catch.
Lando was sweating when Leia arrived.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving our lives,” he said. “I used every trick in the manual, plus a few I made up, and I couldn’t get past those fighters. There were too many of them. It was just a matter of time before they knocked us down.”
“What about Boba Fett?”
“I lost sight of him.”
“He’s probably trying to run to hyperspace. Luke and Rogue Squadron …” she trailed off as she realized the problem.
“Yeah,” Lando said. “Our comm is dead. We can’t call Luke to tell him to chase Boba Fett.”
“Maybe we can circle around,” she said.
He shook his head. “He’ll be long gone.”
Chewie arrived, asked a question.
“No,” Lando said. “Sorry, buddy.”
Chewie expressed anger.
“Yeah, me too,” Lando said. “But we can’t do Han any good if we get scattered all over the landscape.”
Leia felt a great weight settle upon her. Like a blanket made of soft lead, it pressed on her; she could hardly sit there without
Similar Books
