Star Wars_ A New Hope Part 15

Chewbacca muttered something to Leia, and she murmured a soft reply as if she almost understood.

Another fighter unloosed a barrage on the freighter, only this time the bolt pierced an overloaded screen and actually struck the side of the ship. Though partially deflected, it still carried enough power to blow out a large control panel in the main pa.s.sageway, sending a rain of sparks and smoke in all directions. Artoo Detoo started stolidly toward the miniature inferno as the ship lurched crazily, throwing the less stable Threepio into a cabinet full of component chips.

A warning light began to wink for attention in the c.o.c.kpit. Chewbacca muttered to Leia, who stared at him worriedly and wished for the gift of Wookiee-gab.

Then a fighter floated down on the damaged freighter, right into Luke's sights. His mouth moving silently, Luke fired at it. The incredibly agile little vessel darted out of his range, but as it pa.s.sed beneath them Solo picked it up instantly, and commenced a steady following fire. Without warning the fighter erupted in an incredible flash of multicolored light, throwing a billion bits of superheated metal to every section of the cosmos.

Solo whirled and gave Luke a victory wave, which the younger man gleefully returned. Then they turned back to their weapons as yet another fighter stormed over the freighter's hull, firing at its transmitter dish.

In the middle of the main pa.s.sageway, angry flames raged around a stubby cylindrical shape. A fine white powdery spray issued from Artoo Detoo's head. Wherever it touched, the fire retreated sharply.

Luke tried to relax, to become a part of the weapon. Almost without being aware of it, he was firing at a retreating Imperial. When he blinked, it was to see the flaming fragments of the enemy craft forming a perfect ball of light outside the turret. It was his turn to spin and flash the Corellian a grin of triumph.

In the c.o.c.kpit, Leia paid close attention to scattered readouts as well as searching the sky for additional ships. She directed her voice toward an open mike.

"There are still two more of them out there. Looks like we've lost the lateral monitors and the starboard deflector shield."

"Don't worry," Solo told her, with as much hope as confidence, "she'll hold together." He gave the walls a pleading stare. "You hear me, ship? Hold together! Chewie, try to keep them on our port side. If we-"

He was forced to break off as a TIE fighter seemed to materialize out of nowhere, energy bolts reaching out from it toward him. Its companion craft came up on the freighter's other side and Luke found himself firing steadily at it, ignoring the immensely powerful energy it threw at him. At the last possible instant before it pa.s.sed out of range, he swung the weapon's nozzle minutely, his finger tightening convulsively on the fire control. The Imperial fighter turned into a rapidly expanding cloud of phosph.o.r.escing dust. The other fighter apparently considered the shrunken odds, turned, and retreated at top speed.

"We've made it!" Leia shouted, turning to give the startled Wookiee an unexpected hug. He growled at her-very softly.

Darth Vader strode into the control room where Governor Tarkin stood staring at a huge, brilliantly lit screen. It displayed a sea of stars, but it was not the spectacular view which absorbed the Governor's thoughts at the moment. He barely glanced around as Vader entered.

"Are they away?" the Dark Lord demanded.

"They've just completed the jump to hypers.p.a.ce. No doubt they are at this very moment congratulating themselves on their daring and success." Now Tarkin turned to face Vader, a hint of warning in his tone.

"I'm taking an awful chance, on your insistence, Vader. This had better work. Are you certain the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship?"

Vader exuded confidence beneath the reflective black mask. "There is nothing to fear. This will be a day long remembered. It already has been witness to the final extinction of the Jedi. Soon it will see the end of the Alliance and the rebellion."

Solo switched places with Chewbacca, the Wookiee grateful for the opportunity to relinquish the controls. As the Corellian moved aft to check the extent of the damage, a determined-looking Leia pa.s.sed him in the corridor.

"What do you think, sweetheart?" Solo inquired, well pleased with himself. "Not a bad bit of rescuing. You know, sometimes I amaze even myself."

"That doesn't sound too hard," she admitted readily. "The important thing is not my safety, but the fact that the information in the R-2 droid is still intact."

"What's that droid carrying that's so important, anyway?"

Leia considered the blazing starfield forward. "Complete technical schematics of the battle station. I only hope that when the data is a.n.a.lyzed, a weakness can be found. Until then, until the station itself is destroyed, we must go on. This war isn't over yet."

"It is for me," objected the pilot. "I'm not on this mission for your revolution. Economics interest me, not politics. There's business to be done under any government. And I'm not doing it for you, Princess. I expect to be well paid for risking my ship and my hide."

"You needn't worry about your reward," she a.s.sured him sadly, turning to leave. "If money is what you love... that's what you will receive."

On leaving the c.o.c.kpit she saw Luke coming forward, and she spoke softly to him in pa.s.sing. "Your friend is indeed a mercenary. I wonder if he really cares about anything-or anybody."

Luke stared after her until she disappeared into the main hold area, then whispered, "I do... I care." Then he moved into the c.o.c.kpit and sat in the seat Chewbacca had just vacated.

"What do you think of her, Han?"

Solo didn't hesitate. "I try not to."

Luke probably hadn't intended his response to be audible, but Solo overheard his murmur of "Good" none the less.

"Still," Solo ventured thoughtfully, "she's got a lot of spirit to go with her sa.s.s. I don't know, do you think it's possible for a Princess and a guy like me...?"

"No," Luke cut him off sharply. He turned and looked away.

Solo smiled at the younger man's jealousy, uncertain in his own mind whether he had added the comment to bait his naive friend-or because it was the truth.

Yavin was not a habitable world. The huge gas giant was patterned with pastel high-alt.i.tude cloud formations. Here and there the softly lambent atmosphere was molded by cyclonic storms composed of six-hundred-kilometer-per-hour winds which boiled rolling gases up from the Yavinesque troposphere. It was a world of lingering beauty and quick death for any who might try to penetrate to its comparatively small core of frozen liquids.

Several of the giant planet's numerous moons, however, were planet-sized themselves, and of these, three could support humanoid life. Particularly inviting was the satellite designated by the system's discoverers as number four. It shone like an emerald in Yavin's necklace of moons, rich with plant and animal life. But it was not listed among those worlds supporting human settlement. Yavin was located too far from the settled regions of the galaxy.

Perhaps the latter reason, or both, or a combination of causes still unknown had been responsible for whatever race had once risen from satellite four's jungles, only to disappear quietly long before the first human explorer set foot on the tiny world. Little was known of them save that they left a number of impressive monuments, and that they were one of the many races which had aspired to the stars only to have their desperate reach fall short.

Now all that remained were the mounds and foliage-clad clumps formed by jungle-covered buildings. But though they had sunk back into the dust, their artifacts and their world continued to serve an important purpose.

Strange cries and barely perceptible moans sounded from every tree and copse; hoots and growls and strange mutterings issued from creatures content to remain concealed in the dense undergrowth. Whenever dawn broke over moon the fourth, heralding one of its long days, an especially feral chorus of shrieks and weirdly modulated screams would resound through the thick mist.

Even stranger sounds surged continually from one particular place. Here lay the most impressive of those edifices which a vanished race had raised toward the heavens. It was a temple, a roughly pyramidal structure so colossal that it seemed impossible it could have been built without the aid of modern gravitonic construction techniques. Yet all evidence pointed only to simple machines, hand technology-and, perhaps, devices alien and long lost.

While the science of this moon's inhabitants had led them to a dead end as far as offworld travel was concerned, they had produced several discoveries which in certain ways surpa.s.sed similar Imperial accomplishments-one of which involved a still unexplained method of cutting and transporting gargantuan blocks of stone from the crust of the moon.

From these monstrous blocks of solid rock, the ma.s.sive temple had been constructed. The jungle had scaled even its soaring crest, clothing it in rich green and brown. Only near its base, in the temple front, did the jungle slide away completely, to reveal a long, dark entrance cut by its builders and enlarged to suit the needs of the structure's present occupants.

A tiny machine, its smooth metal sides and silvery hue incongruous amidst the all-pervasive green, appeared in the forest. It hummed like a fat, swollen beetle as it conveyed its cl.u.s.ter of pa.s.sengers toward the open temple base. Crossing a considerable clearing, it was soon swallowed up by the dark maw in the front of the ma.s.sive structure, leaving the jungle once more in the paws and claws of invisible squallers and screechers.

The original builders would never have recognized the interior of their temple. Seamed metal had replaced rock, and poured paneling did service for chamber division in place of wood. Nor would they have been able to see the buried layers excavated into the rock below, layers which contained hangar upon hangar linked by powerful elevators.

A landspeeder came to a gradual stop within the temple, whose first level was the uppermost of those ship-filled hangars. Its engine died obediently as the vehicle settled to the ground. A noisy cl.u.s.ter of humans waiting nearby ceased their conversation and rushed toward the craft.

Fortunately Leia Organa quickly emerged from the speeder, or the man who reached it first might have pulled her bodily from it, so great was his delight at the sight of her. He settled for giving her a smothering hug as his companion called their own greetings.

"You're safe! We'd feared you'd been killed." Abruptly he composed himself, stepped away from her, and executed a formal bow. "When we heard about Alderaan, we were afraid that you were... lost along with the rest of the population."

"All that is past history, Commander Willard," she said. "We have a future to live for. Alderaan and its people are gone." Her voice turned bitter cold, frightening in so delicate-looking a person. "We must see that such does not happen again.

"We don't have time for our sorrows, Commander," she continued briskly. "The battle station has surely tracked us here."

Solo started to protest, but she shut him up with logic and a stern look.

"That's the only explanation for the ease of our escape. They sent only four TIE fighters after us. They could as easily have launched a hundred."

Solo had no reply for that, but continued to fume silently. Then Leia gestured at Artoo Detoo.

"You must use the information locked in this R-2 droid to form a plan of attack. It's our only hope. The station itself is more powerful than anyone suspected." Her voice dropped. "If the data does not yield a weakness, there will be no stopping them."

Luke was then treated to a sight unique in his experience, unique in most men's. Several rebel technicians walked up to Artoo Detoo, positioned themselves around him, and gently hoisted him in their arms. This was the first, and probably the last time he would ever see a robot being carried respectfully by men.

Theoretically, no weapon could penetrate the exceptionally dense stone of the ancient temple, but Luke had seen the shattered remains of Alderaan and knew that for those in the incredible battle station the entire moon would present simply another abstract problem in ma.s.s-energy conversion.

Little Artoo Detoo rested comfortably in a place of honor, his body radiating computer and data-bank hookups like a metal hairdo. On an array of screens and readouts nearby the technical information stored on the submicroscopic record tape within the robot's brain was being played out. Hours of it-diagrams, charts, statistics.

First the rush of material was slowed and digested by more sophisticated computer minds. Then the most critical information was turned over to human a.n.a.lysts for detailed evaluation.

All the while See Threepio stood close to Artoo, marveling at how so much complex data could be stored in the mind of so simple a droid.

The central briefing room was located deep within the bowels of the temple. The long, low-ceiling auditorium was dominated by a raised dais and huge electronic display screen at its far end. Pilots, navigators, and a sprinkling of Artoo units filled the seats. Impatient, and feeling very out of place, Han Solo and Chewbacca stood as far away from the stage, with its a.s.semblage of officers and Senators, as possible. Solo scanned the crowd, searching for Luke. Despite some common sense entreaties, the crazy kid had gone and joined the regular pilots. He didn't see Luke, but he recognized the Princess as she talked somberly with some bemedaled oldster.

When a tall, dignified gentleman with too many deaths on his soul moved to stand by the far side of the screen, Solo turned his attention to him, as did everyone else in the room. As soon as an expectant silence had gripped the crowd, General Jan Dodonna adjusted the tiny mike on his chest and indicated the small group seated close to him.

"You all know these people," he intoned with quiet power. "They are the Senators and Generals whose worlds have given us support, whether open or covert. They have come to be with us in what may well prove to be the decisive moment." He let his gaze touch many in the crowd, and none who were so favored remained unmoved.

"The Imperial battle station you now all have heard of is approaching from the far side of Yavin and its sun. That gives us a little extra time, but it must be stopped-once and for all-before it can reach this moon, before it can bring its weaponry to bear on us as it did on Alderaan." A murmur ran through the crowd at the mention of that world, so callously obliterated.

"The station," Dodonna went on, "is heavily shielded and mounts more firepower than half the Imperial fleet. But its defenses were designed to fend off large-scale, capital ship a.s.saults. A small, one-or two-man fighter should be able to slip through its defensive screens."

A slim, supple man who resembled an older version of Han Solo rose. Dodonna acknowledged his presence. "What is it, Red Leader?"

The man gestured toward the display screen, which showed a computer portrait of the battle station. "Pardon me for asking, sir, but what good are our snub fighters going to be against that?"

Dodonna considered. "Well, the Empire doesn't think a one-man fighter is any threat to anything except another small ship, like a TIE fighter, or they would have provided tighter screens. Apparently they're convinced that their defensive weaponry can fend off any light attacks.

"But an a.n.a.lysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has revealed what we think is a weakness in the station's design. A big ship couldn't get near it, but an X- or Y-wing fighter might.

"It's a small thermal exhaust port. Its size belies its importance, as it appears to be an unshielded shaft that runs directly into the main reactor system powering the station. Since this serves as an emergency outlet for waste heat in the event of reactor over production, its usefulness would be eliminated by particle shielding. A direct hit would initiate a chain reaction that would destroy the station."

Mutterings of disbelief ran through the room. The more experienced the pilot, the greater his expressed disbelief.

"I didn't say your approach would be easy," Dodonna admonished them. He gestured at the screen. "You must maneuver straight in down this shaft, level off in the trench, and skim the surface to-this point. The target is only two meters across. It will take a precise hit at exactly ninety degrees to reach the reactor systematization. And only a direct hit will start the complete reaction.

"I said the port wasn't particle-shielded. However, it is completely ray-shielded. That means no energy beams. You'll have to use proton torpedoes."

A few of the pilots laughed humorlessly. One of them was a teenaged fighter jockey seated next to Luke who bore the unlikely name of Wedge Antilles. Artoo Detoo was there also, seated next to another Artoo unit who emitted a long whistle of hopelessness.

"A two-meter target at maximum speed-with a torpedo, yet," Antilles snorted. "That's impossible even for the computer."

"But it's not impossible," protested Luke. "I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters."

"Is that so?" the rakishly uniformed youth noted derisively. "Tell me, when you were going after your particular varmint, were there a thousand other, what did you call it, 'womp-rats' armed with power rifles firing up at you?" He shook his head sadly.

"With all that firepower on the station directed at us, this will take a little more than barnyard marksmanship, believe me."

As if to confirm Antilles' pessimism, Dodonna indicated a string of lights on the ever-changing schematic. "Take special note of these emplacements. There's a heavy concentration of firepower on the lat.i.tudinal axes, as well as several dense circ.u.m-polar cl.u.s.ters.

"Also, their field generators will probably create a lot of distortion, especially in and around the trench. I figure that maneuverability in that sector will be less than point three." This produced more murmurs and a few groans from the a.s.sembly.

"Remember," the General went on, "you must achieve a direct hit. Yellow squadron will cover for Red on the first run. Green will cover Blue on the second. Any questions?"

A muted buzz filled the room. One man stood, lean and handsome-too much so, it seemed, to be ready to throw away his life for something as abstract as freedom.

"What if both runs fail? What happens after that?"

Dodonna smiled tightly. "There won't be any after that." The man nodded slowly, understandingly, and sat down. "Anyone else?" Silence now, pregnant with expectation.

"Then man your ships, and may the Force be with you."

Like oil draining from a shallow pot, the seated ranks of men, women, and machines rose and flowed toward the exits.

Elevators hummed busily, lifting more and more deadly shapes from buried depths to the staging area in the primary temple hangar as Luke, Threepio, and Artoo Detoo walked toward the hangar entrance.

Neither the bustling flight crews, nor the pilots performing final checkouts, nor the ma.s.sive sparks thrown off as power couplings were disconnected captured Luke's attention at the moment. Instead, it was held by the activity of two far more familiar figures.

Solo and Chewbacca were loading a pile of small strongboxes onto an armored landspeeder. They were completely absorbed with this activity, ignoring the preparations going on all around them.

Solo glanced up briefly as Luke and the robots approached, then returned to his loading. Luke simply watched sadly, conflicting emotions careening confusedly off one another inside him. Solo was c.o.c.ky, reckless, intolerant, and smug. He was also brave to a fault, instructive, and unfailingly cheery. The combination made for a confusing friend-but a friend nonetheless.

"You got your reward," Luke finally observed, indicating the boxes. Solo nodded once. "And you're leaving, then?"

"That's right, kid. I've got some old debts to pay off, and even if I didn't, I don't think I'd be fool enough to stick around here." He eyed Luke appraisingly. "You're pretty good in a sc.r.a.p, kid. Why don't you come with us? I could use you."

The mercenary gleam in Solo's eyes only made Luke mad. "Why don't you look around you and see something besides yourself for a change? You know what's going to happen here, what they're up against. They could use a good pilot. But you're turning your back on them."

Solo didn't appear upset at Luke's tirade. "What good's a reward if you're not around to spend it? Attacking that battle station isn't my idea of courage-more like suicide."

"Yeah... Take care of yourself, Han," Luke said quietly, turning to leave. "But I guess that's what you're best at, isn't it?" He started back into the hangar depths, flanked by the two droids.

Solo stared after him, hesitated, then called, "Hey, Luke... may the Force be with you." Luke looked back to see Solo wink at him. He waved-sort of. Then he was swallowed up by moving mechanics and machinery.

Solo returned to his work, lifted a box-and stopped, to see Chewbacca gazing fixedly at him.

"What are you staring at, gruesome? I know what I'm doing. Get back to work!"

Slowly, still eyeing his partner, the Wookiee returned to the task of loading the heavy crates.

Sorrowful thoughts of Solo vanished when Luke saw the pet.i.te, slim figure standing by his ship-the ship he had been granted.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Princess Leia asked him. "It could be a deadly reward."

Luke's eyes were filled with the sleek, venomous metal shape. "More than anything."

"Then what's wrong?"

Luke looked back at her and shrugged. "It's Han. I thought he'd change his mind. I thought he'd join us."