AS LUKE TOOK THE FALCON down, he watched the sensors slowly drop out, as if they were flying through a void, as if everything but the planet beneath them had slowly vanished. He found himself looking from the solid gray-brown landmass below to the blankness on the screens. After the earlier demonstration, he had expected the effect, but seeing it in action was somehow far creepier than he had thought it would be. “Weird, huh?” he commented to Kifar.
“Yeah,” Kifar muttered back, most of his attention on the comm. “The terrain-following sensors are useless, too.”
Leia had sent a garbled distress call to the Gamble on Arnot Station, then she, Han, Chewie, Sian, R2-D2, and Terae had all transferred to the Aegis, which had taken up its position near the closer moon. Luke was worried about them and would much rather have been there to worry in person. He suspected an indeterminate time’s worth of desultory conversation with Kifar Itran in the Falcon’s cockpit wouldn’t distract him much.
As the ship dropped down through the atmosphere, they had a good view through the port. The ruins sat in the center of a gray, sandy plain, ringed by odd rock formations in twisted spirals. The wind that had formed them pushed and tugged at the Falcon, and Luke had to make careful corrections with the maneuvering jets. They crossed over a dry riverbed, lined by scrubby red vegetation, and then over the tumbled stone of the city. Outlines of curving streets wove circles through the shattered towers and plazas strewn with broken rock and choked with weeds. The environmental sensors, once they were in actual contact with the atmosphere, worked well enough to confirm Terae’s statement that the air was breathable.
He spotted the place Terae had described, an enormous amphitheater with a curving, half-shell roof, still mostly intact, though cracks crawled across the surface. Luke banked around and brought the ship down toward the plaza in front of the theater’s pillar-framed entrance. He had to pass between two tall columns to make it, and Kifar asked, “You sure you can get this bucket through there?”
The Falcon was light and responsive in a whole different way from an X-wing, but Luke was sure he could pull off the maneuver. He was also glad Han and Chewie weren’t here to hear the slight. He just said, “No problem.”
He brought the ship down onto the plaza, setting off a swirling dust storm. “I’ll get the distress beacon ready,” Kifar said, and headed out of the cockpit.
Since they would be taking off again in a short time, Luke set the boards on standby. The Falcon could go from cold start to ready to lift off within three minutes, but he wanted to be out of here a little faster than that. He tried to hail the Aegis on the comm to report that they were on the ground, and got a burst of static. He had to up the gain to punch through and get voice contact with the ship, though the confirmation came back clear enough. That’s weird. There hadn’t been any problem with the comms between the Aegis in the field and the Falcon outside it, and no problem calling in from the upper atmosphere. Luke filed it away as more Rethel Point strangeness. The distress beacon had a strong signal and should get through with no problem, so it shouldn’t affect the plan. He climbed out of the pilot’s seat and saw C-3PO peering in at him through the cockpit door. “Hey, you take care of the ship. I shouldn’t be gone long.”
C-3PO said, “Do be careful, Master Luke.”
When Luke got to the hatch, Kifar was already waiting there, holding the distress beacon’s canister. Taking in the fact that Luke had put on his weapons belt with his blaster and lightsaber, he said, a little self-consciously, “You coming along?”
“Yeah, we don’t want to borrow trouble,” Luke said, when what he actually meant was “no reason to be stupid.” You didn’t walk around on a strange, supposedly uninhabited planet alone, unless you didn’t have a choice.
Kifar watched him a moment, eyes narrowed, then nodded and hit the control to cycle and release the hatch.
Luke didn’t know Kifar well, having encountered him only a few times in the Independence’s ready rooms after Kifar had transferred there from the transport group. His impression from this, and from comments made by some of the other pilots and techs, was that Kifar had a big ego for a transport tender whose job was to avoid ship-to-ship conflict rather than fly right into turbolaser barrages. Luke guessed that, after Kifar had broken down and spilled Leia’s identity to the pirate master, he probably felt he had something to prove. Well, he does have something to prove.
The hatch slid open and the air that wafted in was cool, bone-dry, and thin, as if they were on top of a mountain brushing the upper atmosphere instead of close to the equivalent of sea level.
Kifar started down the ramp. “Where do you want to put this thing? How about in that theater?”
Luke had figured they would just bury it in the sand somewhere. “The Aegis is supposed to hit them before they land.”
Kifar didn’t stop walking. “Sure, but if something goes wrong and they don’t, the Imperials’ll waste time looking for it.”
“Yeah, good idea.” Distracted, Luke hit the key combination that set the code lock on the Falcon’s hatch. The area looked and felt empty, but considering it was a hideout and drop spot for smugglers and pirates, he had no intention of being incautious. And he knew what Han would do if something happened to the Falcon because Luke didn’t take obvious precautions.
Luke followed Kifar across the plaza, their boots crunching in the crystalline sand, the fitful breeze tugging at their clothes and hair. Luke kept one hand on his blaster and a wary eye on the empty windows of the ruined towers. He felt a nervous prickle at the back of his neck, as if something watched them.
The pillars supporting the theater’s half shell were carved into spirals, the ridges barely still visible after the years of wind and sand. The back half of the big space was taken up with rows of carved stone benches stretching up toward the far wall, piled with sand drifts. The benches were oddly shaped, rounded in places, with carved holes in others, clearly meant to accommodate an anatomy that wasn’t bipedal. If there had been a stage or anything else between the pillars, it was long gone.
As they walked into the shadow of the heavy curved stone roof, the uneasy prickle got worse. Luke realized suddenly that he had drawn his blaster. He holstered it again, glad Kifar was a few steps ahead and hadn’t noticed. There was no reason to be jumpy. The place was hollow and empty, and felt like it. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, that he could be simultaneously convinced that there was no life here, not even insects, and still feel a sense of dread, like something was stalking him. Maybe it was coming from the Imperial ship they planned to decoy. Maybe it’s already entered the system. No, there hadn’t been time.
It was one of those many times his erratic connection to the Force was more problematic than helpful.
Kifar headed for the end of the tier of seats and an archway that led into a dark passage. “This looks good.”
Luke caught up with him and flashed his handlight into the opening to make sure it was empty of anything except sand drifts. Kifar set the beacon down and Luke drew breath to suggest they take it farther into the passage, but Kifar pushed the pad to activate it. Luke released his breath in annoyance. There was no point in bringing the thing in here if they left it where it could be easily found. Now they had to head back to the ship and bug out for the far side of the planet, with no time to find a better hiding spot. He wished he could have done this with Han or Chewie or Sian or anyone else, but he knew why Han didn’t want Kifar in the boarding party. “Let’s bury it,” he said. “That might buy us some more time.” He leaned down to scoop sand over it.
As soon as he took his hand off his blaster, the unease sharpened into a spike of alarm, and he actually turned toward Kifar in time to see the blaster pointed at him.
The blast knocked him backward and he had a moment’s awareness of cold sand, then nothing.
Tension made Leia want to pace, but there was no room. The Aegis had detected a contact entering the star system just a short time earlier, and the boarding pa
rty had assembled in the hatch corridor. Leia, Han, Chewbacca, Sian, and R2-D2 were joined by a number of well-armed Aegis crew.
Kelvan had been keeping them apprised over the all-ship comm, and now he said, “We have a sensor image. It’s a converted freighter, half again our size, ID is Darsumae. Four guns. Could have as many as thirty to forty crew.”
Han grimaced. He said to Chewbacca, “Unless they’ve packed it with stormtroopers.” Chewbacca combed fingers through his beard, an elaborate gesture of unconcern. Leia was plenty concerned; the Aegis crew seemed edgy but eager.
Then from the bridge, another voice reported, “Target has just launched a shuttle.”
“Oh, no,” Leia whispered, almost in chorus with Terae.
“The shuttle is heading into the sensor disruption zone,” the bridge continued. They heard Kelvan tell the comm officer to warn the Falcon.
“Should we abort the mission?” Fera asked, looking from Leia to Terae.
Across the corridor, Han leaned forward to listen.
“No,” Terae said. She flicked a glance at Leia and hesitated. “Are you—do you think we should?”
“Not if I can help it,” Leia said. She lifted her comlink. “Kelvan, can we still initiate the boarding operation?” He was the captain: she had no authority over him, and she was desperately afraid he would change his mind. A converted freighter this large was sure to have space for prisoners, and it just increased her conviction that the crew of the Gamble was being held aboard.
There was a moment of hesitation; then Kelvan replied, “Agreed. We’re going in.” Addressing the pilot, he said, “Make their position, then take us into the sensor disruption field. We’ll come at them from inside it. They’ll have us on sensors as we come out, but we can still take them by surprise.”
Leia hoped so. But it was a good plan, if not as good as their former one. Degoren was expecting a damaged ship grounded on the planet, not a well-armed pirate.
The deck thrummed as the engines engaged. Leia felt the gravity shift minutely under her feet as the compensators strained to keep up. Then she heard Kelvan give the order for weapons control to fire at will.
Listening to what she could hear of the battle from the bridge comm, Leia watched Han shift uneasily and knew he wanted to be up on the bridge or in a gun turret or anywhere but here; so did she. Return fire rocked the ship, then from the bridge she heard Kelvan order the tractor beam to engage.
Listening intently to the comm traffic from the bridge, Terae said, “It’s good. We took them by surprise.”
The whole ship vibrated, then there was banging and a clank that reverberated through the hull. Kelvan’s voice came over the all-ship comm, “We’re locked on! Go! Now!”
Terae hit the release, and as the hatch lifted Leia glimpsed the other ship’s lock. Fera stepped in, slapped a small explosive against the controls for the opposite hatch, and stepped back. Terae closed their lock and nodded to her. Fera triggered the device.
The thump was barely audible through all the layers of metal. When Terae raised their hatch again, there was a smoking ruin in place of the other ship’s control pad. Fera hit the manual release, and the lock cycled open. Terae tossed in a stun grenade, and the crew members nearest the lock ducked back.
This thump was much less muffled. Leia drew her blaster as the crew charged in. Leia followed Han and Chewbacca through the lock and heard the first spate of blasterfire.
The lock opened into a corridor that ran lengthwise down the side of the ship, and the Aegis crew hurried to take guard positions up and down it. Four human men lay collapsed on the deck. From the blasters they carried, they must have been dispatched to guard the lock.
With quick gestures, Terae sent five of her crew toward the stern and the engine compartment and signaled three to stay here and guard the lock itself. Leia sent Sian after the engineering group and R2-D2 rolled after her. The droid would help them get through any code-locked hatches.
Then she used her boot to roll one of the stunned men over onto his back. She didn’t recognize him, and all were dressed as spacers, no uniforms. For an instant her stomach tightened in dread. What if we’re wrong? If this was some terrible mistake and this ship had somehow intercepted their distress transmission and innocently responded … Then she crouched and pulled the man’s comlink off his belt. It was standard Imperial issue. Han, leaning to look over her shoulder, muttered, “Good to know.”
Terae had stopped, watching Leia. Leia lifted the comlink and showed her the Imperial seal stamped on it. Terae nodded sharply and motioned the rest of the crew forward toward the bridge. Han followed, Chewbacca with him, his big feet silent on the metal deck plates. Leia stood and went after them.
They passed open blast doors to empty crew and system compartments, and Terae sent two crew members off to temporarily disable the connections to the comm array. As they reached a cross corridor that curved toward the bridge area, blasterfire erupted suddenly. It slagged the opposite wall of the corridor and dropped one of the Aegis crew. Terae, Fera, and the two remaining crew crouched to return fire.
Han gestured to Chewbacca, an instruction that involved a lot of furious pointing, but Chewie evidently understood it. The Wookiee ducked back down the corridor and headed into the nearest cross passage. Then Leia’s breath caught as Han ducked, rolled, and made it across the corridor to the far wall. Still in a crouch, he put his back against the wall and fired around the corner. Leia used the covering fire to crawl forward, and stretched to grab the injured crew member’s jacket. It was Allian, she realized as she dragged him out of the firing zone. His shoulder and arm were badly burned, but he was still alive, sweat beading on his brown skin, eyes wide with shock. The air turned to ozone and smoke and she could hear shouts and blasterfire over her comlink now as the second group fought for control of engineering.
Fera whispered, “Solo!” and held up a small metal ball. Another stun grenade. Han nodded, set his blaster aside, and made a throw-it gesture. Fera tossed it to him. Terae lunged dangerously close to the kill zone to cover him, but ducked back as more blasterfire splashed off the bulkhead just above her head. Then the barrage cut off abruptly with the distinctive sound of bowcaster fire and a triumphant Wookiee howl.
Han armed the grenade, leaned around the corner, and tossed it down the corridor.
Leia scrambled back with the others. The grenade went off and the thump shook the deck plates.
Terae yelled, “Come on!” and surged into the corridor with the others behind her. Leia shoved to her feet and followed Han. Three groaning Imperials slumped in a heap near the blast door to the bridge. A curved blast shield lay nearby, the transparent surface still glowing from the blaster bolts it had deflected. Chewbacca stepped out of the doorway on the far end of the corridor and started toward them.
Terae motioned Fera forward to deal with the sealed blast door controls and stood with Han in the center of the corridor. She listened to her comlink a moment, then reported, “They had to cut through the blast door into the last engine bay, but the astromech droid was able to shut off any control access from the bridge and they’re almost—”
Leia spotted movement down the corridor, where an open blast door gave way to another passage. She snapped, “Down!”
She fired just as the Imperial stepped out and lifted his blast rifle. Chewbacca, Fera, and the other two crew members dropped to the deck. Terae tried to turn and fire, but Han tackled her down and out of the way. The rifle’s energy bolt came so close that the light of it whited out Leia’s vision, but she squeezed off two more shots. She blinked away the dazzle in time to see the Imperial fall, the blast rifle clattering to the deck beside him.
Terae shoved upright, and snapped, “Merith, get down there and clear that junction!”
As the crew member hurried to comply, Terae said, a trace of shakiness in her voice, “Thank you, Your Highness.”
“You’re welcome,” Leia said, and was glad her voice came out in the normal range.
/>
Han rolled to his feet, frowning suspiciously at her. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Leia told him. Her left cheek felt hot. As Han stepped over to take up a position beside the blast door to the bridge, she moved a short way back down the corridor to stand beside Chewbacca. She put a hand on the braids wrapping the left side of her head. They felt just on the edge of crackly, singed by the blast. Chewie sniffed, obviously detecting the burned-hair odor, then looked down at her and growled in concern.
“No, it’s fine,” Leia told him. Putting aside the image of herself lying in the corridor with her head blasted off, she lifted her blaster as Fera jimmied the door controls into the bridge.
The door slid open and Terae shouted, “You’re pinned down, we have your ship—now surrender, or we’ll use a concussion grenade! We don’t need you alive.”
When there was no answer, Terae said loudly, “Toss it in!”
Someone inside called out, “Don’t! We surrender!” Han and the two other crew members slammed through the door.
Leia stepped in to see three Imperials dragged out of their station chairs, disarmed, and forced to lie down on the floor. As the Aegis crew covered them, Han dropped into the pilot’s station and started bringing up schematics of the ship. Leia heard a triumphant yell over the comlink, and a moment later an Aegis crew member’s voice, “Captain Kelvan, Lieutenant Terae, we’ve secured engineering!”
Leia stepped around the prisoners to look over Han’s shoulder. “We need to account for every member of the crew.” And find out what they did with General Willard and the others from the Gamble. Her worst fear was that the Imperials had killed them back on Arnot Station. Her grip on the shoulder of the station chair tightened. She didn’t want to start the interrogation until they had more information. Terae was slowly circling the prisoners, looking thoughtful and dangerous.
Han brought up a roster on the console’s display and sent it to the Aegis comlink frequency so all the crew would receive it. “Yeah, they’ve got way more crew than a freighter like this needs. Imperial communication codes, too.”