Trilogy (40 page)

Whether or not Artoo did trust the human being at the X-wing's controls, he only vented a meek little sigh. For a moment he was completely silent, as if thinking. Then he beeped again.

“Yes, Artoo?”

This communication from the robot was even more carefully put forth than before—one might even call the whistle-sentences tactful. It seemed Artoo had no intention of offending the human to whom he had entrusted himself. But wasn't it possible, the robot calculated, that the human's brain was slightly malfunctioning? After all, he had lain a long time in the snowdrifts of Hoth. Or, another possibility computed by Artoo, perhaps the Wampa Ice Creature had struck him more seriously than Too-Onebee had diagnosed? …

“No,” Luke answered, “no headache. I feel fine. Why?”

Artoo's chirp was coyly innocent.

“No dizziness, no drowsiness. Even the scars are gone.”

The next whistle rose questioningly in pitch.

“No, that's all right, Artoo. I'd rather keep it on manual control for a while.”

Then the stout robot delivered a final whimper that sounded to Luke like a noise of defeat. Luke was amused by the droid's concern for his health. “Trust me, Artoo,” Luke said with a gentle smile. “I know where I'm going and I'll get us there safely. It's not far.”

* * *

H
an Solo was desperate now. The
Falcon
had still not been able to shrug off the four TIE fighters or the enormous Star Destroyer that pursued it.

Solo raced down to the ship's hold and began to work frantically on repairing the malfunctioning hyperdrive unit. It was all but impossible to carry out the delicate repair work necessary while the
Falcon
shook with each blast of flak from the fighters.

Han snapped orders at his copilot, who checked the mechanisms as he was commanded. “Horizontal booster.”

The Wookiee barked. It looked fine to him.

“Alluvial damper.”

Another bark. That part was also in place.

“Chewie, get me the hydrospanners.”

Chewbacca rushed over to the pit with the tools. Han grabbed the spanners, then paused and looked at his faithful Wookiee friend.

“I don't know how we're going to get out of this one,” he confided.

Just then a resounding
thump
hit the
Falcon
's side, making the ship pitch and turn radically.

Chewbacca barked anxiously.

Han braced himself at the impact, the hydrospanners flew from his hand. When he managed to regain his balance, he shouted at Chewbacca over the noise, “That was no laser blast! Something hit us!”

“Han … Han …” Princess Leia called to him from the cockpit. She was frantic. “Get up here!”

Like a shot, he lurched out of the hold and raced back to the cockpit with Chewbacca. They were stunned by what they saw through the windows.

“Asteroids!”

Enormous chunks of flying rock hurtled through space as far as they could see. As if those damn Imperial pursuit ships weren't trouble enough!

Han instantly returned to his pilot's seat, once more taking over the
Falcon'
s controls. His copilot settled himself back into his own seat just as a particularly large asteroid sped by the prow of the ship.

Han felt he had to stay as calm as possible; otherwise they might not last more than a few moments. “Chewie,” he ordered, “set two-seven-one.”

Leia gasped. She knew what Han's order meant and was stunned by so reckless a plan. “You're not thinking of heading into the asteroid field?” she asked, hoping she had misunderstood his command.

“Don't worry, they won't follow us through this!” he shouted with glee.

“If I might remind you, sir,” Threepio offered, trying to be a rational influence, “the possibility of successfully navigating through an asteroid field is approximately two thousand four hundred and sixty-seven to one.”

No one seemed to hear him.

Princess Leia scowled. “You don't have to do this to impress me,” she said, as the
Falcon
was pummeled hard by another asteroid.

Han was enjoying himself enormously and chose to ignore her insinuations. “Hang on, sweetheart,” he laughed, grasping the controls more tightly. “We're gonna do some
flyin'.
”

Leia winced and, resigned, buckled herself firmly into her seat.

See-Threepio, still muttering calculations, shut down
his synthesized human voice when the Wookiee turned and growled at him.

But Han concentrated only on carrying out his plan. He knew it would work; it had to—there was no other choice. Flying more on instinct than on instruments, he steered his ship through the relentless rain of stone. Glancing quickly at his scanner screens, he saw that the TIE fighters and the
Avengers
had not yet abandoned the chase. It would be an Imperial funeral, he thought, as he maneuvered the
Falcon
through the asteroid hail.

He looked at another viewscreen and smiled as it showed a collision between an asteroid and a TIE fighter. The explosion registered on the screen with a burst of light. No survivors in
that
one, Han thought.

The TIE fighter pilots chasing the
Falcon
were among the best in the Empire. But they couldn't compete with Han Solo. Either they weren't good enough, or they weren't crazy enough. Only a lunatic would have plunged his ship into a suicidal journey through these asteroids. Crazy or not, these pilots had no choice but to follow in hot pursuit. They undoubtedly would be better off perishing in this bombardment of rocks than reporting failure to their dark master.

T
he greatest of all the Imperial Star Destroyers regally moved out of Hoth's orbit. It was flanked by two other Star Destroyers and the entire group was accompanied by a protective squadron of smaller warships. In the central Destroyer, Admiral Piett stood outside Darth Vader's private meditation chamber. The upper jaw slowly opened until Piett was able to glimpse his robed master standing in the shadows. “My lord,” Piett said with reverence.

“Come in, Admiral.”

Admiral Piett felt great awe as he stepped into the dimly lit room and approached the Dark Lord of the Sith. His master stood silhouetted so that Piett could just barely make out the lines of a set of mechanical appendages as they retracted a respirator tube from Vader's head. He shuddered when he realized that he might be the first ever to have seen his master unmasked.

The sight was horrifying. Vader, his back turned to Piett, was entirely clothed in black; but above his studded black neck band gleamed his naked head. Though the admiral tried to avert his eyes, morbid fascination forced him to look at that hairless, skull-like head. It was covered with a maze of thick scar tissue that twisted around against Vader's corpse-pale skin. The thought crossed Piett's mind that there might be a heavy price for viewing what no one else had seen. Just then, the robot hands grasped the black helmet and gently lowered it over the Dark Lord's head.

His helmet back in place, Darth Vader turned to hear his admiral's report.

“Our pursuit ships have sighted the
Millennium Falcon
, my lord. It has entered an asteroid field.”

“Asteroids don't concern me, Admiral,” Vader said as he slowly clenched his fist. “I want that ship, not excuses. How long until you will have Skywalker and the others in the
Millennium Falcon
?”

“Soon, Lord Vader,” the admiral answered, trembling in fear.

“Yes, Admiral …” Darth Vader said slowly, “…  soon.”

* * *

Two gigantic asteroids hurtled toward the
Millennium Falcon
. Its pilot quickly made a daring banking maneuver that brought it skirring out of the path of those two asteroids, nearly to collide with a third.

As the
Falcon
darted in and out of the asteroid field, it was followed closely by three Imperial TIE fighters that veered through the rocks in hot pursuit. Suddenly one of the three was fatally scraped by a shapeless chunk of rock and spun off in another direction, hopelessly out of control. The other two TIE fighters continued their chase, accompanied by the Star Destroyer
Avenger
, which was blasting speeding asteroids in its path.

Han Solo glimpsed the pursuing ships through the windows of his cockpit as he spun his craft around, speeding under yet another oncoming asteroid, then bringing the freighter back to its right-side-up position. But the
Millennium Falcon
was not yet out of danger. Asteroids were still streaking past the freighter. A small one bounced off the ship with a loud, reverberating
clang
, terrifying Chewbacca and causing See-Threepio to cover his eye lenses with a bronzed hand.

Han glanced at Leia and saw that she was sitting stone-faced as she stared at the swarm of asteroids. It looked to him as if she wished she were thousands of miles away.

“Well,” he remarked, “you said you wanted to be around when I was wrong.”

She didn't look at him. “I take it back.”

“That Star Destroyer is slowing down,” Han announced, checking his computer readings.

“Good,” she replied shortly.

The view outside the cockpit was still thick with racing asteroids. “We're going to get pulverized if we stay out here much longer,” he observed.

“I'm against that,” Leia remarked dryly.

“We've got to get out of this shower.”

“That makes sense.”

“I'm going to get in closer to one of the big ones,” Han added.

That did
not
make sense.

“Closer!” Threepio exclaimed, throwing up his metal arms. His artificial brain could scarcely register what his auditory sensors had just perceived.

“Closer!” Leia repeated in disbelief.

Chewbacca stared at his pilot in amazement and barked.

None of the three could understand why their captain, who had risked his life to save them all, would now try to get them killed! Making a few simple adjustments on the cockpit controls, Han swerved the
Millennium Falcon
between a few larger asteroids, then aimed the craft directly at one the size of a moon.

A flashing shower of smaller rocks exploded against the enormous asteroid's craggy surface as the
Millennium Falcon
, with the Emperor's TIE fighters still in pursuit, flew directly above the asteroid. It was like skimming over the surface of a small planet, barren and devoid of all life.

With expert precision, Han Solo steered his ship toward still another giant asteroid, the largest one they had yet encountered. Summoning all the skill that had made his reputation known throughout the galaxy, he maneuvered the
Falcon
so that the only object between it and the TIE fighters was the deadly floating rock.

There was only a brief, brilliant flare of light, then nothing. The shattered remains of the two TIE fighters drifted away into the darkness and the tremendous asteroid—undeflected in its course—continued on its way.

Han felt an inner glow as bright as the spectacle that had just lighted up the view. He smiled to himself in quiet triumph.

Then he noticed an image on the main scope of his control console and nudged his hairy copilot. “There.” Han pointed to the image. “Chewie, get a reading on that. Looks pretty good.”

“What is it?” Leia asked.

The
Falcon'
s pilot ignored her question. “That should do nicely,” he said.

As they flew near the asteroid's surface, Han looked down at the craggy terrain, his eye caught by a shadowy area that looked like a crater of mammoth proportions. He lowered the
Falcon
to surface level and flew it directly into the crater, its bowllike walls suddenly rising up around his ship.

And still two TIE fighters chased after him, firing their laser cannons and attempting to mimic his every maneuver.

Han Solo knew he had to be trickier and more daring if he was to lose the deadly pursuit ships. Spotting a narrow chasm through his windscreen, he banked the
Millennium Falcon
to one side. The ship soared sideways through the high-walled rocky trench.

Unexpectedly the two TIE fighters followed. One of them even sparked as it grazed the walls with its metal hull.

Twisting, banking, and turning his ship, Han pressed through the narrow gorge. From behind, the black sky flared as the two TIE fighters crashed against one another, then exploded against the rocky ground.

Han reduced his speed. He still wasn't safe from the Imperial hunters. Searching about the canyon, he spotted something dark, a gaping cave mouth at the very bottom
of the crater, large enough to hold the
Millennium Falcon
—perhaps. If not, he and his crew would know soon enough.

Slowing his ship, Han coursed into the cave entrance and through a large tunnel, which he hoped would make the ideal hiding place. He took a deep breath as his ship was promptly devoured by the cave's shadows.

A
tiny X-wing was approaching the atmosphere of the Dagobah planet.

As he neared the planet, Luke Skywalker was able to glimpse a portion of its curved surface through a heavy cover of thick clouds. The planet was uncharted and virtually unknown. Somehow Luke had made his way there, though he wasn't certain whether it was his hand alone that had guided his ship into this unexplored sector of space.

Artoo-Detoo, riding in the back of Luke's X-wing, scanned the passing stars, then addressed his remarks to Luke via the computer scope.

Luke read the viewscreen interpreter. “Yes, that's Dagobah, Artoo,” he answered the little robot, then glanced out the cockpit window as the fighter ship began to descend toward the planet's surface. “Looks a little grim, doesn't it?”

Artoo beeped, attempting for one last time to get his master back on a more sensible course.

“No,” Luke replied, “I don't want to change my mind about this.” He checked the ship's monitors and began to feel a bit nervous. “I'm not picking up any cities or technology. Massive life-form readings, though. There's something alive down there.”