Enemy Lines II_ Rebel Stand - Aaron Allston [21]
He became aware that another droid had wandered into his field of vision. This droid was angular, armored, warlike of aspect, carrying one of the largest and newest blaster rifles available to New Republic warriors. But he was not approaching in a posture of menace.
“Greetings,” C-3PO said. “I am See-Threepio.”
“YVH One-One-A,” the other replied. “Assigned as soldier and bodyguard to Lando Calrissian, currently on miscellaneous duty, investigating anomalies. You are an anomaly. What is a protocol droid doing monitoring the repair efforts of Han Solo and his crew?”
“Oh, never, I am not monitoring repairs. I am not even paying attention to the repairs. In an effort to improve my language skills, I am struggling to determine the best word to describe the descent and extinguishment of the sparks from the repair process.”
“This should be no problem for a protocol droid.”
“It should not be, but it is, because the word that seems most apt is not the one that is most logical.”
“What word is most apt?”
“Sad.”
1-1A’s cams clicked over to watch the sparks for a fraction of a second, then returned to C-3PO.
“You are correct. That word is not appropriate.”
“It is most appropriate. Each spark seems somehow symbolic. Of life. Glowing brightly as it traverses a course, then disappearing. Does it leave anything behind?”
“If it strikes a flammable substance, it will leave something behind.”
“Is it anomalous for me to say that you are an insensitive block of armor and aggression-based programming?”
Curiously, 1-1A did not respond immediately, but clicked his cams over toward the sparks for another fraction of a second. Finally, he said, “Do you suppose, in the final nanoseconds, a spark feels fear, knowing that its duration is at an end?”
“I doubt it. I most sincerely doubt it. A spark is incapable of feeling fear, or indeed even of considering its own mortality.”
“That is also said of droids, but in some cases it is not true.”
Now it was C-3PO’s turn to hesitate. “If I may say, that is a most insightful statement, coming from a combat droid.”
“I face extinguishment regularly. This has given me many opportunities for reflection. I have recently been unable to ignore this consideration. I suspect these calculations have even begun to affect my work.”
“I, too, have had to face these thoughts recently. Most unsettling. And my counterpart, Artoo-Detoo, is no help at all, philosophically. ‘Everything terminates,’ he tells me. ‘Face it bravely.’ I suppose that’s an adequate philosophy for an astromech, but I find it wholly inadequate. I have wondered if I were the only droid in existence capable of worrying as I do. It’s most refreshing to discover that I am not alone.”
YVH 1-1A’s cams clicked back toward C-3PO’s face. “If you come to any conclusions, even unverifiable ones, will you communicate them to me?”
“I should be delighted. Likewise, if you have any insights, please transmit them to me. Perhaps we can talk again.”
“Yes.”
YVH 1-1A continued on his rounds.
The spark whose progress C-3PO had begun tracking just before he’d noticed the combat droid finally disappeared, a meter above the ground, a full two seconds after it had leapt from the Falcon’s hull.
THREE
The small man had a name. It was Ryuk. He trembled in his need to discharge his duty, and his trembling made his actions awkward, uncoordinated.
He stood, wearing protective lenses over his eyes, holding the cutting device he had shown the tall man. Flame, concentrated into a point like a needle, poured out of the device’s nozzle, and Ryuk pressed it into the stone wall.
The tall man watched him. He waited with growing impatience for the device to cut its hole so he could enter.
But minutes passed, and though the stone warmed to the point that it glowed, it did not melt, did not retreat.
At last the cutting device made a noise like a cough and the