Enemy Lines II_ Rebel Stand - Aaron Allston [67]
“Get down here!”
She leapt in headfirst, rotating in midair to land on her feet atop the plug. Her landing was so light compared to his that he couldn’t help but grin. “You do that just like a Jedi.”
“Hush. Where to now?” She handed him the datapad.
He checked the datapad screen and turned in the approximate direction they’d been running while in the tunnel above. “There’ll be a metal door there giving us access into a metal scrap compactor. We take a left and get out the door at the end.”
“No, Han. Not another compactor. Once in a lifetime is enough.”
The map on the screen suddenly blanked, replaced by words: I INITIATED A POWER SHUTDOWN ON THE COMPACTOR. IT CANNOT BE ACTIVATED UNTIL IT GOES THROUGH A FULL START-UP PROCEDURE. IT WILL BE THREE HOURS AT LEAST.
“Well,” Leia allowed, “that’s all right, then.”
More shapes blocked the hole above. Han and Leia ran before they could begin firing.
Seeing through the Falcon’s holocam eyes and sensor screens, R2-D2 sent the transport up on repulsorlifts. The transport wobbled like a plate being balanced atop a stick and he marvelled that humans, with their reflexes that crawled in relation to the speed of droid calculations, could learn to pilot vehicles so well.
He managed to get the Falcon clear of the bay before its ceiling panels began to swing down again. His trill was a little like laughter—the spaceport authorities had noticed just a little too late. Now that he was above the bay, he was clear of whatever comm-jamming equipment they had put in place; he could once again detect and interact with Han and Leia’s datapad.
Now he had to make sure he got the Falcon to the prison. Not just to the prison, he reminded himself, but to the prison and in one piece.
Furious, Han kicked at the pile of metal scrap leaning against the exit door from the compacting chamber. “Artoo, you didn’t say anything about having to dig our way out!”
SORRY. THE COMPUTER SYSTEM DIDN’T MENTION THAT THE COMPACTOR WAS HALF FULL. THEY ARE IN VIOLATION OF THEIR OWN REGULATIONS. THAT IS PROBABLY WHY THEY DO NOT HAVE THE LOAD LISTED.
“Leia, can you cut through this? Or through the wall?”
Leia bounced her lightsaber blade off the glossy blue wall of the chamber and shook her head. “Magnetically sealed. I can cut through the pile. In a few minutes.” Then she heard the sound of mechanical voices from behind her. She spun. “Which we don’t have.”
A security droid entered through the door Han and Leia had used just moments before. The droid fired as soon as his barrel cleared the door and continued to fire as he sprinted to the wall opposite the door, where he took up position, laying down covering fire.
Leia batted the first blast out of the way as she and Han got behind cover. The cover was good—heavy steel scrap that easily absorbed the energy unloaded by blaster rifle shots. But missed shots ricocheted off the walls, propelled by the magnetic shielding, and inevitably one would bounce down into Han’s or Leia’s back.
Then a second droid entered the chamber, and a third, and a fourth, all of them firing.
“We’re sunk,” Leia said.
“I don’t think so.” Han glanced around, found a more protective niche in the scrap, and sidestepped into it. He rose high enough to return fire for a moment. “Six, seven, eight of them. The more, the better.”
“The more, the better?” Leia slid into place beside him.
“Yeah, when we get enough of them in here, we can’t possibly lose.”
“Now I know why you never want to be told the odds. Because you don’t know what they mean!”
Han grinned at her. “Nine, ten, eleven. That’s good enough to start with. Can you get me a couple of those blaster rifles?”
“You planning on shooting our way out of here?”
“That’s right. Please, Leia. Two rifles.”
Leia hesitated, caught off guard by Han’s rare use of the word please, then said, “Cover me. Go.”
Han popped up and squeezed off several quick shots. Leia stood from behind cover a moment later, saw several of the droids