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'If there's more than one,' she told the captain, 'you're going to need help.'

Han looked at her affectionately as she removed a third breath mask and placed it over her lovely, but determined, face.

Then the three of them rushed out, leaving the protocol droid to complain pitifully to the empty hold: 'But that leaves me here all alone!'

The darkness outside the Millennium Falcon was thick and dank. It surrounded the three figures as they carefully moved around their ship. With each step they heard unsettling noises, squishing sounds, that echoed through the dripping cavern.

It was too dark to tell where the creature might be hiding. They moved cautiously, peering as well as they could into the deep gloom. Suddenly Chewbacca, who could see better in the dark than either his captain or the princess, emitted a muffled bark and pointed toward the thing that moved along the Falcon's hull.

A shapeless leathery mass scurried over the top of the ship, apparently startled by the Wookiee's yelp. Han leveled his blaster at the creature and blasted the thing with a laser bolt. The black shape screeched, stumbled, then fell off the spaceship, landing with a thud at the princess's feet.

She leaned over to get a better look at the black mass. 'Looks like some kind of Mynock,' she told Han and Chewbacca.

Han glanced quickly around the dark tunnel. 'There will be more of them,' he predicted. 'They always travel in groups. And there's nothing they like better than to attach themselves to ships. Just what we need right now!'

But Leia was more distracted by the consistency of the tunnel floor. The tunnel itself struck her as peculiar; the smell of the place was unlike that of any cave she had ever known. The floor was especially cold and seemed to cling to her feet.

As she stamped her foot against the floor, she felt the ground give a bit beneath her heel. 'This asteroid has the strangest consistency,' she said. 'Look at the ground. It's not like rock at all.'

Han knelt to inspect the floor more closely and noted how pliable it was. As he studied the floor, he tried to make out how far it reached and to see the contours of the cave.

'There's an awful lot of moisture in here,' he said. He looked up and aimed his hand blaster at the far side of the cave, then fired toward the sound of a screeching Mynock in the distance; as soon as he shot the bolt, the entire cavern began to shake and the ground to buckle. 'I was afraid of that,' he shouted. 'Let's get out of here!'

Chewbacca barked in agreement, and bolted toward the Millennium Falcon. Close behind him, Leia and Han rushed toward the ship, covering their faces as a swarm of Mynocks flew past them. They reached the Falcon and ran up the platform into the ship. As soon as they were on board, Chewbacca closed the hatch after them, careful that none of the Mynocks could slip inside.

'Chewie, fire her up!' Han yelled as he and Leia darted through the ship's hold. 'We're getting out of here!'

Chewbacca hurriedly lumbered to his seat in the cockpit, while Han rushed to check the scopes on the hold control panel.

Leia, running to keep up, warned, 'They would spot us long before we could get up to speed.'

Han didn't seem to hear her. He checked the controls, then turned to rush back to the cockpit. But as he passed her, his comment made it clear he had heard every word. 'There's no time to discuss this in committee.'

And with that he was gone, racing to his pilot's chair, where he began working the engine throttles. The next minute the whine of the main engines resounded through the ship.

But Leia hurried after him. 'I am not a committee,' she shouted indignantly.

It didn't appear that he heard her. The sudden cave-quake was beginning to subside, but Han was determined to get his ship out -and out fast.

'You can't make the jump to light-speed in this asteroid field,' she called over the engine roar.

Solo grinned at her over his shoulder. 'Strap yourself in, sweetheart,' he said, 'we're taking off!'

'But the tremors have stopped!'

Han was not about