Star Wars_ Episode V_ The Empire Strikes Back - Donald F. Glut [8]
From the opposite end, the deck officer rushed into the corridor, his eyes darting around the chamber until he had spotted Han. 'Sir,' he said frantically, 'Commander Skywalker hasn't come through the south entrance. He might have forgotten to check in.'
'Not likely,' Han snapped. 'Are the speeders ready?'
'Not yet,' the deck officer answered. 'Adapting them to the cold is proving difficult. Maybe by morning-Han cut him off. There wasn't any time to waste on machines that could and probably would break down. 'We'll have to go out on Tauntauns. I'll take sector four.'
'The temperature is falling too rapidly.'
'You bet it is,' Han growled, 'and Luke's out in it.'
The other officer volunteered, 'I'll cover sector twelve. Have control set screen alpha.'
But Han knew there was not time for control to get its surveillance cameras operating, not with Luke probably dying somewhere on the desolate plains above. He pushed his way through the assemblage of Rebel troops and took the reins of one of the trained Tauntauns, leaping onto the creature's back.
'The night storms will start before any of you can reach the first marker,' the deck officer warned.
'Then I'll see you in hell,' grunted Han, tugging the reins of his mount and maneuvering the animal out of the cave.
Snow was falling heavily as Han Solo raced his Tauntaun through the wilderness. Night was near and the winds were howling fiercely, piercing his heavy clothes. He knew that he would be as useless as an icicle to Luke unless he found the young warrior soon.
The Tauntaun was already feeling the effects of the temperature drop. Not even its layers of insulating fat or the matted gray fur could protect it from the elements after nightfall. Already the beast was wheezing, its breathing becoming increasingly labored.
Han prayed that the snow-lizard wouldn't drop, at least not until he had located Luke.
He drove his mount harder, forcing it on across the icy plains.
Another figure was moving across the snow, its metal body hovering above the frozen ground.
The Imperial Probe Droid paused briefly in midflight, its sensors twitching.
Then, satisfied with its findings, the robot gently lowered itself, coming to rest on the ground. Like spider legs, several probes separated from the metal hull, dislodging some of the snow that had settled there.
Something began to take shape around the robot, a pulsating glow that gradually covered the machine as if with a transparent dome. Quickly this force field solidified, repelling the blowing snow that brushed over the droid's hull.
After a moment the glow faded, and the blowing snow soon formed a perfect dome of white, completely concealing the droid and its protective force field.
The Tauntaun was racing at maximum speed, certainly too fast considering the distance it had traveled and the unbearable frigid air. No longer wheezing, it had begun moaning pitifully, and its legs were becoming more and more unsteady. Han felt sorry about the Tauntaun's pain, but at present the creature's life was only secondary to that of his friend Luke.
It was becoming difficult for Han to see through the thickening snowfall. Desperate, he searched for some interruption in the eternal plains, some distant spot that might actually be Luke. But there was nothing to see other than the darkening expanses of snow and ice.
Yet there was a sound.
Han drew the reins in, bringing the Tauntaun to an abrupt halt on the plain. Solo could not be certain, but there seemed to be some sound other than the howling of the winds that whipped past him. He strained to look in the direction of the sound.
Then he spurred his Tauntaun, forcing it to gallop across the snow-swept field.
Luke could have been a corpse, food for the scavengers, by the time the light of dawn returned. But somehow he was still alive, though barely, and struggling to stay that way even with the night storms violently assaulting him. Luke painfully pulled