Star Wars_ Millennium Falcon - James Luceno [128]
“Are there any signs of life?” Leia asked.
“Intact forests in the southern hemisphere are showing abundant life,” Han said. “But I'd argue that any sentient life we find down there can't be called intelligent.” He shook his head. “Whatever may have been here then is probably buried under lava or volcanic ash.” Then, catching sight of Allana's expression, he added: “But we'll take a closer look, just to be sure.”
With Tandun III in full starlight, Han slewed the Falcon away from the churning sky of the planet's northern hemisphere. Dropping the ship into a cloudless patch near the southern pole, he adjusted the scanners to feed video to the instrument panel display. Static crazed the screen before the images stabilized.
“Oh, no,” Han said, as if someone had let the air out of him.
Peering over his shoulder, Leia put her hand in front of her mouth. “Oh, Han.”
Poste went up on his toes in an effort to see the display screen, and Jadak leaned to his left to have a look.
“I've never seen vegetation quite like that,” he said.
“That's because you slept through it,” Han said out of the corner of his mouth. His forefinger hopped about the screen. “See that cliff face that looks like the bow of a starship? That stuff's called yorik coral. And those trees that look like they've been dipped in blood? Those are called s'teeni. All this forest? This is tampasi. That bird—that bird right there, that's a whatchamacallit—a scherkil hla.”
Jadak lifted an eyebrow. “You want to translate that into Basic?”
“There are no translations,” Leia said, one arm around Allana's shoulders in a protective embrace. “Those are Yuuzhan Vong words.”
Poste whistled. “Parts of Nal Hutta looked like this for a long time.”
“The entire place has been Vongformed,” Han said. “The Vong did it to a bunch of worlds, even Coruscant.”
Jadak nodded. “I remember reading about that.”
Han glanced at Leia. “You think there's a yammosk down there? You don't think there'd be a yammosk down there …”
“A Yuuzhan Vong war coordinator,” Leia said for Jadak's benefit. “A creature that oversees the transformation.”
“Even if there is,” Han said, “it's fighting a losing battle. The planet's about to come apart.”
Leia heard Allana sigh in disappointment. “I'm afraid the treasure is beyond our reach, sweetheart.”
“If there was a treasure,” Han said. Then, at Leia's nudge, she added: “I mean, by now the treasure's probably been engulfed by the Vong's biots.”
“Chin up,” Leia told Allana. “We found the hiding place. We just can't collect the treasure chest.”
“They always do on Castle Creep,” she said.
Jadak gazed out the viewport. “The Republic Group must have asked for help from the Antarian Rangers in setting up a kind of depot here. A storehouse of some sort.”
“Whatever was here is long gone now.”
One hand gripped on the yoke, Han was about to climb higher into Tandun III's tortured atmosphere when he stopped.
“What?” Jadak said quickly.
“We're getting a signal.” Han's free hand made adjustments to the comm controls. “Very faint.”
“A distress beacon?”
Han shook his head. “Just a beacon.”
Jadak studied the comm screen. “It's transmitting on a covert frequency used by the Republic Group.” He shot Han a look. “Whatever's down there has recognized the ship.”
“No one could possibly be alive,” Leia said.
“No one would have to be,” Jadak said. “The installation could still be operational.”
Leia looked from Han to Jadak and back again. “Are you two suggesting we go down there and find out?”
“Of course not,” Jadak said. Then he glanced at Han. “Are we?”
Han considered it. “I'm not saying we are, but if we were, we'd be doing it for Amelia.” He looked at Leia. “We owe it to her to at least check things out, don't we?”
“Yes!” Allana said.
Han centered himself at the controls. “Everybody strap in. This is going to be a rough entry.”
Han leaned into the yoke and eased the throttle forward. The Falcon lowered her nose and dived