Star Wars_ Millennium Falcon - James Luceno [136]
“Raising ship,” Leia told Han through the earpiece of his intercom rig.
Levitating from the turbolift deck, the Falcon turned and trimmed. The bow maneuvering jets fired, the mandibles came up, and Han was waiting.
The quads chugged and a hail of crimson bolts made short of the gricha's roofing efforts.
“Now, Leia!”
Great tangles of vegetation peeled from the walls and huge stones plummeted, ricocheting off the ship's armor plate. Wearing a beard of Yuuzhan Vong thorn tree, the Falcon shot up and out of the ancient structure, then rose into the crazed sky on a pillar of blinding energy.
Oxic's yacht was veering to starboard to avoid a flight of airborne boulders when the Falcon overtook it and raced for space at top speed. By then Han had dashed into the cockpit and strapped into the navigator's chair alongside Allana. Caught in Tandun III's death throes, the Falcon bucked like a marble in a juice blender.
“Your chair, Captain Solo,” C-3PO said, rising.
Han clapped him on the shoulder. “Stay put, Goldenrod. You deserve to ride in the front for a change.”
“Are we gonna escape?” Allana asked, without evident apprehension.
“'Course we are,” Han said, mussing her hair. “Just like on that HoloNet show.”
Impassive stars winked into existence, losing their dazzle the higher the Falcon climbed. When they had attained a safe distance from the planet, Leia banked through a broad turn that left them facing Tandun III, cracked like an egg about to release a creature made of pure fire.
Then in unsettling silence, the planet simply came undone, flaring like a star for a fleeting moment before hurling massive chunks of itself into the void. Of what almost seemed its own volition, the Falcon reared up as the shock wave whirled out into the night.
A telltale flashed on the instrument panel, and Leia glanced at the displays.
“Port landing jets and repulsors are out.”
Standing up, Han pounded his fist against the control panel above Allana's head, and the telltale blinked out.
“Back online,” Leia said, directing a smile over her shoulder. Han sighed. “I'm gonna have to get that landing jet fixed.”
“THIS LEVER CONTROLS THE ENGINES THE FALCON USES TO TRAVEL through realspace,” Han said. “This one takes the ship into hyperspace, after the navicomputer here figures out when it's safe for the ship to jump to lightspeed.”
“And these?” Allana asked, pointing to a pair of trackball controllers just left of the central display monitor.
“Hopefully, you'll never have to touch those. They control the laser cannons.”
It was just the two of them in the cockpit, Han in the pilot's chair and Allana seated on his knee. Leia was in the main hold trying to reach Luke on the comm and C-3PO was crating up the slicer droid for shipment back to Vaced. Free to pursue her own course, the Falcon was purring through interstellar space.
“Can I steer?”
Han stood her at the yoke. “Go ahead.”
Allana experimented with the instruments. “Can I make it go faster?”
“Can you reach the throttle?”
She stretched out her right hand and made a sound of effort. “Got it.”
“Wow! Not so fast,” Han laughed, thankful he had the inertial compensator dialed to full.
Surrendering the yoke, she climbed into the copilot's chair.
“I think you're going to be a terrific pilot,” Han told her.
“Like Aunt Jaina?”
“Just like Aunt Jaina.”
Allana inclined her head to one side. “Is she going to marry Jag?”
Han smiled. “I don't know. We'll have to ask her when we see her.”
“Did your grandpa teach you how to pilot a starship?”
“No.” Han gave his head a pensive shake. “I didn't know my grandfather.”
“We could go look for him.”
He laughed. “I think I've had my fill of quests for the time being.”
“Why?”
“You're full of questions,” Han said, pivoting to face her. “But I've