Star Wars_ Millennium Falcon - James Luceno [66]
The decision was made for him when the booth suddenly short-circuited and fell sputtering and spinning toward a swarm of scurrying pets.
The floppy-eared creature in the vest was directly in front of her at the end of the aisle. Confined in cages to all sides were dozens of other animals that were strange and sometimes scary combinations of many of the pets that were performing in the show. Some of them had too many limbs or more than one head, and others looked like they couldn't decide whether to be insects or lizards, birds or fish. Just about all of them were barking or coughing or howling. But the fact that some of the cage doors were open eased her wariness somewhat.
Even so, Allana slowed down, not wanting to scare away the creature she had followed from the lobby. Then a big man suddenly stepped into her view and she stopped completely. He was smiling, but not in a way that seemed friendly or comforting. When the creature leapt up into the man's arms without being afraid, she told herself that she might be wrong about the man, but she didn't think so. Especially when a second man appeared from behind one of the larger cages and started walking toward her.
Allana backed away.
“Don't you want to see our prize pet up close?” the man said. “He's a Chandrilan squall, and he likes children a lot. He might even let you pet him.”
Allana didn't like any of what she was hearing or how the words were being said. She continued to back away.
“I don't think you'll be able to find your way back without my help.”
“I don't need your help,” she said, even though she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers.
The man sort of laughed. “Maybe you don't. But we need yours.” His left hand disappeared behind his back and reappeared holding a military-style blaster.
Emptying her mind of thought and emotion, Allana made herself a vessel for the Force, and felt the Force flow in to fill her up. Then she made her intentions as clear as the purest water.
The Chandilan squall bared fangs and sank them into the nose of the man in whose arms it was sitting. And from some of the cages leapt the creatures that frightened her most, attacking the other man before he could take a step in any direction.
Allana spun around and began to run as fast as she could. But she hadn't even reached the other side of the kennel room when a humanoid carrying a blaster raced in to block her way. Raising it without saying a word, he fired straight at her.
Concentric rings of blue energy dazzled her eyes.
Then everything went black.
Leia was weaving her way through the rows of cages when she felt Allana cry out and lose consciousness. Homing in on her granddaughter, she hurried forward with Jedi speed, racing into a center aisle in time to see three beings running toward a doorway on the far side of the room, Allana's legs dangling over the forearm of one of the men. Leia caught a glimpse of Allana's silken red hair.
Leia fairly flew across the room, arriving at the duranium door as it shut in her face. She motioned for it to open, but it didn't budge. She tried again, then resorted to pounding her fists against it. She stepped back, wiping her hair from her face and wishing she had the strength to flatten it or the Force talent to unravel the lock's security code. Disguise or no, she wished that she hadn't left her lightsaber aboard the Falcon.
Never again, she promised herself. Disguise or no.
Stepping away from the door, she listened through and to the Force. Then she turned and raced back the way she had come.
The hover booth was still a few meters from grinding down onto the floor when Han saw the same two guards maneuvering toward him through a