Star Wars_ Rebel Force 04_ Firefight - Alex Wheeler [7]
"Nothing," Leia said. "Absolutely nothing. Just…" She shook her head and waved an arm toward the Millennium Falcon. "Go," she told him. "I'm heading out soon. So why don't you go say good-bye to your precious ship."
He shrugged, then started to walk away. "Oh, and by the way, Your Worshipfulness…" He paused, his back still to Leia. "Try not to get yourself killed out there."
Leia sighed. "You, too, Han." But she said it too quietly for him to hear.
CHAPTER THREE
"Approaching Kamino orbit," Han said into the comm. "You copy, Luke—uh, I mean, Red Leader?"
"Copy that." Luke's response came in just as the other four X-wings winked out of hyperspace, back into normal space.
An enormous gray globe loomed before them, its atmosphere roiling with storm clouds. There were no Star Destroyers circling the planet, nothing at all to indicate an Imperial presence. But Han still felt something dark and dangerous emanating from the planet. Maybe it was the thought of all those Kamino assembly lines churning out stormtroopers like a nerf-sausage factory. Or maybe it was just the thought of all that rain.
Han hated rain.
He rubbed his shoulder blades and did his best to straighten up in the cramped cockpit.
These X-wings maneuvered well, no doubt about that. But they were no replacement for the Millennium Falcon. For one thing, what good was a ship without a decent-sized hold where you could enjoy a game of dejarik and a bottle of lum? Still, it could be worse, Han reminded himself. He could be a Wookiee.
"You still with us, pal?" he asked on a private comlink to Chewbacca. "Enjoying your luxury liner?"
The Wookiee growled angrily in return. Han laughed, remembering how ridiculous Chewie had looked hunched up in his X-wing, fur matted against the cockpit windows. X-wings, like most everything else built to human scale, just weren't made for Wookiees.
A light began flashing on the main screen of Han's X-wing. "Luke, my ship's picking up some strange gravitational readings," he reported.
"Copy that," Luke replied. "Wedge and Zev reported them, too."
"Probably just a natural fluctuation in the gravitational field," Han said. "I've seen this kind of thing before. Nothing to worry about."
Luke paused. "I don't know," he said. "I have a bad feeling about this."
Han rolled his eyes. Luke and his bad feelings…He knew that Luke thought it was the
"Force" giving him some kind of warning. The kid refused to accept that everyone had feelings. Sometimes it was instinct; sometimes it was luck. Sometimes it was just a bad batch of won-won. Anything but a mystical, invisible galactic Force imparting wisdom from beyond.
"There's a clear path to the surface," Han said. "We go in now, we can be on the ground in—"
"Hold on," Luke said. "I want to investigate these gravitational readings. Something's not right."
Han shook his head. The kid was being overcautious. "It's not necessary, Luke. I told you—"
" Red Two, hold your course until further notice," Luke said, with special emphasis on the call sign. "Red Leader out."
"What was Narra thinking, putting Luke in control of this mission?" Han mumbled on his private line to Chewie. Not that Luke wasn't an amazing pilot; he'd proven that he was.
But the kid was green.
Chewbacca shot back a short burst of barks and woofs.
"Fine, so I don't like taking orders from anyone," Han admitted. "The only person who can tell me what to do is—"
Chewbacca interrupted with an alarmed bark.
"The Empire? " Han repeated, incredulous. "Since when do I let the Empire tell me what to do?"
Chewbacca barked again, and then Han's radar screen lit up with lights.
"Incoming!" Wedge Antilles shouted through the comm unit.
"Who are these guys?" Zev asked as a motley collection of ships appeared before them. Han spotted a couple of freighters, a Preybird, and what looked like a Firespray.
"They don't look Imperial."
A blast of laserfire shot from the cannons of the Firespray, straight for Luke's ship. He banked sharply to port just in time.
"They don't look friendly, whoever