Star Wars_ Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina - Kevin J. Anderson [114]
Someone asked, “What are we searching for, sir?”
“An escape pod. It jettisoned from a Corellian Corvette evading Lord Vader’s Star Destroyer and landed somewhere on Tatooine.”
Breaking military silence, a gasp went up over the secure link. “Lord Vader—here?”
“That’s right,” said Captain Terrik grimly. “Now double-time on board the landing craft!”
Although Davin was the last to board the spacecraft, he was set into his station before all the other stormtroopers in his detachment. Lord Vader! The very thought of the Dark Lord being so close to the backwater planet sent a chill through Davin. He hadn’t felt this strange since he had learned through the grapevine that Colonel Veers had never even mentioned Davin’s “kneeling” defense for the AT-AT to his superiors. It was almost as if Colonel Veers didn’t want anyone to know of the fatal flaw in the giant walker’s design.
The stormtroopers sat mute as they left the troop transport, their home for the past month. Visual images of Tatooine flashed inside their helmets, transmitted from the intelligence network orbiting Tatooine. Computer-generated graphics pinpointed the most likely landing place of the small escape pod.
As part of scout unit Zeta, Davin was tasked with reconnoitering the rocky highlands. He gripped his blaster rifle and stole a glance at the rest of the stormtroopers waiting patiently in two rows beside him. Everyone studied the data dump from the mother ship. He wondered how the others could remain so calm when they were about to embark on a mission. And for Lord Vader at that! He just wondered why the pod was so important.
The scouting craft landed with a bump. The side yawned open, spilling in hot air and brilliant sunshine. Davin pushed out and joined the other stormtroopers, who quickly lined up in front of Captain Terrik. No one spoke over the comlink until Davin heard Captain Terrik’s voice.
“Lord Vader’s Star Destroyer is mapping the planet with a sensor scan, trying to locate the escape pod. It must have buried itself on landing, or was hidden by some Rebel sympathizers. We have a preliminary position on the pod from just before it impacted, so we’ll spread out and sift through all the sand on this planet if necessary to find it.”
“Why is the pod so important, sir?” Davin surprised himself by blurting out the question; he only hoped that Captain Terrik would be so busy that he wouldn’t yell at him.
“It’s carrying classified material, and that’s all you need to know. The point is that we need to find it … or we’ll have to explain to Lord Vader why a detachment of the Emperor’s Own failed in their duty. Got it?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then listen up. Alvien and Drax squads, cover the next quadrant. Zeta squad, come with me. Headquarters at Mos Eisley has grav-lifted in three dewbacks to aid in the search—they can cover more territory than we can and will lead us to the pod if they get a scent. Start a circular search pattern, move.”
The desert terrain was featureless, ever-shifting. Davin crunched his way through the sand, not sure what he was looking for, but knowing that some kind of evidence from the escape pod’s landing had to be present. He climbed a small hill. The desert spread out in every direction. They might as well have been the only ones on the planet.
Seeing a rise in the sand below him, he scooted down the ridge and poked his blaster into the ground. He struck something hard! He clicked on the comlink. “Captain Terrik, ten twenty-three reporting. I think I found the pod.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir.” Davin excitedly dug into the ground with his blaster butt … only to unearth a large rock.
Captain Terrik appeared over