Star Wars_ The Black Fleet Crisis 01_ Before the Storm - Michael P. Kube-McDowell [21]
“What?” asked the yard boss, his gaze quickly settling on the Wookiee’s point of concern. “Oh, yes, we realigned all the emitters. You were getting interference nodes to port and starboard—left her vulnerable to a side attack.”
“You promised you wouldn’t change anything,” Han said threateningly.
“I promised we’d put her right, and that’s what we did,” the yard boss said, leading the way to the boarding ramp. “First we took her apart down to the frame, then we took the frame apart—we have holos, you’ll have to see how twisted some of the ribs and stringers were. Structurally, she’s about fifteen percent new.”
Han walked right past the boarding ramp, continuing to circle the ship as though doing a preflight check. “Yeah, well, she’s had a few bumps. Never failed me in the clutch, though.”
Chewbacca voiced his agreement in a defiant guttural growl.
Frowning, the yard boss came back down the ramp and fell in behind them. “Well, that’s a small miracle, considering what we found under the access panels. How you serviced her systems the way she was, I’ll never know. When we built her back up, all the cables were properly tagged and bundled, all the mechanicals shock-mounted, all the electricals grounded and pulse-shielded—”
“I knew I should have been keeping an eye on you,” Han said. “Probably added a couple of tons to her displacement—”
“She’s three hundred kilos lighter.”
“I would have done it all myself, you know. But there just isn’t time anymore.”
Chewie grunted expressively.
“Yeah, I couldn’t stand to see her all in pieces, either,” Han agreed. “Not with someone else’s hands in her guts. Autopsies and rebuilds—don’t want to be around either one.” He paused, looking up at the drive matrix. “Say, is that a Seinar Systems augmentor?”
“It is.”
“Well, I’ll be a—” His expression softened to wonder. “We tried for years to get one of those on the black market. Remember, Chewie? But every time we got a lead on one, it turned out to be pre-Imperial junk, or something pulled out of the wreck of a TIE fighter, with the scorch marks painted over. How did you—”
The yard boss smiled. “Don’t ask, General.”
Chewbacca yawned a comment under his breath, and Han answered with a crooked smile. “Yeah, I guess there’re a few advantages to wearing a braid.” He cocked his head at the yard boss. “So are there any more surprises?”
“A few,” the yard boss said, reclaiming the role of tour guide. “We replaced your missing escape pods. Upgraded the tractor beam generator to a Mark Seven, and the hyperdrive motivator to a Series Four-oh-one—”
“Holy mother of meteors.”
“—Replaced all the sensor lenses. Duplicated an original YT-1300 battery regulator from Corellian specs—”
“That was probably a mistake.”
“—Recarpeted the holds and crew quarters. Fixed the sticky latch on the Number Two storage locker. Recharged the sanitizer in the refresher.” He smiled. “Want to take her for a spin?”
Gesturing with one furry hand, Chewbacca registered his vote.
“Yeah, all that history gone. It won’t be the same Falcon without the creaks and the shakes,” Han said.
“No, it won’t,” said the yard boss. “She’ll be about twenty percent faster, ten percent more efficient, and a hundred percent more reliable.”
“Keys in the ignition?”
The yard boss nodded. “The security system’s been reinitialized for you—just enter new authorization codes.”
Han looked at Chewbacca. “I think Leia can get by without us for a little longer. Let’s wring her out a little.”
“Have fun,” the yard boss said, his self-satisfied smile restored to full brightness. “You’re already cleared for orbit.”
Waving their ID cards at the scanners, Han and Chewbacca entered the grounds of the presidential residence in full stride and in the middle of a full-blown argument.
“I know, I know, she’s perfect,” Han said. “I know, we couldn’t have gotten her into that kind of shape