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Artoo tootled pridefully as a small equipment panel on his body popped open and a slender wand topped by a small silver ball unfolded from within.

“You needn’t be snippy about it,” Threepio chided.

The response from Artoo sounded like an electronic raspberry.

“Well, I’m sure it’s not his business to keep track of those details,” Threepio said, bristling. “I’ve been in your company for longer than I care to remember, and I certainly don’t keep track of every gadget in that ugly little chassis—”

Lando whistled sharply. “Whoa, you two—save it for later. Threepio, was there any part of that I need to know?”

“Master Lando, Artoo says that astromech droids must frequently inspect systems which are located in confined spaces,” Threepio said curtly. “He apparently believes that R2 units are important enough that this should be common knowledge. He has quite the little ego, you know.”

“Yes, well, I’ve often thought it’s a shame he doesn’t have your modesty, Threepio,” Lando said, flying himself back to the middle of the equipment sled and reclaiming the cutting blaster from Lobot. “Have you made any new pen pals since we started cutting?”

“There has been no response whatever from the masters of this vessel since I began trying to hail them,” said Threepio. “I suggest you proceed with whatever you are planning.”

Lando changed the selector to medium drill and activated the blaster. “Artoo, come in close—I want that sensor wand through the hole as quickly as possible. But don’t let yourself get caught when it closes. And Lobot, Artoo, between the two of you, I want to know exactly how large a hole I make and exactly how long it takes it to close. Is everyone ready? Let’s do it, then.”

The medium setting allowed Lando to open a hole that was nearly large enough to admit a man’s clenched fist. Switching off the blaster, Lando pushed off from the wall and did a backward somersault, floating out of Artoo’s way. The droid moved smoothly and surely into position, extending the wand through the very center of the opening and snatching it back at the last moment as the hole disappeared again.

“Show us, Artoo. Holoprojector,” Lando ordered. The droid chirped an acknowledgment and offered up a fish-eye perspective of a round-walled passage that seemed to bend around or through the ship in both directions. There was no sign of life or machinery, nor any response to the cutting of the hole and the invasion of Artoo’s scan probe.

“Looks promising,” said Lando. “Whatever it is, it could give us access to at least part of the ship. Artoo, Lobot, what’s the verdict? How big a hole do I need to cut to get us all through?”

“I am afraid there is a problem, Lando,” Lobot said. “Artoo’s measurements show that the larger hole closed faster, per unit of area, than the smaller one.”

“It looked that way to me, too,” Lando agreed. “Bigger holes probably get higher priority from the ship’s systems. What, don’t you think we can get through?”

“The short dimension of the common wall between that passage and this chamber is approximately one-point-seven meters,” Lobot said, pointing. “My estimate is that a hole that size will take only six or seven seconds to close down to the point where it will be impassable for any of us. That is not enough time to move the sled and the four of us into the other chamber.”

“It might be enough time. Jump troops go out the drop chute of an assault boat at a rate of one per second.”

“Jump troops have the benefit of training and gravity. I have modeled it with Artoo’s nav processor. At best, one of us would not make it through.”

“Well—that is a problem,” said Lando. “Because I have a sneaking suspicion that when we cut a hole that size, this ship’s going to get fed up with us and try to spit us out again. I don’t think we’ll get a chance to do it twice.” He thought hard for a moment, then waved the blaster in the air. “Everything off the sled. I need to make some modifications.”

The equipment sled was an uncomplicated