• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

The neuro-charge hadn’t been crippling; the feeling in his right arm was already coming back. For all the good it’ll do me, he frowned to himself. He was shocked at how little time had passed since he’d entered the ship; Spray and Fiolla had only now finished the long walk back to the cage.

He smashed his fist against the console. “Look at this! If I had firepower I’d have two perfect hostages under the guns. Or if I had tractors, I could haul ’em back here.”

“There’re other ways to handle cargo besides tractors,” said a high-pitched vocoder. “Isn’t that right, Bollux?”

“Blue Max is quite correct, sir,” drawled the labor ’droid from the navigator’s seat, from which he’d been keeping a photoreceptor on things, his plastron open. “As a general labor ’droid, I might point out—”

Han cut him off with a bloodcurdling war whoop and screamed back over his shoulder, hoping his copilot would hear, “Chewie! Hold onto your pelt; we’re taking the long shot!”

He brought up full engine power. Giving the Millennium Falcon entirely too much acceleration, he tore off from a dead standstill to scream along under the belly of the destroyer, retracting landing gear as he went. Even with full braking thrusters he barely made a tight bank, throwing himself against the console as Bollux floundered for a handhold. Lining up his shot, he applied more power.

The safety cage, suspended halfway up to the access lock on its utility tractor, was before him with unbelievable speed. With more instinct than skill, Han made microscopic, split-second corrections in his course and hit braking thrusters again. The starboard bow mandible slipped through the cage’s sling-arm.

Han accelerated again, carefully but extremely quickly, tearing the cage out of the utility tractor’s grasp. “Go ahead, go ahead,” he taunted the mountainous destroyer, whose weapons still tracked him. “Shoot me; you’ll blow your territorial manager to particles!”

But no fire came. The Falcon shrieked out from under the Espo warship’s belly; everything had happened with such suddenness that Han had snagged the cage before fire-control officers could decide what to do. Now they were powerless to intervene without endangering their superior. But the destroyer rose majestically and fell in behind the freighter in close pursuit.

Han was beside himself, laughing, howling, stomping his boots on the deck, but still piloting with utmost care; if anything happened to Spray and Fiolla now, the warship would surely eradicate the Falcon. He was relieved to find that the cage’s sling-arm appeared to be firmly seated across the bow mandible.

Chewbacca appeared, pushing a ruffled Gallandro along before him. The Wookiee thrust the gunman into the commo officer’s seat, then took his own. Gallandro was smoothing his mustache and straightening his clothes. “Solo, was it necessary to have this behemoth body-press me to the safety cushioning?” Then he noticed what had happened. Grudging admiration crept into his voice. “You seem to have gained the advantage, Solo. Congratulations, but please control yourself; the territorial manager is an extremely reasonable fellow and I’m sure he’ll agree to any sane terms. I don’t suppose that your unconditional release would be too much to ask. Oh, and perhaps afterward we can try that draw, for curiosity’s sake. You may drain my pistol’s charge first if you like; I’d just like to know what would’ve happened.”

Han spared him a quick, disdainful look from the touchy business of guiding the Falcon smoothly and levelly through the hard, rocky peaks of Ammuud. “You pay to see the cards Gallandro; you folded.”

The gunfighter nodded politely. “Of course; what could I have been thinking of? There will be other occasions, Captain. These circumstances were unique.”

They both knew that was true; Han swallowed his next taunt. “If your arm’s coming around, you can warm up the commo board and contact the commander of that gunboat back there. Tell him I want time and room to finish repairs on the Falcon and a little more on the side for a head start.