Star Wars_ The Han Solo Adventures - Brian Daley [69]
“What about Atuarre?”
“They’re summoning an elevator and notifying security that she’s leaving. We’ve got to get up there!”
Han was shaking his head, unmindful that Max’s photoreceptor was off. “Sorry, Max, there’re too many other things I need to do here. Besides, we couldn’t help Bollux now.”
The readout went blank and the photoreceptor came on. Blue Max’s voice trembled. “Captain Solo, I’m not doing anything else for you until you take me to Bollux. I can help him.”
Han struck the probe, not gently, with the heel of his hand. “Get back to work, Max. I’m serious.” For answer, Max withdrew his adapter from the network. Han, infuriated, snatched the little computer up and held it high overhead.
“Do what I told you, or I’ll leave you here in pieces!”
Max’s reply was somber. “Go ahead, then, Captain. Bollux would do whatever he had to if I were in trouble.”
Han paused in the midst of dashing the computer to the floor. It occurred to him that Max’s concern for his friend was no different from Han’s own for Chewbacca. He lowered the probe, looking at it as if for the first time. “I’ll be damned. You sure you can help Bollux?”
“Just get me there, Captain; you’ll see!”
“I hope. Which car was going to the dome?”
Max told him, and he set out for the elevators at once, slinging the probe over his shoulder. When he got there, he removed the security badge and punched for a downward ride. The wrong car stopped; he let it wait and go on, and punched the descent button again.
He lucked out. The car containing Atuarre, Pakka, and their two guards had stopped a number of times on its way down. She saw Han and pulled her cub off the car with her. The Espos had to hurry to avoid being left behind.
Han took the two Trianii aside a pace or two, but the Espos made it plain that they were keeping an eye on all three.
“We were going to the ship,” Atuarre told him in low tones. “I didn’t know what else to do. Solo-Captain, Hirken is putting Bollux in with that Executioner machine of his!”
“I know. Max has some kind of angle on that.” He saw one of the Espos speaking on a com-link. “Listen, the lost ones are here, thousands of ’em. Max rigged the tower; Hirken’ll have to let everybody go if he wants to keep breathing. Go get the ship ready. If I can just get my hands on a blaster, the fix is in, sister.”
“Captain, I meant to tell you,” Max interrupted. “I was rechecking the figures. I think you should know—”
“Not now, Max!” Han pulled Atuarre and Pakka back toward the elevator, hitting both the up and the down buttons. One of the Espos fell in with the Trianii again, but the other stationed himself with Han, explaining, “The Viceprex says it’s all right for you to come up. You can take home what’s left of your ’droid after the fight.”
The techs and Espos hurried Bollux down into the arena as the transparisteel slabs raised from their hidden slots in the floor. Hirken knew now that this was no gladiator ’droid, and so gave the command that Bollux be equipped with a blast shield, to make things more interesting. The shield, an oblong of dura-armor plate fitted with grips, weighed down the old ’droid’s long arm as he tried to adjust to what was happening.
Bollux knew he would never escape so many armed men. He had known many humans in his long years of function and could recognize hatred by now. That was what he saw on the Viceprex’s face. But Bollux had come through a number of seemingly terminal situations and had no intention of being demolished now if he could avoid it.
A door panel slid up in the far wall forming one arc of the arena. There was a squeal of drive wheels, the rattling of treads. The Mark-X Executioner rolled out into the light.
It was half again as tall as Bollux and far broader, though it moved on two thick caterpillar