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“Look!” Lando interrupted as the arching framework of the Death Star spun about and began to accelerate away from Kessel. “We’ve got it on the run.”

“For now,” Mara said, “but it may just be retreating long enough to recharge its power core so it can strike again.”

“Kessel won’t be safe while that thing is out there,” Lando said. “Han, we’ve got to go in. Let’s take the Falcon all the way to the power core.”

“Are you crazy, Lando?” Han asked, his voice rising. “This is my ship, remember.”

“I’m not contesting that,” Lando said, holding his hands up, “but I’ve flown her into a Death Star before. Remember?”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Han mumbled, and he shot a sidelong glance at Mara Jade. “But you’re right. We can’t just run away. If the prototype falls into the hands of the Imperial navy, it could cause a lot more misery than I want to be responsible for. Let’s go in.”

He punched his accelerators. Mara sent orders to her fleet. “All ships back off. We’re going in. Alone.”

The Falcon cruised through the nightmarish maze of overhanging girders, coolant and ventilation systems, power conduits and substations that formed the inner structure of the Death Star prototype. Catwalks laced the open spaces like so many spiderwebs.

The Falcon shot inward, tunneling deeper and deeper into the construction as the framework grew denser, more complex. Han spun the ship left and right to squeeze through narrow passages.

Just ahead, in the middle of a huge open corridor, a mammoth-sized construction crane toppled from its moorings, dislodged by the smuggler attack and the sudden lurching movement of the prototype. The crane fell, tumbling in silence through the vacuum of space, directly into the path of the Falcon.

“Look out!” Lando cried.

Han punched the firing buttons and sent out a converging blast from his laser cannons, disintegrating the falling machine into an expanding plume of incandescent gas and metal steam. Lando leaned back and closed his eyes with a shuddering sigh.

As the Falcon careened through, the passengers were bumped and jostled. Large debris struck the deflector shields. Sparks flew out of the control panels, and smoke poured from the engine panels beneath the floor plates.

“We’ve got damage!” Lando yelled.

Han fought for control. “She’ll hold together,” he said, as if praying.

Suddenly the Death Star jerked and slammed forward as its heavy-duty sublight engines fired up. Han tried to match the speed, spiraling closer to the power core. The Falcon lurched, barely responding to Han’s attempts to maneuver.

They passed gargantuan girders ringing the outer core, tumbling into a vast enclosed space, a spherical chamber that contained the two gleaming conical sections of the power core. Green-and-blue fire crackled between the contacts as reactors pumped up the energy level, recharging the weapon to fire again.

“Talk about recurring nightmares,” Lando said. “I never wanted to see anything like this again in my life.”

“I guess we’re just lucky,” Han said, scanning his damage reports. “We need repairs bad,” he said through gritted teeth. “Lousy time for the engines to act up.”

The Death Star rotated again, changing course and accelerating once more with equatorial propulsion units. Han narrowly avoided an arc-shaped girder that swung across to slam at them; he maneuvered the Falcon around it in a tight loop and limped toward the superstructure that held the reactor core in place.

“I need to check on those engines.” Han said, “but I can’t do anything while the Death Star is moving and rocking like this. We’re going to have to settle in for the ride.”

“Settle in?” Mara asked in astonishment.

“Don’t get all bent out of shape. I did this once before to elude Imperial pursuit,” he said, flashing a lopsided grin. “A nice little trick built into the Falcon. Added it myself.” Han brought the ship up parallel to one of the thick girders. “It’s my landing claw. I used it to hang on to the back of a Star Destroyer, then drifted off with the garbage as the fleet entered hyperspace.”

The Falcon attached