Star Wars the Truce at Bakura - Kathy Tyers [101]
“We’ve got company,” Han interrupted. “Over there.”
“There’s one on my side, too—no, three of them!”
They were surrounded. “So it was a trap.” Han grimaced. “They can shoot us down and get rid of us for good.”
“Escaping arrest,” Leia agreed aloud.
“Hang on!” Han spun the speeder in a tight arc back up into the foothills. Two more Imperial craft appeared in front of them. Han pulled back on the altitude control, climbing and turning simultaneously. Leia twisted around in her seat and fired at one speeder. She felt like a trapped animal with the pack closing in, and nothing to fight with but her teeth and fingernails.
Her stomach swooped up through her midsection as Han flipped the speeder through the top of the arc. “No good,” he shouted. “They’ve got hot military models.” Something bright and noisy, a streak of laser-cannon energy, passed beside them on the starboard side.
Shedding altitude at a dizzying pace, Han steered for the treetops. “When I say jump, jump. Hide behind some rocks or—”
“Han!” she exclaimed. “Reinforcements!” A pair of tiny X-winged silhouettes dropped out of the cloudy blue sky. X-wing space fighters had twice the speed and firepower of those landbased speeders.…
Instantly Han pulled the speeder up again and pushed for altitude. “The minute they spot ’em—”
Sure enough, the Imperials scattered. “Wish we had a comlink,” Leia muttered. “They almost act like somebody sent them here. Maybe Luke?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Han muttered. He steered down the drainage toward the wide river. An X-wing swept into position at his three o’clock, and the other came in at nine o’clock high.
Leia waved. Inside the slanting cockpit, a slim black-gloved hand waved back.
Their escort looked incongruous this close to a green planetary surface. Leia recalled Yavin, and the hidden groundside Rebel base where she’d waited for the first Death Star to attack.
Where the river curved southeast, just north of Salis D’aar, both fighters soared again toward space. “They don’t want to be seen this close to the city,” Leia observed. “It’d alarm the Bakurans.”
“Glad somebody’s thinking,” answered Han.
Thanks, Luke. It was still just a guess, but Leia felt confident about it.
“Shortest route to the Falcon is right through downtown,” Han observed. “If the locals try to stop us for violating curfew, they’re going to have a rough time.”
Salis D’aar’s ground routes, including a high bridge connecting the white cliff with the western side of the broad river, teemed with slow vehicles—probably families moving their worldly goods north into the mountains, curfew or no curfew. Leia wished momentarily that they could stop by the complex. She hated leaving the Ewoks’ bracelet behind, but it wasn’t worth risking her life.
They met little air traffic. “Anybody who could fly out already did,” Han guessed.
“Where are the droids?”
“Artoo’s probably still in Captison’s office.” Then he explained what he’d done with Threepio.
She laughed, picturing his arrival at the Falcon. “I only hope Chewie didn’t blast him before he spoke up.”
“He’s got my comlink. I’m sure he took care of himself.”
Shreds of dusty smoke covered the spaceport from hundreds of blastoffs. Han steered down into the murk and landed practically on top of the Falcon. It wasn’t guarded, except by one lone Wookiee. “Where’s Threepio?” Leia exclaimed.
Chewbacca snorted and snarled. “You what?” Han answered. “Chewie, we’ve got to dump his Flutie-talk program onto the Falcon’s computer!”
Chewbacca howled, sounding apologetic.
“Yeah, I should’ve. Well, fix him up.”
Chewie had blasted him. Too late for regrets. Leia dashed up the ramp behind Chewbacca. “I hope it’s fueled,” she exclaimed as she dropped into her high-backed seat.
Chewbacca bellowed. “Topped up and ready for a trip to the Core,” Han translated as he hobbled into the cockpit. “Do what you can for Threepio, Chewie. Leia, strap down.”
Leia’s seat began to vibrate. The engines’ roar mounted.
“Chewie, wait! Any new modifications?” Han shouted.
His