Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 03_ The Lost Ones - Kevin J. Anderson [1]
"We'll be coming out of hyperspace in about five standard minutes," Han Solo announced from the cockpit. "You kids ready?"
"Hey, Dad, can we try some target practice?" Jacen leaped to his feet, glad for the interruption. Finally, something he was good at!
Jacen loved this game their father had devised for them. Whenever he brought them back to Coruscant in the Millennium Falcon, Han let the twins sit in the two gun wells. As the ship approached orbit, Jacen and Jaina scanned for floating chunks of metal and debris left over from the space battles that had raged over Coruscant years before, during the overthrow of the Empire.
"We hardly ever find enough debris for both of us to shoot at," Jaina grumbled.
"Oh yeah?" Jacen said, giving her his most challenging smile. "You're just worried because last time I hit something and you didn't. I'm sure we're going to find some wreckage to shoot at today. I have a good feeling about this." He shrugged once. "But if you're just not up to it:"
Jaina's eyes narrowed as she accepted his challenge. A smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. "What are we waiting for?" she said. With that, she dashed toward one of the gun wells, leaving Jacen to scramble to the other.
Tenel Ka followed him, while Lowie loped after Jaina, eager to help.
Behind them, the blurry monstrous figures on the hologame table hunkered down and waited for somebody to make a move.
Jacen settled into the overlarge seat of the bottom gun well. He strapped in and leaned forward to take the laser-cannon firing controls as Tenel Ka dropped into place beside him. Her granite-gray eyes narrowed, intent on the weaponry. "Watch that screen there," Jacen said. "Help me get a target. There's plenty of debris left, but it's all pretty small."
"Even small, such wreckage could be deadly to incoming ships," Tenel Ka said.
"This is a fact," Jacen answered with a grin, echoing his friend's often-used phrase. "That's why we clear it out every chance we get." Loud explosions sounded from the other gun well as Jaina began firing her quad lasers. Jacen heard a loud Wookiee roar of encouragement.
"Hey, how did she target so fast?" he said.
"Honing in," Tenel Ka said, pointing at glowing lines on the tracking screen.
"Oh! Well, I could fire too-if I was paying attention," Jacen said. He swung the four-barreled weapon into position, then watched the targeting cross move closer and closer. Maybe it was an old shielding plate from a blown-up Star Destroyer, or an empty cargo pod dumped by a fleeing smuggler. He tracked in closer....
"Stay on target," Tenel Ka said. "Stay on target... fire!"
Jacen reacted instantly, squeezing the firing buttons, and all four laser cannons shot focused beams that vaporized the hunk of debris. "Yahoo!" he yelled. A similar whoop of delight came from the other gun well.
"It would appear that Jaina also hit her target," Tenel Ka said.
"Don't get cocky, kids," Han shouted good-naturedly from the cockpit. His copilot Chewbacca roared agreement.
"Just making the galaxy safe for peaceful navigation, Dad," Jacen called.
"We're at a tie," Jaina said. "We need one more shot each. Please, Dad?"
"You twins are always at a tie," Han answered. "If I let you keep shooting until one of you scores and the other doesn't, we'll be circling the solar system for years. Come on back up to the cockpit. We're almost home."
As the Millennium Falcon settled onto a clear rooftop, Lowbacca unbuckled his crash restraints and groaned. The landing on Coruscant had been smooth, and he had enjoyed his time optimizing the Falcon's computers-but he was anxious to get back into the open air. Even city air, as long as he could be high enough off the ground.
By the time Lowie reached the ship's exit ramp, Jacen and Jaina had managed to unfasten their crash webbing too. The twins sped past him down