• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Running deeper into the maze of the amusement park, leaving the hovercoaster wreckage behind them, Lando cast about for inspiration.

He looked with fresh eyes at the shadowy attractions, the stations that he hoped would one day be rides and entertainment stands enjoyed by millions of beings young and old.

Lando stopped as an idea occurred to him. "Wait a minute! We've got an advantage that I'm willing to bet these guards don't have."

"I'll be glad to hear it," Anja growled.

Lando smiled. "I know this place. I know what it can do, and everything that's already functional." Jaina remembered from their initial tour what lay ahead, and she instantly understood what Lando intended.

Zekk's emerald eyes gleamed; he saw it, too. "Then let's show them a few of the attractions."

The Wing Guards approached from separate sides, trying to box them in.

When their victims dashed forward, the guards shouted and opened fire again, running at full tilt. Jaina intentionally slowed down just enough to give them an enticement. Closer now... closer...

Suddenly she and Lando ducked left as they passed a triggering sensor.

Zekk yanked Anja along behind him.

Huge slavering monsters leaped out of nothingness, the most hideous creatures that holographic artists could devise. The monsters lunged with inhuman roars and howls.

The pursuing guards screamed, firing their blasters at the illusionary threats. With nervous chuckles at the success of their plan, the companions dove farther along, trying to escape.

One of the guards bellowed, "Those are just projections, you idiots!

" Some of the guards looked askance at the holocreatures who continued to snarl and sweep their harmless claws through the air. Then they ran after Jaina, Lando, Anja, and Zekk. The four stretched out their lead, but continued to lure the guards forward.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Jaina said.

"You can bet on it," Lando said. "Too bad the antigray chamber isn't working yet, though."

They sprinted toward the vortex shaft, the experience-filled pit they had tumbled through on their first trip into the amusement center.

"Over here!" Jaina shouted, taunting the guards.

"Hey, you forgot to cover this escape hatch," Lando called.

"We're home free now," Zekk added, and dove down the swirling hole to be swallowed up in the flashing lights. Jaina and Lando jumped after him, and Anja followed with only the slightest reluctance.

The guards bellowed and careened forward in pursuit.

"Don't let them get away now!" a Wing Guard captain ordered.

Moments later, the five pursuing guards jumped down the chute.

Jaina held her arms over her head, straightening her body to reduce her air resistance. They dropped faster and faster through the hot mists and the cold steam, falling through the tangled bubbles as they plunged down to the mat below. Zekk struck bottom and bounced, rolling off the platform so that Lando, Anja, and Jaina would have room to land.

They all leapt to their feet, their knees trembling. The three younger companions stood guard for Lando as he worked the control panel.

"Safety systems," he said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "You've got to have security overrides. And I've got the codes." He pressed buttons and flicked switches to deactivate the access to the vortex chute.

A restrictive force-field clamped down on the top and bottom of the chute.

Alarm lights winked on and Lando laughed up at the shadowy silhouettes of the guards as they swirled around inside the shaft. "The repulsors in there will keep that group going up and down, up and down.

They won't be able to get out until I use my private password to release them."

Jaina went over to a comm unit on the wall. "Do you think if we summon enough of Cloud City security, we'll get some who aren't tainted by Black Sun? " Anja shifted uncomfortably, but made no suggestions.

"I think if we called them all here, we'd be able to wrap things up nicely," Lando said.

They stood together, panting, and resting for a moment. After Lando sent his signal