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He chattered along in a lengthy speech, waving his arms and gesticulating as he made some sort of explanation. From Lowie's side Em Teedee piped up, "I believe I speak Ugnaught rather well, Master Calrissian. Would you like me to translate?"

" Not necessary, Em Teedee," he said. "I spent plenty of years on Cloud City. I wouldn't have been much good as a Baron-Administrator if I couldn't speak Ugnaught, now would I?"

Lando chattered something back in the alien-sounding language.

The Ugnaught shift boss nodded, then leapt to a crossbrace on the hovercoaster track and clambered up, yelling for the crew to get back to their duties. The other Ugnaughts returned to work, attaching crossbraces to the high-speed levitating hovercoaster.

"The new shift supervisor says everything's on schedule," Lando told them.

"What happened to the previous supervisor?" Zekk asked, narrowing his eyes against the flickering play of shadows, dazzling laser light, and high-spectrum glowpanels.

"Cojahn fired him a few days before he fell from the balcony. Kind of a feisty Ugnaught. He was always arguing with Cojahn about something.

Distinctive-looking guy, I guess. According to the records, a patch of fur got burned off his head in an accident, because he refused to use appropriate safety procedures." Lando frowned suspiciously.

"Apparently Cojahn disagreed with the former supervisor's methods. His replacement, though, assures me that Cojahn was a good boss, very attentive, insisting that all work be done to exacting standards. He accepted slower progress just so they could add more safety features."

Lando shook his head.

Jaina stepped closer to him. "If Cojahn was so concerned with safety, it doesn't seem likely he'd be careless enough to slip and fall off a dangerous outer balcony."

"Not on your life," Lando said vehemently. "Cojahn was so careful, so protective of other people and his own safety he wouldn't even let his daughters sit in their repulsorswings without being strapped in.

He'd never have just fallen off a balcony."

"He could have jumped though," Anja suggested in her usual sour tone.

She tossed her long mane of hair behind her shoulders and straightened the headband. "Couldn't take the pressure or the responsibility, maybe?

You never can tell about some people."

"I can," Lando said. "And I can tell you that Cojahn would never have taken a swan dive-and certainly not at this time in his life.

Everything was going right for him. This was gonna be our big break."

Together, they continued walking through a narrow, oddly angled corridor.

The trapezoidal walls and upwardly sloping ramps seemed designed to disorient and confuse any visitors. Moving mirrors added to the confusion, and Jaina found it difficult to keep her footing.

As they stepped past a set of hidden sensors that triggered a new display, glimmering images of slavering holographic monsters suddenly appeared in the air. Scaled and clawed beasts lunged out of darkened alcoves with ferocious synthesized roars.

Zekk yelled. Lowie snarled. Tenel Ka leapt into a battle stance, yanking the rancor-tooth lightsaber loose from her belt. But Jacen just laughed, making a face at the hideous images. "Those simulated creatures are ridiculous, Lando," he said. "Who could believe anything that ugly would exist in this universe?"

Anja just snorted. "I've seen plenty of ugly things."

"Okay, but the feel is all wrong. If these are supposed to be landbound predators, they need some sort of camouflage coloring, not glowpanel yellow or repulsodet blue. They wouldn't all come from the same direction, either. You could add some high ledges or branches.

And it wouldn't be hard to program your holobeasts to respond to visitors' movements."

Lando glanced appraisingly at the illusionary monsters, which still roared and slashed ineffectively at them. He waved his hands in front of the nearest image; the projected beast didn't react. "Maybe you're right, Jacen. We should make the holothreats a bit more interesting at that."

Next they passed an enormous