by Cavan Scott
“Yeah,” said Milo, carrying Morq to the speeder. “Let’s go.”
“THERE’S NO SIGN of the stormtroopers,” said Milo as Lina slowed the landspeeder to a crawl. In front of them a jagged mountain stretched up into the night clouds.
“It doesn’t mean they’re not lying in wait inside the cave,” CR-8R blurted from the back of the landspeeder. Morq squeaked and clutched Milo’s neck tighter than ever.
“Keep quiet, Crater,” Milo scolded. “You’re scaring Morq.”
“Forget that fleabag,” the droid replied. “I’m scaring myself!”
Lina killed the engine, the speeder gliding to a halt. “He’s right though. They could be in there, right now.”
“So, what are we going to do?” Milo asked. Thunder rumbled overhead, the first drops of the promised storm finally falling. “Stay out here and get drenched? Come on, what have we got to lose?”
“Our heads?” groaned CR-8R.
Clambering out of the landspeeder, they crept along the bottom of the mountain toward the yawning gap of the cave entrance. “The Bird’s just in here. We’re almost home free.”
The sound of a voice in the cave stopped them in their tracks.
“Captain Korda, concussive mines primed and ready, sir. Detonation in T-minus fifteen.”
Lina pulled them back from the cave mouth, crouching behind tall reeds.
“Excellent work, Commander,” Korda replied in a distorted voice as four stormtroopers marched out of the darkness, led by the commander. “And the children?”
“Still missing, sir. But we’ll find them.”
“Make sure you do. Korda out.”
The commander turned to his men. “You heard the captain. Scan for life-forms. They’ll be the only humanoids on the planet.”
“Sir, look!” said another of the stormtroopers, pointing at the landspeeder.
“That wasn’t there before,” the commander said. “They must be nearby. Fan out.”
Obeying his command, the stormtroopers raised their blasters and started off, one walking straight toward the children’s hiding place.
“What are we going to do?” Milo whispered.
“Sneak past them into the cave?” Lina replied. “Maybe we can deactivate the mines.”
“Or be blown sky-high,” added CR-8R, only to be whacked in the face by Morq’s tail.
“We’ll never get past them without being seen,” said Milo. “Unless…”
Activating his net launcher, he sent a net skimming low across the ground. It wrapped around a tree trunk, disturbing a clump of tall reeds.
“Over there,” said the stormtrooper commander, changing direction to investigate. His men following, he approached the tree, brushing through vines that hung from the branches. Immediately, the vines sprung to life, wrapping around the commander. His blaster splashed into the marsh water as he was yanked into the air.
“Creepervines.” Lina grinned. “Good thinking, Lo-Bro.”
“Don’t call me that,” Milo replied, although he was smiling, too. “Come on!”
At the foot of the tree, the other troopers took aim and fired into the branches. There was a horrible screech from above and the creepers went slack. The ensnared commander crashed down heavily into the marsh, but the children weren’t watching. They were running for their lives, their heads down, toward the cave entrance.
Still on his back, the commander looked up and, seeing the fleeing children, swatted away his men’s helping hands.
“There they are,” he yelled. “Shoot them!”
The stormtroopers whirled around and fired just as Milo, Lina, and Morq leapt into the cave, CR-8R following close behind, his servo-arms flailing in panic. The shots hit the roof of the cave—and with a rumble, the entrance collapsed.
“Shall we scan for signs of life, sir?” one of the stormtroopers asked the commander.
The fallen trooper pulled himself awkwardly to his feet. “No need,” he growled. “If the rock fall didn’t get them, the bombs will.” He glanced up at the dead creepervine creature in the tree. “Come on, let’s get off this mudball.”
On the other side of the collapsed entrance, Lina choked on the dust that had filled the pitch-dark cavern.
“Milo!” she croaked.
“I’m here,” he replied from somewhere nearby. “Are you okay?”
“I thought you would never ask,” said CR-8R. The cave lit up as the droid activated his glowlamp. “Get me out of here!”
“Are you stuck?” Milo asked as Morq scampered over to examine the droid. CR-8R had been caught in a shower of falling rubble and lay partially covered by a pile of rocks.
“No,” said CR-8R. “I’ve decided to take a little nap. Of course I’m stuck!”
“We could just leave him,” Milo grumbled under his breath.
“I heard that!” CR-8R yelled.
“I think you were supposed to,” said Lina. “Alternate the current in your repulsor-circuit.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“It’ll create a vibration that might loosen the rocks.”
“Oh, yes, a genius idea,” the droid replied, “if I want to get squashed flat.”
“It’s either that or stay there until your batteries go dead,” Lina said, reaching forward. “Grab my hand and I’ll pull you free. Milo, I’ll need your help.”
Milo wrapped his arms around Lina’s waist.
“Are you ready, Crater?” she asked.
“Not really.”
“Tough. Do it!”
CR-8R’s repulsors emitted a high-pitched hum, which was immediately followed by a worrying crunch from the rocks.
“Now, Milo. Pull!”
The children heaved, dust tumbling from the fallen rocks.
“He’s not budging,” Milo grunted.
“He will. Keep. Going.”
All of a sudden, CR-8R shot out like a womp rat from its burrow, Lina and Milo falling back.
The droid hovered upright, brushing down his metalwork. “How undignified, although I suppose I should thank you.”
“I wouldn’t yet,” said Milo grimly, pointing where rocks had fallen into the gap. “We’re completely sealed in now.”
“But at least we’ve got the Bird,” Lina said, turning around. The ship was exactly where their father had left it, sheltering from the elements in the large cavern. It looked more like its namesake than ever, long bronze wings folded against the hull and landing gear extended, as if perched ready for flight.
As the children headed for the ship, CR-8R hovered around the walls of the cave, checking the stormtroopers’ explosive devices.
“Give us some good news, Crater,” Lina called, activating the Bird’s boarding ramp.
“I would if I could,” the droid replied gravely. “The mines are booby-trapped. One false move and they’ll detonate.”
“So we either wait to get blown up or do it ourselves?” Milo said.
“Or at least get buried alive. The devices are rigged to bring the roof down.”
“And with the entrance already blocked, we have no way of flying out before they explode,” Lina said. “Today just gets better!”
“Who said we have to fly out?” said Milo, running up the ramp, Morq scampering at his heels.
Lina found her brother in the Bird’s cockpit working one of the rear consoles.
“What are you up to?” Lina asked.
In reply, a series of strident bleeps burst from the computer’s speaker grill.
“He’s sending out a sensor pulse,” CR-8R said, peering over the boy’s shoulder.
“Exactly,” Milo confirmed. “Dad was planning to do exactly this before we left—”
“To create an echo-map of the entire cave system,” Lina said as a three-dimensional holo-map appeare
d in the air between them.
“There,” Milo said, following the glowing tunnels with his finger. “These stretch right below the swamp and out toward the mountains.”
Suddenly, his shoulders slumped.
“What’s wrong?” Lina asked.
“I thought we could escape through the tunnels.”
“You mean, fly the Bird through them?”
Milo nodded. “But this section here is far too narrow. We’d never make it through.”
“That’s what Crater said earlier,” Lina reminded him, studying the holo-map.
“I’m afraid this time Master Milo is correct,” CR-8R said. “The tunnel system is too narrow for the Bird’s wingspan.”
“Then we’ll just have to fly her out with the wings folded,” Lina insisted, swinging into the pilot’s chair. “Crater, plot the course into the navicomp.”
“You’re joking,” Milo said. “With the wings folded you’ll only have the landing jets to keep us in the air. It’s impossible.”
In response, Lina turned to CR-8R. “How long before those bombs detonate, Crater?”
“Five minutes,” the droid replied, “but—”
“So we have nothing to lose.” Lina grabbed the flight controls and began flicking switches. “Raising boarding ramp. Bringing engines online.”
Beneath their feet, the deck plates rattled as the Whisper Bird’s sublight drive growled to life.
“Are you sure you can do this?” Milo asked. “I mean, I know Mom lets you pilot this thing, but this isn’t exactly open space.”
“To be honest, I have no idea, but since the alternative is getting buried beneath a mountain, I’m willing to give it a try. What about you?”
CR-8R settled into position in the copilot’s chair, plugging his interface arm into the navicomputer. “Personally, I think this is a terrible idea, which probably means you’ll do it anyway.”
“Something like that,” Lina said, trying to sound braver than she felt. Milo was right, this was impossible, but the alternative was unthinkable. She couldn’t give up. Not now, not with Mom and Dad out there somewhere.
Swallowing hard, she pulled the control column toward herself. The deck lurched as the ship rose from the floor of the cavern and began turning toward the narrow entrance to the subterranean labyrinth beneath them. “All set?”
“The course is plotted,” began CR-8R, “although I must insist—”
“Crater,” Milo interrupted, strapping himself into the navigator’s seat. “We don’t have time to argue. Do I think Lina is going to crash us into a cave wall? Yes. Am I hoping she’ll prove me wrong? Definitely.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Lina said, easing the Bird forward. With a blast from the landing jets, the spaceship disappeared into the tunnel.
There was no going back now.
“I HAVE A REALLY BAD FEELING about this,” CR-8R complained as the Bird’s hull grated against the wall of the tunnel.
“You’re not the only one,” admitted Lina, trying to stop the ship from rolling. “How long until the bombs go off?”
Milo checked his chronometer. “Two minutes. Maybe one.”
“Thanks for being so precise. It helps.”
“You just concentrate on getting us out of here in one piece.”
The cockpit shuddered as the Bird’s folded wings hit a crag.
“I’m trying my best.”
“Can you try it quicker?”
CR-8R cut in. “Mistress Lina, the entrance to the next chamber is straight ahead.”
“I see it,” Lina replied, flying the Bird into an enormous cavern.
Milo whistled, pulling against his restraints to see. “Look at this place. It must be miles across.”
“No time for sightseeing,” snapped Lina, the Bird’s floodlights picking out two exits straight ahead. “Crater, which do I take? The left or the right?”
CR-8R consulted the map. “The left leads to the surface, although it has to be said that the right-hand tunnel has a fascinating structure that suggests crystalline—”
A series of muffled explosions interrupted the rambling robot, followed by the sound of small rocks raining down on the Bird’s already battered hull.
“That must be the mines,” Milo said.
“And this must be the entire cave system collapsing,” CR-8R added. “We’re going to be crushed.”
“The explosions have detonated, sir,” reported the stormtrooper commander as he joined Captain Korda on the Imperial shuttle.
“And the children?”
“They were in the cave.”
Korda’s mouth pulled into a hideous grin that revealed more of his metal teeth. He turned in his command chair to regard Auric and Rhyssa Graf, who were strapped to the cabin wall by arm and chest restraints.
Tears were pouring down Rhyssa’s cheeks, and Auric was visibly shaking with rage. He looked like he would rip the captain limb from limb if he could escape his bonds.
“There,” sneered Korda. “No loose ends. Your old life is over. Now you serve the Empire. I suggest you get used to it.”
He pressed a toggle on the arm of his command chair, opening a com-channel to the shuttle’s pilot.
“The children are dead. Take us up.”
“Hold on!” Lina shouted, banking to avoid a boulder half the size of the ship that had tumbled from the cavern roof. “That was too close.”
Twisting the control column, she turned the Bird toward the exit on the right.
“What are you doing?” CR-8R wailed. “I said go left.”
“I thought you said right.”
“I said the right was fascinating, not to fly into it for a look. Don’t you children ever listen?”
“And don’t you ever shut up?” shouted Milo. “Just do what he says, Lina!”
“I’m trying!”
Before she could correct their flight path, a flock of large, purple-skinned creatures came swarming out of a crack in the cave’s wall, screeching.
“Kinor bats!” yelled Milo. “The explosions must have disturbed them!”
“Well, now they’re disturbing me!” Lina cried as the Whisper Bird ploughed into the mob of thick, sinewy bodies. All they could hear was the beat of leathery wings as the creatures thudded into the canopy, claws scraping against the transparisteel. “I can’t see a thing!”
“Left,” shrieked CR-8R. “Take the left one!”
Lina grunted, her shoulder feeling like it was on fire as she swerved the ship to the left, flying out of the swarm. The Bird rolled into the clear exit just as the colossal cavern’s roof finally collapsed with the sound of a planet tearing itself apart.
“I hope you realize that we currently have a one-thousand-to-one chance of survival,” CR-8R reported matter-of-factly. “We’ll never make it!”
“No, we will,” shouted Milo, following their progress on the holo-map. “Lina, hard left. Now right.”
Lina followed Milo’s orders, desperately trying to outrace the tunnel’s collapse behind them. The ship bounced off walls, stripping heat plates and snapping antennae, but Lina didn’t care. She just wanted to see the stars again.
“We’re nearly there,” Milo cried, his voice all but drowned out by the roar of tumbling rocks.
“The gap’s too narrow,” warned CR-8R, staring straight ahead.
“Then let’s widen it,” Lina said. “Milo?”
“Already on it,” her brother responded, undoing his restraints to switch seats behind her and pull down the targeting system. On the top of the Bird, the ship’s mining laser whirled around, aiming straight ahead.
“Fire!” Milo shouted, and the rocks in front of them dissolved into dust just as the ceiling came crashing down.
“Chances of survival have just dropped dramatically!” CR-8R whimpere
d, shutting off his photoreceptors so he didn’t have to witness his own destruction.
In a shower of rocks, the Whisper Bird burst from the side of the mountain. Rain hammered down on the canopy, but none of the crew complained. They were too busy cheering. Behind them, their hastily blasted exit caved in, closed forever.
With a flick of a switch, Lina unfolded the Bird’s wings and the ship soared high into the night sky. Milo flung his arms around his sister, who flinched in pain.
“Hey, watch the shoulder, Lo-Bro.”
“Sorry,” Milo said, untangling himself. “But you did it, Sis. You really did it.”
“We did it,” she said, “but we can celebrate later. Crater, where’s that shuttle?”
The droid consulted the sensor array. “It’s already taken off,” he reported. “Due to leave the planet’s atmosphere in thirty seconds and counting.”
“We can’t let them get away,” Milo said, sitting back in his seat. “Mom and Dad are on that thing.”
“We won’t,” Lina promised, pulling back on the column to bring up the Bird’s nose. The ship rocketed higher still, crossing the threshold into space in seconds flat.
“There it is,” Milo said, pointing out the lights of the shuttle.
“A Sentinel-class,” CR-8R reported. “Capable of carrying up to seventy-five troops.”
“And prisoners,” Lina said, pointing the Whisper Bird after it.
“What are we going to do?” Milo said.
“I honestly don’t know,” Lina replied. “How’s that mining laser?”
Milo checked his display. “Barely functional. I think it took a knock blasting out of the tunnel.”
CR-8R’s head swiveled toward the pilot’s station. “Mistress Lina, you can’t be suggesting that we mount an attack. That class of shuttle is fitted with retractable laser cannons as standard, not to mention an ion turret, concussion missiles—”
“They’ve got Mom and Dad,” Lina yelled back, shaking with both frustration and fear. “We can’t just let them get away.”
