Han looked past Ben to the bar and said, “Looks like somebody’s beginning to take an interest in your handiwork.”
Luke glanced over his shoulder and saw that stormtroopers were talking to the bartender, who was pointing at their booth. The stormtroopers’ squad leader said to the bartender, “All right, we’ll check it out.”
Cantina patrons stepped aside as the stormtroopers walked over to the booth that the bartender had indicated. But when the stormtroopers arrived at the booth, only Han and Chewbacca were seated at the circular table. The stormtroopers glanced at the man and Wookiee, then moved past.
When the stormtroopers were out of earshot, Han smiled at Chewbacca. “Seventeen thousand!” Han said. “Those guys must really be desperate. This could really save my neck. Get back to the ship and get her ready.”
Chewbacca headed for the exit. Han stayed at the cantina to finish his drink and settle their tab.
Luke and Ben slipped out the cantina’s back door. Ben raised his hood to cover his head as they walked away from the building and tried to lose themselves amidst the pedestrian traffic.
Ben said, “You’ll have to sell your speeder.”
“That’s okay,” Luke said. “I’m never coming back to this planet again.”
Han Solo was stepping away from his booth at the cantina when he came face-to-face with a green-skinned Rodian aiming a blaster at him.
Speaking through his short trunk, the Rodian said, “Going somewhere, Solo?” The Rodian pushed the blaster’s barrel against Han’s chest, forcing him to move back to the booth.
“Yeah, Greedo,” Han said as he took a seat so that his back was to the wall and the table was directly in front of him. “As a matter of fact, I was just going to see your boss. Tell Jabba that I’ve got his money.”
“It’s too late,” Greedo said, after seating himself at the other side of the table. Keeping his blaster trained on Solo, he continued, “You should have paid him when you had the chance. Jabba’s put a price on your head so large, every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you. I’m lucky I found you first.”
“Yeah, but this time, I’ve got the money,” Han said, slouching back to rest his left knee against the table.
“If you give it to me, I might forget I found you.”
“I don’t have it with me.” Han appeared to notice something on the wall to his left, and casually reached up to pick at it with his left hand. This movement distracted the Rodian from noticing the slight shift of Han’s other shoulder, as his right hand—below the table, unseen by Greedo—crept to his holstered blaster. Han continued, “Tell Jabba—”
“Jabba’s through with you,” Greedo interrupted. “He has no time for smugglers who drop their shipments at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser.”
“Even I get boarded sometimes,” Solo said as his right hand eased his blaster out of its holster. “Do you think I had a choice?”
“You can tell that to Jabba. He may only take your ship.”
Han’s expression became deadly serious. “Over my dead body.”
“That’s the idea.” Greedo chuckled. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”
“Yes, I’ll bet you have.”
No one at the bar saw what happened next, but all heads turned to Han’s booth in response to a blinding flash of light and the loud report of blasterfire. Cantina patrons and the bartender saw Han seated across from Greedo, a smoldering hole in the center of the table between them; the flash had come from the explosion of Greedo’s blaster, its shattered remnants still clutched in his long-fingered hand. Greedo’s blaster had been destroyed by the same laserbolt—fired by Han—that had torn up through the table. A few sharp-eyed beings also noticed a fresh scorch mark on the wall to the left of Solo’s head, which indicated that Greedo might have squeezed off at least one shot. Before anyone could question the outcome of the blasterfight, Greedo’s body slumped forward, collapsing dead upon the table’s surface.
Some of the cantina’s more monstrous patrons actually enjoyed the smell of fried Rodian.
Han rose from the table and holstered his blaster. As he walked past the bar, heading for the exit, he tossed some coins to the gaping bartender and said, “Sorry about the mess.”
In the control room on the Death Star, Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin conferred with Commander Tagge about the interrogation of the captured princess. Vader said, “Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable. It will be some time before we can extract any information from her.”
Admiral Motti approached Tarkin and reported, “The final checkout is completed. All systems are operational. What course shall we set?”
Tarkin looked to Vader and said, “Perhaps she would respond to an alternative form of persuasion.”
“What do you mean?” asked Vader.
Tarkin said, “I think it is time we demonstrated the full power of this station.” He turned to Motti and commanded, “Set your course for Alderaan.”
Motti smiled evilly as he answered, “With pleasure.”
“Lock the door, Artoo,” C-3PO said. The two droids were standing in an open doorway in an alleyway near the Mos Eisley cantina. They’d been waiting for Luke and Ben to return from the speeder dealer and had ducked into the doorway to avoid being seen by an approaching group of stormtroopers.
R2-D2 extended his manipulator arm to the door’s locking mechanism and gave it a twist. The door slid shut just in time.
An Imperial Mark IV patrol droid hovered up the alley, preceding the stormtroopers. The stormtrooper squad leader said, “All right, check this side of the street.” After another trooper checked the door that concealed the two droids, the squad leader said, “The door’s locked. Move on to the next one.” The stormtroopers followed the patrol droid deeper into the alley.
R2-D2 opened the door and C-3PO peeked out. The golden droid said, “I would much rather have gone with Master Luke than stay here with you. I don’t know what all this trouble is about, but I’m sure it must be your fault.”
R2-D2 answered with a beeped expletive that only another droid would understand.
“You watch your language!” cried the offended C-3PO.
Facing the speeder dealer, Luke said, “All right, give it to me, I’ll take it.” The speeder dealer, an insectoid alien, had finally agreed to buy Luke’s cherished landspeeder for two thousand credits.
Luke turned to Ben and showed him the credits. “Look at this,” Luke said with dismay as they headed back for the droids. Luke had expected to get a few hundred more. He griped, “Ever since the XP-38 came out, they just aren’t in demand.”
“It will be enough,” Ben told him.
As Ben and Luke proceeded through Mos Eisley’s back alleys, they were followed by a Kubaz, an alien with a short, prehensile trunk for a nose. The Kubaz wore protective goggles and a dark cloak, and worked as an information dealer and spy for hire. One of his current clients was an Imperial stormtrooper squad leader.
The Kubaz didn’t let Ben and Luke out of his sight.
A short walk from the Mos Eisley cantina, Docking Bay 94 was a large circular pit that had been excavated from the sandy bedrock and reinforced with duracrete. It had an open roof, high surrounding walls, and was barely large enough to contain the YT-1300 Corellian freighter that rested on its floor. The freighter was Han Solo’s ship, the Millennium Falcon.
Several figures moved around under the Falcon’s hull. Most of the figures carried blasters but one didn’t. He was a Hutt, a corpulent sluglike alien with a bulbous, wide-mouthed head and a tapering, muscular tail. He happened to be the most powerful crimelord in the Tatooine system, and all the other figures in the docking bay worked for him. Until very recently, he had also employed a hit man named Greedo. The gangster’s name was Jabba.
“Solo,” Jabba bellowed in Huttese at the Falcon. “Come out of there, Solo!”
“Right here, Jabba,” Han called from behind the Hutt.
Jabba twi
sted his bulky form to see Solo and Chewbacca enter the docking bay from the passage that led up to the street. Chewbacca was casually carrying his bowcaster.
Grinning at Jabba, Solo said, “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Have you now?” Jabba replied.
Han sauntered forward and said, “You didn’t think I was gonna run, did you?”
“Han, my boy, you disappoint me,” Jabba observed. “Why haven’t you paid me? Why did you fry poor Greedo?”
“Look, Jabba, next time you want to talk to me, come see me yourself. Don’t send one of these twerps.” Han gestured at Jabba’s blaster-wielding henchmen, including a man who wore a head-concealing helmet and antique body armor: a notoriously dangerous bounty hunter named Boba Fett.
“Han, I can’t make exceptions.” Jabba shrugged. “What if everyone who smuggled for me dropped their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial starship? It’s not good for business.”
“Look, Jabba, even I get boarded sometimes. You think I had a choice? I got a nice easy charter now. Pay you back plus a little extra. I just need a little more time.”
Jabba said, “Han, my boy, you’re the best. So, for an extra twenty percent…”
“Fifteen, Jabba,” Han said testily. “Don’t push it.”
“Okay, fifteen percent,” Jabba agreed. “But if you fail me again, I’ll put a price on your head so big, you won’t be able to go near a civilized system.”
Turning to the Falcon’s landing ramp, Han added, “Jabba, you’re a wonderful human being.” Chewbacca followed Solo into the Falcon.
Jabba glared at his hired thugs and said, “Come on,” then turned and slithered out of the docking bay.
Ben muttered, “If the ship’s as fast as he’s boasting, we ought to do well.” He was walking alongside Luke through an alleyway that led to Docking Bay 94. They had just recovered C-3PO and R2-D2 from their hiding place, and the droids now followed in their tracks.
They rounded a corner and found Chewbacca standing in the docking bay entrance. He looked restless, and they wasted no time following him through the doorway.
Across from Docking Bay 94, on the other side of the alley, the Kubaz spy watched from the shadows. After the droids had passed through the docking bay entrance, the Kubaz lifted a comlink to his face and summoned the stormtroopers.
Ben, Luke, and the droids followed Chewbacca down a flight of steps to the docking bay floor. When they arrived before the Millennium Falcon, they stopped and stared at the ship while Chewbacca headed up the ship’s landing ramp.
Luke couldn’t believe his eyes. The cockpit that projected out from the starboard side and the long forward mandibles made the Falcon recognizable as an old Corellian freighter, but the entire ship appeared to have been slapped together from used or rejected parts. To add further insult to the original design, a ridiculously oversized sensor dish was affixed to the top. The sight made Luke suddenly reconsider how he and Ben had invested their money.
Han was standing below the Falcon’s hull, checking the umbilicals connection as he topped off the fuel tanks. Not caring whether Han could hear him, Luke commented, “What a piece of junk.”
Han heard, but he’d heard worse and didn’t care. “She’ll make point five past lightspeed,” he said, stepping away from the umbilicals. “She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid.” With pride, he added, “I’ve made a lot of special modifications myself. But we’re a little rushed, so if you’ll just get on board, we’ll get out of here.”
The droids followed Ben and Luke to the Falcon’s landing ramp. As C-3PO passed Han, he said, “Hello, sir.”
Han looked away and shook his head. He didn’t care much for overly polite droids.
At the top of the landing ramp, Ben, Luke, and the droids turned left through a passage tube. They passed a connecting passage tube that led to the cockpit, where Chewbacca was preparing the ship for liftoff, and arrived in the main hold. In a corner to the right, a three-passenger seat wrapped around a circular holographic game board. On the left, there was an engineering station with numerous scopes and controls, some of which appeared to have been secured with tape and glue. Most of the wall and ceiling panels were missing, leaving wires and machinery exposed.
Luke’s initial reaction was that the Falcon looked even worse on the inside, and he didn’t feel any better when he gave the engineering station a closer inspection. These are Han’s special modifications? I’ve never seen half of these components, and the ones I recognize aren’t even compatible with one another. I’ll be amazed if this thing even gets off the ground!
The stormtrooper squad found the Kubaz spy waiting for them outside Docking Bay 94. The squad leader stopped in front of the Kubaz and said, “Which way?”
The spy pointed to the docking bay entrance.
“All right, men,” commanded the squad leader. “Load your weapons!” Then the seven stormtroopers descended the steps that led to the docking bay floor.
Han was under the Falcon, disconnecting the umbilicals, when he saw the stormtrooper squad charge into the docking bay. One of the troopers shouted, “Stop that ship!”
Three troopers immediately opened fire. Han snapped his blaster from his holster and shot back at the troopers.
“Blast ’em!” ordered the stormtrooper squad leader.
Han aimed high to hit the duracrete ceiling above the troopers’ heads. His fired bolts struck the ceiling with explosive force, sending large chunks of duracrete down upon the astonished soldiers. Han didn’t stop firing until he was halfway up the landing ramp.
“Chewie, get us out of here!” Han shouted as he sealed the ramp’s access hatch and bolted to the cockpit. The engines kicked on and the entire ship trembled in response.
In the main hold, R2-D2 used his magnagrips to secure himself to the deck while Luke, Ben, and C-3PO belted into the seat that wrapped around the game table. C-3PO cried, “Oh, my, I’d forgotten how much I hate space travel.”
The stormtroopers continued firing as the Falcon—without the benefit of liftoff clearance from the spaceport authority—thrust up through the open roof of the docking bay. On a nearby street in Mos Eisley, another stormtrooper squad heard the roar of the Falcon’s engines. The troopers turned in time to glimpse the fleeing ship’s sub-light drive exhaust blaze with intense light. The ship ascended rapidly into the pale blue sky.
As Chewbacca guided the Falcon up through Tatooine’s atmosphere and into space, he pointed to the radar scope and barked at Han. Han glanced at the scope and said, “Looks like an Imperial cruiser. Our passengers must be hotter than I thought. Try and hold them off. Angle the deflector shield while I make the calculations for the jump to lightspeed.”
Han rose from his seat to flip a series of control switches. He was still making his calculations when he jumped back into his seat. He saw two larger blips appear on the radar screen. According to the readout, each blip was an Imperial Star Destroyer.
“Stay sharp!” Han told Chewbacca. “There are two more coming in; they’re going to try to cut us off.”
Just then, Luke and Ben rushed into the cockpit and clung to the two seats behind Han and Chewbacca. They had heard Han’s announcement regarding the incoming ships, and saw a clear field of stars beyond the cockpit window. Luke asked, “Why don’t you outrun them? I thought you said this thing was fast.”
Han tossed a glare at Luke and said, “Watch your mouth, kid, or you’re going to find yourself floating home. We’ll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace. Besides, I know a few maneuvers. We’ll lose them!”
The Star Destroyers fired at the Falcon and a bright flash exploded outside the cockpit. Another volley of laserfire pounded the Falcon’s deflector shields, causing the ship to rock violently. Han grinned as he tightened his grip on the controls and said, “Here’s where the fun begins!”
Ben said, “How long before you can make the jump to lightspeed?”
Han told him, “It’ll take
a few moments to get the coordinates from the nav computer.” The Falcon shook again as its shields took another hit.
“Are you kidding?” Luke couldn’t believe it. “At the rate they’re gaining…”
“Traveling through hyperspace isn’t like dusting crops, boy!” Han snapped. “Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that’d end your trip real quick, wouldn’t it?”
A red warning light activated in front of Chewbacca. Luke extended his arm to point at the light and asked, “What’s that flashing?”
“We’re losing our deflector shield,” Han said, slapping Luke’s hand away. “Go strap yourselves in. I’m going to make the jump to lightspeed.”
Luke and Ben left the cockpit and returned to the hold. Han reached for the hyperdrive controls and threw the ignition switch.
Suddenly, the field of distant stars was transformed into long streaks of light that radiated from infinity and appeared to sweep over the ship. The Falcon had entered hyperspace, a dimension of space-time that allowed faster-than-light travel across the galaxy. And because it was impossible to follow a ship through hyperspace, the Falcon had effectively escaped the two Star Destroyers.
But as fast as the Millennium Falcon could travel, the little astromech droid would never be delivered to the planet Alderaan.
“We’ve entered the Alderaan system,” Admiral Motti announced to Grand Moff Tarkin. They were in the control room on the Death Star. Tarkin stood before a wide viewscreen that displayed a small green planet. At the sound of approaching footsteps, Tarkin and Mott turned to face an adjoining corridor.
Two black-uniformed Imperial soldiers led Princess Leia through the corridor and into the control room. A pair of binders secured Leia’s wrists in front of her. Behind Leia, Darth Vader followed like a malevolent shadow.
“Governor Tarkin,” Leia said. “I should have expected to find you holding Vader’s leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board.”
Tarkin smiled. “Charming to the last.” He reached out to touch Leia’s chin and said, “You don’t know how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life!”
Star Wars Trilogy Page 6
