Part 12 (1/2)
Uncomfortably aware that the longer they stood frozen in place, the sooner someone was bound to come over and ask unanswerable questions, Luke searched frantically for a course of action.
”This isn't going to work,” Solo whispered, leaning toward him.
”Why didn't you say so before?” a frustrated, frightened Luke shot back.
”I think I did. I-”
”Shss.h.!.+”
Solo shut up as Luke's worst fears were realized. A tall, grim-looking officer approached them. He frowned as he examined the silent Chewbacca.
”Where are you two going with this-thing?”
Chewbacca snarled at the remark, and Solo quieted him with a hasty jab in the ribs. A panicky Luke found himself replying almost instinctively. ”Prisoner transfer from block TS-138.”
The officer looked puzzled. ”I wasn't notified. I'll have to clear it.”
Turning, the man walked to a small console nearby and began entering his request. Luke and Han hurriedly surveyed the situation, their gaze traveling from alarms, energy gates, and remote photosensors to the three other guards stationed in the area.
Solo nodded to Luke as he unfastened Chewbacca's cuffs. Then he whispered something to the Wookiee. An ear-splitting howl shook the corridor as Chewbacca threw up both hands, grabbing Solo's rifle from him.
”Look out!” a seemingly terrified Solo shouted. ”It's loose. It'll rip us all apart!”
Both he and Luke had darted clear of the rampaging Wookiee, pulled out their pistols, and were blasting away at him. Their reaction was excellent, their enthusiasm undeniable, and their aim execrable. Not a single shot came close to the dodging Wookiee. Instead, they blasted automatic cameras, energy-rate controls, and the three dumbfounded guards.
At this point it occurred to the officer in charge that the abominable aim of the two soldiers was a bit too selectively efficient. He was preparing to jab the general alarm when a burst from Luke's pistol caught him in the midsection and he fell without a word to the gray deck.
Solo rushed to the open comlink speaker, which was screeching anxious questions about what was going on. Apparently there were audio as well as visual links between this detention station and elsewhere.
Ignoring the barrage of alternate threats and queries, he checked the readout set in the panel nearby. ”We've got to find out which cell this Princess of yours is in. There must be a dozen levels and-Here it is. Cell 2187. Go on-Chewie and I'll hold them here.”
Luke nodded once and was racing down the narrow walkway.
After gesturing for the Wookiee to take up a position where he could cover the elevators, Solo took a deep breath and responded to the unceasing calls from the comlink.
”Everything's under control,” he said into the pickup, sounding reasonably official. ”Situation normal.”
”It didn't sound like that,” a voice snapped back in a no-nonsense tone. ”What happened?”
”Uh, well, one of the guards experienced a weapon malfunction,” Solo stammered, his temporary officialese lapsing into nervousness. ”No problem now-we're all fine, thanks. How about you?”
”We're sending a squad up,” the voice announced suddenly.
Han could almost smell the suspicion at the other end. What to say? He spoke more eloquently with the business end of a pistol.
”Negative-negative. We have an energy leak. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak-very dangerous.”
”Weapon malfunction, energy leak... Who is this? What's your operating-?”
Pointing his pistol at the panels, Solo blew the instrumentation to silent sc.r.a.ps. ”It was a dumb conversation anyway,” he murmured. Turning, he shouted down the corridor, ”Hurry it up, Luke! We're going to have company.”
Luke heard, but he was absorbed in running from one cell to the next and studying the numbers glowing above each doorway. The cell 2187, it appeared, did not exist. But it did, and he found it just as he was about to give up and try the next level down.
For a long moment he examined the featureless convex metal wall. Turning his pistol to maximum and hoping it wouldn't melt in his hand before it broke through, he opened fire on the door. When the weapon became too hot to hold, he tossed it from hand to hand. As he did so the smoke had time to clear, and he saw with some surprise that the door had been blown away.
Peering through the smoke with an uncomprehending look on her face was the young woman whose portrait Artoo Detoo had projected in a garage on Tatooine several centuries ago, or so it seemed.
She was even more beautiful than her image, Luke decided, staring dazedly at her. ”You're even-more beautiful-than I-”
Her look of confusion and uncertainty was replaced by first puzzlement and then impatience. ”Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?” she finally commented.
”What? Oh-the uniform.” He removed the helmet, regaining a little composure at the same time. ”I've come to rescue you. I'm Luke Skywalker.”
”I beg your pardon?” she said politely.
”I said, I've come to rescue you. Ben Ken.o.bi is with me. We've got your two droids-”
The uncertainty was instantly replaced by hope at the mention of the oldster's name. ”Ben Ken.o.bi!” She looked around Luke, ignoring him as she searched for the Jedi. ”Where is he? Obi-Wan!”
Governor Tarkin watched as Darth Vader paced rapidly back and forth in the otherwise empty conference room. Finally the Dark Lord paused, glancing around as though a great bell only he could hear had rung somewhere close by.
”He is here,” Vader stated unemotionally.
Tarkin looked startled. ”Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi! That's impossible. What makes you think so?”
”A stirring in the Force, of a kind I've felt only in the presence of my old master. It is unmistakable.”
”Surely-surely he must be dead by now.”
Vader hesitated, his a.s.surance suddenly gone. ”Perhaps... It is gone now. It was only a brief sensation.”
”The Jedi are extinct,” declared Tarkin positively. ”Their fire was quenched decades ago. You, my friend, are all that's left of their ways.”
A comlink buzzed softly for attention. ”Yes?” Tarkin acknowledged.
”We have an emergency alert in detention block AA-23.”
”The Princess!” Tarkin yelped, jumping to his feet. Vader whirled, trying to stare through the walls.
”I knew it-Obi-Wan is here. I knew I could not mistake a stirring in the force of such power.”
”Put all sections on alert,” Tarkin ordered through the comlink. Then he turned to stare at Vader. ”If you're right, he must not be allowed to escape.”
”Escape may not be Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi's intention,” Vader replied, struggling to control his emotions. ”He is the last of the Jedi-and the greatest. The danger he presents to us must not be underestimated-yet only I can deal with him.” His head snapped around to stare fixedly at Tarkin. ”Alone.”
Luke and Leia had started back up the corridor when a series of blinding explosions ripped the walkway ahead of them. Several troopers had tried coming through the elevator, only to be crisped one after another by Chewbacca. Disdaining the elevators, they had blasted a gaping hole through a wall. The opening was too large for Solo and the Wookie to cover completely. In twos and threes, the Imperials were working their way into the detention block.
Retreating down the walkway, Han and Chewbacca encountered Luke and the Princess. ”We can't go back that way!” Solo told them, his face flushed with excitement and worry.
”No, it looks like you've managed to cut off our only escape route,” Leia agreed readily. ”This is a detention area, you know. They don't build them with multiple exits.”