Part 4 (1/2)

Luke shook his head. ”I'm a.s.signing you to stay behind with Artoo and Chewie on board the s.h.i.+p. Leia, Han, See-Threepio, and I are going to head under the wall. This mission could prove far too dangerous for you at your age.”

Ken folded his arms and pouted. ”At my age? But Luke, you weren't that much older than I am when you first joined the Alliance. Besides, what about all the stuff I know? You thought the brown k.n.o.b on this Corellian Action VI Transport was for bailing out! I'm the one who knew that it was a Forbes CC-Y Antiradar Defense Unit!”

”That's exactly why you're staying behind, to help Chewie take care of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p,”

Luke said. ”You know its whole layout. You know how to operate ground defense in case of an attack.”

”Chewie knows all that stuff too, and so does Artoo-Detoo,” Ken argued. ”Luke, don't forget your dream of Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi. He told you our destinies are linked together. What do you think he would say if he knew you were leaving me behind?”

Luke sighed in frustration.

What was a Jedi Knight to do with a kid like Ken? He never took no for an answer. No matter what the situation, Ken always knew the right thing to say to get under Luke's skin and make him do what Ken wanted.

”If it's all the same with you, Master Luke, I'd be more than happy to stay behind,”

Threepio interjected. ”After all, you did say it would be dangerous.”

”Don't you start,” Luke silenced the droid. ”We need you with us.”

”I'll stay behind,” Princess Leia announced. ”I can help Chewie fly this freighter out of here if the Imperials spot us. Before I became a diplomat from Alderaan, part of my training was in flying Corellian Action VI Transports for mercy missions.” Leia removed the emergency supply backpack she had just put on. ”Here, Ken,” she said, handing him the backpack. ”If you're going to go through the tunnels and under the Great Wall with Luke and Han and Threepio, something tells me you're going to need this.”

CHAPTER 7.

The Search for the Secret Cavern Grand Moff Hissa's Imperial strike cruiser, with High Prophet Jedgar on board, landed on Duro, on the hill at the other side of the Valley of Royalty. The s.p.a.cecraft docked at the Imperial Toxic Waste Processing Plant, which was spewing clouds of black ash, creating an overcast, dreary gray sky.

Duro was filled with valuable metals needed for building stars.h.i.+ps. The Empire mined the metals, then pumped the deadly liquid toxins that remained into a vast lake, held back by an enormous dam.

High Prophet Jedgar and Grand Moff Hissa walked slowly along the edge of the dam. Then Jedgar turned to Hissa, saying, ”Now that we are here, I can reveal to you the purpose of this mission. We have come . . . to recapture Triclops.”

”Triclops-the son of Emperor Palpatine!” Grand Moff Hissa gasped. ”He's escaped?”

”Unfortunately, yes,” Jedgar replied. ”But not for long. He was a patient in our Imperial Reprogramming Inst.i.tute, down there-”

Staring down at the sweeping valley, Grand Moff Hissa's eyes were blinded by bright gleams of silver.

Hissa could see the reflections from the flat, one-story Imperial Reprogramming Inst.i.tute, near the Monument of d.u.c.h.ess Geneer, a tall dome with four spires. There was a silvery glint from King Kadlo Tower, the tallest structure-and also a gleam from the Monument to Queen Rana, a giant likeness of the ancient queen's face, which looked up to the sky.

”The search for Triclops is already underway,” High Prophet Jedgar explained. He pointed to the swarms of stormtroopers fanning out from the Reprogramming Inst.i.tute to look for the escaped prisoner. ”Triclops escaped from Experimental Section Two, where even the most insane prisoners eventually learn obedience and to accept the rule of the Empire.”

”Is Defeen, the Defel alien, still in charge of Experimental Section Two?” the grand moff asked. ”If so, then he should be held accountable.”

”Defeen was promoted to the position of interrogator first cla.s.s,” Jedgar replied. ”In fact, Defeen traced the responsibility for the escape to a defective Imperial a.s.sa.s.sin droid who aided and abetted Triclops.”

Looking down at the Great Wall, Grand Moff Hissa realized that without a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, cloud car, or airspeeder, there was no way that Triclops could have gotten over the wall to flee from the Valley of Royalty. Triclops had to be down there-somewhere.

Luke, Han, Threepio, and Ken walked cautiously through a narrow, rocky gorge, searching for the hidden stairwell to the Valley of Royalty. Looking up at a craggy ledge, Luke spotted a giant Fefze beetle. No sooner did he point it out to the others than Threepio spotted several more coming up the gorge behind them.

”Oh my, I, I I. . . I absolutely deplore giant insects of any kind!” Threepio stammered.

”Especially beetles twice my size!”

”Look out-in front of us!” Ken shouted.

They were trapped! Four more giant Fefze beetles came scurrying toward them from farther away, at the front of the gorge. The beetles' antennas waved back and forth as each of their s.h.i.+ny bodies scampered along on six hairy legs.

”AGAAAAA . . . AGAAAAA . . . .” the Fefze beetles hissed.

”That must be the sound those b.u.g.g.e.rs make when they're starving and smell food,” Han said, firing his laserblaster at the ones that were behind them.

Han aimed at the giant insects' heads.

ZAAAAP!.

Green fluid poured out of their beelike eyes, and then, as the beetles reared up, Han blasted their soft underbellies.

Luke pulled out his lightsaber and extended the bright green blade, as the Fefze beetles in front of them lined up one behind the other, charging through the tight, narrow canyon.

CHOPPPPPP!.

Luke sliced off the head of the first beetle as it attacked. The next one climbed up on the body of the dead insect, using it as a springboard to leap at Ken.

”Ken, duck!” Luke shouted.

WHOOOOOs.h.!.+.

Luke's sizzling lightsaber blade whacked the second giant insect in half, the pieces narrowly missing falling onto Ken. Then Luke cut off the pincers of the third beetle, sliced off its antennae, and zapped it right between its eyes.

”Watch out-up there!” Ken screamed, as another Fefze beetle leapt from an overhanging ledge.

It landed right on top of Luke, trapping his neck in its pincers. As Luke gasped, Ken stood by helplessly, watching in terror.

Han was too busy with the Fefze beetle in front of him to come to Luke's rescue.

”Oh, dear, oh my, someone's got to do something to help Master Luke!” Threepio shouted, hopping back and forth from one leg to the other.

Ken overcame his fears for the moment, and suddenly found the courage to grab the insect's pincers and pull them apart, freeing Luke from their deadly grip.

Having finished off the beetle in front of him, Han then rushed forward and finished off the last of the Fefze beetles with his blaster.

”Wow,” said Ken, with a sigh of relief. ”I did it, Luke! I saved you!”

”Thanks, Ken,” Luke said with relief.

Han smiled. ”Good work! In a pinch-you proved yourself a real champ, Ken,” he said.

Luke knelt beside the body of one of the giant beetles. ”Fefze beetles never grow this large,” he mused. ”They've probably mutated from all of the hazardous wastes on Duro. I'll bet they were starving because all the creatures they usually eat are dying off.”