Watchyourmouth,kid,oryoullfindyourselffloatinghome。Therestoomanyofem,foronething。But,wellbesafeenoughoncewevemadethejumpintohyperspace。Hegrinnedknowingly。Cantnobodytrackanothershipaccuratelyatsupralightspeeds。Plus,Iknowafewtricksthatoughttoloseanypersistentstick-tights。IwishIdknownyouboysweresopopular。Why?Lukesaidchallengingly。Wouldyouhaverefusedtotakeus?Notnecessarily,theCorellianreplied,refusingtobebaited。ButIsureshellwouldveboostedyourfare。Lukehadaretortpoisedonhislips。Itwaswipedoutashethrewuphisarmstowardoffabrilliantredflashwhichgaveblackspaceoutsidetheviewportthetemporaryaspectofthesurfaceofasun。Kenobi,SoloandevenChewbaccadidlikewise,sincetheproximityoftheexplosionnearlyoverrodethephototropicshielding。
. r% \- Z0 h0 J, J6 M1 D; }( Z Hereswherethesituationgetsinteresting,Solomuttered。4 r2 u8 V! X( O6 u
Howlongbeforeyoucanmakethejump?Kenobiinquiredeasily,apparentlyunconcernedthatatanysecondtheyallmightceasetoexist。% u B% W" q& F. D, l* V( p
WerestillwithinthegravitationalinfluenceofTatooine,camethecoolresponse。Itwillbeafewminutesyetbeforethenavigationcomputercancompensateandeffectanaccuratejump。Icouldoverrideitsdecision,butthehyperdrivewouldlikelyshreditself。Thatwouldgivemeaniceholdfullofscrapmetalinadditiontoyoufour。Afewminutes,Lukeblurted,staringatthescreens。AttheratetheyregainingTravelingthroughhyperspaceisntlikedustingcrops,boy。Evertriedcalculatingahyperspacejump?Lukehadtoshakehishead。Itsnomeantrick。
. Q' f9 n2 \9 O4 w: _ Beniceifwerusheditandpassedrightthroughastarorsomeotherfriendlyspatialphenomlikeablackhole。Thatwouldendourtriprealquick。FreshexplosionscontinuedtoflareclosebydespiteChewbaccasbesteffortsatevasion。OnSolosconsolearedwarninglightbegantoflashforattention。! E' \$ }7 F+ |$ L& V1 k( ~
Whatsth Watchyourmouth,kid,oryoullfindyourselffloatinghome。Therestoomanyofem,foronething。But,wellbesafeenoughoncewevemadethejumpintohyperspace。Hegrinnedknowingly。Cantnobodytrackanothershipaccuratelyatsupralightspeeds。Plus,Iknowafewtricksthatoughttoloseanypersistentstick-tights。IwishIdknownyouboysweresopopular。Why?Lukesaidchallengingly。Wouldyouhaverefusedtotakeus?Notnecessarily,theCorellianreplied,refusingtobebaited。ButIsureshellwouldveboostedyourfare。Lukehadaretortpoisedonhislips。Itwaswipedoutashethrewuphisarmstowardoffabrilliantredflashwhichgaveblackspaceoutsidetheviewportthetemporaryaspectofthesurfaceofasun。Kenobi,SoloandevenChewbaccadidlikewise,sincetheproximityoftheexplosionnearlyoverrodethephototropicshielding。
6 U, _4 {# ?+ \& ]4 J r P2 w* s Hereswherethesituationgetsinteresting,Solomuttered。
# W% Q b3 w, g: y6 ^ Howlongbeforeyoucanmakethejump?Kenobiinquiredeasily,apparentlyunconcernedthatatanysecondtheyallmightceasetoexist。
1 D; K* O& E4 s/ z; d- t0 T WerestillwithinthegravitationalinfluenceofTatooine,camethecoolresponse。Itwillbeafewminutesyetbeforethenavigationcomputercancompensateandeffectanaccuratejump。Icouldoverrideitsdecision,butthehyperdrivewouldlikelyshreditself。Thatwouldgivemeaniceholdfullofscrapmetalinadditiontoyoufour。Afewminutes,Lukeblurted,staringatthescreens。AttheratetheyregainingTravelingthroughhyperspaceisntlikedustingcrops,boy。Evertriedcalculatingahyperspacejump?Lukehadtoshakehishead。Itsnomeantrick。5 `& u8 m) P1 b
Beniceifwerusheditandpassedrightthroughastarorsomeotherfriendlyspatialphenomlikeablackhole。Thatwouldendourtriprealquick。FreshexplosionscontinuedtoflareclosebydespiteChewbaccasbesteffortsatevasion。OnSolosconsolearedwarninglightbegantoflashforattention。& K) H) S- G& E8 }; j
Whatsth at?Lukewonderednervously。2 ~3 q9 |" m1 v9 b" k* s) E3 x3 |: u7 B
Werelosingadeflectorshield,Soloinformedhimwiththeairofamanabouttohaveatoothpulled。Betterstrapyourselvesbackin。Werealmostreadytomakethejump。Itcouldgetbadifwetakeanear-burstatthewrongmoment。BackinthemainholdareaThreepiowasalreadylockedtightlyintohisseatbymetalarmsstrongerthananyaccelerationstraps。Artooswayedbackandforthundertheconcussionproducedbyincreasinglypowerfulenergyburstsagainsttheshipsdeflectors。- T* S8 ^+ m1 m9 O& |
Wasthistripreallynecessary?thetallrobotmutteredindesperation。IdforgottenhowmuchIhatespacetravel。HebrokeoffasLukeandBenappearedandbeganstrappingthemselvesbackintotheirchairs。
* W% G4 z+ N- }9 n/ `6 s Oddly,Lukewasthinkingofadoghehadonceownedwhenanimmenselypowerfulsomethingwrenchedattheshipshullwiththestrengthofafallenangel。% J, W& j6 {, ~6 H2 Z& h
AdmiralMottienteredthequietconferenceroom,hisfacestreakedbythelinearlightsliningthewalls。HisgazewenttothespotwhereGovernorTarkinstoodbeforethecurvedviewscreen,andhebowedslightly。Despitetheevidenceofthesmallgreengemofaworldenteredinthescreen,heformallyannounced,WehaveenteredtheAlderaansystem。Weawaityourorder。ThedoorsignaledandTarkinmadeafalselygentlegesturetotheadmiral |