"Who’s scruffy-looking?" he grinned. "I tell ya, sweetheart, I must’ve hit pretty close to the mark to get you hoppin’ like this. Doesn’t it look that way to you, Luke?" "Yeah," he said, staring at the princess incredulously, "it does…kind of." Leia looked over at Luke with a strange mixture of emotions showing on her flushed face. Something vulnerable, almost childlike, was reflected in her eyes for a moment. And then the tough mask fell again.
! P1 v" w- t: H8 F "Oh, it does, does it?" she said. "Well, I guess you don’t understand everything about women, do you?" Luke agreed silently. He agreed even more when in the next moment Leia leaned over and kissed him firmly on the lips. Then she turned on her heel and marched across the room, slamming the door behind her. Everyone in the room—human, Wookiee, and droid—looked at one another, speechless.
. G1 M3 ^0 C( q. F8 u In the distance, a warning alarm blared through the subterranean corridors.
! X2 _! F/ U" I9 `0 F8 ` General Rieekan and his head controller were conferring in the Revel command center when Han Solo and Chewbacca burst into the room. Princess Leia and Threepio, who had been listening to the general and his officer, turned in anticipation at their approach.
8 H5 U$ K) w6 Z5 a A warning signal blared across the chamber from the huge console located behind Rieekan and monitored by Rebel control officers.5 M9 F$ v9 R* f' C; P; g
"General," the sensor controller called.
, Z2 B; |# S7 B% x( f/ f% ] Grimly attentive, General Rieekan watched the console screens. Suddenly he saw a flashing signal that had not been there a moment before. "Princess," he said, "I think we have a visitor." Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and Threepio gathered around the general and watched the beeping monitor screens.
1 X E/ l: v4 A "We’ve picked up something outside the base in Zone Twelve. It’s moving east," said Rieekan.# q) A; y6 m" M) N0 Q+ W0 J+ x
"Whatever it is, it’s metal," the sensor controller observed.( N* O+ E( h& d# h" S
Leia’s eyes widened in surprise. "Then it can’t be one of those creatures that attacked Luke?" "Could it be ours?" Han asked. "A speeder?" The sensor controller shook his head. "No, there’s no signal." Then came a sound from another monitor. "Wait, something very weak…" Walking as rapidly as his stiff joints allowed, Threepio approached the console.
1 d |. d( I [% a' W, e' n4 d" t His auditory sensors turned in the strange signals. "I must say, sir, I’m fluent in over sixty million forms of communication, but this is something new. Must be in a code or—" </p> |