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。: W7 Z2 z, {, ]) I& `% o- h
Hereswherethesituationgetsinteresting,Solomuttered。5 R2 B+ t ^) |' b8 e
Howlongbeforeyoucanmakethejump?Kenobiinquiredeasily,apparentlyunconcernedthatatanysecondtheyallmightceasetoexist。
/ e3 t/ U( E* L+ q WerestillwithinthegravitationalinfluenceofTatooine,camethecoolresponse。Itwillbeafewminutesyetbeforethenavigationcomputercancompensateandeffectanaccuratejump。Icouldoverrideitsdecision,butthehyperdrivewouldlikelyshreditself。Thatwouldgivemeaniceholdfullofscrapmetalinadditiontoyoufour。Afewminutes,Lukeblurted,staringatthescreens。AttheratetheyregainingTravelingthroughhyperspaceisntlikedustingcrops,boy。Evertriedcalculatingahyperspacejump?Lukehadtoshakehishead。Itsnomeantrick。
5 {: U( i+ T4 T6 y& R) T Beniceifwerusheditandpassedrightthroughastarorsomeotherfriendlyspatialphenomlikeablackhole。Thatwouldendourtriprealquick。FreshexplosionscontinuedtoflareclosebydespiteChewbaccasbesteffortsatevasion。OnSolosconsolearedwarninglightbegantoflashforattention。
. h3 P3 e0 |* 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 d0 X! h# ]; C8 c2 [
Hereswherethesituationgetsinteresting,Solomuttered。
! b4 _8 T' `% R# L8 r( e' T Howlongbeforeyoucanmakethejump?Kenobiinquiredeasily,apparentlyunconcernedthatatanysecondtheyallmightceasetoexist。- ~, W1 S3 w( r2 Z) |% }
WerestillwithinthegravitationalinfluenceofTatooine,camethecoolresponse。Itwillbeafewminutesyetbeforethenavigationcomputercancompensateandeffectanaccuratejump。Icouldoverrideitsdecision,butthehyperdrivewouldlikelyshreditself。Thatwouldgivemeaniceholdfullofscrapmetalinadditiontoyoufour。Afewminutes,Lukeblurted,staringatthescreens。AttheratetheyregainingTravelingthroughhyperspaceisntlikedustingcrops,boy。Evertriedcalculatingahyperspacejump?Lukehadtoshakehishead。Itsnomeantrick。
, e0 H! d+ b, i0 n6 o) A% Y, N% P: V Beniceifwerusheditandpassedrightthroughastarorsomeotherfriendlyspatialphenomlikeablackhole。Thatwouldendourtriprealquick。FreshexplosionscontinuedtoflareclosebydespiteChewbaccasbesteffortsatevasion。OnSolosconsolearedwarninglightbegantoflashforattention。" c6 @: A- _8 o7 A" u* w/ y
Whatsth at?Lukewonderednervously。
) g% J' j& W" R4 F& J4 D3 n Werelosingadeflectorshield,Soloinformedhimwiththeairofamanabouttohaveatoothpulled。Betterstrapyourselvesbackin。Werealmostreadytomakethejump。Itcouldgetbadifwetakeanear-burstatthewrongmoment。BackinthemainholdareaThreepiowasalreadylockedtightlyintohisseatbymetalarmsstrongerthananyaccelerationstraps。Artooswayedbackandforthundertheconcussionproducedbyincreasinglypowerfulenergyburstsagainsttheshipsdeflectors。, e7 `9 X7 g2 b9 }- w; ?
Wasthistripreallynecessary?thetallrobotmutteredindesperation。IdforgottenhowmuchIhatespacetravel。HebrokeoffasLukeandBenappearedandbeganstrappingthemselvesbackintotheirchairs。4 P' n' }7 N1 Z( w* n
Oddly,Lukewasthinkingofadoghehadonceownedwhenanimmenselypowerfulsomethingwrenchedattheshipshullwiththestrengthofafallenangel。4 W/ O( _) o9 {& T8 R- z% c$ J1 Z' u
AdmiralMottienteredthequietconferenceroom,hisfacestreakedbythelinearlightsliningthewalls。HisgazewenttothespotwhereGovernorTarkinstoodbeforethecurvedviewscreen,andhebowedslightly。Despitetheevidenceofthesmallgreengemofaworldenteredinthescreen,heformallyannounced,WehaveenteredtheAlderaansystem。Weawaityourorder。ThedoorsignaledandTarkinmadeafalselygentlegesturetotheadmiral |