"I almost forgot," he told them, his initial excitement returning, "there’s a battle going on right here in our system. Come and look."
{- y; G) B% h" j m9 ?, J Deak looked disappointed. "Not another one of your epic battles, Luke. Haven’t you dreamed up enough of them? Forget it."Forget it, hell—I’m serious. It’s a battle, all right."With words and shoves he managed to cajole the occupants of the station out into the strong sunlight. Camie in particular looked disgusted."This had better be worth it, Luke," she warned him, shading her eyes against the glare.$ e9 M) j1 _; _ s
Luke already had his macrobinoculars out and was searching the heavens. It took only a moment for him to fix on a particular spot. "I told you," he insisted."There they are."Biggs moved alongside him and reached for the binoculars as the other strained unaided eyes. A slight readjustment provided just enough magnification for Biggs to out two silvery specks against the dark blue."That’s no battle, hotshot," he decided, lowering the binocs and regarding his friend gently. "They’re just sitting there. Two ships, all right—probably a bargeloading a freighter, since Tatooine hasn’t got an orbital station." en.Examw.CoM3 p, {+ {5 u Y( D, b
"There was a lot of firing—earlier," Luke added. His initial enthusiasm was beginning to falter under the withering assurance of his older friend.! E. Y' w( u9 y+ d" w: k7 Q; h
Camie grabbed the binoculars away from Biggs, banging them slightly against a support pillar in the process. Luke took them away from her quickly, inspecting the casing for damage. "Take it easy with those."Don’t worry so much, Wormie." She sneered. Luke took a step toward her,then halted as the huskier mechanic easily interposed himself between them and favored Luke with a warning smile. Luke considered, shrugged the incident away."I keep telling you, Luke," the mechanic said, with the air of a man tired of repeating the same story to no avail, "the rebellion is a long way from here. I doubt if the Empire would fight to keep this system. Believe me, Tatooine is a big hunk of nothing."
{# F6 T- q4 D His audience began to fade back into the station before Luke could mutter a reply.Fixer had his arm around Camie, and the two of them were chuckling over Luke’s ineptitude. Even Deak and Windy were murmuring among themselves—about him,Luke was certain.
" F1 ~0 H% a4 @9 t4 _1 s' F He followed them, but not without a last glance back and up to the distant specks.
3 _% L6 y _% {/ F" ?( l7 J; r One thing he was sure of were the flashes of light he had seen between the two ships.They hadn’t been caused by the suns of Tatooine reflecting off metal.The binding that locked the girl’s hands behind her back was primitive and effective. The constant attention the squad of heavily armed troopers favored her with might have been out of place for one small female, except for the fact that their lives depended on her being delivered safely.$ C6 M1 v% r( q7 A+ d/ l1 y. j7 a
When she deliberately slowed her pace, however, it became apparent that her captors did not mind mistreating her a little. One of the armored figures shoved her brutally in the small of the back, and she nearly fell. Turning, she gave the offending soldier a vicious look. But she could not tell if it had any effect, since the man’s face was completely hidden by his armored helmet.+ f" m2 o: |- C) H$ ?% e7 {: N$ f
The hallway they eventually emerged into was still smoking around the edges of the smoldering cavity blasted through the hull of the fighter. A portable accessway had been sealed to it and a circlet of light showed at the far end of the tunnel, bridging space between the rebel craft and the cruiser. A shadow moved over her as she turned from inspecting the accessway, startling her despite her usually unshakable self-control.1 L1 V' @) x, |+ ]1 b' w
Above her toward the threatening bulk of Darth Vader, red eyes glaring behind the hideous breath mask. A muscle twitched in one smooth cheek, but other than that the girl didn’t react. Nor was there the slightest shake in her voice.
& c) L* l) h0 b- Y& c7 }( k "Darth Vader…I should have known. Only you would be so bold—and so stupid. Well, the Imperial Senate will not sit still for this. When they hear that you have attacked a diplomatic miss—"Senator Leia Organa," Vader rumbled softly, though strongly enough to override her protests. His pleasure at finding her was evident in the way he savored every syllable. |