Vision of the future

'I believe you,' Han said, throwing a quick look at the Falcon's weapons board. The quads were ready, keyed remotely down here to him. 'I think maybe it's time for a real close look at the surface. See what might be tucked away in there out of sight.'

'Agreed,' Carib said. 'You want us to lead the way down?'

'That freighter of yours armed?'

There was just the briefest of hesitations. 'No, not really.'

'Then I'd better take point,' Han said, throwing more power to the sublight engines. 'Hang back and let me pass you.'

'Whatever you say.'

'Do you wish me to go to one of the weapons bays?' Elegos asked quietly. Han threw him a quick glance. 'I thought Caamasi hated killing.'

'We do,' Elegos said soberly. 'But we also accept that there are times when killing a few is necessary for a greater good. This may well be one of those times.'

'Maybe,' Han grunted, easing way back on his speed as the Falcon shot past the Action II. They were starting to get close in to the comet now, and he didn't want to run into some loose piece of rock that might suddenly decide to break off into their path. 'Don't worry—whatever they're hiding down there, I should be able to handle it okay by myself. It's not like you can cram a lot of firepower into one of those ore buckets—'

And right in the middle of his sentence, right before his eyes, the comet and the stars beyond it abruptly vanished.

And in their place, its lights glowing evilly in the total blackness around it, was the dark shape of an Imperial Star Destroyer.

'Han!' Elegos gasped. 'What—'

'Cloaked Star Destroyer!' Han snapped back, twisting the helm yoke viciously, the whole plan suddenly coming clear. That battle back there over Bothawui—all those ships beating each other into rubble—with a Star Destroyer waiting hidden here, ready to finish them all off and maybe burn Bothawui in the bargain. No survivors, no witnesses, only a battle everyone in the New Republic would blame everyone else for.

And the civil war that single battle would spark might never end.

'Get ready on the comm,' he told Elegos as the Falcon veered hard around back toward the invisible edge of the cloaking shield. 'The second we're clear—' The order choked off as he was abruptly thrown hard against his restraints. Beneath him, the Falcon jerked to the side like a wounded animal, the roar of the sublight engines mixing with the creaking of stressed joints and supports. 'What is it?' Elegos gasped. Han swallowed hard, his hands tightening uselessly on the yoke. 'It's a tractor beam,' he told the Caamasi, throwing a desperate glance at the sensor display. If it was an edgewise grab, something marginal or tenuous, he might be able to wiggle his way out.

But no. They had him. They had him solid.

He looked up again as a motion caught his eye: Carib's freighter, now inside the cloaking shield with him, twisting helplessly in the same invisible grip. 'They've got us, Elegos,' he sighed, the bitter taste of defeat in his mouth.

'They've got us both.'

CHAPTER

38

They ran into two more of the disguised Conner nets along the way, both of which Mara insisted on tripping and disposing of. Luke wasn't convinced himself that that was necessary; but on the other hand he couldn't see how it could hurt, either. If the first net hadn't triggered any alarms—and there was no indication it had—then taking down the other two probably wouldn't do anything, either. And at least it gave the insectoid service droids something to do that was back out of their way. The background hum had also increased as they traveled down the tunnel, reaching a volume where Luke could definitely tell it was coming from above them. The fortress's huge power generator, undoubtedly, sealed safely away inside solid rock beyond their reach.

And eventually, after perhaps a hundred meters, the tunnel ended in a large, well-lit room.

'I was right,' Mara murmured from Luke's side as they stood together at the archway entrance. 'I knew he'd have a place like this stashed away. Even in his own fortress, hidden away from his own people. I just knew it.'

Luke nodded silently, gazing into the chamber. It was roughly circular, dome-shaped at the top, sixty meters across at the base, and a good ten high at the center, all carved out of solid rock. A three-meter-wide ring of tiled floor ran