Vision of the future

We're doomed. Threepio's oft-repeated wail echoed through her mind. It was just as well he wasn't here, she decided. Or the children, safe on Kashyyyk under Chewbacca's care. Or even their Noghri guards. If it was their time to die, there was no need for anyone else to go with them. Good-bye, Jacen, Jaina, Anakin, she thought toward the stars, knowing that the message would almost certainly not reach them, wishing with a deep regret that she could see them one last time. On the status board, almost lost in the chaos there, the proximity warning began beeping—

And to Leia's shock, a small craft roared past overhead. 'Han!' she shouted. 'Another ship just—'

She broke off, the sudden surge of hope catching like a bone in her throat. The ship had slowed to match speeds with the Falcon, riding above and just ahead of it, and giving her her first clear look at it.

'A ship?' Han called excitedly. 'Where?'

Leia took a ragged breath. A second ship had joined the first now, paralleling the Falcon above and to the right, a third had taken up position on the left, and the aft display showed one more flying directly above the sublight vents. 'Never mind,' she told Han quietly. 'They're Imperial TIE

interceptors.'

CHAPTER

8

'They're what?' There was the staccato clank of a set of tools landing on the deck. 'Hang on, I'm on my way.'

Leia looked up at the ships pacing them. TIE interceptors, all right. In excellent condition, too, from what she could see of them, and she wondered where they could have come from. Surely the Imperials weren't launching an all-out attack on the Pakrik system; with the sector conference over and the delegates on their way back to their home systems there was nothing here they could possibly want.

Unless, of course, they were the backup for the first three fighters. In which case, they were here to make sure the job was finished.

With a screech of boots on hull plates Han skidded to a halt beside her. 'What are they doing?' he panted, peering up at them.

Leia frowned. 'Nothing,' she said, realizing belatedly just how odd their lack of activity was. To just sit out there and watch them crash seemed overly sadistic, even for Imperials. At least for line soldiers; she'd known some Moffs and Grand Moffs who would have reveled in something like this.

'They're maneuvering,' Han said suddenly, pointing. 'That one on the left—see? He's drifting out a little.'

'I see,' Leia said. 'But what's the maneuvering for?' An instant later she got her answer. In perfect unison, a bright yellow disk connected by a yellow cable shot out from the underside of each of the four TIEs, slamming solidly onto positions on the Falcon's upper hull. The cables went taut; and with a jerk that nearly knocked Han off his feet, the ship's descent abruptly slowed.

Leia looked up at Han, saw her own bewilderment mirrored in his face. 'I'll be sat on by a Hutt,' he murmured. 'Grappling mags.' He sank into the pilot's chair, looked over at her. 'I give up. What's going on?'

Leia shook her head. 'I don't know,' she said slowly, stretching out with the Force. 'But there's something about these pilots, Han.'

'Like what?'

'I can't tell yet,' Leia said again. 'But something very strange.'

'You're telling me.' He nodded toward the viewport. 'Well, whatever it is, we ought to find out about it pretty soon. Looks like we're already coming down.'

He was right. They had passed over a line of low hills and the TIEs had now dropped to barely treetop height. Rolling along beneath them were vast fields of tallgrain, the neat rows rippling with the wind of their passage. They passed an access path, more fields, another path, still more fields. At the far side of this set were another collection of hills, taller than the group they'd passed a few kilometers back.

And at the base of the tallest of the hills, little more than a dark spot in the hazy afternoon sunlight, was a cave.

'Yeah, that's where we're going, all right,' Han said. 'Nice and private, unless whoever owns these fields happens to be out working them. Got a reception committee already waiting, too, I see.' Leia nodded, squinting against the sunlight at the figures standing outside the cave. 'I count... looks like ten of them.'

'Plus the four TIE pilots, plus whoever else is hanging around inside,' Han agreed, reaching under his control board