THE BLACK FLEET CRISIS #3 - TYRANTS_TEST Read online

  model sported five-axis laser-ranging pods as add-ons on the blind

  side, just forward of the loading port--often installed at the

  insistence of spooked-pilots after a close call with a docking bay wall

  or another ship. But out of some combination of stubbornness and ego,

  Han had refused to let Chewbacca install a ranging pod.

  "Do you look at your feet when you walk? A real pilot feels where his

  ship is," Han had insisted. "I don't want anyone looking at the Falcon

  and thinking we need that kind of training-school crutch. Give me a

  meter of clearance and I'll fly this thing anywhere. Do you think

  Lando could have made that run into the Death Star at Endor if he'd

  depended on ranging pods?"

  But the Falcon's enormous blind spot was an even more serious issue in

  flight than during landings. That fact was the genesis of the maneuver

  known to pilots as the Corellian carousel--putting the ship into a slow

  left-hand roll when making an approach in traffic or maneuvering under

  fire. Han's addition of a single high-mounted sensor dish to the

  Falcon only accentuated the need to use the carousel routinely, since

  the dish had an even larger blind spot than the pilot.

  Jowdrrl had never flown aboard the Falcon, and Chewbacca had never

  complained about its peculiarities in front of her. But she summed up

  the problem with one clear, simple truth Chewbacca had not yet managed

  to impress on his son: [A Wookiee hunter who stands beside a tree hides

  half the forest from his eyes.] Jowdrrl's solution was a simple if not

  obvious one.

  Everywhere there was an existing viewport the port and starboard

  loading hatches, the dorsal and ventral

  gun turrets--Jowdrrl had covered it with a custom-fitted optical

  transducer panel.

  The output from all four of the nearly transparent sensors was routed

  to flatscreen displays in the cockpit, giving the pilot the benefit of

  the familiar views from those four locations. Together, the new

  sensors eliminated most of the ship's blind spot, leaving only a small

  area directly aft--an area that was already well scanned by the sensor

  dish.

  In explaining what she had done, Jowdrrl changed from Shyriiwook to the

  Thykarann dialect, which was much richer in technical vocabulary.

 
  computer--then any object showing relative motion could be highlighted

  on the flatscreens, the targeting grid, or both,> she told Chewbacca.

 
  and bubble sights from Tana Ire--but mounting them would mean hull

  work. At least for now you can make use of all your viewports without

  running all over the ship.> Chewbacca grunted grudging approval.

  [I did not have enough time to work on the other problem,] she said,

  switching back to Shyriiwook, her tone apologetic.

  [Which problem is that?] [That a Wookiee hunter does not have enough

  hands to climb and aim at the same time.] Again, her words showed a

  surprising awareness of the Falcon's operational realities--in this

  case, the fact that it was almost invariably undercrewed. The

  Corel-lian YT-1300 was officially rated as a four-place freighter for

  in-system work and an eight-place--four stations, four berths--for

  interstellar flights.

  The cargomaster was expendable, but none of the other three stations

  was. Even with the cockpit remotes for the gun turrets, it was

  impossible for two people to simultaneously fly and fight the Falcon

  effectively. The Falcon had survived most of its gun battles by

  fighting just long enough and just well enough to make a break.

  "The more mouths at the table, the poorer the feast,] Chewbacca said.

  [And the silent hunt is best undertaken by a party of two. Still,

  sometimes four hands are not enough.] Jowdrrl changed dialect again.

 
  turrets?> chewbacca

  said.
  they give the Falcon surprise punch. The Dennia quads were designed

  for big-crew Dreadnaughts, however, not for fully automated fire

  control.>
  Engineering Guide,> said Jowdrrl.
  ball mount replacement available, and no ready way to adapt the

  existing mounts for computer control--but I have a few ideas, if I only

  had more time.> She thumbed one of the eight cables used in the cockpit

  aiming system. The system

  Chewbacca had created involved eight motorized cable spools, turning

  the turret into a mechanical puppet controlled by a joystick in the

  cockpit.

  she said.
  where you want to be. Did you ever try taking the steering inputs

  directly from the targeting display, or match-sighting with a scope on

  the gun itself?> [I do not have time to talk about what might be done,]

  Chewbacca said. [But I see from what you have done that I have not

  given you enough credit for your skill. You have grown while I have

  been away.] [Thank you, cousin.] Jowdrrl closed her tool kit and turned

  to face him. [I hope that that means you will accept me as your

  partner on the journey you are about to begin.] [Do not talk foolish

  talk.] [I know by what Malla has said that you will face an enemy as

  fearsome as the webweaver, and more vi

  cious than the gundark. You should not go alone, and you need not go alone.] [No,] Chewbacca

  snarled curtly, turning and clambering down the access ladder to the

  main deck.

  [We are family--the life debt to Han Solo does not stop with you,] said

  Jowdrrl, following closely behind.

  [And you do not have enough hands. What can you do alone to help him?]

  Chewbacca had reached the cockpit by then and slipped into the pilot's

  seat. Turning on the ion coil preheaters, he began running through the

  Falcon's streamlined preflight procedures. [You have three minutes to

  collect your belongings from the crew quarters and leave the ship.]

  [Aren't you going to talk to Malla before you lift?] Jowdrrl said,

  gesturing sideways.

  Chewbacca glanced in the direction of Jowdrrl's gesture. He saw Malla,

  Shoran, and Dryanta standing together on the landing platform, looking

  up at the cockpit. Dryanta and Shoran were wearing hunting bandoliers

  instead of baldrics, and a pair of tough-shelled tree bags were lying

  on the ground at their feet.

  With a fiercely impatient growl, Chewbacca clambered out of the pilot's

  seat and half ran to the boarding ramp.

  [What is this?] he demanded over the rising whine of the Falcon's

  idlers.

  [The rest of your crew,] said Malla.

  Shoran grinned brightly and drew himself up to attention. [The First

  Wookiee Expeditionary Force, reporting for duty.] [Malla told us that

  you're going straight to Koor-nacht,] said Dryanta. [We can't let you

  go alone, We're here to help.]
Chewbacca looked to his wife. [You

  can't ask them to risk their lives on my debt.] [I did not have to ask

  them,] said Mallatobuck. [I only had to tell them why you are going

  and what you face.] [It was our idea,] Shoran said, reaching down and

  shouldering his well-stuffed bag. [And you can't deny us this hunt

  without risking betrayal of your debt--if you go alone and fail, you

  will have no honor.] Behind Chewbacca, the hiss of injectors and the

  clicking of compressors told him that Jowdrrl was continuing the

  Falcon's preflight without his assistance.

  [I never wanted any of my family to have to fight again,] said

  Chewbacca. [I am honor-bound. If I must, I will give my life for my

  friend. But I will not give yours.] [My life is not yours to offer,]

  said Dryanta. [It is mine. And I pledge it to you, my cousin, and to

  your friend.] [You cannot refuse us without shaming us, cousin,] added

  Shoran. [Jowdrrl, too.] [Go, then, and get aboard,] he said, shooting

  an annoyed look at his wife. They hastened toward the ship, leaving

  Chewbacca alone with his Malla. [Your cleverness could cost our family

  their lives.] [Or save yours,] Malla said. [I am at peace with my

  choice.] Chewbacca seized her in a firm embrace, and they growled with

  fierce affection into each other's shoulder fur. Then the high whistle

  of the thrust vents called him toward the ship, telling him that it was

  ready to lift. But a new voice called him back.

  [Father--] Chewbacca turned and saw Lumpawarrump standing in the wooden

  arch of the landing platform entryway.

  He was wearing his bowcaster and carrying the freshly camouflaged tree

  bag he had taken on his aborted journey of ascendance.

  [We will finish your tests when I return,] Chewbacca called.

  Lumpawarrump drew closer with tentative steps.

  [Take me with you. You have already broken with tradition once. I ask

  you to do so again.] Malla cried out a protest, but Chewbacca silenced

  her with a warning gesture as he crossed the platform to where his son

  stood.

  "Why?] Chewbacca demanded. [Why do you ask this?] [I will be neither

  child nor adult until you return--I do not belong in the nursery ring

  or in the council ring,] said Lumpawarrump.

  [Are you afraid I will not return?] [Yes.] [Then are you not afraid

  that you will not return?] [I am more afraid to fail than to die,]

  Lumpawar-rump said. [Much is expected from the son of Chewbacca--he

  cannot be a coward.] [You need not fear that now. By offering

  yourself, you have shown your mettle.] [That is not what they will

  see.

  They will say that it was only words, that I knew you would not take

  me, that I knew Malla would forbid it,] said Lumpawar-rump.

  [They will see that even you did not have faith in me--that Jowdrrl and

  Shoran and Dryanta were good enough for you, but I was not.] Chewbacca

  shook his head. [It is not a matter of faith. I have a full crew.

  What skills do you bring to this hunt?] [Everything of you that is in

  me, and everything that you can teach me,] Lumpawarrump said. [Father,

  please--I have accepted your long absences, the duties that take you

  away from us. But I must have a chance to prove my worth to you. I

  want my baldric and my new name. Give me a chance to earn them beside

  you, and know that you are proud of me.] Chewbacca cast a sideways

  glance at Mallatobuck, who was watching anxiously but keeping her

  distance.

  He doubted she could have heard much of the conversation over the noise

  from the Falcon.

  [Go,] Chewbacca said, seizing Lumpawarrump by the arm and sending him

  toward the ship with a push.

  Malla raised a sharp wail of protest, but Chewbacca moved quickly to

  block her from reaching their son.

  [You can't take him--he's not ready,] Malla insisted.

  [If I let you tell him that, if I tell him that, it will destroy him,]

  said Chewbacca. [That is why I must take him. Now step back and let

  him see a mother's fierce pride, not her fear.] Her eyes sad but

  resigned, Malla cuffed him across the face, and he returned the kiss

  with equal tenderness and affection. Then he turned and bounded up the

  boarding ramp while Malla retreated into the growing crowd drawn to the

  platform by the sound of the Falcon's engines.

  Moments later, the ship lifted and wheeled toward the sky.

  Vagabond

  The Teljkon vagabond had finally ceased Shuddering and groaning around

  its prisoners. With the starship once again hurtling through

  hyperspace, at last there was silence.

  "Attagirl," Lando said, patting the wall of the chamber in which he and

  the others floated. "It'll take a lot more than one rusty old escort

  frigate to run you down."

  "But Master Lando, this is terrible, simply terrible," said Threepio,

  his damaged arm jerking spastically as he gestured animatedly. "That

  ship could have rescued us, and now we've run away from it. We may

  even have destroyed it."

  "I hope we did," Lando said. "Trust me on this--any rescue offered by

  an Imperial warlord in the Core is going to be no rescue worth

  having.

  There's probably still a price on my head, maybe on you two droids,

  too.

  War hero or war criminal it's all a matter of your point of view.

  Chances are we'd find ourselves traded around until we were in the

  hands of whoever was willing to pay the most for the pleasure of

  killing us."

  "I see what you mean, sir."

  Artoo-Detoo burbled a terse comment.

  "I'm quite sure he's not interested in your linguistic pretensions,

  Artoo," Threepio said haughtily. "And neither am I." The droid's tone

  suddenly changed to a melodramatic melancholy. "Killed or deactivated

  or disintegrated to atoms, it's all the same to me. Oblivion, the

  final cessation of awareness--" Then annoyance suddenly took over

  Threepio's voice. "Not that it means anything to a random jumble of

  circuits such as yourself," he added, clanging a golden fist against

  Artoo's dome. "If you want to do something useful, you might see about

  fixing those sensors Master Lando placed on the hull. Why you let them

  be damaged just when we needed them most, I'll never understand."

  Artoo's shrill reply needed no translation, even for Lando.

  "There's no need to be rude," Threepio sniffed.

  "If you two keep wasting your power cells on bickering, you'll visit

  oblivion a lot faster than you were planning on," Lando said, drifting

  between them.

  "Artoo, is there any hope for the limpet?"

  "I can answer that," said Lobot, who had suddenly busied himself with

  collecting the parts of his contact suit and climbing back into them.

  "Just before it ceased transmitting, the sensors measured a monopolar

  ion density of more than twenty thousand Rahm units. It is a near

  Certainty that the limpet is damaged beyond repair."

  "Twenty thousand? Better than I thought. I'd have given you odds that

  it wouldn't take more than twelve," Lando said. "Well, no matter."

  "The primary component of all spectral sensors is Favervil dielectric

  ribbon
," Lobot said. "Dielectric ribbon begins to debond under ion

  bombardment at a density of fifteen thousand Rahms."

  "Is that so," Lando said.

  "Master Lando, why didn't the vagabond's shields stop the ion

  barrage?"

  Threepio asked.

  "Now, that's an interesting question," said Lando.

  "The answer might be because there are no shields--no ray shields,

  anyway."

  "No shields?" Threepio echoed. "Isn't that un-usual-and dangerous?"

  "It's unusual--" Lando began.

  Lobot interrupted with another encyclopedic answer.

  "Since the inception of spacecraft licensing under the Registry Office,

  noncombatant vessels have been required to carry ray shielding

  generators of at least grade two strength, to protect the crew and

  passengers from cosmic radiation and stellar flares. More than

  ninety-six percent of alien ship types in the Registrar's Catalog are

  known to carry both ray and particle shielding in some form."

  Lando looked curiously at his old partner. Before he could give voice

  to his thoughts, however, Threepio filled the silence with a burst of

  indignant words.

  "Master Lando, this is intolerable. I am certain that Master Luke did

  not intend for us to be marooned on a vessel with no ray shielding. No

  wonder my circuits are so sluggish and Artoo has been so peevish. This

  could have the most serious consequences for us. We simply must leave