Apocalypse (27 page)

Leia had a sinking feeling. “Four,” she answered. “How many legs does—”

“Two,” Taryn answered. “We noticed a certain young lady’s absence after we departed Taanab.”

“Young lady?”
Han stormed. He pulled back on the pilot’s yoke, bringing the
Falcon
out of its meteoric plunge. “Are you telling me Amelia stowed away? On
this
trip?”

On the tactical display, the ChaseX squadron’s interception point drifted upward, into the highest levels of the city.

“Han—don’t slow down!” Leia said. They had passed the point of no return, for they did not dare allow the
Regalle
and its task force within firing range—not with Allana on board. “Keep diving!”

Han glanced at his own display and scowled. “What do you suppose the odds are that those guys are on
our
side?”

“Fifty–fifty,” Leia replied. “And that’s not good enough.”

“I guess not.” Han shoved the yoke forward again, then opened a shipwide intercom channel. “Amelia Solo to the flight deck—now!”

“We’re checking on the stowaway,” Leia informed the
Lady Worbi
. “If her pet nexu is here, she’s probably here, too.”

“That’s also our feeling,” Taryn replied. “Can you return for a rendezvous?”

Leia checked the tactical display and saw that the ChaseX squadron was continuing to accelerate after the
Falcon
, while the
Regalle
and its escorts were fanning out to spread their turbolaser fire.

“I think that’s negative,” Leia replied. “We don’t know who that is behind us, but so far they don’t look very friendly.”

“Very well,” Taryn said. “We’ll cover your descent and assess our options later. Keep us informed.”

“Affirmative,” Leia said. She hadn’t felt her granddaughter’s presence aboard the
Falcon
, but that wasn’t surprising. After the close call on Klatooine, she had been working with Allana on concealment techniques—and that included hiding her presence in the Force. “We’ll let you know as soon as we find her.”

The
Falcon
started to shudder and slew in the thickening atmosphere, and then a warning buzzer announced that the hull temperature had climbed into the failure zone. Tongues of white flame appeared in the orange glow outside, flakes of corroded metal starting to disintegrate in the heat. Han had no choice but to swing away from the ChaseX squadron and decrease their dive angle. He pulled the throttles back, using the repulsorlift drives to slow their descent.

R2-D2 tweedled an alert, and lock alarms began to screech almost instantly.

“See if you can get a friend-or-foe ID on those ChaseXs, Artoo,” Leia ordered. She activated the intercom. “Brace for battle back there. Ramud and Huli, go weapons-live, but don’t initiate. Amelia, if you’re not on the flight deck in—”

“I’m
coming
!” a small voice shouted from the back of the access tunnel. “Be patient! Dad just called a minute ago.”

“That’s because we didn’t know you were aboard.” Leia turned to find her granddaughter scurrying down the corridor with Anji padding along beside her. Dressed in an insulated jumpsuit, Allana was coated from head to foot in various colors of grease. Leia pointed at the empty seat across from Jayk. “You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady.”

“I already explained,” Allana said. She climbed into the seat and began to buckle herself in. “You just didn’t listen back on the
Dragon Queen
.”

“Because we’re your parents,” Han said. “We don’t need to listen.”

“That’s a bunch of poodoo,” Allana shot back. “You’re the one who’s always saying you can’t let other people tell you what to do.”

“We’re not other people,” Han replied. “We’re
supposed
to tell you what to do. That’s our job.”

Allana rolled her eyes, then looked to Leia. “I had a
vision
,” she said. “Just like on …”

She glanced over at Jayk, clearly uncertain of how much to let slip in front of a Jedi she didn’t know very well.

“We’ll finish this discussion later,” Leia said, turning forward again. “Right now, we need to figure out whether those starfighters on our tail are friends or—”

R2-D2 interrupted with a sharp whistle, and a single word scrolled across the copilot’s display:
FOE
.

“Bloah,”
Leia said. “You’re sure?”

THE PROBABILITY IS 93.4
PERCENT
, R2-D2 reported.
THE TASK FORCE IS COMMANDED BY ADMIRAL POLOW, A GRADUATE OF THE GALACTIC ALLIANCE SPACE ACADEMY
.

“The
Galactic Alliance
Space Academy?” Leia repeated. “Not the New Republic?”

R2-D2 emitted an affirming whistle.

“Thank you, Artoo,” Leia said, seeing the problem. The Galactic Alliance Space Academy was only three years old. That meant an officer who had graduated from it would be no higher than a lieutenant commander. She opened a channel to the
Lady Worbi
. “
Lady Worbi
, the good news is that we found that stowaway. She’s sitting right behind me, in fine condition.”

“That
is
good news,” Taryn replied. “What’s the bad news?”

“Do you see that task force pursuing us?”

“Of course.” Taryn sounded almost insulted. “Are they a problem?”

“They still haven’t hailed us,” Leia said. “And we’re pretty sure their commander isn’t one of ours.”

“I see.” Taryn went silent for a moment, then said, “We can’t do much about the ChaseX squadron, but we’ll give the cruiser and her escorts something to worry about.”

“Thank you,” Leia said. “That would be a great deal of help.”

She closed the channel and saw that the
Falcon
was only seconds from starting to scrape her belly on tower pinnacles. Soon they would begin setting fire to the buildings they passed, and even Han was not skilled enough to fly a YT-1300 transport through Coruscant’s crowded skylanes at this kind of speed. But the tactical display showed an estimated attack point hovering in the upper margin of the city, with the ChaseX squadron already matching the
Falcon
’s speed and continuing to accelerate. Fortunately, Taryn had launched all three of the
Worbi
’s Miy’til squadrons and was circling behind the task force, giving the
Regalle
and her escorts plenty to think about.

The
Falcon
tipped up on her side as Han swerved to avoid a residence tower, then he said, “Sweetheart, you
do
know I’m gonna have to slow down eventually, right?”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” Leia admitted, keeping her eyes on the tactical display. “Just be ready to evade. Those ChaseXs are closing fast.”

“How long before they open fire?”

“Whenever they want,” Leia replied. “That last swerve brought them into range.”

“And they’re not opening fire?” Han pulled the throttles back, and the orange glow beyond the viewport quickly vanished as the flames died away. “No problem, then.”

“Han!” Leia watched the tactical display in horror as the ChaseX squadron closed to medium range. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Relax,” he said. “Not everybody in the Alliance Navy is Sith. If those guys aren’t opening fire yet—”

“It’s because they want to avoid collateral damage,” Leia finished, nodding. She opened a hailing channel. “ChaseX leader, please state the reason for your pursuit and be advised that we are Coruscant natives.”

“We know who you are,” replied a clipped voice. “And that’s why we’re pursuing. You Jedi spicerunners aren’t welcome here on Coruscant anymore. You can surrender now, or we open fire.”

Han scowled at the cockpit speaker. “Thanks for the warning.”

He pushed the yoke forward, dropping the
Falcon
between two skytowers, then rolled into a half-deserted skylane and dived through three levels of hover vehicles. Almost immediately a new voice came over the traffic channel. It was a female controller.

“
Longshot
, what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, using the false transponder code under which the
Falcon
was traveling. “You are not cleared to fly that thing in general traffic!”

“Sorry about that,” Leia replied, continuing to watch the tactical display. Rather than start a cannon battle in the narrow confines between Coruscant’s looming towers, most of the ChaseX squadron had pulled up and spread out to fly top cover. But three starfighters had followed the
Falcon
down into the skylane. Now they were flying between traffic levels, ducking under pedbridges and swinging from one wall to another in an effort to get a shot. “But I think you’d better clear the lane for us. This is beginning to look dangerous.”

“And whose fault is that?” the controller demanded. “You’re going to lose entry rights over this. I hope you know that!”

“Hey, get those guys off my tail and we’re outta here,” Han replied. He began to juke and jink, trying to make the
Falcon
a difficult target. “All I’m trying to do is land this crate.”

A loud
thwung
rang through the
Falcon
as a cannon bolt burned into the hull. Then the entire ship shuddered as the big quad cannons returned fire.

“Is that cannon fire?” the controller asked. “Please tell me you haven’t started a dogfight in the middle of Seventh Lane Seventeen Fifty.”

“Okay, I won’t,” Han said.

“
We’re
not the ones who started it,” Leia added. She closed the channel and called up a skylane schematic for her main display, then asked Han, “Shields?”

Han shook his head. “Things are tight enough in here without bouncing off every pedbridge and hoversled we pass.”

A trio of cannon bolts flashed past Leia’s side of the flight deck and vanished down the skylane, sending airspeeders diving for the undercity or whipping around corners. The
Falcon
’s cannons fired again, and Ramud’s deep Duros voice came over the cabin speaker.

“Vape one ChaseX.” He sounded more relieved than excited. “I saw the canopy blow and an ejection plume, so maybe the pilot will survive.”

Leia was glad to hear the concern in the young Jedi’s voice. Luke had taken pains to emphasize that the Jedi were at war with no one but the Sith. She found it heartening to see that the message had been received.

Another
thwung
sounded from the stern. Leia felt the
Falcon
slew as Han struggled to stay in control. She kept her eyes on the skylane schematic, searching for a way to disappear into the labyrinth of dark lanes that ran beneath Fellowship Plaza.

“How are those repairs holding up?” she asked.

“Not well enough to keep taking cannon bolts,” Han said. “Will you guys in the turrets stop playing nice and get those ChaseXs off our tails? It’s them or us, fellas!”

Han tipped the
Falcon
up on its side and sliced down through a dozen levels of traffic, giving both gunners clear shots at their pursuers. The quad cannons began to chuff steadily while a torrent of color flashed past as the ChaseXs returned fire. A loud ping echoed through the ship when a bolt glanced off the upper hull, then an Arcona hiss came over the intercom.

“Vape ChaseX two!” Huli’s voice grew rueful. “The pilot didn’t make it.”

Incredibly, the third pilot stayed on their tail. Another hit tolled up from the stern, and Han’s hands began to shudder as the
Falcon
went into a spin that Leia doubted was intentional.

Finally, Leia found what she was looking for. “Han, there’s a barge tunnel three hundred meters ahead to starboard.”

“Are you c-c-crazy?” Han demanded, stuttering because the yoke was vibrating so badly. “We can’t m-m-make that turn at this—”

“Then slow down!” Leia said. “It’s that turn or a dash across Blemmer Circle.”

By the time she finished the sentence, she was pressing into her crash harness as the
Falcon
slowed to make the turn. The belly gunner lost sight of the target, and the chuffing of the lower quad cannons quieted. The dark oval of the tunnel entrance appeared on the right, then began to broaden into a circle as Han tried to make the turn. A collision alarm broke into a screech.

“Blast!”
Han cursed. “We’re not going to make—”

And then they were in the darkness, a deafening shriek filling their ears as the hull scraped along the tunnel wall. A tremendous roar sounded behind them, then the upper quad cannons went quiet, too. Ramud did not bother to report the crash that had destroyed the last ChaseX.

Han looked over at Leia, his face pale. “What next?”

“Don’t hit anything,” Leia said. “Those barges are robotic. They don’t use running lights, and our sensors are worthless down here.”

Han’s eyes widened. He hit a switch on the instrument console, and a trio of floodlight beams stabbed through the darkness ahead.

“And don’t slow down,” Leia added, still studying the schematic. “If any of those other ChaseXs come after us, we’ve got ten kilometers before we have a chance to lose them.”

Han squeezed the yoke so hard his knuckles grew white. “I don’t know why I let you navigate,” he said. “Don’t you have any
good
news?”

“Sure,” Leia said. “Once we make it through the tunnel, we’ll be a hundred kilometers from the hangar.”

“And
that
’s the good news?” Han asked. “Really?”

It was Allana who replied. “Don’t be scared, Dad. We can do it.”

Han glanced at her reflection in the viewport. “Who’s scared?”

“You are,” Allana said. “You’re sweating … and I can feel it in the Force.”

Han sighed. “Okay, so I’m a little bit scared.”

“I don’t know why,” Allana said. “The Queen Mother told me you guys do this stuff all the time.”

“We do,” Han said, continuing to look at her reflection. “But not with
you
aboard. The next time I tell you to stay—”

“Why don’t we talk about that later?” Leia interrupted. “After we’ve all had a chance to calm down?”

“I’m not
going
to calm down,” Han said, still looking at Allana. “You’re in big trouble, young lady.”

“I know,” Allana said, her tone as confident as it was subdued. “But at least I’m here.”