Trilogy (50 page)

Chewbacca staggered back a step with the sudden absence of torture, and then moved to one of the cell walls to try to detect whether anyone was approaching to release
him. But the thick walls revealed nothing and, maddened to a fury, Chewbacca slammed a giant fist against the wall.

But the wall stood undamaged and as impenetrable as before, and Chewbacca realized it would take more than Wookiee brute strength to topple it. Despairing of his chances of breaking through the cell to freedom, Chewbacca shuffled toward the bed, where the box of 3PO parts had been placed.

Idly at first, and then with more interest, the Wookiee began poking through the box. It dawned on him that it might be possible to repair the disjointed droid. Not only would doing so pass the time, but it might be helpful to have Threepio back in working condition.

He picked up the golden head and gazed into its darkened eyes. He held the head and barked a few soliloquizing words as if to prepare the robot for the joy of re-entry into activity—or for the disappointment of Chewbacca's possible failure to reconstruct him properly.

Then, quite delicately for a creature of his size and strength, the giant Wookiee placed the staring head atop the bronzed torso. Tentatively he began experimenting with Threepio's tangle of wires and circuits. His mechanical skills had previously only been tested in repairs on the
Millennium Falcon
, so he wasn't at all certain he could complete the delicate task. Chewbacca jiggled and fiddled with the wires, baffled by this intricate mechanism, when suddenly Threepio's eyes lit up.

A whine came from inside the robot. It sounded vaguely like Threepio's normal voice, but was so low and so slow that the words were unintelligible.

“Imm-peeeeer-eee-all-storr-mmm-trppp …”

Bewildered, Chewbacca scratched his furry head and studied the broken robot intently. An idea came to him and he tried switching one wire to another plug. Instantly Threepio began speaking in his normal voice. What he had to say sounded like words from a bad dream.

“Chewbacca!” the head of See-Threepio cried. “Watch out, there are Imperial stormtroopers hidden in—” He paused, as if reliving the whole traumatic experience, and then he cried, “Oh, no! I've been shot!”

Chewbacca shook his head in sympathy. All he could do at this point was try to put the rest of See-Threepio back together again.

Q
uite possibly it was the first time Han Solo had ever screamed. Never had he endured such excruciating torment. He was strapped to a platform that angled away from the floor at approximately forty-five degrees. While he was strapped there, electric currents of searing power shot through his body at short intervals, each jolt more painfully powerful than the last. He squirmed to free himself but his agony was so severe that it was all he could do just to remain conscious.

Standing near the torture rack, Darth Vader silently watched Han Solo's ordeal. Seeming neither pleased nor displeased, he watched until he had seen enough, and then the Dark Lord turned his back on the writhing figure and left the cell, the door sliding behind him to muffle Solo's anguished screams.

Outside the torture chamber, Boba Fett waited for Lord Vader with Lando Calrissian and the administrator's aide.

With obvious disdain, Vader turned to Fett. “Bounty
hunter,” Vader addressed the man in the black-marked silver helmet, “if you are waiting for your reward, you will wait until I have Skywalker.”

The self-assured Boba Fett appeared unruffled by this news. “I am in no hurry, Lord Vader. My concern is that Captain Solo not be damaged. The reward from Jabba the Hut is double if he's alive.”

“His pain is considerable, bounty hunter,” Vader hissed, “but he will not be harmed.”

“What about Leia and the Wookiee?” Lando asked with some concern.

“You will find them well enough,” Vader answered. “But,” he added with unmistakable finality, “they must never again leave this city.”

“That was never a condition of our agreement,” Calrissian urged. “Nor was giving Han to this bounty hunter.”

“Perhaps you think you're being treated unfairly,” Vader said sarcastically.

“No,” Lando said, glancing at his aide.

“Good,” Vader continued, adding a veiled threat. “It would be most unfortunate if I had to leave a permanent garrison here.”

Bowing his head reverently, Lando Calrissian waited until Darth Vader had turned and swept into a waiting elevator with the silver-armored bounty hunter. Then, taking his aide with him, the administrator of Cloud City strode swiftly down a white-walled corridor.

“This deal's becoming worse all the time,” Lando complained.

“Maybe you should have tried to negotiate with him,” the aide suggested.

Lando looked at his aide grimly. He was beginning to realize that the deal with Darth Vader was giving nothing
to him. And, beyond that, it was bringing harm to people he might have called friends. Finally, he said, low enough not to be heard by any of Vader's spies, “I've got a bad feeling about this.”

S
ee-Threepio was at last beginning to feel something like his old self.

The Wookiee had been busily working on reconnecting the droid's many wires and internal circuits, and just now was beginning to figure out how to attach the limbs. So far he had reattached the head to the torso and had successfully completed connecting an arm. The rest of Threepio's parts still lay on the table with wires and circuits hanging out of the severed joints.

But, though the Wookiee was diligently working to complete his task, the golden droid began to complain vociferously. “Well, something's not right,” he fussed, “because now I can't see.”

The patient Wookiee barked, and adjusted a wire in Threepio's neck. At last the robot could see again and he breathed a little mechanical sigh of relief. “There now, that's better.”

But it wasn't
much
better. When he cast his newly activated sensor gaze toward where his chest should be he saw—his back! “Wait—Oh, my. What have you done? I'm backwards!” Threepio sputtered. “You flea-bitten furball! Only an overgrown mophead like you would be stupid enough to put my head—”

The Wookiee growled menacingly. He had forgotten what a complainer this droid was. And this cell was too small for him to listen to any more of that! Before Threepio knew what was happening to him, the Wookiee
lumbered over and pulled a wire. Instantly the grumbling ceased, and the room became quiet again.

Then there was a familiar scent nearing the cell.

The Wookiee sniffed the air and hurried to the door.

The cell door buzzed open and a ragged, exhausted Han Solo was shoved in by two Imperial stormtroopers. The troopers left and Chewbacca quickly moved to his friend, embracing him with relief. Han's face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes. It seemed that he was on the verge of collapse, and Chewbacca barked his concern to his long-time companion.

“No,” Han said wearily, “I'm all right. I'm all right.”

The door opened once again, and Princess Leia was thrown into the cell by the stormtroopers. She was still dressed in her elegant cloak but, like Han, she looked tired and disheveled.

When the stormtroopers left and the door slid shut behind them, Chewbacca helped Leia over to Han. The two gazed at one another with great emotion, then reached out and tightly embraced. After a moment they kissed tenderly.

While Han still held her, Leia weakly asked him, “Why are they doing this? I can't understand what they're up to.”

Han was as puzzled as she. “They had me howling on the scan grid, but they never asked me any questions.”

Then the door slid open again, admitting Lando and two of his Cloud City guards.

“Get out of here, Lando!” Han snarled. If he had felt stronger, he would have leaped up to attack his traitorous friend.

“Shut up a minute and listen,” Lando snapped. “I'm doing what I can to make this easier for you.”

“This ought to be good,” Han remarked caustically.

“Vader has agreed to turn Leia and Chewie over to me,” explained Lando. “They'll have to stay here, but at least they'll be safe.”

Leia gasped. “What about Han?”

Lando looked solemnly at his friend. “I didn't know you had a price on your head. Vader has given you to the bounty hunter.”

The princess quickly looked at Han, concern flooding her eyes.

“You don't know much about much,” Han said to Calrissian, “if you think Vader won't want us dead before all this is over.”

“He doesn't want you at all,” Lando said. “He's after someone called Skywalker.”

The two prisoners caught their breath at the casual mention of that name.

Han seemed puzzled. “Luke? I don't get it.”

The princess's mind was racing. All the facts were beginning to fit together into a terrible mosaic. In the past, Vader had wanted Leia because of her political importance in the war between Empire and Rebel Alliance. Now she was almost beneath his notice, useful only for one possible function.

“Lord Vader has set a trap for him,” Lando added, “and—”

Leia finished his statement. “We're the bait.”

“All this just to get the kid?” Han asked. “What's so important about him?”

“Don't ask me, but he's on his way.”

“Luke's coming here?”

Lando Calrissian nodded.

“You fixed us all pretty good,” Han growled, spitting his words at Lando, “—friend!”

As he snarled that last, accusing word, Han Solo's strength returned in a rush. He put all of his might into a punch that sent Lando reeling. Instantly the two former friends were engaged in a furious, close-quarters battle. Lando's two guards moved closer to the two grappling opponents and began striking at Han with the butts of their laser rifles. One powerful blow struck Han on the chin and sent him flying across the room, blood streaming from his jaw.

Chewbacca began to growl savagely and started for the guards. As they raised their laser weapons, Lando shouted, “Don't shoot!”

Bruised and winded, the administrator turned to Han. “I've done what I can for you,” he said. “I'm sorry it's not better, but I've got my own problems.” Then turning to leave the cell, Lando Calrissian added, “I've already stuck my neck out farther than I should.”

“Yeah,” Han Solo retorted, regaining his composure, “you're a real hero.”

When Lando had left with his guards, Leia and Chewbacca helped Han back to his feet and led him to one of the bunks. He eased his weary, battered body onto the bunk, and Leia took a piece of her cloak and began gently dabbing at his chin, cleaning off the oozing blood.

As she did so, she started to chuckle softly. “You certainly have a way with people,” she teased.

* * *

A
rtoo-Detoo's head swiveled atop his barrellike body as his scanners perceived the star-studded void of the Bespin system.

The speeding X-wing had just entered the system, and was swooping through black space like a great white bird.

The R2 unit had a lot to communicate to his pilot. His electronic thoughts were tumbling out, one on top of the other, and were translated on the cockpit scope.

The grim-faced Luke quickly responded to the first of Artoo's urgent questions. “Yes,” Luke replied. “I'm sure Threepio is with them.”

The little robot whistled an excited exclamation.

“Just hold on,” Luke said patiently, “we'll be there soon.”

Artoo's turning head perceived the regal clusters of stars, his innards warm and cheerful, as the X-wing continued like a celestial arrow toward a planet with a city in the clouds.

L
ando Calrissian and Darth Vader stood near the hydraulic platform that dominated the huge carbon-freezing chamber. The Dark Lord was quiet while aides hurried to prepare the room.

The hydraulic platform was housed within a deep pit in the center of the chamber and was surrounded by countless steam pipes and enormous chemical tanks of varying shapes.

Standing guard with laser rifles clutched in their hands were four armor-suited Imperial stormtroopers.

Darth Vader turned to Calrissian after appraising the
chamber. “The facility is crude,” he remarked, “but it should suit our needs.”

One of Vader's officers rushed to the Sith Lord's side. “Lord Vader,” he reported, “ship approaching—X-wing class.”

“Good,” Vader said coldly. “Monitor Skywalker's progress and allow him to land. We'll have the chamber ready for him shortly.”

“We only use this facility for carbon-freezing,” the administrator of Cloud City said nervously. “If you put him in there, it might kill him.”

But Vader had already considered that possibility. He knew a way to find out just how powerful this freezing unit was. “I don't wish the Emperor's prize to be damaged. We'll test it first.” He caught the attention of one of his stormtroopers. “Bring in Solo,” the Dark Lord commanded.

Lando quickly glanced at Vader. He hadn't been prepared for the pure evil that was manifested in this terrifying being.

T
he X-wing speedily made its descent, and began to pierce the dense cloud blanket enveloping the planet.

Luke checked his monitor screens with growing concern. Maybe Artoo had more information than he was getting on his own panel. He tapped out a question to the robot.

“You haven't picked up any patrol ships?”

Artoo-Detoo's reply was negative.

And so Luke, thoroughly convinced that his arrival was thus far undetected, pressed his ship onward, toward the city of his troubled vision.

* * *

S
ix of the piglike Ugnaughts frantically prepared the carbon-freezing chamber for use, while Lando Calrissian and Darth Vader—now the true master of Cloud City—observed the hasty activity.