Zorba the Hutt's Revenge (5 page)

Luke sensed danger close behind him. Without hesitating, he drew his lightsaber, raising the bright green laser-sword threateningly. Three stormtroopers were fast approaching. As Luke fought with two of the Imperials, the third strormtrooper reached into the tunnel and pulled Leia back up. From down below in the darkness, Kate could see Leia dangling and gritting her teeth, as the princess kicked and swung her arms. Leia’s feet reached the safety of the metal floor of the factory barge, but her enemy had her in his grip. No sooner had Luke toppled one of their foes with his lightsaber, than he felt another one of the stormtroopers shoving him, pushing him right down into the tunnel. Luke plunged, reaching out with one hand to grab the rungs of the ladder.

"Oh no, Commander Skywalker," Kate screamed, "you’re going to-" But before he toppled into Kate, Luke broke his fall, just in time to see the stormtrooper slam a metal cover over the top of the tunnel, leaving them in total darkness.

CHOOOIIIIIIIG!

A clamp twisted over the tunnel cover. Outside, on the surface of the factory barge, the stormtrooper who held Leia then turned a valve.

"Luke!" Leia screamed, her voice muffled by the metal. TCCHHHHHHHHH . . . Poisonous gas flowed from the factory, through the valve, down a pipe, and directly into the tunnel.

In the darkness, Luke climbed the ladder and pounded on the cover that sealed him in. But it was closed tight. There was no way out.

"You’re an organic creature, you have to breathe!" Kate exclaimed. "But if you breathe the poison, you’ll die!"

Luke held his breath, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He focused his thoughts on the Force.

Luke knew how to move objects using the Force. He had learned how to do it in Yoda’s swamp back on the planet Dagobah, while training to be a Jedi Knight. Perhaps now he could use the power of the Force to move the latch that held the tunnel cover in place. As Luke desperately held his breath, nothing happened, at first. But then the Force was with him. The clamp holding the cover shut began slowly to slide loose. Clinging to the ladder, Luke pushed up on the cover. Then he leapt out and gasped for air. Kate climbed up the ladder to follow him out.

Together they looked around in all directions, trying to find the princess. But the stormtroopers had taken Princess Leia away!

CHAPTER 6

A Tale of Two Captives

While Han was waiting for Luke and Leia to return with Kate, he showed Ken his two streamlined cloud racing cars in his cloud car garage. One was blue, the other red.

"If I enter the Cloud Car Racing Finals," Han explained, "I’ll probably drive my blue car-the Custom Model-Q Foley." Han opened the door on the driver’s side of the blue car.

"Want to see what it feels like to sit at the controls?"

"Thanks, thanks a lot!" Ken said. And as he settled into the comfortable, cushioned seat, he asked Han, "How old do you have to be to get a license to drive a cloud car?"

"Eighteen for humans," replied Han. "Twenty if you’re an alien. Except for Biths. They let Biths drive at age ten because they’re advanced bipedal craniopoids who reach maturity at a young age."

"In that case, I wish I were a Bith," Ken said. "Say, what does this do?" He touched a green button near the steering mechanism.

FWEEEEP!

"That’s the-whoops, too late," Han said.

The garage door opened. Through the braze Ken could see the distant skyline of Cloud City. The city seemed to be calling out to him, urging him to seek adventure. Han leaned into the car to check the clock on the dashboard. "I’m getting worried about Luke and Princess Leia," he said. "They’ve been gone a couple of hours already. It shouldn’t have taken them this long to rescue Kate and come back."

"Maybe they decided to stop ’off in Cloud City for a bite to eat," Ken suggested, putting his hands on the sleek, shiny steering mechanism.

"I certainly doubt it," said Han. "There was a ton of food at my party, and plenty of leftovers."

"But Princess Leia hardly touched a bite of your Corellian cooking," Ken said.

"Why was that?" Han asked, somewhat hurt.

"She says Corellian food is too fattening," Ken explained.

"Oh, yeah?" Han said, glancing down to see if he was getting a pot belly. "You don’t see any fat on me!"

Suddenly Chewbacca poked his head through the door to the garage. "Rowwwwrf! Groouuuuf!" he moaned.

"You’re kidding!" Han said to his Wookiee friend, then glanced back at Ken. "Luke sent us a distress call. They’re in some kind of trouble. My beeper was turned off, so we didn’t get the message until Chewie here checked the machine just now." Han put a hand on Ken’s shoulder and said, "Wait here, kid. I’ll be back in a flash." But Han didn’t come back in a flash.

So Ken decided to pretend he was driving the cloud racing car he was sitting in. He gripped the controls. He leaned forward. And he put his hand on the acceleration lever, touching it ever so lightly.

But the light touch was all it took to power up the car and send it zooming out of the garage, into the open sky, and off toward Cloud City.

In the Jedi Library, Ken had spent many hours reading about how to fly cloud racing cars. Now he was able to make a couple of wide loops, spinning rolls, and upside-down maneuvers, all for real.

Before he knew it, he was almost all the way to Cloud City. And he almost collided in midair with a cloud bus.

OOOOO-EEEEE! . . . OOOOO-EEEEE! .. .

A Cloud Police siren blared loudly.

The police car aimed an invisible tractor beam at the cloud racing car Ken was driving. Ken was towed to a landing bay at Cloud City. "You sure don’t look eighteen, kid," one of the Cloud Police said. "Do you have the registration for this vehicle?"

"This was all just a mistake, officers," Ken said. Ken explained that he had come to Bespin with Luke Skywalker. And that he had been driving Han Solo’s cloud car totally by accident.

"Trioculus offered a big reward for a Jedi Prince named Ken who’s been traveling with Luke Skywalker," one of the Cloud Police said to the other. "There’re Wanted posters for this kid on at least a dozen planets."

And so they arrested Ken for reckless driving without a license. His destination: Cloud City Police Headquarters.

Back at Han’s sky house, Han was frantic.

"Threepio, take my red cloud racing car-the Model-X1 Zhurst," Han ordered. "Bring Artoo and Chip with you, and go find Ken. He’s probably taken off for Cloud City. Chewie and I will take a ride in the Millennium Falcon to find out what happened to Luke, Leia, and Kate!"

On the factory barge, Princess Leia was inside Trioculus’s private chamber, high up in the tallest of his factories. The room had modern Imperial art and elegant furniture. The three-eyed tyrant, Trioculus, gave a sly smile as he stared at his lovely captive.

"Please be seated, Princess Leia," he said, trying to make his gruff voice sound pleasant.

"I hope you’ll find these quarters comfortable."

Leia refused his invitation to sit. Instead she stared out the window, trying to avoid looking at him.

"What’s happened to Luke?" she asked nervously.

"A most unfortunate situation," Trioculus replied soothingly. "We made every effort to save his life, but alas, it was to no avail."

"Do you expect me to believe that Luke is dead?" she said angrily, turning to look at Trioculus’s three eyes.

"Sadly, your Luke Skywalker has departed from the world of the living," Trioculus explained. "But if it’s any consolation, he died a quick and painless death."

"I don’t believe a word you’re saying," Leia snapped. "I would know it if Luke were dead. I would feel it."

"Perhaps not. Down here, by the Rethin Sea, feelings are dulled. All feelings-that is except my feelings for you, Princess Leia!"

"You don’t have any feelings," she said. "You’re a murderer! A liar! An inhuman monster!" In a fit of fury, Leia slapped his face. Trioculus just stood there, watching her without stirring.

Leia cringed as she looked at the Imperial ruler. She had seen holograms of him in intelligence briefings, and when Trioculus sent a personal warning to the SPIN conference room in the Rebel Alliance Senate. The holograms had depicted Trioculus as devious but handsome. Handsome, except for the strange, mutant third eye in the middle of his forehead. But now his face was scarred.

She looked away, unable to bear the sight of him. However, Trioculus couldn’t take his three eyes off her. He found Leia’s strong but soft features to be beautiful. Trioculus was convinced that in time he might be able to bridge the gap between their opposite worlds. If she stayed with him long enough, eventually she might renounce the Rebel Alliance. And perhaps then she would even come to accept the necessity of evil. Especially if he were to marry her and make her the Queen of the Galactic Empire!

Trioculus took a few steps toward her. "Is it so wrong to be a murderer?" he asked. "Or a liar? Or an inhuman monster? I may be all of those things, but I still have a heart."

"Your heart is as dark as carbonite!" she hissed. Trioculus glanced at his right hand, which now wore a replica of the glove of Darth Vader. He wondered if he should put that gloved hand on her shoulder, to show his affection for her.

"There can still be great beauty in a dark heart," Trioculus said, reaching out with the glove and gently touching her. The princess pulled away at once. "I’m certain there’s darkness in you, Leia," he continued. "You’re a murderer also. You killed Jabba the Hutt in cold blood, assassinated him with hatred in your heart. See yourself for what you really are!"

"I killed that thug Jabba in self-defense," she protested. "He was the most corrupt and vile gangster in the universe!"

"There’s always an excuse the first time one murders," Trioculus said. "But the first murder is never the last. Why, I think you’d even like to murder me, right now. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it, Leia?"

Trioculus put his hand on her shoulder once again. But she took it down right away. Then he squeezed her hand and didn’t let go.

"I love you, Leia," he said in a fiery voice. "I want you to marry me and become the Queen of the Empire!"

Leia shuddered. "You’re insane!" she replied.

"Accept me, Leia," he said. "I’m the only one who can give you the power and happiness you deserve!"

Leia pulled her hand away with disgust.

"You’ll change your mind, Princess," Trioculus stated, refusing to lose hope that she would eventually accept his offer to be the Empire’s dark queen. "There’s still time for us," he said. "A great deal of time!"

CHAPTER 7

The Battle for Princess Leia

Zorba frowned as he stared out the window of his penthouse suite and slurped his sour brew. The braze outside was almost as thick as his drink, and the braze of Cloud City was the reason he had to drink the foul potion for his sinuses in the first place. Something had to be done to persuade Trioculus to shut down his factory barge, or interplanetary tourists would find other planets that had casinos where they could spend their credits-planets that didn’t have air pollution like the braze of Bespin. Zorba had finished half his brew by the time Tibor came to see him. "I’ve just come from Port Town, Zorba," Tibor said excitedly. "I’ve learned some valuable information from an Imperial spy. Information that’s worth at least five gemstones."

"Two gemstones," Zorba said. He reached into his pouch and tossed two valuable stones at Tibor’s feet, as though they were no more important than glass marbles.

"Thank you, Zorba," Tibor said. "The murderess who killed Jabba the Hutt was taken captive by Trioculus! At this very moment, Princess Leia is a prisoner on the Imperial factory barge!"

Zorba sputtered and spit out a mouthful of brew. This was exciting news.

"If only I had something Trioculus wanted badly," Zorba mused. "Something I could trade for the princess."

"I have an idea that’s worth at least three more gemstones," Tibor offered.

"One more gemstone," Zorba corrected, as he reached into his pouch once again and tossed yet another stone onto the floor.

"Thank you, Zorba," Tibor said. "Here’s my idea. I found out a little while ago that your Cloud Police arrested a boy who’s been traveling with Luke Skywalker-a boy named Ken. Does that call something to mind, Zorba?"

"The Wanted poster in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine!" Zorba exclaimed. "Grand Moff Hissa said Trioculus would pay a generous reward for Ken!"

"Exactly, Zorba," said Tibor, "and what if the reward you demand is Princess Leia!" Zorba laughed with delight. "A-HAW-HAW-HAW! . . ." But then Zorba stopped to think. "But what if this boy named Ken isn’t the Jedi Prince Trioculus wants?" To settle that matter, Ken would have to be questioned. And so Tibor took a message from Zorba to Cloud Police Headquarters, demanding that the boy be surrendered to Tibor so he could bring Ken to Zorba’s penthouse suite.

Upon his arrival Ken was defiant. He threw back his shoulders, crossed his arms, and looked away from Zorba and Tibor.

But old Hutts like Zorba knew a lot about human child psychology. Zorba began the questioning by trying to make Ken feel at home.

"Such a shame a boy like you got into trouble," Zorba began. "Perhaps we can straighten it out. AHEMMM! My throat is so dry. I think I need a glass of imported Bantha milk. Bantha milk and cookies! How does that sound to you, Tibor?" he asked, winking at the bounty hunter.

"Sounds delicious," Tibor said, playing along. "Does it sound delicious to you, too, Ken?" Zorba asked.

Ken considered his situation. Several hours had passed since Han’s party. And he was getting hungry.

"Do you have any candy-flavored buns?" Ken asked. "I’ve always wanted to try them-or sticky sweetmallow?"

"Such a tasty idea! I was just going to suggest that!" Zorba lied. He mumbled something to Tibor, whispering in the bounty hunter’s ear. Then Tibor notified the Holiday Towers room service droids to bring up a tray of Bantha milk, sticky sweetmallow, and candy-flavored buns baked with avabush spice-a powerful truth serum!