Recovery Read Online Free PDF Page B

glitches as he encountered some of the
Falcon
’s modifications, but Leia could tell by Han’s patience how impressed he was. She tried not to be jealous.
    They were within thirty seconds of launch when the inevitable glitch finally came.
    â€œThe ramp light’s still on.” Han pointed at a panel on the Arcona’s side of the cockpit. “That should have been checked off a minute ago.”
    â€œI thought I had.”
    The Arcona hit the reset. The light blinked off, then instantly relit.
    Han cursed, then activated the intercom. “Threepio, I think the ramp’s stuck again. Give it a check.”
    No acknowledgment came.
    â€œThreepio?”
    Han cursed. Leia began to unclamp her chair.
    â€œNo, I’ll go.” The Arcona unbuckled his harness and rose. “You shouldn’t be back there alone. This could be trouble.”
    â€œThanks.” Han unbuckled his crash webbing and loosened his blaster, then turned to Leia and said, “I’m glad you’re up here.”
    Leia smiled. “Me, too.”
    They waited in silence for nearly a minute before the ramp light finally went out and the Arcona returned.
    â€œIt was just stuck,” he said. “I banged the control panel, and it came up the rest of the way.”
    â€œAlways works for me,” Han said, starting the repulsor drives.
    â€œWhat about Threepio?” Leia asked. She had an uneasy feeling—not danger sense, but of something that was not quite right. “Why didn’t he answer?”
    â€œI think he crossed some feeds connecting the bacta tank to the medical bank.” The Arcona slipped smoothly back into his seat. “His circuit breaker was tripped. I reset it.”
    â€œThat’s a new one.” Han shook his head, then opened a channel to the spaceport traffic center. “Control, this is
Shadow Bird
requesting launch clearance.”
    Shadow Bird
was the name under which they had berthed the
Falcon
.
    â€œNegative,
Shadow Bird,
” came the reply. “Stand by.”
    Han closed the channel. “What now?”
    He activated the external security monitors, and they all waited in tense silence, expecting to see a CorSec boarding party or mob of bounty hunters come rushing out of the access locks.
    A few moments later, Control’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Corellian Security informs us there is no such vessel as
Shadow Bird
.” The message came over an open channel. “However, the
Millennium Falcon
is cleared for immediate departure.”
    â€œAcknowledged.” Han wasted no time engaging the repulsor drives and leaving the docking bay; someone had just made certain that every ship within a hundred thousand kilometers would know which vessel they were. “And check that CorSec agent’s pockets. I saw him stealing a datapad.
Falcon
out.”

Chapter 4
    The park-checkered city of Coronet had barely receded beneath the
Falcon
’s tail when Han swung south over the sea and slammed the ion throttles full forward, beginning a long arcing climb that would carry them over the pole to the opposite side of the planet. The comm speaker quickly erupted into vitriolic curses as Corellian Control protested both the unlawful trajectory and the over-city shock wave, but Han ignored the impoundment threats and disengaged the nacelle melt-safeties. After the send-off CorSec had given them, flying a standard launch pattern would be about as safe as jumping into a Sarlacc’s pit.
    The Arcona’s golden eyes remained fixed on the temperature readouts. “I thought you had experience at this sort of thing.” Because of the difficulty his compound eyes had making out distinct shapes, he was wearing a small optical scanner that read the display data and fed it into an earpiece in auditory form. “Every rookie smuggler in the galaxy knows you can’t outrun a ship in orbit. They’ll cut you off every time.”
    â€œYou