Star Wars - When the Domino Falls Read Online Free PDF Page A

director bowed deeply. “Clear skies, gentlemen and lady.” His shadow played against an adjoining corridor wall, then vanished in the darkness beyond the access tunnel.
    “Come on!” Ransom hollered. An ominous Corellian gunship sat moored at the dock, locked tight and sealed for departure, except for the cargo bay. Sprinting up the ramp, Drake tripped and slid across the polished floor as the pressurized seal began to close.
    “Go, go!” Ransom screamed as the boy recovered. Bracing themselves across the interior hull wall, the fugitives struggled against the turbulence of the gunship’s sudden liftoff.
    “Where to, Boss?” Rusty’s voice echoed in the empty cavern of the cargo bay.
    “Socorro!” Ransom screamed over the wail of modified ion drives. The cargo deck plates rumbled violently beneath him as the gunship shifted to the side. “Rusty, what’s the update on traffic?”
    “Seth arranged for a small diversion on the other side of the planet.” The co-pilot’s disembodied voice snorted mirthfully over the comm. “We have a free ride.”
    Exhausted, Ransom slid to the floor, holding his head between his arms and knees. “Yhew!” he exclaimed. “This ought to put a hefty price on all our heads.” Turning to Drake, he ruffled the boy’s hair. “Congratulations, kid, you just made the billboards.”

    Beneath the shrewd, cloudless skies of his beloved Socorro, curled beneath his favorite woolen blanket, Drake shivered in the cold air blasting from the circulation vents. A drowsy smile curled over his lips as he lay against the pillows, reliving those exciting moments in the cluttered confines of his mind. Exhausted, he stretched beneath the warmth of his comforters, savoring the grainy sensation of Socorran sand between his toes. Nearby, he heard Nikaede’s gentle snores and he sighed, wondering what new adventures tomorrow would bring for him and the overly sensitive Wookiee.
    Momentarily startled, the young Socorran was fully awakened by Tait Ransom’s charismatic voice, echoing from the main sitting area beyond his bedroom. Fumbling through the darkness, he stumbled over the sleeping Wookiee. Nikaede yawned, exposing a mouthful of glistening fangs. Rolling to her side, she embraced the bowcaster protectively against her chest and fell back to sleep. Relieved, Drake tiptoed to the wall, easing into the shadows. As his consciousness sharpened, he focused on the whispered voices and heard his name, his father, and something about the Miss Chance .
    “Are you sure. Tait?” Ancher groaned.
    “I’m telling you, Ancher, as soon as we broke from hyperspace, we picked up his signal and followed it into the asteroid belt.” Ransom growled irritably, forcing the words from his throat. “We kept getting closer and closer, until finally we were sitting right on top of the signal.”
    “He was hiding then,” the old guard argued. “Some of those asteroids are enormous. You might have been sitting right on top of him.”
    “We were sitting on top of him. Ancher.” Ransom slumped into a nearby chair, cradling his head beneath his knees. “On top and right in the middle. There wasn’t much left.” Distraught, he sat up, unable to shake the images of the gutted freighter, drifting through the erratic course of the asteroid belt.
    Ancher closed his eyes, guarded against tears. “I told him not to go. Warned him there’d be trouble.”
    “What about the boy, Ancher?” Tait whispered.
    “Drake?” Ancher gasped. Firmly shaking his head, he blurted. “I can’t tell him. I … I wouldn’t know what to say.”
    Drake felt his heart clench, his chest tightening beneath his hands. “You don’t have to say anything. Ancher,” the young Socorran whispered. Forcing a breath into his lungs, he walked into the main room.
    “Drake,” Ancher cried. “I don’t know … sorry isn’t enough, boy.”
    Numb, Drake moved into the inner antechamber, avoiding Ransom’s intense gaze.
    “Drake,” he