Star Wars - When the Domino Falls Read Online Free PDF

heard the Corellian whisper, a note of command in his voice. Before Ransom could stop and reason with him, he snatched his boots from the outer wall and sprinted into the cold dawn. Socorro’s ever intruding sands sucked at his feet, weighing him down as he raced up the face of the dune to the empty landing field beyond the compound. There were no signs of the Miss Chance . Exaggerated by the ascending sun, the desert swells formed false mountain ranges against the stony surface of the planet.
    Breathless, Drake sank to his knees, beating his fists into the sand. Raised on a gentle zephyr, a spray of sand sifted into his eyes, summoning immediate tears. “I won’t let you go!” Drake screamed to the sun. “I won’t let you go,” he cried, surrendering to the embrace of the black sands.
    It was eventide before Drake stirred. Stretched out on the sweltering sand, he lay face down with no shelter or shirt to protect his shoulders and back. His skin burned with intensity, inflamed by Socorro’s unrelenting sun. Gritting his teeth, he endured this selfinduced punishment, a purification meant to burn the guilt from his heart, if not from his mind. Dazed by the extreme heat, the boy sat up, startled to find Nikaede sitting nearby on the dune.
    Perched on the ridge, she seemed no more out of place than the sand, her black pelt blending into the Socorran landscape. Drake rose to his feet, wincing as the burns across his back pulled and twinged with every motion. Walking with deliberate slowness, he moved up the crest, momentarily staring into the Wookiee’s eyes. Close to tears, injured both physically and emotionally, he sat down on the dune beside her.
    Nikaede tipped her head back against her shoulders, howling in a low, mournful voice that echoed within her throat. Growing steadily louder, it was not an unpleasant sound and seemed to linger, reverberating against the dunes and the clear sky.
    “Is that how Wookiees mourn their dead?” Drake asked, intrigued by the bizarre act. He listened intently as Nikaede explained how her people gathered by honor families, howling, wailing, even challenging death, to bring solidarity to the survivors. The grieving boy shrugged against the tightening burns across his shoulders, in silence, he listened to the names of Wookiee uncles and cousins, grandparents and playmates, marking them all in memory, as was the tradition. A little smile forced its way to his lips when the Wookiee howled an odd melody that vaguely resembled his father’s name.
    “Drake!” Ancher called. The Corellian appeared just over the dune crest. Behind him, Tait Ransom stiffly navigated the unsteady ridge of sand, leaving his landspeeder humming nearby on the desert floor. Sullen, the rogue smuggler paused self-consciously, staring into the young Socorran’s face. Abruptly, he took Drake’s hand, pressing a 1,000 credit chit into the boy’s palm. “Before my old man took off for the other side of the galaxy, he put 1,000 credits in my hand and told me to go burn in rancor pit.” He shifted uneasily in the sand. “There was no love lost between us — but that’s the way it usually goes with those of us who run the shadows.”
    Shaking his reckless black mane. Ransom stared into the setting sun, as if gathering his courage. “I learned the runner’s trade from Ancher. Right here on Socorro. I left to make a name for myself, outside the shadow of Kaine Paulsen. Don’t much matter what the untold histories will write about yesterday, today, or tomorrow.” He thrust his hands into his pockets. “I’ll always be second best to him …and you.” Ransom chuckled, clucking the boy on the chin. “I don’t have it in my genes to be the greatest pirate in Socorran history.” He cleared his throat of tears. “They’ll be watching you, Drake. Jabba, Abdi-Badawzi, from Nal Hutta to Tatooine, they’ll have their eyes on you ’cause they want what you’ve got… what your father had. Take that 1,000,