[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

exit. "All right, so what do we do, Halla? I agree... we have to have
transportation. But that armed crawler happens to be full of
Imperial troops."
Halla studied the vehicle. "Its upper port is wide open... big enough for two
men. I can see two... no, one trooper with his head exposed. Probably giving
information to those below." The head disappeared. "He's gone now. We should
get in the branches hanging over it."
"Then what?" the Princess asked. "We jump inside?"
"Listen," the old woman protested, "I can't think of everything, can I? I
don't know... drop an antipersonnel charge down them, or something!"
"Wonderful," the Princess quipped. She looked from Halla to Luke. "Now if one
of you two magicians will use the Force to conjure up a convenient canister of
explosive, I'll volunteer to do the dropping."
She folded her arms, gazed questioningly at them. "Personally, I think I'm
pretty safe in volunteering.
Luke?" He wasn't looking at her. "We don't have any explosives, true, but we
have something close."
She turned, saw what he was staring at, and found she had to agree....
The Imperial sergeant had been fortunate to escape the underground ambush with
his life, and he knew it. If he'd had any voice in the matter he never would
have led his men beneath the surface. On
Mimban, he was acutely uncomfortable whenever he had to leave the relative
familiarity of the towns and venture out into the bog-ridden countryside.
It had been a terrible battle, terrible. They'd been overwhelmed and nearly
wiped out to the last trooper. So many things had gone wrong.
The outcome of the engagement was decided in the first few minutes, when total
surprise had belonged to the enemy. Even when it had dawned on the detachment
that they were under attack, they still hadn't responded in the fashion
Imperial troops were famous for.
There was no blaming the men, really. They were so accustomed to dealing with
the subservient, pacific greenies that the concept of a fighting Mimbanite was
unbelievable to most of them. They'd proven unprepared to cope with the
reality.
Now, as he stared out the foreport at the ominous mouth of the cavern he'd
retreated from with the rest of the survivors, he feasted on a single thought.
If he knew the Captain-Supervisor at all, then as soon as he and the Dark Lord
Vader returned from their journey, a retaliatory force would be organized.
They would return here with heavy weapons, he mused grimly, and roast that
cavern until every native
file:///G|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Alan%20D...0-%20Splinter%20of%20the%20Mind
's%20Eye.html (112 of 128) [2/9/2004 10:37:51 PM]
Splinter Of The Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster male, woman and infant had been
reduced to ashes.
Idly, he wondered where Grammel and the Dark Lord had taken themselves so
hastily, and shuddered.
Page 98
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
He had no desire to accompany that tall, black-armored spectral shape anywhere
whatsoever. He preferred to speculate on the forthcoming massacre that would
take place in the native warrens below.
That favorable mental image mitigated his usually brusque call to the man
posted in the open turret above.
The trooper heard the sergeant's order, turned to call downward that he saw
nothing. It was an honest answer, the last one the trooper ever made. In
glancing down into the armored crawler he failed to see the bomb that fell
from the large tree branch overhead.
A little over a meter and a half tall, the bomb was covered with short,
bristly fur. It exploded on top of the trooper and yanked him clear of the
turret. That left the opening clear for a second bipedal projectile to drop
from the mist-enshrouded tree into the vehicle. It too erupted inside the
personnel area.
Luke, the 'droids, Halla and the Princess watched from nearby, concealed by
thick growth. There was a dull rumble as the crawler started moving. A great
deal of shouting and screaming, muffled by metal and distance, came from
within.
Halla sounded worried. "They're taking longer than I thought, Luke boy. Are
you sure of this?"
Luke threw her a confident glance before turning his attention back to the
crawler, which was now traveling in erratic curves and circles. "It was all I
could think of," he declared. "In several ways this, if it works, is better
than using an explosive. For one thing, we won't damage any of the crawler's
instruments. No human can stand up to a Yuzzem in close quarters. Two Yuzzem
in a confined space like that," and he indicated the fitfully twisting
vehicle, "ought to be irresistible."
Several seconds later, the crawler turned sharply to its right. Still
traveling slowly, it slammed into a huge pseudo-cypress. A thick limb fell
from the shaken tree. It struck the crawler with a metallic bong, tumbled to
the earth.
Silence then. The crawler's engine whined, faded, finally stopped. After a few
anxious moments Hin emerged from the turret opening, straining at the tight
fit, and waved to them.
"They did it," Luke observed with quiet excitement. The three observers left
their place of concealment in the underbrush and hurried across the
ground-bog. Broad, hairy hands extended to help them up the metal sides.
Hin grunted something to Luke, who nodded solemnly and turned away.
"What is it?" the Princess inquired impatiently. "Why can't we go inside?" She
glanced nervously at the silent, surrounding vegetation. "There might be a few
stragglers hiding out there."
"I don't think so," Luke disagreed. "Hin suggests we look some other way while
he and Kee clean out the crawler."
"What for?" she demanded to know. "I've seen all kinds of death and plenty
recently."
As she spoke, Hin reached down and took the first bits of what remained of the
crawler's crew, rose
file:///G|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Alan%20D...0-%20Splinter%20of%20the%20Mind
's%20Eye.html (113 of 128) [2/9/2004 10:37:51 PM]
Splinter Of The Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster and chucked the double handful
over the side. It lay moist and glistening on the damp ground.
The Princess' face became slightly paler and she turned away to join Luke in
contemplating the nearby trees. Several minutes later the ghastly cleanup was
finished. They all dropped down into the crawler.
Even with two Yuzzem, they weren't crowded. The crawler was designed to carry
ten fully armored troops. Less comforting was Luke's first inspection of the
control panel. It was more complex than that of an X-wing fighter.
"Can you drive this?" Luke asked Halla, bewildered.
Page 99
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]