Star Wars: Dark Nest 2: The Unseen Queen by Troy Denning

Author:Troy Denning
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Star Wars, Video Game Adaptations, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Movie Tie-Ins, Movie, Space Opera, Fantasy, TV, Adventure, Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction, Genre Fiction
ISBN: 034546303X
Publisher: LucasBooks
Published: 2006-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

As the silver whorl of the Tusken’s Eye swelled steadily in the forward viewport, Luke began to feel a cold ache in the pit of his stomach, a growing sense that he was being studied. He glanced casually around the DR919a’s flight deck and found his companions intent on their work, Juun holding the control yoke firmly in both hands, Tarfang taking sensor readings and calculating hazard locations, Han studying the vessel’s main power-supply grid and muttering to himself in disgust. Whoever was watching him, it wasn’t any of his companions.

“Captain Juun, what did you do with those replicas you had before you came for Han and me?” Luke was sitting cross-legged on the floor, assembling his spare lightsaber from components he kept hidden inside R2-D2. “Are they still aboard?”

Juun shook his head. “I thought the assassin bugs might interfere with your escape.” He kept his eyes fixed forward as he spoke. “So I had Tarfang drop the entire cargo in the marsh.”

“I was afraid of that,” Luke said.

“I could have kept them?” Juun gasped.

“No way,” Han said, looking up from his work on the power grid. “Dumping those bug houses is the first smart thing you’ve done in this mess.”

Tarfang jabbered at Han.

“How unusual!” C-3PO said. “Tarfang agrees with you. He says their first mistake was helping us escape the rehab house. They would have been much better off leaving you and Master Skywalker to be Fizzed.”

Tarfang chuttered an addendum.

“Oh dear—he says you also owe the Squibs a million credits,” C-3PO said. “Captain Juun incurred the nondelivery penalty on your behalf.”

“Fine. Tell ’em to put it on my account,” Han said. He turned back to Luke. “So what’s wrong with dumping the cargo?”

“Nothing. It just means the replicas aren’t what I’m feeling.” Luke still had the cold knot in his stomach, an ache that did not quite rise to the level of danger sense. “Someone’s watching us.”

Tarfang jabbered in Luke’s direction.

“Of course someone is watching,” C-3PO translated. “We’re in pirate space.”

“Not that kind of watching,” Han said. “I think he means through the Force.”

Juun’s face fell. “The Dark Nest?”

“That’s my bet,” Han answered.

“They know we’re coming?” Juun’s alarm began to fill the Force. “The DR-Nine-one-nine-a isn’t equipped for combat. Maybe we should turn around.”

“Not yet.” Luke looked out the forward viewport, where the silver whorl of the Tusken’s Eye was shining so brightly that it really was beginning to look like the goggled eye of a Tusken Raider. “The Dark Nest may know we’re here, but we still haven’t found them.”

Tarfang barked a sharp reply.

“Tarfang says if anything happens to the DR-Nine-one-nine-a, you’re paying for repairs,” C-3PO said.

“Not a problem,” Luke said.

“If there’s anything left to repair,” Han muttered, turning back to the main power-supply grid. “These shields couldn’t stop a micrometeor.”

“I’ll see if I can improve our chances,” Luke said.

He reached out in the Force and immediately felt the crew of a sizable spacecraft closing fast from somewhere ahead. The DR919a was just entering the inner wall of the nebula shell, where a miasma of glowing gas and dark dust limited visibility to almost nothing.

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