Planet of Twilight (by Barbara Hambley)

Author:Star Wars [Wars, Star]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-07-24T23:19:02.466000+00:00

She tried to remember what she'd learned about synthdroids from her one tour

of the Loronar Corporation facility on Carosi's larger moon. That had been

during the Daysong uproar about the relative

rights of synthflesh. Synthflesh, Leia recalled, was supposed to retain

automatic immunities to virus and antibodies, but obviously they'd gotten

around that one. She did remember the officials of Loronar telling her that

CCIR technology operated on near-instantaneous transmission between a

special variety of programmable-matrix crystals.

Was that an intrinsic part of the plan, she wondered, or just a convenience?

Leia returned to the computer. Every second she remained in this room

increased the likelihood of encountering Dzym, or Liegeus, or Beldorion, but

this might be the only chance she had. It was hard to know what else she

might need. She ran a compressed print of a Corevide scan on the names she

had overheard Dymurra. Getelles.

Reliant. When it was over she copied the information to a wafer, shoved both

the wafer and the formidable sheaf of flimsiplast into the thigh pockets of

her trousers, and replaced the plast in the printer with fresh so that it

would not be obvious that some two hundred sheets had been printed out.

Heart beating hard enough to sicken her, she closed her eyes again, probing

at the stillness of the house.

She heard nothing, but she wasn't sure if she was doing this right or not.

If she'd had more training--if she'd concentrated more on it--could she have

reached through this strange, heavy miasma of the Force to summon Luke.

That way lay despair, and she shook the thought away.

She studied her first printout of the wiring schematic again, identifying

the lift shaft, the stairway that wound down its side. By overlaying the

schematic of the backup systems, she could easily identify the room that

contained both the CCIR terminal, and the main computer station The room

where she now stood.

Through that door. Down another flight of steps to a round reception area

that contained nothing more important than an enormous light sculpture and a

couple of artificial waterfalls. The lift doors opened there, as did the

access hatch for the maintenance stairs.

She glanced over her shoulder at the wide transparisteel panels leading onto

the terrace, aware of how secure the light made her feel, how safe. As she

headed toward the reception area, the doors to the lift and the access

stairs, she found herself hoping that the room would have transparisteel.

It didn't. It was dark, save for the flamboyant rainbows of the light

sculpture, whose colored patterns twinkled and flashed in the murmuring

waterfalls, half-seen in the gloom. It stank of drochs and Hutt, and Leia

dared not touch what she thought were the glow panels, for fear of

activating something that would reveal to others where she was.

Picking her way between the pale mushroom shapes of cushioned furniture

years unused, by the dim reflections of the light sculpture, she thought,

The stairs will be unlit.

She pulled her shirt out of the waistband of her trousers, fumbled

underneath to untie the lightsaber from around her body. The cold laser

blade didn't give much light, but at least, she thought, it was better than

groping downward in utter dark.

"True

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