Dark Nest_ The Joiner King Part 32

Luke eased his way into the middle of the knot.

"Enough." The tumult began to quiet, and he said, "This isn't the time for discussion. We're just here to have a look at Cilghal's tests and listen to our Jedi Knights' report."

An embarra.s.sed silence fell over the room as the Masters contemplated their outbursts, then Kyp flushed and dropped his chin. "I let my emotions carry me away. I apologize."

"No need," Corran said, slapping his shoulder. "We were all a little excited."

"Master Skywalker is right," Kyle added. "We're just here to listen."

"You haven't listened to me yet."

Jacen sounded as though he were less than a meter from the group.

But when Luke turned around, he found only the image of his nephew's brain floating above the holopad. Jacen himself remained seated in his relaxi- chair, eyes staring blankly out through the viewing window of his scanning hood.

"Okay, Jacen," Luke said. "We'd be very interested in hearing your report."

The hologram pulsed in a brilliant show of iridescent color, and the alpha line below it quivered in time to a deep, booming voice that was barely recognizable as Jacen's.

"Killiks are dangerous friends, but no one's enemy," the brain said. "The true danger lies not in what the Jedi do, but in their failure to act at all."

The effect was exactly what Jacen had intended. A thoughtful silence descended on the group, and the Masters' gazes turned inward as they searched for the deeper meaning in Jacen's words.

Luke walked over the control panel. "Very funny," he said, switching it off. "Didn't I tell you to stop playing with Cilghal's brain mapper?"

TWENTY-TWO.

Han and Leia were alone in the c.o.c.kpit, sitting together in one chair, watching the opalescent nothingness of hypers.p.a.ce slide silently past. The jump was a long one, and there was no reason for them both to spend it on watch. But the flight deck was the one place on the suddenly crowded Falcon to find some discreet time together, and-after the way things had ended with Jaina - Han was glad they had. Somehow, it helped to know that Leia was as frightened for Jaina as he was-that she, too, was determined to find out what Raynar really had planned for their daughter, to return to Qoribu the minute they could, and to put a stop to it.

"You're in a better mood," Leia said.

"Talking to you, I guess," Han admitted. "How'd you know?"

"The humming. You never hum."

"Humming?" Han frowned. "I'm not humming."

"Really?" Leia c.o.c.ked her head. "It certainly sounds like you are."

Han spun the seat around until he was facing the same direction Leia had been, then he heard it-a faint, undulating purr.

"That's not me." Han jumped up, dumping Leia onto her feet. "It's a coolant line!"

"A coolant line?" Leia slipped into the copilot's chair and began calling up status displays. "What happened to the alarm?"

"Good question." Han turned toward the back of the flight deck and started down the access corridor. "Disengage the hyperdrive and do a slow cool-down. I'll see what I can find out back in systems."

The hum grew steadily louder as Han advanced. By the time he entered the main cabin, it had risen to an irritating drone. He met the rest of his crew and pa.s.sengers coming the other way. Cakhmaim and Meewalh were wide awake, but still pulling on their sleeveless robes.

Alema and Juun were both bleary-eyed and dressed in their sleeping s.h.i.+fts, which, in Alema's case, was considerably more than she wore when she was awake.

C-3PO was also present and, of course, fully alert. "I don't believe I've ever heard the Falcon make a sound quite like this, Captain Solo. What is it?"

"Boiling coolant," Juun said through a yawn. He stretched his arms.

"The hyperdrive must be-" The Weariness vanished from the Sull.u.s.tan's bulbous eyes. "Bloah! The hyperdrive is overheating!"

A loud boom reverberated through the hull as the Falcon executed an emergency drop into reals.p.a.ce. The drone in the coolant lines became a loud, bubbling hiss.

Han pointed at Juun, then jerked a thumb toward the c.o.c.kpit. "Take the navigator's station and get a fix on where we are. Threepio, take the comm station in case we need to send an emergency hail. Everyone else, with me."

Han led the way to the rear of the s.h.i.+p, then opened an access panel and peered in at the contorted tangle of valves and radiation-s.h.i.+elded conduits surrounding the unit itself. There was no need to ask for a thermoscanner to determine which lines were overheated. The lower inside conduit was bulging, glowing pale blue, and banging as if there were a profogg inside. Han activated the lighting and crawled into the sweltering cabinet, then traced the pipe up to the dark nook where it pa.s.sed through the flow regulator. The diverter valve was stuck half closed, but Han could not see what had caused the malfunction-or why the sensor hadn't sounded an alarm.

"Meewalh, get me some burn gloves and a face s.h.i.+eld."

Before he finished asking, the Noghri was pa.s.sing the gloves and face s.h.i.+eld into the cabinet.

As Han donned the equipment, Juun's voice came over the intercom.

"Captain Solo, I haven't identified exactly where we are yet-"

"Well, keep working on it. I'm sure you can figure it out." Han rolled his eyes. "Let me know when you do."

"Of course," Juun said. "But I thought I should report-"

"Look, I'm kind of busy here," Han said. "So unless we're under attack, hold the reports until you're done."

There was a moment of silence, then Juun asked, "Do you want me to wait until we're actually under attack?"

"What?" Han turned, banging the side of his head on a strut.

"Blast! What do you mean, actually?"

"Han, it looks like we're still in Colony territory," Leia said, breaking in. "We've got a swarm of darts.h.i.+ps coming."

"Rodder!" Han nodded the Noghri toward the cannon turrets, then pulled on the second burn glove. "Okay, forget the cool-down. Recalculate the rest of the jump using three-quarter power and go. This shouldn't take long."

"You've found the problem?" Juun's voice was full of awe.

"Already?"

"Even better." Han reached up to the regulator and shut down the damaged coolant line. "I've found a fix."

When Han pulled himself out of the cabinet, Alema was frowning down at him with her lekku crossed over her chest.

"Don't scowl at me," he said. "It gives you wrinkles."

The frown vanished at once. "Are you sure it's necessary to take this kind of risk?" she asked. "Those darts.h.i.+ps are only coming to greet us. Their nest might even be able to help us make repairs."

"First, not all darts.h.i.+ps are friendly." Han pa.s.sed her his face s.h.i.+eld, then pulled off his burn gloves. "Second, Saba can't wait for repairs-and maybe not Luke and Mara, either."

"And third?"

"There is no third."

"There's always a third," Alema said.

"Okay, third." Han pa.s.sed her the burn gloves and, as the Falcon slipped back into hypers.p.a.ce, concluded, "I'm the captain. It's safe if I say it is."

Alema shrank back. "Okay-just asking," she said. "Maybe we should check on Saba."

"You go ahead," Han said, wondering why the Twi'lek thought he was needed to check on the Barabel. Bugs and bug-lovers, he thought, you can't trust either of 'em. He had a sudden image of Jaina and Raynar rubbing forearms and shuddered. He closed the access panel and started forward. "I need to keep an eye on things in the c.o.c.kpit."

Han had barely stepped onto the flight deck when Juun reported, "We have to recalibrate the warp controller. The heat buildup caused a performance spike in the number two nacelle, and we veered off course by seven one-thousandths of a degree."

"We don't have time," Han said. Recalibrating meant days of trial jumps, then he'd have to do it all again when they returned to the Galactic Alliance and repaired the problem. "Just run a compensation program."

"A compensation program?" Juun was aghast. "But procedure mandates recalibration anytime-"

"It also mandates obeying the captain's orders," Han said, slipping into the pilot's seat. "Just run the blasted program."

Juun was silent for a moment, then asked in a subdued voice, "Was the malfunction anything I should account for?"

Han softened. "Good question." He considered for a moment, mentally reviewing the entire coolant system in his mind. An underactive diverter could cause another performance spike, but probably not a closed one-especially not if the hyperdrive remained below maximum power. "I don't think so."

"You don't think so?" Juun repeated. "Didn't you identify the malfunction?"

"Didn't have time," Han said, growing irritated again.

"But if you haven't identified the problem, how can you know it's safe-"

"I know," Han growled. "Now, are you going to stop bothering me and run that program, or do I have to do it myself?"

"I'd advise you to choose the first option," C-3PO said. "When Captain Solo's voice a.s.sumes that tone, he has a nasty habit of tripping primary circuit breakers."

"It's okay, Jae," Leia said. "Han knows what he's doing."

"Oh, I realize that, Princess Leia," Juun replied. "I was only asking because I'd like to understand how Han Solo makes decisions."

"Wouldn't we all?" Leia replied.

Juun ran the compensation program, then they jumped back into hypers.p.a.ce and spent the next quarter hour riding in silence, watching status readouts and listening for the faintest hum in the coolant lines.

Finally, Han felt confident enough to p.r.o.nounce the emergency pa.s.sed. He sent Juun back to tell the others they could return to their bunks, then looked over to find Leia staring raptly into her display, biting her lower lip as she double-checked Juun's compensation parameters against status readouts.

She wore the same enthralled expression she'd often had as New Republic Chief of State, poring over a report on an initiative to feed hungry natives on Gottlegoob, or as Rebel leader studying a cruiser buildup on Farbog. It was a look Han had not seen since the end of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, when the challenge of combat had faded to the drudgery of reconstruction and they had retreated into the Falcon to build a smaller, more private life together.

It was a look Han missed, and one he felt responsible for losing.

As much as he loved having Leia all to himself-finally - he knew she needed more out of life; she would never be happy flying around just having adventures. She needed to be doing important things, putting the galaxy back together and seeing to it that the megaconglomerates did not end up owning everything.

Seeming to feel the weight of his gaze-or perhaps sense it through the Force-Leia looked up from the columns scrolling down her display. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing," Han said. "I was just wondering..." He wanted to say if you were happy, but knew that would sound wrong-it would sound like he was unhappy. "Well, if..."

"Juun's parameters are very complete, if you're worried about that," Leia said. "We're not going to stay in the safety margin - but when do we ever?"

"Yeah," Han said. "That's kind of the point. Do you ever miss our old place back on Coruscant?"

Leia c.o.c.ked her brow and remained silent, studying him like a worrt eyeing a kreetle.

"Having a whole bedroom suite to ourselves, and a real kitchen where we could cook real dinners?"

"That apartment is gone-along with everything else we might remember about that planet." Leia made a point of not looking at Han.

"And I don't recall you doing much cooking."

"That doesn't mean I didn't like the food," he said. "And we could get another place. With the Reconstruction Authority trying to move the seat of government back-"

"What's this talk about moving into an apartment?" Leia asked. "I thought you loved living on the Falcon."

"I do," Han said. "But there's more to life than being happy!"

Leia frowned. "Han, you're starting to sound confused. Have you been seeing color flashes? Feeling dizzy? Having trouble hear-"

"I'm not having a stroke," Han interrupted. "I'm fine."

"Good." Leia returned to her status display. "So am I."

"And I'm not old," Han said.

"Did I say you were?"

Han activated his own display and went to work running sensor tests, trying to locate the fault that had prevented the safety system from detecting the coolant problem before it grew critical. An hour later, he had determined that all of the sensors on the coolant line were stuck at the optimum readings. It took another hour to determine that the number one nacelle readings were being repeated on the number two status bar. By itself, either malfunction was dangerous; together, they could prove catastrophic.

"I don't know where we serviced the hyperdrive last time," Han said, "but the next time we're in the neighborhood, remind me to send them a concussion missile."

"Bad coolant?" Leia asked. Corrosive impurities were the cause of most coolant problems.

"Yeah, and that's not all," Han said. "Some short circuit ran a double status feed from the number two nacelle."

"Really?" Leia grew thoughtful. "I wonder what the chances of making those two mistakes are."