星球大战第二部第二章(5)
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"Mistress Leia has been trying to reach you on the communicator," Threepio informed him. "It must be malfunctioning." But Han knew that it was not. "I shut it off," he said sharply as he continued to work on his ship. "What does her royal holiness want?" Threepio’s auditory sensors identified the disdain in Han’s voice but did not understand it. The robot mimicked a human gesture as he added, "She is looking for Master Luke and assumed he would be here with you. No one seems to know—" "Luke’s not back yet?" Immediately Han became concerned. He could see that the sky beyond the ice cavern entrance had grown considerably darker since he and Chewbacca had begun to repair the Millennium Falcon. Han knew just how severely the temperatures dropped on the surface after nightfall and how deadly the winds could be. In a flash he jumped off the Falcon’s lift, not even looking back toward the Wookiee. "Bolt it down, Chewie. Officer of the Deck!" Han yelled, then brought his comlink to his mouth and asked, "Security Control, has Commander Skywalker reported in yet?" A negative reply brought a scowl to Han’s face. The deck sergeant and his aide hurried up to Solo in response to his summons. "Is Commander Skywalker back yet?" Han asked, tension in his voice. "I haven’t seen him," the deck sergeant replied. "It’s possible he came in through the south entrance." "Check on it!" Solo snapped, though he was not in an official position to give commands. "It’s urgent." As the deck sergeant and his aide turned and rushed down the corridor, Artoo emitted a concerned whistle that rose inquiringly in pitch. "I don’t know, Artoo," Threepio answered, stiffly turning his upper torso and head in Han’s direction. "Sir, might I inquire what’s going on?" Anger welled up inside Han as he grunted back at the robot, "Go tell your precious princess that Luke is dead unless he shows up soon." Artoo began to whistle hysterically at Solo’s grim prediction and his now-frightened golden partner exclaimed, "Oh, no!" The main tunnel was filled with activity when Han Solo rushed in. he saw a pair of Rebel troopers employing all their physical strength to restrain a nervous Tauntaun that was trying to break free. From the opposite end, the deck officer rushed into the corridor, his eyes darting around the chamber until he had spotted Han. "Sir," he said frantically, "Commander Skywalker hasn’t come through the south entrance. He might have forgotten to check in." "Not likely," Han snapped. "Are the speeders ready?" "Not yet," the deck officer answered. "Adapting them to the cold is proving difficult. Maybe by morning—" Han cut him off. There wasn’t any time to waste on machines that could and probably would break down. "We’ll have to go out on Tauntauns. I’ll take sector four." "The temperature is falling too rapidly." "You bet it is," Han growled, "and Luke’s out in it." The other officer volunteered, "I’ll cover sector twelve. Have control set screen alpha." But Han knew there was no time for control to get its surveillance cameras operating, not with Luke probably dying somewhere on the desolate plains above. He pushed his way through the assemblage of Rebel troops and took the reins of one of the trained Tauntauns, leaping onto the creature’s back. "The night storms will start before any of you can reach the first marker," the deck officer warned. "Then I’ll see you in hell," grunted Han, tugging the reins of his mount and maneuvering the animal out of the cave. |
