Star Wars - Han Solo and the Lost Legacy by Brian Daley Read Free Book Online Page A

first mate.
    Smoke from the hood now roiled more thickly. The Wookiee spun the steering-grip yoke, veering and putting an enormous robo-freighthauler between the coach and the limo. Another needlebeam, missing them, burned across the freighthauler’s rear end. The last view Han had of the limo was of its driver trying to maneuver for another clear shot. He shouted to Chewbacca, “Pump your braking thrusters!” The Wookiee did so without question, accustomed to his friend’s mad inspirations. When the freighthauler outstripped the coach, they found themselves even with the limo.
    The surprised rifleman started to bring his weapon up, but Han fired first. The marksman, clutching his smoldering forearm, dropped back through the sunroof. Han’s second shot blew out a piece of the limo’s door. Two or three beings were trying to elbow their way up through the sunroof to set up a rocket launcher. If they couldn’t stop the coach, they’d settle for blowing it all over the landscape.
    Han felt the coach surge and looked around. Directly in front of them was the freighthauler, its long rear gate bouncing on the road. Its bed was half empty, a pile of construction rubble heaped against the front wall. An overpass loomed in the distance; Han quickly grasped his first mate’s plan, holstered his weapon, and clung to Badure and Hasti for his life.
    The coach jumped up the hanging rear gate, engine pouring black smoke, auxiliary thrusters overloading. Chewbacca pumped braking thrusters once to time his maneuver, then hit full power and the front-lift thrusters designed to help the coach negotiate low obstacles. The coach shot up the pile of rubble at the front of the cargo bed and soared into the air, the Wookiee plying his controls frantically.
    Then the overpass was beneath them, and through some miracle it was unoccupied just then. The coach hit with an impact that collapsed its shock-absorption system, burned out its power routing, broke all the remaining lanterns, and shattered the cab windows. It slid, then ground to a haltagainst the overpass sidewall, crumpling its hood and popping its doors.
    Coughing, Han and his first mate pulled Hasti and Badure from the wreckage. The black limo was already far down the road, forced along by the flow of traffic. Chewbacca, surveying the demolished groundcoach sorrowfully, sniffled and moaned to himself.
    Wiping her eyes and choking, Hasti wanted to know: “Who ever told you two morons you could drive?” Then, noticing Chewbacca’s gloomy look, asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
    “He figures he’ll have a hard time getting his deposit back,” Han explained.
    Police groundcruisers and aircraft, converging under Traffic Control’s direction, were already beginning to gather farther down the highway. Since Chewbacca had elected to leave the road in a unique manner, it would probably take the local authorities some time to piece together what had happened.

V
    “QUIET down and sit still.” Han took a firmer grip on his first mate’s head.
    The Wookiee, seated in a rump-sprung, sweat-stained acceleration chair in the
Millennium Falcon
’s forward compartment, stopped squirming but couldn’t stifle his whimpers. He knew his neck injury had to be tended right away. Han, standing behind him, shuffling for a better stance, held his friend’s chin clamped in one elbow. He pushed the palm of his hand against the Wookiee’s skull.
    “How many times have I done this now? Stop complaining!” Han began to apply pressure again, twisting Chewbacca’s head up and to the left. The Wookiee dutifully fought the urge to rise, crimping his long fingers on the arms of the acceleration chair.
    Meeting resistance, Han drew a deep breath and, without warning, yanked the thick-maned skull with all his might. There was a cracking and popping; Chewbacca yipped and snuffled pitifully. But when Han ruffled his friend’s fur compassionately and stepped back, the Wookiee rubbed his neck and moved