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answer, the last one the trooper ever made. In glancing down into the armored crawler he failed to see
the bomb that fell from the large tree branch overhead.
A little over a meter and a half tall, the bomb was covered with short, bristly fur. It exploded on top of
the trooper and yanked him clear of the turret. That left the opening clear for a second bipedal projectile
to drop from the mist-enshrouded tree into the vehicle. It too erupted inside the personnel area.
Luke, the 'droids, Halla and the Princess watched from nearby, concealed by thick growth. There was a
dull rumble as the crawler started moving. A great deal of shouting and screaming, muffled by metal and
distance, came from within.
Halla sounded worried. "They're taking longer than I thought, Luke boy. Are you sure of this?"
Luke threw her a confident glance before turning his attention back to the crawler, which was now
traveling in erratic curves and circles. "It was all I could think of," he declared. "In several ways this, if it
works, is better than using an explosive. For one thing, we won't damage any of the crawler's
instruments. No human can stand up to a Yuzzem in close quarters. Two Yuzzem in a confined space like
that," and he indicated the fitfully twisting vehicle, "ought to be irresistible."
Several seconds later, the crawler turned sharply to its right. Still traveling slowly, it slammed into a huge
pseudo-cypress. A thick limb fell from the shaken tree. It struck the crawler with a metallic bong,
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tumbled to the earth.
Silence then. The crawler's engine whined, faded, finally stopped. After a few anxious moments Hin
emerged from the turret opening, straining at the tight fit, and waved to them.
"They did it," Luke observed with quiet excitement. The three observers left their place of concealment
in the underbrush and hurried across the ground-bog. Broad, hairy hands extended to help them up the
metal sides.
Hin grunted something to Luke, who nodded solemnly and turned away.
"What is it?" the Princess inquired impatiently. "Why can't we go inside?" She glanced nervously at the
silent, surrounding vegetation. "There might be a few stragglers hiding out there."
"I don't think so," Luke disagreed. "Hin suggests we look some other way while he and Kee clean out
the crawler."
"What for?" she demanded to know. "I've seen all kinds of death and plenty recently."
As she spoke, Hin reached down and took the first bits of what remained of the crawler's crew, rose
and chucked the double handful over the side. It lay moist and glistening on the damp ground.
The Princess' face became slightly paler and she turned away to join Luke in contemplating the nearby
trees. Several minutes later the ghastly cleanup was finished. They all dropped down into the crawler.
Even with two Yuzzem, they weren't crowded. The crawler was designed to carry ten fully armored
troops. Less comforting was Luke's first inspection of the control panel. It was more complex than that of
an X-wing fighter.
"Can you drive this?" Luke asked Halla, bewildered.
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She grinned as she slid into the driver's seat, ignoring the stains on the padding. "Why, Luke boy, I can
operate any hunk of machine on this world." She bent forward, studied the instrumentation and touched
something on the rim of the driver's wheel.
The engine roared, lights flickered, and the crawler promptly shot full-speed-backward to crash into a
pair of entwined trees. There was a violent crackling noise and then two thunderous, reverberating
booms as both boles fell on top of the idling vehicle.
When Luke's ears stopped ringing he shot Halla an accusing stare. She smiled wanly back at him. "Of
course," she explained a mite lamely, "that's not to say a little practice wouldn't smooth our ride."
Once more she examined the controls, pursed her lips studiously. "Let's see now... there, that's what I
missed!" Again she activated switches and buttons before touching the control on the wheel's rim.
Moving in spasmodic jerks and stops, jumps and lunges, the crawler slid off into the mists. Save the
pilot, all other occupants of the vehicle clung to something inflexible. Luke wondered if the trees ahead
were as nervous as he was....
* * *
"I'm sorry, my Lord, most sorry I am." Captain-Supervisor Grammel looked up at Darth Vader from
where he sat on one of the open benches of the big troop carrier. "Who was to guess they were so well
armed, or that the underground abos would put up such a battle?"
"The weapons were of small consequence," Vader growled profoundly. "A few guns, all in the hands of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]