“We have no choice, then,” Han says. “We’ll drop out of hyperspace tomorrow and turn toward Shador.” A moment later, he asks, “Leia Organa really is Alfreda Goot, isn’t she? I’d hate to lose this race if it endangered Leia.”
Sodarra nods and sighs. “Trust me; you are making the wisest decision for all. If you will excuse me, I will break the news to my men.”
The commander leaves the cockpit and goes back to the cabin lounge. Han remains in the pilot’s seat and stares at the vast emptiness ahead. Sodarra’s hesitation does not make sense. He is certain that the Falcon’s Quadex Power Core can energize any cloaking device worth of the modifier “compact.” Perhaps the ex-Imperial fears that Han, being a smuggler, will find the cloaking decide too useful to sell. He has a point.
Four hours later, Chewbacca enters the cockpit and reports that he has found nothing wrong with the programs. The Wookiee nearly roars with frustration.
“Forget it for now,” Han says. “We have a few days to fix it. Let’s go back to the cargo hold. There’s something I want to hook up.”
The Corellian climbs back to the cockpit access corridor, then peers down the main access corridor into the cabin lounge. Sodarra and his stormtroopers are engaged in quiet conversation. Only the Captain faces the exposed portion of the corridor, and his attention is on his men. Han signals Chewbacca to keep quiet. The Wookiee looks puzzled, but nods his head. Sodarra would surely be angry if he caught them snooping around the cloaking device. Han prefers to delay the confrontation until after the device is attached it will be less likely to grow violent.
They sneak quickly down the walkway to the cargo bay bulkhead. The door squeaks as the pilot opens it. He curses himself for not paying more attention to non-functional maintenance. Chewbacca follows him into the bay, then Han closes the door and activates the ceiling illumination.
A black plasteel crate, nearly four meters high and five meters wide, sits in the middle of the hold. A long seam runs down its middle. The latches have no security locks.
Han releases the latches and the seam cracks open. A large black ball rests inside. Chewie grabs one side of the crate and pulls. The seam opens to a width of a meter. The ball is a TIE fighter cockpit!
Han whistles in astonishment. “If a TIE can power the cloaker, then the Falcon can!”
Chewbacca opens the crate further and steps inside.
“Can we hook it into our power core?” Han asks.
The Wookiee mutters a response. He sounds nervous.
“Too bad,” the pilot says. “Smuggler’s luck. Maybe we can sell it to the Alliance. This prototype ought to be worth a fortune.”
A loud thump resounds from the crate. Chewie’s arm flops onto the floor.
“Chewbacca!”
The arm remains limp. Han kneels and feels a rapid, weak pulse. Grunting with effort, he pulls the Wookiee out of the crate. Chewbacca is out cold, though he shows no sign of physical injury.
The Corellian draws his blaster and steps inside. The hair on his neck bristles with – is it anticipation or fear? It is dark inside, though some light slips into the crate via the opened seam. He circles the cockpit; nothing unusual. Han climbs onto one of the shortened support pylons and peers inside.
A man sleeps in the pilot’s seat. The smuggler presses his face against the viewport. He sees the shape of a head – no, a helmet. A broad neck guard flares from the back of the brim and frames what Han cannot yet see of the face. He wants to say the armored hem is black, but that is not quite correct. An aura of blackness hangs about the helmet, defying the ceiling illuminators to shed light on this particular head.
Han continues to stand on the pylon. A breathing screen hides teh face from view. Like the helmet, the screen is completely dark. It is a grotesque parody of a face. Where there should be eyes, there are two hollows. A terrible darkness looks out from those soulless holes.
There should be a nose. Instead, a flat circular area suggests a grotesque deformity. Below that protrudes a triangular filter resembling nothing quite so much as a grinning mouthful of fangs.
Unaccountably, the pilot trembles. “Vader!” he whispers. The air seems suddenly stifling and foul, as if the essence of evil has penetrated the cockpit’s airtight seals and is seeping into the close confines of the plasteel box.
Han stumbles out of the crate, pale and gagging. He feels afraid in a way he has never known fear. But his body is reacting to more than fear – he feels polluted, as if standing that close to the Dark Lord has covered him with a film of corruption.
Chewbacca twitches and moans as if suffering a terrible nightmare. Han shakes his shoulder. “Wake up!”
Chewbacca growls without opening his eyes. The growl is not ferocious – it is pitiful.
Han shakes harder. “Chewbacca, snap out of it!”
Chewbacca bellows and sits up straight. He flings Han across the room, then opens his eyes. Han realizes then that he has never before seen true, mortal terror in the Wookiee’s expression.
“Ooooggggggh,” Chewbacca moans.
“It’s okay,” the pilot says, standing. “Vader’s unconscious – or something. We’ve got to get rid of him.”
They discuss their options, and finally decide to attach a chrono-fused bomb to the cockpit. Darth Vader, as far as they are concerned, practices the blackest arts. Without understanding the reason, Han knows that opening the cockpit and blasting the dormant figure would be foolish to the point of suicide. No they have to destroy Vader without waking him – while his dark powers sleep with him.
After they enter normal space, Chewbacca will get the drop on the Imperial captain and his men. Han will evacuate the cargo hold, then trigger the chrono-fuse. A few minutes later, the bomb will destroy the cockpit and Vader with it. They will dump Sodarra and his “deserters,” then head for Tatooine to meet Leia.
Chewie takes Han’s cronometer and goes out the port side bulkhead to the engineering station. The pilot nervously paces the hold, expecting Sodarra to charge into the bay at any moment.
Twenty minutes later, the Wookiee returns with the bomb and Han’s chronometer. To trigger the bomb, Han simply has to enter the fuse delay on his chronometer, then activate it. The Corellian relaxes a little. They’ll be heroes again.
“Wait until Leia hears about this.”
Chewbacca grunts a response.
“You’re right,” Han says. “She’ll think we’re just making excuses for losing the race. Get the holocorder!”
“Urrgh?”
“So we can prove we destroyed Darth Vader!” the pilot says. “Leia will be unbearable if she thinks she beat me in a fair race!”
Chewbacca moans in bewilderment and goes to get the holocorder. Han plants the bomb on the back of the cockpit, then awaits Chewbacca’s return. A few minutes later, the starboard bulkhead door opens.
Sodarra stands in the doorway, two stormtroopers at his back. Each holds a blaster rifle trained on Han.
The smuggler looks at the blaster rifles, then at the crate, then back to Sodarra. “This isn’t a cloaking device,” he says accusingly.
Sodarra smiles. “No, it is not. And we are hardly deserters. Perhaps you would have been wiser not to discover the truth.”
“What is the truth?” Han demands.
The Imperial officer motions Han back. A trooper goes to the crate and glances inside to make sure Vader’s cockpit remains undisturbed. “My men will take care of our cargo,” Sodarra says. “Do doubt, being a friend of Leia Organa, you recognized Lord Vader?”
“Yeah, I recognized His Vileness.” The trooper prods Han toward the bulkhead.
Sodarra steps aside. “Flattery may save your life, Captain Solo. Shall we join your friend in the lounge?”
“So why is the Eradicator after you?”
“Political differences. Governor-General Vellam envies our commander’s influence with the Emperor. The destruction of the Death Star made the situation worse.”
Han enters the lounge. Two of Sodarra’s men guard Chewbacca with blaster rifles. “How so?” Han asks.
Sodarra motions the pilot to a seat. “The battle of Yavin occurred in Vellam’s sector. To punish Vellam for allowing the Rebels to establish a base under his nose, the Emperor placed five of Vellam’s most productive planets under Vader’s administration -“
“But how could he have known Vader lived?” Han interrupts.
“Like Lord Vader,” Sodarra explains, “the Emperor has ways. However, I think he underestimated Vellam’s spite.”
“A bad mistake,” Han says. “But it looks like Vader is nearly dead, anyway.”
“The Emperor assures us he is merely dormant. When we open the cockpit, he will awaken.”
“So why haven’t you opened it?” the Corellian demands. “You sure could have saved me a lot of trouble!”
“Indeed, why not?” Sodarra asks. “I have answered enough questions. Let us say Vellam has done all he can to prevent our success. You, Captain Solo, will do all you can to ensure it – you will take us to Shador.”
Han shakes his head. “Do it yourself,” he says.
“I have considered this option,” Sodarra replies. “But Lieutenant Birdloe informs me that you have placed certain security programs in the flight and nav computers.”
“Sharp guy,” Han comments.
“You have a choice,” Sodarra continues. “Take us to Shador or die – your friend goes first.”
Instead of answering, Han looks at his wrist chronometer, then quickly glances at Chewbacca. The Wookiee shakes his head slightly, indicating he has not revealed the presence of the bomb. “When you put it that way, I’d say we better get started on new hyperspace calculations.”