Han’s bateau speeds toward the approaching flat boat, tipping pirogue after pirogue in its wake. The scaly-faced pilot continues accelerating, all the while chirping insults.
Han risks a look behind. He cannot slow down; by the time the flatboat passes, the stormtroopers will catch him. They are scarcely fifteen meters away.
The bateau reaches the barge’s stern ten seconds before the flat boat reaches the other end. The Corellian smiles; he will just clear the barge before the flat boat seals the other end. Another salvo of blaster bolts zip through the turbine superstructure. Alarmed squeals rise from the barge’s reptillian crew.
They reach the barge’s bow. Han jerks the control stick hard and their stern skids. For a long moment, the craft hangs on its port side, ready to topple over.
At last, the bateau settles and springs out of the flat boat’s path. It bounces off the canal wall in front of the barge, then Han corrects its course. As they pass the flatboat, the scaly-faced pilot sneers at Han, revealing a long row of sharp incisors.
Han smiles, then glances back at the stormtrooper’s broadhorn. The heavy broadhorn has followed Han into the bottleneck. There can be only centimeters between it and the barge. Scaly-face’s eyes follow Han’s gaze. It squawks once, then a tremendous clap echoes along the narrow canal.
Han does not have time to look at the crash. He has reached a wide waterway. Han turns toward Mud Station. “We’ll be back at the Falcon in no time!” she informs Sodarra.