Now he could see that he faced a young woman, and her physical description fit that of the one individual the Dark Lord was most interested in. The trooper grinned behind his helmet. A lucky encounter for him. He would be commended. Within the armor his head turned slightly, directing his voice to the tiny condenser microphone. "Here she is," he called to those behind him. "Set for stun forc—" He never finished the sentence, just as he would never receive the hoped-for commendation. Once his attention turned from the girl to his communicator her shivering vanished with starling speed. The energy pistol he had held out of sight behind her came up and around as she burst from her hiding place.
The trooper who had been unlucky enough to find her fell first, his head a mass of melted bone and metal. The same fate met the second armored from coming up fast behind him. Then a bright green energy pole touched the woman’s side and she slumped instantly to the deck, the pistol still locked in her small palm. Metal-encased shapes clustered around her. One whose arm bore the insignia of a lower officer knelt and turned her over. He studied the paralyzed form with a practiced eye. "She’ll be all right," he finally declared, looking up his subordinates. "Report to Lord Vader." Threepio stared, mesmerized, out the small view-port set in the front of the tiny escape pod as the hot yellow eye of Tatooine began to swallow them up. Somewhere behind them, he knew, the crippled fighter and the Imperial cruiser were receding to imperceptibility. That was fine with him. If they landed near a civilized city, he would seek elegant employment in a halcyon atmosphere, something more befitting his status and training.
These past months had gifted him with entirely too much excitement and unpredictability for a mere machine. Artoo’s seemingly random manipulation of the pod controls promised anything but a smooth landing, however. Threepio regarded his squat companion with concern. "Are you sure you know how to pilot this thing?" Artoo replied with a noncommittal whistle that did nothing to alter the taller robot’s jangled state of mind.
责任编辑：mman
