"But…if they tracked the ’droids to the jawas, then they had to learn first who they sold them to. They would lead them back to…" Luke was sprinting insanely for the landspeeder.
"Luke, wait…wait, Luke!" Kenobi called. "It’s too dangerous! You’d never…!" Luke heard nothing except the roaring in his ears, felt nothing save the burning in his heart. He jumped into the speeder and was throwing the accelerator full over almost simultaneously. In an explosion of sand and gravel he left Kenobi and the two robots standing alone in the midst of smoldering bodies, framed by the still smoking wreck of the sandcrawler.
The smoke that Luke saw as he drew near the homestead was of a different consistency from that which had boiled out of the jawa machine. He barely remembered to shut down the landspeeder’s engine as he popped the cockpit canopy and threw himself out. Dark smoke was drifting steadily from holes in the ground.
Those holes had been his home, the only one he had ever known. They might as well have been throats of small volcanoes now. Again and again he tried to penetrate the surface entrances to the belowground complex. Again and again the still-intense heat drove him back, coughing and choking.
Weakly he found himself stumbling clear, his eyes watering not entirely from the smoke. Half blinded, he staggered over to the exterior entrance to the garage. It too was burning. But perhaps they managed to escape in the other landspeeder.
"Aunt Beru…Uncle Owen!" It was difficult to make out much of anything through the eye-stinging haze. Two smoking shapes showed down the tunnel, barely visible through tears and haze. They almost looked like— He squinted harder, wiping angrily at his uncooperative eyes.
No.
Then he was spinning away, falling to his stomach and burying his face in the sand so he wouldn’t have to look anymore.
The tridimensional solid screen filled one wall of the vast chamber from floor to ceiling. It showed a million star systems. A tiny portion of the galaxy, but an impressive display nonetheless when exhibited in such a fashion.
Below, far below, the huge shape of Darth Vader stood flanked on one side by Governor Tarkin and on the other by Admiral Motti and General Tagge, their private antagonisms forgotten in the awesomeness of this moment.
"The final checkout is complete." Motti informed them. "All systems are operational." He turned to the others. "What shall be the first course we set?" Vader appeared not to have heard as he mumbled softly, half to himself, "She has a surprising amount of control. Her resistance to the interrogator is considerable." He glanced down at Tarkin. "It will be some time before we can extract any useful information from her."
责任编辑：mman
