-
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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 wanted criminals." Grammel cringed as the grotesque
breath mask dipped close. "Admit it, Captain-
Supervisor. Your troops were inadequately prepared, poorly trained. Discipline
and morale were both absent and you were routed by a mob of ignorant savages!"
"They took us completely by surprise, my Lord," Grammel argued strenuously.
"No native group has ever resisted the Imperial presence on Mimban before."
"No native group previously had the benefit of human advice and aid," Vader
snapped back. "They did not employ wholly aboriginal tactics. You should have
recognized the differences early and taken appropriate countermeasures." He
looked away from Grammel to gaze significantly across the bogland. "I know
which parties were responsible for that. When I hold in my hand the balance of
the crystal, I will mete out justice accordingly."
"I'd hoped for that privilege myself," a disgruntled Grammel muttered.
Vader turned a cool, metallic stare downward, announced dangerously, "You have
no privileges,
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's%20Eye.html (114 of 128) [2/9/2004 10:37:51 PM]
Splinter Of The Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster
Captain-Supervisor Grammel. You have blundered badly. Not critically, I hope,
but badly. I curse myself for being fool enough to assume that you knew what
you were doing."
"I told you, my Lord," Grammel objected, at once angry and frightened, "their
surprise was complete."
"I'm not interested in excuses for debacles, only successful results,"
declared Vader. "Grammel, your existence befouls me."
"My Lord," Grammel babbled desperately, rising from the bench, "if I "
Faster than a human eye could follow, Vader's lightsaber was up, activated and
moving. Grammel's slashed form pitched wildly, stumbled backward and tumbled
over the side of the crawler. There was a lull as the stunned driver looked on
in terror.
Vader whirled, glowered down at him. "We will travel faster without such dead
weight to slow us, trooper. Return to your controls now!"
"Y-yes, my Lord," the man gulped, unable to keep from stuttering fearfully.
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Somehow he forced himself to turn back to the control board of the vehicle.
As they moved forward, Vader turned to glance back idly at the receding corpse
of Captain-Supervisor
Grammel. Already jungle scavengers were beginning to emerge from concealment
to sniff hopefully at the body.
"Whoever is your lord now," Vader murmured, "it is not I." Removing the shard
of Kaiburr crystal from a sealed pocket, he held the glowing crimson splinter
before his eyes, swaying slightly.
It was there ahead, somewhere ahead. He could sense it.
He would find it....
"Are we still traveling on the right track?" a weary Leia asked old Halla
several days later. All of the crawler's occupants were dirty, discouraged and
exhausted from racing nonstop through the misty landscape.
"Certain of it," Halla replied with disgusting cheerfulness.
"We're getting close to something," Luke ventured. "It's... peculiar. I've
never felt anything like it before, not remotely."
" don't feel anything, except filthy," countered the Princess.
I
"Leia," Luke began, "all I can say is "
"I know, I know," she interrupted him tiredly, " 'if I were a
Force-sensitive...' "
Artoo beeped from the open turret. Luke rushed to the fore viewport, announced
in hushed tones, "There it is."
Rising from the jungle growth ahead of them was a black apparition. A
monstrous pyramidal ziggurat, it looked as if it were formed of cast iron. But
metal it was not. Instead, the massive edifice had been built of great blocks
of some volcanic stone.
file:///G|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Alan%20D...0-%20Splinter%20of%20the%20Mind
's%20Eye.html (115 of 128) [2/9/2004 10:37:51 PM]
Splinter Of The Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster
For all its breadth, it was not very tall. Vines and creepers clung jealously
to it in many places. As they ground nearer Luke saw that much of the stone
was crumbling to fine powder. Fortunately the entrance was still visible,
although the ten-meter-high curved archway was half collapsed and had filled
the passageway with rubble to a height taller than two men.
"It doesn't look as if anything here's been disturbed for a million years,"
the Princess murmured in awe. All her worries and uncertainties had been
dissolved by the actual sight of the legendary temple.
Luke was moving rapidly from port to port. Now he turned to look back at her
and when he did so, his eyes were shining. "You realize, Leia, that Vader
isn't here? He isn't here! We've beaten him!"
"Take it easy, Luke boy," Halla advised him cautioningly. "We can't be certain
of that."
"I can. I'm certain." He urged Hin out of the way, mounted the turret ladder
and exited from the crawler. It slowed to a stop. When Leia emerged from the
turret top he was already walking confidently toward the temple entrance.
"He's not here!" he shouted back to her. "There's no sign of a crawler or
anything else."
"We still have to find the crystal," Halla called out to him as she followed
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