VII

Luke threw up a hand. The four would-be escapees slowed to a halt. "Exit's that way," Luke pointed around the corner. Double transparent doors lead to the now-attractive damp jungle growth outside. An unarmored soldier worked at a computer station near the entryway.

"He's not alone." The Princess nodded to the two guards flanking the exit. Each was armed with heavy explosives and a brace of heavy rifles.

"I don't think the alarm's been sounded yet," Luke muttered.

"That won't last long," the Princess said.

Hin and Kee exchanged glances. Hin grunted and Kee nodded in reply.

"We need a diversion," Luke said.

Luke and Leia jumped at the sound of an ear-splitting shriek. Waving gangly arms and brandishing rifles the two Yuzzem charged around the corner like a hirsute hurricane.

While the tactic was unrefined, it worked. The sight of the two giants bearing down on them momentarily paralyzed all three guards. That was all the time they needed.

Hin was on the first guard before he could raise his heavy weapon. It fired, blasting a gaping hole in the floor. Hin pounded the armored man against the wall.

The Imperial behind the computer station slapped at a switch he missed twice. Kee pulled the entire station and communications console right out of the floor in a shower of yellow sparks and brought it crashing down on the terrified sub officer.

Luke and Leia charged from their alcove. "I've got to admit, two shrieking, charging Yuzzem make a pretty good diversion," Luke said.

The second guard unlimbered his heavy weapon and took aim at the nearest rampaging Yuzzem.

"Kee, look out!" Luke yelled. A bolt of energy ionized the air above the Yuzzem and exploded against the far wall. Luke dropped the guard with one burst from his pistol.

The Princess reached the double doors. She frantically tried the release pad. "Luke! The exit's been sealed to manual release. We need an override code."

Luke fumbled at the body of the soldier he'd shot. Four smooth, hand-sized canisters were attached to the utility belt. He carefully removed them.

Hin yanked the helmet off the other downed trooper. Placing it over his fist, he began punching at the transparent doors. Despite the Yuzzem's enormous strength, the fragile-looking material refused to crack.

"That's transparasteel, Hin," Luke informed him. "You'll never break through. Get everyone back and I'll blow it open."

Together with the two Yuzzem, Leia rushed to take cover. Luke twisted a dial on top of the canister. He placed it at the junction of the double doors and ran to rejoin his companions.

The blast gave the feeling that lightning had struck behind them. Green fire flared around the corner and instantly faded to acrid smoke. When they peered around the wall, they saw both doors and a portion of the temple's foundation had vanished.

"They've improved those things," Luke said.

The Princess didn't wait for the smoke to dissipate. She picked her way toward freedom through steaming rubble. Hin and Kee followed close behind.

A shot passed over Luke's head. He ducked and hesitated. Leia paused, looked back, and waved anxiously. "Come on, Luke. Reinforcements have arrived."

"You go ahead. I'm going stall them." Luke kneeled on the floor while bolts struck the stone around him. He activated three remaining canisters. One bolt struck dangerously close, making him blink. Rapidly, Luke rolled each canister back down the corridor. He rose and sprinted after his companions.


Grammel came up to the corridor and squinted, peering through the haze. He turned around. Puddra and a small squad of Stormtroopers slowly inched toward the Captain-Supervisor. "Come on, you slackers!"

He turned back and stopped short as the canisters came bouncing and rolling innocently toward them. Troops dove while Grammel and Puddra ran as fast as they could back the way they'd came.


Luke passed through the blown doorway and threw himself to the ground, placing both arms over his head. Three titanic explosions erupted inside the temple. A brilliant yellow-orange fireball curled up into the sky. Shards of metal and stone whipped past Luke's head.

When debris stopped falling, Luke scrambled to his feet and ran. Leia and the Yuzzem left their hiding place behind trees and rushed to meet him. "That ought to slow down their pursuit," Luke quipped.

The entire entrance of the temple collapsed. Smoke and flame roared from cracks in the walls and roof. Sirens and alarms sounded from within the town.

Moving at a fast trot, they found a small trench of water. "This must be the stream," Leia said. "Let's hope Halla didn't panic and leave without us."


Standing inside the shadows of the entrance of the garage, Halla kept scanning the woods. "Damn! Where are those kids?" The sky glowed. "Hope they didn't get caught in that conflagration." She scanned the surrounding area. The maintenance yard was large, littered with mining machinery and transports in various stages of breakdown.

See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo waited near barrel-shaped canisters stacked along the wall. Artoo let off a series of beeps. Leia and Luke emerged from the woods first. "Here come Master Luke and Princess Leia at last." The Yuzzem emerged next. Threepio's body jolted. "Oh my! A pair of slavering monstrosities is pursuing them! We're doomed! Artoo, why don't you do something?"

"It's okay, Threepio," Luke said, "they're with us. These are Hin and Kee, a couple of Yuzzem." Artoo beeped querulously. "I know they look ferocious, Artoo, but they helped us escape." Artoo whistled.

Halla smiled at Luke. "What did you do back there, boy?" From the general direction of the temple headquarters, a faint explosion echoed a footnote to her comment. "Sounds like the mine's going in on itself."

"Just delayed them." A louder explosion made them all wince. A pillar of yellow flame lit the night sky, piercing the mist. "Maybe overdid it a little."

Halla laughed and patted his back. "Enough chitchat. You can be sure they'll be lookin' for us real soon." She led them inside the open garage. A line of massive shapes was parked inside. Halla walked to an open vehicle mounted on multiple bloated wheels. "Let's get aboard this buggy and go."

Using metal rungs on the side, Halla pulled herself up and in and took position behind the driving controls. Luke and Leia followed while the Yuzzem climbed in near the back. Hin picked up Artoo who whistled loudly while Kee picked up Threepio. "Oh, do be careful or you might damage my circuits." Once on the solid floor, Threepio choose a seat.

"I picked out a right nice crawler for us. Plenty handy on this misbegotten mud ball planet. Artoo, start 'er up."

The stubby Detoo unit trundled forward with a happy sounding whistle. Extending an arm, Artoo locked into a socket and began turning the concentric dials. The engine rumbled to life immediately.

"Occasionally, Artoo's useful for something," Threepio said.

"Are you sure you can drive this thing?" the Princess inquired.

"I learn fast." Halla pulled down on a shifting lever. The crawler leaped forward with startling acceleration for so bulky a vehicle.


Standing guard near the entrance of a tall perimeter fence along the front side of the compound, two Imperial sub officers watched the glowing sky in the direction of the temple. "Codou, I'll bet you half a pay period that was the reactor."

"Top brass would've recalled us by now. Too much danger of fallout -"

"You hear that?" Codou asked, his head snapping toward the interior of the yard.

"Now you got the jitters, Nollis."

"I tell you, I heard an engine start up."

"You think the Empire leaves keys in these buckets?"

The crawler driven by Halla charged out of the garage entrance, knocking over a line of stacked canisters. She pulled the wheel hard over. The Imperial guards' eyes bulged. "Look out!" Nollis yelled. They dove out of the way as the transport smashed through the fence and sped off into bog and jungle.

Halla raised her left fist in the air as she looked back at the yard. "Ya-hooo! Take that ya goose-steppin' gravel maggots!" Luke and Leia gripped the side of the vehicle so tightly, their knuckles turned white. Barreling along, Halla zipped past trees, bushes, and swamp with reckless disregard for whether solid ground or bottomless peat was under the crawler's wheels. She flipped on the vehicle's multiple fog lamps, breaking the total darkness. "Hang on, girls 'n' 'droids. I'm pointin' us in the direction of the Temple of Pomojema and the Kaiburr Crystal."

A querulous chittering sounded behind them. "Hin and Kee want to know if there's anything to eat onboard," Luke said.

"Never heard of a Yuzzem that wasn't always hungry," Halla replied. She turned in the seat and pointed toward the rear of the vehicle. "There's a big storage locker in back. Full of grub and weapons." She wore a smug grin. "I thoroughly checked through the yard before settling on this mud-mauler." The Yuzzem opened the locker and pulled out ration packages.

"How far is it to the temple?"

"In this crawler, a week to ten days' travel. Tops."

Luke leaned forward. "You mean the temple is that close to the mine and no one has investigated it?"

"There are thousands of native temples about. 'Sides, Pomojema was a fairly minor god as they go."

Luke sat back. "Is it anything like the temple Grammel used for a headquarters?"

"Nobody knows. Not even the greenie. No one's ever seen the temple of Pomojema. The natives who built the temples had thousands of gods and deities, each with their own sanctuary. According to the records I saw, Pomojema was supposed to give his priests some kinda miraculous healing powers or some such."

"The Kaiburr Crystal might be the basis of those stories," Luke said. "Halla, Grammel contacted an Imperial Governor named Essada. He's sending a representative here. We have to find the crystal before the Imperial representative arrives on Mimban. If the Empire gets hold of the crystal, it will be turned to destruction, not healing. And if we can't escape with it, we'll have to destroy it."

"Seven years, boy," Halla said. "Seven years I've been after that rock. I can't rightly promise that if found, I'll be ready to bust it into dust. No one's ever accused me of being altruistic."

Luke leaned forward. "What are you, Halla?"

She looked back and broke into a wide, toothy smile. "I'm ambitious, boy. That's enough for you to know."

"Halla," the Princess leaned closer, "do you know what kind of metal the Empire is digging out of this planet?"

"Dolovite. Been doin' it since the end of the Clone Wars."

Leia's face went pale. Her mouth gaped slightly.

"What does the Empire use dolovite for, Leia?" Luke asked.

"Remember the Death Star schematics? When they were thoroughly analyzed, we learned dolovite iron was essential in shielding the hypermatter reactor core and the focusing dish of the Death Star superweapon."

Luke and Halla both took pause. "If the Empire's mining dolovite," Luke began.

"There's no telling what they're building next," Leia finished for him. Halla's cheeks puffed as she exhaled softly. "Luke, we have to destroy the mines." Leia's brown eyes were pleading. "Halla…"

"Look, kids, I don't know how much help I can be to you, but I do know this much. Grammel's instillation is the main. It controls all five of the mines on this mud ball. They operate all the really big equipment remotely from this side of Mimban. You knock out Grammel and you cripple all the other mines right along with it."

"We have to destroy those mines," Luke said.

"Old Halla here's not an army," the old woman snapped. She exhaled loudly. Then swallowed. "I want to help. I do. But I got to think about this real careful like. We find the crystal first. Then we worry about the mines."