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his companion.
"Artoo's right, Threepio," said Luke. "Turning yourself off won't help anyone."
"I... know that, sir," the tall 'droid responded, "but a dark lord, coming here. The very thought is enough
to make my sensors go to overload."
Luke smiled grimly. "Mine too, Threepio."
The two other chiefs joined the third member of the Coway triumvirate, started babbling at it. Their
chatter was punctuated by innumerable gestures and much waving of hands. Luke had the impression
many of the gestures and a good deal of the talk concerned the three humans standing nearby.
Finally the chiefs turned and stared expectantly at Luke. Baffled, he looked to Halla for an explanation.
He didn't much like the one she gave him.
"They say that since you defeated their champion, you are the greatest warrior present."
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"I was lucky," Luke told her honestly.
"They don't understand luck," Halla replied. "Only results." Luke shifted from one position to another.
The unswerving stares of the three chiefs were making him acutely uncomfortable.
"Well, what do they expect me to do? They're not thinking of fighting, are they? Axes and spears against
power rifles?"
"The differences may be great technologically," the Princess countered, eying him hard, "but I wouldn't
sell these people short anywhere else. They caught two full-grown-Yuzzem without any sophisticated
devices. I doubt a group of humans could have done better.
"And they know these passageways and tunnels, Luke! They know where the sinkholes are as opposed
to solid ground. The Force isn't a geological phenomenon....Maybe we have a chance."
"The Coway'd be better off negotiating," Luke mumbled, unconvinced.
"Sorry, Luke boy," Halla apologized, after a brief exchange with one of the chiefs. "An invasion in force
is different from a couple of wanderers showing up. They want to fight. Canu," she smiled, "will judge."
"I wish I had your confidence in aboriginal jurisprudence, Halla."
"Don't fight it, boy. Old Canu did okay by you, didn't he?"
"Luke," the Princess pleaded, "we have no place to run to. You just said so yourself. If Vader knows
you're here, then he probably knows I'm with you. He won't stop until he..." She hesitated, cleared her
throat and went on. "He won't stop, Luke. Even if he has to follow us to the center of Mimban. You
know that.
"We've no choice. We _have_ to fight."
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"Maybe we do," he admitted, "but the Coway don't."
"They will whether you do or not, Luke," Halla assured him, "We've already claimed we're against what
the mining consortium here stands for. The chiefs want us to show them we mean it."
Luke's thoughts raced crazily through his brain. Occasionally two or three would run into each other,
creating further head havoc and making him wish only for a nice, quiet place to hide.
But...
He was tired of running.
Now that he reflected on it, they'd been running, Leia and he, ever since they'd touched the soil of this
planet. He grew aware that Halla, Leia and the three Coway leaders were all anxiously awaiting some
response from him. The Princess' expression was unreadable.
Naturally, he made the only decision he could....
In the frenzy of preparation that ensued, Luke discovered that the Coway were not as helpless as he'd
feared. So it was not too surprising to learn that the natives had experienced previous attacks from above
before now, both from predatory carnivores and from other primitive tribes.
Most of the time Luke found himself looking on in admiration as the Coway readied themselves to
counter the human invasion, rather than proposing suggestions of his own. They went about their
preparations with enthusiasm and a grim delight.
Luke was thankful for both their competence and attitude. It alleviated a little of his principal concern: the
fear that hundreds of Coway might die in defense of the Princess and himself. It was a good feeling to
learn that they shared his anger at the shiny-suited figures descending from above.
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Thanks to the tactics being employed by the Imperials, Luke discovered that the Princess was too
furious to be really frightened. He tried to encourage her anger. Anything that kept her from thinking of
Vader was worthwhile.
"Using energy weapons on primitive sentients," she muttered in outrage. "Another gross violation of the
original Imperial charter. Another reason for the Alliance to fight on."
"The Coway wouldn't think much of your emoting, young lady," Halla called out from nearby, "since they [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]