“Hold on,” Luke said, and the X-wing pulled up away from the temple.
The planet gave a massive shudder that blew trees the size of office towers into the sky, and the entire temple beneath them fell into the planet in a cloud of dust and stone and scorching hot air.
A black dot on the rapidly eroding horizon turned into a disk and then into the Falcon, flying at them at high speed. A cloud of pale yellow dust bloomed up around them, obscuring the ship for a moment. A hot wind stinking of sulfur whipped them, pressing grit into Han’s eyes.
“I’m not going to be able to hold on for much longer,” Scarlet said, her voice as calm as if she were talking about getting lunch rather than plunging to her death as the planet below her tore itself apart.
“You won’t need to,” Han said, and a dark shadow rose through the dust below them. The Falcon edged up a centimeter at a time until all three could drop onto it and scramble through the hatch.
“Punch it, Chewie,” Han yelled as he ran to the cockpit. Chewbacca already had the Falcon flying straight up at its fastest atmospheric speed.
“Get belted in!” Han yelled to Scarlet and Leia.
“Hyperdrive working?” he asked as he settled into his seat. The Wookiee growled out an affirmative. “Get us a calculation for the current fleet position. We’re going there in a hurry.”
While Chewbacca worked, Han scanned the space around them. Eight X-wings flew in honor guard formation behind them. There were no Imperial ships in sight. The blue sky was streaked with clouds as jagged as claw marks. As he watched, the blue deepened to indigo, and the first scattering of stars showed through.
“Looks like we’re all good for jump,” Luke said, his voice compressed and flattened by the headset.
“That planet is looking unstable,” Wedge’s voice said.
“Noticed that,” Han replied, throwing the throttle to maximum to put as much space as possible between the Falcon and the planet while Chewbacca finished prepping the jump.
“Be nice,” Luke said. The sky was almost black now, the stars bright and wide and scattered.
“Be ready to jump,” Han said to all the following ships, “in five … four … three … two …”
The planet detonated behind them, hurling a massive shock wave of energy and vaporized matter after them.
“One.”
The stars disappeared in a swirl of light.
THE VAST, DARK OCEAN OF SPACE glittered with light. Each star was the chance of a habitable planet or moon, an independent station or asteroid base. The brightness beckoned and consoled, promising that there was life and energy and civilization all around. That the void could be overcome. And when the violence that life and stars carried with them was too much, the emptiness also offered safety.
The Falcon had jumped into the middle of General Rieekan’s battle preparations. The young fighter pilots had been disappointed that a pitched battle around Seymarti had been avoided. The admirals had been relieved. The sting at losing the great new weapon was pulled by knowing that the Emperor didn’t have it. If there were people who were relieved that the Rebellion hadn’t captured the prize, either, they were quiet about it.
That didn’t mean there was no joy to be taken.
“I’ve read the reports, Captain Solo,” Colonel Harcen said, tapping uncomfortably on his desk. “You certainly went above and beyond any of our expectations of you.”
“Thanks,” Han said, ignoring the implied criticism. “So you’re ready to pay me?”
Harcen’s jaw stiffened and he looked at the decking. “I wanted to discuss that with you. I notice that your requested payment was somewhat larger than—”
“I signed on for a jump to Cioran,” Han said. “We went from there to Kiamurr to Seymarti. Scenic route has more overhead.”
“But the agreement—”
Chewbacca growled and leaned forward. Harcen flinched and leaned back.
“The option was to let the Empire kill everyone on Kiamurr, break the Rebellion, and get control of the K’kybak weapon,” Han said. “If next time you want me to stop and renegotiate, we can do that, too.”
“Of course not,” Harcen said. “It may simply take a few days to arrange the transfer of the balance. I’ll need to get approval.”
“You do that,” Han said.
Chewbacca howled and waved a massive fist. Han thought he was overplaying it a little, but he didn’t complain. It was the simple pleasures, after all, that made life worth living. Han stood up, touched two fingers to his temple in mock salute, and headed out to the corridor.
The comfort he felt getting back to the rebel fleet with its cobbled-together ships and thirdhand air recyclers made Han a little nervous. He didn’t like to think he was getting too attached, but so far he’d dealt with that by not thinking about it, and the strategy seemed to be working. Together, he and Chewbacca headed down the narrow metal stairway, then turned to port and headed for the fighter hangar and the Millennium Falcon. Neither spoke, but Chewbacca huffed quietly under his breath. It was something he did when he was feeling particularly self-satisfied. There was even a little spring in the Wookiee’s step. As they stepped out into the chaos of ships, tool kits, coolant-delivery tubes, service droids, and orange-jumpsuited pilots, Han leaned in toward him.
“And what’s got you in such a good mood?”
Chewbacca yelped twice, lifting his chin to indicate the hangar and everyone in it.
“Of course we didn’t die,” Han said. “We were safe the whole time.”
Chewbacca let out a chuffing whine.
“Because I was there,” Han said. “That’s why.”
“Han!”
He turned. Luke waved from the side of the hangar, and beside him, C-3PO echoed the gesture. Half a dozen other fighter pilots were gathered around them. Han thought he saw the glimmer of hero worship in some of their eyes. Han waved back, then looked toward the Millennium Falcon. The scar where Baasen’s homing beacon had struck home was still bright, and the panels above the rear deflector shield were off, exposing the wires and energy couplings beneath. The thought of the hours of work ahead made Han’s shoulders ache. It could wait a little bit longer.
“Hold on a minute, Chewie,” he said. He sauntered over to the group. “Hey, kid. What’s going on?”
“I was just telling Gram and Ardana about what happened at Seymarti,” Luke said.