The Kitchen Maid

line before?" Leia said with an innocent air. Ignoring her sarcasm, Han moved past her as he went back to work. Thepassageway in the hold was so narrow that he couldn't avoid brushing against her ashe passed by—or could he? With mixed emotions the princess watched him for a moment as he continued towork on his ship. And then she turned back to her welding. See-Threepio ignored all this odd human behavior. He was too busy trying tocommunicate with the Falcon, trying to find out what was wrong with its hyperdrive.Standing at the central control panel, Threepio was making uncharacteristic whistleand beep sounds. A moment later, the control panel whistled back. "Where is Artoo when I need him?" sighed the golden robot. The controlpanel's response had been difficult for him to interpret. "I don't know where yourship learned to communicate," Threepio announced to Han, "but its dialect leavessomething to be desired. I believe, sir, it says the power coupling on the negativeaxis has been polarized. I'm afraid you'll have to replace it."

The Kitchen Maid

Two down, Han thought. But there was still a quartet of TIE fighters tailing theFalcon, blasting at its stern with full laser fire, but Han thought he could outstrip them.The ship was buffeted violently by the fighters' laser blasts, forcing Leia to hold on ina desperate attempt to keep her seat. "That slowed them down a bit!" Han exulted. "Chewie, stand by to make thejump to light-speed." There was not a moment to waste—the laser attack wasintense now, and the TIE fighters were almost on top of them. "They're very close," Leia warned, finally able to speak. Han looked at her with a wicked glint in his eyes. "Oh, yeah? Watch this." He threw the hyperspace throttle forward, desperate to escape, but also eager toimpress the princess with both his own cleverness and his ship's fantastic power.Nothing happened! The stars that should by then have been mere blurs of light werestill. Something was definitely wrong. "Watch what?" Leia asked impatiently. Instead of responding, Han worked the light-speed controls a second time.Again, nothing. "I think we're in trouble," he muttered. His throat tightened. Heknew "trouble" was a gross understatement.