[Dark Nest] - 1(95)

“The humming. You never hum.”

“Humming?” Han frowned. “I’m not humming.”

“Really?” Leia cocked her head. “It certainly sounds like you are.”

Han spun the seat around until he was facing the same direction Leia had been, then he heard it-a faint, undulating purr.

“That’s not me.” Han jumped up, dumping Leia onto her feet. “It’s a coolant line!”

“A coolant line?” Leia slipped into the copilot’s chair and began calling up status displays. “What happened to the alarm?”

“Good question.” Han turned toward the back of the flight deck and started down the access corridor. “Disengage the hyperdrive and do a slow cool-down. I’ll see what I can find out back in systems.”

The hum grew steadily louder as Han advanced. By the time he entered the main cabin, it had risen to an irritating drone. He met the rest of his crew and passengers coming the other way. Cakhmaim and Meewalh were wide awake, but still pulling on their sleeveless robes. Alema and Juun were both bleary-eyed and dressed in their sleeping shifts, which, in Alema’s case, was considerably more than she wore when she was awake.

C-3PO was also present and, of course, fully alert. “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard the Falcon make a sound quite like this, Captain Solo. What is it?”

“Boiling coolant,” Juun said through a yawn. He stretched his arms. “The hyperdrive must be-” The Weariness vanished from the Sullustan’s bulbous eyes. “Bloah! The hyperdrive is overheating!”

A loud boom reverberated through the hull as the Falcon executed an emergency drop into realspace. The drone in the coolant lines became a loud, bubbling hiss.

Han pointed at Juun, then jerked a thumb toward the cockpit. “Take the navigator’s station and get a fix on where we are. Threepio, take the comm station in case we need to send an emergency hail. Everyone else, with me.”

Han led the way to the rear of the ship, then opened an access panel and peered in at the contorted tangle of valves and radiation-shielded conduits surrounding the unit itself. There was no need to ask for a thermoscanner to determine which lines were overheated. The lower inside conduit was bulging, glowing pale blue, and banging as if there were a profogg inside. Han activated the lighting and crawled into the sweltering cabinet, then traced the pipe up to the dark nook where it passed through the flow regulator. The diverter valve was stuck half closed, but Han could not see what had caused the malfunction-or why the sensor hadn’t sounded an alarm.

“Meewalh, get me some burn gloves and a face shield.”

Before he finished asking, the Noghri was passing the gloves and face shield into the cabinet.

As Han donned the equipment, Juun’s voice came over the intercom. “Captain Solo, I haven’t identified exactly where we are yet-“

“Well, keep working on it. I’m sure you can figure it out.” Han rolled his eyes. “Let me know when you do.”

“Of course,” Juun said. “But I thought I should report-“

“Look, I’m kind of busy here,” Han said. “So unless we’re under attack, hold the reports until you’re done.”

There was a moment of silence, then Juun asked, “Do you want me to wait until we’re actually under attack?”

“What?” Han turned, banging the side of his head on a strut. “Blast! What do you mean, actually?”

“Han, it looks like we’re still in Colony territory,” Leia said, breaking in. “We’ve got a swarm of dartships coming.”

“Rodder!” Han nodded the Noghri toward the cannon turrets, then pulled on the second burn glove. “Okay, forget the cool-down. Recalculate the rest of the jump using three-quarter power and go. This shouldn’t take long.”

“You’ve found the problem?” Juun’s voice was full of awe. “Already?”

“Even better.” Han reached up to the regulator and shut down the damaged coolant line. “I’ve found a fix.”

When Han pulled himself out of the cabinet, Alema was frowning down at him with her lekku crossed over her chest.

“Don’t scowl at me,” he said. “It gives you wrinkles.”

The frown vanished at once. “Are you sure it’s necessary to take this kind of risk?” she asked. “Those dartships are only coming to greet us. Their nest might even be able to help us make repairs.”

“First, not all dartships are friendly.” Han passed her his face shield, then pulled off his burn gloves. “Second, Saba can’t wait for repairs-and maybe not Luke and Mara, either.”