Jedi Prince_ The Glove Of Darth Vader Part 5

"We're supposed to check your master control," said Luke, continuing to use his Jedi mind power. "Now take us to a computer terminal quickly."

"I will take you to a terminal."

The captain lead them up one corridor and down another. Finally he showed them to a computer terminal.

"Artoo," said Luke, "hook into this terminal and figure out how to crack the communication code. Then instruct the s.h.i.+p's master control to open the doors to the Whaladon storage chambers. Let all the Whaladons free!"

Artoo extended a little metal arm and hooked himself into the computer terminal.

"You fool," said Captain Dunwell, recovering his senses. "You think that little utility droid of yours can crack a code I spent three years creating?"

"Gaaaaaz booop dweeet!" beeped Artoo.

"He says you underestimate him, Captain," said Threepio. "He says Darth Vader's codes used to be much more complicated than yours, and it never took him more than fifteen seconds to figure those out."

"Artoo, I just thought of something," Luke said. "Before you free the Whaladons, the first thing you should do is scan the s.h.i.+p's data banks. Find out if this vessel has a self-destruct system."

"It doesn't," said Captain Dunwell.

"Zuuuuung! Galooooop!" squawked Artoo.

"Artoo says it does, Master Luke," Threepio confirmed.

"Excellent," said Luke. "Find out the precise self-destruct code. Tell me when you've got it."

"Trioculus expects me to be back in the navigation room by now," said Captain Dunwell. "If he comes looking for me and finds you, he'll destroy you instantly!"

"Zoooosh-bee-dwee," beeped Artoo, rolling his domed top around to show his excitement.

"He has the self-destruct code, Master Luke," explained Threepio.

"Good droid, Artoo. Now punch in the self-destruct code and set the s.h.i.+p to blow up in . .

Luke stopped to think. How much time would the Whaladons need to swim to a safe distance?

And how much time would he, his droids, and Admiral Ackbar need to get their Calamarian minisub away from here without being destroyed by a gigantic explosion?

"Give us ten minutes-that should do it," said Luke. "And if it doesn't, well then we're all history."

"You can't do this!" Captain Dunwell protested. Artoo beeped and squeaked and whirred.

"Booooshs.h.!.+ Zweeech!"

"Artoo says yes we can," Threepio translated. "Just watch us."

"Ziiish bajoooop!" Artoo tooted.

"Self-destruct is activated, Master Luke!" reported Threepio.

Just then alarm bells started to go off and warning lights blinked along the corridor.

CHAPTER 7.

The Captain's Reward "Quick, Artoo!" said Luke. "Tell the master control to free the Whaladons!"

"He's searching for a way to do it, Master Luke," said Threepio. "He's looking and-oh, gracious, he can't find it! Keep looking, Artoo. We've got to save Leviathor and the other Whaladons before-"

Suddenly Trioculus appeared down at the end of the hall. "Oh, no, Master Luke, Trioculus has found us!" Threepio shouted. "We're doomed!"

"Your droid has grasped your situation well, Skywalker," said Trioculus. He raised his gloved right hand and pointed it at Luke. "Now prepare to die!" he shouted.

Luke ducked behind Captain Dunwell. Gripping the captain, Luke positioned him directly in front of the glove of Darth Vader.

Captain Dunwell gasped as a high-pitched deadly sound vibration struck him. Luke then lifted the captain and heaved him, making him collide with Trioculus and toppling them both to the floor. Then Luke drew out his lightsaber.

"Jeeep booo poooooz!" tooted Artoo.

"Success!" shouted Threepio. "Artoo has instructed the master control to free the Whaladons!"

Just then the doors of the Whaladon storage chambers began to open. All the while the alarm bells were getting louder and the warning lights were flas.h.i.+ng faster. Time was getting short before the Whaladon-hunting submarine would self-destruct in a furious explosion that would destroy them all.

Trioculus raised his left hand, electricity crackling from his fingertips. Luke met the electric bolt with his lightsaber, deflecting it. Trioculus's eyes bulged and his chest froze, as the warning of Grand Moff Hissa flooded back into his mind. The lightning power would be the death of him if he continued to use it. He was not yet a True Master of the Dark Side, not yet able to absorb intense electric shock without experiencing side effects.

But Trioculus allowed the flow of electricity to increase, aiming the bolts so that they would avoid Luke's lightsaber blade and strike him directly in the chest.

Luke crumpled to the ground, writhing on the floor as he felt the full force of the powerful jolts. Trioculus continued to pour bolts of electricity from his fingertips until Luke had stopped stirring. Then he lowered his hand and spoke rapidly into a pocket communication device. "Hissa, power up the escape sub! Quickly!"

Hissa's reply came from the device. "We'll need Captain Dunwell's key card to power it up!"

Trioculus turned to the captain. "Hand me your key card for the escape sub! At once!"

By the time Trioculus had s.n.a.t.c.hed the key card from Captain Dunwell's hand, Luke Skywalker was back on his feet and was running down the corridor that would lead him to the Calamarian minisub.

"You may have escaped from Emperor Palpatine, but I shall destroy you, Skywalker!"

Trioculus shouted. "You have my promise!"

Luke kept running-all the way back to the Calamarian minisub. He crawled through the hatch and saw that Threepio and Admiral Ackbar were already strapped into their seats waiting for him, and Artoo was in position, too.

They began their escape. The giant squid was just beginning to stir as Ackbar deftly navigated their Calamarian minisub over its slowly writhing body. A tentacle nearly grabbed them, but Ackbar successfully steered a course through the open door of the storage chamber and into the ocean depths.

As they sailed away, Luke looked out the window and saw Leviathor leading the freed Whaladons back through the Seascape Mountains, swimming as fast as their fins would take them.

Trioculus reached the escape sub with only two minutes remaining until the self-destruct system would blast the Whaladon-hunting submarine apart. Emdee and Grand Moff Hissa were waiting for him. Captain Dunwell arrived breathless seconds later.

"Let me get aboard first so I can warm up the ion thrusters," said the captain as Trioculus inserted the key card into the lock of the escape sub's door.

"Just a moment," replied Grand Moff Hissa, standing in his way. "No one enters the escape sub before the Supreme Ruler of the Empire, the True Master of the Dark Side."

Captain Dunwell turned to face Trioculus. "And are you the True Master of the Dark Side?"

said Captain Dunwell without thinking. "I thought a Master of the Dark Side didn't need to rely on mechanical devices to give him lightning power or to make the glove of Darth-"

He stopped in mid-sentence, his face turning pale as he realized he had said too much about things he wasn't supposed to know.

"Out of my way," snapped Trioculus, glaring at the captain.

As Trioculus began to climb into the escape sub, he felt a stabbing pain in his eyes. For a second everything went black, but then he pressed his forehead, blinked a few times, and the momentary loss of vision went away. He could see again, and he hastily strapped himself into a seat.

Grand Moff Hissa climbed in, too, followed by Emdee.

But when Captain Dunwell tried to join them, the Imperial ruler stared at him with a piercing hypnotic glare and said calmly, "You know the procedure, Captain. In the Empire the captain always goes down with his s.h.i.+p."

"Lord Trioculus, I led you to the glove of Darth Vader!" said Captain Dunwell, nervously tweaking his beard. "I thought you would show some appreciation. Is death to be my reward?"

"I don't reward men who spy on me, Captain."

"Lord Trioculus, please have mercy, let me aboard-"

As Trioculus pointed the glove of Darth Vader at him, Captain Dunwell tried to shut out the piercing sound that suddenly a.s.saulted his eardrums. The captain's eyes then twirled upward as he let out a hoa.r.s.e gasp, fell to his knees, and then dropped to the floor.

Hissa kicked the door shut and locked it. Leaving Captain Dunwell behind to die with his crew, the escape sub pushed away from the Whaladon-hunting submarine, making its way higher in the ocean as it sailed toward the dim outline of the undersea mountain range.

Moments later the escape sub shook violently as a tremendous explosion tore apart the Whaladon-hunting submarine, sending sc.r.a.ps of scorched metal spinning through the sea in all directions.

An evil smile spread across Trioculus's face as he clenched his gloved right hand into a fist. That hand no longer twitched. It now felt strong, invincible-and ready to rule the galaxy!

Luke's adventure had led him back to the place where it all began-on Yavin Four, where Luke and his droids were now gathered in the Alliance Senate. They had just finished delivering a complete report to SPIN on all that they had accomplished on their mission.

Luke, Threepio, and Artoo were congratulated by SPIN, not just for their espionage on Kessel but for their help in saving the Whaladons.

When the meeting had adjourned and most of the SPIN members departed, Admiral Ackbar turned to Luke, Threepio, Artoo, and Princess Leia and said, "On behalf of the planet Calamari, as a special thanks, I'd like to invite you all to be our guests of honor at a special concert of Whaladon songs at our Domed City of Aquarius."

"Fzzzzoooop bedoooooop!" squeaked Artoo in a scolding tone.

"I'm very sorry to report," Threepio said in a disappointed voice, "that Artoo absolutely refuses ever to return to Calamari with me again-that is, until I get a license to steer a Calamarian minisub!"

Luke laughed, remembering that Threepio's brief moments of piloting the minisub had almost been the death of them. However, with a little coaxing from Luke, Artoo was persuaded to change his mind.

Sure enough, when the day of the Whaladon concert arrived, Luke and his friends were once again on Calamari, seated in the aquatheater in the Domed City of Aquarius.

The program of Whaladon songs was spectacular. It included a water ballet, Whaladon folk melodies, cla.s.sical Whaladon songs, and an opera Leviathor had composed that told the legendary story of how he had become the Whaladon leader many years ago by helping the Whaladons survive an undersea volcanic eruption.

As much as Luke enjoyed the concert, being back on Calamari made him think about those final fateful moments before the Whaladon-hunting submarine had exploded, when he had glanced back and noticed the Imperial escape sub departing.

Had that escape sub been destroyed by the hurtling debris? Or had Trioculus survived, making it back to the planet's watery surface so that he could live to fight another day?

Try as he might to forget the Imperial leader's dire threat, Luke was unable to banish from his mind Trioculus's parting words: "I shall destroy you, Skywalker! You have my promise!"

Glossary Admiral Ackbar Rebel military leader, he is a fishman from the planet Calamari.

Aqualish aliens Walrus-faced, with smooth skin and large eyes, Aqualish aliens have nasty dispositions.

They live on watery planets, and turn their natural aggressions toward all aliens other than their own kind.

Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) A barrel-shaped utility droid belonging to Luke Skywalker. Artoo cannot speak in words, but communicates in beeps, buzzes, and whistles that are translated by his companion, See-Threepio (C-3P0). An effective copilot and troubleshooter, Artoo can rapidly penetrate the data system of almost any computer in the galaxy.

Calamarian minisub A small submarine that Luke, Admiral Ackbar, Threepio, and Artoo use to follow and spy on the huge Whaladon-hunting submarine.

Captain Dunwell The crazed human captain of the Whaladon-hunting submarine. He wears a blue uniform with medals and has a neatly trimmed white beard that he likes to tweak.

His great goal is to capture Leviathor, leader of the Whaladons. He has tried to trap Leviathor for many years, throughout the Great War, but every time Leviathor has avoided capture.

Chewbacca A hairy, eight-foot-tall, 205-year-old Wookiee who serves as copilot aboard the Millennium Falcon. Chewbacca (also known as Chewie) uses his strength to a.s.sist the Rebel Alliance, usually serving alongside his buddy Han Solo.

Darth Vader Now deceased, Darth Vader was the second-in-command of the Galactic Empire, serving under the evil Emperor Palpatine. He was born as Anakin Skywalker and was Luke and Leia's father, but he turned to the Dark Side of the Force and tried unsuccessfully to convince Luke to join the Empire. More machine than man, Darth Vader was kept alive by cybernetic devices-and a breathing apparatus built into his black helmet.

Doonium A heavy metal used by the Empire in most of its war machines.

Domed City of Aquarius This domed city is located inside a giant bubble under the ocean on the planet Calamari.

It was designed for both creatures with lungs and creatures with gills. It has watery ca.n.a.ls with underwater dwellings, and above the ca.n.a.ls are markets and homes for air-breathers.

Emdee-Five (MD-5) An evil Imperial droid with a wide variety of skills, including medical knowledge. MD-5 (called Emdee) is usually at Trioculus's side and always does Trioculus's bidding, no matter what the request. Trioculus has a close relations.h.i.+p with Emdee, much like Luke's relations.h.i.+p with his droids.

Emperor Palpatine Now deceased, Emperor Palpatine was once a senator in the Old Republic, but he destroyed the old democratic order and established the ruthless Galactic Empire in its place. He ruled the galaxy with military might and tyranny, forcing human and alien citizens of every planet to live in fear. He was a.s.sisted by Darth Vader, who eventually turned against him, hurling the Emperor to his death in the power core of the Death Star.

Glove of Darth Vader The glove of Darth Vader's right hand that was cut off by Luke Skywalker in their final battle.

Grand Moff Dunhausen A grand moff (high-ranking Imperial governor) who wears earrings shaped like laser pistols, he is lean and very crafty.

Grand Moff Hissa The grand moff whom Trioculus trusts the most. He has spear-pointed teeth.

Grand Moff Muzzer A grand moff who is plump and round-faced, he is brash and excitable.

Grand Moff Thistleborn A grand moff with bushy eyebrows, he is authoritative and very loyal to the Central Committee of Grand Moffs.

Han Solo A Corellian cargo pilot whose s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, the Millennium Falcon, served the Rebel Alliance in the fight against the Imperial Death Star. Han is a freewheeling, independent-minded bachelor who usually travels with his Wookiee companion, Chewbacca-but he does have a soft spot for Princess Leia.

Imperial minisub Attached to the Whaladon-hunting submarine, this is a small probe sub that can seat four or five people. It also serves as an escape sub in the event of an emergency.