"Foster, Alan Dean - Star Wars - Splinter Of The Mind's Eye" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

Luke hesitated, his gaze moving from the Princess to Halla and back again. Halla removed it from the box and extended it out to him in a cupped hand.
"See, it's not hot," she told him. "Go on, touch it and believe. Are you afraid?" Luke continued to hesitate.
"I'll touch it," the Princess volunteered, extending a finger. But Halla pulled it out of her reach.
"No. This isn't for you. Touching it would prove nothing to you." She reached out toward Luke again. "Go on, boy. It won't hurt you."
Licking his lower lip, Luke cautiously probed for the splinter with a finger. Touched it.
It felt exactly like what it resembled, a piece of glowing heatless glass. But the sensations that coursed through him did not come from his finger, were not carried by the nerves in his skin. He quickly drew back his arm as if he'd contacted a live current.
"Luke, what is it?" the Princess exclaimed, suddenly concerned. She stared accusingly at Halla. "You've hurt him!"
"No, little pretty mouth, I haven't hurt him. He has been startled and shocked and surprised, much as I was when I first contacted the crystal."
Leia faced Luke. "What did you feel?"
"I... didn't feel anything," he informed her softly, now utterly convinced of the old woman's sincerity. "I experienced it. This," and he indicated the fragment of red mineral, "increases one's perception of the Force. It magnifies and clarifies... in proportion to its size and density, I think." He gazed hard at Halla. "Anyone in possession of the entire crystal, if it's much larger than this fragment, would have such a lock on the Force that he could do almost anything, anything at all."
"My thought also, boy," Halla agreed. She replaced the fragment in its box and snapped the lid shut, then re-rolled it in the soft material. She handed it to Luke. "To show you I mean what I say, you keep it. Go on, take it." Luke did so, then slipped it into a pocket.
"And now, I think," she went on, "you have no choice but to help me, and without delay."
"Who says so?" the Princess grumbled.
"No one says so, little pretty. Facts say so. By touching the fragment, Luke here set up a tiny but perceptible stirring in the Force. I felt it. It might have traveled no farther than this tavern, or it might have affected sensitives halfway across the galaxy. There are Force-sensitives in the Imperial government who might feel such a stirring.
"However," she continued with a shrug, "as I said, the sensation might have gone no farther than myself. But can you take that chance, Luke? If you're both with the Alliance, as I'm pretty sure by now you are, then the Imperials should be real interested in Luke, here. From what I hear, they don't like to think of there being anyone on the Rebel side capable of handling the Force.
"Besides, boy, you know what kind of damage a Force master could do with the entire crystal in his hands. Can you take a chance on the Empire finding it first?" She looked almost apologetic. "Sorry, but I had to do something to shove you both past the no-return point. Couldn't risk having my first really secure helpers back out on me, could I?"
"She's right, Leia," Luke told his companion. "We can't take the chance of having the crystal fall into Imperial hands."
"You're right, Luke..."
"Besides, Leia, we have no choice. We need Halla to help us get off-planet, and she won't do that until we find the crystal anyway." He eyed her hopefully. "All right?"
"My, my, what's this? A miner asking permission from his servant girl?" Neither of them could meet her shrewd gaze. "Take it easy, children. I won't give you away, whoever you are." She glanced around. "This isn't the most private place to do business. Now, if you're finished with your supper, we'd do well to talk elsewhere."
Luke nodded. "It's about time we reassured Artoo and Threepio."
"Just a minute." Halla put out a restraining hand. "I thought there were only the two of you."
Luke grinned. "Two 'droids I acquired... inherited, you might say."
"Oh, that's all right, then. Never could afford a personal 'droid myself."
While paying their bill, Luke sneaked a glance in the direction of the Imperial civil servant. The man evidenced no further interest in them, didn't even look in their direction. The servant-girl story had apparently convinced him.
Once outside with the double metal door panels shut behind them, Leia kicked Luke sharply in the shins. He went staggering, tumbled off the narrow walkway into the mud-filled trench which separated walkway from more solid street. When he recovered his senses, he gazed at her in surprise.
"Now you look more like a miner," she grinned at him. "That's for slapping me inside. No hard feelings?"
Luke shook some of the mud from his hands, wiped at his chest, then smiled up at her. "No hard feelings, Leia." He reached up, extended a hand. The Princess leaned forward, her left hand gripping a supporting post, her right extended to help Luke.
Her caution didn't matter. Luke yanked hard, and she plunged messily into the trench beside him. He sat there, grinning, as she turned around, looked down at herself in distress.
"Look at me! Look what you've done to me!"
"Made you look a little more like a servant girl," he replied easily. "Can't be too careful here, you know."
"Well, in that case..." Luke ducked the first handful of gook she heaved in his direction, caught part of the second and grappled with her.
Halla was watching, amused, until several large men came out of the tavern behind her. They paused, their attention also drawn by the wrestling match in the mud. They were all just drunk enough to be dangerous and the longer they watched, the quieter they became.
Much too quiet to suit Halla...

IV

"FOR our souls and health," she muttered hastily to the two combatants, "stop it, you two!"
Encased in mud, neither Luke nor the Princess heard Halla's anxiously whispered warning.
One of the men leaned to his right, spat something out between his beard and commented, "Servant's not supposed to fight back, boys."
"Doesn't seem proper somehow," his companion agreed.
"Besides," the first man added, "fightin' in public's against the town decrees, ain't it?"
"That's right," another man concurred. "Maybe we can straighten 'em out before the night troop takes 'em in. Be doin' 'em a good turn." He called down to Luke. "Hang in there, young fella. We won't let her hurt you."
Grinning and chuckling among themselves, the five stepped down off the walkway. Finding herself providently ignored by all concerned, Halla slipped back into the shadows.
"Is there anything we can do, madam?" a voice said into her ear. She jumped. Threepio jumped.
"You've no right scaring me like that, you refugee from a scrap shop!"
"I apologize, but my master and the lady..."
"Oh. Are you Threepio?" The 'droid nodded slightly. "And this must be Artoo." A beep sounded from a dim shape nearby. "We can't do anything yet, I'm afraid." She peered back out into the street. "Maybe those bulk-boys are just teasing."
Two of the men pulled Leia off Luke. That provided them with a good glimpse of her for the first time. Their initial amusement abruptly shifted as less pleasant emotions surfaced.
"Well now," murmured a barrel-chested individual with a Manchu mustache. "This is no 'droid servant, that's for sure."