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

"We have to be prepared to find nothing, Princess. There might not be a beacon station,"
"I know," she admitted quietly. "We'll have to search, though. We can walk in an expanding spiral from the place I plotted, and hope."
A long wall of trees and lesser growth lay ahead. They plunged into it without hesitating, trading ease of passage for secure footing.
"Pardon me, sir."
Luke looked slightly ahead and to his right. Both robots had paused and See Threepio was leaning against something. "What is it, Threepio?"
"Your pardon, sir, but this isn't a tree I'm pressing against," the 'droid said, "it's metal. I thought the matter worthy enough to bring to your notice. There is a possibility..." A loud beep cut him off and he glared down at Artoo. "Talk too much? What do you mean I talk too much, you factory second!"
"Metal... it is metal!" The Princess was standing alongside the robots, waiting for Luke to make his way through the brush.
"Artoo, see if you can clear some of this undergrowth away." The little 'droid activated a small cutting flame, used it to burn a path through the jungle. "It's a wall... it's got to be," Luke muttered as they walked parallel to the forest-scarred metal surface.
Sure enough, the metal finally ended, and they emerged from the trees onto a modestly cleared roadway. It led into a street paved with packed clay-earth. Buildings lined both sides of the glorified alley, marching resolutely into the swirling fogs. Warm yellow glows shone from lights hidden behind tightly sealed windows, illuminating and outlining raised metal sidewalks canopied against the mist and rain.
"Thank the Force," the Princess murmured.

"First," Luke began, "we find a place to get cleaned up. Then..." He took a step forward. A hand caught his shoulder, held him back. He eyed Leia curiously. "What's the matter?"
"Think a minute, Luke," she urged him softly. "This is more than just a simple homing beacon site. Much more." Cautiously, she leaned around the corner of the metal wall, peered down the street. Figures were strolling along the metal walkways now. Others crossed the mist-slicked street. "It's too substantial for a scientific post, too."
Luke turned his own attention to the shrouded streets, took in the figures, the crude shape of the structures. "You're right. It's a big installation. Maybe some company from Circarpous..."
"No." She gestured sharply. "Look there."
Two figures were swaying down the center of the street. They wore armor instead of loose clothing, formed armor of white and black. Armor that was all too familiar.
Both men carried their helmets casually. One dropped his, bent to retrieve it, kicked it accidentally up the street. His companion chided him. Cursing, the clumsy Imperial picked up his helmet, and the two continued on their meandering path.
Luke's eyes had grown as wide as Leia's. "Imperial stormtroopers, here. Without the Circarpousians' knowledge, or we'd have heard of it from the underground there."
She was nodding excitedly. "If the Circarpousians find out, they'll quit the Empire faster than a bureaucrat can quote forms!"
"And who's going to inform them about the violation?" Luke wanted to know.
"Why, we..." The Princess stopped, looked somber. "We have two reasons to need help now, Luke."
"Shsssh," he whispered. They drew back further into the darkness. A large cluster of men and women appeared around the near corner. They were chatting softly among themselves, but it wasn't their inaudible conversation that intrigued Luke and Leia. They wore unusual clothing, coveralls of some black, reflective material which tucked into matching high boots.
The coveralls rose to end in a cap that fit over the wearer's head. Some members of the group had their hoods up and fastenformed, others wore them folded flat against their upper back. Various types of equipment Luke didn't recognize hung and swayed from wide belts.
Evidently the Princess knew what they were. "Miners," she informed him, watching as the group moved off down one metal walkway. "They're wearing mining suits. The Empire's digging something valuable out of this planet, and the Circarpousians don't know a thing about it."
"How can you be so sure?" Luke inquired.
The Princess sounded positive. "They'd have their own installation here, and no troops. The Empire obviously doesn't want anyone to know about this." Artoo whistled soft agreement.
Further conversation was made impossible when the air was suddenly filled with a distant, violent howling. It sounded like a parade of demons tramping along just beneath the surface.
The sound continued for several minutes, then ceased. Realization transformed the Princess' expression.
"Energy mining!" she explained breathlessly to Luke. "They're using some big generators here." A thoughtful pause, then, "That might account for the atmospheric disturbance which forced us down. I knew I'd read about that effect somewhere. A ship has to be specially insulated to drop down through an area where an energy drill is working. By-products, including excess charges, are shunted away skyward.
"But the fallout materials-if this world supports a native race, it's illegal, that kind of mining."
"Since when," observed Luke bitterly, "did legalities ever matter to the Empire?"
"You're right, of course."
"We can't stand here forever," he went on. "First thing we have to do is obtain some substantial food. Those concentrates can keep you alive for only so long without some protein to work with. And," he added, glancing at her muddy exterior, "we've got to get cleaned up. We can't attract any attention. Since Yavin and the Death Star we're both well known to Imperial enforcement officials, we'd be taken on sight."
He studied her pilot's suit, then his own. "We can't go strolling around town in these. I think we'd better work on stealing a change of clothing."
"Steal?" the Princess objected, drawing herself up. "From a possibly honest shopkeeper? If you think for a minute that a former Princess of the royal house of Alderaan, a Senator, is going to resort to-"
"I'll steal them," Luke said curtly. He leaned around the metal corner. The mist-shrouded street was momentarily deserted and he beckoned for her to follow.
They hugged the walls of the buildings, trying to pass quickly before any lit windows or open doors, slipping furtively from shadow to shadow. Luke hastily examined each storefront in passing. Finally he halted, indicated the sign above a doorway.
"Miner's supplies," he whispered. "This is the one we want." While the Princess watched the walkways, he tried to peer through one dark window. "Maybe it's a holiday," he guessed hopefully.
"More likely the only establishments open this time of night sell nothing but intoxicants," the Princess pointed out prosaically. "What now?" She looked uncomfortable.
By way of reply Luke led her around back. The rear entrance he'd hoped for was there. But it was secured, as he'd feared. To complicate matters there was a broad open lane behind the buildings, from which the jungle and bog had been shunted away. If anyone happened to come walking past, they'd have nowhere to hide.
"Wonderful," the Princess observed as Luke tried the locked portal. "How do we get in?" She was indicating the seamless metal door which, no doubt, was locked and controlled from the inside. The back of the building was devoid of windows, possibly to foil intentions such as theirs.
Luke removed the lightsaber from his waist, very slowly adjusted the controls set in the handle.
"What are you going to do, Luke?"
"I don't know how big this town is, but a noisy break-in would attract too much attention. So I'm trying not to be noisy."
Watching with interest, the Princess took a couple of steps back, looking nervously up and down the alleyway. Any second she expected to see a squad of angry troopers racing around a corner toward her, alerted by some hidden alarm they had unknowingly triggered.
Only jungle sounds reached her; however, as Luke activated his saber. Instead of the meter-plus shaft of white energy, the pommel put forth a short, needle-thin spoke. With concentration worthy of a master craftsman, Luke stepped forward and moved the energy beam along the slight space visible between door and frame. A third of the way down the door a distinct click sounded and the door slid obediently aside. Readjusting his saber, Luke flicked it off and replaced it at his waist.
"Go ahead," she told him. "The 'droids and I will keep watch."
He nodded, vanished inside.
Luke's principal objective was conveniently located close to the back of the store. He spent several minutes scrounging through the racks before he found what he wanted. Taking the well-used clothing, he hurried to the back entrance and tossed the booty to the Princess. Then he stepped just outside the door, reached back in and touched the Close stud. He pulled his arm clear as the door slid shut behind him. With luck it might be several weeks before the storekeeper discovered his loss.
Well pleased with himself, Luke stepped down to the ground and began unsnapping his flight suit. He was partly undressed when he paused and noticed the Princess standing and staring at him.