Star Wars: I Am a Slave ✓

Chapter 38 - Bala Tik & Tasu Leech

Finn chased after Han down the ramp and yelled, "Wait—a what?! Did you just say rathtars? Hey!"

What in the universe are rathtars? By the look of the fear in Finn's eyes, they can't be good. I think this day has just gone from bad to worse, thought Rey.

Han punched a few keys on the control panel, which held nine security screens of the ship. Three of the screens brought up different views of the exterior of the Eravana where a freighter was docking. Han motioned to the screen, with his hand, upset. "Oh great. It's the Guavian Death Gang—they must've tracked us from Nantoon."

Rey took it all in. This is getting worse by the minute. I should have stayed on Jakku. At least there I could handle myself. I didn't even bring my staff with me when we left the Falcon!

Chewie growled, upset. Han raced down the corridors to a long, narrow passageway in the middle of the freighter. Bulkheads, pipes, and cabling were exposed. Grating served for decking. Large metal posts for supports. This was a working ship, with no money spent on cosmetics. Cargo containers were stack to the overhead, lining the passageway.

Chewie opened a hatch in the middle of the passageway, the hydraulic lifters whooshing as it opened. Han pointed to the hatch and ordered, "Get below deck and stay there until I say so—don't even think about taking the Falcon."

Rey asked, "What are you gonna do?"

Han replied as Finn and Rey climbed below decks through the hatch, "Same thing I always do: talk my way out of it."

Chewie growled, "Right. You try to, but it never actually works out the way you expected."

Han retorted, pointing at Chewie, "Yes, I do. Every time."

A man with a strange accent challenged Han. The cocky man bluffed his way through the conversation until another hatch opened at the end of the corridor, revealing yet another gang. Is there anyone in this galaxy this man hasn't swindled? thought Rey. I've got to do something, or Han's dead, Chewie's dead, we're dead, and the First Order gets the droid! Think, Rey, think! This is not unlike all those ships you took apart. What can you do? You can't let Tasu Leech and his gang take you! You know what happened the last time you ran into them.

Rey and Finn crawled to the other end of the crawlspace as Tasu Leach continued the unintelligible words. Tasu Leech added something unintelligible to the conversation that upset Han. BB-8 poked his head out from behind Han to view the two gangs.

Bala-Tik, recognizing BB-8, stated, "That BB unit... the First Order is looking for one just like it." Chewie moaned, and BB-8 rolled back behind Han, tilting his cranium sideways to still see Bala-Tik. "And two fugitives."

Finn and Rey suddenly stopped in unison underneath the deck. They looked at each other, worried.

Han continued to bluff, "First I've heard of it."

Below the grating, Finn and Rey look at each other, afraid. Finn and Rey start hyperventilating in a panic. They crawled quickly in the opposite direction, ending up directly under Han and Chewie. There is a junction box here. Rey examined it carefully, deciding it was a fuse box for those blast doors.

Rey whispered to Finn, "Wait! wait! wait! wait! If we close the blast doors in that corridor, we can trap both gangs!

Finn asked, unsure, "Close the blast doors from here?"

Rey explained, "Resetting the fuses should do it." Rey pushed the four fuses, causing sparks to fly from them. They heard the hatches moving with groans and squeaks . . . and growls. Then they heard something stick to the decking with force. Rey looked up, seeing long tentacles stretching through the corridor. The lights dimmed. Uh, oh. That wasn't the fuse box for the main hatches! thought Rey.