Star Wars: Jedi Prince 2: The Lost City of the Jedi by Paul Davids, Hollace Davids Page B

exit from their spaceship. The scent of smoke was everywhere, and they could hear the explosions of neutron fireballs in the distance.
    "What do you think, Han?" Luke asked. "Do you figure the Falcon will ever be able to make the trip again from here to the Bespin system in eighteen standard time parts?"
    Suddenly Han Solo saw a gleam of white in the corner of his eye. He glanced toward the object and drew his blaster. "A stormtrooper!"
    Han fired a couple of times. Chewbacca hurried over to see what the trouble was.
    Luke propped himself up so he could see. "Stop, Han! That’s not a stormtrooper! It’s a droid I met. His name is Dee-Jay, and he’s from the Lost City of the Jedi!"
    "It’s a droid named what from where?" Han asked.
    Dee-Jay came toward them. Ken was alongside him, carrying his computer notebook.
    "Commander Skywalker," Dee-Jay said. "You see what a disobedient boy I have here. No matter how many times I tell him not to come Topworld, he keeps coming back!"
    "I had to find my computer notebook," Ken said. "I didn’t know there’d be a fire, and TNTs, and stormtroopers, and-" Ken suddenly glanced at Han. He recognized him from pictures he’d seen in the Jedi Library. "Wow, you’re Han Solo, right?" He then looked over at the Wookiee. "And-you’re Chewbacca!"
    "Groooowwfff!" Chewie said, confirming that Ken had gotten his name right.
    "We know who we are, kid," Han said. "What we don’t know is who you are and what you’re doing here."
    "I’m Ken," he replied. "And I’ve always wanted to meet you, Mr. Solo, for just about my entire life. You’re one of the best Corellian pilots in the whole galaxy!"
    "What do you mean one of?" Han replied. "You know anybody better?"
    "Snoke Loroan made the trip from here to the Bespin system in fifteen standard time parts," Ken said, without even batting an eyelash. "The best the Millennium Falcon has ever done is eighteen standard time parts. I looked that up in the Jedi Library."
    Han rolled his eyes in amazement. Who was this kid?

    "Okay, okay, I’ll admit I’m impressed," Han said. "But Snoke Loroan got wiped out in the battle of Endor. We’re talking about living Corellian pilots."
    "Then I guess you’re the best," Ken admitted with a smile.
    "You’ve got that right," Han said and beamed. "Now I’ll tell you what, Chewie and I have flown from one end of this galaxy to the other in the Millennium Falcon. If you or your droid know any way we can escape from this blazing firepit, we’ll give you a free ride to the planet of your choice, someday." Han thought about his offer again. "Well, almost any planet. Kessel and Hoth are off-limits."
    "You’ve got a deal!" Ken said. "That is, if it’s okay with Dee-Jay."
    "Commander Skywalker," Dee-Jay said, "the flames approach. You and your friends must follow me to safety. With your help, I may be able to stop these fires."
    To Luke’s astonishment, without walking very far through the forest, they arrived at the circular stone wall made of green marble.
    "It’s just like in my dream!" Luke said. "We’re at the entrance to the Lost City of the Jedi!"
    "My Corellian buddies will never believe this!" Han Solo said.
    Dee-Jay led them through the opening in the wall. There they saw the circular tubular transport. As Dee-Jay approached, the door slid open, and they all went inside.
    "Hold on tight," Dee-Jay warned. "You may find this ride a bit disagreeable."
    The tubular transport dropped so fast, Luke and his friends felt as if they’d left their stomachs behind. They plunged through an underground region in total darkness. They kept dropping at an incredible speed, and soon they saw flashes of flickering lights from luminescent rocks.
    At last they came to a stop at the bottom of the shaft, several miles underground. Luke stepped out and looked around in awe. Here it was, the place he had been searching for.
    And in this illuminated cavern, it still seemed as bright and new as it must have looked when the first