Read Online The Force Awakens (Star Wars) by Alan Dean Foster - Free Book Online Page B

anything predictable, utilizing the destruction he and his companion had already wrought to confuse the predictors that were an integral part of the big guns’ operating systems. Though more debris providedmore cover, Poe knew he couldn’t keep up such maneuvering forever. Ultimately, the damage he and Finn had caused would be reduced to fragments, and then to powder, by the efforts of the destroyer’s weapons. Bereft of anywhere to hide, the TIE fighter would eventually catch a powerful laser pulse. That would be the end of the game. Before that happened, they had to get clear.
    No doubt everygunner, every weapons system operator on the destroyer, was just waiting for the stolen fighter to break outsystem preparatory to making a jump to lightspeed. Their attention would be focused in those directions, away from the ship and toward the great darkness. The last thing they would expect someone escaping from the vicinity of the planet Jakku to do would be to—head for Jakku.
    As he sentthe TIE fighter roaring toward the desert world below, a hand reached forward and down to rap him on the shoulder. “Wait—this isn’t right! Where are you going?” Behind them, a few desultory blasts erupted from the Star Destroyer’s weapons. It would take very little time for the great ship to bring all its power to bear on the fleeing fighter. But very little time was all a pilot like Poe needed.
    “You mean, where are
we
going. Back to Jakku, that’s where.” Asif, he thought, the brown and yellow globe expanding rapidly in front of them wasn’t indication enough. But he could sympathize with Finn’s confusion. What they were doing made no sense. Always, he knew, the best way to avoid predictability. Even if it was a little mad.
    “
What?
Jakku? No, no, no! Poe, we gotta get outta this
system
!” The TIE fighter rocked crazily as one near-miss after another reached them from the destroyer and Poe fought to confuse any automatic trackers. Finn’s voice grew calmer, but only slightly. “Oh, okay, I got it. We’re gonna go sub-atmosphere, circle the planet, and strike for lightspeed on the other side, out of the big guy’s range, right?
Right?
Tell me I’m right, Poe.”
    Poe didn’t botherto shake his head, focusing on the fighter’s wonderfully responsive controls. “I got to get to my droid before the First Order does!”
    Finn gaped at the back of the pilot’s head. “Your
droid
? What does a droid have to do with escaping?”
    “It’s not about escaping. This whole business isn’t about escaping.”
    “Could’ve fooled me.” Feeling slightly numb, Finn slumped back in his seat. “Youmust really, really,
really
like this droid.”
    “He’s a BB unit. One of a kind. Orange and white. Utterly unique and utterly invaluable.”
    Finn’s voice rose anew. “I don’t care
what color it is
! I don’t care if it’s capable of invisibility! No droid can be that important!”
    Poe let out a private, knowing grunt. “This one is, pal.”
    “Okay,” Finn countered, “you say that it’s important.I’ll tell you what’s important,
pal
. Getting as far away from the First Order and its representatives as we can, as fast as we can!
That’s
what’s important. To me, anyway.” He lowered his voice. “I saved your life, Poe. At the very least, you owe me mine. We go back to Jakku, we
die
.”
    “That’s a chance we’ve got to take.” The pilot’s stance was unshakeable. “This isn’t about my life, or yours.I’m sorry, Finn, but there are far greater things at stake. Forces are in motion that must be dealt with. Unfortunately, I seem to be at the center of them. It’s aresponsibility I can’t—I won’t—forgo. I’m sorry you’ve become caught up in the middle of it, but I can’t do anything about that.”
    “I don’t care how important this droid of yours is, or what you and it are involved in. For you andme, Jakku is another word for death.”
    Poe could not dispute Finn’s logic, so he