Buisán David M. - The Escape

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ISBN 978-1-368-00447-3

Cover art by Lucy Ruth Cummins

Interior art by David M. Buisn

Visit the official Star Wars website at: www.starwars.com.

MILO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? Come in, please?

Lina Grafs landspeeder kicked up marsh water as it sped across the swamp. Skim-snakes the color of rainbows burst from the heavy canopy above, spooked by the engine. Through gaps in the branches, Lina could see that the sky was darkening, the emerging stars obscured by thick clouds.

Mistress Lina, came a clipped voice beside her. Your parents wont be happy if you and your brother are still out after nightfall.

I know, Lina snapped back, trying not to take her frustration out on CR-8R, the familys droid. She thumbed the comlink on the landspeeders steering column. Milo, where are you?

There was no response. Lina threw the landspeeder around a vine-covered tree, nearly sending CR-8R tumbling from the ramshackle craft.

Careful, Mistress Lina!

Ive told you a hundred times, Crater. Lose the mistress. Its just Lina.

Yes, Mistress Lina.

There was no point arguing with CR-8R, especially when she had a missing brother to find.

Beep-beep-beep .

A tiny red light blinked on the dashboards locator screen. A smile spread across Linas face. There you are.

It was a homing beacon, transmitting from Milos speeder bike. Hed complained when their mom fitted it, but shed insisted for good reason. Nine-year-old Milo was always running off. It wasnt that he was particularly rebellious, but he had definitely inherited their parents natural curiosity.

Auric and Rhyssa Graf were interplanetary explorers, cartographers whod spent the past fifteen years producing maps of Wild Space, an unknown cluster of star systems on the very edge of the Galactic Rim. It was the only life Lina and Milo had ever known. They had been born on the Grafs starship, the Whisper Bird , and had been growing up exploring strange worlds ever since. Lina wouldnt have it any other way, but could do without having to search for her younger brother every five minutes. It was always the same. Theyd make planetfall and Milo would be off, hoping to discover a new species and become famous. His expeditions usually ended up with sprained limbs and a lecture from Dadalthough they knew he was secretly proud of his kids misadventures.

But this trip was different. Theyd brought the Whisper Bird down to this seemingly insignificant planetoid and set up camp in the middle of a vast rock-lined plain.

You two, stay close to camp, Auric Graf had said. Theres a storm brewing and I dont want to have to chase after you when it hits.

Milo had disappeared almost immediately, and Lina received an urgent holo-message just a few hours later:

Need your help. Come to the swamp, now!

But where in the swamp? According to the Bir d s first sensor sweep, the marsh fields were huge, covering at least two-thirds of the planets surface. This was typical of Miloto get so excited that he forgot to give basic information, like where he was!

Mistress Lina, the signal.

I see it, Crater, Lina replied, watching the red dot trace across the screen. Almost there.

Ahead, the landspeeders floodlight glinted off metal. Lina slowed, bringing the craft to a halt.

Milos speeder bike lay on its side in shallow water.

Well, thats not going to help the paintwork, CR-8R scolded as Lina leapt from her seat and splashed over to the abandoned speeder. She tried the bikes controls. They were dead, no power at all. What had happened here? Had Milo crashed?

Master Milo, CR-8R called out. Where are you?

Crater, shhh! Lina hissed. This place could be crawling with razor-boars.

Well, excuse me for trying to locate your wayward brother, CR-8R replied haughtily. I just assumed thats why you dragged me out into this abominable swamp. For all we know, Master Milo is up to his neck in a sink-bog.

And if were lucky well lose you in one, too, Lina muttered under her breath.

She didnt mean it, of course. CR-8R had been around Linas entire life. He was one of her moms pet projects, a crazy mash-up of a droid constructed from a dozen different models. His base had been a probe droid, and it still had four manipulator arms that twitched as CR-8R hovered out of the landspeeder. His upper body was made up of a medical droids waist welded to the torso of an astromech.

Not even his arms matched. The left was taken from an obsolete DUM-series, while the right was the shining silver limb of a protocol droid, but with interchangeable tool attachments instead of a hand.

Lina had no idea where Mom had found CR-8Rs mournful chrome head but knew that it was packed with informationmost of it useless. For a brain, Rhyssa had used a protocol droids processor unit, meaning that CR-8R had a tendency to be prim, proper, and more than a little irritable at times. The patchwork droid had their best interests at heart. That didnt make him any less annoying though.

Lina righted the speeder bike. He cant have gone far. She reached into the tool belt she kept slung around her waist and found a small cylindrical comlink.

Milo, she said into the device. Weve found your speeder, but where are you?

The only answer was a scream from beyond the trees.

Milo! Lina yelled, running through the dense foliage. Filthy water splashed up her legs, reeking like rotten rikknit eggs. She didnt care. Her brother was in trouble. Her brother was.

Laughing?

In the clearing in front of her, Milo was wallowing around in a huge sludgy puddle, covered from head to toe in dark crimson mud.

Milo? she asked, feeling her temper flare. What do you think youre doing?

Milo looked over at her, his muck-covered face splitting into a toothy grin.

I almost had it, Sis!

Linas heart sank. Had what?

Milo grabbed his long wooden staff and struggled to his feet. His face was the picture of excitement. It was like a Sullustan ash-rabbit, but huge, with a ridge of spines

Your message said you needed help, Lina interrupted icily.

I do, he replied, looking confused. To catch the ash-rabbit.

I thought you were in trouble!

Why would you think that?

Because, 99.998 percent of the time, you are! CR-8R said, hovering into the clearing.

Oh, no, moaned Milo, why did you have to bring Crater? Hell definitely tell Mom and Dad.