Read Star Wars - 214 - Jedi Prince 05 - Queen of the Empire for Free Online Page A

disliked the idea of having to climb inside the golden cage.
    But all eyes in the theater were staring at her. Reluctantly Leia took a deep breath, told herself it was all in fun, and stepped inside the cage. The magician then slammed the door shut and locked it.
    Suddenly two bounty hunters leapt out from behind the curtains at the wings of the stage.
    TZZZZZT!!
    The bounty hunters fired blasters at the power unit that controlled the lights. TZZZZZZ . . . TZT . . . TZKLE .. .
    The theater fell into total darkness, as the overhead illumination went out. Shrieks of fear came from the audience.
    Then came blinding flashes of laserfire as more bounty hunters jumped out from their hiding places and fired randomly, creating panic in the theater. Moments later, when the emergency lights came on, Han Solo was standing with his laserblaster in his hand, ready to fire. But the bounty hunters were gone. And so was the magician-and the golden cage with Princess Leia!
    Members of the Fun World Security Squad streamed into the theater, trying to calm the panicking audience.
    Han and Lando jumped up onto the stage and glanced in all directions. There was no sign of Leia anywhere. Not even a single clue.
    The Zorba Express blasted off and departed from Hologram Fun World. Zorba and Tibor the Barabel alien bounty hunter were aboard, along with an extra passenger-Princess Leia!
    Tibor had delivered the Princess directly to Zorba, still trapped inside the golden cage.
    "A-haw-haw-haw . . . !" Zorba laughed cruelly. "So, Princess Leia, at last we meet. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Zorba, Jabba the Hutt’s father," he exclaimed. "And nobody is better at getting even with a murdering Princess like you than a clever old Hutt like me!"
    "I never murdered anyone," Leia said defiantly. "I’m a diplomat. I believe one should settle disputes using peaceful negotiations-unless one is attacked and has to defend herself."
    "And I suppose you were only defending yourself when you killed my son, Jabba," Zorba said in a mocking tone. "Tell me, Princess Leia, did you think Jabba’s papa would allow his son’s death to go unavenged? Did you really think you would get away with your crime?"
    "Jabba is the one who committed crimes," Leia insisted, clenching her fists in rising anger. "More crimes than I can count. He was a gangster and a smuggler and a thief. And you’re as greedy, and just as wretched and monsterous as he was!"
    "Tsk tsk tsk," Zorba said, waving his forefinger as a warning. "If you had longer to live, I would teach you some manners, Princess Leia. But what’s the use of teaching manners to a human who will die in a few hours anyway? It’s a waste of time and precious energy that could be used for better things. Like eating."
    Zorba waved his forefinger in Leia’s direction once again and continued to scold her. "I know that you murdered Jabba in his sail barge at the Great Pit of Carkoon on Tatooine. You twisted a chain around his neck-"
    "It was the chain that held me prisoner!" Leia protested. "I was only trying to get free. That’s every prisoner’s right!"
    "I’ve heard how you twisted that chain around poor Jabba, squeezing the breath out of my son. Prisoner’s right, indeed. Well, he didn’t get to see his prisoner die that day at the Great Pit of Carkoon. But I’ll make up for it, Princess. I’m going to take you to Tatooine and drop you into the pit-right into the Mouth of Sarlacc!" Zorba slurped and slobbered just thinking about it. "You know, Princess, it takes the Sarlacc a period of one thousand years to digest its victims," he continued. "So for a thousand years you’ll be trapped there in its stomach, until there’s nothing left of you-not even your bones! A-haw-haw-haw . . . !"
    Leia wished she could reverse everything that had happened to her since Lando told her that her marriage to Han would have to wait until morning. If only she could have retraced her steps, and not gone to the theater. If only she