Read The Crystal Star for Free Online

individual: darker hair, a handspan taller, thinner, his
    features ordinary and unmemorable.
    "Dammit!" Han said. "Don't do that to me!" The image shivered away, revealing Luke.
    "All right," Luke said. "I won't affect you. But no one else will recognize me." "Okay." They descended.
    Han wished Chewbacca was with them, but traveling incognito, it had been too risky. With his beard,
    Han could probably escape identification. A human man and a chestnut Wookiee traveling together,
    though: throughout the Republic, that image made people think of General Han Solo and his friend, the
    Hero of the New Republic, Chewbacca.
    At the bottom of the Millennium Falcon's ramp, the crawler's entryway was dim. A translucent rod
    barred Han's path. He pushed it. It moved in his hand. He gripped it harder. It shivered and shook and
    rattled against the skin of the crawler. Several similar rods, each one segmented, each joint a faceted
    bulge, snapped across the doorway in front of him.
    "Hey!" Han yelled.
    "Let go!" the driver said.
    "Let him go," Luke said. "You're holding on to his arm. His leg. His appendage." "How do you know?"
    Luke just looked at him.
    Han let go. "I hate it when you do that," he said to Luke.
    "Pay first," the driver said. "Then enter." Han peeled off several bills and gave them over to the driver.
    One of the thin, translucent appendages slid across the doorway in front of him until its four-clawed end
    hovered before his face. The claws were as sharp and blue as steel, and each was as long as his hand.
    "Nice fingernails," Han said. He put the cash into the claws. They closed gently, without piercing the
    engraved paper.
    "Thank you," the driver said. "You will pay more." "More? Now?" Han exclaimed. "For parking on a
    chunk of rock?" "For parking on a chunk of rock under a rented shield," the driver said, "when a new
    X-ray storm will approach. My rented shield.
    However, I will move it away if you would prefer." Han had considered the radiation flux strong enough
    to qualify as an X-ray storm. On Crseih, though, it was normal weather. When the white dwarf neared
    the black hole, and the black hole began tearing heated gas from its surface, the X rays would intensify
    into a true storm, an X-ray hurricane.
    "An X-ray storm will surely have adverse effects on the systems of the Mil--of your ship," See-Threepio
    said, "if it is left unprotected." "I know that," Han said. He pulled off three more bills and shoved them
    into the driver's claws. He thought, This is going to leave us pretty short of cash. Never mind, the letter of
    resources will take care of the problem.
    The claws withdrew. Rustling, the other legs parted. Han's eyes were becoming accustomed to the dim
    light. The driver sat on the other side of the crawler cabin, pulling its legs in around it like a pile of dry
    sticks.
    "The ride to Crseih," the driver said, "will be free." "Thanks so much," Han said. Behind them, the Falcon
    drew in its ramp and locked its hatch.
    See-Threepio peered around the inside of the crawler.
    "You have no other passenger?" he asked.
    "I will only have room to carry you," the driver said.
    Threepio said a few ^ws in a language so strange it hurt Han's ears. Threepio had spoken it to him
    before, while translating the messages from Crseih Station.
    Threepio thinks this guy might be our contact!
    Han thought.
    The driver rattled several appendages, including those with aural sensory hairs, and sharp defensive
    spines.
    "What will you mean?" the driver said to Threepio. "Why will you irritate my auditory organs?" "I beg
    your pardon," Threepio said. "I said nothing of any importance. I mistook you for someone else." The
    crawler left the starship beneath its shield and headed toward the city.
    The driver stopped the crawler in its bay. The airlink moved to meet the door. Han vaulted down and
    strode into Crseih Station. Luke and See-Threepio followed.
    The crawler backed out and rumbled away.
    "Spiders," Han said, shuddering. "I'm