"I know, I know!" Luke shouted, still fighting the controls of his ship. "All the

scopes are dead! I can't see a thing. Hang on, I'm going to start the landing cycle.

Let's just hope there's something underneath us."

Artoo squealed again, but his sound were effectively frowned by the ear-splitting

blast of the X-wing's retrorockets. Luke felt his stomach plunge as the ship began to

drop rapidly. He braced against his pilot's seat, steeling himself for any possible

impact. Then the ship lunged and Luke heard an awful sound as if the limbs of trees

were being snapped off by his speeding craft.

When the X-wing finally screeched to a halt, it was with a tremendous jolt that

nearly flung its pilot through the cockpit window. Certain, at last, that he was on the

ground, Luke slumped back in his chair and sighed with relief. He then pulled a

switch that lifted his ship's canopy. When he raised his head outside the ship to get

his first look at the alien world, Luke Skywalker gasped.

The X-wing was completely surrounded by mists, its bright landing lights not

illuminating more than a few feet in front of it. Luke's eyes gradually began to grow

accustomed to the gloom all around him so that he could just barely see the twisted

trunks and roots of grotesque-looking trees. He pulled himself out of the cockpit as

Artoo detached his stout body from its cubbyhole plug.

"Artoo," Luke said, "you stay put while I look around."

The enormous gray tree had gnarled and intertwining roots that rose far above

Luke before they joined to form trunks. He tilted back his head and could see the

branches, high above, that seemed to form a canopy with the low-hanging clouds.

Luke cautiously climbed out onto the long nose of his ship and saw that he had

crash-landed in a small, fog-shrouded body of water.

Artoo emitted a short beep—then there was a loud splash, followed by silence.

Luke turned just in time to glimpse the droid's domed topside as it disappeared

beneath the water's foggy surface.

"Artoo! Artoo!" Luke called. He kneeled down on the smooth hull of the ship

and leaned forward, anxiously searching for his mechanical friend.

But the black waters were serene, revealing not a sign of the little R2 unit.

Luke could not tell how deep this still, murky pond might be; but it looked extremely

deep. He was suddenly gripped by the realization that he might never see his droid

friend again. Just then, a tiny periscope broke through the surface of the water and

Luke could hear a faint gurgling beep.

What a relief! Luke thought, as he watched the periscope make its way toward

shore. He ran along the nose of his X-wing fighter, and when the shore line was less

than three meters away, the young commander jumped into the water and scrambled

up the shore. He looked back and saw that Artoo was still making his way toward

the beach.

"Hurry, Artoo!" Luke shouted.

Whatever it was that suddenly moved through the water behind Artoo moved too

quickly and was too obscured by the mist for Luke to clearly identify it. Al he could

see was a massive dark form. This creature rose up for a moment, then dove beneath

the surface, making a loud bang against the little droid's metal hill. Luke heard the

robot's pathetic electronic scream for help. Then, nothing…

Luke stood there, horror-struck, as he continued to stare at the black waters, still

as death itself. As he watched, a few tell-tale bubbles began to erupt at the surface.

Luke's heart began to pound in fear as he realized he was standing too near the pool.

But before he could move, the runt-size robot was spit out by the thing lurking

beneath the black surface. Artoo made a graceful arc through the air and came

crashing down onto a soft patch of gray moss.

"Artoo," Luke yelled, running to him, "are you okay?" Luke was grateful that the

shadowy swamp lurker apparently found metal droid neither palatable nor digestible.

Feebly the robot replied with a series of faint whistles and beeps.

"If you're saying coming here was a bad idea, I'm beginning to agree with you,"

Luke admitted, looking around at their dismal surroundings. At least, he thought,

there was human companionship on the ice world. Here, except for Artoo, there

seemed to be nothing but this murky bog—and creatures, as yet unseen, that might

lurk in the falling darkness.

Dusk was quickly approaching. Luke shivered in the thickening fog that closed

in on him like something alive. He helped Artoo-Detoo back onto his feet, then

wiped away the swamp muck that covered the droid's cylindrical body. As he

worked, Luke heard eerie and inhuman cries that emanated from the distant jungle

and shuddered as he imagined the beasts that might making them.

By the time he finished clearing off Artoo, Luke observed that the sky had grown

noticeably darker. Shadows loomed ominously all around him and the distant cries

didn't seem quite so far away anymore. He and Artoo glanced around at the spooky

swamp-jungle surrounding them, then huddled a bit closer. Suddenly, Luke noticed

a pair of tiny but vicious eyes winking at them through the shadowy underbrush, then

vanishing with a scutter of diminutive feet.

He hesitated to doubt the advice of Ben Kenobi, but now he was beginning to

wonder if that robed specter had somehow made a mistake leading him to this planet

with its mysterious Jedi teacher.

He looked over at his X-wing and groaned when he saw that the entire bottom

section was completely submerged in the dark water. "How are we going to get that

thing flying again?" The whole set of circumstances seemed hopeless and somewhat

ridiculous. "What are we doing here?" he moaned.

It was beyond the computerized abilities of Artoo to provide an answer for either

of these questions, but he made a little comforting beep anyway.

"It's like part of a dream," Luke said. He shook his head, feeling cold and

frightened. "Or maybe I'm going crazy."

At least, he knew for certain, he couldn't have gotten himself into a crazier

situation.

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