A Greek Beauty

Half a steely dark orb, it hung above the green world of Endor, tentacles ofunfinished superstructure curling away toward its living companion like the gropinglegs of a deadly spider. An Imperial Star Destroyer approached the giant space station at cruising speed.It was massive—a city itself—yet it moved with deliberate grace, like some great seadragon. It was accompanied by dozens of Twin Ion Engines fighters—blackinsectlike combat flyers that zipped back and forth around the battle ship's perimeter:scouting, sounding, docking, regrouping. Soundlessly the main bay of the ship opened. There was a brief ignition-flash,as an Imperial shuttle emerged from the darkness of the hold, into the darkness ofspace. It sped toward the half-completed Death Star with quiet purpose. In the cockpit the shuttle captain and his copilot made final readings, monitoreddescent functions. It was a sequence they'd each performed a thousand times, yetthere was an unusual tension in the air now. The captain flipped the transmitterswitch, and spoke into his mouthpiece.