Survivor's Quest

by Timothy Zahn

  He threw power to the Skysprite's drive, blasting them away from the asteroid on a vector paralleling the Dreadnaught's course. Keeping them clear of the larger ship's ion emissions, he swung them around the starboard side and underneath. The stumps of the four broken turbolift pylons looked like sections of a model maker's mounting stand in the light from the distant star. "Anything?" he asked as he swung toward the aft-portside tube.

  "No course twitching; nothing tracking us," Mara reported. "Of course, the aft sensors are the ones the Colonists would probably have skipped if they hadn't felt like fixing everything."

  "Or they may just have skipped the point-defense weaponry back here," Luke reminded her, easing up to the shattered end of the pylon for a closer look. It didn't look like there was going to be enough room for him to lift the Skysprite straight upward, canopy-first, as he would into a standard docking bay.

  But if he rotated the ship ninety degrees, standing it on its drive nozzles and taking it in nose-first...

  "I hope," Mara said, "that you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

  "I am," Luke said. "Hang on."

  He gave the engines a burst of power, pushing the small craft ahead a dozen meters along the Dreadnaught's underside. Then, shutting down the main drive, he shifted power to the forward-ventral maneuvering jets, pitching the Skysprite's nose upward. The pylon stump slid past, and he fired one final burst from the main drive, running them straight upward into the tube.

  To the accompaniment of a horrendous screech of torn metal.

  Luke fought back a wince as he activated the forward landing claw, firing it past the turbolift cars to a more solid connection with the wall. "Was that the hyperdrive ring?" he asked as he took in the cable slack, winching the Skysprite another couple of meters into the pylon.

  "Let's just say we'd better not need a quick exit," Mara said. "Aside from that, it was a classy maneuver."

  "Thanks," Luke said, shutting the Skysprite's systems back to standby and making sure his vac suit was sealed. "At least we don't have to wonder whether or not they heard us coming. Grab the sealant kit and let's go."

  The Skysprite's canopy was, fortunately, reasonably flat, and they were able to get it open in the cramped space without having to cut their way out. Working his way up the landing claw cable, Luke maneuvered between the parked turbolift cars to that last-second gash he'd carved with his thrown lightsaber and squeezed through it.

  The damage turned out to be even more impressive than he'd expected. The lightsaber handle had apparently bumped the top of the door a fraction of a second before the blade had closed down, swinging it up and nicking a small hole in the lobby ceiling.

  "Nice," Mara said, nodding to the latter as she handed Luke the sealant kit through the opening and then eased her own way through it. "You cut off not only the turbolift lobby, but a section of the next deck up, too. Anything up there they would have particularly missed?"

  "Just the next turbolift lobby up," Luke said, looking around. His lightsaber was lying over in a corner beside four dead Vagaari who had been in the wrong place when the Dreadnaught broke free and the lobby depressurized. The blast doors that had reacted to the emergency were about five meters away down each of the three corridors leading away from the lobby. "I think one of the aft electronics supply rooms is just down the corridor from it, though, and a droid maintenance facility is off in the other direction," he added, starting across the lobby. "Depending on which blast doors reacted up there, either or both of those might have been locked away from them, too."

  Mara grunted. "It would have been a lot simpler if none of them had worked," she pointed out, taking the sealant kit back from him and opening it. "Then the whole ship would have depressurized, and they'd all have died right then and there."

  "Which they obviously didn't, since the ship is still under power," Luke pointed out, retrieving his lightsaber and taking a quick look at the alien bodies.

  "I didn't say I believed it," Mara said. "I just said it would have been simpler. Anyone we know?"

  "Nope," Luke said, experimentally igniting the lightsaber. The green-white blade flashed to existence with gratifying strength. "Good," he said, closing it down again and hooking it onto his belt next to Lorana's. "I was afraid the activator might have stuck on and drained all the power. You need any help?"

  "No, I've got it," Mara said, unfolding the patch to the proper size and starting to seal its edges around the gash. "You just stand there and be ready for trouble. They may try to pull something cute even before we get the lobby repressurized."

  "Right." Moving to the blast door blocking the corridor leading forward, he stretched out to the Force. There were alien minds in that direction, he could tell, and a high degree of maliciousness. But that was all he could read. Holding his lightsaber ready, he waited.

  No attack had come by the time Mara finished laying out the patch and checking its integrity. "Ready?" Luke asked as she packed the kit away.

  "Ready," Mara confirmed. "You sure you don't want to use the emergency oxygen tanks to repressurize? It would let us get out of these suits before we have to do any serious fighting."

  Luke looked over at the red-rimmed emergency cabinet fastened to the side wall with its collection of oxygen tanks, sealant kits, and medpacs. "I'd rather leave that in reserve," he told her. "Depending on how much of a fight the Vagaari put up, we may wind up needing extra oxygen somewhere else along the line."

  "Okay." Igniting her own lightsaber, she took up a ready stance a couple of meters in front of the blast doors. "Remember, just nick it. Enough to let the air in but not enough to trigger anything they might have on the other side."

  "Right." Standing as far off to the side as he could, feeling awkward in the confines of his vac suit, Luke jabbed the end of the green-white blade through one corner of the thick door.

  There was a sudden hissing noise, and a stream of air began to blow in through the opening, its edges swirling white as water vapor condensed and froze in the vacuum. He glanced at the atmosphere tester on his vac suit, wondering if the Vagaari might have tried poisoning the air on this deck. But there was nothing. A minute later the whistling faded away as the pressures equalized.

  "Anything?" Mara asked.

  Luke checked the tester again. "Looks clear," he said.

  "Good." Laying her lightsaber on the deck, Mara popped her helmet and started stripping off the vac suit. "I hate trying to move in these things. Watch for company, will you?"

  A minute later she was finished. A minute after that, both vac suits were off and piled neatly back near the turbolift doors. "Here we go," Luke commented as Mara took up a stance a couple of meters back from the blast door, her lightsaber humming in front of her. "Let's see what the Vagaari have come up with."

  Reaching out with the Force, he keyed the control. Ponderously, the blast doors began to slide back into the walls.

  And from a dozen standing and kneeling Vagaari five meters back came a withering hail of blasterfire.

  Luke was ready, keying the doors instantly closed again as Mara scattered away the shots that had made it in. "Well, that answers that question," she commented.

  "Partially, anyway," Luke corrected. "Did you happen to notice the little flat boxes lying along the sides of the walls?"

  She shook her head. "Observation was your job," she reminded him. "My job was staying alive."

  "Right," Luke said. "Anyway, they were just like the little gray boxes they used to mine the turbolift, except that these were white."

  "White?" Mara frowned, then nodded. "Of course—repainted to blend in with the corridor walls. How many were there?"

  "I didn't get an actual count," Luke said, studying the image in his memory. "But they were spaced a meter or two apart and ran all the way down to where the corridor jogs to the right."

  "Cute," Mara said. "So the next time we open the blast doors, we'll probably see the Vagaari in full retreat. We'll chase them, watching for blaster
shots, and whoever's handling the detonators will have his choice of when to blow us to bits."

  "Something like that," Luke said, looking at the ceiling above them. "What do you think? We go up?"

  "They'll probably have something ready up there, too," Mara said, her voice and sense suddenly thoughtful. "After all, they've seen what lightsabers can do."

  "You have an idea?" Luke prompted.

  She favored him with an evil smile. "What they haven't seen is this," she said. Letting go of her lightsaber, she levitated it in front of her.

  "Okay," Luke said. "So?"

  Mara's reply was a twitch of her head back toward the turbolift lobby. Frowning, Luke followed. She stepped to the Vagaari bodies in the corner and, stretching out to the Force, levitated one of them upright. Focusing her control, she moved its arms and legs, keeping it a couple of centimeters above the floor, making it stride rather shakily across the lobby as if it was still alive.

  Or, rather, as if he and Mara had put on their enemies' armor as a disguise.

  She lifted her eyebrows questioningly. "Doesn't look all that realistic," he pointed out doubtfully, levitating one of the other bodies for himself and sending it across the deck. His didn't look any more alive than hers did. "But if we keep them moving, the Vagaari may not notice."

  "I think it's worth a try, anyway," Mara said.

  "Definitely," he agreed. "Let's do it."

  Moving their puppets to the blast doors, they settled them into standing position. "Quickly, now," Mara said, crouching down beside the wall where her presence wouldn't be immediately obvious. "We don't want anyone getting a clear look."

  Luke nodded. Stretching out to the Force, he keyed open the doors.

  Mara's prediction had hit it exactly. The Vagaari who had been firing from just outside the doors were already halfway down the corridor, firing wildly behind them in full retreat. Mara sent her puppet charging after them, its arms and legs pumping madly. Luke's was right behind it. The apparently terrified retreating Vagaari disappeared around the distant corner—

  And with an earsplitting blast, the entire corridor exploded in a burst of fire and smoke.

  Luke winced, feeling his puppet twist around as it was buffeted violently by the blast before sprawling out of his control onto the deck. His ears ringing, he caught Mara's eye and nodded. She nodded back, and together they sprinted ahead through the smoke and heat.

  They met the returning Vagaari just around the corner as the aliens headed back to check the results of their handiwork. The battle was over very quickly.

  "Twelve down," Luke commented as he looked down the corridor. There were no signs of trouble or activity, at least not up to the next jog some ten meters ahead. "Plus the four from the turbolift lobby makes sixteen."

  "Which might actually be a significant number if we knew how many there were to begin with." Mara nudged one of the bodies with her boot. "Recognize anyone?"

  Luke frowned at the alien face. "Is that Bearsh?"

  "Sure looks like him," she said. "These guys are a lot more impressive in combat armor than in those silly robes, aren't they?"

  "Most species are," Luke said. "Looks like he was leading this particular charge personally. That's a good sign."

  "How so?"

  "Estosh called him a general," he reminded her. "If he's sending generals to handle field operations, it might imply he hasn't got all that many warriors left."

  "Good point," Mara agreed. "Between the dent we made in his troops on Outbound Flight and the people he absolutely has to have crewing the Dreadnaught's duty stations, he may very well be hurting for bodies to throw at us right now."

  "Right," Luke said. "Either that, or Bearsh was simply being overconfident."

  "You are so very helpful sometimes," Mara said, shaking her head in mock annoyance. "I'm surprised you didn't go into politics. Come on, let's get moving before they come up with something else."

  They reached the corridor jog Luke had noted without further incident and paused there, looking carefully around the bend. Still no signs of enemies, but twenty meters ahead another set of blast doors had been closed across their path. "Looks clear," he murmured.

  "There are three sets of doors leading off each side of the corridor, though," Mara pointed out. "Perfect place to hide while you're waiting to pounce."

  Luke closed his eyes, stretching out his senses. He could feel the malevolent, brooding presence of Vagaari all over the Dreadnaught, scattered through his mind like vaguely defined bubbles of heat in a cold room. But none seemed to be very close. "I'm not picking up anyone in there," he said.

  "Neither am I," Mara confirmed reluctantly. "I still don't like it."

  "Then let's get through it quickly." Throwing a last look at the empty corridor behind them, he rounded the corner and headed forward.

  He was just passing the middle set of doors when the left-hand door ahead of him slid open, and five growling wolvkils padded into the corridor.

  He braked to a halt, lifting his lightsaber warningly toward the animals. From behind Mara came the sound of another door opening, and he glanced back as four more of the predators filed in from one of the aft set of doors to block their retreat.

  "Well, this is cute," Mara murmured. "You see what the stylish wolvkil is wearing this season?"

  Luke hadn't; but now his jaw tightened as he spotted the fragmentation grenade slung under each wolvkil's belly. "I was wondering what they thought this was going to accomplish," he commented, adjusting his grip on his lightsaber as he tried to think. So far the wolvkils didn't seem inclined to attack, but were contenting themselves with growling from a distance. But that could change at any moment.

  Mara had come to the same conclusion. "Let's try a strategic withdrawal while we think this out," she suggested, easing up to Luke's right and tapping the release on the door beside him. It slid open, and Luke sensed her concentration as she gave the interior a quick check. "Clear," she said. "Come on."

  Together, they eased into the room, lightsabers ready. The wolvkils made no move to follow. Mara touched the inner door control, and the panel slid shut. In the glow from his lightsaber Luke found the light pad, flicked it on, and closed down his weapon.

  They were in what appeared to be one of the many pumping stations that were by necessity scattered around any ship this size. Sets of conduits snaked along the walls and high ceiling, most of them running into one or the other of two huge and silently chugging rectangular boxes with rounded corners set against the bulkhead across from the door. "Cozy," Luke commented, looking around. There were no other exits from the room, but of course that didn't mean anything to a Jedi with a lightsaber. "Let's see if we can carve ourselves a back door," he suggested. Stepping to the forward wall, he ignited his lightsaber—

  "Wait," Mara said.

  Luke paused, looking over his shoulder at her. "What?" he asked.

  She was gazing at the wall in front of him, her sense tight and suspicious. "Luke, what's the usual procedure for sealing a hull breach?"

  He frowned. "You send some repair droids to the vicinity, close the blast doors behind them, pump out the air to equalize pressures, then open the inner doors to give them access to the leak."

  "Right," Mara said, nodding. "The Vagaari have had four days to seal the gash you cut in the turbolift lobby. We know there are housekeeping droids still working, and we know there were enough repair droids rolling around at one time to fix all the damage Thrawn did to the hull. And anyway, even if none of them works anymore, Estosh surely brought a pressure suit or two along they could have used to go in themselves and fix it."

  "But they didn't," Luke said thoughtfully. "Why not?"

  "Because if we'd come up the pylon and found your gash all sewn up, we might have decided to come aboard somewhere else," Mara concluded grimly. "This way, they could reasonably predict where we'd come in, and could concentrate on making this one corridor as much of a death trap as they could."

  She nodded towar
d the wall in front of him. "So why should this part of it be any different?"

  "Good question," Luke agreed, closing down his lightsaber and stepping aside. "In that case, you'd better do this."

  It took three delicate strokes for her to tease a scratch all the way through the bulkhead. And it was indeed a very good thing he'd let her go first.

  "Terrific," she said darkly, sniffing at the liquid trickling down the wall. "Secondary reactant fuel, which most certainly wouldn't normally be stored next to a pump room. Estosh is kindly offering us the opportunity of immolating ourselves."

  "How generous of him," Luke said, looking up at the ceiling. "I wonder if they've ever seen how high a Jedi can jump."

  "I don't think so," she said. "But it wouldn't take a Jedi to climb that maze of pipes fastened to the wall. If they were being thorough, they'd certainly have booby-trapped the ceiling, too."

  "Right," he conceded. "What about down? Any idea what's below us?"

  "Usually it would be substructure, environmental equipment, and other bulk stuff," Mara said. "Not a place you want to go randomly swinging lightsabers."

  "So we can't go down, up, or sideways, and outside the door there's nothing but wolvkils and fragmentation grenades," Luke concluded, looking around for inspiration.

  "And we've got a reactant fuel leak going," Mara reminded him. "Any ideas?"

  Luke's gaze paused on the two humming pumps. Each of them was nearly two meters tall and a meter wide, with a casing built of heavy metal and a front access cover shaped like a rectangular, flat-bottomed bowl with rounded corners and edges. "Actually, yes," he told her, popping the release on one of the covers and swinging it open. The cover was as strongly built as the rest of the casing, with a ten-centimeter lip all the way around the perimeter. "Let's get these doors off."

  Igniting his lightsaber, he sliced off the hinges, catching the cover in a Force grip as it started to fall ponderously toward him. "I hope you're not planning to use these things as shields," Mara warned as she cut the other cover free. "There are an awful lot of grenades out there."