by Greg Keyes
"And Harrar?"
"I don't know. He attacked Nom Anor, I think. Maybe he's gone after him.
Which is what we ought to do." Corran peered outside at the dark and the rain.
"I agree. But how to track them in this, without the Force?"
"I have my Vongsense," Tahiri said. "If he hasn't gone far, I might be
able to sense him."
Corran produced a small glow rod, and in its light they found muddy,
water-filled footprints leading back toward the heights. They followed the
prints until they c ame to a narrow ridge of stone.
"At least there's only one way to go," Corran said. As they ascended, the
lightning reached a crescendo, strik-ing in the valley where they had been
staying every few sec-onds or so. The roar was so steady they couldn't hear
each other speak. Then-rather abruptly-it was over. The rain slacked off, and
then ended, and the wind subsided to a clean, wet breeze.
The ridge continued until it joined a larger one, ascending the whole
time.
"He's going for high ground," Corran said. "Can you sense your
lightsaber?"
"No," she said. "There's something interfering-more than usual."
"I feel it, too," Corran said. "It's Zonama Sekot. Some-thing's wrong."
"We failed," Tahiri said. "Whatever Nom Anor was going to do, he's
already done it, I'm sure of it."
"There may still be time to stop him," Corran replied. "Concentrate. Use
your Vongsense."
She closed her eyes, and he felt her relax, reaching out to someplace he
couldn't go.
"I feel him," she said at last. "Up ahead."
By the time the east was gray with dawn, they had reached a broad, upland
plateau that showed signs of recent convul-sion. The stone beneath the soil
had split in places, rearing up to reveal its strata. The soil was black and
ashy, and the vegetation was low when there was any at all, though the charred
trunks of larger boras still stood here and there, like the columns of ruined
temples.
"I've lost him," Tahiri said, a tinge of despair in her voice.
"He could be anywhere up here."C orran agreed. Where there was soil, it
was spongy with a dark green web of grass that resisted tracks.
"We'll keep going in the same general direction," Corran said, "unless...
"
Far above, they heard a faint report, like very distant and brief
lightning.
"Sonic boom," he murmured, searching the skies with his gaze. The clouds
had cleared away, leaving only a few thin ones very far up.
"There," Tahiri said. She pointed to a swiftly moving spot, high above.
"Good eyes," Corran told her. "I'll give you one guess where that's
going."
"Wherever Nom Anor is."
The dot was descending rapidly toward the plateau. Corran peered along
its projected path and caught a hint of motion near a copse of low trees.
"Come on," Corran said. "If we run, we might get there in time."
"We will," Tahiri swore.
Nom Anor was watching the ship approach when the ground beneath his feet
suddenly shuddered. It lasted for only an instant, but he knew it was only the
beginning. He looked off toward the still-visible field guides and saw a white
plume curling up toward the sky. He curled his lip-if he had timed this wrong,
if he died in the explosion he had caused, how the gods would laugh.
The grass off to his left rustled, and from the corner of his eye, Nom
Anor glimpsed unnatural color. Turning as if in a dream, he beheld Corran Horn
stepping into the clearing, his eyes full of death.
Nom Anor glanced up at the approaching ship. It was only moments away,
but that was longer than it would take for the Jedi to kill him. He touched
his hand to the stolen lightsaber...
And ran, into the low-sprawling copse of trees behind him. He need only
buy enough time for Choka's ship to land and dispatch warriors.
Corran Horn shouted and ran after him. Nom Anor dodged through the trees,
leaping an old fis-sure, then bore to his left, hoping to circle back to the
clearing. The ground trembled again, not enough to upset his footing, but
almost. He glanced back over his shoulder, saw Horn gaining on him, turned to
redouble his pace. Just in time to see the blade of a foot, level with his
eyes. Behind the foot was an airborne Tahiri, her body horizontal to the
ground.
The kick caught him above the nostrils, snapping his head back and
knocking him completely off his feet. He crashed into the trunk of a tree, and
half of the wind blew out of him. He clawed for the Jedi weapon he'd thrust in
his sash, but it was missing.
In fact, it was in Tahiri's hands, the energy blade already on.
"This is mine," she said.
Corran had come up behind her. "Don't kill him," the older Jedi said.
"I won't," Tahiri replied, but Nom Anor heard the tone in her voice. It
was not a human tone at all-although she was speaking Basic, every nuance of
her speech was Yuuzhan Vong. There was no mercy in it, but promises aplenty.
"I'm going to cut off his feet, though," she continued, stepping nearer.
"And then his hands. Unless he tells us how to stop what he's done to Sekot."
"Do what you will," Nom Anor said, forcing as much contempt into his
voice as he could. "It has already begun. You cannot stop it."
"Where's Harrar?" Corran asked.
"He's dead," Nom Anor replied. "I killed him." He watched the tip of
Tahiri's blade dip toward his foot, and then winced as she traced a shallow
burn across the ankle.
"Tahiri, no," Corran commanded.
Her eyes narrowed further, then she withdrew the blade.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Get up, Anor."
Nom Anor began coming slowly to his feet.
"The ship's landing, Corran," Tahiri said.
"But he's not going on it," Corran said. "You have a villip, don't you,
Nom Anor? You'll call them off, now, or I'll cut your head off myself. And
that, my friend, is absolutely not a bluff."
"They will not obey me," Nom Anor said.
"Maybe they won't," Corran told him, "but you'd sure better try to make
them."
Nom Anor stared into the man's eyes and knew he was not lying.
He reached for the villip beneath his arm, thinking furiously.
Then Zonama Sekot tried to throw them all into space. The ground bucked
beneath them and an anguished cry exploded in the Force, filling Tahiri's head
with such agony that she hardly noticed when she thudded back to the ground.
Desperately she tried to shut out the world's pain and regain her feet, but
the will behind it was too strong. She felt as if a trillion needles were
growing from her heart, pushing through her heart and lungs and bone. She
clutched at her head, screaming with Zonama Sekot's voice. Through her blurred
vision, she saw Nom Anor running off through the crazily tilted trees.
No. Sekot, he's the one doing this to you!
She was never sure if Sekot somehow heard her, or if that gave her the
extra strength she needed to push away the sick pain, but she levered herself
to her feet. Corran was up, leaning heavily against a tree.
"Corran..."
"Just a second," he said
. "I-okay. I think I've got it under control now.
"
The two Jedi stumbled through the newly broken terrain. The ship was on
the ground, and Nom Anor was running toward it. Tahiri ran as she never had
before, drawing on the turbulent Force around them. Corran was just ahead of
her. They were gaining on the executor. If they could reach him before the
warriors on the ship could debark, they might yet be able to save Sekot. She
clung to that hope, as the breath ripped at her lungs and her heart stuttered
unevenly.
Without warning, Corran lashed out at her, sending her sprawling. Even
before a sense of betrayal could register, she saw he was going down, too.
Less than a heartbeat later, a swarm of thud bugs whirred through the space
where they'd just been.
She suddenly understood that she and Corran must have been occupied with
Sekot's pain for longer than she'd thought. The warriors had already come out
of the ship and hidden themselves around the clearing. Corran and she were
completely surrounded.
THIRTY-TWO
"Okay, folks," Han said as the reversion warning began sounding. "Hang
on. If Wedge is still here, it's probably be-cause the Vong have interdictors
to keep him from leaving, which means we'll probably get pulled out early.
Again."
"I hope he isn't here," C-3PO said. "I so dislike un-planned reversions.
They cause an unpleasant resonance in my circuits."
"That's great," Han said. "All I need now is a hypochon-driac droid."
"Sir, it is quite impossible for a droid to be a hypochondriac."
"If you say so, Goldenrod. Okay, here goes." Han pulled back on the
levers, and the Falcon decanted as effortlessly as she ever had-in fact, more
smoothly than usual. "Well, whaddya know," he said. "We came out normally.
Guess that means..."
"...that we're too far from the interdictor," Leia finished, "Just
barely."
Leia was right. His instruments showed the gravitic profile of not one
dovin basal interdictor, but two. The falcon
had flashed into existence marginally outside the field of effect of the
nearest. If he'd been set to revert just a little farther in, he would have
made good on his prediction. "Oh, dear," C-3PO said. "It looks as if General
Antilles is here. And not doing very well!"
"Yeah," Han agreed. "You can say that again." He looked sharply at the
droid. "But don't."
The system was swarming with Yuuzhan Vong ships. The nearest was one of
the interdictors, hanging in space like a sword with two blades and no grip.
Beyond it was a stationary mass of skips and a few cruisers, apparently
guarding the interdictor against attack. Farther insystem was the main battle,
where ten Yuuzhan Vong capital ships-two of which were behemoths-were engaged
with what was left of Wedge's battle group.
Which wasn't much-Han counted four Alliance ships of frigate size or
larger. They were clustered together, trying to avoid being encircled, but-as
C-3PO had pointed out-it didn't seem to be going so well.
Beyond all of that was a nother interdictor. It, like the one near the
Falcon, was keeping its distance, moving only to keep the Alliance ships from
going to hyperspace.
"Ouch," Han said. "He needs reinforcements, and he needs them now."
"It's a disaster," Leia murmured. Then she straightened and got that Jedi
look in her eye.
"What?"
"It's Jaina."
He waited for her to continue, his heart frozen in his chest.
"She's alive," Leia said, "and I don't think she's injured. But
something's wrong."
"If she's down there, I guess so," Han said, swallowing.
"There must be something we can do!" C-3PO wailed.
"There is," Leia told him.
"Yeah," Han said, looking at the interdictor. "There is."
"Whatever-sir, you're not going to attack the interdictor? We barely
survived the last time!"
"They haven't noticed we're here yet," Han said. "They don't even have
any ships on this side. We've got a good clean shot at them. With a little
surprise on our side, a little know-how-sure, why not?"
"But our weapons aren't sufficient to incapacitate a ship of that size,"
the droid pointed out.
Leia leaned over and kissed Han on the cheek. "That's never stopped him
before."
Han felt the lump in his throat swell, but he forced a smile. "This is
just more of the usual, Threepio. Don't worry yourself."
He opened a channel to the TIEs.
"Captain Devis, can I trust you to advise Grand Admiral Pellaeon of this
situation immediately?"
"I thought you were going to do that, sir," Devis replied.
"Pellaeon might not arrive in time. He might even decide not to come at
all, given the situation. Heck, he might have troubles of his own. We're going
to stay and take out that interdictor."
"That could be quite a task," Devis said.
"All in a day's work," Han replied. "Just hurry up and bring us a little
relief, will you?"
"I'll send a wingmate," Devis said, "but I'm staying to help."
"I..." Han looked back at the battle, remembering that Jaina was down
there, somewhere. "I would appreciate the help, Captain Devis. Thank you."
He laced his fingers together and cracked them. "All right," he said,
"let's get this show on the road." He turned to Leia. "Sweetheart, could you
get to one of the turbolasers? Our Noghri friends are picking it up pretty
fast, but in this situation, I'd rather have you-" He stopped, almost unable
to continue, and most of the swagger went out of his voice. "I'd rather have
you here, next to me," he finished. "But I need you in the upper turret."
She gave his hand a squeeze. "I know. I'll put Meewalhin the other."
She stood to go, but before she could leave the cockpit, he pulled her
down for a kiss. "Be careful up there, huh?" he said.
"I always am."
He watched her go, wishing suddenly that they could just leave, go find
Pellaeon, go watch a sunset... But Jaina was here, and despite the fact that
the odds were...
"Oh, great," he murmured. "I'm turning into Threepio."
"What was that, sir?" C-3PO asked.
"I said, I'm glad you're up here, Threepio."
"Why-thank you, sir. I'm really quite touched."
"Right," Han said. He opened the channel again.
"Okay, TIEs, we're going in-just hang back until they start throwing
skips at us."
The interdictor was two spicular cones with their bases touching, and it
was nearly the size of a Star Destroyer. Usu-ally they were covered with
skips, but this time the skips were elsewhere-either in battle or between the
interdictor and the battle, guarding against a push in its direction. Han
dived the Falcon toward the thickest part of the vessel, knowing he would get
only one good run before they were aware of his presence and "set about a
thousand skips on him. The TIEs dropped into formation on his port and
starboard.
"Watch the gravity well, fellows," he warned them. "We want to mess up
their paint job, but not by splatting all over 'em."
"I hear you,"
Devis replied. "Correcting."
Han tilted the ship to put the seam where the two cones met in the Money
Lane and started in with the quad lasers. An instant later, the turret guns
joined him. Voids appeared in spidery clusters, sucking the blasts into
nothingness. Han launched a concussion missile to either side of the fire
lane, and had the satisfaction of seeing both plow into the craggy yorik coral
surface, rupturing it and sending shock waves crawling out toward the thin
ends of the ship.
Then he was curving around the interdictor, his course bent by gravity.
But instead of using the force to sling him away, he settled into a tight
orbit, firing constantly, trying lo dig a trench into the thing deep enough to
do real damage. The interdictor's plasma cannons began to fire, but one reason
Han had picked the centerline as his target was that the ship angled away from
it in every direction, making it tough to fire at him at all and impossible to
put him in a cross fire. Nevertheless, a near miss roared by the cockpit, an
eight-meter-wide explosion of superheated matter that grazed his shields and
sent an ion jolt through the ship's protective circuitry.
Meanwhile, less than one in ten of his laser shots were getting through,
and he had only a few concussion missiles left. His trench wasn't getting deep
very fast.
"Skips coming in," Devis reported. "Six in the first wave.
"Can you keep them off us for another pass or so?" Han asked.
"Copy that, Captain Solo."
Han fired another pair of concussion missiles-one got through, the other
exploded when it was about to be sucked in by a void. That happened near
enough to the Falcon that the shock wave bounced him from his orbit and sent
him away from the centerline. Suddenly he was no longer outside the
interdictor's line of direct fire, but squarely in it. He stood the Falcon on
her thin side relative to the interdictot to minimize his target surface,
weaving through withering fire, dropping lower to keep the blasts from
converging on him. When he was practically skating on the ship's surface, he
turned abruptly up and out. "Wow," he heard Devis say. Han's jaw nearly
dropped - the two TIEs had stayed with him the whole way. Behind them were
only three skips of the original six. Han didn't have to wonder what had
happened to the other three-not with pilots like that.