[Black Fleet Crisis(87)

“Akanah! ” he cried, and charged toward them.

The next blaster bolt was dead on target, but Luke deflected it neatly skyward with his lightsaber. In the next moment he drew deeply on the Force and reached out to crush the blaster with a thought as powerful as a vise. His next thought yanked the disabled weapon from the man’s hand and hurled it far out of reach.

Akanah had raised her head when he called her name. “No, Luke, don’t-” she cried.

But Luke’s focus was the second man, who was now showing a weapon, too-pointed at Akanah.

“Keep your distance! ” the man shouted at Luke. He did not sound afraid.

Luke’s answer was a thought-blow that tore the blaster from the man’s hand and smashed it against the wall of the dwelling behind him. It exploded into a shower of sparks and shattered into a dozen fragments.

Then he was on them, the lightsaber held for attack, not defense. The first man he had disarmed projected a personal shield, which blunted Luke’s initial stroke. But the blow took the man to his knees all the same. The next stroke, with the power of the lightsaber married to the will of a Jedi Master, sliced through the shield and deep into the assailant’s chest. He gasped once as blood erupted, then crumpled backward onto the hard ground.

Turning quickly, Luke found the second man closing on Akanah again, reaching for her, as though meaning to use her as his shield.

Instantly Luke threw his lightsaber, spinning the weapon end over end with a sharp snap of his wrist. It scythed through the air, severing the attacker’s left arm above the elbow. The man screamed and collapsed as Luke brought the lightsaber back to his hand.

“Who are you? ” Luke demanded, standing over the fallen attacker.

The

stump

of

his

arm

scarcely

bled.

“Commander

Paffen reporting-Skywalker, ” the man said. Then he closed his eyes, and his entire body shuddered. A mo ment later his eyes flew open again.

“Skywalker is here. “

With a flick of the tip of his lightsaber, Luke disabled the comlink on the man’s equipment belt. “Who are you? ” he demanded again. “Why are you here? “

“Not fair-waited so long, ” the man said, and moaned. “We only expected the witch. “

“Why were you waiting? What did you want? “

The man grimaced. “They said the poison wouldn’t hurt, ” the man whispered, and died, still staring at the sky.

Wearing a mask of worry, Luke crouched beside Akanah, who was still huddled on the ground, shaking from head to toe and sobbing.

“Akanah-are you hurt? ” he asked, touching her arm.

Recoiling violently from his touch, she turned away from him.

“I’m sorry-I must have been distracted, ” he said, shifting to where he could see her face. “I should have known they were here. But it’s over. They can’t hurt you now. “

Still trembling, Akanah turned away from him again. “They never could have hurt me. “

“What are you talking about? You screamed-you were on the ground-“

“I wasn’t hurt. I wasn’t in danger. There was no reason for what you did-“

“What I did-“

With a will, she gathered her feet under her and staggered away from him, hugging herself fiercely. He followed, dimly beginning to grasp that the depth of her distress came from the second assault, not the first-his acts, not the acts of the dead men.

“I thought you were in trouble, ” he said.

“Couldn’t you have protected us without harming them? ” she demanded, whirling to face him. “They startled me-nothing more. “

Luke extended his awareness, searching the ruins, the hills. “We’ll have to talk about this later, ” he said. “These were Imperial agents. There’s no telling how close or how far away their friends are. We have to leave. We have to get back to the ship, now. “

“No—no, not yet-“

“Akanah, no matter what you think, we can be harmed-“

“Is the river harmed by the rock a child throws? “

“We don’t have time to debate this now, ” Luke said impatiently. “TheMud Sloth may not be much, but I don’t want to lose her. This planet isn’t what I had in mind for my retirement, and I’d rather not have to play hide-and-seek with an Imperial gunship to get out of here. “

“Where do you suggest we go? ” Akanah asked.

“It doesn’t matter. Away from Lucazec, as fast as we can. We’re not going to find the Fallanassi here-the only explanation for all this that makes s ense is that your people escaped both the Empire and the mob. The Empire doesn’t know where they are, and we don’t want to be the ones who show them. It’s time to go. “