The small white object was Zak.
He was heading right into the space slug’s mouth.
CHAPTER 10
Zak was about to be swallowed by the space slug.
Tash felt the tingling sensation leave her body. The asteroids that had seemed easy to dodge a moment ago swirled around her again. She jerked the controls hard to avoid one rock and nearly smashed into another.
“Uncle Hoole, help!” she called out.
“Stay calm, Tash,” the Shi’ido’s steady voice replied. “I’ll distract the space slug while you try to grab hold of Zak.”
“I-I can’t!”
There was a pause. Then Hoole said, “Yes, you can. A moment ago you were flying this asteroid field like it was an obstacle course back on the playground on Alderaan. You can do it.”
Tash felt her palms start to sweat, but since they were trapped inside her gloves, she had no way to wipe them dry. Hoole was right. She could do it. She had to do it.
There was no time left to be afraid. The space slug lunged out of its hole toward Zak.
Hoole’s Starfly tilted its nose toward the space slug and fired its thrusters, diving toward the creature. Its lasers fired, sending two beams of white-hot energy into the giant worm’s hide. It was like pricking a bantha with a needle, but the shots distracted the worm enough to make it swerve aside, looking for whatever had attacked it. Jaws that could crush an Imperial walker chomped down just as Hoole slipped out of its way.
Sprranng!
Tash felt something bounce off the side of her Starfly and thanked the Force that it had only been a mini-asteroid. Anything larger would have crushed her. Taking a deep breath, she punched her thrusters to full power and shot toward her brother.
An asteroid seemed to appear out of nowhere. She turned her ship in a tight spin and slipped around it.
Two asteroids headed right for one another. Tash eased off her thrusters as the rocks collided in front of her.
But the two smashed asteroids had turned into a hundred smaller rocks. There was no way to avoid them. Tash closed her eyes tight and moved her control stick, flying totally by feel.
When she opened her eyes, she’d passed through the debris untouched.
Zak was right in front of her now. She was close enough to see his arms waving helplessly in the void. She could see his frightened eyes. They were as wide as a Rodian’s. But they weren’t staring at Tash. They were staring into the mouth of the space slug. As wide and bottomless as a black hole, it reached out as Zak hurtled forward.
“Activating tractor beam,” Tash said, reaching for the right button without even knowing it.
A beam of pale white light reached out from her Starfly and touched Zak. Instantly, her brother stopped his tumble through space.
The space slug’s jaws slammed down less than a dozen meters from Zak. If the tractor beam hadn’t caught him, Zak would have been on the inside of its mouth rather than the outside.
Hoole’s Starfly flashed into view, blasters blazing. Energy bolts pounded the space slug’s head. It thrashed about angrily for a moment, then retreated into its cave.
Tash found the control knob that pulled the tractor beam in, drawing Zak toward her ship. “Zak, do you copy?” she asked into her comlink.
“Y-Yeah,” came a weak, trembling voice. “But I think I’ve had enough spacewalking for one day.”
Using the tractor beam, Tash drew her brother toward her ship until he could reach out and touch the hull.
Quickly, she popped open the top of her Starfly and pulled him inside. “Is there room?” he asked.
“I think so,” she replied. “There’s some space behind the seat. Curl up back there. And hurry. I want to get out of here before another asteroid comes our way.”
They reached the mining facility in minutes, with Hoole flying just behind them. When they landed, they were surprised to find that the Starflies Jerec and his men had used to reach the asteroid were gone. The Imperials had left the asteroid and returned to their Star Destroyer.
A low rumble in the rock beneath their feet told them why. “The asteroid’s unstable after that explosion,” said Hodge as they walked into the main room. He and his partner, still wearing their spacesuits, Were stuffing a few personal items into travel packs. Fandomar sat in a corner, nervously adjusting her space helmet.
Hodge went on: “We’re safe for a few minutes, but we’ve got to evacuate immediately.”
“Can we take off our spacesuits now?” Zak asked.
“No!” Fandomar almost shouted.
Hodge explained, “The explosion knocked out the environmental controls. There’s no air.”
“What caused the explosion?” Hoole asked. He glanced at Fandomar. “Jerec seemed to think it was sabotage.”