[Legacy Of The Force] - 01(137)

Ben peered at the tube. It led down past the floor into darkness, but as he watched, the interior surface of the tube began to glow. Meters below, he could see the rocky surface of the asteroid, and the tube continuing into the ground. “This is going to be fun,” he said matter-of-factly.

“The boy shouldn’t go,” Brisha said. “He’s not yet strong enough to face a Sith.”

Ben felt a flash of resentment but kept it from his face. “Tell you what, I’ll just resist all temptation,” he said.

Brisha gave him a severe stare. “The last time I met your father, our parting was not pleasant. He may have had time to forgive … but he certainly wouldn’t forgive me a second time if I managed to get his only child killed.”

“Then I won’t do that, either.”

Jacen climbed the skeletal metal stairs up to the mine car and hopped into the front seat. “He comes with us. That way no one can assault him while he remains behind.”

“If you say so.” Brisha followed and settled into the seat beside him.

In moments Nelani and Ben were in the rear seat.

Brisha flipped a button. Gauges and controls suddenly lit up on the mine car’s control panel. “Atmospheric pressure in the caverns is at point nine five of habitat standard,” she said. “Your ears may pop.” She hit a button. The railcar rolled into the tube, picked up speed, and plunged toward the asteroid surface.

And through it, into blackness.





Chapter Thirty


CORELLIAN SYSTEM. ABOVE TRALUS

THE LEADING EDGES OF THE. CORELLIAN FIGHTER SQUADRONS HIT the defensive screen of Galactic Alliance starfighters and engaged. Subsequent waves of Corellians plowed into rapidly arriving squadrons of GA fighters.

Panther Flight, Han and Wedge, accompanied by two squadrons of Corellian attack fighters, simply went around the engagement zone and screamed down into the atmosphere.

“Ride’s too smooth,” Han said.

“Are you out of your mind?” Wedge asked. “The ride’s too smooth?”

“Right. There should be some vibration, some dangerous-looking heat warnings to indicate that you’re punching through into the atmosphere. These Shrieks, they don’t offer the atmosphere any respect.”

“What you’re saying is, unless a transport is leaving a thin stream of pieces behind, like a trail of bread crumbs, during atmospheric entry, it doesn’t match up to the Millennium Falcon standard.”

“Well … right.”

“You could fire a few blaster shots into your own control panel and deal with the resulting malfunctions if you just wanted to feel at home.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, I could get drunk on leave and cause a massive interplanetary incident, then call on you to straighten it out, since you’re my commanding officer.”

“You could do that. Or I could have the mechanics sabotage your hyperdrive so when it conked out you could tell everyone it’s not your fault.”

“Owww. I could arrange for you to receive orders to conquer Coruscant, but your only resources would be twelve drunken Ewoks, four malfunctioning speeders, and forty kilos of beach sand.”

“That’ll take at least two weeks, sir.”

Han grinned.

RELLIDIR, TRALUS

“Incoming fighters,” Gray One called out. “Coming in from orbit, north-northwest.” Syal could see them on her sensors, big frizzy blips resolving into two or three squadrons of starfighters and at least two larger targets.

“We’ll do this as a simple strafe,” Gray One continued. “Wait until they commit to a course, and then follow me in. Punch a big hole through everything you see.”

On Syal’s sensor board, orange lines, extrapolations of the intruders’ course transmitted by Gray One, appeared, pointing east of the city-well clear of the layered shields that protected the GA beachhead. As soon as the transmission came, Gray One rolled into a vertical descent, a course that paralleled that of the Corellian squadrons but was well in advance of it. The other Alephs followed.

STAR SYSTEM MZX32905, NEAR BIMMIEL

The railcar plunged through blackness and Ben felt his stomach rise into his throat, then break free and float, like a ghost, away from his body. He almost sent his lunch after it as an escort, but managed, through force of will, to keep himself from that embarrassment. A mere vertical drop wasn’t enough to make him queasy; the railcar must also have left the region of artificial gravity.

In the first moments there was almost no wind in his face, then suddenly the air currents increased and became cold. He guessed that they were now out of the tube and hurtling down through the caverns Brisha had spoken of.

The clattering of the metal wheels on the rails became louder, more echoing, a sign that they were moving through a narrow gap, and suddenly they were in light again-a broad cavern lit at intervals by glow rods affixed to the ceiling and wall surfaces.