Star Wars_ Cloak of Deception - James Luceno [11]
Even Cohl was out of breath by the time everyone reached zone three and the waiting pod. Only one member of the first team—a blond-furred Bothan—had made it back, but Cohl refused to concern himself just then with the fate of the rest. Every member chosen for the operation had been apprised of the risks.
“Get the aurodium stowed,” he shouted to Boiny through the rebreather’s communicator. “Rella, do a head count and get everyone aboard.”
Daultay Dofine glanced worriedly at the countdown timer still affixed to the back of his hand. “What is to become of us?” he yelled.
A human member of Cohl’s band motioned broadly toward a large, nearby pod that had yet to lift off. “I suggest you unload that one and cram yourselves inside.”
Dofine blinked back panic. “We’ll die in there.”
The human laughed scornfully. “That’s the idea.”
Dofine looked at Cohl. “Your word …”
Cohl twisted his head to one side to read the display on the countdown timer, then cut his eyes to Dofine.
“If you hurry, you’ll make it to the escape pods in time.”
Obi-Wan waited for the terrorists’ pod to rise from the hangar deck before activating the repulsorlift engines. In addition to the huge portals at the ends of the hangar arms, magnetic containment portals along the inner curve of the arms had opened up in each zone. Scores of cargo pods and barges had begun to converge on these smaller egresses, but bottlenecks were forming quickly, despite the supervisory efforts of the central control computer.
Obi-Wan understood that if they were too late in reaching the portal, he and Qui-Gon would be forced to resort to some other means of abandoning ship. But the young Jedi was nothing if not methodical. He spent a long moment studying the flow of traffic and anticipating where jams were likely to occur before deciding on a course.
That course took them straight up into the hangar’s lofty reaches of hoists and cranes, before descending acutely for the zone three portal. Grazing three pods on the way down, Obi-Wan neatly avoided a collision with a barge that was fast becoming lodged in the opening.
Cohl had exited the hangar arm minutes earlier, but the tracker Obi-Wan had affixed assured that the Jedi would be able to single Cohl’s pod out from the now stampeding herd.
“We have them, Master,” he told Qui-Gon, who was studying the rear display screens. “They’re heading straight for the centersphere. I’m not certain if they intend to climb over it or dive beneath it, but they are accelerating.”
“Stay with them, Obi-Wan. But keep a fixed distance. We don’t want to reveal ourselves just yet.”
With the bone-white centersphere looming and the broad sweep of the immense arms to either side, the inner district of the annular freighter was a sight to behold—especially with crafts of all size and shape pouring from the holds. But the erratic motion of those same pods and barges left Obi-Wan little time to appreciate the view. He divided his attention between the flashing bezel that was Cohl’s pod on the heads-up display, and the console screens, which showed exterior views to either side.
With most of the pods streaming toward the lower portion of the centersphere, even slight encounters were causing chain reactions within the bunch. Many pods were already spinning out of control, and a few were on collision courses for the hangar arms.
It all began to remind Obi-Wan of some of the exercises he had endured during his youth in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where the goal of a student was to remain unswervingly attentive to a single task, while as many as five teachers did all they could to distract.
“Watch our stern, Padawan,” Qui-Gon warned.
A pod had emerged