Star Wars_ Coruscant Nights 01_ Jedi Twilight - Michael Reaves [105]
Kaird gritted his teeth. He had no choice; unless a miracle happened, his best option was to wait, and hope that Xizor gave him an opening once the forcecuffs were removed. And he knew from long experience that there were no such things as miracles.
Given that, he was very happy to be proved wrong—even with the pain the miracle brought.
forty-two
“It’s just business,” Xizor said as he raised the lightsaber. And then Nick Rostu spoke the cryptic phrase that controlled Bug-Eyes, ordering him to “Free the Jedi!” as he leapt at Xizor. The prince, though obviously taken aback, was still quick enough to block Nick’s attack and bat him away like an annoying insect. At the same time I-Five, whom Jax had thought had been deactivated by Xizor, rose to his feet and produced from his vocabulator a deafening, warbling screech that took everyone completely by surprise. It was unbelievably painful; Jax didn’t know how loud it was, but it was definitely pitched much higher than the pain threshold of most sentient organics.
Of course, it had no effect on the other droid. Bug-Eyes moved quickly to Jax’s side, intent on carrying out Nick’s order to free him, but before it could, Xizor shouted, “Zu woohama!”
Ten-Four-Tee-Oh stopped in its tracks. Xizor, obviously in as much pain as the others, nevertheless managed to point at I-Five. The meaning was clear, even to a droid: Stop him!
Bug-Eyes spun about, aiming its arm cannon at I-Five. It fired, but I-Five, still screeching, pointed his right index finger at the other, aiming as precisely as only a droid could. The high-intensity light beam met the particle beam in midair.
Though the quantum states of the two beams were somewhat different, there was still a considerable amount of overlap. The intense energies battled for a moment, filling the chamber with blinding, pyrotechnic sparks.
Jax staggered back, momentarily blinded. Through dazzle-spots he saw Xizor, still obviously in pain from the droid’s shriek. The Falleen clapped both hands to his ears, dropping the lightsaber as he did so, and sank to his knees. He had evidently thumbed the control to lock earlier, because the blade didn’t vanish when the hilt left his hand. The weapon bounced once, sliced the corner off a metal cabinet, and came to rest with the hilt leaning against another piece of debris. The blade pointed upward at forty-five degrees, its hum cycling.
Just then the more powerful particle beam smashed through the ray of coherent light and struck I-Five full in the chest plate. The droid was hurled backward, hard enough to hit the wall. The screech from his vocabulator stopped as he sprawled on the floor.
“Five!” the Sullustan shouted, struggling with his bonds, which he had no chance at all of breaking. Jax could barely hear the cry. The air in the room seemed to be still shimmering with sound waves. He wondered if his ears were bleeding. He staggered toward his lightsaber and crouched before it, facing away from the blade. Cautiously, concentrating all his will on maintaining his balance, he extended his arms behind him, his wrists pulled as far apart as they would go. The lightsaber might sever the energy link that bound his wrists. Or it might resonate with the cuffs and fry him quicker than lightning. The only way to tell was—
There was a hissing sound nearly as loud as the droid’s screech, a static discharge that made every hair stand on end, and he was hurled from the lightsaber to land sprawling a couple of meters away.
His hands were free.
As best he could, given the reverberating pain in his head, he assessed the situation. I-Five was beginning to get to his feet. Laranth and Den were still bound and lying against the far wall, although only Den was awake. Then he saw 10-4TO turning toward him, lining up its shot.
Jax pushed himself to his feet and thrust out both hands, hoping desperately