Star Wars_ Darksaber - Kevin J. Anderson [110]
The Hutts had extensively modified the Death Star plans. That could only mean they had impressive engineering expertise available to them.
He and Trandia landed their A-wings on a large asteroid at the outskirts of the construction site. The newly built battle station rode high against the black star-strewn sky. Madine sent a narrow-burst communication again.
“We’ll stay on this asteroid to do our reconnaissance,” he said, “then we’ll suit up and attempt to infiltrate.”
CHAPTER 38
As their damaged ship limped away from Hoth, Callista worked side by side with Luke Skywalker. They desperately cross-wired systems, bypassed ruined components, and fastened vital equipment back into place, trying to repair each failure before another one occurred.
The wampa ice creatures had not actually breached the yacht’s outer hull, but they had caused a wealth of damage. The craft’s sublight engines, operating at barely half power, had lurched away from the frozen planet, reluctantly heaving them into orbit. The engines attempted to fail several times, but somehow struggled on.
Their ship’s hyperdrive was gone, their navicomputer beyond repair. They plunged headlong into the broken asteroid field at the fringes of the Hoth system with only minimal shields and virtually no control over their course. The asteroids began to grow thicker around them, battering at the tiny ship. Callista did not voice her growing dread.
Luke looked up at her with red, bleary eyes and a haggard face. Callista knew she probably looked just as bad with her malt blond hair mussed and her gray eyes bloodshot, but Luke’s pallid skin had begun to flush again with hope. “I might be able to use the Force to navigate us,” he said. “At least enough to keep us from a major collision—but I don’t know where we’re going to go.”
“I wish I could help you,” Callista said. “But I can’t. I can’t, and I’m afraid to try.”
“You fought well with the lightsaber against the snow creatures,” Luke answered reassuringly, “and I didn’t feel any glimmer from the dark side as I did on Dagobah.”
“No,” Callista said. Her words were a whisper. “I didn’t let it out.” She knew, though, that the dark side had been there like black wings hovering at the edge of her consciousness, demanding to be set free. She had refused—but, oh, the temptation had been great.…
In a shower of sparks and burned circuits, the life-support systems gasped and died. Luke and Callista pulled components from nonessential computers trying to get the systems functioning again. “It’s only at about ten percent,” Luke said. “That’s not going to help us much.”
Callista shivered. The temperature had already begun to drop in the cabin. “We’re not going to get out of this, are we?” she said with quiet, brutal honesty.
Luke stared at her for a long moment, then his face forced a smile. “Not in any obvious way,” he finally said with a sigh. “That just means we have to look for a solution that isn’t obvious.”
Luke and Callista studied the torn environment suits the wampas had shredded. Somehow, using several repair kits and other patches they found in forgotten packages left by some unknown station mechanic on Coruscant, they managed to piece together one of the suits. But only one.
Within the hour, the atmosphere began to thin noticeably, and their body heat did little to warm the cabin as the cold of space leached it away.
Luke ran his fingers along the crude, lumpy patches in the suit, and he took Callista’s hand. “You have to wear it, Callista.”
“I won’t let you sacrifice yourself,” she said. “You wouldn’t let me do it on the Eye of Palpatine.”
Luke raised her hand to his cheek. “I have no intention of sacrificing myself. I can go deep into a Jedi trance and slow down my metabolism, put myself practically in suspended animation. Then we wait, and hope.”
Callista eyed the repaired