Star Wars_ Darksaber - Kevin J. Anderson [83]
They climbed out of the yacht into the blinding cold of Hoth, leaving the door closed but not sealed, so they could reenter in a hurry. Callista shivered as she walked beside him. “It’s chilly here,” she said.
He raised his eyebrows and felt frost already collecting on the skin of his cheeks. “Chilly?” he said. “But this is the hottest part of the day.”
Their boots crunched on the ice-crusted snow as they walked to the wrecked ship. “It was a single transport,” Luke said, bending over a scorched hull plate. “Probably a blockade runner or a light freighter, the kind smugglers and poachers use.”
Callista picked up a twisted lump of metal, turned it over in her gloved hands, then let it drop. Her breath curled in white steam from her mouth. “Do you think they crashed?” she said. “I don’t see any bodies.”
Luke shook his head. The icy air sliced into his nostrils like razors. “No, look at the pattern. The ship landed safely and then exploded on the ground. See, none of the snow is plowed up. There’d be a long crash furrow if it came down from orbit.”
Luke looked over at the snow-camouflaged opening of Echo Base. “Maybe they took shelter there.” He pointed out the blaster cannon turrets on either side of the shield door. “Let’s check this out—but be careful.”
The wind picked up, skirling around the rocks in transient whirlwinds that whipped ice crystals into the air and scoured the snowdrifts. The opening to the ice cave was flanked by rocks, though most of Echo Base had been chewed into the centuries-old packed snow and ice.
As they approached the shield doors, the pair of silent blaster-cannon emplacements standing like sentinels suddenly came to life. The turrets swiveled, the long deadly barrels seeking a target—and finding one.
“Look out!” Callista shouted, and shoved Luke out of the way.
He dived to one side, using his Jedi powers to fling him farther. Callista rolled, hitting the ground as the first blast seared out. Steam boiled from a fresh crater in the ice.
Luke began to run back toward her, but Callista rolled aside and moved out of range. The turrets swiveled, targeting on Luke, and fired again. He leaped into the air, and the beam missed him, exploding one of the frozen rocks.
As the blaster cannon fired a third time, Luke drew his lightsaber and deflected the beam with blinding speed, countering the bolt with the energy blade. The sheer power of the blaster cannon made Luke reel, and only the strength of his synthetic hand allowed him to withstand the blast.
“Must be motion detectors, Luke. They’re tracking us as we move!” Callista shouted. “I’m going to run and draw their fire. You use your Jedi powers to rush forward and knock out both weapons.”
“No,” Luke shouted. “It’s too—”
But Callista was already on her way. Luke knew this was how she did things: she made up her mind and then took action without considering the risks or even alternate ideas. For better or worse, Callista was in it now, sprinting in a zigzag pattern across the snow. Both blaster cannon emplacements swiveled, locking in on her.
Luke plunged forward until he landed in front of the cannon. Holding the lightsaber in one hand, he scrambled up the tower and slashed with the glowing blade, severing the barrel of the weapon. He threw himself onto the snow and scrambled to the second turret just as the damaged one fired. With the barrel gone and its end fused, the cannon blast blew up the entire turret.
The second weapon targeted Callista. She danced to one side, throwing herself into the snow half a second before the beam struck the glacier with an explosion sufficient to hurl Callista into the air.
Luke didn’t take the time to climb the second blaster turret. He used his lightsaber to hack at the emplacement itself as if it were the trunk of a giant tree. He chopped through the armored plating, and a smoking square of durasteel tumbled to the ice. Luke stabbed inside with the yellow-green blade, slashing the power conduits and computer interlinks, slicing