Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 06_ Vortex - Denning Troy [141]
“Captain Solo, you just risked your life to prevent my untimely destruction,” he said. “Could you be suffering some manner of cognitive malfunction?”
“Obviously,” Han growled. “And—”
“Can we get on with the rescue?” Zekk interrupted. He retrieved the repeating blaster from the deck and passed it to Han, then glanced up the detention center wall. “After those detonators, they know we’re here.”
Han nodded, glared at C-3PO, then slipped the blaster’s strap over his shoulder and looked up in time to see Jaina and Leia disappearing through a still-smoking breach in the detention center wall. The five-meter hole was perfectly round and clean, with sharp edges and a total lack of rubble—which was why thermal detonators were the favorite tool of demolition crews and urban assault squads alike. Han glanced down to check on Squad Saav’etu and saw an identical breach on the 1910 level, with Seff Hellin and Kunor Bann already inside the building and Natua Wan and Yaqeel Saav’etu just leaping off their hoverscaf into the hole. Like Jaina and Leia, their lightsabers remained unactivated—a sign that the detention center guards had not yet arrived to mount a defense.
By the time Han looked away, Zekk was already moving their own hoverscaf up toward the breach. As they rose, Han saw that the bowl-shaped hole had actually exposed part of the level below their target level. Through the narrow gap, he could see down into a long corridor lined by sealed transparisteel doors. Standing behind most of the doors were beings dressed in fluorescent orange detainee uniforms. They appeared to be of many different species—there were a lot of Arcona, Askajians, and humans. Some looked shocked, others menacing. None appeared friendly.
The hoverscaf stopped in front of level 1913. Zekk quickly leapt across the two-and-a-half-meter gap into the building, landing in a corridor similar to the one below. Beyond him, Leia and Jaina were already racing toward a sealed security door, lightsabers in hand but not yet activated. Zekk spun around and used the Force to lift the droids into the passage, then turned to Han.
“You want a lift?”
Han eyed the distance to the edge of the corridor floor and silently thanked Zekk for making it sound like the offer was optional. He nodded. “You’d have made a great son-in-law, kid.”
“Too late,” Taryn called up. She was inside the Cygnus-7 now, preparing to take her new position as the escape-vehicle gunner. “Finders keepers.”
Zekk rolled his eyes, but smiled at her. “Don’t worry, Taryn,” he said. “After Relephon, I’m not changing anything.”
“What happened on Relephon?” Han asked.
Zekk’s swarthy complexion brightened to brilliant crimson. “Sorry.” He let the sentence trail off and looked away for a moment, then extended a hand toward Han. “State secret.”
Han’s stomach grew heavy as he suddenly floated into the air and started across the gap. He glanced back at Taryn, who was standing in the doorway of the Cygnus-7 strapping on a pair of big DL-51 blaster pistols, and thought better of pressing for details.
Zekk set him down, then pointed toward the end of the corridor, where Leia and Jaina were already using their lightsabers to cut through the durasteel security door. “The data socket is up there, Artoo. Let’s go.”
Zekk took the lead, ignoring the muted clamor of hammering fists and yelling prisoners that followed them down the corridor. Han brought up the rear, keeping watch as C-3PO and R2-D2 advanced ahead of him. As they moved, he set his blaster to FULL and started blasting cam bubbles. Each time he destroyed one, a muffled cheer rose from the inmates in nearby cells.
The prisoners seemed to be males of many different species. Their cells were more or less uniform, though there was often a roost or a nest instead of a bed. Occasionally, the air was tinged brown