Star Wars_ Rebel Force 04_ Firefight - Alex Wheeler [30]
The bubble slowly rose toward the surface. Schools of orange-and-gray-striped fish skittered out of the way. They floated past rocky outcroppings of rainbow-colored corals, spindly branches alive with tiny creatures. Long tendrils of seaweed swayed with the current; bright eyes gleamed from behind the undulating green curtain.
Gradually, the water took on a dim glow. They were nearing the surface.
This is actually going to work, Luke thought.
That was before a shadow passed over them like a storm cloud. A well of dread pooling in the pit of his stomach, Luke looked up. He gasped.
It was another of the beasts. It glided through the water, its thick tentacles trailing behind it. Luke gripped his lightsaber.
"Are you insane?" Div hissed. "You slice this thing open, we drown."
"That thing comes for us, we're dead anyway," Luke shot back, though he knew that Div was right. He holstered the weapon. "What should we do?"
But Div, who'd been acting like he had all the answers, was silent.
"Maybe it won't see us," Luke said.
"Maybe we should paddle back to the cave," Div suggested.
"Back?" Luke exclaimed. "But we're so close!"
"We can't fight. We can't hide. What do you want to do?" Div sighed. "Sometimes you have to play it safe."
Sometimes these days, it felt like playing it safe was all Luke ever did. But maybe Div was right. What other option did they have?
"Now," Div urged him, "before that thing realizes we're here. We can always try again."
They began paddling back toward the mouth of the cave. But the bubble was too buoyant, and the current too strong. No matter what they did, they kept floating up—
toward the surface, toward the creature. "This isn't working," Luke said nervously, looking up at the underbelly of the beast. "And if it senses that we're here—"
"I think we may have bigger problems," Div said quietly.
Luke looked away from the creature. His mouth dropped open.
The thick membrane of the bubble gave everything a fogged, shadowy look, turning the world into a collage of blurs melting into one another. But the shapes approaching them were clear enough. Another of the creatures, and another. On the ground, they had been fast but awkward. Underwater, they moved with a deadly grace, tentacles cutting through the sea as they glided toward their prey. Luke glanced behind them; more of the creatures were swarming: There had to be at least ten of them, and in the distance, he spotted more on the way.
They were surrounded.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"What'd I tell you?" Han said. "The answer to our prayers!"
Chewbacca looked dubiously at the nest of aiwhas, then back at Han. He barked a question.
"Easy," Han said confidently. "We just…ride them."
Chewbacca barked again.
"Well, I don't know how we're going to do it," Han said irritably. "But standing around whining about it isn't going to help." And it wasn't going to get Luke back. The aiwhas were their best shot, maybe their only shot. Han knew that the creatures had been tamed by the Kaminoans. Maybe since the city had been abandoned, they'd reverted to their wild origins, but any animal that had once allowed itself to be ridden would allow it again—
assuming Han and Chewbacca could find a way to climb up on their backs.
Han looked up at the aiwha nest—way up.
The huge birdlike lizards swooped in wide circles around the spired building. Their wingspread was more than twice Han's height. And the muscles rippling in their massive tails looked powerful enough to knock the top off a building.
"Just like riding a bantha," Han said. "Not a problem."
Chewbacca didn't look convinced.
"We just need to find a way up there," Han mused.
Chewbacca growled a sharp retort.
"What do you mean you don't think that's our biggest problem?" Han