Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 01_ Jedi Search - Kevin J. Anderson [0]
Chewbacca saw it first. The ship, aerodynamically perfect, slid through Kessel’s atmosphere like a vibroblade. The ship fired surgical strikes of turbolasers at the Falcon’s maneuvering jets, disabling them further.
“We’re already crashing!” Han bellowed. “What more do they want?” But he knew: they wanted the Falcon to be destroyed on impact, all occupants erased.
When the Hornet tried to outflank them, Han swept the ship aside as a towering plume of atmosphere boiled into the sky. The Hornet Interceptor tried to second-guess his move, but Han lurched sideways again, driving the Hornet into the roaring upward flow of wind.
Han gave a cry of triumph.…
Then the surface of the planet Kessel rushed up at them like a gigantic hammer.
JEDI SEARCH
A Bantam Book / March 1994
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eISBN: 978-0-307-79611-0
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
v3.1
Dedication
To my editor
BETSY MITCHELL,
for giving me the opportunity to play
in such a vast and entertaining universe
and for helping shape my work into
the best it could be.
Acknowledgments
Lucy Autrey Wilson of Lucasfilm Licensing for keeping watch over a million things at once and for suggesting new things faster than I could possibly implement the old ones; my wife Rebecca for all her brainstorming and her sharp editing skills—and her love; Bill Smith for his suggestions and the invaluable STAR WARS source material available from West End Games; Ralph McQuarrie for his wild ideas and imagination that sparked more than one avalanche of possibilities; Dave Willoughby for his help in alien geology and the other STAR WARS authors Tom Veitch, Dave Wolverton, Timothy Zahn, and Kathy Tyers for helping my story fit in with theirs.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by this Author
Introduction to the Star Wars Expanded Universe
Excerpt from Star Wars: The Jedi Academy: Dark Apprentice
Introduction to the Old Republic Era
Introduction to the Rise of the Empire Era
Introduction to the Rebellion Era
Introduction to the New Republic Era
Introduction to the New Jedi Order Era
Introduction to the Legacy Era
Star Wars Novels Timeline
1
The black hole cluster near Kessel reached out for the Millennium Falcon with jaws of gravity, drawing it close. Even in the mottled blur of hyperspace, Han Solo could see the huge distortion as a bruised whirlpool, trying to suck them down to infinity.
“Hey, Chewie! Don’t you think that’s too close?” He stared at the Falcon’s navicomputer, wishing they had chosen a course that would take them a safer distance from the Maw. “What do you think this is, an old smuggling mission? We got nothing to hide this time.”
Beside him, Chewbacca looked disappointed and grunted an excuse, waving his hairy paws in the stifling air of the cockpit.
“Yeah, well we’re on an official mission this time. No more skulking about. Try to act dignified, okay?”
Chewbacca groaned a skeptical