Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 01_ Jedi Search - Kevin J. Anderson [37]
Total darkness.
Han and Chewbacca would spend their days at hard labor in the mines without ever being able to see each other, or where they were, or what they were doing. Han had to blink his eyes just to make sure they were open instead of closed—not that it made any difference.
A shiver went down his back. Boss Roke had said that some unknown thing deep in the mines was preying on helpless workers, snatching them unawares. How could anybody run from a carnivorous attacker while surrounded by complete darkness?
The quality of the sound changed off and on. As Han’s mind grew accustomed to processing information through his ears, it became obvious whenever the rushing mine car passed side tunnels, because of the sudden hole in the wind. Breathing through the mask, he could smell nothing other than flat recycled air.
The mine car wobbled from side to side, rocking as somebody moved about in the seats, climbing over the individual cars. The person slowly clambered over one seat back, then another, approaching their position. Han thought he heard someone breathing, straining, growing nearer.
“You there! Number fourteen! Sit down!” a guard shouted.
Number fourteen? Han thought. How could the guard possibly see which one had been moving about? Then he remembered the infrared goggles. The guards could probably see everyone, bright silhouettes against the backdrop of blackness.
The car stopped jostling for a few moments, but then the rocking started again. The mysterious person kept moving toward them. Somebody heaved himself over the seat to the empty spot right behind Han and Chewbacca.
“Hey, I told you to sit down!” the guard shouted.
“This is my new seat,” a voice said.
“That’s your new seat!” the guard said, strangely repeating the words before he fell silent.
Han forced himself not to speak. Since he couldn’t see anything himself, the intruder must be just shifting about, unable to tell where he was going. Or could he have his own set of infrared goggles? Had Skynxnex or Moruth Doole hired some assassin to get rid of Han and Chewbacca while no one was watching?
A quick slash from a vibrator knife? A shove that knocked him off the floating transport, abandoning him down in the empty labyrinth of tunnels? In the darkness Han would never be able to find his way back. He wondered if he would starve, freeze, or suffocate first. He didn’t want to find out.
He heard the faint, echoed breathing of someone speaking behind a breath mask, leaning closer. Beside him Chewbacca bristled in anticipation.
“Are you really from the outside?” the voice said. “I haven’t been above ground for years.” It seemed hopeful, soft, and tenor, but muffled behind the breath mask and the rushing wind. Han couldn’t tell if it was the voice of an aged man, a deep-voiced woman, or a quiet and meek clerk from the former Imperial prison.
Han’s mind pictured a skeletal old man with long scraggly hair, tattered beard, and ragged clothes. “Yeah, we’re from out there. A lot of things have changed.”
“I’m Kyp. Kyp Durron.”
After a moment’s hesitation Han introduced himself and Chewbacca. Suspecting some kind of trap, he decided not to give too much information. Kyp Durron seemed to sense this and talked about himself without asking too many prying questions.
“You’ll get to know everybody here. That’s just the way of it. I’ve lived most of my life on Kessel. My parents were political prisoners, exiled on this planet when the Emperor started cracking down on civil unrest. My brother Zeth was taken off to the Imperial military training center on Carida, and we never heard another word from him. I got stuck here in the spice mines. I always thought they’d come back and haul me to Carida too, but I guess they forgot.”
Han tried to imagine Kyp’s life going from bad to worse. “How come you’re still down in the mines?”
“During the prison revolt they didn’t much care who ended up here. Now most of