Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 01_ Jedi Search - Kevin J. Anderson [66]
As they went farther, the tunnels grew colder and colder. Han’s naked fingers crackled when he bent them. He turned up the heat in his suit, but the warmth comforted him little.
The electronic clicks from Roke’s detector grew louder. “Concentration increasing,” he said. “These are some of the densest, freshest veins of spice we’ve ever uncovered. There’ll be a lot more work for you prisoners to do.”
The detector clicked, and they shuffled ahead. Other than their own noises, the spice tunnel seemed a mouth of silence.
Han thought he heard a sudden scuttling noise farther down the passage, something massive that moved, stopped, moved again, then slowly began to come back, as if stalking. Up front Clorr muttered to himself, but Han heard Boss Roke shove him onward.
“The reading gets stronger right up around the corner.” Boss Roke’s gravelly voice carried a childlike hint of excitement. “I’m going to have to recalibrate this sensor.”
Han heard the distant skittering sound again, but it seemed farther ahead. It wasn’t a noise that anyone in their party had made. It sounded like sharp metal points ticking against glass.
The tenor of shuffling human footsteps changed as they turned the corner. “Spice reading is off the scale!” Boss Roke cried.
Suddenly Clorr screamed.
“Hey!” Roke said.
Clorr screamed again, but the sound came from much deeper in the tunnel, as if something had yanked him away and fled, carrying him to a secret lair.
“Where are—” Roke said, then he, too, gave a startled shout.
Han heard booted feet turning around, running back. Han nudged Kyp aside, back the way they had come. “Watch yourself!”
Boss Roke stumbled into Han, then fell backward. Han reeled against the rocky wall but kept his balance. Roke clawed at the floor, desperate to flee.
“Turn around!” Han shouted to Kyp, giving the young man a push toward the floating cars. “What is it?” he yelled to Boss Roke. He heard the pointy, ticking sound again, moving closer, skittering like many sharp legs that ended in stiletto claws.
Roke screamed, then gave an oooof! as the air was knocked out of him. Han heard a thud as the man hit the ground, but Roke clambered to his feet again, or at least to his knees, crawling forward.
As Han started to run, Roke grabbed his leg and held on. Han tried to jerk free, shouting, “Stop it! We’ve got to get out of here!”
But before Roke could let go, something behind him—something very large and very, very close—grabbed Roke and yanked him backward, breaking his grip. Roke’s fingernails were like claws as he tried to grasp the slick fabric of Han’s thermal suit, but with a quick whisking sound he was dragged away down the tunnel, still gurgling and crying out.
In the darkness Han could see nothing at all.
“Run!” Han shouted.
Chewbacca roared, then plowed like a demolition vehicle into the guard behind him. Kyp followed the Wookiee and leaped over the fallen man, but Han stumbled on him, sprawling flat on the broken rocky floor. Nobody could see anything.
The guard scrambled to his knees and started thrashing and pummeling as if Han were the enemy. But Han, blinded and desperate, grabbed for something else. He snatched at the infrared goggles on the guard’s face and pulled them free.
The walls were closing in around him. The screams and sounds of panicked fleeing and the tick tick noise of the approaching monstrous thing made claustrophobic thunder around him.
The fallen guard’s wail of sudden blindness and dismay was muffled by his breath mask. He clutched at Han, but Han knocked the breath mask free. The escaping oxygen made a whistling sound. The guard had to release Han to replace his mask.
Han scrabbled forward. He had to see. They needed to find the floating cars so they could get away. “Run, Chewie! Straight ahead! Make sure Kyp goes with you!”
He slapped the goggles over his head. He heard the scuttling, thumping sounds of the sharp, scampering legs again.