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Looking through the goggles, he could see the bright blob of the fallen guard’s infrared signature and the fleeing brilliant shapes of Kyp and Chewbacca. He heard the thunder of hard, pointed legs coming back up the tunnel, stampeding down on them.

The guard moved, clambered to his feet, and began stumbling behind Han, but the man could not see. He weaved back and forth and struck the wall, smacking his head on a hard outcropping.

Running, monstrous feet came closer, like a patter of meteorites pelting the side of a ship. The guard screamed.

Han turned around to watch him, but he saw nothing else in the blackness of the tunnel, no shape, no signature, no body heat from any creature—nothing that was alive.

The guard suddenly froze, as if a giant invisible hand had grabbed him from behind. Then Han saw, to his horror, the silhouette of a long, spindly leg reaching around in front of the guard’s waist and another one clipped over his shoulder, totally black, like a cutout from the infrared form of the guard. The man struggled and wailed.

The guard yanked at something—his blaster rifle. Han gasped as a brilliant lance erupted in the pitch darkness, striking against the multilegged thing, illuminating it for the shaved splinter of a heartbeat. Han saw what seemed to be a writhing mass of sharp twigs, a rat’s nest of spindly legs and claws and fangs intermixed with eyes—many, many eyes. Then the creature absorbed all the light, plunging the tunnels back into opaque blindness.

The guard was lifted high in the air and turned around. Other shadows of the icicle legs wrapped around him. The glowing rectangle of the thermal suit’s battery pack burned brilliantly in the infrared, but one of the sharp claws thrust into it like a stinger. Sparks flew into the darkness, leaving glimmers in front of Han’s eyes.

As Han ran backward, stumbling and tripping, he saw the man’s infrared outline grow dim as he became as cold as his surroundings. The creature, whatever it was, must be draining or feeding on energy, on body heat or anything it could find in the cold empty tunnels.

“Keep running!” Han yelled, now that he could see the forms ahead. He made out a dim glow of warmth still radiating from the floating mine transport. “The car’s right in front of you, Chewie! Get on it!”

The Wookiee bumped into the metal side of the vehicle and dragged himself to a stop. Chewbacca reached over and grabbed Kyp, hauling him into the seat of the car.

Then Han heard the clacking, scrambling footsteps behind him again, charging down the tunnel. He was the next one in line. He dashed ahead, gasping, tripping on debris and bumping into walls he could not see. His blood had turned to ice water.

Chewbacca fumbled along the control panel of the floating mine car, trying to distinguish the buttons in the dark. Han kept running. The sounds of the sharp legs grew louder, rumbling.

Han risked a glance over his shoulder. Though he could hear the thing charging at top speed after him, he could see nothing in the darkness, nothing at all.

He reached the floating car and leaped in. “Just punch RETURN, Chewie! Hit anything!”

Chewbacca hit the start button, and the car pivoted on its axis to move back in the direction they had come.

The galloping sounds of the ice-pick-legged creature skittered faster and faster. The floating mine car picked up speed, but the creature kept coming behind it. Han still couldn’t see it with the infrared goggles.

With a loud spang something struck the back car, rocking it sideways and slamming it against the side wall of the tunnel. Sparks flew as it scraped along the rocks, but the vehicle continued to accelerate.

Han heard a hollow roar behind them, and then they left the noises farther and farther away. The creature ceased chasing them. The darkness rolled ahead like a great black vacuum.

Han knew they were automatically heading back to the muster room. Chewbacca groaned and roared at him. Kyp sat panting in terror. “What did