Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 04_ Agents of Chaos 01_ Hero's Trial - James Luceno [66]
Roa twisted his head around. “Too bad the rejuvenation techs didn’t equip me with the strength of a young man in addition to the good looks.”
“Hang on, Roa!”
“How I wish I could. But I think I hear Lwyll calling me.”
“Don’t say that! Just hang on till I get there!”
Roa grunted in effort. “Bad luck creeps in through the hatch you leave open, Han. Fortune smiles, then betrays.”
Han spit a curse. “All right, keep talking if you have to. But just hang on.”
“I can’t, Han. I’m sorry. I just don’t have it in me.” Roa’s face betrayed the struggle. “Take care, old friend. Finish our business with Reck.” Smiling resignedly, he submitted to the flow.
“Roa, no!” Han screamed, daring to extend one arm and nearly allowing himself to be carried away.
Han shut his eyes, hung his head for a moment, then screamed in anger until his throat hurt.
When his breath returned, he secured the travel pack to his back and began to pick his way toward a rib left exposed by flayed bulkhead sheets. He had no sooner wrapped his arms around the structural member when someone hurtled past his face a hair’s breadth away and latched desperately onto his outstretched legs.
Han’s backbone stretched like a rubber band and groaned in protest. When the shock abated, he peered down the length of himself and saw that his unsolicited hanger-on was a male Ryn, arms clutched around Han’s knees and legs thrashing. This one was sporting a soft, brimless cap of bright red and blue squares, worn at a rakish angle.
“Mind if I rest here a moment?” the alien asked in melodic Basic. “If I’m too heavy, I’ll toss the cap.”
Han scowled at him. “Long as your head’s in it.”
“So you’d rather I let go.”
“If you make sure to close the door on your way out.”
“That isn’t vacuum out there,” the Ryn said, nodding toward the breach. “There’s a mouth on the other side of that hole.”
“A mouth?”
“The mouth of a Yuuzhan Vong dread weapon. For taking captives.”
Han instantly saw the logic of it. The people, droids, and objects zipping past him weren’t victims of compromised gravity; they were effectively being inhaled by whatever it was that had taken a giant-size bite out of the Wheel’s rim.
“So how do we gag that thing?” Han said.
The Ryn shook his head, long mustachios whipping about. “I don’t think we can. But there might be a way to stifle it.”
Han followed the Ryn’s gaze to a seam in the corridor ceiling, between them and the maw.
“A blast shield!”
The problem was that the mushroom-shaped button that could lower the shield was located on the corridor wall, some five meters closer to the breach.
“There’s a support strut just beyond me,” the Ryn said. “If I release my grip on you, I may be able to grab hold of it. But I still won’t be able to reach the shield activation button.”
“Finish your thought,” Han said, trying to ignore a sinking feeling.
“Then you’ll have to let go and catch hold of me. That should put you close enough to tap the button with your foot.”
“Assuming I manage to catch hold of you!”
The Ryn snickered. “Assuming also that I manage to catch hold of the strut. If I miss, well, I suppose it’s a matter of how long you think you can hold on. Otherwise …”
“Otherwise what?”
The Ryn grinned. “Otherwise, I’ll see you in hell.”
Han regarded him quizzically for a moment, then nodded grimly. “You’ve got yourself a deal. Good luck.”
The velvet-coated Ryn eased himself down Han’s legs until he was dangling from Han’s ankles, then disengaged. Han heard rather than saw him make harsh contact with the strut.
“You all right?” he called.
“Your turn,” the Ryn yelled shortly.
Han took a steadying breath. Carefully unwrapping himself from the alloy rib, he let fly. The current was even stronger than he expected. In a split second he was rushing past the Ryn, but when he reached out wildly to arrest his motion he hugged only air.
He was already imagining himself inside the Yuuzhan Vong dread