Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 08_ Edge of Victory 01_ Conquest - J. Gregory Keyes [21]
“They’ve found the generator,” Ikrit murmured. “Your shield will be down soon.”
“It’s okay,” Anakin said. “We’re almost done here. Even after it’s down they’ll come in cautiously. We’ll have plenty of time to get to the hangar and get my X-wing out. Then all we have to do is run their little blockade.” He’d noticed three of the five ships had landed facing the closed hangar doors. No surprise there, but what they didn’t know was that one of the ion cannons that guarded the hangars was still operational—and had a self-contained power supply good for at least a blast or two.
He leaned out for a parting shot.
A blaster bolt seared by over his shoulder, lanced down into the Peace Brigaders. Anakin jerked his head around.
“That shot came from above us!”
“Yes,” Ikrit said. “Didn’t you notice? Didn’t you know she would come?”
“Notice who?” But in a flash he knew. Tahiri was up there, Tahiri and two other people. All Jedi.
“Hutt slime!” he swore. “Just what I need!” He turned to Master Ikrit. “There won’t be room for all of us in the X-wing. Meet me in the deep grotto. I’ll think of something on the way.”
With that he raced down the corridor, blaster in one hand and lightsaber in the other.
He found them in the refectory—Tahiri, Valin Horn, and Sannah. They had barricaded the outer door with tables and had two blasters between them, no telling where they had gotten them. When Anakin entered, Tahiri waved the gun at him.
“What are you doing?” Anakin exploded.
“Helping you,” Tahiri said with a grin.
“How did you—”
“Kam thought we were on Tionne’s boat, Tionne thought we were on his. Simple, with a little planning.”
“But Valin? Valin’s only eleven!”
“Twelve!” Valin said very seriously. “I can help.”
“This is insane.”
“Fine one you are to talk, Anakin,” Tahiri snapped. “You’re the one who left Coruscant without permission, aren’t you? You get to do everything while we just run away and do nothing? I don’t think so, best friend.”
“Yeah? Well, my plan was to get away in the X-wing. Now we have too many people for that. What does the brilliant Tahiri propose we do, exactly?”
“Oh.” Her green eyes went round. “I hadn’t thought that far.”
“No, I guess you didn’t.”
The floor suddenly vibrated like the shell of a Hapan lute.
“What’s that?” Sannah asked.
Valin, peeking out the window, answered. “The shield is down. Now they’re shooting at the doors. Some men are coming up the stairs, too.”
“No more time,” Anakin said. “We’ll have to think as we go. I told Ikrit to meet us in the grotto.”
“Then we’ll be stuck underground.”
“I didn’t have much time to put this together, Tahiri.”
“You mean there’s more to your plan than hiding in the grotto?”
Anakin blew out a deep breath. “Sure. We’ll take a Peace Brigade ship.”
Tahiri smiled. “There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
They reached the turbolift just as a clump of Peace Brigaders appeared at the end of the corridor facing onto the outside stairs.
“Hey! Stop!” one of them shouted.
Two blaster shots pinged against the doors as they closed. Anakin let out a breath as the lift started to descend, then sucked it back in.
“It’s going to stop,” Anakin said. “At the second level.”
“Override it.”
“I can’t,” he said, activating his lightsaber with a snap-hiss. “The door will stay open for a few seconds. If they’re out there …”
The door opened on the muzzles of six blasters. Anakin didn’t think. He’d already slapped the “down” button—now he leapt into the midst of his enemies, blocking the first two blaster bolts with his weapon and sending them burning back through the press. He cut a blaster rifle in half and spun. Shouting in alarm, his attackers gave ground, trying to find a range where they could use their weapons. Two came at him with stun batons. He leapt and whirled, disarming one with a cut that took several fingers and another that