Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 20_ The Final Prophecy - J. Gregory Keyes [92]
By then it would be too late—the microbes would be leaking out and invading the strands. Ten hours after that, things would start going very wrong for Zonama Sekot. But by then, Nom Anor would no longer be on the planet.
He removed his disguise, produced his villip, and stroked it. A moment later, the fierce visage of a warrior appeared.
“I am Ushk Choka,” the villip informed him. “You are the one I have come for?”
“Yes,” Nom Anor replied. “What is your present position?”
“In high orbit around the planet your signal emanates from. We seem to be undetected.”
“Send a lander for me,” Nom Anor said. “You may follow the villip’s signal.”
“Yes, I have your position,” Choka confirmed. “All you have promised Shimrra is done?” He sounded skeptical.
“Yes, Commander.”
“Nothing seems to have changed. The planet is there, and very much covered in life.”
“Things will change soon,” Nom Anor said, “but I assure you we do not want to be here when they do.”
“I risk much, to send a lander now,” Choka grunted. “I have been informed of the planet’s defensive potential. You promised it would be negated.”
“And it will be,” Nom Anor insisted. “It will not be able to prevent our escape.”
“But it might prevent the landing.”
“By the time the lander arrives,” Nom Anor said, “the planet will be thoroughly preoccupied.” Or so he hoped. But he had been unable to concoct another scheme that would both destroy Zonama Sekot and allow him to escape with his life. The window would be narrow, but it should be there.
“In any event,” he continued, “what is risk to the mighty Ushk Choka? Only a chance to show your bravery.”
The warrior grunted angrily, and Nom Anor knew he had hit the right nerve.
“Of course,” Choka said. “The lander will be there in seven hours.”
“You’re looking at that superconducting cable, aren’t you?” Tahiri asked.
“Yes.” The cable was smooth and just small enough that his hands could fit around it. It looked like it went all the way down, and hung ten centimeters away from the wall.
“I’m game,” Tahiri said.
Corran shook his head. “No. If Anor hears me coming down, he’ll just come back up on a turbolift. You have to be here in case he does that. Harrar doesn’t have any weapons.” And maybe Harrar wouldn’t stop him if he could. The two of them might still be in on this together.
Which meant he could be leaving Tahiri in a bad position. There was nothing he could do about that, though. This was too important.
He took his jacket off. Outside, a steady pounding began as the rain came. Thunder crashed nearby. He reached out and touched the cable experimentally, then wrapped the jacket around it, getting a firm grip. He swung himself over the guardrail and reaffirmed the grip.
“This should be fun,” he said.
“It looks like fun,” Tahiri said. “Be careful. I’d hate to have to explain to Mirax what happened to you.”
“Just watch those lifts,” Corran reminded her.
Then he let his body slide out into the air.
For the first few seconds, he was in true free fall, accelerating toward the bottom of the shaft at the exponential speed of gravity. Then he began to tighten his grip, creating friction against the cable. His rate of fall slowed, but his arms complained, and the jacket warmed quickly. He relaxed again, clamped down again, alternating.
Above him, the top of the shaft had already diminished to a circle so small that Tahiri’s face was barely visible. Below him, the light strips on the walls still met together in a point.
He had a long way to go, and proceeding like this he wasn’t going to make it. His arms would wear out long before he reached the bottom, or more likely the jacket would burn through. He’d known that from the start, but had needed to experiment with the cable