Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 10_ Jedi Bounty - Kevin J. Anderson [48]
Tenel Ka shook ever so slightly, though whether it was from cold or from laughter Jacen couldn't tell. She pressed her cheek briefly against his, and whispered, "Thank you, Jacen, my friend."
Then, releasing him, she took one of his hands in hers.
Jacen looked around the rock toward the pass that led to the temperate zone. "We lost ground," he observed.
"Yes, but only a little. The pass should not be more than an hour's walk now. Our path appears clearer and easier--with a short climb uphill at the end," Tenel Ka pointed out. %Ve can make it, Jacen. We must continue."
Jacen believed her. He felt a new spring in his step as they left the shelter of the rock. They passed many caves or tunnel entrances--Jacen couldn't be sure which--but the ground was solid. On the slopes ahead they saw the strange mechanical towers of wind turbines erected by the Twiqeks. The structures appeared ancient, but still functioned. Jacen wondered how often any of the tunnel inhabitants braved the cold temperatures to service the turbine mechanisms.
The wintry air took its toll as they continued.
Jacen's mind began to go numb. He had entered a trancelike state and had no idea how he kept 'putting one foot in front of the other. He was in the lead, holding his lightsaber aloft, when Tenel Ka put her hand on his arm and pulled him to a stop.
"What is it?" he asked.
She nodded toward the frozen peaks above them; gaps in the crags showed the line of twilight in the distance. But the air appeared to ripple as if alive. Shimmers of light contorted and danced through the air in an invisible undu lation that seemed to make the icy rock surfaces ripple like an ocean.
Suddenly, a jet of steam half a kilometer high spewed upward from the frozen ground where the shimmering waves touched down. It seemed like a whirlwind, a spinning mass of displaced air and wind roaring over the mountains and sweeping toward them.
"Heat storm," Tonel Ka said tersely. "I have read about them."
"Heat?" Jacen asked, feeling hopeful.
"Heat storm," Tenel Ka warned. Her grip tightened on his arm. "Hot winds from the daytime side of the planet. They can travel through the temperate zone to the night side and still retain enough heat to boil alive any creature in their path. We must find shelter."
The shimmering waves swirled, forming a superheated funnel cloud that began whirling directly toward the side of the mountain. Rocks shattered, ice evaporated, and scalding, shrieking wind plowed through side canyons with a battering ram of displaced temperature.
"The caves!" Jacen yelled, grabbing her hand and turning back toward the last tunnel entrance they had passed, beneath one of the old wind turbines. Together they ran, forgetting caution on the rough ground.
The hot whirlwind climbed the slope toward them, howling like a vengeful spirit.
When he saw the broken entrance a few meters ahead of them, Jacen switched off his lightsaber and concentrated all of his efforts on speed.
Not a minute too soon, he and Tenel Ka threw themselves into the narrow mouth of the cave. The furnace-hot blast roared toward them, flash-evaporating ice. Rock cracked and crumbled.
Jacen and Tenel Ka backed up to where the dark cave widened out and pressed themselves against the rough stone wall. Hot wind buffeted the rock outside, melting ice.and sending up sizzles of steam, but the narrow-mouthed cave protected them somewhat.
Sinking wearily to the floor, Jacen said, "I didn't know I had the energy left to run." The storm grew louder, closer, as if angry that they had escaped.
Beside him, Tenel Ka looked around suspiciously.
"Jacen, my friend--we are not alone."
FEIGNING A CALM nonchalance, Lowbacca led his sister Sirra through the tunnels toward the small-craft bay where the Rock Dragon waited.
The Diversity Alliance engineers had not managed to crack its access codes yet. They could not get into the ship's main