Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 12_ Return to Ord Mantell - Kevin J. Anderson [12]
Frequently, gravitational perturbations from nearby star systems or planetary alignments would knock some of these tenuously held comets loose from their holding patterns, and the comets would fall down toward the sun. As they heated up, the gases would evaporate, stretching out into wispy tails of dust and ionized gas, making beautiful sights in the Ord Mantellian sky. But out here, in the deep cold of space, the comet chunks were dark, erratic navigational hazards, as dangerous as a swarm of piranha beetles.
During the Blockade Runners Derby, ships weaved through the tumbling ice cloud, ducking around and through protocomets. Speed and skill counted for everything... including a ship's survival, of course.
Leaving the planet's atmosphere, Han Solo increased the Falcon's speed.
He roared up at full acceleration, straight out of the ecliptic and into the cometary cloud. Jaina felt the skin on her cheeks pulled back by gravitational force as the engines labored. She was glad they had just tuned them up.
"Why so fast, Dad?" Jacen said from his seat in the rear. "We're just a slow, sedate pace craft, not an official contestant."
Anakin said in a level voice, "I think Dad's just trying to get some of the frustration out of his system."
"Not exactly," Han said to his sons. "We're running through the course, but"-he raised his forefinger-"they're also recording our time.
So wouldn't it be wonderful if the old Falcon happened to do better than any of the actual contestants? How could the real winner ever live down his shame?"
"Or her shame," Jaina said.
"Or its shame," Jacen added.
"I get the point," Han said. "I intend to beat even my last speed record, when I actually won this thing."
"Is that breaking the rules?" Anakin asked.
"Naw. But it'll give the crowds something to talk about for years."
Han worked the controls, increasing speed again. "Hang on, everybody.
Comet cloud ahead."
Jaina adjusted the controls, activating the newly installed windowport filters. "I'm increasing infrared pickup," she said. "There's not much reflected sunlight out here, but this way we'll be able to detect the comets a little better."
Suddenly the view changed color as they hurtled forward. Glinting, tumbling specks became visible like a cloud of sparks drifting toward them. In the holographic projection of the cometary cloud, a dotted line wove like a needle and thread through the loosely packed cluster of ice fragments.
"All right," Han said. "Get ready for some tricky maneuvers."
Almost before Jaina realized it, they exploded into the blizzard of ice chunks. Some were nearly round, some blocky and geometric, others spiny with crystalline formations.
Han gave a howl of delight as he spun the Falcon around. Jaina watched the engines while Anakin monitored their course. They skimmed low over one ice field, then looped around. The comets were so small and light that their weak gravity had little effect on the ship's navigation.
A tiny fragment of ice too small to be detected on their sensors evaporated against their deflector screen in a sparkle of light. More bright flashes appeared as the Falcon continued without slowing.
"Hey, it's like we're in a snowstorm," Jacen said.
"More like a hailstorm," Jaina said. "Those little bits of ice would poke holes right through us at our speed if the deflector shields weren't working."
"You did tune them up, didn't you?" Jacen asked.
"Naturally. Nothing to worry about."
Han focused ahead and plowed through a gaping cave in a fragile ice latticework, a comet that looked like crystal straws melted together.
One of the tiny shafts struck the deflector shield and snapped. The entire cave opening began to collapse as the Falcon soared through and burst out the other