Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 13_ Trouble on Cloud City - Kevin J. Anderson [52]
Lando couldn't wait until they began to debrief the turncoat Bespin Wing Guards. "This should be very interesting," he said out loud.
Bespin's incredible ocean of sky provided an infinite expanse through which Jacen and Tenel Ka could run. Unfortunately, it offered no place to hide.
The isolated metal island of Cloud City fell behind them as Jacen pushed the cloud skimmer's engines. The turbines whined as the cloud car soared away from the trap the traitors had set for them.
Behind them-and rapidly gaining ground-came a sleek black cloud car with a pair of sharp-angled bows. Cradling his weapon, the hairy-faced thug leaned forward to take a carefully aimed shot while an armored Wing Guard drove the patrol vessel at its highest possible speed.
Jacen jigged from left to right, diving down and then swooping back up again, but in the open emptiness of the sky, the evasive maneuvers did little good. The bearded hit man shot twice. Jacen dodged and twirled.
Even so, one of the powerful bolts ricocheted off the bottom of their cloud car, leaving a long dark scorch mark across the bright scarlet plating.
Tenel Ka sat beside him, grim-faced. She fingered the rancor-tooth lightsaber at her waist. "I prefer a direct fight," she said. "These men are cowards."
"Yeah? They're traitors, too," Jacen said. "But who's keeping track?"
Then he perked up as an idea struck him. He wrestled with the controls, dodging another blaster bolt that skimmed close beside them.
"You could still use your lightsaber, Tenel Ka. Block those blaster shots from hitting our repulsor-engines."
"Excellent idea, Jacen, my friend." She drew her lightsaber, switched on its pulsating turquoise blade, then turned to kneel on the seat, precariously balanced on her muscular legs. Tenel Ka slashed from side to side with her blade as the pursuers continued to fire. She leaned far out to deflect the attack, and Jacen worried that the one-armed warrior girl might lose her balance and tumble into the clouds, as he had done.
The skies grew darker. They flew neck and neck with their enemies now.
Black thunderheads rose all around them like craggy islands in the sky.
Long fingernails of lightning scratched against the thunderheads as storm systems clashed together. Other glows flickered deep within the clouds.
Jacen narrowed his eyes to stare at the ominous weather patterns... and had another idea. "Tenel Ka, get back in and strap down. I think we're in for a bumpy ride."
Hearing the tone in his voice, she did as he advised without questioning.
Then Jacen set his course on a straight line for the largest, nearest bank of thunderheads. The wind whipped the warrior girl's redgold braids around her face. Her expression became stern.
"You are not actually flying into a storm system, are you?"
Jacen flashed her a lopsided grin. "They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?"
The tumbling wall of gray mist grew larger, but slowly. Jacen realized that the distance to the storm was greater than he had expected.
And the storm itself was much, much larger. He searched in vain for the tiny black specks he had hoped to find. Lightning screeched across the cloud surface, leaping from one thunderhead to another.
"Hang on," Jacen said, and dove toward the roiling dark mass.
Behind them, the assassins tried to put on more speed, firing indiscriminately now. The Wing Guard pilot had trouble aiming his vehicle's built-in laser cannons, but the hairy-faced assassin scored a direct hit on Tenel Ka's side of the scarlet cloud car. Its impact was much too close to her for Jacen's comfort.
An explosion of thunder slammed through the air with a sound like two Star Destroyers colliding. Jacen's ears rang with the reverberations; the cloud car's front windowplate and side panels rattled and vibrated as if they'd been hit by a physical blow.
A lightning bolt roared behind them. The gigantic blast of discharged energy boomed in a rippling cord across