Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 14_ Crisis at Crystal Reef - Kevin J. Anderson [37]
But first, they had to get rid of that transmitter.
They climbed up through air shafts, avoiding lift platforms for fear of whom they might encounter. Finally, they reached the upper main loading dock on the surface. Access doors would be closed but not locked. No one in their right mind would go for a casual walk on the surface of Kessel.
According to maps and diagrams of the spice mine and its comm station, they had a good idea where Kessel's sophisticated transmittercurrently being modified by Black Sun-must be located. The powerful antenna was large... and probably well guarded. Two human-sized intruders could not possibly remain hidden as they made their way across the bleak, rugged surface.
But a small silvery droid might just be able to slip in undetected....
The ships in the cargo bay sat quiet and empty, as if the place was abandoned. Jaina recognized one of the familiar craft, though. A small man worked furtively beneath the engines.
"Lilmit's still around!" Jaina said. M%ile the other pilots were taken prisoner, Lilnt had probably been allowed to remain here because he worked for Black Sun.
The strange man looked up, and his eyes went wide as he noticed the Wookiee and the young woman. The hapless smuggler raised his webbed hands in panic. "Oh, no! But you're gone. Your ship left. I saw the docking records. Go away-there's nothing more I can tell you."
"Great," Jaina muttered. "Now we'll have to take him hostage."
Lilnt wailed. "Please, I didn't have anything to do with this. I just wanted to get off Kessel before the Black Sun takeover. Czethros will be furious if he sees that I'm still here."
Jaina looked at Lowie, wondering how they would ever manage to keep Lilnt quiet. If the little man caused a scene and got them noticed, they were sunk. But instead, the frantic smuggler ran into his ship to hide and sealed the hatch.
"I do believe our diminutive friend has panicked," Em Teedee said.
"Let's hope he stays quiet for just a little while," Jaina said.
Lowie growled and gestured toward the outer doors of the cargo bay. If they could complete their mission quickly and hide again in the tunnels, they wouldn't be found, no matter what Lilmit did. Jaina suspected that the terrified smuggler would not want to call anyone's attention to his presence. But then again, the little pilot's fear of Czethros might just prompt him to report the presence of two unauthorized young Jedi....
Lowie chuffed something again, and the translating droid replied,
"Indeed, Master Lowbacca, 'What are we waiting for?"
Togetner, Jaina and Lowie reached the door, grabbed a pair of breath masks from a locker, and slapped them over their faces. The slow trickle of oxygen would be enough to keep them alive in the harsh environment, though the freezing temperatures and the crackling dry air would take its toll before long. They didn't have much time.
Jaina unsealed the hatch, and they passed through. Gusts of wind roared after them as air flowed out of the pressurized cargo bay. They stood out on the bleak, white alkaline desert of Kessel's surface.
"Lovely place," Jaina said, her voice muffled by the breath mask.
Frost clung to the rocks, and steam rose into the air from heating and recirculation vents deep in the spice mines. Near the foreshortened horizon they saw the metal and wire-mesh flower of the massive transmitter. Czethros would use it to send his coded, high-powered signal burst announcing that now was the time for Black Sun's ultimate takeover.
The flat, broken land was strewn with boulders and chunks of powdery white salt