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Her face grim, Tenel Ka stood. "We are trapped... but it is only ice."

She looked around at the four other passengers crowded into the small sub. "I count five lightsabers among us. Certainly that should suffice to cut us free. " She raised her eyebrows. "If we are,willing to go outside."

Per regulations from the Crystal Reef Amusement and Tourism Council, the minisub was required to carry enough slicksuits for each passenger in an emergency. Their current situation, Jacen thought, was about as much of an emergency as anyone could have imagined.

" You know this is probably suicidal, don't you?" Anja said as she slipped into the flimsy garment that clung to her skin like a symbiotic organism. She pulled the skull-fitting hood over her voluminous hair, so that most of her head was covered. The glistening Calamarian fabric molded itself to bodily contours and provided temperature control.

Jacen wondered, though, if even the most efficient heaters would keep them warm enough this deep under the polar ice.

Cilghal stepped forward and took hold of a flap at the neck of Jacen's suit. "This membrane will allow you to breathe," she said, stretching it tight over his mouth and nose. Now only his eyes were exposed. "It will filter oxygen molecules from the water. You can breathe as usual.

Just do it slowly and carefully."

"Are you sure our lightsabers will function underwater?" Zekk asked, looking at his newly made-and untested-weapon.

Cilghal nodded, her round Calamarian eyes swiveling as she held up her own lightsaber. The hilt was lumpy, but with a smooth, pearly finish.

"It will, if you constructed it properly."

Tenel Ka frowned down at her lightsaber, made from a carved rancor's tooth, and flashed a glance over at Jacen. Zekk knew she must be recalling the day her own defective lightsaber had failed, resulting in the loss of her arm. But she had built a new weapon, taking extra precautions.

Zekk thought of the extraordinary care with which he had built his new lightsaber. Master Skywalker himself had approved. He took a deep breath, nodding confidently. "Then my weapon won't fail."

Jacen, Zekk, Tenel Ka, Anja, and Cilghal finished suiting up, then took turns going through the force-field doorway into the deep, cold ocean.

Jacen inhaled deeply. The membrane that covered his face produced a warm flow of breathable air.

Still, he hesitated at the portal. Anja, standing next to him, gave him an inquiring look. Finally, Jacen stepped through the shimmering hatch and out into a world of liquid ice.

Pulsing lightsaber blades blazed through the water like colorful torches, attracting tiny darting fish that somehow lived and flourished in the inhospitable arctic environment. Stalactites of clear blue ice lurked around them like massive fangs. Broken icebergs trapped the insignificant minisub. The lightsabers shimmered in the murky water, cutting an underwater channel through the frozen mountains.

With her one arm-the other sleeve snubbed tightly and knotted so it would be waterproof-Tenel Ka wielded her turquoise blade. She slashed, severing a slab of ice. Steam and bubbles erupted as the chunk slowly drifted away, freeing one of the fins of the minisub.

Jacen hacked and chopped at the prison of ice. His lungs heaved, drawing tendrils of air through the membrane. All around him the water felt like a smothering blanket of carbonite. The slicksuit fought off most of the deadly chill, but the cold eventually seeped through.

Jacen found his arms and legs growing sluggish. His mind felt lethargic and stupid, as if he were thinking in slow motion.

Cilghal, better adapted for underwater work even in the arctic seas, swam ahead, using her throbbing lightsaber to hack her way forward.

Bubbles churned upward until they were trapped by the ice ceiling.

Cilghal cleared a narrow channel, then moved along the fresh passageway, rolling with her lightsaber.

Zekk swam directly behind her, widening the channel with his energy