Crisis at Crystal Reef

11

The cold, winding tunnels of the spice mines were almost completely devoid of light. Because glitterstim—the most common form of spice found on Kessel—was mined in total darkness, glowpanels were rarely used down here, and then only in areas where no mining was performed. Jaina shivered uncontrollably as she, Lowbacca, and Em Teedee made their way cautiously through the shafts, careful to avoid any contact with Czethros’s henchmen.

Lowie’s thick ginger fur provided ample protection against the cold, but Jaina’s comfortable brown flightsuit warmed her only a little. Lowie was also better equipped to see in the darkness, but since no light whatsoever was allowed to filter down into the tunnels, it was difficult for either of them to discern what lay ahead.

At Lowie’s suggestion, Em Teedee brightened his optical sensors just enough to allow the two Jedi to see a meter in front of them. They did not want to attract the attention of anyone who might turn them over to Czethros. With Lowie’s permission, Jaina walked a step behind, her numb fingers threaded into the fur on his back for warmth. The processed air in the tunnels chilled her throat and lungs with each breath. When she exhaled, a white mist streamed from her nostrils, further obscuring her dim vision.

A part of Jaina wished that Zekk, Jacen, and Tenel Ka were here to help them fight against the hostile takeover of Kessel. On the other hand, Jaina and Lowie were Jedi Knights themselves. They were resourceful, and she had no doubt that the two of them could find a way to seriously disrupt the plans Czethros had made.

“Do you suppose we’re anywhere close to that computer terminal we need?” Jaina asked through chattering teeth.

“Yes, indeed, Mistress Jaina,” Em Teedee replied in a modulated whisper. “I daresay we are now less than point-three kilometers from one of the emergency administrative terminals.”

Hope warmed Jaina, but only slightly. Lowie gave a questioning bark. “Oh, yes. Quite certain,” Em Teedee replied, swiveling on his microrepulsorjets to look back at Lowie. “You see, I took the liberty of downloading not only the diagrams of the docking facilities on Kessel, but also a topographical map of all the major mining areas, along with a listing of landmarks and technical stations, before we left Master Nien Nunb’s office.”

“You what?” Jaina said. Lowie gave a surprised woof.

“Oh, but I assure you I had his complete authorization to—”

“We believe you, Em Teedee,” Jaina said, laughing out loud with relief. “Why didn’t you tell us that before? We could have used a more detailed map.”

“Well, you didn’t inquire,” Em Teedee said, continuing to lead the way with his dim illumination. “The subject simply never arose. I had no idea that information would be so useful. I certainly didn’t anticipate an invasion force overthrowing the legal administrators and staging a complete takeover of the spice mines.”

Jaina shivered. “Neither did I. I certainly didn’t dress for it.”

Lowie began walking faster; knowing that they were close to their goal seemed to give him renewed energy. Jaina forced herself into a trot to keep up with the lanky Wookiee. Through the Force and her contact with her friend, Jaina could sense that a plan was beginning to form in Lowie’s mind. Her spirits lifted.

“Hey, Em Teedee?”

“Yes, Mistress Jaina?”

“I’m glad you’re on our team.”

Lowie groaned as the terminal rejected his request for access to the secure systems on the administrative level for the third time. Jaina bit her lower lip and tried to apply some creative thinking.

“I sure wish we knew what Czethros was up to right now,” she said.

Lowie shrugged and pounded a hairy fist against the terminal in frustration.

“Master Lowbacca, if I might be so bold … ?” Em Teedee piped up. “Perhaps my circuits can be applied to overcome some of Kessel’s security routines?”

“It couldn’t hurt,” Jaina said.

Lowie popped open Em Teedee’s casing, pulled out a few leads, and connected them to the terminal’s input port. Em Teedee proceeded to “Hmmm” and “Aha” for a few minutes, then said, “Oh, yes! Most gratifying. Even better than I might have hoped.”

A moment later, the image on the terminal screen split itself into five parts, with four small “windows” across the top and one large image taking up the lower two-thirds of the screen. To both Jaina and Lowie’s surprise, each of the smaller images began changing rapidly, showing a different scene: the main cargo bay, various mining tunnels, the packaging chamber and conveyor belts, assorted refresher units.

Suddenly Lowie howled in triumph.

“Go back, go back!” Jaina said. In front of them appeared the image of the silver-visored Czethros seated in Nien Nunb’s own administrative offices. He was speaking to his henchmen, who were gathered around him.

“Can we get sound?” Jaina asked, her teeth chattering. Within seconds, the invasion leader’s gruff voice came from the terminal speaker.

“Now that we’ve consolidated our position on Kessel, we need to reconfigure the main transmitter. When that is finished, we send our signal. And then nothing will be able to stop us. That signal will launch a thousand different takeovers in key industries and businesses across the galaxy. Everything perfectly timed. My army may not be large, but I have the right people in the right places. Once they take control, my network will be too powerful for even the New Republic to fight against.

“Only I could have brought this about.” He smiled around at his confederates. “And you, my trusted colleagues, will be there to see it all happen. I’ve planned everything down to the last second. Nothing begins until we send our signal, because any resistance to our plan at any of the key points in my network could bring everything crashing down around us.”

His fiery cyber-eye glared around at his followers as he continued. “And anyone responsible for the slightest hitch in my plan will pay with his life.”

“Good work, Em Teedee.” Jaina shivered as she grinned over at Lowie. “Well, we know where he is now.”

Lowie rumbled thoughtfully.

“No, Master Lowbacca,” Em Teedee said in a tiny voice. “I’m afraid Master Nien Nunb did not grant me authorization to access any of the primary security systems.” The translator droid gave a mechanical sigh. “Of twenty possible clearance levels, I’m afraid I’ve been granted only two. These levels are designated for infrastructure operations.”

“And what does infrastructure operations include?” Jaina prompted.

The little droid made an embarrassed sound, as if he was clearing his throat. “The er, janitorial functions, it would seem.”

Lowie’s lips peeled back from his Wookiee fangs in a feral grin. Jaina’s eyebrows raised, and she looked at her friend. Her imagination sparked with quite a few interesting ideas. “I think we can work with that. Don’t you?”

Lowie gave a gleeful bark and began issuing orders to Em Teedee at a rapid rate as he punched in commands at the terminal. “Ah, yes. I see.” Em Teedee passed the commands on through the appropriate authorization filters. “Oh my, that would be most unpleasant.”

Within minutes, an alarm shrieked through the administrative levels. In the tiny image onscreen, fire-retardant systems sprang to life all around Czethros, spewing protective foam from hidden valves in the walls and ceilings. The bubbly mixture squirted across his visor and into this moss-green hair.

“Shut that thing off!” the tiny image of Czethros snapped.

Half a dozen foam-covered lackeys sprang to do his bidding. Jaina chuckled. It took several minutes for the confusion to die down and the alarms to be turned off, but Jaina and Lowie were ready.

Under Jaina’s direction, Em Teedee methodically accessed each of the refresher units—and reversed the sewage containment systems. Jaina and Lowie did not have to wait long for results. In less than two minutes, Second Administrator Kymn, covered in disgusting glop, came running into the office where Czethros and his people were still cleaning up the fire-retardant mess. His eyes looked slightly wild, as if something had just happened to him that lay outside the scope of his imagination.

“Sir, we have a problem,” he announced. Around him, other henchmen’s noses began wrinkling in distaste. Kymn lowered his voice, leaned toward Czethros, and began whispering, his arms gesticulating to emphasize his point. Czethros grabbed the five men closest to him, rattled off a string of orders, and propelled them bodily from the room along with Administrator Kymn.

Jaina and Lowie shook with laughter. At the moment, Jaina hardly noticed the chill.

By the time Kymn and two of Czethros’s mercenaries entered the maintenance turbolift, Em Teedee was ready again. The turbolift moved just a few meters before Em Teedee froze it in place with an urgent clean-and-refurbish authorization code. Despite the gravity of their situation, tears of mirth trickled from the corners of Jaina’s eyes. She and Lowie exchanged a happy hug.

“I think we’ve made a good start,” Jaina said.

Lowie growled a sobering comment.

“You’re right, of course,” she agreed. “If we’re going to stop this coup, we’ll have to do everything in our power to bring Czethros down.”