Jedi Bounty

15

Exactly on time, Lowie’s preprogrammed distraction echoed through the tunnels of the Diversity Alliance. Computers triggered alarms everywhere. Sirens blared and lights flashed; a recorded voice requested emergency assistance.

Jacen ducked. “Uh-oh! They know we’ve escaped!”

But Lowie chuffed with laughter and shook his shaggy head. “Ah, yes. I see!” Em Teedee piped up. “Tery clever indeed, Master Lowbacca. I’m sure we’re all most impressed.”

“What? What’s going on?” Jaina asked. Beside her, Tenel Ka crouched, ready to fight with nothing but her bare hand. Yet no attack came.

“Master Lowbacca arranged for the central computer system to activate an emergency alarm that has fooled the sensors into detecting a toxic gas leak in the grottoes farthest from the smallcraft landing bay. Emergency crews and security guards will rush in the direction of the alarms whilst—” Jacen clapped his hands. “While we run the other way! Good thinking, Lowie!”

Tenel Ka nodded. “Excellent strategy, Lowbacca.”

Squads of soldiers hustled down side corridors.

Fearful alien workers poked their heads out of their chambers. Lowie maintained his alert posture, pretending to guard the four “dangerous humans.”

He gave the companions a brief rundown of the main tunnels and airshafts that led directly up to the surface. Some of the passages opened to a narrow band of tolerable temperatures on the surface. The young Jedi Knights would have to make their way up one of the major tunnels to the mountains while Lowie returned for the Rock Dragon. Despite the threat of retaliation from the Diversity Alliance, he would find a way to steal the ship, then come pick them up.

“But Master Lowbacca,” Em Teedee objected. “Surely this can’t be the wisest course of action. Why shouldn’t we simply stay together?”

Lowie dismissed this idea as too dangerous. Lowie could pass through Diversity Alliance security; the humans could not.

“Is there no other way to procure a ship, then?” Em Teedee asked. “Why must we risk going back now?” The Wookiee drew a deep, angry breath and spoke one word that Jacen understood clearly.

“Sirra.” Lowie would not leave his sister behind in the clutches of Nolaa Tarkona.

As they ran uphill together, panting, tasting the chalky air with its sour, mildewy stench, Lowie handed his friends back their lightsabers, as well as Tenel Ka’s utility belt. Jacen clipped his weapon to his side, as did Jaina, while Tenel Ka kept hers in her handgrip, ready for battle at any moment. She was also glad to have the resources of her belt again. Only Raynar seemed to be at a loss, with no weapon of his own.

Lowie knew exactly where he was going. Tenel Ka studied all the passages as they went, memorizing as best she could the layout of the Twi’lek tunnel systems. Jacen, who ran next to her, was unsurprised to find the warrior girl not the least bit out of breath. Despite the grime that crusted her hair and skin from hours of labor in the ‘mines, he still thought she looked beautiful.

As they rounded a corner, entering the main passageway, they came to an abrupt halt. Three piggish Gamorrean guards marched down the hall, shoulder to shoulder. Their tiny, close-set eyes were devoid of intelligence. The guards grunted and snuffled at each other, upset by the loud alarms ringing in their ears.

In numerous languages, an intercom voice warned of the dangerous toxic gas spill and ordered everyone to evacuate the lower levels immediately.

The guards did their best to look intimidating. They pounded on doors and kicked in the ones that remained sealed; some doors opened immediately, and the Gamorreans kicked the occupants instead.

Lowie stood in the corridor, boldly showing off his armor plates and chest band. His streak of dark fur bristled. The four young humans huddled behind him, trying to look like weak and downtrodden prisoners.

Lowie growled a challenge at the Gamorreans.

The guards grunted in surprise at this new obstacle. So intent had they been on bashing in doors, they hadn’t noticed the Wookiee. The head guard shoved his warty chin and tusks forward. He muttered something in a language that sounded like the burbling of phlegm.

Em Teedee said. “The guard inquires—if I may translate rather loosely-‘Aren’t you humans?’” Jacen stepped forward. “Blaster bolts, no! These are only disguises. Part of a top-secret project. Pretty good, aren’t they?” Reaching out with the Force, he gave the guards’ minds a gentle nudge. “Very realistic.” He tugged at one of his cheeks to demonstrate.

The guard snuffled and looked doubtful.

“Yes,” Jaina said, stepping up beside her brother.

“Nolaa Tarkona’s new ‘human configuration’ disguises. We developed these to infiltrate human cities and governments. But we’re really aliens underneath—aren’t we?”

Raynar nodded briskly, as did Tenel Ka. “This is a fact,” she said.

The guard grunted another question, but Em Teedee said indignantly, “They most certainly will not remove their disguises for mere guards! Indeed! This project is highly classified. I suggest you make yourself useful instead of trying to meddle in affairs that are clearly beyond your comprehension. Go apprehend some fugitive or seal off a toxic gas leak.”

The guard’s grumbled to each other and continued along their way, muttering their admiration for Nolaa Tarkona’s cleverness as they took turns banging open doors.

Jacen touched Tenel Ka’s wrist to move her hand away from the hilt of her lightsaber. “Sometimes you don’t need Jedi fighting skills to take care of a problem.”

“Ah,” Tenel Ka said. “Aha. But such tricks may not work unless your opponent is as stupid as those guards.”

Jacen peered down the surrounding corridors.

After a few more minutes of running they reached another main intersection, a confluence of catacombs. Lowie stopped, frowning in distress, and indicated that he had to leave them here.

“Master Lowbacca insists on locating his sister Sirra without delay,” Em Teedee said. “I do believe that’s quite honorable, though it places us all at greater risk.”

Jacen understood that the four humans could not go with Lowie; they had to keep as far away from the alien radicals as they could. Their Wookiee friend regarded each of them fondly.

With words and gestures he reviewed for them the directions he remembered from the computer map of the catacombs. They all found it painful to see Lowbacca leave again, but knew that this time he would come back … with the Rock Dragon, to help them get home.

“We’ll meet you outside, Lowie,” Jacen called. “In the mountains.”

With a last glance over his shoulder, Lowie sprinted down the long winding tunnel into a whirlpool of shadows.

After less than twenty minutes of cautiously toiling their way up the steep passage Lowie had indicated, a complete and deafening silence fell behind them like a curtain. All the alarms shut off; the emergency was canceled.

“That means they’ve discovered Lowie’s trick,” Jacen said.

Nolaa Tarkona’s voice came over the intercom.

“There is no poisonous gas spill. What you just heard was a false alarm, triggered by a traitor in our midst.” She paused a moment for effect. “Four human prisoners, important hostages, have just escaped. They must be found. I demand your most diligent efforts in the name of the Diversity Alliance.” When Nolaa Tarkona switched off the intercom, her angry voice ended abruptly with the force of an ax chopping through a branch.

“This is trouble,” Tenel Ka said.

“We’ve been in trouble,” Jaina countered.

Raynar leaned with a heavy sigh against the corridor’s rock wall. “Nobody’s going to fall for our ‘human disguise’ trick a second time.”

Tenel Ka suddenly stood up straight. As always, her hearing and eyesight were sharper than any of the others’. She gripped her lightsaber.

An instant later Jacen sensed the approach of numerous enemies. He drew his weapon, as did his sister. The footsteps were coming closer from a single direction, but the tunnels heading away branched out in many other directions.

“Fighting here will be difficult,” Tenel Ka said.

Jacen nodded. “We don’t have to make a stand here,” he pointed out.

“We can run toward the outside,” Raynar suggested.

“It’ll buy us some time,” Jaina agreed. “Let’s move.”

Clipping their lightsabers to their belts, they raced along the corridors, zigzagging, turning at random intervals as they headed upward. Every tunnel seemed to be filled with thundering footsteps and the rumble of armored feet. The hunt was on in every catacomb; Nolaa Tarkona had no intention of letting the humans escape.

As they picked up speed, the young Jedi Knights dispensed with caution, running as hard as they could. Tunnels branched one direction, then another.

Confusing as the choices were, they kept running uphill.

As they plunged across a corridor intersection, they startled a group of five guards—a pair of one-eyed Abyssin, a Duros, and two furry white Talz. All of the aliens bellowed, drew their weapons, and fired. Blaster bolts ricocheted from the curving tunnel walls, spurting rock dust and smoke.

Instinctively, Jaina ducked to one side. Jacen threw himself in the opposite direction as a blast struck the hard ceiling and arrowed back down through the spot where he had stood only a moment before.

“Run!” Tenel Ka said. “Faster!”

They raced along the tunnels, climbing toward the surface as the guards launched after them, still firing … still missing. Anew alarm sounded; one of the guards must have reported his coordinates and called for reinforcements.

“Do not stop yet,” Tenel Ka advised.

“Save the lightsabers for close-in, hand-to-hand fighting,” Jaina said.

“I vote we put that off as long as possible,” Jacen added.

“I agree,” Raynar said, puffing.

More guards joined the chase, converging from different directions.

Turning a corner, Tenel Ka spotted a tarpaulin-covered alcove marked with a glowing blue triangle. She recognized the armory symbol immediately. “Aha,” she said. “Here.” She grabbed the tarpaulin and tore it aside to reveal the smallweapons storage area.

“Are we supposed to just grab some weapons and shoot?” Raynar asked. “I’ve never fired a blaster before.”

The sound of footsteps echoed from several corridors at once. The angry guards bellowed.

“I’ve got a better idea,” Jaina said. She dashed into the alcove and emerged with a thermal detonator in her hand. “We don’t have much time,” she said. “But I have a feeling this is going to cause a lot of damage. Everybody split up.”

She gestured in different directions. “Raynar, go that way. Jacen and Tenel Ka, you head down that corridor.”

With the time-lock fuse set on the thermal detonator, she tossed it into the weapons storage area, then raced after Raynar. A contingent of guards burst into the intersection and howled as they saw their prey disappearing in two different directions.

But before they could follow, Jaina yelled, “Time!” She pulled Raynar with her into the shelter of a shallow niche in the rock wall. In the opposite tunnel, Jacen and Tenel Ka dove together to the floor.

The thermal detonator went off like a planet exploding. The weapons storage alcove blasted out with the force of a turbolaser battery. The remaining thermal detonators exploded in a sympathetic eruption. Power packs from the stored blasters added fuel. Rock walls crumbled. Aftershocks trembled through the corridors. The low ceiling collapsed, and stunned guards tried in vain to cover their heads. Curving walls sloughed into rubble. Smoke and fire gushed in all directions, invading every open pathway.

Feeling the heat singe his jumpsuit, Jacen rolled and tried to cover Tenel Ka’s unprotected skin. His ears popped from the overpressure wave.

Within moments the shock front raced past the place where they’d taken shelter. Jacen stood up and brushed himself off. Tenel Ka touched his arm. “Thank you, Jacen,” she said. “That was very brave.”

“Just my protective instinct,” he said with a lopsided grin. He turned to look back up the corridor and discovered that the walls had collapsed, cutting them off entirely from his sister and Raynar.

“Looks like we’re on our own,” he said.

“We will manage,” Tenel Ka answered. “We must get outside, where Lowbacca can find us.”

Hearing distant shouts of alarm approaching from an open passage, they limped wearily off down the tunnel before they could be captured again.

Raynar and Jaina plodded ahead. They had not been harmed by the avalanche or the explosion, but they stumbled from exhaustion.

“I hope Jacen’s all right. And Tenel Ka,” Raynar said.

Jaina could sense that her twin brother and her friend had not been harmed. “They’re fine. But we have to put some distance between us will converge there. Jacen and Tenel Ka can take care of themselves.”

“Of course.” Raynar forced a smile. “They’re Jedi Knights, aren’t they?”

“They know where to meet us in the mountains—if we can get out there, that is.”

They ran uphill, away from the fading dust of the explosion. Neither Jaina nor Raynar had a map of the catacombs, nor did they have Tenel Ka’s instinctive sense of direction. But if they continued uphill, they decided, sooner or later they would break out to the surface.

“I think I see light ahead,” Raynar said after what seemed like hours. “Natural light.”

As if in response, alarmed shouts and nervous blaster fire rang out from behind, though the guards could not possibly have seen them. Yet.

Jaina and Raynar sprinted ahead toward the light.

“It’s a passage to the outside!” Raynar said. “We made it.”

“But I’m not so sure we want to go there,” Jaina replied. “We’ve gone a couple of kilometers laterally—we may not come out in the narrow temperate zone.”

But they hurried along anyway until they reached the opening. A blast of heat struck Jaina’s face. She looked out upon the fiery day side of Ryloth, with its unrelenting, pounding sun and scalding-hot rocks.

“I’ve got a bad feeling this isn’t where we wanted to be,” she said.

Flaming light seared a desolate landscape incapable of supporting life in anything but the deepest shadows. Farther in the distance, cracks and rivers of running lava broke up the landscape.

Blackened outcroppings slumped like rotted teeth, eroded by temperatures near the melting point.

Behind them, though, the shouting of Diversity Alliance guards seemed to be coming closer.

Jaina looked out at the hellish landscape, wondering what use the Twi’leks could possibly have had for this opening. Did they send criminals out into the heat to die under the burning sun?

“C’mon, Raynar, we don’t have much choice,” she said. “Maybe if we keep to the shadows…”

Picking their way carefully through the rocky debris, they left the cool tunnels behind and were soon swallowed up by the heat.

Jacen and Tenel Ka stood at the end of the passageway. They had run for kilometers, escaped numerous groups of guards, fled from every approaching noise. Tenel Ka said they had gone through the core of the mountains—and now they stared out a large opening across a glacial landscape with frozen mountains, ice floes, and a night sky so clear and cold the stars looked like chips of ice floating in a black lake.

“We won’t survive out there for long,” Jacen said with an involuntary shiver. “But we can’t survive long in here with those guards and Nolaa Tarkona still after us.”

“She will not hesitate to kill us this time,” Tenel Ka said. Her lizardskin armor gleamed in the dim light, but it offered little protection from the cold winds outside.

Jacen stood next to his friend. He and Tenel Ka were both trained in the Force. They weren’t completely helpless.

“We have our wits, our lightsabers, our Jedi skills,” Jacen said. “We shouldn’t need anything else to keep ourselves alive.” He smiled bravely.

They had to find their way back to the temperate zone somehow and meet up with Lowie.

Tenel Ka nodded. “I agree, Jacen, my friend.”