Annihilation: Star Wars (The Old Republic) by Drew Karpyshyn

Author:Drew Karpyshyn [Karpyshyn, Drew]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-345-53567-2
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2012-11-12T13:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

THE KNIFE WOUND ON TEFF’ITH’S SHOULDER barely bothered her as she worked the Prosperity’s controls, bringing the shuttle out of hyperspace just beyond the mass shadow cast by Coruscant’s gravity well.

The capital world of the Republic loomed before her in all its glory, a city world with almost a trillion people on the surface. The four moons orbiting the planet were almost lost among the artificial satellites swirling around it. Massive mirror stations collected and redirected light and heat from Coruscant’s sun to the poles, transforming every square centimeter of the surface into livable land. Ponderous habitation spheres slowly circled the world, swelling the official population by another hundred billion. And giant space stations directed the endless stream of thousands of ships arriving and departing.

Teff’ith just stared out the window of the cockpit. It had been almost two years since she’d last been here … not since her first run-in with Theron. She’d forgotten how overwhelming the galaxy’s most densely populated planet could be when seen from above. The incessant beep of the shuttle’s comlink finally snapped her out of her fog, and she reached out to open the channel.

“Prosperity, do you read?” a man’s voice crackled out. “This is Coruscant flight control station 473. Prosperity, please acknowledge.”

“This is Prosperity,” Teff’ith answered, realizing the shuttle’s auto-transponder must have transmitted the registration directly to the nearest space station for clearance upon her arrival. “What’s wrong?”

“Been trying to hail you for almost two full minutes. Might want to check your comm equipment.”

“Roger,” Teff’ith replied, not certain what else to say. She knew how to smuggle a ship onto Coruscant, but she had no idea what the protocols were for a legal landing on the surface.

“You looking for surface clearance?” the man asked her after a few seconds of silence.

“Roger,” Teff’ith agreed.

Another few seconds passed before the man asked, “Do you have your destination?” He was clearly getting annoyed.

“The Jedi,” Teff’ith blurted out. “Grand Master Satele.”

There was a long pause on the other end before the man replied, “You are cleared for landing at Diplomatic Spaceport 27-B. Transmitting coordinates now.”

“Roger,” Teff’ith said again.

“Over and out.”

Relieved to put an end to the awkward conversation, Teff’ith turned the ship over to the autopilot, allowing it to chart its own course down to the surface. She was surprised she didn’t have to wait in some kind of queue or touch down at one of the orbital space stations for some kind of verification before landing. But then she remembered whose shuttle she was flying, and she realized she had probably been given some kind of special priority service.

The shuttle plunged down into Coruscant’s atmosphere, the autopilot falling into the nearest officially designated flight path as it sped her rapidly to the surface. The ship rattled slightly as it came in, a result of the damage it had sustained crashing through the doors of the hangar during her escape from Jigani Port. But Teff’ith barely noticed, her attention focused on the unimaginable crush of buildings, speeders, and people on the surface.

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