Star Wars: Dark Nest 3: The Swarm War by Troy Denning

Author:Troy Denning
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Star Wars, Video Game Adaptations, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Movie Tie-Ins, Movie, Space Opera, Fantasy, TV, Adventure, Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction, Genre Fiction
ISBN: 0345463056
Publisher: LucasBooks
Published: 2006-04-04T04:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

A familiar voice echoing down a long tunnel…a hammer pounding inside her head, a centrifuge spinning her through the darkness…aching cold below the knees, aching cold from the shoulders up.

Nothing between. Just numb.

Then the voice again, calling Mara back, commanding her attention.

Luke giving orders…too fast. Not quite near enough to follow.

Slow down, Skywalker!

Luke continued. “Nothinghaschanged. We’re burruburrub,” he was saying, “uruburruplan. Cilghalwillbe in urburbubu collection teams, thenserveas Kyle’s scientific adviser urburub dispersal operations inside the Colony proper.”

Mara opened her eyes and found herself staring up at a blinding white blur. Everything smelled of stericlean, and there were machines hissing and whirring all around. She tried to sit up and found herself held tight by a strap across her chest.

“Just how volatile is this nanotech?” a deep Duros voice asked from somewhere to her right. “Is it going to turn our StealthXs into dirt right under us?”

“Only if you let it escape the stasis jars,” Cilghal replied. Her voice and the Duros’ sounded somewhat muffled. “Even then, you would have plenty of time to go EV before the damage grew critical.”

The brightness overhead came into focus, and Mara recognized it as the softly lit whiteness of an infirmary ship ceiling. It took her a moment to understand why she was here, then she turned her head and saw the tangle of IV lines hooked into her arm and she remembered: the shatter gun pellet that ripped through her vac suit and abdomen. It had destroyed one of her kidneys, and no healing trance could repair that.

The huge head of her Bith physician, Ogo Buugi, appeared above her. “Good, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“Hararrg oooo aiiig meeeffffing?” Mara croaked. It was supposed to have been How do you think I’m feeling? but her throat was as dry as a Tatooine swamp and her tongue was too heavy to lift. “Ooggaf.”

Buugi nodded approvingly, his smile half hidden by the epidermal folds hanging from his cheeks. “Good. That’s what I was hoping.”

Mara considered using the Force to slam him against the ceiling.

“The operation went very well—no complications at all,” Buugi continued. “We already have a new kidney growing in the cloning tank. We’ll insert it in a couple of weeks, and in a month you’ll be ready to start your rehabilitation.”

“A month?” Mara cried. “Are you a doctor or a—”

“Better let me take over, Doctor Buugi.” Jacen appeared at Mara’s bedside, seated in a hoverchair with a drainage bag hanging from his side. “Aunt Mara can be a little testy right after she wakes up.”

Buugi smiled more noticeably and nodded. “So I see.” He placed a delicate, long-fingered hand on Mara’s forearm, then said, “You need to be patient with this. Even a Jedi can’t grow a new kidney overnight.”

“Thanks for the advice, Doctor,” Mara answered, softening her tone. “And thanks for patching me up.” Mara waited for Buugi to leave, then turned to Jacen. “Shouldn’t you be in a bacta tank?”

“With the Killiks still holding Thyferra, the fleet is running short on bacta,” Jacen explained, moving his chair closer to her bedside.

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