The New Jedi Order 08: Rebirth by Greg Keyes

Author:Greg Keyes
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Solo, Luke (Fictitious Character), Skywalker, Star Wars Fiction, General, Science Fiction, American, Fantasy, Han (Fictitious Character), Fiction, Space Opera
ISBN: 9780345446107
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2001-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

Corran flicked on his lightsaber and began helping Ana-kin cut into the ridge on the Yuuzhan Vong ship. Tahiri got the idea and joined them. Together, they sawed a hole deep into the ridge before Anakin's knees began to buckle from his rapidly increasing mass.

Suddenly a chunk of the ship broke free and fell inward, pushed by the same acceleration that was about to kill the three Jedi. Atmosphere blew out, curtains of ice crystals sparkling in the starlight as Corran leapt through the gap, pulling Tahiri with him. Anakin followed. Normal weight returned instantly as they entered the ship, probably due to the same gravity-bending dovin basals that drove the craft. Anakin looked around him to see where they were.

In the mingled glow of their lightsabers, Anakin made out a dark grotto, walls haphazardly patched with luminescence. Even as he watched, however, the light faded as the bitter cold and vacuum that slunk in with the Jedi killed whatever plant or creature manufactured it. The chamber's function was difficult to determine. The roof was very low, no more than a meter and a half, and it rambled on for a considerable distance. Black columns or tubes ran from floor to ceiling every two meters or so. The columns bulged in the middle, and Anakin thought they were pulsing faintly. Corran gestured for the two younger Jedi to touch helmets with him.

"Someone will show up to check the hull breach soon," he told them. "We need to be ready."

"I'm ready," Tahiri said. "Really ready. This is a lot better than sitting on some old rock, waiting for them to find us." Anakin sensed a bit of annoyance from the older Jedi as Corran went on with his analysis. "I'm guessing this section, whatever it is, is sealed off, else there would still be air whistling through. We need to find the lock."

"Too late for that," Anakin said as his lambent lisped a faint warning.

"We've already got company coming. Close."

"How can you tell ?"

"I feel them."

Corran nodded. "May the Force be with you," he told them. Then he moved off to crouch near one of the pillars.

Light appeared toward the far end of the chamber: six lambents like the one in Anakin's sword. In their light he saw six shadowed bipeds stepping through a typical Yuu-zhan Vong dilating lock. He took deep breaths, relaxing his muscles one by one, preparing for the fight.

Closer, he saw they wore rust-colored formfitting suits-creatures really, of course, probably some vacuum-hardy variant of the ooglith cloaker. Their faces were visible, however, through transparent masks. To Anakin's surprise, only two of them revealed the facial scars of warriors. Two others had the more delicate tattoos he had come to associate with shapers. Indeed, their cloakers bulged conspicuously around their heads, doubtless due to the tendril-bearing creatures they wore as headdresses. The remaining pair had the look of workers or perhaps slaves.

The two warriors set themselves in guard stances while the shapers examined the hole.

Anakin felt rather than

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