Star Wars - Cloak Of Deception Page 17

  when the cruiser jerked to a halt, then was released, only to be jerked

  motionless once more.

  "You damaged it, Captain," Qui-Gon said, "but you didn't kill it." The

  pilot's continued efforts to pull away succeeded only in throwing the cruiser

  into a dizzying horizontal spin. Still half in the grip of the dazed grid, the

  Prominence slued sharply to starboard, flying over the plaza and headed

  straight for the city's northernmost pyramid.

  Qui-Gon was certain that they were go ing to hit the structure head-on,

  but at the last moment, the cruiser surged upward. Even so, the tail struck

  the pyramid's upper platform, shearing off the central and starboard

  thrusters.

  At the same instant, the ion cannon opened fire.

  Energy pulsed from the weapon's reciprocating barrels, finding soft spots

  in the belly of the ship.

  Charges leapt about the deflector shield, forking like lightning, then

  encasing the ship in a scintillating web of blue light.

  All shipboard systems failed.

  Silence reigned for a split second, then sporadic power returned. The

  cruiser commenced a rapid, diagonal glide, held aloft by its sole remaining

  engine.

  Lambent with late sunlight, the black lake expanded below.

  "And I thought you were just being figurative about getting wet, Master,"

  Obi-Wan said as he looked around for something to hold on to.

  The Prominence skimmed the surface of the lake, then bellied into the

  water and began to hydroplane toward the center. The cruiser was on a

  collision course with one of the rocky islands, until its blunt bow dropped,

  and the lake robbed it of forward momentum. It came to a shuddering stop in

  turbulent water, then listed to its damaged side and slowly began to sink.

  By then the seven Jedi and the few judicials aboard had gathered at the

  starboard docking ring airlock.

  Blowing the hatch, they eased down into the frigid water and started to

  swim for the nearest island, which rose in a jumble of wind - and water -

  smoothed boulders to a height of one hundred or so meters.

  First to reach shore, Qui-Gon launched himself to dry land, landing on

  his feet on a narrow stretch of rocky beach. Waves generated by the cruiser's

  plunge crashed around his ankles. He used his hands to sluice some of the

  water out of his long hair and beard. Then he emptied his boots, plucked his

  soaked tunic away from his chest, and slipped into the cloak he had held above

  the waves while swimming. Unclipping his lightsaber, he acti vated the blade

  and swept it in front of him.

  Satisfied that the weapon hadn't been damaged, he switched it off and

  reclipped it to his broad leather belt.

  He inhaled deeply, but didn't come close to filling his lungs with

  oxygen. The high-altitude air was thin; the sky, an inverted bowl of the

  deepest blue, was seemingly supported on the ice - white shoulders of mountain

  ranges that ringed the horizon.

  As - meru's sun was a huge red smear on the western horizon. The

  temperature was falling fast, and certainly would be below freezing by sunset.

  To the south, the sky was streaked with the contrails of ships rocketing

  down the planet's gravity well, no doubt headed for the landing area. Qui-Gon

  wondered briefly which one of them might be the Hawk-Bat.

  He turned his back to the lake and let his gaze wander up over the

  lifeless rocks. Assembled by hand rather than nature, the island was itself a

  pyramid, with the ruins of ancient structures surmounting it.

  To both sides of Qui-Gon, Jedi and judicials were beginning to climb from

  the lake, their waterlogged tunics and uniforms weighing them down.

  Following Qui-Gon's lead, Obi-Wan sprang from the water, landing atop one

  of the smaller rocks. Vergere floated in like a water fowl until she reached

  the stony beach, then she called on her powerful reverse-articulated legs to

  catapult her ashore. Saesee Tiin's big hands cut through the waves like

  flippers. Yaddle rode in atop Ki-Adi-Mundi's broad shoulders, her short arms

  wrapped around his tall head, and her topknot of golden-brown hair plastered

  to her green skull.

  Close by, Depa Billaba stepped gracefully to the beach, as if emerging

  from a warm bath.

  Three hundred meters away, the dorsal hull of the Prominence was still

  visible above the waterline. Giant air bubbles broke the surface of the lake

  and popped loudly.

  Everyone was a bit stunned. With a fractured arm, the cruiser's pilot was

  the most seriously injured. In obvious pain, she made her way over to Qui-Gon,

  breathless when she reached him.

  "I thought we could break free," she said, by way of apology.

  "Don't condemn your actions just yet," Qui-Gon replied. "Nothing happens

  by chance." The pilot nodded and looked at Saesee Tiin.

  "Was it House Vandron that betrayed us?" The Iktotchi folded his arms

  across his massive chest. "That has little bearing on our present situation."

  He glanced at Yaddle. "The question is, what do we do next?" "An immediate

  answer, that question begs," the small Jedi replied, "as company we're about

  to have." Qui-Gon followed her gaze. Several vessels were approaching from the

  lake's south shore.

  Obi-Wan reached to unclip his lightsaber, but Qui-Gon restrained him with

  a look. "There's always time for that. Just now we need to assess where we

  stand." Obi-Wan glanced around. "On an island, in the middle of a lake, with

  adversaries on the approach, Master." "Wasn't it you who said that things are

  not always what they appear to be?" Obi-Wan frowned. "I stand corrected." Qui-

  Gon touched him on the shoulder and nodded his chin to the others. "There's no

  sense making ourselves easy targets." Drawing on the Force, and taking the

  judicials with them, the Jedi vaulted and bounded up into the boulders.

  From higher up, they had a better vantage from which to see just what was

  approaching. Driven by repulsorlifts, the vessels were as gruesomely fanciful

  as the spaceships of House Vandron. Some had upturned animistic prows and

  ribcage gunwales; others had elaborately raised sterns, carved with ghastly

  visages. All were equipped with mounted repeating blasters.

  The bestial flotilla came to a hovering halt just short of the island,

  weapons traversing the shore. Each vessel carried a crew of humans, Weequays,

  Rodians, Bith, Sullustans, and others, many of them layered in heavy garments,

  gloves, and headpieces that covered noses and mouths.

  Standing in the bow of the lead craft, a tall human unwound the colorful

  scarf that masked his lower face and cupped his hands to his mouth.

  "For what it's worth, Jedi, we had planned on providing you with a

  warmer, and certainly drier, welcome." Saesee Tiin, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Qui-Gon

  showed themselves. "The same warm welcome you provided our other cruiser?"

  Tiin said.

  The human had the boat brought about to face Tiin.

  "In attempting to flee, your other cruiser struck several mines and was

  destroyed. We had no intentions of firing on it." "What are your intentions

  here?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

  "First, to declare that we are dismayed t
hat the Jedi would oppose free

  trade in the outlying systems, by choosing to side with the Trade Federation."

  "We have taken no sides," Tiin said gruffly. "Our sole aim is to resolve this

  crisis before it intensifies into open warfare. That, too, is the goal of

  Supreme Chancellor Valorum, who is anything but your enemy is this matter."

  "We had nothing to do with the assassination attempt," someone in one of the

  other boats shouted.

  The terrorists" spokesman whirled angrily to the source of the outburst,

  then regained his composure. "If Valorum is not our enemy, why was the Nebula

  Front excluded from the Eriadu summit?" "If you will agree to meet with the

  Supreme Chancellor, he will explain his reasons." The human shook his head at

  Tiin. "That's not good enough. The conference will unite the Trade Federation

  and the Commerce Guild against us. We demand that Valorum cancel the summit."

  "Is that what this is about?" Qui-Gon asked, gesturing broadly. "You intend to

  hold us hostage while you issue your demands?" The human spread his gloved

  hands. "What are the chances of Valorum listening to us otherwise, Jedi?" Tiin

  responded to it. "And should the supreme chancellor refuse to listen to you

  now?" "Then the blood of however many of you die here will be on Valorum's

  hands," the man said after a long moment.

  He continued before any of the Jedi could respond.

  "All of us are aware of your abilities. We're not yet desperate enough to

  attempt to take you by force.

  We know that you can probably survive on this pile of rocks for as long

  as you wish, even without adequate food and water. But that is also acceptable

  to us. For the moment, the fact that you are stranded here is all that

  matters. It is our hope, however, that you will come to your senses and allow

  us to imprison you in a style more in keeping with that which you are

  accustomed." Night passed slowly.

  Warming themselves through the Force, the Jedi huddled on the stone floor

  of the island's ruined summit temple, with the judicials pressed in among

  them. Glow sticks provided light when they needed it, and food tablets

  provided some sustenance. But there was no water, even from the lake, because

  of its dangerously high salinity.

  Vergere tucked her legs beneath her and sat as if roosting. Yaddle pulled

  her delicate robes around her and slipped easily into a trance state.

  Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Depa Billaba, KiAdiMundi, and Saesee Tiin took turns at

  guard duty.

  Lifeless as the island was, the Force was strong there, in the lingering

  presence of the ancients who had assembled it.

  Through trapezoidal windows in the temple walls, dawn cast long red

  shadows into the room. When everyone was awake, Yaddle and Depa Billaba got

  right down to business.

  "By now, Coruscant has learned of our predicament," Billaba said. "I'm

  certain that the Supreme Chancellor will not delay the Eriadu summit. But he

  may dispatch more judicials to Asmeru." "A conflict that guarantees," Yaddle

  said.

  "Lost already is the Ecliptic, presumably with all hands. Now, additional

  deaths in the offing are. A better way to resolve this there is." It was not

  the first time in her 476 years that the tiny Jedi had been imprisoned.

  According to legend, she had ascended to the rank of Master as a result of

  having spent more than a hundred years in an underground prison on Koba.

  "The Nebula Front can't hope to gain anything by holding us here," Qui-

  Gon said with patent suspicion. "Surely they know that we were able to

  communicate with Coruscant before we crashed." "Perhaps they don't think that

  way," Ki-Adi-Mundi suggested. "Perhaps strategy of that sort doesn't come into

  play." Qui-Gon looked at him. "But it does. I've already seen it in action."

  "Explain it to you Cohl will, when finally you confront him," Yaddle said.

  "Until that time, resolve to yield or fight we must." Vergere's willowy ears

  pricked up. She glanced knowingly at Qui-Gon, then cut her oblique eyes to the

  doorless portal that led to the temple's adjoining room. Qui-Gon listened

  intently for a moment, then he and Ki-Adi-Mundi stood up and moved silently to

  either side of the gaping opening.

  Yaddle, Depa, and Vergere began to converse again, as if nothing were

  amiss. Suddenly, Qui-Gon and KiAdiMundi reached into the doorway, tugging into

  the scant sunlight a humanoid who looked as if he, or perhaps she, had risen

  from the ground itself. The being's thick skin was certainly impervious to

  wind, snow, or high-altitude solar radiation. Its four hands and bare feet

  were configured for digging and scooping, and its back was built for carrying

  loads. Eyes clearly capable of seeing in the dark were prominent in a mere

  suggestion of a face, lacking ears or nose, with a mouth barely suited to

  speech.

  Held in the grip of the two Jedi, the biped began to babble nervously in

  an unknown tongue.

  Depa got to her feet. "He speaks the traders tongue of the Senex sector

  Houses," she said.

  Yaddle nodded. "One of their allegedly flawed bioengineered slaves, he

  is." The slave continued to speak, his gaze riveted on Depa.

  She listened, then smiled gently and touched his shoulder. "It seems

  there's an alternative we hadn't considered," she told everyone. "This one is

  offering to help us escape." Qui-Gon spoke to the slave. "By what method?"

  Depa translated the reply. "By taking the route he took to reach us." The

  slave motioned to the adjoining room. Qui-Gon and Obi - Wan lighted two glow

  sticks and ducked through the doorway. In the room's rear wall, a hinged stone

  door, a meter thick, was ajar.

  "Explored this place during the night, did you not?" Yaddle asked from

  behind them.

  "We did, Master," Obi-Wan said.

  She shook her head in rebuke. "Careless, you are." The slave said

  something to Depa.

  "This one says that this temple and the city are linked by underground

  tunnels. Some of the tunnels lead to the structures that surround the main

  plaza--the landing platform. Apparently, the plaza is lightly guarded, and

  this one believes that we could easily seize the starfighters parked there."

  Yaddle's eyes narrowed somewhat. "Clearly what we are meant to do," she said.

  "Less certain, I am, about our chances of leaving Asmeru." Tiin nodded

  decisively. "We'll defer any decision until that option is in hand." In single

  file they moved through the hidden doorway into a cold and dank corridor. At

  the bottom of a steep flight of stairs, two more slaves, all but identical to

  the first, were waiting. Oily black and acrid smoke curled from the torches

  they carried.

  The wide tunnel beyond the stairway was constructed of un - mortared but

  precisely cut stones, some of which were perfectly curved to form vaulted

  supports.

  Shifts in the land had wrought damage to the ancients' work. Lake water

  dripped through formerly solid joints and puddled on the stone floor. In

  several places, the walls were entirely encrusted in salt.

  Depa continued to converse with the slave as they began to descend

  beneath the shallow lake.
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  "When the Nebula Front first arrived on Asmeru, they asked the slaves for

  shelter, and made no demands of them," she explained. "But the later arrivals-

  -the members this one calls "the soldiers"--forced the slaves to surrender

  their homes and provide food. The soldiers are as cruel as the Senex Lords,

  and they frequently clash with the Front's more nonviolent founders about how

  things should be done. Fortunately, there are few commanding soldiers onworld

  just now." "Few soldiers," Qui-Gon said to Obi-Wan.

  "That's odd." "How so, Master?" "Where are they, while we are here?" The

  tunnel began to angle up and the dripping ceased, indicating that they had

  reached the mainland. Smaller tunnels branched off in all directions, and

  there were visible signs that the passageways were used on a regular basis for

  moving about the ancient city.

  Crude sconces were affixed to the walls, and the edges of stones at the

  tunnel intersections had been polished to a gloss by the caresses of countless

  hands.

  "We're close to the landing platform," Depa announced quietly.

  The central tunnel debouched into a large rectangular cavern, with

  stairways leading up at the center of each wall. Depa pointed to the nearest

  one.

  "This will take us into the northern pyramid. The starfighters are parked

  near the structure that houses the tractor beam generator." "That's a good

  distance away," Qui-Gon said.

  Depa nodded. "Most of the guards are quartered in the tractor beam

  pyramid. We're certain to encounter resistance." The slave led them up the

  stairs and guided them through a series of small rooms to a massive portal

  that looked out on the plaza. Several CloakShapes could be seen, along with

  the Hawk - Bat, resting on a trio of landing pads.

  In the middle distance, a few armed guards traded remarks in Basic.

  Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan led everyone but the slaves out into the plaza, most

  of which lay in deep morning shadow. They weren't even halfway to the closest

  starfighter when a voice called out.

  "I'm glad to see that you've decided to join us." Seven lightsabers

  igniting in a rush, the Jedi formed a protective circle, with their energy

  blades poised for deflection. At the center of the circle, the judicials

  crouched with drawn blasters.

  The human who had spoken to them from the hover vessel stepped out onto