Emissary of the Void Page 10

  The Jedi nodded, made a point of meeting Leaft's angry gaze, then cleared

  her throat.

  'When I was on Wayland, I managed access to one of the Yuuzhan Vong

  data-storage modules, what they call a_qahsa._ That's how I dis-covered

  which ship Bey would be on and where it was going. I also had a look at the

  structural design of the ship. The outer hull doesn't have nerve endings,

  but the inner hull does. Breech it, and alarms go off everywhere.''

  'Okay,'' Vega said. 'We knew that.''

  'Here's something you may not know. Near the dovin basal, the inner hull

  nerves are compromised.''

  'Compromised?'' Uldir said.

  'Yes. The dovin basals are creatures in their own right-they don't grow as a

  part of the ship but are nursed separately and then grafted on. But it's not

  a perfect symbiosis-the gravitic distortion of the dovin basal desensitizes

  the nerve clusters immediately adjacent to it. In war-ships or on any vessel

  where it's important to have a complete tactile net, the Vong compensate by

  implanting special nerve biots around the dovin basals that aren't confused

  by the gravitic anomaly. In transports like this, such a small vulnerability

  isn't worth the effort of amending.''

  Leaft switched his scratching to his chin. 'So there's a dead spot where we

  can breach the hull without them noticing. Great. What's that mean?''

  'It means the boss really has gone out of his m-'' Vega began, then caught

  Uldir's glare. '-gone out of his way to really think this plan through,''

  she finished.

  'So I have,'' Uldir said. 'Here's what I have in mind. Vook? Are you

  listening? You're important to this.''

  Vook watched the Yuuzhan Vong vessel edging nearer. He keyed on the comlink.

  'I warned you!'' He snapped. 'Come no closer.''

  'The holy and terrible Yun Yuuzhan and all the gods know you will never be

  in a position to command me,'' Vintul Qat informed him.

  Something hit the_No__Luck Required, then,_ hard. Vook cursed in Duro.

  'Perhaps without your sensor grid you did not notice our escort,'' The

  Yuuzhan Vong commander said.

  Vook allowed himself a thin smile. 'Perhaps in your arrogance you did not

  notice that my ship is fully functional.''

  He flipped on the shields, launched a spread of concussion mis-siles, and

  kicked in the ion drive. 'Uvee,'' he told the astromech droid, where it was

  patched into turbolaser, 'Destroy those coralskippers. I will handle the

  transport.''

  _Affirmative_, the droid's reply scrolled across the translator.

  'This is foolish,'' Vintul Cat warned. 'What can you hope to accom-plish?''

  'Wouldn't you like to know,'' Vook said, under his breath. But over the

  comlink he shouted, 'For Duro! Death to the Yuuzhan Vong!''

  'It's started,'' Uldir said, pointing to the sudden flashes of light across

  the interstellar night. 'Klin-Fa-if you please, before they start

  maneuvering. We don't want to be standing next to the dovin basal when they

  turn it on.''

  'Got it.'' The Jedi's yellow blade strobed into existence and she began

  quickly hacking at the yorik coral hull they had tethered them-selves to.

  Leaft pulled at the chunks as she cut them loose, sending them drifting off

  into space.

  It took only minutes before Uldir felt the gentle pressure of atmos-phere

  blowing out of the hole. A moment later it was large enough for them to

  enter.

  Uldir stuck his head in.

  Like the outside of the ship, the inside had the grown, organic look that

  came from actually being grown and organic. The walls glowed a pale

  yellowish green, though even as he watched the light began to fade as the

  absolute chill of space killed whatever creature created the luminescence.

  Uldir pulled himself quickly through. 'Hurry,'' he said. 'They might not

  notice the hull breech, but pretty soon they'll figure out they're losing

  air.''

  'They'll put it down to a laser strike,'' Klin-Fa said.

  'I hope we aren't counting on that,'' Vega grumbled.

  Pseudo-gravity pulled Uldir to the deck, which-though biotic--was already

  frozen harder than most metals. He saw that they stood in a long corridor

  that followed the curve of the outer hull. In either direction, membranes

  were dilating to close off the breached section.

  He picked the nearest seal, only about three meters away, but before he

  could reach it, it had completed its job.

  'What now?'' Leaft grunted.

  'I can cut it,'' Klin-Fa said.

  'Right,'' Vega drawled. 'Then the next section decompresses and seals off,

  we cut through that, and the next section decompresses-no, they'll never

  guess we're coming.''

  'Watch and learn,'' the Jedi said. With the tip of her weapon, she cut a

  narrow horizontal line through the emergency bulkhead. Then she stepped

  forward and pushed through the flexible membrane.

  'Hurry,'' she said.

  Uldir went through last, and found it difficult, for the slit was now only

  half the size as when Klin-Fa cut it.

  'It's alive, remember?'' She said. 'It heals quickly. No more

  decom-pression. They won't know we're here until we're nearly to our

  desti-nations. Maybe not even then, if they're really distracted by the

  bat-tle outside.''

  Uldir noticed the barometer on his wrist array registered breath-able

  pressure. He pushed up the visor on his pressure suit mask. The others did

  the same.

  'Which way, Klin-Fa?''

  She gestured up the corridor. 'This way.''

  Now that they had opened their visors, Uldir could smell the ship. It wasn't

  unpleasant, exactly-a faint musk with hints of iodine and sul-fur compounds.

  The bioluminescent whatevers were still alive in this section, and though it

  provided them enough light to navigate, the dimness was unsettling. Too many

  shadows, and in every one Uldir imagined a Yuuzhan Vong warrior bristling

  with weapons. But none of the shadows moved, and the corridor was silent

  save for the faint swish of clothing and shush of breath. Even their

  footfalls were silent, for the deck here-also still alive-flexed faintly

  beneath their feet.

  Klin-Fa passed several small corridors, and then stopped at a larger one.

  'This leads to the auxiliary passage,'' she said. 'Follow it until you reach

  a large, straight corridor. You can follow that up to their bridge.''

  'Which way when we get there?''

  'Right. I think.''

  'You think?'' Uldir said.

  'Hey, I've gotten us this far.''

  'Right,'' he sighed. 'Okay. Vega, you go with her to find the prisoners.''

  'See, this is another part of the plan I don't like,'' Vega said. 'The whole

  splitting-up part where I have to trust my back to our oh-so--dependable

  Jedi pal here. Why don't we just all take the bridge and then worry about

  the prisoners?''

  'Because the guards will kill them once they know they ship has been taken,

  that's why,'' Klin-Fa shot back. 'Besides, the prisoners can help us fight.

  Especially Bey-he's a Jedi too, remember?''

  'Yes,'' Uldir said, 'An unarmed one, fighting enemies who don't exist in the

  Force.''

&n
bsp; 'Boss-boy, you for this plan or not?'' Vega asked. 'I take orders from you,

  not from her.''

  'No, she's right. They will probably execute the captives once we've taken

  the bridge-if not before.''

  'If we take it, as opposed to standing here all day wagging mandibles,''

  Leaft said.

  'Right,'' Uldir said. 'Come on, Leaft. Good luck, you two.''

  'Wait a moment,'' Klin-Fa said. 'A word alone with you, captain?''

  Uldir noticed Vega raising an eyebrow.

  'What about?'' He asked.

  'Alone?''

  'You can trust everyone here,'' Uldir replied. 'I do. Just say what-ever it

  is you wanted to say.''

  Klin-Fa sighed and stepped closer. 'Okay. If that's the way you want it. I

  just wanted to thank you for trusting me, that's all. Whatever happens.''

  She was very near. All he could see were her eyes. He could feel her breath

  on his face, and something went funny in his chest.

  And then she kissed him. It was just a brush on the lips, but it nearly

  knocked him off his feet.

  Then she spun on her heel and started down the corridor.

  'Brother,'' Vega said, her voice registering a mixture of impatience and

  disgust. She followed the Jedi, shaking her head.

  'Hey...'' Uldir began, but the two women had turned and were out of sight.

  'That's one of the single most sickening things I've ever wit-nessed,''

  Leaft said. 'Thanks for ruining the rest of my day.'' He shud-dered.

  'Humans.''

  'Hey, I didn't do anything!'' Uldir protested.

  'Right. You just stood there and took it.''

  Uldir scratched his head. 'Yeah. I did, didn't I?''

  'Come on,'' Leaft growled. 'Now I really want to kill something.''

  This corridor was as empty and silent as the last, save for the occasional

  distant thud that testified that Vook and Uvee were still out there

  shooting. He hoped the Duro was okay; he and Uvee should be able to handle

  four coralskippers, and the transport's defenses were probably too slow to

  nail him. Still, so many things could go wrong...

  The corridor took a hard turn to the left, just as Klin-Fa had said it

  would. The lack of guards and personnel were really starting to make Uldir

  nervous-he kept reminding himself that this was just a trans-port, and like

  his father's freighter, didn't need a large crew. Besides, the Yuuzhan Vong

  had spread themselves pretty thin in the last few months. Though they were

  technically at peace with the New Republic, they still had to control the

  planets they had taken-and they had taken a lot of planets. And if Klin-Fa

  was right, and they were gearing up for a military strike-shoot, maybe there

  weren't any war-riors on this vessel at all.

  He was just thinking that as he emerged into the auxiliary corridor and saw

  a Yuuzhan Vong. He never even got a chance to see what caste he-or she-was;

  Leaft snapped off shots from all three of his blasters nearly

  simultaneously, and the Vong went down, smoking.

  'That might not have been a warrior, Leaft,'' Uldir said.

  The Dug looked at him as if he had just suggested a nudist colony on Heth.

  'Boss-I don't care,'' Leaft said. 'It's four of us against a whole ship. We

  stop to ask questions, we'll be alight meal for one of their ugly gods.''

  'True,'' Uldir said. 'Still-''

  He was interrupted by the whirr of thudbugs. Two Yuuzhan Vong--clearly

  warriors by their tattoos and facial mutilations-had just stepped from

  somewhere in front of them and released the deadly insect-weapons. Uldir

  turned sideways and fired his blaster. Leaft joined him, filling the

  corridor with a web of coherent light. One of the thud bugs struck Uldir a

  blow in the shoulder, but it was already car-bonized and didn't hurt to

  speak of. The warriors rushed forward, rais-ing amphistaffs. Blaster bolts

  sparked and ricocheted from Vonduun crab armor, but the warriors weren't

  wearing masks. Uldir walked his blasts up the front of the lead Vong until

  he came to the face. Leaft hit both knee joints of the other, sending him

  stumbling. He didn't fall, though, but kept coming, jerking his amphistaff

  up in an arc, then swinging down in a blow that would crush even Leaft's

  hard skull. Leaft coolly fired at point-blank range into the armpit thus

  exposed. Experience had taught that that was the most vulnerable point in

  such armor, and experience did not let the Dug down. The warrior collapsed,

  his weapon clattering away harmlessly. Leaft hopped up on the fallen body

  and whirled the blaster around his finger.

  'Nice shooting,'' Uldir said.

  'There's plenty more where that came from,'' the Dug said.

  'That's good, because there's plenty more of them,'' Uldir noticed, firing

  down the corridor at another five warriors charging toward them.

  'Good!'' The Dug roared, and was suddenly off, holstering the blaster in his

  foot-hand and firing with the other two as he propelled himself along. Uldir

  followed more slowly, picking his shots, wishing the Dug had just a little

  more common sense and discipline.

  A thudbug was suddenly right in his face. He jerked to dodge, and almost

  did, but it grazed his forehead. Blood exploded from the wound, and he

  cursed, his shots going a wild as blood blinded his left eye and his depth

  perception was suddenly grossly impaired. Ahead, Leaft and the warriors were

  in hand-to-hand range; the Dug was bouncing in and around three of them. As

  Uldir watched, he leaped high over an arcing amphistaff and the head of its

  wielder, sending a blaster bolt straight down through the crown of the

  Yuuzhan Vong's skull, whooping as if completely mad.

  The other two were still coming for Uldir. Trying to wipe blood from his

  eye, he nailed one in the head, but the other threw a thud-bug. Uldir tried

  to shoot it but managed only to interpose the gun between the insect and

  himself. It struck the blaster and sent it skit-tering down the corridor.

  Howling in satisfaction, the warrior fol-lowed up, amphistaff held at the

  ready.

  Uldir blinked once at the heavily armored warrior, then ran as fast as he

  could after his weapon.

  The amphistaff relaxed, whipped out, wrapped around one of his ankles, and

  yanked Uldir off his feet. He went down, face and belly slapping into the

  deck. Stunned, he clawed at the organic surface, but a viselike grip closed

  on his neck and lifted him off of the floor, turning him. He kicked feebly

  at the air as the Yuuzhan Vong warrior's face came into view.

  'Pray to your infidel Force,'' the warrior growled.

  Over the warrior's shoulder, Uldir saw Leaft was still busy. Blaster bolts

  were flying, and the Dug was a small cyclone, but there he still had two

  enemies left. No help was coming from that quarter.

  'Put me down, now, and you might walk away from this alive,'' Uldir advised.

  The warrior's eyes widened. He laughed harshly, and then began to close the

  space between his fingers. The only thing stopping him was Uldir's neck,

  which didn't seem to be much of an impediment. Uldir wrenched at the Yuuzhan

  Vong's massive hands, to no avail.

  Or so he thought. But as the universe faded to black, the pressure suddenly

  let
up. The warrior set him almost gently back on his feet, and then slowly

  toppled over. Uldir fell with him, noticing almost absently that the Yuuzhan

  Vong no longer had a head.

  Leaft was bouncing down the corridor toward him, his remaining opponents

  prone and still. Uldir shook his head and stood groggily.

  'You okay, Boss?'' Leaft asked.

  'Yeah. Thanks for the assist.''

  The Dug cocked his head. 'What? What do you mean?''

  'That one almost had me,'' he explained, gesturing at the head-less warrior.

  'Looks like you took pretty good care of him,'' Leaft observed.

  Uldir frowned. 'You didn't shoot?''

  'Urr? Negative, captain.''

  That's when Uldir noticed the hole in the ceiling, and a correspon-ding

  charred area on the deck. A moment before the Yuuzhan Vong's head would have

  been on the line drawn between those points. Leaft followed his gaze.

  'Vook must have gotten a shot through the hull,'' Uldir murmured. 'He wasn't

  supposed to fire at the transport.''

  'You're kidding,'' Leaft said.

  'It's the only thing I can think of.''