“Yes, Grandmother,” Tenel Ka said, setting the grappling hook firmly against the stone of the windowsill. “Unless you’d prefer using your diplomatic skills to negotiate a settlement with the Bartokks.”
The matriarch’s sharp eyes flashed with determination. “I’ve never allowed anyone but myself to control my fate—so I suppose falling to my death while escaping would be preferable to waiting around to be killed by giant insects in my own bedchamber. It’s agreed, then. We’ll try the climb, as you suggest.”
Tenel Ka shook her head. “No, we shall do the climb. There is no try.”
Jaina tugged on the cord. The grappling hook did not budge. “All right, let’s get out of here.”
Lowbacca blatted a comment and Em Teedee said, “Oh, dear—must I?” At the Wookiee’s growled response, the little droid heaved an electronic sigh. “Master Lowbacca believes he would be the most sensible choice to go first—and unfortunately I’m forced to admit that he is correct. Firstly, because he is an experienced climber, and secondly because he is strong and will be able to hold the rope steady for the rest of you once he reaches the bottom.”
“Can’t argue with your logic,” Jaina agreed. “Go ahead.”
While Em Teedee twittered about the impending danger, Lowie swung himself over the sill and supported his full weight on the glistening fibercord. Then, using his long arms, he lowered himself hand-over-hand down the vertical stone wall. Em Teedee’s pitiful moans grew more and more faint until finally Lowie touched down on the rocks below, stood away from the wall, and gave the rope a yank.
“Good,” Tenel Ka said.
Persistence finally paid off for the Bartokks, who had continued their relentless battering at the armored door. One of the hinges groaned and popped out of the wall. With a loud creak, a corner of the door bent inward. Chittering insect assassins thrust their sharp scythe claws through the gap.
“No more time,” Tenel Ka said to the twins. “You two go now. The rope will hold both of you.”
“We’d better be careful,” Jacen said. The door rattled in its frame and the metal screeched, caving in further.
“Guess we can’t afford that luxury,” Jaina said in a terse voice. “What are we waiting for?” She slipped over the sill, grabbing the fibercord, and began rappelling down the slick dark stones.
Jacen came after her. The rope was thin, and the descent treacherous, but they used their Jedi skills to keep their balance and make themselves lighter. At the bottom Lowbacca stood with his feet planted far apart on the rocky reef, holding the rope.
“Excellent climbing, Master Jacen, Mistress Jaina,” Em Teedee encouraged. “You’re almost here—you can make it!”
Even before they reached bottom, Jaina looked up to see Tenel Ka and her grandmother easing over the sill. The matriarch, unable to grasp the slender cord tightly enough in her old hands, steadied herself with an arm around Tenel Ka’s waist. The young warrior girl had looped the rope once around her arm to allow herself more friction to control their descent.
With a firm hold on the fibercord, she slowly leaned backward, letting the strand slip through her fingers as her feet pressed against the outer wall of the fortress. The dangerous climb may have been more difficult and awkward with her handicap, but Tenel Ka did not seem the least bit hesitant. Despite her usual reluctance to use the Force, she took advantage of it this time without reservation.
“Come on, Tenel Ka!” Jacen called.
Before the girl and her grandmother had gotten more than halfway down the rope, though, a loud crash sounded from above. Suddenly swarms of multilegged figures surged to the open window, squealing their triumph.
Jaina heard Tenel Ka shout, “Hold on!” as she doubled her speed, sliding down the cord so quickly that Jaina was sure she would get a rope burn on her hand and arm.
The Bartokks grabbed the fibercord and sawed at it with their serrated scythe arms.
Tenel Ka slipped down faster, faster.
Suddenly the strand parted. The insectoid assassins above gave a triumphant chitter.
Lowbacca roared and with lightning-fast reflexes dropped the end of the severed rope, held out his arms, and caught the old matriarch as she plunged. Using the Force to control her own fall, Tenel Ka landed heavily on her feet, but without injury.
“Good one, Tenel Ka,” Jacen cried. “We made it!”
“Not quite yet,” Jaina said, pointing upward. The remaining black Bartokk assassins started to boil through the upper window, crawling headfirst down the vertical stone block.
“We must hurry,” Tenel Ka said, pointing toward the grotto. “To the wavespeeders.”
At the far edge of the reef, Jaina saw the sharp-edged assault boat from the Bartokk hive near the smoldering wreck of the shield-generator station. For a moment she contemplated taking that craft instead—but when she noticed the knobby, alien controls designed for simultaneous use by four claws, she couldn’t be sure she or Lowie could pilot such a ship. Their best chance would be to grab one of the smaller wavespeeders.
Ducking under the moss-edged rock of the entrance, they ran into the sea cave. A wavespeeder, tied to the dock closest the entrance, bobbed gently on the water of the grotto.
“Everybody in,” Jaina said. “Lowie and I can handle this. Let’s just hope its top speed is better than what that assassin craft can manage.”
“And that Ambassador Yfra hasn’t sabotaged it!” Jacen muttered.
Lowbacca bellowed his agreement. Still dazed after her fall, the grim matriarch shook herself and climbed aboard as Jacen and Jaina hopped over the rail, followed by Tenel Ka.
With a roar, the repulsorlift engines raised the wavespeeder up off the calm waters inside the sheltered cave. Before Tenel Ka had managed to seat herself, Jaina pulled the boat away from the dock, whipped it around, and accelerated through the cave entrance, churning the water into froth beneath them. The wavespeeder shot away from the darkened, overrun Reef Fortress.
Lowbacca, sitting in the navigator’s chair, turned his shaggy head to gaze back at the tall citadel with his dark-adapted Wookiee eyes. He growled, stretching out a hairy arm. Jaina risked a glance and saw the insectoid murderers swarming down the tower wall toward their assault craft.
“Better get our head start while we can,” Jaina said grimly. She pushed hard against the accelerators, although they were already traveling at maximum speed. The small boat sped out to where the sea grew choppier.
Moments later an ear-splitting mechanical roar erupted behind them. Jacen shouted, and Jaina glanced back to see the Bartokk assault craft pull away from the reef, infested with black insect assassins.
The assault craft’s engine thundered like a Star Destroyer in pursuit. “They must have come in using stealth silencers on their engines,” Jaina said. “They’re at full power now, though—no need to keep quiet.” She watched the tactical panel in front of her and swallowed a lump in her throat.
Lowie growled. “Master Lowbacca estimates that they will overtake us within minutes,” Em Teedee wailed. “What are we to do?”
The ocean was lit only by the twin moons high overhead in the midnight sky. Jaina saw froth ahead as the water surged around a rocky obstacle jutting from the sea—the Dragon’s Teeth. “We’ll go there,” she said, “and try to cause some trouble as they dodge around the rocks. We’re smaller, more maneuverable.”
“I doubt they’ll give up because of a navigation hazard,” Jacen said.
“No,” Jaina replied, “but we can hope they crash.”
The pointed rocks thrust out of the water like jagged spires. Waves crashed against their faces, running like saliva drooling from a krayt dragon’s mouth, and rippled around the submerged reefs at the base of the Teeth. The Bartokk assault craft screamed after them.