“Watch the waves—and count,” Tenel Ka said, pointing as a plume of white water jetted up between the two sharp rocks. Five seconds later another plume spurted up just as high. “Timing could be our advantage.”
Jaina nodded. “I see what you mean. Lowie, I’ll need your help on the controls.” They slowed just enough to let the assault craft approach them as they headed toward the narrow gap between the treacherous rock spires.
“It’s going to be close, Jaina,” Jacen said.
“Don’t I know it,” she agreed. “Okay, punch it, Lowie.”
The Wookiee hit the accelerators full force just as the Bartokk assault craft nearly rammed them from behind. The insect assassins waved their clacking arms. One fired a deck-mounted cannon, and the blaster bolt struck the waves, creating a geyser of steam just beside their wavespeeder.
“Whoa,” Jaina said as Lowie yowled. “Didn’t expect that.”
Unconsciously ducking her head as they streaked between the black rocks, she canted the wavespeeder to fit through the narrow gap. The hiss of their passage boomed and echoed, and a fine cold spray splashed them all.
The assault craft charged in behind them. Jaina didn’t think the assassins could possibly fit through the narrow opening, but the ship slid into the gap with only a few centimeters of play on either side.
The ocean roiled just as the assault craft spat from the narrow cleft between the rocks. A jet of water rocketed through the gap, shooting out a high-powered plume that catapulted the Bartokk assault craft into the air and spun it end-over-end.
Three assassins toppled overboard and vanished into the churning seas before the assault craft righted itself and crashed back onto the water. The Bartokk pilot wrestled with the controls as Jaina streaked onward at top speed, stretching the gap between them.
Before long, though, the assault craft was hot on their tail again.
Sitting in back, Ta’a Chume recovered enough to reach inside her plush robes and withdraw a tiny holdout blaster. “For what it’s worth,” the matriarch said, “I’ll use this—but it’s designed for only two shots.”
“What good is a blaster that only has two shots?” Jacen asked.
“The first shot is for an attacker,” Tenel Ka’s grandmother answered. “The second shot … well, sometimes it is preferable not to be taken alive.”
Jaina gulped and continued to guide the wavespeeder away from the reef. Waves crashed against the front of their craft, but she couldn’t gain any more height from their repulsorlifts. Fortunately, the Bartokk assault craft had sustained some damage in its passage through the Dragon’s Teeth, and now the pilot of the impaired vessel had no choice but to hang back.
Pushing the wavespeeder to its redlines, Jaina maintained their lead—but just barely. Another hour went by as they sped over the dark wavetops under the pale light of the moons. The assault craft edged closer and closer.
“Is there any way to get back to civilization, get some help?” Jacen asked.
“Our fortress is extremely isolated—theoretically for our protection—and this wavespeeder travels much too slowly,” the old matriarch said. “It would take us many hours to get back. I fear the Bartokks will have taken care of us before then.”
“Not if I can help it,” Jaina said, gritting her teeth as she diverted them toward a pale patch of water ahead, a wasteland covered with a rough, flattened texture and exuding a spoiled fishy smell. She realized full well where they were going. The coordinates had been familiar, and now she hoped to use her knowledge to their advantage.
Lowbacca, guessing her intention, let out a questioning whine.
“I know what I’m doing, Lowie,” Jaina said.
Jacen must have smelled the same thing. He leaned toward his sister in alarm. “You’re not actually going into that seaweed field, are you?”
Jaina shrugged. “They’d be crazy to follow us, wouldn’t they?”
“The Bartokk assassin hive will follow us to the ends of the planet,” Tenel Ka said. “They have no concern for their own danger.”
“Good,” Jaina said, “then maybe they’ll get sloppy.”
Suddenly the sound of the engines grew muted as they streaked over the writhing forest of carnivorous seaweed. Just below the hull of their wavespeeder, the weed thrashed in agitation. Clusters of red eye-flowers rose up, keeping a vigilant watch for new prey even in deepest night. The seaweed flickered and snapped, as if it remembered its near miss with the group of young Jedi only days before.
“I sure hope this thing is still hungry,” Jacen said. “How about we give it some plant food?”
“As long as it’s not us,” Jaina responded.
The Bartokk assassins paid no heed to how the sea had changed, intent only on closing the gap between them and their prey.
The matriarch stood at the rear of the wavespeeder, holding her small blaster. “Two shots,” she said, pointing her weapon at the approaching boat.
“Target their repulsorpods,” Jaina shouted. “That’s the only weak spot on a big assault craft like that.”
The wavespeeder jostled, but the matriarch took careful aim and fired a high-powered blaster bolt. The streak of energy skimmed the bottom of the pursuing assault craft, leaving the repulsorpod undamaged. The shot reflected off the Bartokks’ metal hull and sizzled into the churning seaweed creature.
“No damage,” the matriarch said. “One chance left.”
“Your shot was not wasted,” Tenel Ka said. “Observe the plant.”
The seaweed now seemed fully awake and angry. Its spined tentacles thrashed in the air and slapped at the craft roaring over its fronds.
The Bartokk assassins approached the wavespeeder, apparently unconcerned that one of their intended victims had just used a blaster. The Bartokk craft fired a return shot with one of its laser cannons, but Jaina, sensing the impending bolt through the Force, rocked the wavespeeder to the left. The blast struck the seaweed again, eliciting a hissing, low-frequency roar from the plant monster.
Ta’a Chume stood again, raised her tiny blaster, and aimed a second and last time.
“May the Force be with you,” Tenel Ka murmured.
The matriarch took her final shot. This time the energy bolt struck one of the Bartokk repulsorpods squarely. Though the tiny weapon was not powerful enough to cause great damage, it was enough to throw the pursuing assault craft into a spin.
The stern of the assassins’ boat rose up and, as the Bartokk insects scrambled for control, the bow plunged, grazing the ravenous seaweed. Before the pilot could regain stability, a dozen spiked tentacles whipped up to wrap themselves around the rails, snatching at the hull, the repulsorpods, the laser-cannon emplacements. The insect assassins cluttered, more in anger than fear, because the hive mind couldn’t comprehend its impending death.
Within moments, however, Bartokk assassin legs were flailing as spiked weed tentacles plucked the insects from their stations at the side of the boat and dragged them thrashing beneath the foaming waves. Soon the seaweed had engulfed the entire sharp-edged craft, dragging it under the roiling water.
Pincer-ended tentacles clamped down on hard chitinous shells, and Jaina heard muffled crunching sounds as the seaweed monster snapped exoskeletons apart to reach the tender parts inside. She stared at the water in horrified fascination.
“I think maybe this is our cue to leave,” Jacen pointed out, giving his sister a nudge. Lowie roared his agreement.
Bloodred eye-flowers blinked hungrily up at them.
“Okay, what are we waiting for?”
Lowie revved the engines and then accelerated as Jaina guided the wavespeeder back out of the deadly tangle of seaweed.
Ta’a Chume made her way to the front of the wavespeeder. “I can pilot us to safety from here,” she said. Jaina gladly relinquished the controls as the former queen headed the craft toward the mainland.
“An excellent shot, Grandmother,” Tenel Ka said.