Planet Plague Read online

  Hoole's rigid face softened slightly. "Tash, I'm reluc- tant to bring up a painful subject, but do you recall what your mother did when you were ill?" Again Tash felt a twinge. If only her mother were here! She replied, "I don't know. I was never really sick." "Never?" Hoole questioned. She shook her head. "Not that I remember. I just never seemed to catch anything. But when Zak wasn't feeling well, she used to check his temperature." Tash put her wrist against Zak's forehead. His skin was hot, and damp with perspiration. "He's burning up. I think he's got a fever, Uncle Hoole." The Shi'ido put a hand on her shoulder. "We mustn't take chances, Tash. We are less than fifteen hours away from the Mah Dala Infirmary on the planet Gobindi." "Infirmary?" she asked. "You mean, a hospital?" - Hoole nodded. "The Infirmary on Gobindi is said to be the finest medical facility in this part of the galaxy. It is also run by an old colleague of mine in the Imperial Bio- logical Welfare Department." Imperial Biological Welfare Department? Tash wanted nothing to do with Imperials.

  But beside her, Zak moaned in his sleep. His tempera- ture seemed to be rising by the minute. He was definitely iH, and any help even Imperial help would be wel- come. Hoole turned to his assistant droid. "Deevee, program

  the Shroud's navicomputer to take us to Gobindi immedi- ately." "Right away, Master Hoole." The droid hurried to set the coordinates as Hoole said, "Tash, I have some things I must do before we reach Gobindi. Please call me at once if there is any change in Zak's condition." Tash nodded. Alone, Tash watched her brother's fitful sleep. She couldn't help thinking that the Empire was responsible for this in some way. Minute by minute, Tash felt her anger grow, until it burned hotter than Zak's fever. "You're going to be fine, Zak," she whispered, pattin-g his hand. "You're going to be just fine. And I promise that somehow I'm going to make the Empire pay for this." After a while Deevee came to replace Tash. "We are still several hours away from Gobindi. Why don't you rest for a little while?'* he said, his electronic voice imitating concern so perfectly that Tash was sure the droid felt emotions. "I have added some basic medical skills to my program, and I'm confident I can care for young Zak." Reluctantly Tash allowed Deevee to take her place, but she did not rest. Instead she went straight to her cabin and logged onto her computer.

  MESSAGE TO FORCEFLOW.

  She waited. There was no response. She decided to post a message anyway, hoping that he would pick it up soon and send a reply.

  FORCEFLOW. I NEED INFORMATION RIGHT AWAY. WILL TRY TO CONTACT YOU AS SOON AS WE REACH THE PLANET GOBINDI. REPLY SOON!

  She transmitted her message, hoping that her mysteri- ous contact would receive it before Zak grew any sicker.

  Three hours later, the Shroud prepared to drop out of hy- perspace into the Gobindi system. Tash sat next to her uncle. He had asked her to act as his copilot, while Deevee remained by Zak's side, ready to use the new skills he had just programmed into his computer brain. Uncle Hoole deactivated the hyperdrive, and Tash watched out the forward viewport as the stars changed from the white streaks of hyperspace to the twinkling pin- points of realspace. And then they were blotted out by the shadow of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Collision alarms blared in the Shroud's cockpit. Tash stifled a cry as Hoole jerked the ship's navigational stick hard to the left and the Shroud plunged down and away from the Destroyer. The Star Destroyer's huge, wedgelike shape cut through the fabric of space like a blade as it passed above them. Hoole was still trying to regain control of the Shroud when the first laser shot streaked past them, just meters from the Shroud's hull. Another shot followed, and only the Shi'ido's flight pattern saved them from becoming a ball of exploding gases.

  "Why are they firing at us?" Tash yelled. Hoole's voice was tight and controlled. "I don't know." "Raise our deflector shields!" she urged. "If I do, they will think we want to fight or escape." Another laser shot flared nearby, even closer than the one before. "Tash," Hoole ordered, "open a comm chan- nel. Tell them we mean no harm." Tash activated the Shroud's comm system, but before she could send her message a voice blared over the speak- ers. "Attention, unidentified ship. You have been targeted as a pirate ship. Prepare to be boarded or destroyed!" "Pirates? Why do they think we're pirates?" Tash shouted. "Reply to their message," Hoole said with amazing calm. "Tell them we are not pirates and we will cooper- ate." Once more Tash activated the Shroud's comm system, but all the channels were filled with harsh static. "I think they're jamming our signal," she said. Hoole focused on the controls but managed to mutter, "They hailed us as an unidentified ship. Aren't we broad- casting a telesponder code?" Tash had a lot to learn about star piloting, but she knew that telesponder codes were the automatic signals all star- ships sent out so that other ships could identify them. The

  only people who didn't use telesponder codes were pirates and smugglers. Tash searched the control console for the appropriate switch and found that it had been shut down. She realized what had happened. "Zak must have accidentally turned it off when he passed out up here." She flipped the switch. "I hope this helps." Tash expected that it would only take a few seconds for the telesponder to begin transmitting and for someone aboard the enormous Imperial warship to receive the code. But she did not expect the Destroyer to stop firing and suddenly veer off. The Imperial voice broadcast over their loudspeaker once again, and this time it was filled with concern. "Apologies. A mistaken transmission. You are clear to proceed." Without another word, the Star Destroyer sliced its way along the space lane. "What was that all about'?" Tash asked. Hoole gave the slightest shrug. "No harm was done. Let's make haste for the Gobindi system." Wo harm done! Tash thought. They could have de- stroyed us, and they hardly gave it a thought. The Imperi- als don 't do anything but hurt people.

  As the Shroud's sublight engines propelled them through the star system, Tash and Uncle Hoole saw three more Star Destroyers, all bristling with weapons and cutting across the orbital paths of the Gobindi system's twelve planets. "Four Star Destroyers," Uncle Hoole murmured to himself. "Almost a Aeet. Something important must be happening in the area to attract so many ships." But now that the Shroud was broadcasting its telespon- der code, none of the Imperial war ships challenged them again. Finally the Shroud plunged toward Gobindi, the fiAh planet of the system, a massive green globe half covered in thick cloud layers. From orbit, Gobindi looked like a huge jungle. As they approached, Tash felt the planet's gravity grab hold and draw them in quickly. Hoole handled their ship expertly, guiding it toward a growing spot of white in the thick carpet of green vegetation. "That is Mah Dala, the capital city of Gobindi," Hoole said. "I sent a message ahead to Dr. Kavafi, my colleague at the Imperial Biologi- cal Welfare Division. He is expecting us." The Shroud swooped down over Mah Dala. The city seemed to be made up of many-leveled pyramids with Aat tops. Elaborate bridges connected the buildings in beauti- fully intricate designs. "The Gobindi are amazing architects," Tash observed. "Were," Hoole responded. "The Gobindi themselves vanished years ago. No one knows what happened to them. The only city they left behind was Mah Dala. I've

  always wanted to visit the ruins here but never found the time." "Who lives here now?" she asked. Hoole banked the Shroud, headed toward a landing bay, and answered, "The Empire opened the planet up to colo- nization a few years ago, and many diA'erent species moved into Mah Dala. This area of space gets a lot of traffic, and the hyperspace lanes are quite close. It's some- thing of a cosmopolitan place now, I believe. And, of course, the Imperials are here." "Of course," Tash muttered.

  The Shroud settled onto a landing platform that sat atop one of the flat pyramids. The minute the ship rested on its landing gear, Tash unbuckled her crash webbing and hur- ried back to the main lounge. Deevee was holding Zak in his mechanical arms. Her brother was wrapped in a blan- ket, still sweating and mumbling to himself. He looked half-awake. "Zak?" Tash said softly. "How do you feel?" In misery he looked up at his sister. "My head's on fire, Tash." Hoole activated the hatchway. The door Aew open, and Tash found herself looking into the concerned face of a human male about fifty yea
rs old. He had brown hair, lightly salted with gray, and warm blue eyes. He wore a brown Imperial uniform with the letters "rawo" stitched over the left breast, and he was holding a medical datapad in one hand. Behind him stood two technicians pushing a hover-gurney. The man looked past Tash and smiled. "Dr. Hoole. It's good to see you again." Hoole reached forward and shook the man's hand quickly. "Dr. Kavafi. I know you are busy. Thank you for seeing to this personally." "Think nothing of it. Let's see the patient to the Infir- mary, shall we?" He nodded to the two technicians, who quickly took Zak from Deevee's arms and laid him gently on the hover- gurney. Kavafi quickly examined Zak, then grabbed a comlink from his belt and spoke into it. "Medi- chamber six, this is Dr. Kavafi. I'm bringing in a patient with a high fever. From the looks of things, I would say it is a low-grade virus. Have the diagnostic droid standing by." Quickly the technicians grabbed hold of the hover- gurney and pushed it toward a waiting medi-shuttle. Tash, Hoole, and Deevee followed Dr. Kavafi. "Is he going to be all right?" Tash asked Dr. Kavafi. The doctor smiled. "Don't worry, young lady," he said. "Everything is going to be just fine." Tash suddenly remembered Forceflow. Had he ever re- plied to her message? If he did have information regarding Project Starscream, they might use it to help the doctors cure Zak.

  "I, uh, forgot something," she told Hoole, then quickly turned back toward the ship. "Hurry," Hoole ordered. "We need to get Zak to the hospital right away." Tash leaped back into the ship and headed straight for her cabin. Inside, she powered up her computer terminal. There was a message waiting for her. It had arrived just before their encounter with the Star Destroyer. Tash's blood ran cold when she read the words on her computer screen.

  SEARCHER, THIS IS FORCEFLOW. HAVE INFORMATION REGARDING PROJECT STARSCREAM. WHATEVER YOU DO, STAY AWAY FROM GOBINDI. STAY AWAY FROM GOBINDI! Tash stared at the words on the screen, hoping that some- how they would change. But they didn't.

  STAY AWAY FROM GOBINDI!

  Why? What did Project Starscream have to do with Gobindi? Tash needed to communicate with Forceflow again, and quickly. "Tash!" Uncle Hoole called from outside the ship. "Hurry!" Hesitantly Tash powered down her computer. The mes- sage faded away.

  STAY AWAY FROM GOBINDI!

  Whatever Forceflow's message meant, it had come too late.

  Moments later the medi-shuttle zoomed smoothly across the level tops of Mah Dala's pyramidlike stone buildings. Tash sat at her brother's side, pressing a cool, damp cloth to his forehead. Hoole and Deevee stayed to one side, quietly talking. Tash spared a glance away from her brother. Over Hoole's shoulder, she looked out the shuttle's viewport. Structures made of enormous stone tables, each one slightly smaller than the one beneath it, climbed into the sky. The sides of the buildings looked like massive steps, and she imagined giants using the buildings as stairways to space.

  The bridges connecting the pyramids looked like tiny threads that held the stone giants together. Tash guessed that the highest of the bridges were suspended three hun- dred meters above the ground. "Magnificent, aren't they?" Dr. Kavafi said with a smile. "They are called ziggurats. The Gobindi were obvi- ously powerful builders." "Impressive," Hoole said. "Kavafi, once we are sure Zak is recovering, I would like to make arrangements to study these ruins." Tash felt anger prick her insides. Was Hoole planning to do anthropological research while he was here? Didn't he care about Zak? "Indeed," Deevee added, eager to join any conversa- tion about ancient civilizations. "I have done only prelim- inary work on Gobindi, but I understand that the natives built these towers so that they could escape the thick jun- gles below. Dr. Kavafi, is it true they only lived in the highest levels of the ziggurats?" Tash wished they would all be quiet. She had no interest in lost civilizations or architecture. All she wanted was for Zak to get better. Beside her, Kavafi shrugged at the droid's question. "Anthropology is Hoole's area, not mine. But that seems to be the case. However some of the ziggurats have no inner chambers at all. They are just artificial mountains. The tops of others contain many rooms and hallways, but below those levels they are mostly solid rock. There is nowhere to live down near the bottom. Apparently the jungle is too thick, and the wildlife is not always harm- less." "The Gobindi must have been quite highly advanced scientifically, to build " "I'm sorry," Kavafi said, still monitoring Zak's vital signs. "Perhaps we should wait until Zak here can join the conversation." The droid stopped talking. Tash looked at Kavafi out of the corner of her eye. That comment almost made her like him, even if he was an Imperial. "Ah, here we are," Kavafi said. Dr. Kavafi pointed out the window of the shuttle. Fol- lowing his gaze, Tash found herself staring at the biggest building she had ever seen. It was shaped like the other ziggurats, but it was almost twice as large as any of the

  buildings around it. At the very top, Imperial engineers had built a modern steelcrete tower. The tower must have been twenty stories high, but it looked like little more than a small cap sitting atop the enormous ziggurat. "That newer structure is the Infirmary," Kavafi ex- plained. "Below it are the ruins of the oldest and largest ziggurat on Gobindi."

  The shuttle banked smoothly and landed on top of the ziggurat. Tash stood at Zak's side as the two assistants guided the hover-gurney out of the shuttle and immedi- ately headed toward the Infirmary. When Tash stepped out of the shuttle, she felt as though she'd walked right into a steam bath. The air was moist and hot, and so thick she could almost taste it as she breathed in. In moments she and Hoole were both sweat- ing from the heat, but because the air was so moist, their ' perspiration didn't dry. Their clothing soon stuck to their skin. Even Deevee appeared uncomfortable as they hur- ried across the top of the ziggurat to the Infirmary. "This humidity is extraordinary," the droid said. "I can already feel my outer covering starting to rust." Kavafi nodded. "And this is a good day. Most days are hotter and wetter than this." Tash ignored the heat, searching for signs of danger. But only the wide Aat surface of the ziggurat stretched out before them, with the gray tower rising above. What had Forceflow's message meant? Was he warning her about Imperials? Was there some other danger? Suddenly Zak moaned in his sleep. "Mom." Tash bit her lip. Zak's face was still bloodless and even in sleep, he looked miserable. "Halt!" Tash looked up. They were surrounded by Imperial stormtroopers.

  There were at least two squads of stormtroopers in white armor standing at the wide doorways to the Infirmary. The blank masks of their helmets looked as terrifying and im- personal as the Empire itself. One of the stormtroopers raised a weapon, and Tash thought he was going to open fire. But instead, the weapon merely glowed briefly as the trooper pointed it at the new- comers. "All clear," he reported. "Energy scan reveals no weapons." "You are clear to proceed," another trooper told them, clearing a path to the door. "For a hospital, you seem quite well guarded," Hoole observed. Kavafi looked almost embarrassed. "Unfortunate but

  '7 I necessary. This star system has experienced increased pi- rate activity in the past few weeks. Smugglers and spacejackers trying to steal medical supplies. We've had to expand our security." They passed the stormtroopers and reached the front of the gray tower. Over the doors, the letters "iawo" had been set in black onyx. "Welcome," Kavafi said, "to the Imperial Biological Welfare Division." Tash followed closely as Zak was carried through the doors of the steelcrete tower. The Infirmary's ground floor was a vast lobby filled with turbolift banks and people scurrying to and fro. Most of them were human, and most of them wore Imperial uniforms, but there was a smatter- ing of alien species. Since the Empire rarely employed anyone but humans, Tash guessed that the aliens must be patients seeking treatment at the Infirmary. They reached a turbolift and hastily pushed Zak's hover-gurney inside. Kavafi turned to the lift's control panel and said, "Floor ten. Override any other floor calls." "Acknowledged," said a mechanical voice, and the turbolift rose quickly. While most turbolifts still used a simple push-button system, Tash had seen many liAs like this one before. The lift car itself was actually a class-four service droid. It responded to simple voice commands and was pro-


  grammed to shuttle occupants up and down the turbolift shaft. The droid-powered lift took them up to the tenth floor, where Zak was moved into a medi-chamber with calm efficiency. For a few moments the room was a blur of motion as technicians took samples of his blood, hooked up monitors to his chest and forehead, and prepared medi- cation. Kavafi held up an enormous needle and examined a dark fluid within it. "What's that?" Tash asked nervously. "Just something to help him sleep," Kavafi said. "Sometimes sleep is the best medicine of all." He bent down and prepared to insert the needle. Tash shuddered as the needle slipped under his skin. As soon as he'd given Zak the injection, Kavafi checked the monitors, nodded to himself, and sighed. "Is he going to be all right?" Hoole asked. Despite the fact that his own nephew now lay in a hospital bed, Hoole's voice was as steady and businesslike as ever. "Oh, yes," Kavafi replied confidently. "We will run some tests to be sure, but the early indications are that Zak has a strain of influenza." "I thought you said he had a virus," Tash replied. Kavafi smiled patiently. Tash realized that he was trying to make her feel comfortable. She appreciated it, but her brother was ill, and she was standing inside an Imperial facility guarded by Imperial soldiers and run by Imperial doctors. Even if they were Hoole's friends, she was any- thing but comfortable. "Influenza is a virus," Kavafi explained. "There are millions of viruses throughout the galaxy. Each one of them causes different problems, sometimes quite serious ones." Tash swallowed. "Is Is he going to " "No, no!" Kavafi said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He will be fine. Usually a person's body can fight ofF the virus after a little while. Would you like to see what is causing your brother to be ill?" Tash was surprised. "You mean, you can see it?" "Not with your eye, but with this." Kavafi picked up a visor off the desk. The lenses were deep red, with tiny control switches mounted on the sides. "This is an elec- troscope. It allows you to see objects a thousand times smaller than the tip of a hydrospanner. Right now it's programmed to find and locate viruses. Here." He pointed to a small glass plate sitting on a counter. The plate contained a sample of red Auid. Tash stared at the small drop of fluid as she put on the visor and felt on the side panel for the power switch. When she flipped it, the medi-chamber vanished. Tash found herself peering into a world of swirling red currents. In the center of the currents was a large mass that moved and wriggled as though it was alive. Suddenly six ominous-looking crea- tures swam into view. They had large, faceless heads cov- ered with thick strands of what looked like hair. Their