Eaten Alive Page 5

  skimboard! It's going to be souped up fast enough to race a speeder bike!"

  Nearby, Deevee said dryly, "And I hope the Wookiee is prepared to pay

  your medical bills when you break your neck."

  Han wiped maintenance oil from his hands as he said to Hoole, "That

  should do you for the short run. Your lateral stabilizer's damaged, and you'll

  need an overhaul, but the ship'll get you off planet."

  Hoole said his thanks as Han and his friends prepared to leave.

  Tash said very shyly to Luke Skywalker, "I didn't realize you were going

  so soon. I wanted to ask you about... about your lightsaber. And," her voice

  dropped to an embarrassed whisper. "about the Force."

  He smiled warmly. "I'm not sure how much I could tell you, Tash. But we

  may meet again some day and you and I can have a talk then."

  An electric tingle rose up Tash's hand as Luke shook it. The tingle

  lasted long after the Millennium Falcon had blasted into the sky.

  It was growing dark by the time they left the spaceport for a second

  time. Following the directions they had been given, Uncle Hoole led them to

  Chood's house. The Enzeen lived in the forest, not far from the settlement.

  Chood welcomed them warmly to his home. It was a modest house, with three

  or four rooms connected by a long hallway. Although it was well built, Tash

  was surprised to find that, like the streets outside, the floor was uncovered,

  leaving only bare dirt.

  "We have our traditions," Chood said when she noticed. "We like to keep

  in touch with the planet that is our home."

  Chood certainly did love D'vouran. For an hour, Hoole, Tash, and Zak

  listened as he told them about the planet, singing the praises of its

  landscapes, its resources, its potential.

  "He sounds,". Zak whispered to Tash, "like a used landspeeder salesman."

  Toward the end of the conversation, Tash found herself yawning. It had

  been a long, strange day-from their near crash to the incident in the cantina

  to meeting Luke Skywalker. She was tired. Beside her, Zak was nodding off.

  Hoole noticed. "I think it is time for Zak and Tash to sleep. And time

  for me to be on my way."

  "Where are you going?" Tash asked. She was so sleepy that she'd forgotten

  Hoole's usual secrecy about his work.

  He reminded her instantly. "That is my affair. I will be back before

  morning. Excuse me."

  Without another word, Hoole left.

  "Don't Shi'ido ever sleep?" Zak yawned. "He's always running off

  somewhere."

  "It's not because he's a Shi'ido," Tash replied. "It's just that he's

  Uncle Hoole, and there's more to him than meets the eye." And, she added to

  herself, I'm going to find out what it is.

  Tash and Zak shared a large room where two small but comfortable sleeping

  mats lay on the floor. Once they were alone, Tash turned to her brother.

  "I can't shake this feeling, Zak. Whatever I do, I feel like someone's

  watching me." She told him about the coded Imperial file about D'vouran, and

  the trace alert. "Suppose the Imperials know something about this planet that

  we don't?"

  Zak had been nearly asleep. "Tash, I'm as mad at the Empire as you are.

  But what could they know about this planet that would be so bad? Don't you

  think you're taking this Jedi thing a little too far? It's like your looking

  for something to be wrong. This place is great!"

  "You think having blasters pointed at you is great?"

  "Yeah," he replied sleepily.

  That's because you don't know any better, she wanted to say. But didn't.

  "I wish I had your confidence," she said instead.

  "Just ease up on your thrusters and relax," he yawned. "Now excuse me. I

  wanna go skimboarding tomorrow, and I need my sleep."

  Tash stayed awake longer. But finally she, too, fell asleep.

  A sound woke her in the middle of the night. At first she thought it was

  Zak snoring, but her brother was sleeping quietly across the room. She could

  just make out the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed softly.

  She listened carefully.

  Slurp-Slurp.

  She listened more closely.

  Slurp-Slurp.

  "Zak?" she whispered. "Do you hear that?" No answer. Her brother was

  sound asleep.

  Tash lay in bed, wondering what to do. The sound started, stopped, and

  started again several times. What could it be?

  Finally she couldn't stand it anymore. Tash got up and crept to the door

  to their room. The sound was coming from inside the house.

  Stealthily she opened the door and tiptoed into the hallway.

  Slurp-Slurp. Slurp-Slurp.

  The common room. That's where the sound came from. Tash crept forward,

  pressing flat against the wall. Her pulse raced, but something pushed her

  forward. Not curiosity, exactly. More like a terrible feeling that not knowing

  what it was would be more awful than finding out. Her heart pounded so loudly

  she was sure someone could hear it.

  Slurp

  The sound stopped. She heard something shuffle through the darkness of

  the common room. Tash gathered herself, then carefully peeked around the

  corner. The room was empty.

  "May I help you?"

  Tash choked on the scream that tried to burst from her throat.

  Chood was standing behind her. Even in the darkness, she could tell that

  he was still smiling.

  "Um... I thought I heard something," she whispered.

  "Stray animals, no doubt," the Enzeen explained. "We are near the edge of

  the forest here. I'm sure it was nothing. But would you like me to check?"

  She paused. Was it her imagination, or was Chood staring at her in the

  darkness? In the shadows his smile looked more like an evil grin. "Don't

  trouble yourself," she replied.

  "It's no trouble. I was going out anyway." Tash couldn't help but ask,

  "This late?"

  She thought she saw Chood's grin widen.

  "I'm afraid so. An errand that will not wait."

  "Okay. Well... thanks."

  Chood bowed. "Our goal is to serve. Good night."

  "Good night," she answered as she stumbled past him and headed back down

  the hall. She felt his eyes linger on her back. Then she heard a door close as

  he left the house.

  "Relax," she told herself "You'd probably stare at someone, too, if you

  found them roaming around your house in the middle of the night." Wild

  animals.

  Well, it seemed as good an explanation as any.

  You and your feelings are getting out of hand, Tash Arranda, she thought.

  Maybe Zak's right. Maybe you are looking for problems. If you're not careful,

  you'll end up as crazy as Bebo.

  By the time she reached the door to the guest room, Tash had resolved not

  to jump to conclusions. Maybe Zak was right. She was too obsessed with the

  Force. Tash pushed the bedroom door open.

  Someone was leaning over Zak's bed.

  CHAPTER 8

  A hand closed over Tash's mouth, stifling her shout. So she bit the hand.

  "Arrggh!" someone howled in pain, dropping Tash. The cry woke her

  brother, who sat bolt upright in bed. "Wh-what's going on?"

  "Zak, look out!" Tash yelled. The shadowy figure was reaching down for

  him.
Still half-asleep, Zak launched himself out of bed like an uncoiled

  spring, right past the shadowy figure.

  "Run!" Tash yelled.

  Even in the gloom, Tash recognized the two huge, square-shaped intruders:

  Ganks. The one she had bitten was still nursing his wounded hand. For good

  measure she stomped on his foot, then jumped through the doorway, with Zak

  close behind her.

  "Help! Help!" she called. But there was no one to hear her. Uncle Hoole

  had gone to perform his mysterious work. Chood had gone on his errand. They

  were alone in the house.

  "We've got to get out of here!" she told Zak, who was just barely awake.

  He followed her as she threw open the front door and ran outside.

  The night air of D'vouran woke Zak up quickly. "What's back there?" he

  huffed as he ran to catch up with his sister.

  "Smada! His thugs!" was all she could get out between gasps as she ran

  toward the center of town.

  That was all Zak needed to know. His legs churned as he caught up to his

  sister. He didn't bother to look back.

  Tash did, but she knew what she would see. The two Ganks were after them.

  For big, heavy brutes they ran quickly. Although Zak and Tash had already

  reached the main street of the small village, the two Ganks were gaining on

  them.

  "Help! Help!" she shouted. But it was late at night, and the streets were

  deserted. A few lights went on in some of the houses, but Tash was afraid to

  stop. She could hear the heavy footsteps of the Ganks closing in.

  She tried to lose them by veering sharply to the right, down a side

  street. Zak followed her.

  Right to a dead end.

  The Don't Go Inn loomed up before them. No time to look back now. Without

  missing a beat, Tash raced up to the door and slapped the Open button.

  It was locked.

  "Open up!" she yelled, pounding on the door.

  "Open up! Help!" Zak added.

  Behind them, Tash heard two sudden howls. It sent shivers down her spine.

  The Ganks must be furious! They would tear her apart once they caught up. The

  cries were cut off sharply, but Tash was pounding the door so hard that she

  didn't notice.

  "Open up! Please!" she begged. She expected any moment to feel the Gank's

  heavy hand on her throat, or feel the bite of a blaster bolt in her back.

  "Help!"

  Finally the door flew open. A few startled settlers stumbled out, bleary-

  eyed and in bedclothes. "What's going on here?" one of them demanded.

  "They're after us! Help!" Tash pleaded.

  "Who's after you?" the settlers demanded.

  "Them!" Tash said, pointing back down the street.

  But no one was there.

  CHAPTER 9

  Zak and Tash sat in the common room of Chood's home, where they had been

  sitting for almost an hour. It was still late at night, and Zak was nodding

  off in his seat. Even Tash yawned-the adrenaline that had pumped through her

  was long gone.

  Hoole had returned-from where? Tash wondered-to find the village in an

  uproar. The whole town had been awakened by Tash and Zak's cries, only to find

  the story they heard as believable as one of Bebo's delusions.

  Uncle Hoole had just finished apologizing to most of the settlers in the

  village, and to all of the Enzeen. Finally he sat down in front of Zak and

  Tash. His Shi'ido face was wrinkled into a tired frown.

  "You two have managed to make us the most unpopular people in the

  village."

  Tash, of course, had told him her story. There were Ganks. They had been

  chased. She had run up to the Don't Go Inn and pounded on the door. The next

  thing she knew, the Ganks had vanished.

  "There were no Ganks," Hoole said. "You were having a dream."

  "They were there!" Tash insisted. "They must have stopped chasing us when

  we yelled."

  Hoole shook his head. "I checked. There weren't even any footprints. It

  was a dead-end street. Where would they have gone?"

  "I don't know!"

  "Tash." Hoole studied her closely. "The settlers at the Don't Go Inn said

  they saw only you and Zak screaming as though the entire planet was coming

  apart. No one else saw these Ganks."

  "Zak did, didn't you, Zak?" She looked to her brother for support.

  "Urn... yeah. I guess."

  "You guess?" Uncle Hoole interrogated.

  Zak looked down. He wanted to help his sister, but... "Well, I was kind

  of asleep. I heard Tash yell `Run!' so I ran. I mean, I think I saw something.

  I saw shadows. It was dark. I was sleeping. But there was probably something

  there."

  Hoole shook his head. "Probably? Zak, look at it this way. Let's say

  Tash's story is the hyperdrive engine on a starship. And let's say what you

  saw is the motivator circuit. Now, if the engine is good, you connect the

  circuit and go to lightspeed. But if it's bad, the minute you plug in your

  circuit, the whole ship explodes. So you have to be sure." Hoole asked again.

  "Now, are you going to plug into that circuit?"

  Zak hesitated, but only because he felt guilty. He struggled for

  something to say. "I'm sorry, Tash. I just... I was too sleepy. I didn't

  actually see anything."

  "Zak!" Tash was almost in tears.

  "Please don't cry, Tash," Hoole said. "No one is blaming you for

  anything. You just had a nightmare."

  "It was real. I bit his nasty Gank finger!"

  "You dreamed that you bit someone. It seemed so real that it made you

  walk-or rather, run-in your sleep. These things happen."

  "No," she insisted stubbornly. "I was awake. I saw them. Why don't we

  find that Hutt and make him admit that he sent his thugs after us! Then ask

  him where they are now. He'll tell you they disappeared."

  Hoole considered the option seriously. "That would be difficult. Smada

  has a small fortress just inside the forest. If we went there, I suspect we

  would not come out again. And I doubt Smada would confess to kidnapping just

  because we asked him."

  Hoole sighed. "Actually, I blame myself. I know how hard things must be

  for you since... the tragedy. I thought this interest in the Jedi would take

  your mind off your sadness. But now your imagination is running wild with this

  Jedi obsession. It's got to stop. First you upset the Lightrunner's

  navicomputer. Then Chood tells me you were wandering around in the middle of

  the night, and now these dreams." The Shi'ido put one hand on Tash's shoulder.

  The gesture was clumsy, but she knew he meant well. "Tash, you just have to

  understand that not everything in the galaxy is a great mystery. Some things

  are just what they appear to be. You don't need to wonder about the Force

  every time the wind blows. Do you understand?"

  Tash looked up at the ceiling, then down at the dirt floor. Did she

  understand? She wasn't sure. Life was so confusing! Should she trust her

  feelings, or her common sense? Her feelings told her that she was in danger,

  that everyone was in danger. But her common sense told her that there was

  nothing out there to be afraid of, except a madman's stories and her own

  imagination. Besides Smada the Hutt, D'vouran appeared to be a peaceful

  planet.


  Maybe she was looking too hard for mysteries in everything. Ever since

  her parents had died, she had felt angry. She didn't know who she was angry

  at, but she knew the feeling was real. Maybe this feeling of dread was just an

  excuse to be angry at something.

  Her uncle waited for her to speak. Finally she said,

  "All right, Uncle Hoole. You may be right. Maybe no one did disappear.

  But you'd better promise me one thing. You and Zak better not vanish."

  Hoole almost cracked a smile. "I promise."

  The sun rose early the next morning, and Zak Arranda rose with it. He

  couldn't sleep. Across the bedroom, Tash had finally crashed. After Hoole had

  talked with them, they'd gone back to bed. Even Hoole had gone to bed then,

  sleeping on a small cot in Chood's living room. But in their room, Zak had

  heard his sister lie awake, tossing and turning.

  Zak wondered if he'd done the right thing. Had he told the truth or not?