The Brain Spiders Page 6

  Zak pointed the speeder toward the door and hit the ac- celerator.

  The speeder took ofK In the wrong direction. The back of the speeder slammed against the docking- bay wall, making enough noise to wake the dead which was what Zak would be if Jabba's thugs caught him steal- ing a vehicle. "Let's try that again," he grumbled. Flipping a switch, he touched the accelerator. This time, the speeder glided smoothly toward the open door.

  Once he was out in the clear desert air, Zak could see the lights of Tash's speeder twinkling like one of the many stars overhead. But she had a huge lead on him, and she'd soon be out of sight. That 's okay, Zak thought. I know where she 's headed. Tash may spend more time studying maps and reading books, but if I remember right, there 's only one town in the direction she 's going. That town was Mos Eisley. Zak spent the first part of his journey enjoying the power and speed of the landspeeder. It was even more exciting than riding his skimboard. "I could get used to this," he told himself, smiling. Soon, however, he was shivering. As hot as Tatooine was during the day, at night the desert was cold. By the time Zak glided into the town, even Mos Eisley was asleep. The streets were deserted. All but the most popular cantinas were closed. Parking the speeder, Zak jumped out and looked around. He had no idea where to begin. Mos Eisley was a big place, and Tash must have arrived long before he did. She could be long gone by now. But she wasn't. Zak spotted her landspeeder parked near a low, single-story cantina. A hum of voices came from within, accompanied by the slow notes of a tired band play- ing songs late into the night. Zak stopped at the doorway. They probably wouldn't let him in... and he wasn't sure he wanted to go in anyway.

  The idea of entering a Mos Eisley cantina this late at night was about as appealing as the idea of playing tag with a rancor. Zak was about to turn back when a startled cry reached his ears. It had come from outside the cantina, around the corner. Creeping forward, Zak heard his sister's voice speak in angry tones: "I hear you were dying to find me. Well, here I am!" The cry was followed by a sharp crack! and someone cried, "N-No! No!"

  The cries faded into silence.

  Zak ran to the corner and peeked around. He was looking

  down an alleyway next to the cantina. In the gloom, he

  could just make out the figure of Tash standing over a large

  pile of something on the ground. At least, he thought it was

  Tash. Even with so many stars shining, he couldn't be sure

  it was her. She stooped down over the object on the ground

  for a moment, then stood up and hurried away.

  As soon as she was gone, Zak moved forward to investi-

  gate.

  He reached the pile and nearly tripped over it. It was

  much bigger than he thought. In fact, it wasn't a pile at all.

  It was a body!

  Zak recognized the face. It belonged to the Imperial of-

  rcer, Commander Fuzzel. He was dead. Bending closer,

  Zak saw something on the dead man's forehead.

  The letter K had been carved into his skull. "Help! Murder!" Zak's cry drifted over the rooftops of Mos Eisley. Hardly anyone responded. A few heads poked out o1 windows. Some yelled, "Shut up!" No one bothered tc come outside. This was Mos Eisley. Nighttime cries foi help were all too common. "These people are worse than the B'omarr monks!" Zah spat. "These people are just " He didn't know what they were. He'd have to ask Tash for the right word. "Tash," he wondered aloud. "What's going on?" By the time Zak left the alley, the speeder was gone. Tash must have doubled back or gone through the cantina to reach the front of the building. Zak thought of the letter K cut into Fuzzel's forehead.

  ghat was the mark Karkas left on all his victims. But Karkas was dead Zak had seen the body with his own eyes. Stranger still, what had Tash been doing standing over the corpse'? There were only two possible answers. Either Tash had found the body, or Tash had killed Fuzzel. Zak knew the second choice couldn't be true. But why had Tash stolen a landspeeder and come all the way to Mos Eisley? There was only one way to find out. By the time Zak guided his landspeeder back to Jabba's palace, the twin suns of Tatooine were already boiling over

  the horizon. By now the guards recognized him, and Zak was allowed

  back into the palace. He went straight to his quarters. Qui- etly looking into Hoole's room, he saw that his uncle had just risen. Tiptoeing back into his own room, he saw that Tash, too, was awake. She looked a little bleary-eyed, but there was nothing else to suggest that she'd been out most of the night. Zak got straight to the point. "What were you doing in Mos Eisley?" Tash looked at him innocently. "What are you talking about?" "I'm talking about your trip into town!" Zak retorted. "Not to mention the fact that you took a landspeeder with- out permission, and that you walked away from a dead body!"For a fraction of a second, Tash looked surprised. "You've got a black hole in your brain. I've been here all night." Zak snorted. "Come on, Tash, you can tell me. I'll bet this was another one of Grimpen's B'omarr tests. But even you should have called it off when you saw that Com- mander Fuzzel had been killed." Tash's glare was like the blast of a turbolaser. "I told you," she growled in an eerily low voice, "I was here all night." Hoole glided into the room. "We will leave shortly," he . said, then noticed the strange looks passing between Tash and Zak. "Everything's fine," Tash said. "I'll be right back." Zak waited until she had left the room. "Uncle Hoole, Tash is acting really weird again." "I thought we had already discussed that," Hoole said flatly. "No, I mean she's acting really strange. Wait till I tell you " "Forgive me, Zak. I do want to hear what you have to say," the Shi'ido said, "but I think it is wise to leave here as soon as possible. Once we are safely off Tatooine, then we can deal with Tash's behavior. Until then, we should make it our primary goal to leave Jabba's palace as soon as possible. I am going to pay my respects to Jabba. Please be ready when I return." When Hoole left, Zak found himself standing alone in

  Qjg quarters. He looked at his pack sitting at the foot of his bed. "You'll have to pit wait," he muttered as he took oA after Tash. As before, Tash was easy to follow. She strode through Jgbba's palace with ease. She obviously wasn't expecting znyone to follow, because she never once looked back. Her course took her past Jabba's throne room and down a wide corridor. This hallway was decorated with holo- pictures and statues all of Jabba himself. This must be Jabba 's private quarters, Zak guessed. Only a Hutt would have an ego big enough to cover his walls with pictures of himself At the end of the hall stood a high, wide door. Four Gamorrean guards sat on either side, snorting and snuf8ing at each other. As Tash approached, one of the guards jumped up and waddled over to a control panel. The door slid open, and Tash walked calmly inside. Now what? Zak wondered. Boldly, he strode up to the door as well. This time all four Gamorreans jumped to their feet. They brandished their vibro-axes and snorted angrily in his direction. One of the guards jabbed at him with an ax. "All right!" Zak said, jumping back. "I get the hint." He hurried away before he could attract any more atten- tion.

  As he retreated down the hallway, Zak tried to put to- gether the pieces of this strange puzzle. But there were too many. First there was Beidlo's idea that the B'omarr monks were performing unnecessary brain transfers. Then Beidlo had said he'd been mistaken. Then there was the attack of the brain spiders. That was almost as strange as Jabba, who first promised to help the killer Karkas and then turned his dead body in to Commander Fuzzel. Then, that very night, Fuzzel was murdered apparently by Karkas, who was sup- posed to be dead. Click-click-click... Zak's mind reeled. "The only thing that's stayed the same," he muttered, "is that Tash has been acting weird. But not this weird!" Click-click-click... Zak was so lost in thought that he didn't see the brain spider until it was on top of him. When those spidery legs came into view, he leaped backward, bumping into some- thing hard and sharp. There was another brain spider behind him. "Oh, no!" Zak gasped. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't see the deathblow coming. But the spiders didn't attack him. Instead, they pushed forward gently on their d
urasteel legs, nudging him. "Hey, watch it," he said, looking at the brains inside each droid. Each brain looked like a round pile of thick noodles. The spiders pushed again, and again, until Zak realized that they weren't trying to hurt him. They were pushing him

  $p~ard one side of the corridor. They were herding him, just as Tash had said before. Not wanting to feel those sharp legs on his skin, Zak went in the direction the brain spiders were shoving him. pe saw a small hatch set into the wall the kind of small door that maintenance workers use to get into tight spaces jn a building. One of the spiders scurried forward and tapped at the door with a foreleg. "You want me to open it?" Zak asked. He deactivated the lock, and the automatic door popped open. A sharp poke in the back from one of the spiders made him jump and sent him stumbling into the mainte- nance hall. The Aoor was covered with sand, like a mini-desert probably the leftovers from years of sweeping out Jabba's hallways. The spiders crept forward, forcing Zak to go farther down the sandy hallway. "Look, I don't know what you want," Zak said. He didn't know if the brains-inside the spiders could hear or understand him, but it was worth a try. "I thought you B'omarr monk brains were supposed to contemplate the universe or something not pick on Jabba's guests." "Hoohoohoohoo!" Zak blinked. Were the brain spiders laughing? "Hooohoo! " No, that laughter belonged to Jabba the Hutt! It was com- ing from overhead. Zak looked up. About two meters up the wall of the maintenance hall was a vent. The Hutt's deep laughter was trickling through it. One of the brain spiders moved beneath the vent and lowered itself so that it sat on the fioor. Zak quickly figured out what it wanted. "You're oA'ering me a boost?" He stepped onto the spider-droid's back, careful to avoid the glass jar containing the wrinkled brain. With a whine of servos, the brain spider rose to its normal height, lifting Zak up to the vent. Zak peeked through the tiny metal grate. He was looking inside Jabba's private chambers! What he saw amazed him. Jabba the Hutt reclined on a wide couch, rolls of fat rising and falling across the length of his body. Nearby sat Tash. She had her feet up on a table covered with strange and exotic foods. As Zak watched, she reached into a bowl full of live eels. Fishing one out, she opened her mouth wide and dropped the wriggling creature in. The eel's tail flapped once as it struggled to escape; then Tash swallowed it with a contented sigh. Jabba growled, "I notice that the credits still have not been sent to my account." Tash nodded. "That's right, Jabba. You're not getting your money until we fix this problem." "I already explained," the crime lord said as he smacked his lips. "Someone freed the prisoner we had reserved for

  ypu. We had no other choice, especially with the Imperials zpproaching. " "Yeah, but now I'm stuck with this!" Tash said, pointing

  at herself. "Look on the bright side," the Hutt gurgled in amuse-

  ment, "no Imperials will ever stop you again." "Very funny," Tash snapped back. "But I'm telling you I want this fixed, and fixed now!" Jabba checked a small datascreen near his couch. "Ah, just the message I was waiting for. Don't worry, my friend. I have the perfect solution. Right this way." The Hutt slithered off his couch and Tash stood up. To- gether, they moved out of Zak's view. A moment later he heard a door open and close. Jumping down from the brain spider's back, Zak rubbed his forehead. He was getting a headache. "What in all the galaxy is going on here?" The brain spider that had lifted him now extended one of its legs. The leg made a few slow, small movements in the sand. But the motion was clumsy the spider's legs weren't made for such delicate action.

  After several tries, the spider finally succeeded in moving its leg the way it wanted. Finally, when it was satisfied, the brain spider stepped back and let Zak see its work. Zak's heart froze and his blood went cold in his veins. In a jagged, uneven style, the brain spider had written ~wo words. I'M TASH.

  I'M TASH. The words lay in the sand. The brain spider danced back and forth on its spindly legs. "I I don't understand," Zak stammered. He had just seen Tash talking with Jabba! No. He had seen Tash's body talking with Jabba. Zak looked at the brain spider. He looked at the brain inside the jar. Tash's brain. It all made sense to him now. The B'omarr monks had removed Tash's brain and put it into a brain spider. Then they had put someone else's brain into her body! Zak recalled the letter IC on Fuzzel's skull. It was Karkas.

  Jabba hadn't killed him. He had put the killer's brain in gqsh's head, then given Karkas's body to the Imperials. "Of course," Zak said in a frightened whisper. "That's Qgen Jabba's plan all along. He hasn't been turning in wanted criminals to the authorities. He's been giving them new bodies! The criminals pay Jabba and leave Tatooine with completely new identities. Jabba gives their old bodies $p the Imperials and collects even more credits!" It all made sense. Beidlo had been right. The monks were performing too many operations! And they weren't always using other monks. That was why that prisoner had been held in Jabba's dungeon. Jabba was using anyone he could find to provide bodies for his customers! Zak felt a sudden pang of guilt. He remembered the words Jabba had just spoken: Someone freed the prisoner we Aad reserved for you. Zak had freed the prisoner. And because he had let the captive go, Jabba had needed another body for Karkas. Tash's body. "I'm sorry, Tash," Zak said to the brain spider. "It's my fault." The brain spider hopped up and down excitedly as if to say, Don 't apologize. Do something! Another brain spider shuffled forward, bobbing up and down on its mechanical legs. Staring at the other brain, Zak had a strange feeling he knew who it was.

  "Beidlo," he whispered. "You're in there." The brain spider bobbed rapidly. Zak held back angry tears. Jabba had given the young monk's body to some other criminal. That was why the fake Beidlo had denied his story in front of Uncle Hoole. "Uncle Hoole," Zak said. "I've got -to tell Uncle Hoole!" Zak knew he could easily outrun the brain spiders, so he said, "Don't follow me. Meet me at the entrance to the B'omarr tunnels." He hurried out of the maintenance hall and into the main corridor. He didn't care who saw him sprint full speed through the palace and back to his quarters. But their rooms were empty. Hoole had not returned. Turning back, Zak sprinted again, this time for Jabba's throne room. It, too, was empty. 8%ere now~ Zak thought. There were only the B'omarr monks left, but Zak couldn't go to them because they were performing the oper- ations for Jabba. Getting help from the monks was out of the question. Or was it? There was Grimpen. Tash liked him, and Tash's intu- itions usually proved reliable. Besides, Grimpen had been difFerent from the other monks less dark and brooding. Beidlo had mentioned something about asking for his help, but obviously he had been captured before he got the chance. There was no one else to turn to. Zak took a deep breath and raced oK again.

  ]3y the time he reached the tunnels, Tash and Beidlo jggjde their brain spiders were there. Zak had lost his fear pf $he brain spiders. He was sure now that the spiders that had seemed to attack him earlier had just been more of Jabba's victims, trying desperately to communicate with someone who might help them. Zak looked at the globe of gray, wrinkled Qesh inside the brain spider's jar and shuddered. He had to remind himself that that was his sister. "Tash, I need help. Can you lead me to Grimpen?" The brain spiders bobbed up and down excitedly, but

  made no other move. Zak tried again. "I need to find Grimpen. You've been to his quarters more often than I have. Which way are they?" The two spiders shuKed from side to side, but then re- turned to their original spots. Zak scratched his head. Maybe Tash couldn't hear him. He shrugged. He'd have to find Grimpen on his own. Tash and Beidlo followed as Zak hurried through the maze of passageways, trying to remember the way to Grimpen's meditation chamber. Finally, he found the long, dark hallway, with'the faint glow of the coal bed in the distance. By now, Zak was so panic-stricken and desperate for help that he didn't notice the brain spiders behind him. If he had looked back, he would have seen them stop. They re- 4sed to go farther. Instead, they danced back and forth frantically, trying to get his attention.

  But he was running too quickly to notice. A few more moments brought Zak to the edge of the glowing rocks. He didn't even hesitate. "Lume rocks," he muttered, rememberiog what Uncl
e Hoole had told him. "Not even warm." He churned up piles of glowing stones as he ran across the bed and reached the other side. Beyond the bed of lume rocks, Zak found the door to a monk's cell. It opened automatically and Zak stepped in- side. Grimpen sat on a short, wide platform. His face was very calm. He smiled at Zak. "Hello, Zak. I've been expecting you." "Y-You have?" Zak panted, trying to catch his breath. Grimpen nodded. "I know why you have come," the monk said distantly. "I know many things." Zak nodded. "Then Tash must have figured out a way to tell you, too. Did she warn you?" "Warn me?" Grimpen replied. "Tash has warned me of nothing." "What is it then?" Zak gasped. "Part of your enlighten- ment? Is that how you know about Jabba's brain trans- fers?" Grimpen chuckled. "Of course not. I know about Jabba's brain transfers because I'm the one who's been performing them."

  Zak backed away in horror, but Grimpen was faster. The monk lunged forward and grabbed Zak's arm. His grip felt as strong as a Wookiee's. "Now, now, there's no need to be afraid," Grimpen scolded. "Soon enough Jabba will have another customer in need of a new identity, and then we'll have use for you. You should consider it an honor." Grimpen laughed. "Kept alive inside a spider, your brain will have centuries to con- template the universe." Keeping a viselike grip on Zak's arm, Grimpen dragged him out of the meditation chamber. "Come along. I have an appointment. I think you'll want to be there." Grimpen stomped over the lume rocks. "I suppose you ~now about these," he said with a laugh. "You'd be ~mazed how often that trick works. It gets my victims to

  think they really are enlightened. I just throw a few such simple tests their way, and when they pass, they think they're ready to solve the mysteries of the universe!" Zak winced at the pain in his arm. "That Sarlacc test wasn't so easy." "Of course it was," Grimpen mocked. "The Sarlacc wouldn't have bothered Tash if you hadn't been so clumsy. Anyway, your sister was already convinced she was going to be the greatest thinker in the galaxy. That only made things easier for me. Half the time, my subjects are so convinced that they're enlightened, they don't even put up a struggle when I scoop out their brains!" Grimpen strode through the main halls of the B'omarr monks, dragging Zak with him. The brain spiders Tash and Beidlo jabbed at Grimpen with their metal legs, but the monk brushed them aside. They reached the portal Zak had seen on his first day. Beyond it lay the Great Room of the Enlightened, where they'd stumbled on the monks performing the brain opera- tion. The walls were covered with shelves, and the shelves were filled with jars, and the jars were filled with brains floating in chemical soup. This time Zak got a closer look at the table in the cen- ter of the room. There were leather restraints attached to each corner. Beside the table sat a tray of medical instru- ments. Some of them were modern tools laser-needles and vibroscalpels. But there were older, more wicked-