City of the Dead

by John Whitman

  Star Wars

  Galaxy of Fear

  02

  City of the Dead

  by John Whitman

  source : IRC

  uploaded: 13.II.2006

  PROLOGUE

  In his hidden fortress, the scientist strode up to a heavy security door.

  Next to the door a massive GK-600 guardian droid leveled a heavy blaster

  cannon and demanded, "Voice recognition and password."

  The scientist spoke calmly: "Project Starscream."

  "Password verified." The guardian droid lowered its blaster and opened

  the security door.

  The scientist stepped inside his control module. From this command

  center, he monitored a galactic network of computers and living agents, all

  working on various aspects of Project Starscream. But only the Emperor, Darth

  Vader, and he, the scientist, knew Project Starscream's ultimate goal.

  "Soon now," the scientist told himself with evil glee, "very soon my

  power over life and death will be complete. Project Starscream is sure to

  please the Emperor, and then my control over the galaxy will begin. Nothing

  can stop me."

  An alarm sounded.

  The scientist sat down in front of his control module. Above a panel of

  computer controls sat five view-screens that allowed the scientist to watch

  over the five stages of his grand experiment.

  One of those viewscreens had just gone blank. Frowning, the scientist

  punched a control button. Instantly, streams of information sped across a

  computer screen. As the scientist read them, his frown deepened.

  His first experiment, on the planet D'vouran, had gone off-line. D'vouran

  was a living planet, a planet he had created as the first part of Project

  Starscream. Something-someone-had caused D'vouran to break free. Now the

  living planet was spinning through the galaxy, out of control.

  Hidden transmitters on the planet had captured images of the intruders

  just before D'vouran went wild. The scientist saw the images of two human

  children, a droid, and...

  ... him.

  The scientist let out a snarl of hatred. It couldn't be a coincidence

  that he had been on D'vouran, could it?

  For a moment, anger filled the scientist. He reached for a button on his

  control console. With one command the scientist could order the destruction of

  Hoole and his companions.

  But he did not. His enemy was well known in the galaxy. His murder might

  attract unwanted attention. And if the Rebels got wind of these experiments,

  they might try to stop them just as they had stopped the Death Star six months

  ago.

  Instead he pushed a different button. Another one of the viewscreens lit

  up, and the scientist leaned back into the shadows so that his face could not

  be seen. On the screen the image of a horribly scarred man appeared.

  "Evazan," the scientist demanded, "give me a progress report."

  The man on the screen, Evazan, sneered. "I'll give it to you. But first

  it's time we dispensed with the mystery. I'm tired of working for a faceless

  man."

  From the shadows, the scientist warned, "You are told what you need to

  know. And you are paid well."

  "Not that well," the man called Evazan replied. "You keep hinting that

  you're someone powerful in the Emperor's inner circle. But for all I know,

  you're a madman leading me on a wild mynock hunt." Evazan glared at the

  screen. "Now either you tell me who you are or I take my experiments to the

  highest bidder."

  "That would not be wise."

  "Who says?"

  "I say." The scientist leaned forward, out of the shadows, at last

  revealing his face to his hired henchman.

  .Evazan's eyes widened in surprise. "You!"

  "That's correct," the scientist said. "Now listen carefully, or I'll feed

  you to my Cyborrean battle dogs. You must finish your experiments immediately.

  I have reason to believe that an old enemy of mine has discovered my work and

  that he will follow the trail to you."

  Evazan sneered. "If any intruders show up here, I'll take care of them."

  "Do it quietly," the scientist warned. "And quickly. The being who may

  try to interfere is more powerful than you suspect. You must destroy him

  without arousing suspicion."

  Evazan nodded. "I have just the means. There's an old superstition on

  this planet that will provide a perfect cover. Just tell me who the target is.

  "

  "His name," the scientist said, "is Hoole."

  CHAPTER 1

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  Zak sat up in bed. What was that noise?

  Something was wrong. He was in his own room, in his own house on the

  planet Alderaan. But that was impossible.

  I can't be here. Alderaan was destroyed by the Empire.

  Zak and his sister, Tash, had lost their family, their friends, and their

  home. They had spent the last six months in the care of their only living

  relative, an uncle named Hoole.

  So Zak knew he couldn't be home, but everything around him looked and

  felt so real.

  Maybe it was all a bad dream! Maybe Alderaan wasn't destroyed. Maybe Mom

  and Dad are still alive!

  To Zak a bad dream would explain a lot. It would explain how his mother

  and father, and his entire world, could have vanished in a blast of Imperial

  laser fire. It would explain how he and his sister had been put into the care

  of their mysterious Uncle Hoole, a shape-changing alien scientist. And it

  would explain how they had barely escaped from a monstrous planet that had

  almost eaten them alive.

  "It explains things," Zak said out loud, "because that was all a dream.

  It never happened. And that means I'm home!"

  He jumped out of bed.

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  That noise had awakened him. Now it repeated itself.

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  The noise was coming from outside his bedroom window. Zak got out of bed.

  His feet felt heavy, and his vision was blurred. He fumbled his way to the

  transparisteel window. He was about to press the Open button but suddenly

  stopped.

  On the other side of the window, he saw the empty void of deep space.

  Deep space? How could his bedroom be traveling through deep space?

  But it was. In the darkness, Zak could see stars and distant solar

  systems blazing like tiny points of light.

  He rubbed his sleep-filled eyes, but the vision didn't change.

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  The sound came from just below his window. Zak resisted the urge to open

  it. If he did, the vacuum of space would suck him out. He pressed his face

  against the pane, trying to see what was down there.

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  The object started to drift upward into Zak's range of vision. Zak gasped

  and stumbled back from the window.

  A dead, gray hand rose into view.

  It was followed by a pale white arm, and then strands of blackened hair.

  Finally the figure's face floated into view. It was white with empty sockets

  for
eyes, but he recognized the face anyway.

  It was his mother.

  As he watched in horror, the mouth moved, and Zak heard his mother's

  voice moan, "Zak, why did you leave us behind?"

  Zak screamed.

  He opened his eyes.

  And found himself sitting up in a bunk onboard the ship known as the

  Millennium Falcon. His bedroom on Alderaan was gone. The corpse was gone. Tash

  was sitting bolt upright in a nearby bunk.

  "Zak! What's the matter?" his older sister cried.

  Zak tried to catch his breath. "I-I guess I was dreaming," he finally

  said. "I dreamed I was in my room... but my room was floating in space. And

  then I saw Mom, but she was floating through space, too. Dead." He squinted to

  hold back a tear. He couldn't say any more.

  Tash walked over to her brother and put a comforting arm around his

  shoulder. Before she could speak, the door to their small cabin slid open and

  the snarling face of Chewbacca the Wookiee appeared. He was holding a wicked-

  looking bowcaster, and his enormous frame filled most of the doorway. Behind

  him, Tash and Zak could just see the silver frame of the humanoid droid, D-V9.

  Chewbacca growled a question.

  "I think the Wookiee wants to know what's going on," D-V9 said. "So do I.

  "

  D-V9-or Deevee for short-cocked his mechanical head sideways in

  impatience. The droid had been Uncle Hoole's research assistant for years,

  until Zak and Tash came along and Hoole had made Deevee their caretaker.

  Deevee didn't always appreciate his new role, especially when one of his

  charges caused chaos in the middle of the night.

  "It's nothing, Deevee," Zak said. "I just had a bad dream."

  "Hey, what's all the shouting?" demanded Han Solo, squeezing past his

  Wookiee companion.

  "Nothing." Tash answered for her brother. "Sorry if we woke you."

  "No problem," the starpilot said. "The navicomputer says we're coming up

  on our destination anyway. Your uncle is in the lounge with Luke and Leia. You

  might as well get up."

  It didn't take Zak and Tash long to get ready. They had lost everything

  when they were orphaned six months ago. Anything that they had acquired since

  then, they had lost again only days before, when the planet D'vouran destroyed

  their ship and nearly took them with it. They had been saved by the Millennium

  Falcon and its crew.

  A few moments later, Zak and Tash entered the common area of the

  Millennium Falcon, where Uncle Hoole was waiting for them.

  Zak was fascinated by his uncle's appearance. At first glance, Hoole

  looked like a tall, thin human being-until you noticed that his skin was a

  light gray color, and his fingers were incredibly long. Hoole, who was only

  their uncle by marriage, was a member of the Shi'ido species. Although Zak

  knew that most Shi'ido were quiet and reserved, he could never quite get used

  to his uncle's grim, brooding personality.

  There was another thing about Hoole that Zak couldn't get used to. His

  uncle was a shape-changer. Like all Shi'ido, Hoole could transform into almost

  any living creature. Zak had seen it happen more than once. The memory made

  him shudder.

  "Good. You're up," Hoole said. "We will be landing momentarily."

  "Landing?" Tash asked.

  Hoole nodded. "We need to purchase a new ship. This is the closest

  inhabited planet."

  "What's it called?" Tash asked.

  "Necropolis."

  "Necropolis?" Zak said. "What a strange name. What does it mean?"

  "It means," Hoole said as they felt the Millennium Falcon descend into

  gravity, "City of the Dead."

  The Millennium Falcon plunged through a swirling mist and landed on a

  dark platform. With a groan, the ship's hatchway opened, casting pale light

  onto the ground. The landing pad was built of ancient stone blocks. In the

  mist-shrouded distance, Tash and Zak could see the shadowy outlines of tall

  stone buildings crowded together like rows of headstones.

  Beside Zak and Tash stood Han Solo, Chewbacca, and the droid companions

  C-3P0 and R2-D2, along with the other friends they had made: Princess Leia,

  who was from Zak and Tash's home planet, Alderaan, and a young man named Luke

  Skywalker.

  "Boy, you sure can pick them," Han said. "Look at this place."

  It was gloomy and depressing. Mist hung heavily in the air, and the

  darkness gave way reluctantly to light from the Falcon's landing gear.

  "Necropolis is a very ancient civilization," Hoole explained. "It has

  traditions that are thousands of years old."

  "Yeah," Zak said, "and it looks like the buildings are even older."

  "Look, I hate to say it, but this is as far as we can take you," Han Solo

  said, patting Zak on the shoulder.

  Princess Leia frowned. "Han's right. We've delayed too long already."

  "We understand," Tash said. She and Zak suspected that the crew of the

  Millennium Falcon were part of the Rebel Alliance. In fact, Zak had even asked

  them if they were. None of them admitted it, but the way they had acted and

  the fact that Leia was from Alderaan made Tash and Zak pretty certain that

  their new friends were Rebels.

  "Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Luke Skywalker asked. "We

  don't want to just abandon you here."

  Uncle Hoole answered. "We will be fine. We'll be able to buy a ship here

  and continue on our way." Goodbyes were said and thanks were given all around.

  The droid Artoo-Detoo whistled sadly.

  "You're quite right, Artoo," replied his golden counterpart, Threepio.

  "It is a sentimental moment."

  "Touching," Deevee said dryly. "My circuits are overloading with emotion.

  "

  Luke said a special goodbye to Tash. She was fascinated by the ancient

  warriors known as Jedi Knights, and she had taken a liking to Luke since the

  moment she'd seen his Jedi lightsaber.

  He shook her hand respectfully. "Good luck, Tash. May the Force be with

  you." Then he and his friends returned to their ship.

  Zak, Tash, Deevee, and Uncle Hoole watched as the Falcon's hatch closed.

  Then, with a roar of its powerful engines, the Falcon rose into the atmosphere

  and vanished.

  "They were a strange bunch," Zak said. "Nice, but strange. I wonder if

  we'll ever see them again?"

  Tash nodded. "We will."

  "How do you know?" her brother asked. But Tash only shrugged. "I just

  know it."

  Zak shook his head. "You're strange, too."

  He and Tash followed Uncle Hoole toward one of the dark alleys that led

  away from the landing pad. The cobblestones beneath their feet were old and

  slick with moisture. The alley was narrow and lined with what looked like

  tall, narrow boxes. But as they entered the alley, Zak saw that they weren't

  boxes. They were very old coffins, open and standing up on their ends.

  And they were full.

  Inside each coffin Zak saw a human shape draped in a gray burial shroud.

  "Ugh!" Zak wrinkled his nose. "Are these.. mummies?"

  "Nonsense," Hoole replied. "Necropolis has an ancient and respected

  civilization. You must learn to appreciate alien cultures."

  Zak didn't hear him. He was too busy s
taring at the mysterious coffins.

  The cloth-wrapped figures stirred. Zak froze in his tracks. One of the

  mummies had opened its eyes.

  CHAPTER 2

  They came out of their cases, staggering toward the small group.

  "Welcome to Necropolis," one of the mummies moaned.

  Another of the creatures clutched at Tash, and Zak felt a hand grab his

  shoulder.

  "Let go!" he yelled. He tried to push the creature away. To his surprise,

  the startled mummy stumbled backward and fell to the ground with a grunt.

  "Zak!" Uncle Hoole said irritably. "Behave yourself."

  "What?" Zak couldn't believe it. His uncle and Deevee looked perfectly

  calm as the mummies formed a tight circle around them. Then Hoole reached out

  and shook the hand of the nearest mummy!

  Zak was even more surprised when the mummy suddenly removed the shroud