by John Whitman
full of rage.
GET OUT!
CHAPTER 8
Tash screamed.
She couldn't help herself. The angry voice came from all around her,
striking her with the force of a punch in the stomach. But there was no one in
the room. As the echoes of her scream faded down the long passageways, Tash
was still looking around with wide, frightened eyes. She felt another wave of
cold air wash over her, but this time a sensation entered her bones along with
the chill. Fear.
Terrified, she backed away from the cursed room. But she was too slow.
She felt the icy cold wave pass through her again. It was so strong that it
overwhelmed her senses, and everything went black.
Tash woke to the feeling of a warm hand holding her own. Slowly, she
opened her eyes, and blinked in the light of several portable glow panels. The
bright light made a halo around ForceFlow's gently smiling face.
"You'll be all right," he said softly. "Just relax."
She tried to speak, but fear seemed to have choked the words out of her.
She knew she had to warn the others about the curse, but all she managed to
rasp out was "Hoole."
"I sent for him," ForceFlow said. "Your friends were in their ship.
They'll be here any minute-"
"I'm here," said Hoole's sharp voice as the Shi'ido appeared next to
ForceFlow.
Like Mangol's cry earlier, Tash's voice had echoed up through the metal
walls of the space station. ForceFlow and the treasure hunters had come
running when he'd heard her. Hoole was visibly relieved to see that his niece
was safe.
"Tash, what are you doing down here?" he demanded.
Zak was right behind him. "Are you all right?"
ForceFlow stopped all conversation. "By the Force! She found it!"
He pointed down the tunnel, where the entrance to the library was still
visible.
"No, no!" Tash yelled, grabbing ForceFlow's arm. "Don't go down there!
It's cursed. It's haunted!"
ForceFlow raised an eyebrow. "It's what?"
"There was a voice. There was no one there, but something shouted at me.
But there was a..." She didn't know how to describe it. "It was like a wave of
fear."
"Tash, calm down," said ForceFlow, his blue eyes twinkling at her. "The
most important thing right now is that you've done something no one else has
been able to do. You've found the Jedi library!"
"Mangol found it," Tash muttered, "and he's dead."
ForceFlow frowned. "True, but I'm sure that had nothing to do with the
library itself."
"It did," she said dejectedly. "The legend says that only a true Jedi can
break through the dark-side curse. The treasure hunter wasn't a Jedi, and"-she
took a deep breath-"and neither am I."
Hoole put a gentle hand on Tash's shoulder.
Beside Hoole, Deevee said in the warmest voice his program could manage,
"Tash, if that really is a Jedi library, then it would be the greatest
galactic discovery in a hundred years."
Tash shook her head stubbornly. "I don't care. That place is dangerous.
I'm not going back there."
Hoole's black eyes studied his niece for a moment, then the Shi'ido
nodded. "Very well. We'll return to the Shroud to make sure you're all right.
Then we can discuss our next step."
ForceFlow disagreed. "You said yourselves that Gog is after you. In the
library-with all the knowledge it contains-you might find a way to stop him.
You're wasting valuable time."
The Shi'ido shrugged. "Our decision is made."
A dark cloud passed over ForceFlow's handsome face but he said nothing.
The others, however, were not so silent.
Domisari said she would return to the solarium as well, but the other two
treasure hunters were reluctant to leave.
"We've been searching for the library for weeks," one of them said, "and
we can't just walk away from it now."
Hoole returned to the solarium with Zak, Tash, and Deevee. Instead of
entering the library himself, ForceFlow followed them to the upper levels.
"Just think of it," ForceFlow was saying as they reached the solarium.
"Twenty thousand years of Jedi lore are stored in that one room. Think of the
secrets those books must contain! All the mysteries of the universe may be
answered there."
Hoole stopped short. "I hope you are right, ForceFlow," he said. He
pointed toward the pile of cargo containers that had marked the boundaries of
Mangol's camp. "Because we now have another mystery to solve. Mangol's body is
gone."
They all followed Hoole's long, bony finger. The Shi'ido was right. The
body of the treasure hunter had disappeared.
Deevee asked the obvious question. "Who would have taken a corpse? And
why?"
Looking around, Zak asked a question no one had considered. "Where is
Dannik Jerriko?"
The others could not answer. They realized that Jerriko had not come when
Tash screamed. And he wasn't here now. "I'm telling you, he's up to something,
" Zak insisted. "I'll bet he killed Mangol and now he's removed the evidence."
Tash was about to insist that there was no murderer, but before she
opened her mouth, another cry drifted mournfully through the space station. It
was followed by another, desperate, scream for help. The small group in the
solarium looked at one another and every face grew pale.
They all knew what they would find at the library. The two treasure
hunters were dead.
CHAPTER 9
Only a few people were left on Nespis 8 now. Aside from Hoole, Zak, Tash,
and Deevee, ForceFlow still remained, as well as the old woman Domisari, and
the mysterious Dannik Jerriko.
The next day, after finally getting some sleep, everyone gathered outside
the library.
No one believed Tash's story of an evil curse, but no one wanted to enter
the chamber. Something was killing people, and none of them wanted to become
the next victim. Only Deevee, because he was a droid, could enter. Tash and
Zak hovered near the door as the droid entered the room and, careful not to
touch them, examined the two bodies, which sat slumped at tables in the center
of the library.
"There are no marks," the droid announced as he stepped away from the
corpses.
"It's as though the life had been stolen right out of them," ForceFlow
mused. "Perhaps it is the work of the Anzati."
"It's the curse," Tash whispered.
Hoole frowned. "So far our only suggestions are a mythical species of
killers and ancient dark-side magic. There must be a more logical explanation,
and I know where to look for it."
The survivors formed a small circle in the solarium with Dannik Jerriko
in the center. The narrow-faced man calmly studied his suspicious companions.
"This is ridiculous," Dannik was saying. "Do you truly think I have
killed those pathetic fools? You might as well believe this girl's fear of a
dark-side curse."
"We do not know what to believe," Hoole replied. "All we know is that
three people are dead, and that you were missing when each of them died. And,
again, when Mangol's body was
stolen, you were the only one missing."
Dannik blinked very slowly. "This is a civilized Empire. There are laws,
and this is not a court. You can't accuse me."
Hoole's voice was as cold as steel. "We are on the very edge of
civilization. I have two young humans under my protection, and I intend to
protect them by any means necessary."
Dannik locked eyes with Hoole. "Do not threaten me." Hoole's gaze did not
waver. "That is not a threat." Suddenly, the Shi'ido's entire body seemed to
quiver. The skin seemed to crawl across his frame, and a moment later, Hoole
had vanished. In his place stood a tall, shaggy Wookiee, who flexed and
unflexed the claws of one massive hand. When the Wookiee spoke, its voice
growled, but it still sounded like Hoole. "It is a promise," he said.
The fact that Hoole was a shapechanger made most people nervous. When he
changed into something ferocious, most people quickly backed down. But Dannik
seemed to become excited. His eyes flashed, and for a moment Tash thought he
was going to attack Hoole. But then Dannik yawned and said, "Very well. You
may threaten or promise or whatever you like, but the fact remains I did not
kill those people."
"Then where were you when the murders took place?" Hoole growled, still
in Wookiee form.
Dannik smiled coldly. "Come with me."
Hoole melted back into his own shape and Dannik led them to a small
chamber just outside the solarium. At first Tash found nothing unusual about
the square room, except for a strong smell of burning leaves. Then she noticed
that one corner of the little room was covered with a thin layer of ashes.
Dannik produced a long, thin reed from his vest pocket-a pipe. "I confess
that I have acquired a rather unpleasant habit. I smoke t'bac. Although I find
the habit detestable myself, I have been unable to quit. In order to hide this
personal failure, I prefer to smoke in private." He waited.
Zak squinted his eyes. "Are you saying you were smoking during the
murders?"
Dannik raised the pipe to his mouth and lit it with a small laser
lighter. "That is exactly what I'm saying."
Deevee's photoreceptors glowed as they scanned the ash-covered floor.
"Master Hoole, there is a significant ash layer here. It would take quite a
bit of smoking to produce this amount. I am inclined to say that this man is
telling the truth."
"But-" Zak started to say.
"It seems," Hoole interrupted, "that we owe you an apology."
"Indeed," Dannik said stiffly. Without waiting for another word, he
slipped past the others and returned to the solarium.
Zak and Tash watched Hoole and the others file out of the small room.
"But Tash," Zak said in a low voice, "if Dannik's not the killer, then
who is?"
"I think I know," replied a voice. It was Domisari. Her face was full of
excitement. "Meet me in fifteen minutes on the lower level, just outside the
tunnel to the library. And don't tell anyone-not even your uncle!" Then she
slipped away.
"What was that all about?" Zak groaned.
"I don't know, but I'm not sure we should go," Tash said. Her stomach had
twisted into knots as soon as Domisari had spoken.
Her brother shrugged. "Have you got any better ideas?"
"Yes," she argued, "we could tell Uncle Hoole what she said, and tell him
to come with us."
Zak scoffed. "Uncle Hoole would tell us we were being foolish."
With that, Zak headed for the passage to the lower levels. "Zak!" Tash
whispered after him. But her only answer was the hissing echo of her own
voice.
She caught up to him at the edge of the huge ventilation shaft. Zak
shivered. "I still don't get this coldness. If there were no power at all it
would be even colder-like deep space. This is more like... a refrigeration
unit."
"Or an air conditioner," Tash added. "This is a ventilation shaft,
remember."
Zak shook his head. "Yeah, but there's not enough power in the space
station to generate climate control."
"Can we worry about one thing at a time?" Tash snapped. "Come on, if
we're going to do this, let's get it over with."
She did not like the idea of going near the library again. She was afraid
of the curse, but even more than that, every step reminded her of the voice
that had yelled at her to get out.
No one was waiting for them outside the tunnel to the library.
Zak looked to his sister. "Where do you suppose Domisari could be?"
"Maybe just late," Tash suggested hopefully. Zak nodded halfheartedly.
They waited for five minutes, and then ten. The darkness seemed to crowd
in around them. Once, Tash swore she thought she saw something floating just
outside the circle of their light. It looked like fog. It was gone as soon as
it appeared.
Finally her nerves got the better of her. "I can't stand just waiting
here," she whispered. "Maybe Domisari meant that we should meet her inside one
of the tunnels."
"That's not what she said," Zak argued.
"Well, she's not here. Besides, you're the one who wanted to come down
here. So if we're going to talk with her, we should at least find her and get
it over with. Come on.
Wanting to stay far away from the fifth tunnel that led to the library,
Tash turned to the first passageway. "Maybe she's waiting down here."
The two Arrandas had traveled a few meters inside the tunnel when they
heard the faint echo of footsteps behind them. They stopped and listened for a
moment. Then a soft voice drifted through the darkness.
"Children... children..."
It was Domisari. They could see her approaching the tunnels. In one hand
she held a glow rod. In her other hand gleamed an object made of black metal.
Tash was just about to call out to the old woman when a shadowy figure
darted into Domisari's circle of light. The figure slammed into her with a
jarring thud. The old woman grunted in surprise as she was shoved outside the
circle of light and swallowed up by the surrounding darkness. Something
clattered to the ground as sounds of a struggle reached them from the shadows.
"What happened?" Tash whispered as they stepped out of the tunnel. "Where
are they?"
"There!" Zak said, pointing toward movement in the gloom.
Tash thrust the glow rod forward and gasped.
What she saw horrified her. A fallen blaster lay on the ground and over
it, Dannik Jerriko and Domisari were locked in a struggle. Dannik was holding
Domisari's head between his hands, and pressing his own face close to hers.
There was a look of terror on Domisari's face.
And she saw something even more horrible.
Two small holes opened up in Dannik's cheeks. Out of each hole slithered
a long, wriggling tendril. As Tash and Zak watched, the tendrils wormed their
way across the short space that separated him from Domisari. They jabbed into
her nostrils and crawled upward into her brain.
CHAPTER 10
Domisari was dead before her body hit the ground. Her lifeless corpse
fell into a heap at Dannik Jerriko's feet as the killer turned to face the two
A
rrandas. They watched in horror as the two tendrils retracted. The tendrils
were sucked back into the killer's cheeks and vanished, leaving no marks on
his skin.
Tash swallowed. "Zak, you were right."
"No visible marks," Zak whispered, remembering Deevee's story about the
Anzati. He looked at Dannik. "You-You are an Anzati."
"Wait," Dannik warned, "it's not what you think. He took a step forward.
Zak and Tash turned and ran for their lives.
Blindly, they plunged into the first tunnel.
"Stop!" Dannik's voice called from behind. "Let me explain!"
They had seen Dannik kill Domisari in a matter of seconds without leaving
a mark. They had looked into the eyes of one of the galaxy's most frightening
species. That same creature now chased them down the tunnel.
An Anzati was after them.
"Y-You were right," Tash panted without slowing down.
"Remind me," her brother gasped as he ran in front of her, "to be wrong
