by John Whitman
The Enzeen bowed low. "I would be honored to assist."
Chood led them down a flight of wide stairs and out of the spaceport.
Just outside the exit stood a large sign in Basic, the common language most
species in the galaxy used. It read: WELCOME TO D'VOURAN. OUR GOAL IS TO
SERVE.
"Now that's a friendly sign," Zak said.
"I guess," Tash responded glumly.
Her brother leaned closer and whispered. "What's the matter with you?
This Chood is doing his best to make us welcome here, and you look like
someone's planning your funeral."
"I can't help it," she whispered back. "I just have a bad feeling about
this place."
"You always have bad feelings," he muttered.
Chood led them through a little town next to the spaceport. It seemed
primitive to Zak and Tash. They saw no vehicles, and most of the houses were
small, one-story structures made of mud. They passed several people. Most of
them were human, but there were some aliens among them. Every now and then
they would see another Enzeen, and Tash noticed that they all looked very much
like Chood, with chubby blue bodies, spikes on their heads, and wide, friendly
smiles. Each Enzeen they saw stopped to say hello and welcome them to
D'vouran, as though they were old friends.
"Is this the' whole town?" Zak snorted. "There's not even a good
skimboard run!"
"This is it," Chood said. "There are a few homes closer to the forest,
but most of the houses are here, in town. It's more like a village really."
Chood cheerfully explained the recent history of D'vouran. Ever since it
was "discovered" by outsiders, the Enzeen had encouraged people to come to the
planet. "There aren't many of us Enzeen," he explained. "And we don't like to
travel. Inviting others to D'vouran is our way of learning about the galaxy."
"How was D'vouran discovered?" Zak asked.
"A cargo ship," Chood answered. "It wasn't expecting D'vouran to be here
and was surprised by the planet's gravity. It crashed. When a rescue flight
from offworld came to investigate, they discovered our planet, and our
hospitality. The word spread from there."
Tash noticed that Uncle Hoole wasn't asking questions. So she decided to
ask one of her own. "Were there any survivors of the original crash?"
Chood paused. "Only one. The rest died in the crash."
"Have many settlers come here since then?" Zak asked. "I mean, this place
sounds pretty boring."
"Zak!" Tash scolded.
But Chood didn't seem offended. At least his smile never wavered. "There
are a few hundred here. It's not a bad start for a planet that still hasn't
been put on the official star maps. But there will be more. D'vouran has
perfect weather and plenty of natural resources. We expect to have thousands
before too long."
"Don't you worry about D'vouran becoming overcrowded?" Tash added.
"Oh, no," the Enzeen replied cheerily. "We enjoy it. We could never get
our fill of visitors."
He led them down a short dead-end street. At the end of the street was a
squat building with a wide-open door. Loud noise-music mixed with laughter and
shouting-came from inside. A sign over the door revealed the cantina's name:
THE DON'T GO INN. Tash and Zak both laughed when they saw the sign.
So far, Chood told them, most of the settlers who had come to D'vouran
were explorers and treasure-seekers, hoping to strike it rich on an uncharted
planet. "But," he added, "we are encouraging families like you to join our
happy planet. D'vouran is paradise."
At that moment, someone came flying through the Don't Go Inn's front
door, landing face-first in the dusty street.
"Do you think he feels that way?" Zak joked.
"I'm afraid," Chood admitted, "we also have our share of ruffians."
"And there they are," Deevee noted.
A crowd of thugs poured out of the Don't Go Inn. They stood on the
cantina's porch, jeering down at the man they had just thrown into the street.
"And stay outta here, Bebo!" one man called.
"Stop coming around here with your crazy stories!" another yelled. "We're
tired of hearing about invisible monsters!"
"Yeah," snarled another, "we don't need you causin' us problems!" They
hurled a few more insults and warnings at their victim before fading back into
the shadows of the cantina.
Tash bent down next to the man, who had just crawled to his knees. "Are
you all right?"
"They won't listen!" the man croaked. "They just won't listen."
His clothes were filthy rags. His hair was gray under a layer of dirt,
and his beard was ragged and thin. He looked like a wild man who had just come
out of the wilderness.
"I'll listen," Tash offered.
The man glanced at her suspiciously. He clutched his worn shirt collar.
"I won't have you mock me, too! I'm safe enough! I don't have to try to help
them or anyone!"
Tash looked at Chood. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
"Pay him no attention," Chood said apologetically. "His name is Bebo. He
is harmless, but not completely rational."
The wild man, Bebo, stared at Tash. "I should bring Lonni. They may
believe her. Yes, that's it. But I don't think she'll come. She's too afraid.
But I've got to try. Yes. That's what I'll do. Lonni."
The man got to his feet and walked off, still muttering to himself.
"I'd say he's a few starships short of a fleet," Zak said.
Chood pointed at the door. "This is the cantina I told you about," Chood
explained. "I'm afraid the Don't Go Inn is not the nicest place on D'vouran,
but you did want to find a starpilot who could help with your ship. Also,
inside you will find all the free food you can eat. Compliments of the Enzeen.
"
Zak's eyes lit up. "Free food! I like this place already."
"It will do," Hoole said. "Thank you for your help."
"Please consider yourselves our honored guests on D'vouran. If there is
anything we can do, please let me know."
"There is one more thing," the Shi'ido replied. "I will be conducting
some... business... starting tomorrow. Zak and Tash will need a place to stay,
under the supervision of their caretaker, Deevee." Deevee stifled an
electronic screech.
Chood held up one hand. "Please. Say no more. It would be an honor if
they would stay with me. My house is not far from here."
"What!" Tash cried. "Uncle Hoole, you never said you were going to leave
us!"
Hoole said calmly, "I have anthropological research to do, Tash. I will
have no time to watch over you."
"But... but you're going to leave us!" she said.
"It won't take long," her uncle promised. "You can obviously rely on
Chood, here, and you'll have Deevee. What could be the problem?"
Tash's mouth tightened into a thin straight line. How could she explain
it? How could Hoole not understand? Her parents had left them in a stranger's
care, and then they died. Now Hoole was doing the same thing. And that feeling
of being watched still bothered Tash. But she knew she wouldn't be able to
make Hoole understand, so instead she said nothing.
Hoole turned back to Chood. "Then it's settled. Again, I thank you."
Chood bowed. "Our goal is to serve." He told them where he lived, and
turned away.
Tash and Zak had been in cantinas before, but never any place like this.
Instead of a brightly lit room where people could see what they were eating
and drinking, the Don't Go Inn was dark and smoky. Tash couldn't tell how many
people were inside because everyone kept to the shadows. Half of them
whispered to each other, while the other half shouted loudly around sabacc
tables or at the bar.
Once their eyes adjusted to the gloom, Zak and Tash could make out some
of the figures in the bar. Most of them were human, but there were a few other
species mixed in. They recognized a horn-headed Devaronian, and a wolf-headed
Shistavanen, and a gigantic Wookiee towering over a few humans in a corner.
Hands, or tentacles, or flippers were wrapped around mugs filled with alien
drinks. Every drinker had the hard look of someone who'd been in a lot of
fights, and was looking for another one.
The newcomers were about to sit at a small table when a voice boomed,
"Hoole!" At the same time, Tash felt a huge hand grab her by the shirt and
slam her against a wall.
Someone was pointing a blaster right between her eyes.
CHAPTER 5
The hand and arm that held the blaster were almost as big as Tash, and
the body they were attached to was even bigger. Looking up, Tash recognized
the square, ugly face of a Gank.
A Gank killer, as they were usually called. She could see why. Its square
yellow face was twisted into a permanent snarl, topped by cruel beady eyes.
Its massive shoulders looked like small hills, and its arms were as thick as
tree trunks. Ganks usually worked as hired guns and bodyguards for rich crime
lords. Why had this one decided to pick on her?
Tash got her answer in the next moment. The cantina had fallen silent and
still as everyone watched and waited to see what was going to happen next. Out
of the corner of her eye, Tash saw that Zak, too, had been grabbed, and there
was a blaster pointed at his head as well. Someone was even pointing a blaster
at Deevee. Only Uncle Hoole had not been touched. He stood face-to-face with
the most disgusting creature Tash had ever seen. It was a giant slug, with two
pudgy arms sticking out of its fat, fleshy body. Slobber trickled from the
edges of its wide mouth when it talked. It was this creature that had yelled
Hoole's name. A moment later, Tash learned who the creature was.
Smada the Hutt.
"Hoole!" Smada the Hutt bellowed again. "What a pleasant surprise this
is."
"Tell your thugs to let my niece and nephew go, Smada," Hoole said in a
low voice.
"No," the slimy Hutt replied. "Not until we've had a chance to talk. And
by the way, the minute you use any of your shape-changing powers, my
bodyguards will blast your small friends to bantha fodder."
"Leave us alone!" Zak demanded.
"What do you want?" Tash called out.
Smada the Hutt's flesh jiggled as he chuckled and looked at Tash.
"Simple. I want your uncle to work for me. I have need of an assassin to
eliminate some of my enemies, and Hoole's shape-changing powers will make him
the perfect weapon."
"You're crazy!" Tash replied. "Uncle Hoole's a scientist, not a killer!"
Smada the Hutt laughed. "Ho, ho! Is that so? Well, I'd say there's a lot
about your uncle that you don't know."
Tash was taken aback. What did he mean by that?
"You are wasting your time, Smada," Hoole said. "What are you doing on
this backwater planet anyway?"
Smada wiped a line of drool from his fat face. "Gang wars on my home
planet have made it necessary for me to take a short vacation."
"You mean hide, I'll bet," Zak interrupted.
Smada continued. "In fact, those gang wars are the reason I need a new
assassin. Until I found one, this new planet seemed like the perfect place to
lie low for a while." Smada leaned forward until his putrid face was only a
few inches from Hoole's. "And I was right. Because a stroke of luck brought
you here, too. And now you will work for me."
Hoole shook his head. "I told you no the last time we met, Smada."
The Hutt growled. "And I told you that no one defies Smada the Hutt. I
also told you that if we ever met again, I wouldn't ask so nicely. So if you
don't agree to work for me right now, I'll have your little brats vaporized."
Suddenly a tall man stepped out of the shadows, pointing a well-worn
blaster at Smada. "I don't think so," he said.
"This is none of your concern, stranger," Smada growled.
The tall man answered with a cocky grin. "I'm making it my business."
"And mine," said a young woman, who appeared beside the man.
"And mine," said another man with blond hair. He ignited a strange,
glowing weapon that looked like a sword made of. pure energy. Tash gasped. A
Jedi lightsaber!
"And his," said the tall man, pointing to the huge Wookiee Tash had seen
before. The furry Wookiee let out a threatening roar.
If looks had been lasers, Smada would have incinerated them all. But he
obviously didn't want to fight. "D'vouran is a small planet, Hoole. We'll meet
again."
Smada signaled to his thugs, who freed Zak and Tash. Tash saw that Smada
had been sitting on a hover-sled, a long platform that floated in the air.
With his bodyguards around him, Smada the Hutt floated out of the cantina.
Since there was nothing left to watch, the rest of the cantina patrons went
back to their business, and the noise resumed.
The tall man and the woman holstered their blasters, while the blond man
deactivated his lightsaber. Behind them hovered two droids, a stocky R2 unit
and a golden protocol droid.
"Oh, what a relief! I was about to short circuit!" the droid said.
"Shouldn't we notify the authorities?"
"Pipe down, Threepio," the tall man said. "There aren't any authorities
on D'vouran. Just the Enzeen, and they're too friendly to do much about Smada.
" He looked at Hoole. "Everyone okay?"
"Yes," Hoole said. "Luckily Smada was more interested in making threats
than hurting anyone. Thank you for your help."
"What was that all about?" Tash asked her uncle. "He seemed to know you,"
the young man with the lightsaber observed.
Hoole hesitated. Finally he said cautiously, "Yes. He... offered me a job
several years ago. When I refused to accept, he swore that he would have his
revenge. It was a coincidence that brought us together on this planet."
"An unhappy one, I'd say," the woman added. "That Smada's pretty foul-
tempered, even for a Hutt."
"I've known worse," the tall man said.
The Shi'ido introduced himself. "My name is Hoole."
"I'm Han Solo. Call me Han," said the tall man. He had the casual
confidence of a starpilot. "This is my partner, Chewbacca," he added,
indicating the Wookiee. Then he pointed at the woman. "And this is-"
"Princess Leia," Tash finished.
The woman blinked. All the newcomers looked around to make sure no one
had overhe
ard. Han Solo's hand crept toward the blaster slung low on his hip.
The young man with the lightsaber saw the movement and said, "It's all
right, Han."
But Han growled, "I'm not taking any chances."
The woman,. Leia, gently put her hand over Han's. "Let me handle this."
To Tash, she said, "What makes you think that's my name?"
Zak shook his head. "It's gotta be. Tash is always right about stuff like
that. It's weird."
Tash said, "It's not so weird! Zak and I live on Alderaan, where you're
from. I mean, we did... before it... well, you know."
She could see from the woman's face that Leia knew very well what had
happened to Alderaan.
Beside her, Zak almost shouted, "Hey, are you guys Rebels?"
"Zak!" Tash hissed.
Han's face turned to a scowl. "We're minding our own business, kid, which
is what you should be doing."
"We're... researchers," Leia interrupted gently. "We're looking this