by John Whitman
He just wasn't sure. And if there's one thing Zak hated, it was doubt. That's
why he liked engines, circuits, and physics. When you were building an engine
or charting a hyperspace course, you were either right or wrong. There weren't
any gray areas. It didn't matter what you were feeling. You just double-
checked your math and had your answer. If you were wrong, you tried again.
All this talk of shadows, sleep, and dreams made him nervous. He needed
to do something. He wasn't like Tash, who could sit and think about a problem
forever until she came up with an answer. Zak did his best thinking when he
was on the move.
That's why he left Chood's house early the next morning and went out onto
the deserted streets of the village, carrying his skimboard.
The morning air was warm, fresh, and scented by the forest that
surrounded the town. Zak understood why people had accepted the Enzeen's
invitation to settle on D'vouran. It was beautiful.
Zak slid his skimboard out of its carrying case. Before starting the
board's microengines, Zak put on his crash helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads.
After all, as he had told Deevee a dozen times, he was a daredevil, but he
wasn't stupid. Once he was padded up, Zak checked the stick-strips on the top
of the board to make sure they were sticky enough to keep him in place.
The skimboard had many high-tech devices, but the most important were the
lines of goo called stick-strips. Skimboard riders on Zak's home planet of
Alderaan had been nicknamed slashers because of the stunts they pulled by
"slashing" through the air, turning flips, and especially going vertical. That
meant using the board's built-in anticollision system to fly toward a wall at
top speed and then bank straight up. The slasher would be held in place only
by the stick-strips that kept his feet connected to the board. Most slashers
could get a two-or three-meter vertical ride before gravity caught up and
pulled the board into its upright position. The all-time record for a vertical
ride was five meters.
Zak planned to break it.
He laid the board on the ground and stepped onto it. The foot controls
were near the back. Zak bent his knees for balance, then with a practiced
swipe of his toe, he activated the repulsor lift.
His stomach dropped as the board sprang high into the air. Zak almost
lost his balance, and the board wobbled beneath him, but he quickly righted
himself.
Chewbacca's rewiring had worked well. Maybe too well. The skimboard was
designed to hover an arm's length above the ground. Zak had wanted it to go a
little higher, but now he found himself floating higher than even a Wookiee
could reach. A fall from that height was not going to be fun. But Zak had no
intention of letting that stop him. He had a vertical ride record to break.
Propelling himself forward, Zak skimmed through the air until he reached
the Don't Go Inn. It was two stories tall. Even with the extra altitude of
Zak's skimboard, the roof was at least six meters above his head. With a good
run to gather speed, Zak and his souped-up board should be able to bank up the
wall and get over the top with momentum to spare.
Tapping the accelerator, Zak leaned into a turn and skimmed away from the
hotel, then whipped around and hovered. He had a twenty-meter runway straight
to the white siding of the hotel. That should do it.
Taking a deep breath, he tapped the accelerator into full. The hot-wired
skimboard rapidly picked up speed.
Under his helmet, he heard wind rush past his ears in a muffled moan, and
he had to squint his eyes so they wouldn't tear. The white wall rushed toward
him.
Fifteen meters.
Some slashers had a reputation for being lazy, unambitious delinquents.
In Zak's case it wasn't true. You had to be brave and very ambitious to try a
vertical ride. Even with the anticollision system, it took real courage to
stay calm while you hurtled at high speed toward a solid wall.
Ten meters.
Zak kept his mind on his next move. The real trick to a vertical climb
wasn't getting the nose up-the skimboard did most of the work for you. It was
the moment afterward. Once the board banked, its nose was pointing straight up
into the air. That meant the bottom-side repulsors were pushing off the wall.
Unless the rider kept his balance perfectly, and cut power to the bottom
repulsors at just the right moment, the board would push off the wall,
flipping the rider over and dropping him straight into the ground.
Five meters.
Zak braced himself.
One meter.
Now!
Zak leaned back as the anticollision kicked in. The nose of the skimboard
tilted up and Zak tilted with it. Suddenly he was looking up at the sky. Using
the foot controls, he transferred power from the bottom repulsors to the rear
engine, trying to gain altitude.
But he forgot to compensate for the skimboard's newly improved engine.
The same thrusters that had pushed him off the ground were now pushing him
away from the wall. Zak and his board tipped over backward. He was no longer
looking at the sky, he was looking at the town-which was upside down. Or
rather, he was. Then gravity, aided by the power of his own upsidedown
repulsors, drove him right into the ground with a thud.
He was very glad that he had worn his helmet.
Even so, he felt like his brain had exploded inside his head. He lay flat
on his back for a moment, staring at the sky. It felt as though his entire
body had just become one big bruise, and he decided he couldn't possibly feel
any worse.
Until his view of the sky was blocked by the blubbery body of Smada the
Hutt.
"How convenient," Smada said. "We were just coming to kill you."
CHAPTER 10
Zak scrambled to his feet. But he was already surrounded by five Ganks.
Smada the Hutt sat on his hoversled amid folds of fat flesh. The grinning slug
stuck one hand into a large glass bowl filled with live eels. He dropped one
of the wriggling eels into his mouth and licked his lips.
"Delicious. Now, where was I?" the Hutt rumbled. "Oh, yes. Boys."
The Ganks raised their weapons.
"Wait!" Zak cried. "Why are you doing this?"
"Blame your uncle," the crime lord said matter-of-factly. "He won't
cooperate, so I've decided to convince him to work for me. I'm going to kidnap
your sister, and kill you as a warning that I mean business."
"People will wake up soon, boss," one of the Ganks growled. "Lots of
witnesses."
"You're right. Kill the boy and dump his body on the doorstep. Then we'll
find the girl."
"Doomed!" Someone shrieked the word so loudly that even the Gank killers
jumped back.
"Doomed!" the voice shrieked again.
Bebo appeared around a corner, shuffling through the center of town. He
swayed this way and that and screamed at the top of his lungs. "We're all
doomed!"
"That madman no longer amuses me," Smada bellowed. "Turn him into nerf
meat."
One of the Ganks pointed his blaster at Bebo and fired. The blaster bol
t
streaked through the air straight toward Bebo. But then it missed. Zak
blinked. He must have hit his head harder than he thought. He could have sworn
that the blaster bolt veered away at the last minute.
"You missed!" one of the other Ganks laughed. "But I won't."
He fired one shot. Then a second. Both shots missed and shattered the
side of a building far down the street. Bebo, shocked but unhurt, ran for
cover.
All the Ganks lost their tempers. Five blasters fired at once, and the
air was filled with the scream of energy bolts. Bebo was lost behind a cloud
of dust and smoke.
When it cleared, Bebo lay cowering on the ground. But he was untouched.
"You cursed old fool!" Smada roared. "I'll kill you myself!"
"You'll kill no one, Smada." It was Hoole's voice.
Smada and his bodyguards turned. Behind them, Hoole stood at the head of
two dozen villagers, foul-tempered from lack of sleep and all armed with
blasters. Tash and Deevee stood behind the Shi'ido.
Smada laughed. He reached one fat hand into the bowl of eels and ate
another one. "Hoole, you're a fool. Do you think a few frontier settlers are a
match for my Ganks!"
Hoole's voice was like steel. "Do you want to kill that man so badly that
you're willing to find out?"
"I am Smada the Hutt! I kill who I want, when I want."
"Not today."
Hoole waited.
A low, angry growl rumbled from deep within Smada's cavernous belly. He
was a Hutt. That meant he wasn't afraid of a few villagers. But it also meant
he was smart enough to know when to cut his losses. Winning this standoff
wasn't worth the risk to his own precious skin.
"That's twice you've foiled me, Hoole," Smada said. "But in the end, you
will work for me." The Hutt cast a threatening eye on Bebo. "And you'll be
dead before another day is over."
One of the Ganks jumped on board the hoversled and steered it down the
street as the rest of the thugs followed. No one dared to stop them. Only when
the crime lord was out of sight did the settlers, and Hoole, relax.
"Zak, are you all right?" Tash asked.
"I think so," her brother said. "I've got him to thank for it." He
pointed at Bebo.
"Please," Bebo screeched to the gathered crowd. "You've got to listen to
me. I've found something!"
But the settlers had had enough excitement for one morning. With a few
short thanks from Hoole, they turned and headed back to their houses. "You're
all doomed!" Bebo yelled after them.
"What happened?" Tash asked Zak.
Zak shrugged. "I don't know, but it saved my life. It was amazing. Those
Ganks kept firing at him, but every single shot missed, and he just stood
there. He's pretty brave."
"Or a fool," Deevee added.
"Urn, Tash, I think you may have been right." Zak reddened a little. "At
least about Smada's men being after us. He was after me this morning."
"I told you!" she nearly shouted.
"But I don't know anything about the Ganks disappearing," he added.
"Disappearing!" Bebo pounced on the word. "Yes, yes! Disappearing!"
Hoole interrupted. "Zak, Tash, please. It is too early in the day for
this."
But Tash had finally found someone who believed her, even if he was a
madman. "Uncle Hoole, I'd like to stay and talk with him for a while."
Hoole looked around. The Hutt was gone, but for how long? "I don't think
that would be safe, Tash."
"Well then you can stay with me. Or Zak."
The Shi'ido shook his head. "I have to go," he said. "Where?"
"I have more business to take care of," the Shi'ido said mysteriously.
Again Tash was reminded of what Smada had told her the day before in the
cantina. What was Uncle Hoole up to?
"And I didn't get much of a chance to practice my skimboarding," her
brother explained.
"Just for a few minutes, Uncle Hoole. Please!" she pleaded.
Hoole relented. "Very well. Deevee will stay with you. I will meet you
back at Chood's house. Do not go far."
"Prime," Tash muttered as her brother and uncle left. "The dreariest
droid ever designed will make great company."
"I can't say I'm any happier than you are," Deevee intoned. "I'd rather
be counting the sand fleas on a nerf. Although I could probably find plenty on
your new friend here."
Bebo had squatted down in the dust. He rocked back and forth, muttering
to himself. When Tash approached him again and put a hand on his shoulder, he
did not respond. "Bebo? That's your name, right?" No response. "Are you okay?"
No response. "Do you know about these disappearances?"
"Disappearances!" The word brought Bebo to life. "Yes, the
disappearances! You know."
"What can you tell me?"
"Let me show you what I found!" He leaped to his feet and grabbed Tash's
hand. "Come on! Hurry!"
He rushed off, pulling Tash along behind him.
"This is beginning to look like an adventure," Deevee grumbled as he
hurried after them. "I detest adventures."
Zak decided that his skimboard was a little too powerful. He walked back
to the spaceport, where he could use the Lightrunner's tools. He had watched
Chewbacca work, and he was sure he knew what he was doing.
Using one of the Lightrunner's landing pods as a seat, he popped open a
panel on his skimboard. He would lower the power just enough so that he'd
still have a powerful ride, but without as much height.
He was just about to make the adjustment when a shadow fell across him.
A moment later, Zak was gone.
Bebo led Tash away from the town and into the surrounding woods. It was a
dark forest, where trees grew thick and very close together. Their trunks were
gnarled, with big roots that broke out of the ground. They reminded Tash of
tentacles.
"Um, should we really be out here?" she asked. She looked back, but
Deevee had been left far behind.
Bebo didn't answer. Instead he led her even deeper into the forest, until
they came to the base of an enormous tree. Giant roots curled up as high as
Tash's head, and the branches were so thick that she could not see the sun.
Beneath the tree, it was almost as dark as night. In the shadow of one of the
great roots, Tash could just make out an opening in the ground.
"Down there," Bebo said, pointing toward the hole. "Go on."
"Down there?" she asked. "Are you sure it's safe?"
"Safe? Safe! Heh, heh, heh!" Bebo cackled. "If you wanted to be safe, you
shouldn't have come to D'vouran! "
And he shoved her down the hole.
CHAPTER 11
Tash started to scream, but the fall was so short that her cry came out
as a short "Yip!" as she landed on something as soft as a large cushion.
Wherever she was, it was pitch black.
Tash had just enough sense to get out of the way before she heard Bebo
drop down after her, still muttering and chuckling softly to himself.
"What are you doing! Why did you push me?" she yelled angrily.
"Sorry, sorry. Have to hurry, though. No time to waste."
She heard Bebo shuffle away into the darkness. "Don't leave me here!
Where are you?"
But he didn't go far. Tash heard the creak of a lever being turned, and
then light flooded the room.
She was standing in the middle of an underground laboratory. Or at least
what used to be an underground laboratory. Vials and test tubes lay scattered
on tabletops, and broken glass was everywhere. There was lots of computer
equipment, too, but most of it was broken or taken apart.
Over in a corner, a dirty sleeping mat was unrolled, and bits and pieces
of junk were gathered around it. Propped up on a little shelf, Tash noticed a
few holographic pictures meant as keepsakes. All of them were of the same
attractive woman. In the last holograph, the woman wore camping gear and
looked like she'd been in the wild for months. In the background, Tash
recognized the trees of D'vouran.
"Lonni," Bebo said.
"This is your friend Lonni?" Tash asked. "Then she does exist."
"Did exist. Did exist," Bebo mumbled. "Gone. Vanished." He heaved a long,