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Army of Terror

Page 2

by John Whitman


  Then they all saw it. On the planet's surface, something glowed with

  sudden brightness. It was tiny, but clearly visible even hundreds of

  kilometers above the surface.

  A sensor alarm bleeped. "Energy readings just went off the scale," Zak

  yelped.

  "Something's attacking us!" Tash cried.

  "Taking evasive action," Hoole responded, banking the Shroud hard to the

  right.

  Too late.

  An enormous energy beam streaked toward them, slamming into the ship with

  the light of a dozen suns. The Shroud spun to the right, and continued to spin

  even after the bright light vanished. Tash felt her stomach leap into her

  throat. They were falling. The ship lurched into a nosedive, and Tash was

  slammed against a wall. Through the spinning viewport, she could see the

  planet spiraling upward toward them.

  "What's happening?" she yelled.

  "No power," Hoole said. He was straining forward in the pilot's seat,

  trying to regain control of the ship. "We're out of control. We're going to

  crash!"

  CHAPTER 3

  We're going to die. That same thought gripped both Tash's and Zak's minds

  at the same time.

  Neither one of them could speak. Their mouths and throats had gone dry,

  and all they could do was watch the surface of the planet grow closer by the

  second.

  Zak knew there were procedures to regain ship control. There were steps

  to follow. But he was too terrified to remember them. Then he heard a calm

  voice speak over the sound of the atmosphere rushing past the ship's hull.

  "Restarting repulsor engines," Hoole said aloud. "No response. Main

  circuits are off-line."

  The planet's surface was very near now, but Hoole's voice was utterly

  calm. "Switching to backup circuit board." Zak heard something click. But it

  was too late. The planet rushed up to crush them. "Circuits are on-line.

  Restarting repulsor engines again."

  A low groan rumbled through the ship. "Brace yourselves!" Hoole warned.

  "Engaging thrusters."

  The ship's forward repulsors fired up, breaking against the overwhelming

  pull of gravity. Tash and Zak were thrown forward, slamming into the Shroud's

  main console.

  "By the Maker!" Deevee cried as he toppled over the copilot's chair. "I

  just put myself back together!"

  The ship continued to fall, but it also began to slow down as Hoole

  gained more control.

  "We're going to make it!" Tash cried.

  "Not quite," Hoole said grimly. "Hold on."

  Try as he would, he couldn't pull the ship out of its dive. All he could

  do was adjust the angle of their fall so they wouldn't slam right into the

  ground. The Shroud hit the surface of Kiva like a rock thrown across the

  surface of a lake-skipping once, twice, three times-then plowing over a rocky

  field as parts of the hull were torn off the ship's frame. The ship scraped

  across jagged mounds of stone that gouged long cuts into the tough metal.

  Inside, the four passengers were thrown around. The room was filled with

  flying debris as equipment, datachips, holodisks, and everything else not tied

  down suddenly leaped into the air. Tash felt a datachip bounce off her

  forehead with the force of a small rocket. A moment later she blinked as a

  trickle of blood dripped into her left eye.

  Finally, the ship came to rest.

  Before Tash and Zak could climb to their feet, Hoole was standing over

  them. "No broken bones, no serious wounds," he said to each of them, then

  pressed a piece of cloth against Tash's cut. "Can you stand?"

  They both nodded and the Shi'ido helped them up, then quickly turned to

  Deevee. "Are you functioning?"

  Servos whined as the droid climbed to his feet. "It seems to defy the

  laws of physics," Deevee said, "but I'm still operational."

  "Good," Hoole said, as though they hadn't just had a very close brush

  with death. "Please go check the engines for damage."

  With that, Hoole began to check the cockpit equipment. Tash held the

  cloth against her forehead and watched her uncle. She had to admire his calm.

  Her hands were still shaking from the crash, but Hoole was steady as a rock,

  running checks on all the systems.

  "Oh, this is not prime," she heard Zak mutter.

  Zak was looking at the floor just outside the cockpit. There was a gaping

  hole in the metal floorboards. It was so wide and deep that they could see

  straight through to the gray rock of the planet's surface. "I think this ship

  just found its permanent home," Zak said. "It sure isn't going to fly anywhere

  soon."

  "I am afraid Zak is right," Hoole confirmed. "There are at least four

  major holes in the hull too big to repair. The crash took out almost every

  system, including the navicomputer. Even if the engines worked, we could not

  fly. This ship is dead."

  They were marooned.

  A short while later, Zak, Tash, Deevee, and Hoole stood outside what was

  left of the Shroud. Each of them carried a small supply of food and water

  salvaged from the ship's galley, and Hoole pulled an emergency crash kit out

  of the wreckage. It contained two small tents and a cooking unit.

  Zak had also insisted on bringing along as many of the ship's datachips

  as possible. The Shroud's computer banks had been full of interesting

  information.

  "It was a good ship," Zak sighed. "It got us through a lot of scrapes."

  "Funny," Tash added. "This ship started out as part of Gog's plan. Now

  it's as if we've brought it home to him." Zak nodded unhappily at the memory

  of how they found the ship. The Shroud had belonged to one of Gog's henchman,

  another evil scientist named Evazan.

  Hoole said, "Come. It's not a long walk, but we should start at once."

  "Where are we going?" Zak asked.

  "Just follow me," Hoole said.

  The direction Hoole chose seemed no better or worse than any other. In

  fact, every direction looked the same. Kiva was absolutely dead, made up of

  kilometer after kilometer of dark gray rock under a roof of dark gray sky.

  Even the sun looked gray. The light was dim, but strong enough for huge,

  jagged pillars of rock to cast long shadows on the dry ground.

  Zak stood next to one rock that was taller than he was. "These things

  look like giant teeth."

  "Or frozen people," Tash added. "They're all over the place. Like

  millions of people, turned into rock."

  "Be silent," Hoole warned sharply. Tash and Zak looked at each other and

  shrugged.

  There was no sound, other than a sad wind that moaned through the rocks.

  Zak looked around. Something bothered him. But what was it? Then it hit him.

  "No life," he muttered. He crouched down and stared at the ground,

  looking for the tiniest sign of growing things, a weed, or even a thorn.

  "There's nothing here. Not even a blade of grass."

  "You're right, Zak," his sister replied. "This place makes Tatooine seem

  like a garden paradise."

  "Well I hope there's something here," Zak said. "If we don't get help, or

  a ship, we're going to end up just like this place. Lifeless."

  Tash pointed at Hoole, striding ahead
of them. The Shi'ido had been

  traveling along at a steady pace since they stepped off the ship. "Well, he

  seems to think there's something here. How does he even know where we're

  going?"

  Neither of them could answer that question.

  Although Hoole had ordered them to be silent, Deevee chattered happily.

  "Master Hoole, this is a rare opportunity indeed!" the droid said as they

  hiked. "Why, you must know that there has been no serious study of the planet

  Kiva. Although I did read a paper once by an anthropologist from Circarpous 4.

  ."

  Tash stopped listening. A motion caught her eye. It was small-but on a

  planet with absolutely no life, she noticed it right away. She thought she'd

  seen something step from behind one of the rocks. But when she turned to get a

  better look, all she saw was the rock's own shadow. She shrugged.

  "... and according to the articles I've read," Deevee went on, "the

  Kivans may have left behind entire cities in the aftermath of Mammon's

  disaster..."

  "I believe that is enough background, Deevee," Hoole said shortly.

  "But, Master Hoole, surely you appreciate how interesting this planet

  must be to an anthropologist! It's a dead civilization."

  "I know. I am an anthropologist," Hoole snapped. But he said nothing

  more.

  A moment later something caught Tash's eye again. But when she turned

  again to look, there was nothing but shadows. For a moment, she thought she

  could see the shadows stretching toward them. But then she realized it was

  only the setting sun, making the shadows grow longer on the ground. Still,

  something had caught her eye...

  "Uncle Hoole," she asked, "is it possible that there's still something

  alive here?"

  "No," Hoole said definitely. "Every living thing on Kiva died."

  "But I thought I saw something-"

  "A trick of the light," the Shi'ido interrupted.

  "But something fired at us," Zak said. "There's got to be someone here."

  "Not someone. Something," Hoole said as they came to the top of a small

  hill. "Look."

  On the other side of the hill, nestled in a small, barren valley, stood a

  large tower. An ion cannon was mounted atop the tower, its tip pointing up

  into the gray sky. The tower hummed with energy as it swiveled automatically

  on its base.

  They walked down into the valley. Here, the shadows were even thicker.

  "It is a computerized defense system," Hoole explained. "It's fully

  automated."

  "How did you know that?" Tash asked.

  Hoole shrugged. "The sensors picked it up just before we were hit." The

  Shi'ido looked at his niece and nephew. "So, as you can see, we are quite

  alone on this planet."

  Uncle Hoole always has an explanation for everything, thought Tash, as

  she wandered away from him and Zak. She picked her way through the maze of

  toothlike rocks toward the ion tower. It's so much darker here in the valley-

  Tash couldn't believe how fast the shadows moved here. As

  Zak's and Hoole's voices faded in the distance, Tash stood still, looking

  all around her, trying to see just how the rocks cast such weird, fast-moving

  shadows.

  Suddenly, Tash screamed. Something had grabbed her by both wrists-she was

  being attacked!

  CHAPTER 4

  "Help!" Tash cried out.

  Zak, Hoole, and Deevee ran toward the sound of her voice. But once they

  found her, all they could see were shadows cast by the rocks and Tash

  struggling with something invisible.

  "Get it off me!" Tash yelled.

  "What?" Deevee asked.

  "The shad-!" she began. Then she was sucked into the darkness.

  "Tash!" Zak yelled. He started forward, but stumbled. His foot.had caught

  on something. Looking down, he saw that as he'd rushed forward, he had stepped

  into a shadow. Now his foot was stuck.

  Hoole and Deevee had charged toward Tash, too, but seeing Zak, they

  stopped. "What's wrong, Zak?" Hoole asked.

  "I don't know," Zak said. He tugged at his foot, but it wouldn't budge.

  "Something's got me." He tugged again. This time, something tugged back.

  Zak was dragged forward into the shadow. In an instant, day turned into

  night. It wasn't the pitch-blackness of late night, but more like the darkness

  of evening, just after sunset. Zak could see the ground, he could see the sky,

  he could even see Hoole and Deevee, but everything lay under a shadowy shroud.

  His uncle and Deevee were moving their arms frantically, and they seemed to be

  shouting, but Zak couldn't hear them. He called out to them, but he could tell

  that they couldn't hear him either. It was as if a dark, heavy curtain had

  dropped between them.

  Mammon!

  The word was whispered close to him, so close he felt something brush

  against his ear. Turning quickly, Zak saw only more shadows.

  Mammon!

  A second voice moaned in his other ear.

  Zak turned again, and again saw nothing but shadows around him. A little

  farther away, deeper in the strange bubble of darkness, he saw his sister

  lying huddled on the ground. Zak started toward her, but every step took

  immense effort. It was like walking through a thick goo. It felt as though

  many hands were pushing against him, keeping him from getting near Tash.

  "Tash!" he called out.

  Tash lifted her head slowly.

  "Zak...," she said weakly.

  Mammonmammonmammonmammonmammon!

  Angry voices swirled around Zak like a moaning wind, all of them

  repeating that same name over and over.

  "Stop it!" Zak shouted, plugging his ears. "Leave us alone!"

  Murderer! the voices cried.

  "What?" Zak wasn't sure he had heard right.

  Murderermurderermurderermurderermurderer!

  "Who are you? What do you want?" he called out.

  To his surprise, Tash answered him. She had managed to sit up and look at

  him through the fog. "They're angry, Zak," she mumbled. "They're so angry."

  "Who?" he asked.

  Something hard and sharp lashed out at Zak from the darkness, shredding

  the front of his tunic and just missing his skin. Something had attacked him

  from the darkness. No, not something from the darkness, he realized. The

  darkness itself had attacked him!

  "Help!" he shouted in panic. "Help!"

  A moment later Hoole charged forward. As he did, the Shi'ido changed

  shape. The flesh crawled across his bones and an instant later Hoole had

  vanished, replaced by a huge, hairy bantha, its four legs pounding the ground

  and its sharp tusks raking the air as it charged.

  The bantha crashed into the wall of darkness, storming straight at Zak.

  The bantha reared up, searching for enemies to strike.

  But all that could be seen was darkness, and all that could be heard were

  the whispering voices as they moaned more ferociously than ever.

  Mammon! Murderer! Mammon! Murderer! M-U-RD-E-R-E-R!

  The bantha paused. Its front feet came crashing down to the ground. It

  shivered violently, and a moment later Hoole returned to his normal shape. But

  he kept shaking, as though he were freezing cold.

  "Uncle Hoole?" Zak called out. "Are you all right?"
r />   Hoole fell to his knees, still shivering. He covered his face with his

  hands. "Oh, no," Zak heard his uncle mutter. "Oh... no."

  Hoole's entrance into the ring of shadows had triggered something in the

  darkness. The shadows began to take a more solid shape. Zak could make out

  vaguely humanoid figures. He saw heads and arms the color of shadow, with

  bodies that melted into the darkness. They swarmed around Hoole and the two

  Arrandas, snarling the same words over and over.

  Mammon!

  Murderer!

  "We've got to get out of here!" Zak yelled to his sister and uncle.

  Neither of them responded.

  The creatures closed in. Through the gloom, Zak thought he saw dark claws

  reach out to grab Hoole's throat. He expected Hoole to shapeshift into

  something large and fierce that could tear the weird creatures to shreds, but

  Hoole didn't even move.

  Dark claws clutched at the Shi'ido's throat.

 

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