by John Whitman
for the disappearance of that first commando."
"Perhaps," Hoole said. "But there are other dangers."
The Shi'ido pointed to a large gully on their right. At first Tash didn't
see anything. Then she realized that the gully was full of shadows. And the
shadows were moving.
"Wraiths," she whispered.
"Indeed," Hoole said coldly. "They have been following us since we left
the abandoned laboratory."
Tash was surprised. "And you didn't say anything?" Hoole didn't answer.
The Rebel commandos had spotted the strange shadows, too. They picked up
the pace. "Our landing point is only a few more kilometers from here," said
Meex. "If we hurry, we can-"
"They're attacking!" one of the other commandos cried.
The shadows closed in. They did so slowly and steadily, moving just like
a shadow growing longer in the afternoon.
The small group tried to look for a way to escape, but every path was
blocked by darkness.
The shadows began to wail.
Murderer!
Mammon!
Killer!
Mammon!
KillerkillerkillerkillerkillerkillerKILLER!
One of the shadows seemed to rise off the ground. It reared up like a
figure made of solid darkness, and lunged forward.
The commandos fired their weapons, and the blaster bolts shrieked into
the dark curtain. The whispering turned to angry snarls, but nothing else
happened.
"Blasters are useless," said Meex. "Try thermal detonators.
Another commando pulled a fist-sized metal ball from his belt and tossed
it into the darkness. "Everybody down!"
They all crouched and shielded their eyes as the grenade exploded.
Brilliant white light flashed around them for a moment, driving the shadows
away. But the shadows came back as the light faded, and came toward them
again.
The Rebel commandos made a small circle with Hoole, Deevee, Zak, and Tash
squeezed into the middle. Only a few meters of light separated them from the
wraiths. Tash could see the wraiths in their own darkness, angry figures
writhing about, gathering themselves to attack. And she could feel them, too.
They were angry. She sensed that anger was all they had left. It was the only
part of them that was still alive.
Murderer! Murderer!
The commandos fired several more shots into the shadows, but it was no
use.
"Uncle Hoole, what should we do?" Zak asked.
Hoole didn't answer. He stood stone still, staring into the darkness. His
eyes seemed very far away. He seemed to be waiting.
Tash turned to Meex. "What should we do?"
The commando shook his head. "Blasters don't work. Grenades don't work. I
sure don't want to fight these things hand to hand, whatever they are."
"Do you have any ion weapons?" Zak asked.
Meex raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, we've got a portable ion gun. It's
used to fight off attacking airships. But ion weapons don't do any good
against living creatures."
Zak nodded. "It will against these. Hurry!"
"Bergan!" Meex snapped. "Tino! Assemble the ion gun. On the double!"
The two commandos pulled open their packs and dumped out several large
pieces of equipment. In a few seconds, they had snapped the pieces together to
form a small cannon mounted on legs.
"Seems like a waste of time," Meex said. "But here goes. Fire!"
The commandos pointed their ion cannon at the shadows and fired. White
bolts of energy punched the gathered wraiths. Then screams burst from the
darkness, and the shadows parted.
"That's done it!" Meex cheered. "Fire at will!"
The cannon fired again and again. The shadows fled screaming in terror,
but the commandos kept firing.
To everyone's surprise, Hoole suddenly snapped out of his trance. He
bellowed, "Stop! Stop your firing! Do not harm them! Stop!"
The Rebels were trained to follow orders, but not Hoole's orders, so they
kept firing.
The wraiths scattered and vanished among the rocks, but the Rebels
trained the ion cannon on one of the fleeing creatures and poured fire on it.
The wraith shrieked and fell. It lay there like a pool of dark liquid
collecting on the rocky ground.
"Got one!" the Rebels cried.
"No!" Hoole moaned.
Cautiously, the group approached the fallen wraith. It was a strange
sight to see, a shadow curled up on the ground. Zak kept expecting to see
someone standing nearby, a person to cast the shadow, but there was nothing.
Just the shadow.
These creatures must be made of energy, Zak thought. That's why the ion
cannon affects them.
The wraith stirred.
"Watch it!" Meex ordered. "It could still be dangerous."
"I don't think so," Tash replied.
Writhing and squirming like boiling water, the wraith formed itself into
a humanoid shape. They could see the outline of two arms, shoulders, and a
head. Out of the head came a weak, fading voice.
Murderer.
Tash was the first to speak. "Why did you attack us? Why do you call us
'murderer'?"
Killer, the wraith snarled. We seek revenge!
"Revenge?" Zak replied. "Why on us?"
We demand justice! We must avenge ourselves on the one who destroyed all
life on our planet. The one who turned us into shadow creatures! We will kill
you!
Tash pointed to herself and her companions. "But you've got it wrong. We
didn't harm your people."
Not you, the wraith whispered, stabbing one shadowy arm forward. Him!
The wraith pointed directly at Uncle Hoole.
CHAPTER 9
The silence that followed the wraith's words was terrible.
Tash thought she could hear her own heart pounding in her chest. Beside
her, Zak tried to steady himself so that he wouldn't fall over.
What did it mean?
Hoole stood with his eyes downcast. His face was as sad and gray as the
sky above them.
Finally, Zak spoke. He looked at the shadow creature. "Th-There's got to
be a mistake."
The wraith's voice had faded even more. No. He is the killer. He
destroyed my people.
"Uncle Hoole," Tash pleaded, "tell him he's wrong. Tell him there's been
a mistake."
The frown on Hoole's face deepened. Suddenly, he looked very old, and
very, very tired. He opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment, the wraith
let out an angry hiss. A moment later the wraith itself vanished. All that was
left was a cold, dark stain on the rocky ground.
Hoole closed his mouth without speaking. Then he did the last thing Zak
and Tash expected.
He turned and walked away.
"Uncle Hoole?" Zak called out in surprise.
Hoole did not turn around. Stunned, they watched him go. In a few
seconds, he had disappeared among the rocks.
"Deevee," Tash asked the droid, "where's he going? Should we follow him?"
The silver droid slowly shook his mechanical head. "I do not know, Tash.
I truly do not know."
The commando Meex finally spoke. "Wherever he's going, it's a security
breach. My orders are to get you to the ships, and
that's what I'm gonna do.
Tino and Bergan, you stay with the equipment and the ion cannon. Watch the
kid, Sikes. The rest of you, you're with me."
"We should stay with Eppon," Tash said.
"No, I may need you to help me find your uncle," Meex ordered.
"What about the wraiths?" Deevee asked.
Meex grimaced. "Sounds like those creatures are after Hoole, not us. We
won't have to worry about them unless we find him. Which is what we're going
to do right now. Let's go!"
But Meex was wrong. They did not find Hoole, even though Zak, Tash, and
Deevee helped search. After half an hour of looking and finding nothing, they
decided to give up.
Meex agreed. "Tough to find someone who doesn't want to be found."
"Especially when that someone's a Shi'ido," Zak added, kicking a rock in
frustration. "He could shapeshift into a rock mouse and hide from us. We'd
never find him."
"What's wrong with him?" Tash asked Deevee. "He's been acting strange
ever since we arrived here. Why didn't he help us the first time the wraiths
attacked?"
"And why didn't he want the commandos to shoot them?" Zak added.
"And why didn't he explain to the wraiths that they had made some sort of
mistake?" Tash finished. "Do you think..." She swallowed. "Do you think Uncle
Hoole really could be responsible?"
Zak shook his head. "No way. There's got to be a mistake."
Deevee paused. "I may know the answers. But it will take some time to
explain."
"Then it'll have to wait," Meex insisted. "We'll go back and get my men
and the kid, then start marching again. You can tell your story when we're
safe."
As they hurried back to find the others, Tash was filled with a growing
sense of fear. It was like a knot tightening in her stomach. She knew what it
meant.
"We've got to hurry," she said as they all stumbled through the rocky
terrain. "We're in danger."
"I-I think I know what you mean," Zak said. "I've got a really bad
feeling about this place."
For a few seconds, the air of Kiva was filled with the sounds of their
running feet. Then another sound broke through the silence. It was the sound
of terrified human voices calling out in the distance.
"No! Help!" the voices cried.
"That's Bergan and Tino!" Meex yelled.
A single blaster shot echoed through the air, followed by more cries.
"No! Ahhhh!"
Then the silence fell again.
"Come on!"
They found what was left of all three commandos. Bergan's, Tino's, and
Sikes's clothes and equipment lay in a pile, as though their bodies had
vanished into thin air.
"No sign of struggle, no blood, no nothing," Meex growled. "What is going
on here?"
"Where's Eppon?" Tash asked, panicked.
"Eppon!" came a small peep.
The little boy had crawled into a dry riverbed near them. He giggled and
toddled toward Tash, who picked him up. "I'm glad you're all right, little
one," she whispered.
"How'd he get in there?" Zak asked. "Not too long ago he could barely
crawl."
"Perhaps one of the soldiers tossed him in there when the wraiths
attacked," Deevee suggested. "That's how the boy escaped injury."
"He didn't totally escape," Tash noted. "Look at this."
There was a purple bruise the size of a bird's egg on Eppon's forehead.
It had already swelled up. "Poor Eppon," Tash cooed.
"Eppon!" the baby echoed.
"We've got to get out of here," Meex stated.
Tash bristled. "Not without Uncle Hoole."
Meex was about to reply sharply, when Zak stepped between them. "Tash,
with the ship's onboard sensors, we could scan the entire planet for Hoole. It
would be faster."
Tash wasn't sure, but replied, "Well, if you say so, Zak."
Deevee offered to carry Eppon on his back. Using strips of cloth from
Sikes's uniform, they rigged a crude sack, placed Eppon in it, and slung the
bag over Deevee's metallic shoulders.
"Ready?" Tash asked.
"I should think so," Deevee replied. "I'd like to reach safety before it
gets dark."
Tash looked up at the sky. It was the same dull gray they'd seen when
they first arrived. "The light hasn't changed. I don't think it's ever
nighttime here. It's always twilight."
Meex packed up the ion cannon and prepared to move. "Double time," Meex
ordered. "Let's go!"
At first Zak and Tash had no trouble keeping up with the pace the
commando set. But soon their breath started to come short, and their feet
started to feel as heavy as planets. Zak was ready to collapse at any moment.
Deevee suddenly let out a cry of alarm and stumbled to his knees with a crash
of metal arms and legs. The makeshift sack holding Eppon flew off his
shoulders and landed in a heap beside him.
"By the Maker!" said the droid. "I think I've dented myself. And so soon
after being repaired!"
"You dropped Eppon!" Tash scolded, running over to the pile of rags.
Zak helped the droid get to his feet. "What happened, Deevee?"
"I don't know, Zak," the droid replied. "I was hurrying along when
suddenly my balance gyros malfunctioned. I can't imagine why."
"I can," Tash said. "Look!"
She had pulled the rags and knots from around little Eppon. Except that
he wasn't very little anymore. He had grown larger, and now looked about four
or five years old. He had sleek black hair that reached down to his shoulders
and very dark eyes. His skin was smooth and pale, except where the ugly
bruise, which had gotten bigger, covered his forehead.
"This isn't natural," Meex said suspiciously.
"I must agree with you," Deevee said. "Obviously, we did not rescue this
child before Gog began his experiments. Something has been done to the poor
boy."
Meex took a step forward. "I hate to say it, but maybe that kid is more
trouble than he's worth."
Tash pulled Eppon closer to her. He was now almost too heavy to lift, but
she hugged him tight. "No! There are obviously plenty more dangerous things in
this place."
Zak came to his sister's defense. "So what do you want to do, just leave
Eppon out here? Let him die of thirst? Look at him! He's still just a kid."
Zak looked into Eppon's eyes. "Eppon, can you talk? Can you say anything? Is
your brain growing just like your body?"
For an answer, Eppon simply smiled as sweetly as a newborn baby and
laughed. He hugged Tash. "Eppon!"
Meex's face softened, and Zak and Tash could tell they'd won the
argument.
Eppon had grown out of the tiny coverall he'd been dressed in. Meex
grudgingly pulled a tunic out of his pack. It was far too large for Eppon, but
they rolled up the sleeves, and tied it around the waist with a length of
cord. It looked like an enormous robe, but it did the job, and they started
off again.
They hurried on under a dark cloud. Tash and Zak were concerned about
Uncle Hoole. They were all worried about who might vanish next. Only Eppon
seemed unaffected. He still could not speak, but he laughed and skippe
d along
beside Tash, croaking "Eppon!" at anything that interested him.
Their gloom lifted slightly as they scrambled up a rocky hill and saw, on
the far side, two starships nestled in a dry, dusty field. One of the vessels
was a simple cargo ship. The other was shaped like a saucer, and looked like
it had been strung together with glue and good luck. But those who recognized
it knew that it was one of the fastest ships in the galaxy.
"The Millennium Falcon," Zak said admiringly. "Safety!" Deevee sighed.
"At last."
Meex nodded, "Let's hope the technicians have made all the repairs."
They ran down the slope and hurried to the ships. Meex called out, but
there was no reply. They checked the Millennium Falcon. No one was aboard.