by John Whitman
Force, would never let her out of his sight.
She was sure that Vader would discover her secret anyway. After all, he
had been a Jedi Knight before turning to the dark side of the Force. He could
sense other Jedi.
But either Tash's Force-sensitivity was very young and weak, or Vader's
mind was distracted by other thoughts. He never guessed at the truth. Having
gathered all the information he could, the Dark Lord simply turned and strode
from the cockpit, locking the door behind him.
A few minutes later Deevee joined them, stumbling into the room as he
dragged one useless leg behind him. He was still active, but his chestplate
had been pried open and some of his wiring had been damaged.
"Inhospitable brutes!" the droid moaned. "I tried to help them so that
they would do as little damage as possible, but they deactivated me! When I
was turned back on, they had done this! My left arm is malfunctioning, and my
leg servos barely function."
Zak checked the damage. "These wires are blown." He looked around the
cockpit. The stormtroopers had locked them in there because, thanks to Gog's
blaster fire, the cockpit was useless. The ship was too damaged to fly. The
console had been blasted, and loose wires and melted computer terminals were
all that remained of the control panels.
"Maybe I can use some of this scrap to repair you," Zak offered. Using
his bare hands, he tore a few lengths of wire from the shredded control
consoles and began working on Deevee's circuits.
Meanwhile, Tash sat huddled in a corner, her head in her hands. The other
two left her alone for several minutes before Deevee finally asked, "Tash, are
you all right? Did those Imperials hurt you in any way?"
Tash looked up. "No, I'm okay, Deevee. To tell you the truth, I was
thinking of Uncle Hoole."
"Me too," Zak put in. "I just... I'm confused. I don't know how to feel.
I mean, we owe him a lot, and I know it was an accident, but I can't stop
thinking about the fact that he destroyed this whole planet. Millions of
people wiped out, just like that!"
"Just like Alderaan," Tash whispered. "Accident or not, it was a terrible
thing to do."
"Well," Deevee said indignantly, "if there's one thing you two should
have learned by now, it's that one should never jump to conclusions."
"I don't understand," Tash replied.
The droid gave an electronic version of a sniff. "Of course you don't.
That's because you only know half the story. I learned the other half from
Artoo-Detoo's files. I tried to tell you earlier, but we were interrupted."
"Tell us now," Zak said.
"Yeah," Tash agreed, looking around the room that had become their
prison. "It doesn't look like we're going anywhere soon."
As Zak continued his repairs, Deevee told them what he knew. "It's true
that Master Hoole is Mammon. And everyone knows that Mammon is the scientist
who did experiments on Kiva. Everyone also knows that those experiments
destroyed the entire planet. But what no one knows is that Master Hoole had no
idea of the danger. He thought the experiments were totally safe. It was his
partner who was in charge of making sure the experiments stayed within safe
limits."
"His partner," Tash repeated.
"Gog," Zak said.
"Exactly. When Artoo plugged into the laboratory's computer systems, he
discovered more files. He relayed the information to me before we were
separated. Apparently, Gog knew that the experiments would destroy the people
of Kiva, but he convinced Hoole that they were perfectly safe."
Zak stopped working on Deevee for a moment. "How come no one else knows
this? All I've ever heard is that Mammon was in charge of the experiments."
Deevee shrugged. "If I were to venture a guess, I would say that the
Empire hid the truth. They needed someone to blame for the disaster, and they
placed the blame on Master Hoole. Gog's name was wiped out of all the records
except his own personal files. Those are the ones we found in the fortress."
Tash looked suspicious. "But why did they pick on Uncle Hoole? Why didn't
they blame both scientists?"
Deevee was eager to explain. "Now we come to the part that will interest
you the most. After the disaster at Kiva, Master Hoole became disgusted with
himself and with the Empire. He decided to work for them no longer. Gog,
apparently, continued to work for the Emperor, so the Imperials protected him,
while at the same time purposely destroying Master Hoole's reputation."
Zak started working on Deevee's wires again. "Why didn't Uncle Hoole tell
us this?"
Deevee explained. "I suspect that Master Hoole still blames himself for
what happened to the Kivans. He is too proud to lay the blame elsewhere. He
still accepts responsibility for what happened, even though Gog is really to
blame."
Tash wavered. Long ago she had been suspicious of Hoole. Then she'd
become convinced that he was on the side of good. Now, her faith in him had
been shattered. She wasn't certain what to believe. "Are you sure Hoole quit
the Empire? What happened to him after that?"
Deevee didn't know. "There is no record. It seems he simply wandered the
galaxy. He dropped his first name, for by that time the Empire had spread the
word that a Shi'ido named Mammon had wiped out an entire species."
"Four years," Tash muttered. "When Zak and I broke into Uncle Hoole's
personal records we found a period of four years that were totally blank."
"Exactly," the droid confirmed. "But I think Master Hoole realized he
could not wallow in guilt forever. He decided to put his energies to good use.
Knowing he could never change what had happened, he swore that never again
would a civilization be lost. He became an anthropologist, traveling from star
system to star system, gathering information about hundreds of cultures."
Zak guessed the rest. "But he must have learned something about Gog,
maybe that Gog was using the same technology they had developed to start new
experiments. He tried to put a stop to it." He looked at his sister. "That's
how all this got started."
Tash felt tears well up in her eyes. "He was trying to make up for what
he had done," she concluded. "He's been trying to make sure that no one ever
misuses science again."
Deevee nodded. "I would say that, rather than being a figure of evil,
Master Hoole has acted quite bravely these last few months."
"He's been acting like a hero," Zak agreed. "And we treated him like he
was a criminal."
"It won't matter," Tash said. "The wraiths are going to execute him. He
may be dead already."
CHAPTER 15
Deevee rocked back and forth in frustration. "If only we could get out of
here and find him!"
"Would it matter?" Zak wondered. "When we left him, it seemed like he was
ready to face whatever punishment the Kivans gave out. Even death."
Deevee shook his head. "I know Master Hoole quite well, Zak. I'm sure
that we can convince him his life is worthwhile. All we have to do is show him
we believe in him."
"All right, then
," Zak decided. "Let's go find him."
"And how exactly should we do that?" Tash scoffed. "Just ask the
stormtroopers if we can go out for some fresh air? The door is locked, there
are stormtroopers on guard outside, and then, of course, there's the little
matter of trying to walk out of an Imperial camp."
Zak grinned at her. "The door is no problem. I can hot-wire it by
borrowing a little power from Deevee's internal power source... and this!" Zak
held up two wires he had been connecting to Deevee's circuits. He touched the
wires together, igniting a shower of sparks.
"Oh, goodness!" Deevee said as the electrical feedback gave his systems a
jolt.
"As for getting out of camp," Zak continued, "we won't walk. We'll fly
the Millennium Falcon!"
"Your brain's in hyperspace," Tash retorted.
"You always wanted to be a pilot, didn't you? And I've always wanted to
get another look at the Falcon's engines. Together, I'm sure we can figure out
how that ship works."
"Okay. That's two out of three," Tash challenged. "But what about the
stormtroopers?"
A gleam filled Zak's eye. "That's where you come in." He explained the
rest of his plan.
A few minutes later, Tash stood at a tiny round viewport in the middle of
the locked door. Through the transparisteel, she could just see the two
stormtroopers who guarded the cargo ship.
"I don't think I can do this," she whispered.
"Sure you can," her brother encouraged. "Just have a little confidence."
Tash shook her head. She didn't need confidence. She needed an
instruction manual.
Zak's plan called for Tash to use the Force to trick the two
stormtroopers. Tash had only recently learned that she had Force-powers. She
still had no idea what those powers were, or how to use them.
"Here goes nothing," she muttered.
Tash took a deep breath and tried to relax. She had read a lot about the
Jedi, and all the books she'd read had said that the Force flowed around all
things. It wasn't a matter of making the Force do something. It was a matter
of letting the Force do something. The Force was everywhere. All she had to do
was give it a channel.
Focusing her mind, Tash looked at the two troopers and sent a single
thought shooting into their brains.
Nothing happened.
She took another deep breath and kept focusing. Although no one had
spoken, one of the stormtroopers looked at the other. "What did you say?"
The second stormtrooper grunted, "I didn't say anything."
Tash continued to concentrate.
"I thought you said something about me," the first soldier growled.
The second soldier looked at his partner. "Are you calling me a liar?"
"I'm telling you not to talk about me!"
Tash turned away from the viewport. "Now, Zak."
Beside her, Zak held the two wires that were connected to Deevee's
chestplate. Touching them together, he jabbed the wires into the small panel
that controlled the door.
Sparks flew, electricity crackled, and the panel short-circuited. The
door slid open.
Outside, the two stormtroopers were shoving one another. One of them
struck the other on the side of the head, sending his partner crashing to the
ground.
"Run!" Zak said.
The three prisoners dashed out of the cargo ship, past the fighting
stormtroopers, and across the stony ground. By the time any of the other
troopers in the Imperial camp saw what was happening, Zak, Tash, and Deevee
had reached the ramp leading into the Millennium Falcon. As they entered the
ship, Zak slapped the control panel, raising the hatch and locking them
inside.
"Come on!" Tash yelled. "It's not going to take them long to get in here.
"
They scrambled into the Falcon's cockpit. The ship's controls were a
jumble of old and new equipment welded together. It looked like a disorganized
mess, but somehow, they knew, Han Solo had turned that mess into the fastest
ship in the galaxy.
"Where are the shields?" Tash demanded.
"Here!" Zak said, throwing a switch.
One of the landing legs retracted. Thrown off balance, the Falcon groaned
and tilted over to one side.
"Sorry," Zak groaned. "Try this one!"
He threw another switch, and the deflector shield indicators went on to
full power, just as the advancing stormtroopers brought their weapons to bear.
Tash ran her hands over the controls. They were like nothing she'd ever
seen before. "Where would the repulsor switches be?"
"I recommend that you hurry," Deevee urged. "I believe that dark figure
approaching the ship is Darth Vader."
Tash felt herself start to panic. "Think, Tash, think. Han Solo flies
this ship. He's kind of arrogant, but he's an expert pilot. Think like him."
Tash closed her eyes. She'd already called on the Force once today. She might
as well try again. Calming her thoughts, she put herself in Han's place. A
daring pilot, probably running from the Empire all the time. He'd keep the
engine controls within easy reach.
With her eyes still closed, she reached out with her right hand. Her
fingers found one switch among twenty, and she flipped it.
The repulsor engines whined to life, and the Millennium Falcon leaped off
the ground.
"Excellent work, Tash!" Deevee cheered. "Now if we can only locate the
forward thrusters."
"Right here," Zak said. "I watched Han do this the last time we were
aboard."
Zak grabbed a control stick and jammed it forward. There was a loud roar
and a surge of power, and the Falcon rocketed into the sky.
"We did it!" Tash laughed as the ship sped quickly across the surface of
the planet. "Now we need to find Uncle Hoole. Does either of you know how to
work the scanners?"
"No need," her brother said. He pointed out the viewport. Ahead of them,
and below, lay a shallow valley filled with shadows. "That has to be where the
wraiths had us."
Zak and Tash worked together to steer the Falcon down toward the valley.
The ship made a loud thud and bounced twice on its landing legs before coming
to a stop.
Even before the Falcon had completed its landing, Zak said, "I'll be
right back," and ran back toward the ship's engines.
"Not the best landing in the galaxy," Tash grunted, "but it'll do."
Deevee said, "I estimate that it will take the Imperials slightly over
ten minutes to get here on foot. We don't have much time."
"Let's just hope Uncle Hoole's still alive," Tash replied. She and Deevee
ran back toward the hatchway. "Come on, Zak!" Tash yelled.
Zak was standing at the ship's engineering station, tinkering with some
equipment. "I'm almost finished!" he yelled.
"There's no time for messing around!" she fumed. "Go ahead. I'll be right
behind you!" he called back. Tash had no time to argue. She and Deevee charged
forward and plunged into the shadows.
It was like stepping from day into night. They could barely see, and the
farther they walked into the shadowy place, the less light they found to see
&nbs
p; by.
"I may be able to help," Deevee whispered. Something clicked inside his
metallic head, and his photoreceptors lit up, casting a pale light into the
darkness. It didn't penetrate very far, but it was better than being totally
blind.
Tash could feel the wraiths moving all around her, but none of them
attacked. Tash had the impression that their attention was focused elsewhere-
toward the center of their dark circle. She and Deevee waded forward, the dim
light from Deevee's eyes sweeping back and forth.
"Uncle Hoole!" Tash called out.
"Master Hoole!" Deevee echoed.
There was no answer but the angry whispers of the wraiths.
Tash squinted into the swirling shadows. "I think I see something,
Deevee-look over there."
The droid turned his glowing eyes in the direction Tash had pointed. His
eyebeams fell on a large flat rock. On the rock, Hoole had been stretched out
to his full length. Behind him, one of the wraiths had become solid, and its
dark body stood over Hoole.
As Tash and Deevee watched, the wraith lifted a huge rock over its head,