by John Whitman
lost sight of the bounty hunter as he turned a corner.
They hurried to catch up, but as they turned the same corner, they found
themselves at an intersection of two streets. There was no sign of Boba Fett.
"Which way do you think he went?" Zak wondered.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Tash answered. "Why don't you take a
quick look down that road, and I'll look down the other one. Then we'll meet
back here in a minute."
Zak hesitated. He had to get back to the hostel. "Tash, I-"
"Come on, Zak!" Tash interrupted. "We might lose him."
She hurried down one of the two streets. Zak shook his head. When Tash
locked onto something, she was as stubborn as a dewback.
He hurried down the avenue on the left. He hadn't gone far before the
street divided again. Zak was at a loss until a figure passed beneath a faint
glowpanel farther down one of the two lanes.
Quietly Zak hurried after the figure. He wondered if Boba Fett would even
speak to him, or what the bounty hunter would say if he knew the man he'd
killed had come back to life.
The figure ahead of him was moving slowly, and Zak easily closed the
distance between them. He closed the gap just as the figure passed beneath
another glowpanel, and Zak got a better look at him.
It wasn't Boba Fett.
It was Kairn.
Meanwhile Tash hurried down her chosen lane for two hundred meters. There
were no side streets and no sign of Boba Fett. She decided he must not have
come this way and turned back. She arrived back at the intersection and
waited, but Zak didn't show up. She waited a little longer, then called
softly, "Zak? Zak, are you there?"
"Zak is not here, but I am."
Tash turned. Boba Fett was behind her, with a blaster in his hand.
CHAPTER 12
"What did you do with Zak?" Tash demanded.
"You were following me," the bounty hunter stated. "Why?"
Maybe it was his voice, maybe it was the blaster in his hand, or maybe it
was the fact that his face was hidden beneath his helmet, but Tash found Boba
Fett unnerving. She stammered, "B-Because I saw you at the hostel the other
day. T-Talking to my uncle."
"The Shi'ido," Fett stated flatly.
"Yes. I know he spoke to you, but he wouldn't tell me why. I wanted to
find out by following you." Boba Fett said flatly, "You were clumsy. I was on
to you the minute I left my ship. Your clumsiness saved your life. If you had
any skill at shadowing people, I might have mistaken you for a professional
and taken you out immediately." He slowly holstered his blaster. "I expected
your brother to be with you. I want him."
Tash tried to overcome her fear. Boba Fett uses his reputation to
intimidate people, she thought. And he uses that helmet to hide what he's
thinking.
"We split up," she said, keeping the nervousness out of her voice. "We
lost you and separated to find you."
The cold voice spoke again. "I hear your brother says he saw Evazan
again. Explain."
Tash was surprised. "How did you know that?"
"Explain."
Tash swallowed. Was Boba Fett angry at Zak? Did he think Zak would hurt
his reputation? "Leave Zak alone. Whatever he says is our business."
"I want details. I killed Evazan. How could your brother have seen him?"
Tash gathered her courage. The bounty hunter had asked her a question,
and it gave her an advantage. She had information he apparently needed. "Let's
make a deal. I'll tell you what Zak saw, if you answer a question of mine."
"No promises. Tell me."
"Promise," she challenged.
The bounty hunter said nothing. He waited.
Tash tried to outwait him, but it was impossible. Boba Fett was like a
statue. Finally she blurted out, "All right, I'll tell you!"
Tash quickly told the bounty hunter what Zak had seen aboard the
starship. When she was finished, Fett simply nodded.
"Now I get to ask a question," Tash asked.
"It will be a waste of breath."
Tash asked anyway. "What does Uncle Hoole want from you? Does he want you
to kill someone?"
"Stay out of your uncle's business. You don't want to know about it." The
killer paused. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my
business as well."
Boba Fett pressed a small control on his wrist and the jetpack he wore
ignited in a burst of flame. With a roar, the bounty hunter shot up into the
air and was out of sight, leaving Tash alone on the dark street.
Zak rubbed his eyes and looked again. The person walking down the street
was definitely the same boy he'd met his first day in Necropolis.
"Kairn!" Zak yelled happily. "You're alive!"
Kairn didn't stop moving, so Zak ran to catch up with him. Only when Zak
stood right in front of him did the young Necropolitan seem to notice. "Kairn,
it's me. Zak."
Kairn blinked. His skin was pale, as though he'd been very ill, and his
eyes looked glassy and lifeless. They reminded Zak of black holes.
"Zak," Kairn said slowly. "Good to see you."
"It's good to see you! What happened? Was it all a mistake?"
Kairn blinked very slowly. "Mistake?"
Zak laughed. He was so happy to see his friend. "You were dead, or at
least you looked dead. The other night in the cemetery, remember?"
"Oh. No. There was no mistake."
"You mean - - ?"
Kairn smiled a lifeless smile. "That's right. I died, Zak. I was dead."
Kairn's body twitched.
Zak sputtered, "Then, it really is true? The dead can come back? But how?
"
"I can answer your questions if you come with me. I must go to the
graveyard again."
Kairn started walking down the street.
Zak didn't know what to do. He knew he should go back and meet Tash. He
also knew Pylum had expected him to wait at the hostel. But if he left now, he
might lose Kairn, and he refused to let that happen. If he was going to get
anyone to believe him, he needed proof-and now his proof was walking away. Zak
hurried until he was shoulder to shoulder with Kairn. "I'm right with you."
Kairn said nothing as they walked. Whatever had happened had definitely
changed him. His skin looked sallow and unhealthy. He walked slowly, like he
was trudging through mud, and every now and then his body shook with a violent
twitch. But he didn't look like the zombies Zak had seen in his dreams. He
looked like he'd been ill, but he did not look like the walking dead.
Kairn's personality had changed along with his appearance. He didn't
speak unless Zak asked him a question, and even then Zak had to ask it two or
three times. It seemed as if Kairn's brain were in a fog as thick as the
Necropolis night.
Still, all of those things paled in comparison to the miraculous fact
that the dead young man was walking the streets of Necropolis!
When they reached the gates of the cemetery, Zak stopped. "I'm not sure I
can go in there."
"I must go," Kairn said. "Inside here is the reason I came back."
"It's true then, isn't it?" Zak guessed. "There's something about the
Crypt of the Ancients that brings back the dead."
"Yes."
Zak swallowed hard. "Kairn, this power, can it... Can it return anyone?
From anywhere?"
Kairn smiled. "Come with me and see for yourself."
It sounded like another dare. Zak wouldn't have accepted it from anyone
else, but Kairn was proof that some mystical power surrounded the crypt. He
thought of his parents and decided it was a risk worth taking.
Kairn led him back through the graveyard until they reached the massive
Crypt of the Ancients. It looked the same as it had the other night.
Zak was impressed when Kairn grabbed the handles of the heavy doors in
his thin, bony hands. The doors must have weighed several hundred kilos, but
Kairn pulled them open easily. Beyond, a stairway led down into the dark.
"This is the way to the secret," Kairn said. "If you follow, you will see
how the dead can come back to life."
"Um... okay," Zak said, suddenly feeling chilled.
He stepped inside behind Kairn, who paused only to slam the doors closed.
Instantly they were plunged into utter darkness. Zak could not see Kairn, even
though he was standing right next to him.
"Wait, it's too dark to go down there," Zak stated nervously.
"Oh, you need light. I forgot," Kairn replied. "Do you still have the
glowrod I gave you?"
Zak fumbled in his pocket until he found the small rod and ignited it. It
cast a faint light on the stone walls of the crypt.
Zak's pulse raced as they made their way down the steep, slippery stairs
that curved into the ground. The stairs were so small that Zak kept one hand
touching the stone wall beside him to keep his balance. Kairn didn't even have
any problems getting down the stairs, though he was twitching violently.
Zak had seen that twitch in the graveyard zombies. He also had the
feeling that he'd seen it somewhere else. Where had it been?
They reached the bottom of the spiral stairway and entered a small tomb.
A great stone coffin lay in the center of the room. There were cobwebs all
across its top, and a thick layer of dust lay on the floor around it. But next
to the great coffin a pathway had been cleared of dust. This pathway led to
another door at the far end of the tomb. Someone had used it often.
Kairn, still twitching, walked over and grabbed that door by a large
metal handle. As he pulled the door open, Zak said, "It's the legend of the
witch's curse, isn't it? All the stories about people coming here to call
their loved ones back to life-they're true. It can be done."
"Of course it can be done," replied the voice of Dr. Evazan.
CHAPTER 13
Zak didn't think about it. He turned to run. But before he could take a
step, Kairn grabbed his arm. Kairn's skin was ice-cold, and his grip was
unbreakable.
"No, no, no," Dr. Evazan said in a sickly sweet voice. "You can't leave
just as the fun is about to begin. Bring him here!"
Obediently Kairn dragged Zak further into the room. Zak struggled every
step of the way, but Kairn had supernatural strength.
Evazan waited patiently until Zak stood before him. Kairn stood behind
Zak, holding him by both shoulders. Zak continued to struggle, but he might as
well have been fighting a stone.
"Welcome to my medical facility," Dr. Evazan began.
The crypt looked more like a chamber of horrors. The walls were lined
with specimen jars full of squishy objects Zak didn't want to think about.
Nearby stood a table covered with dull, rusty medical tools. There were
several small doors along the back wall. Each door had a small barred window
set in it, and through the window Zak could see pale zombies in the cells. He
looked at Evazan again and shuddered. "You're supposed to be dead."
Evazan chuckled. "True. But I'm the doctor, so I get to announce the time
of death. And my time hasn't come yet. Or I should say, it's come and gone,
and I'm still here."
Evazan twitched and Zak remembered-he had seen Evazan twitch onboard the
starship!
"What do you mean?" Zak asked.
Evazan pretended to be surprised. "You mean you haven't figured it out
yet? Doesn't your friend Kairn here give you any hints at all?" Evazan threw
his arm back in a sweeping gesture that covered the entire room. "I've had a
breakthrough in my experiments. I have figured out a way to reanimate dead
tissue."
"What does that mean?" Zak asked.
"It means," Evazan said triumphantly, "I have learned to bring back the
dead. Like I did with your friend Kairn here. And myself, of course."
Zak felt fear and relief churn in his stomach. Dr. Evazan was a mad
scientist, but at least now Zak knew he wasn't insane. "How could you bring
yourself back if you were dead in the first place?"
Evazan laughed, and the unscarred side of his face wrinkled into a
horrific grin. "In my line of work, it's good to think ahead. I heard that
Boba Fett was in the area, and I knew he'd find me eventually. I injected
myself with the reanimation serum. Once I died, there was only one step left
in the process before I came back."
"And those zombies in the cages back there. They're like the ones I saw
earlier. They're more of your experiments?"
"My, my, you ask a lot of questions. But I suppose it's good for me to
practice my bedside manner. People say it's my weak point." Evazan began to
fill a syringe with a pale red liquid. "Your timing at the cemetery was
extraordinary. You got to see some of my undead creatures come alive, so to
speak. Of course, those are the cruder models. They look more dead than alive.
"
"But you and Kairn look..."
"Alive?" Evazan gloated. "That is due to my genius. I've made
improvements since my first experiments. My new zombies look a bit healthier,
and they can talk. My tests indicate they even keep their old memories. Kairn
is a good example of the next stage and well, frankly, so am I."
Dr. Death actually looked sad for a moment. "The unfortunate thing is
that I couldn't use the improved serum on the rest of the corpses in the
graveyard. I'm afraid I need fresh bodies for it to work properly. Old bodies
come out clumsy and awkward. For the results to be perfect, I have to be the
one to kill my patients. That's why I force-fed your friend here the crypt-
berries. They killed him without doing too much damage."
Zak was horrified. "You mean you killed him just so you could bring him
back to life?"
"Of course." Evazan held up the syringe and looked at Kairn. "Kairn, put
your friend on the table."
"Kairn, don't do it! Help me!" Zak said.
For the slightest moment, Kairn paused.
"Oh, I'd save what little breath I had left, if I were you," Evazan
warned. "These zombies listen only to my commands. Put him on the table."
This time Kairn obeyed immediately. He lifted Zak easily and dropped him
on the examining table. The undead Necropolitan pinned him down with a
viselike grip. "But why are you doing this-why are you creating zombies?" Zak
managed to ask.
Evazan held up the syringe and squeezed it until one drop of the pale red
liquid bubbled out and ran down alo
ng the edge of the needle. "Haven't you
noticed how strong they are? Also, they don't feel any pain at all, and they
are easily conditioned to take orders. In other words, they'll make perfect
soldiers. And since people are always dying, there will be a limitless supply.
" Evazan seemed horribly pleased with himself. "Whoever uses my process will
have an inexhaustible, invincible army. And I, of course, will become very
rich."
"You're insane! Who would buy this serum?"
"Oh, I already have a buyer. A very, very powerful buyer. He's close to
the Emperor himself, I believe." Evazan twitched violently. He saw Zak staring
at him and shrugged through another twitch. "The twitching is a defect in the
serum. But I think I've fixed it. I'll know as soon as my next subject
reanimates."
"Your next subject?"
Evazan looked surprised. "Why, yes. You, of course."
He brought the needle close to Zak.
"No!" Zak struggled against Kairn's impossible grip. "Kairn! We were