by John Whitman
back before Dannik kills anyone else!"
Tash agreed, and together they hurried along the tunnel, which curved
upward.
Having gone down the stairs to the library level, and then sliding down
farther to the garbage pit, Zak and Tash figured they were two levels below
the solarium. They followed the passage upward for several hundred meters
before it began to curve sharply to the right.
Zak set a fast pace. But Tash lagged behind, frightened. She could feel
invisible eyes watching her from the dark-but it wasn't the same as when the
dianoga had stalked them. Tash knew instinctively that these were not the eyes
of a beast or a being. They were the eyes of whatever haunted the halls of
Nespis 8. They were the eyes of whatever had grabbed her and thrown her out of
that room.
"I think we've got a problem," Zak said.
Tash tore herself from her own thoughts. They had reached the end of the
passage. Like the other passageways, this one ended at the ventilation shaft.
But this time there was no stairway leading up or down-only a tiny ladder made
of rails that had been welded into the side of the huge shaft.
Zak looked into the darkness above and below them. Then he pointed across
the chasm. "I think that's the library across the way. That means we're only
one level below the solarium, but on the wrong side. We could climb up, but I
don't know how we'll get across."
"Okay," Tash said weakly. She wasn't afraid of heights and she didn't
mind climbing. But she could still feel those powerful hands on her neck. If
the spirit that haunted Nespis 8 decided to attack her while she was on that
ladder, she knew that it was a long way to the bottom of the shaft.
Zak pulled himself out onto the ladder, and Tash slipped out behind him.
Hand over hand they climbed up into the darkness. Tash's grip on the ladder
rungs felt loose and slippery with her own nervous sweat. Halfway up the
ladder, something tugged at her jacket and she shrieked, clutching at the
rungs. But it was only a cold draft blowing up from the depths below.
Calm down, she told herself. This isn't the way a Jedi would behave.
But I'm not a Jedi, she thought. If I were, I could have entered the
library.
After what felt like an eternity of climbing, they reached a small
platform anchored to the solarium level.
"Keep your eyes and ears open," Zak warned. "Dannik could be around here
anywhere."
Zak led the way down the passage. "It's hard to tell in the dark, but
this hallway looks like it links up with the corridor between the docking bay
and the solarium. Let's go.
His sense of direction proved true. Only a few dozen meters down the
hallway, they reached an intersection. To the right, they could see the
darkness give way to the gray light of the solarium. That meant the docking
bay was in the opposite direction.
They turned left and hurried through the darkness until they reached the
huge docking bay. The pitch-black cavern was lit only by the running lights of
the Shroud.
"Uncle Hoole! Deevee!" they called out before they had even reached the
ship.
There was no answer.
Zak punched in the code that opened the ship's hatchway, and they
scurried inside.
The ship was deserted.
Zak swallowed. "Maybe they're in the solarium."
The Arrandas hurried back to the transparent-domed room. But there was no
one there either. They even found their way to ForceFlow's private chamber,
but he too had vanished.
Zak and Tash were both worried. Had Dannik gotten to everyone? Was he
lying in wait for them?
"There's only one place left to check," Zak said quietly. "We shouldn't
go down there," Tash insisted. "I'm telling you, there's a curse."
"We have to look," her brother argued. "Uncle Hoole might be there." He
waited for his sister to decide. After a long pause, she finally nodded.
For Tash, every step toward the Jedi library was like trudging through
fear. The air she breathed was heavy and thick, and her mouth was dry as the
sands of Tatooine. But she forced herself to put one foot in front of the
other until they reached the library. Just beyond the open doorway, they could
hear someone moving around the room.
Zak's face brightened with relief and he rushed forward. "Uncle Hoole!
Deevee, we-"
He stopped short. Hoole and Deevee were indeed in the library. But Deevee
lay sprawled on the floor, deactivated, and Hoole sat slumped over a book,
unmoving.
And over him stood Dannik Jerriko.
CHAPTER 14
"Murderer!" Zak cried.
Dannik Jerriko's face was unreadable. "That is true," he said. "I am
indeed a killer. But I did not kill your uncle."
"Liar!" Zak replied with poison in his voice. "You've killed five people!
"
A look of mild irritation crossed the killer's face. "I am an Anzati. In
my lifetime I have killed many, many more people than that. But here, on
Nespis 8, I have killed only one."
Zak had run into the room and knelt by Hoole. Tash looked on from the
edge of the library. She wanted to run to Uncle Hoole but she still could not
bring herself to step into the room. A barrier of solid fear blocked her path.
"So you are an Anzati," her brother said. "And you followed us here from
Jabba the Hutt's palace, didn't you?"
Dannik nodded. The tiny tendrils poked out of their hidden pockets in his
cheeks, then retreated. "I was there. I was hired to reach Nespis 8 before
you."
"Who hired you?" Tash asked.
Dannik said nothing.
She tried again. "Why did you kill Domisari?"
"I was hired to save you from another hired assassin," the Anzati
replied.
Zak nearly choked. "Save us?"
The Anzati pursed his lips. "Apparently, someone high up in the Empire
hired an assassin to track you down. I was hired to kill the assassin before
she got to you. But I was unsure of her identity and had to wait. I got to her
right before she shot you."
Tash's head was spinning. "You're saying that Domisari was a hired
assassin, and that she was going to kill us?"
Dannik nodded. "That was my assignment, and I have fulfilled it. I was
just about to leave when I heard something down in the library. I found the
Shi'ido and the droid here just before you arrived. There are no signs of
life."
As Tash cursed herself for her own fear, Zak put his hand on Hoole's
wrist. "It's cold," he whispered. "He's not breathing."
He knelt down next to Deevee and opened a small panel in the droid's
chest. "Deevee's not hurt-he's just been shut down!" Zak quickly adjusted a
few switches in the droid's master control circuitry. There was a soft hum,
and light suddenly flooded the photoreceptors in the droid's human-like face.
"Oh, oh, oh no!" Deevee cried. "Master Hoole!"
The droid scrambled to his feet and looked around, disoriented. "Zak,
Tash, thank the Maker you're all right! Is Master Hoole-"
Tash could hardly bring herself to say the words. "I-I think he's dead.<
br />
Deevee, what happened?"
The droid shook his metallic head. "I can't say exactly. When Master
Hoole and I realized that you two were missing, we thought you might have come
to the library. Once we were here, Master Hoole became intrigued by the books.
He opened one... and... I remember sensing a powerful force that caused me to
short circuit and... and... that's the last thing in my memory banks."
Zak frowned. "What about Dannik? Don't you have any memory of him?"
The droid looked at the murderer. "None whatsoever. I'm sure he wasn't
here."
"It is as I said," the Anzati stated.
"This library is cursed," Tash said softly. "No one should have found it-
ever. Now it's taken Uncle Hoole. We need to get out of here."
Dannik pursed his lips. "If you will excuse me, my own ship is waiting."
The Anzati strode to the door. Tash avoided his touch as the killer
slipped past her. "Wait!" Zak called. "Aren't you going to help us?"
The mysterious Anzati did not turn around as he sneered. "I am of the
Anzati. We do not help." He vanished into the darkness.
The three companions stood frozen in place for a moment. Finally, Tash
roused herself to speak. "What-What do we do?"
Deevee's caretaker programming kicked in. He knew that his priority was
to make sure the Arrandas were safe. He said, "We must get Master Hoole's body
back to the ship, and then leave here as soon as possible."
"What about ForceFlow?" Tash wondered out loud. "Where has he been?"
"I have not seen him since we were all together. I fear that he, too, has
fallen victim to this place."
Zak gently tried to lift Uncle Hoole's head from its place on the table.
The Shi'ido's gray face sagged, pale and lifeless. He had fallen across one
open book that he must have pulled from the shelves. Another book was clutched
in his stiff, lifeless hand.
Zak accidentally brushed his hand across the book as he tried to lift
Hoole, and it immediately turned to dust. The other book, still closed, was
locked in Hoole's grip. Zak reached to pry it loose.
A warning cry shot through Tash's mind like an alarm bell. No!
"No!" she repeated aloud.
Too late. Zak pulled the book free. As he did, the leather-bound cover of
the book opened. A blinding flash of light exploded like a supernova, turning
the entire room white. Tash shielded her eyes.
When the light finally faded, Tash blinked away stars and tears from her
eyes.
Zak lay in a crumpled, lifeless heap.
CHAPTER 15
"No!" Tash cried out again.
She forgot her fear. Her uncle and her brother, the last two members of
her family, had just been struck down. She charged forward.
But as she did so, something melted out of the wall on the opposite side
of the library. It was a ghostly figure, with almost no shape, just a ball of
milky gray energy rolling through the air. As it floated toward her, two hands
reached out of the center of the energy mass.
Tash yelled again. "Get away!"
"Tash?" Deevee knelt by Zak's lifeless body. The droid looked at her
quizzically. "What is it?"
"Deevee, help! It's coming for me!" The ghostly image came nearer, the
hands reaching once more for her throat.
"Tash, my sensors tell me that there's nothing alive in this room but the
two of us."
"It's here! It's here!" She turned to run. "Deevee, come on!"
Confused, the droid did not move. He rechecked his sensors and found them
in working order. He scanned the room again, pausing to search once more for
even the slightest signs of life in Hoole and Zak.
Tash took a few frightened steps backward. The ghost had almost reached
her-the hands were almost around her neck. Above them, where a face should
have been, Tash saw a rolling blob of energy. A face seemed to be pushing its
way out of the gray matter.
Sheer terror drove her backward. She couldn't wait for Deevee any longer,
and turned back up the corridor. The ghost pursued, but at a slower pace. It
seemed calm and certain that it would catch her.
In the light of her glow rod Tash saw that she had reached the false wall
that hid the tunnel. Frantically, she searched for a control mechanism so she
could shut the door and seal the ghost in. When she glanced down the hallway,
the ghost still followed her. In the darkness of the hall it gave off an eerie
glow.
"Come on, come on. There!" she muttered, finding a switch on the wall.
She touched it, and the door slid back into place.
Tash backed farther up the tunnel, hoping she had sealed the nightmare
away. But a moment later the secret door shimmered, and the ghost melted
through it.
Tash... Arranda.
The voice assaulted her from all sides.
"No! Stay away!" She turned and ran again.
In a flash she burst out of the tunnel. She found the stairs leading to
the upper level and scrambled up to the solarium. She ran down the corridor
until she reached the docking bay, then she hurried to the Shroud and raced
onboard. She did not stop until her own door was sealed shut behind her.
She gasped for breath. Fear, sorrow, and anger welled up inside her. She
was ashamed that she had abandoned Deevee and Zak, but the sight of the
ghostly image had terrified her.
Tash had no idea how long she lay there. She kept hoping she would wake
up and find that she was not on Nespis 8 and that Hoole and Zak were safe.
But she was already awake, and the only thing that came to her was an
ominous sound.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
Footsteps approached the Shroud.
"No," Tash whispered out loud.
Hrrrmmmm. The hatch opened. Footsteps started down the main corridor.
They were headed for her cabin. Did the ghost walk?
Tash could only stare wide-eyed as someone pressed a button and the door
slid open.
Then she found herself staring into a pair of twinkling blue eyes.
"ForceFlow!" Relief flooded through her. "How did you get in here?"
"I gave him entry," Deevee said, stepping into the door frame.
The dark-haired man smiled softly. "I found Deevee near the library. He
said you had run away in a panic. We looked everywhere, then figured you'd
come here."
"Where have you been?" Tash nearly sobbed. "Do you know what's happened?"
"I do," ForceFlow said, grimly. "It's tragic."
"It's the curse," she said. "But it's not the library, it's the books
themselves. When Zak opened one, there was a flash of light, and the next
thing we knew..." She couldn't finish her sentence.
ForceFlow sat down on the edge of her bed. "I'm beginning to think you're
right, Tash. That old legend about the curse may be true. But that doesn't
mean no one should enter the library."
She wiped a tear from her eye. "What do you mean?"
In response, ForceFlow looked at Deevee. "What does the legend say
exactly?"
Deevee replied, "That no one but a Jedi could enter the library unharmed.
"
"So what?" Tash said. "We don't have a Jedi."
ForceFlow smiled. "We have you."
&
nbsp; "Not funny," she sniffed. "I know I'm not a Jedi. I've never done
anything but fail when I try to use the Force."
"I'm very serious." ForceFlow stood up. "Tash, I've been researching the
Jedi for years. I've made it my life's work. If there's one thing I'm sure of,
it's that the Force is with you."
She shook her head. "No way. There's something in the library. Something
real. It grabbed me. It almost killed me!" The news seemed to shock ForceFlow.
"Why would I want to go back there anyway?"
"Because the ancient Jedi knew many things," ForceFlow said carefully.
"They may even have known... how to bring back the dead."
Tash paused. "I've never heard of anything like that. I always thought
the Jedi were one with the Force. They knew when it was their time to die.
They wouldn't want to bring back the dead."
ForceFlow shrugged. "Perhaps, perhaps not. Great secrets lie in wait down