by John Whitman
BTIIlS.
Tash felt her stomach turn in disgust, She saw the Rodian's mouth move. The plexiform was soundproof so she couldn't hear what he said, but she guessed by the snarl on his lips that he was swearing. He struggled violently against the ooze, trying to shake it off. Instead, the amount of ooze suddenly increased, almost burying him. Tash's eyes went wide with fear. She had seen that kind of instant replication once before, when she had looked through the electroscope in the medi-chamber. She knew she was looking at a virus. The Rodian let out a scream and made one last eAort io shake the disgusting mess off his body. But his struggle only made things worse. The virus replicated itself again, and the Rodian simply disappeared. Tash tried to swallow, but her mouth was as dry as sand. The blobs were people. People who had been infected with a virus.
As Tash made this frightening discovery, Zak and Deevee continued to climb down the side of the ziggurat on which the landing bay sat. The stairs that had been carved into the giant pyramid reached from its highest level to its lowest depth. After 231 steps, they had sunk down into a gray-green haze of steam that rose up from the hot jungle floor. After 463 steps, Deevee stopped counting. The steps were damp and covered with slime. The peo- ple of Mah Dala did not go down to the jungle, and no one had walked on the stairs for years. Moss, growing quickly in the humid air, covered most of the great stones that made up the structure. At long last they reached the bottom. The jungle floor was soft and wet, and covered with a layer of rotting leaves and branches. Through the mist the trunks of enormous trees loomed like shadowy giants. The ground be- neath them was covered with a layer of mud. "I don't believe it," Zak said, pulling at his shirt collar. "It's even hotter down here." "And far more unpredictable," Deevee added. "Dr. Kavafi said that the original Gobindi built the ziggurats so that they could avoid the jungle." Zak looked up. The top of the ziggurat towered three hundred meters above them. "I can't believe the Gobindi just vanished," Zak commented. "You'd think a culture that could build that would be able to survive anything." The droid wiped a thin layer of moisture from his photoreceptors. "Something obviously destroyed them. With our luck, we'll find that it was something in this jungle." "That's why we should find Tash and leave as soon as possible," Zak replied. Deevee pointed to the soft, squishy ground. The slime track that Zak had followed on the hard stones above was now lost in layers of rotting leaves. "And just how do you intend to find her, or the blobs?" But Zak didn't look where Deevee had pointed. He was staring at a nearby tree. "I think they found us!" The branches of the tree were alive with fat, wriggling shapes that had begun to slide down the branches. A dozen blobs had already reached the jungle Aoor and were oozing toward Zak and Deevee. "Zak, I insist we turn back," Deevee commanded.
"No argument here," Zak replied. They both turned but found the stairs blocked. Blobs had crept up the sides of the ziggurat and covered the stairs. They were trapped. "Go!" Zak shouted. "We can outrun them! We'll find another ziggurat and climb that one." He and Deevee hurried from the spot just as the blobs closed in. Zak and Deevee were faster than the blobs, but the soggy jungle floor slowed them down. Out of the corner of his eye, Zak could see more of the creatures dropping from the trees on either side of them. "There's got to be another ziggurat around here some- where!" Zak yelled, ducking beneath a low-hanging branch. "There!" Deevee replied, pointing. His photoreceptors picked out a thick wall looming out of the haze. "It ap- pears to be a large one." Zak and Deevee reached the wall of the ziggurat ahead of the blobs. But they could hear the shrubs rustling, and the wet, smacking sound of the creatures wriggling along the tree branches and the ground. "Judging from the design and size," Deevee noted, "I'd say we are at the base of the main ziggurat. The Infirmary must be somewhere above us." "Great," Zak said. "So where are the stairs?" He could see nothing but a flat wall ten meters high. "Perhaps around the other side," Deevee suggested. They never got to find out. A horde of blobs oozed from the steamy shadows on every side. They were trapped.Zak and Deevee turned to face the approaching line of slime. One of the blobs lunged forward. But it stopped in midstretch and recoiled as a shrill sound filled the air. A bright streak of energy shot out of the gloom and struck the blob head-on. The blob scurried backward in surprise. Someone had fired a blaster bolt. On the blob's skin, a small black hole smoked for a moment, then oozed over and disappeared. The blob shuf- fled forward once more. More energy beams followed, a barrage of blaster bolts that cut a pathway through the line of slime creatures. Through the hole stepped a human and a Bothan Wedge and his Rebel ally. In moments they had fought their way to the ziggurat. "You!" Deevee blurted as he saw Wedge. "But you are an outlaw!" Wedge managed a grin. "I guess that depends on which side you're on." He fired again and again, sending blaster bolts streaking toward the blobs. The energy weapons did not kill the creatures, but seemed to slow them down. "How did you know we were here?" Zak asked. "We saw you go down the stairs," the Bothan replied, never taking his eyes off the blobs. "We knew you'd need help." "Thanks!" Zak shouted over the scream of blaster fire.
"Don't thank us," Wedge said. "Just get us oA this planet! You can start by finding a way up this ziggurat." "But there aren't any stairs!" Zak said. Wedge poured blaster fire onto a bold blob that had charged toward them. "These ziggurats must have served some purpose. Look for a door!" Deevee turned back to the wall. It was damp and over- grown with moss and fungus. The droid adjusted his photoreceptors to their sharpest focus and scanned the wall. He could see that deep grooves had been carved into it. Most of the grooves were covered with lichen and moss. "I found something," he announced. With Zak's help, the droid peeled away layers of thick growth until the out- line of a hatchway appeared. It was designed to blend into the stone wall, but they could see the thin seams that would let the door slide open. Zak located a small control panel and pushed several buttons, with no response. "It's locked," he groaned. Deevee's sensors had been drawn to a series of grooves carved over the hatchway. They were set in regular rows and marked through with curved lines. "What is it?" Zak asked. "It is written in the Gobindi language. But it is an extremely curious message." "What does it say?" Deevee pointed at the squiggly lines. "It is a chemistry equation. It appears to be medical in nature. I think it is the antidote to some sort of infection." "That's not going to help us at the moment!" Wedge snapped. The blobs were creeping closer, ignoring the storm of energy Wedge and his companion shot at them. "There's more here," Zak said. He peeled ofF more of the fungus that covered the wall. Deevee's photoreceptors darkened. "Zak, if my inter- preter program is working correctly, I'm afraid I know exactly what it says. And I know why this door is locked." "Why " Deevee paused. "It is a warning not to disturb this building. It marks the spot where a deadly virus was sealed up for eternity."
Inside the ziggurat Tash turned away as the Rodian fin- ished his transformation into a blob. She had seen the Imperial stormtroopers arrest the Rodian, claiming he was a pirate. They had probably infected him with the virus on purpose, and then locked him in this cell inside the ziggu- rat. And the virus had slowly taken over his entire body. A second thought made Tash shiver from head to toe as she remembered Ufedge's warning. Was this the fate that awaited Zak? Had Dr. Kavafi infected Zak with the virus? And what was Uncle Hoole's involvement? How could he allow Zak to be harmed? Unanswered questions swarmed about in Tash's head like buzzing grass flies. But they were overshadowed by a sudden, uncontrollable anger. Tash had never felt violent rage before, but she guessed that it must be something like this. The Empire had killed her parents. And now they had infected her brother with a virus! She was sure of it. She wanted to tear the Infirmary apart with her bare hands. The lump o'n her arm throbbed as her muscles clenched. At the end of this hallway there was a door. Tash pressed her ear against it, listening for any sound. Hearing noth- ing, she pressed the Open button. The hiss of the sliding door sounded loud in her ears, but there was no one in the room to hear it. Tash stepped into a wide, round chamber. The room was covered in fungus from the flo
or all the way up to the ceiling high above. The stone floor beneath her feet was slippery with moisture, and the air reminded her of a sauna. But worse than the heat was the fear that fell over Tash like a wall of durasteel. Something evil was in this room. Her skin crawled. She felt a million eyes staring at her. Tash scanned the room, but saw nothing. Still, the feel- ing of being watched would not go away. She considered going back... but to where? For all she knew, every other room in the ziggurat was crowded with Imperial scientists. No matter what she was feeling, she knew there were no Imperial soldiers in this room. She stepped forward, and the door whispered shut be- hind her. Then, with a click, it locked tight. Tash threw herself at the door, but the durasteel portal was several centimeters thick, and there was no way she could force it open.
"This," boomed an ominous voice over a hidden loud- speaker, "is the final test of the Gobindi virus." At the far end of the chamber another door slid open. Several stormtroopers shoved a human man into the cham- ber just before the door slid closed again. The man wore an Imperial medical uniform, but it was torn and caked with mud. His face looked drawn and thin, and his hair was d'irty and matted against his head. Despite all this Tash recognized him instantly.. It was Dr. Kavafi. "What... what happened to you?" Tash asked in bewilderment. Now Kavafi looked as if he'd been locked in a Hutt's dungeon for months. "Wh-Who are you?" Kavafi asked in return. Tash wrinkled her brow. "Tash Arranda. You know me. I'm Hoole's niece." Kavafi pushed some strands of hair out of his eyes. "I knew a Shi'ido named Hoole years ago, but I've never met you before." He suddenly stiffened. "Never mind. It doesn't matter now. I'm afraid you have gotten yourself involved in something terrible." He looked around ner- vously. "I know!" Tash said in sudden frustration. She was getting a headache, and her skin felt hot and itchy from the room's heat. "I thought you were behind the virus!" "Not me!" the doctor said. He seemed more meek than before. "I came to this planet to do virus research. I did good work, too. But several weeks ago I was kidnapped right out of the Infirmary by someone who looked exactly like me. An imposter!" An imposter? Tash shook her head. "No, it was you. My uncle Hoole brought us here so you could treat my brother Zak for a virus." The man shook his head. "I'm telling you, for the last six weeks I have been locked in a cell at the bottom of this ziggurat. Someone assumed my identity and took over the Infirmary, replacing my entire staff with his own scien- tists!" "Why?" Tash asked. The man pointed to the walls around them. "I chose Gobindi for my virus research because the humid climate is ripe for breeding viruses. But as I began my research, I discovered that the Gobindi had done their own research before they vanished. They knew that the jungles below their city were festering with viruses, bacteria, and all manner of organisms. But the Gobindi's discoveries cost them their lives. They unearthed a virus on the planet's surface that was too deadly for words. Even the Gobindi, with all their knowledge, had no way to destroy it!" "So that's how they disappeared," Tash whispered. "They were wiped out!" Kavafi said. "In a last attempt to control the virus, the Gobindi identified all its original sources. Caves, stagnant lakes, and forest groves where the virus spread from plants to animals and back again, wait- ing for another host to come along and help spread the disease. Since they could not kill the virus, the Gobindi
built huge tombs that they hoped would seal it away forever." "These ziggurats," Tash whispered. "They were built to stop the virus from spreading?" The man nodded. "When I realized this, I sent all the information to my superiors in the Empire, recommending that Gobindi be quarantined forever. The next thing I knew, a Star Destroyer arrived. I was thrown into a dun- geon. Someone took control of all my experiments. But instead of stopping the research, they began to dig into the ziggurats, looking for the virus itself!" He shuddered. "I think they are using my virus research to create a galaxy- wide plague." Tash looked at Kavafi's clothes, his ratty hair, and his bloodshot, swollen eyes. He certainly looked like he'd been in a dungeon for weeks. And his story was convinc- ing. She asked, "But who would do something like that? Who could impersonate you so perfectly?" Ten meters up the wall, a panel slid back to reveal an observation viewport. Someone was standing at the trans- paristeel window. "I could," the figure said. It was Uncle Hoole. Tash blinked. No, it wasn't Uncle Hoole. The face was too round and the body too squat. Plus, the figure grinned evilly. Hoole rarely even smiled. No, this wasn't Hoole. But he was a Shi'ido, a member of Hoole's species. Which meant that he could change shape at will. "That's how he impersonated you," Tash realized. "That's who I thought was Dr. Kavafi." "A convincing act, I thought," the mysterious Shi'ido said, speaking through a comm unit. "It had to be, to trick Hoole. I even went to the trouble of actually healing your brother in a bacta tank, just to keep Hoole at ease." "Where is Zak?" Tash yelled. The mysterious Shi'ido grinned again. "At this moment I'd say he is lying on the Aoor of his cell, covered in the
virLlS. In another few minutes, he should be just another what did you call it, Tash? a blob creature." Tash's knees felt weak. All this time she had suspected Hoole of doingwomething wrong. He was being fooled, just like she was. She could have talked to him at any time. Instead she had kept her worries to herself, and now they had all fallen into some sort of deadly trap. "Do not feel bad, young lady," the Shi'ido said mock- ingly. "You are dealing with an intellect far greater than yours." "Why are you doing this to us?" Tash yelled. The Shi'ido's face clouded in anger. "Because you de- serve it. And far worse. Thanks to your meddling uncle, you and your brother have ruined two of my experiments so far." "Your experiments?" Tash could hardly believe what she was hearing. The Shi'ido continued. "I could have snuffed you out like an incense candle, but instead I watched and waited, giving you one last chance. And rather than give up your investigation, you headed straight here, to Gobindi." "We came here because my brother was sick!" Tash argued. She was getting angry again, and the angrier she got, the hotter she felt. The skin around her bruised arm
had started to itch. "We don't even know who you are! It's a coincidence."
"Coincidence?" the Shi'ido roared. "Was it coinci- dence that you showed up just in time to drive my living planet into a frenzy? Was it coincidence that you exposed Evazan just as he completed his resurrection serum? And was it coincidence that your very next stop was Gobindi, only three weeks after rny virus experiments had begun?" Tash opened her mouth to speak, then shut it. Who was this guy? Dr. Kavafi spoke up and addressed the Shi'ido. "Who- ever you are, you are playing with forces beyond your control. The virus inside this ziggurat was not meant to be disturbed. If it spreads, it could create a plague of galactic proportions!" The Shi'ido yawned. "Actually, Dr. Kavafi, the virus you are so worried about was quite limited when I found it," he said through the comm unit. "Oh, it was deadly enough. It took over its host at an alarming rate. But it wasn't very contagious. You cannot catch it by breathing the same air someone infected has breathed. It cannot live very long outside a hot environment. It dies quickly unless it finds a host." The Shi'ido shrugged. "I've done some tinkering with the virus's structure. My new version is far more effective because it can travel through the air. At least, I think it can. We are going to test it. Now." In his observation booth the Shi'ido pulled a switch. Several vents in the walls and ceiling opened up, and Tash heard the whir of fans blowing air into the hot chamber. The Shi'ido spoke again. "You have already seen the results of the virus. It doesn't kill its host. It invades the
body of the victim and wraps it in a cocoon of slime, then continues to feed off it. I'm not sure how long the victims live." Tash shook her head. She could not believe how evil this being was. "The people who disappeared. The people who've been arrested. You've been testing the virus on them! How could you?" The Shi'ido laughed. "I'm going to do far worse than that. Once I'm sure the virus can infect people through the air, I'm going to test it on a much larger scale." He opened his arms wide. "I have turned this entire ziggurat into one enormous air vent, with the Infirmary as the cover. Once the Infirmary is gone, I plan to blow billions upon billions
of virus particles over the city of Mah Dala." "You can't!" Kavafi yelled. "Why else do you think I have arranged to trap these people on the planet for so long? There are so many dif- ferent species here. It is the perfect test to see which spe- cies are aAected by the virus and which are not." The Shi'ido paused. "And that is the truly terrifying thing about a virus, don't you think?" he said. "You cannot see it. You cannot smell it, you cannot taste it. But it is there. It is there in the room with you right now." Tash and Kavafi looked around. The room looked no different than it had a moment before. But they knew it was different. It had been filled with a deadly plague. "Actually you should be honored, Dr. Kavafi," the Shi'ido said. "I've been saving you for this particular phase of my tests. And the Arranda girl, well, she's been doomed since the moment she arrived on Gobindi." The Shi'ido examined some instruments in the control booth. "Excellent. It appears my virus dispersal unit is functioning according to plan. If you two will excuse me, I have to make plans to infect a city." He closed his eyes, and his skin began to wrinkle and bubble. The next instant, the Shi'ido had been replaced by the perfect image of Dr. Kavafi. The false doctor reached for a lever. "You will have to pardon the blast shield I'm about to close. I can't let any of the virus escape just yet, can I?" The blast shield slammed shut across the transparisteel viewport, and the Shi'ido was gone. "What should we do?" Tash asked. Kavafi shook his head. "There is nothing to do. We are trapped. You cannot avoid what you cannot see." Tash suddenly remembered the electroscope. She had carried it with her from the Infirmary. "I can see them." She checked the visor's controls and reduced the mag- nification so that she could see both the virus particles and the room around her. She put the visor on. Her heart froze. The electroscope revealed clouds of tiny, wriggling red creatures all around her. Magnified a thousand times, they were still little more than specks in the air. Streams of them gushed from the air vents.