Clones

by John Whitman

  Rebel base. However, the Rebels left because the Empire had discovered them.

  It is highly unlikely that they would use the base again once it had been

  exposed."

  "Although," Tash replied, "it's not such a bad idea. Why would the Empire

  come back to a place that was already abandoned? Maybe it was a good place for

  the Rebels after all."

  "But these Rebels?" Zak said skeptically. "Think about the Rebels we've

  met. Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Wedge Antilles. They're all as

  keen as laser beams. These people"-he gestured toward the Rebel base-"are,

  well, a little slow."

  "And would their fellow Rebels really have left them here?" Tash

  wondered.

  Hoole shook his head. "I find it difficult to believe that they are part

  of the Rebel Alliance. They, however, seem to believe it, and we have no cause

  to argue with them."

  "So what do we do?" Zak asked.

  "They have an earnest desire to leave the planet, and they are harmless

  enough," the Shi'ido replied. "I see no reason to refuse them assistance."

  Hoole looked at his niece. "Unless you have feelings that tell you otherwise,

  Tash?"

  Tash tried to gather her thoughts. What was she feeling? "I don't think

  so," she said at last. "I mean, I do feel something, but I'm sure it has

  nothing to do with these people. When Eyal talks, I believe him. I don't get

  any feelings in the Force, as I do when people are lying and planning to hurt

  us." She paused. "But when I was in the ruins, I felt something from the dark

  side, something I've only felt before around Darth Vader."

  They had met Vader once. Tash and Zak had been his prisoners for a short

  time. Neither of them liked to think about it.

  "I'd say that falls into the category of not good," Zak said.

  "Do you have any idea why you got that feeling?" Hoole asked.

  Tash shook her head. She couldn't bring herself to tell them the other

  part-that she had found herself reaching out to the dark side. All she said

  was, "I was trying to figure that out when Eyal grabbed me."

  "Speaking of getting grabbed," Zak said, "I want to make sure no one gets

  grabbed by Maga. Uncle Hoole, Maga lured Tash into the ruins, hoping she'd get

  lost. You should have heard him laugh!"

  Hoole's eyes darkened. "Yes, I'm afraid I was too forgiving of Maga. He

  poses an obvious danger. However, if we are to help these beings, we will not

  be staying on Dantooine much longer anyway."

  Tash and Zak had mixed reactions to the news. Dantooine had been a

  refreshing break from their recent troubles, and neither one of them felt in

  any hurry to leave. Still, it obviously wasn't safe to remain near Maga any

  longer.

  "We still have some time before the ship arrives," Hoole said. "I believe

  I would like to take Eyal up on his offer and look around. Shall we go back

  into the base?"

  "Prime," Zak said, jumping to his feet. "As long as you're sure they're

  not going to pull blasters on us, I want to find out just how crazy they are.

  Let's move."

  "Actually, I'd rather not," Tash replied. "You go ahead."

  Hoole paused. "It would be wiser to stay together." Tash knew that if she

  tried to sort out her thoughts in the company of her uncle or her brother,

  she'd end up talking to them. And she wasn't ready for that yet. "I have some

  things to think about."

  Hoole seemed to read her mind. "I would prefer that you not return to the

  Jedi ruins just yet."

  "I promise," she said.

  "In that case," Hoole considered, "very well. The Dantari do not seem to

  come near the ruins, so you are safe from Maga. But please do not wander off."

  Tash promised again, and waved as Zak and Hoole departed.

  Once she was alone, she let out a deep sigh. She realized that she'd been

  on edge since the moment she'd entered the Jedi ruins.

  No, she thought, I've been anxious since before that. She'd been edgy

  since she'd used the Force in anger against Maga. Tash tried to remember her

  nightmare, but all she recalled was the cold, dreadful feeling of the dark

  side.

  The moment Tash thought of the dark side of the Force, it seemed to reach

  out and surround her. Tash shivered as though a chill wind had washed over

  her. The sun lost some of its shine. The blue sky turned a bit darker. A gray

  mist settled around the edges of her vision. She stared ahead at the bridge,

  but it seemed clouded by fog. She blinked, but her vision would not clear.

  I need to concentrate on something, she thought. I should practice with

  the Force.

  Tash pulled the crystal pendant from inside her shirt. Despite the fog,

  the ruby-red gem flashed in the sunlight. Tash tried to focus on the pendant,

  imagining the Force connecting her to the tiny crystal.

  Relax, she told herself. The Force will work when you're peaceful.

  But Tash couldn't relax. The crystal pendant made her think of her

  mother, and this time, instead of the warm memories of the moment her mother

  had given her the pendant, all she could think of was her mother's death. Her

  mother was gone forever, wiped out, along with an entire planet, by the

  Empire.

  An angry frown crossed Tash's face.

  She hated the Empire.

  Shaking the thought from her head, Tash held the pendant in the palm of

  her hand and refocused. She tried to remain calm, but all she could think

  about was how sad she was... and how terrible the Empire was... and how angry

  she was at all Imperials... and how she wished she could use the Force to

  destroy the Emperor forever.

  The pendant leaped from her hand and flew through the air.

  Tash watched in disbelief as the pendant fell into the grass. She had

  never been able to move anything-large or small-that far before.

  Instinctively, she knew why.

  It was the dark side. She had let herself get angry, even hateful, while

  thinking of the Empire. It had given her a strength she'd never had before.

  The dark side.

  Tash felt it call to her again. It was tugging at her. She felt it pull

  her toward the ruins... toward the room at the center of the Jedi fortress.

  Something was there. Waiting for her.

  Tash tried to ignore the silent call by putting her mind on her pendant.

  She got down on her hands and knees in the grass to look for it.

  Nearby, she heard footsteps on the bridge. She looked up. It was Eyal. He

  was passing her, walking across the bridge toward the ruins.

  "Hi. Lost something?" Eyal asked.

  "Yes, but I'll find it, thanks," she replied.

  He nodded and walked on toward the base.

  Tash stuck her nose back into the grass, searching for the pendant. It

  had to be here somewhere...

  Tash heard footsteps on the bridge. She looked up.

  It was Eyal. He was crossing the bridge, heading toward the ruins.

  Again.

  CHAPTER 8

  While Tash was sitting on the riverbank, Hoole and Zak went back to the

  Rebel base. As before, they received quite a few stares but were otherwise

  ignored.

  "They sure seem busy," Zak said as several Rebel personnel hurried past.

  "
I wonder what they're doing."

  "Perhaps word of our ship has spread," Hoole suggested, "and they are

  preparing for departure. I wonder if there is some sort of computer record

  stored here that we could look at."

  "If there is, it would be in that building," Zak said, turning toward the

  closest of the five domes.

  "How are you so certain?" the Shi'ido asked.

  Zak pointed to a small shed beside the dome. Tubes ran from the shed into

  the dome wall. Both the shed and the tubes looked as if they hadn't been

  cleaned or repaired in years. "That's a climate control unit. Or at least

  what's left of one. Since computers need cool air, the Rebels probably pump

  air from there into the computer room."

  Hoole nodded. "I forget how much you know about technology. Come."

  They strolled over to the building. There was a doorway but no door, and

  they walked inside. No one seemed to mind. In fact, this particular building

  was almost empty. Unlike in the hangar, there were several floors above them,

  and many rooms on each floor: Fortunately, they did not have to search every

  room. The same tubes Zak had seen running into the building ran along the

  ceiling. Zak and Hoole simply followed the tubes down a dusty hallway and into

  a large room at the back.

  The room was almost completely empty. They could see scuff marks on the

  floor indicating where computers had once stood, but most of them had been

  removed. Only a few remained, and these were heavily coated with dust and

  seemed to be inactive.

  Hoole frowned. "It would appear this computer room is no longer in use."

  Zak looked at one computer's control panel. "Maybe. But this was used

  recently. At least, it wasn't years ago." He pointed to several buttons that

  had been wiped free of dust. And the screen itself had been sloppily cleared,

  as though someone had wiped their hand across it.

  Zak found the activation switch and flipped it on. The computer lights

  slowly faded up, and they heard a weak hum. "The battery power is fading," Zak

  said.

  "Show me what you can access," Hoole requested.

  Zak's fingers flew over the keyboard. "There's not much here. I guess if

  the Rebels abandoned this place, they erased all of the vital information. All

  that's left are a few personnel records. Names and profiles of some of the

  staff and work assignments. Boring stuff."

  "Call up Eyal's name," Hoole said.

  Zak did as he was asked. The computer seemed to work through the request

  slowly. Finally, a few lines of text appeared on the screen. As they read over

  the screen, Zak's jaw dropped and Hoole raised an eyebrow.

  NAME: Eyal Shah

  BIRTH PLANET: Corellia

  AGE: 27

  All the information on the screen matched what Eyal had told Tash.

  But the being in the picture was totally different.

  "Maybe it's an error," Zak said, looking at the picture of a total

  stranger. "This computer's old. The files could be corrupted."

  "Perhaps," Hoole agreed. "There should be an original datadisk for each

  person, shouldn't there?"

  "Yeah, a backup in case the computers fail." There was a cabinet below

  the computer terminal. Zak opened it and found a tray labeled PERSONNEL DATA

  DISKS. But it was empty. "So much for that." A hint of nervousness crept into

  his voice. "Uncle Hoole, what do you think is going on here?"

  "Nothing to be concerned about. At least not yet," the Shi'ido replied.

  "Aside from the strange behavior regarding the starship, there is nothing here

  but a personnel record with the wrong picture attached. This is all

  explainable. But I think it is best to keep our eyes open."

  Zak had stopped listening. He had turned to look at his uncle as Hoole

  spoke, but a moment later his eyes went wide. "Hey!" he yelled, and pointed

  over Hoole's shoulder. Hoole whipped his head around, but the room and the

  doorway were empty.

  "What did you see?" the Shi'ido asked.

  "I saw Tash," Zak replied. "I mean, I think it was Tash. Blond hair,

  braid. Except her clothes were different. She had on one of those jumpsuits

  the Rebels wear. She stopped in the doorway, then she ducked out as soon as I

  turned around."

  Hoole frowned. "Disguising herself as a Rebel? I fear she has some sort

  of scheme. Run after her, Zak."

  "What about you?"

  Hoole pointed at the computer. "I want to compare any information in here

  with what I know of Dantooine and the Rebels. Just run after Tash and bring

  her back here. Don't get into any trouble yourself."

  "Count on that!" Zak said, and rushed out of the room to get his sister.

  Tash had watched Eyal cross the bridge for the second time. How in the

  galaxy could the same person have crossed the same bridge going in the same

  direction two times in a row?

  Maybe he forgot something, she thought. Maybe I didn't see him turn

  around and go back, then cross the bridge again.

  But she knew that wasn't right. She'd seen Eyal cross the bridge and head

  into the ruins.

  Then she'd seen him do it again.

  Was he twins?

  But Dr'uun the Sullustan had had a twin. What was the chance of there

  being two sets of twins on a supposedly abandoned Rebel base?

  Finding her pendant, Tash jumped to her feet and ran toward the base.

  Around her, the Rebels were still bustling to and fro, but she managed to stop

  one, a woman with curly golden hair, and ask if she'd seen any of the other

  visitors. The woman pointed toward the nearest building, then hurried on her

  way.

  Tash ran to the building. It was dusty inside-so dusty that she noticed

  several sets of footprints on the ground. She followed them to a room where

  she found Hoole staring thoughtfully into a computer screen.

  "Tash, there you are," Hoole murmured. "Where's Zak?"

  "I don't know," Tash replied. "He was with you."

  "No," Hoole answered. "He said he saw you standing in the doorway. He

  went to follow you."

  Tash looked at her uncle as if he were crazy. "What do you mean?"

  "There you are!" Zak said, hurrying back into the room. Then he stopped.

  "How did you change clothes so quickly?"

  Tash gave him a blank stare. "Change clothes? What are you talking about?

  "

  Zak told her what he'd seen.

  "It wasn't me," Tash explained. "I was down by the bridge. Maybe there's

  a Rebel who looks like me."

  "This is getting weird," Zak said. "I'm beginning to think that the

  Dantari were right to avoid this place."

  "Perhaps," Hoole agreed. "But we are here now. Our only other option is

  to return to the Dantari camp, where we'd be forced to deal with Maga. I

  suggest that we simply stay here in this room until the ship arrives. Once on

  board, we will be safe."

  Tash still felt the urge to return to the ruins. "Do we have to stay in

  here?"

  "We do not seem to be in any danger here," Hoole said, "while Maga is a

  definite threat in the Dantari camp. Is it a problem to remain?"

  Tash didn't like the idea of being so close to the ruins and the dark-

  side feeling she was getting, but Hoole was right. There
were no better

  options. "No," she finally answered.

  She plopped down on the floor of the computer room while Zak and Hoole

  continued to work at the one terminal. She didn't bother to look. She could

  tell from their conversation that there wasn't anything interesting.

  Tash.

  She felt something call to her.

  Tash.

  It didn't say her name exactly. It was more like a feeling of someone, or

  something, thinking of her. It was like feeling someone's eyes staring at your

  back.

  Tash.

  She stood up quietly. Zak and Hoole were still staring at the computer.

  As quietly as she could, Tash slipped out of the

  MOM.

  It was a short walk over the bridge and into the ruins. The maze of walls

  and giant stones wasn't quite as confusing as before. She found her way to the

  center of the ancient fortress with only a few wrong turns and reached the

  short round tower.

  The feeling of the dark side grew stronger. Taking a deep breath, she