Spore, page 6
was rising from the asteroid's surface. She could see Hoole's ship like a
bright yellow dot against the black field of space. She hit her thrusters and
sped to catch up.
Suddenly, an asteroid the size of a bantha dropped into view, tumbling
toward her viewscreen. The Starfly seemed to leap out of the asteroid's path
with a mind of its own.
Tash looked down at her controls. She had moved the ship without
thinking! Her arms tingled. Wasn't this how she'd felt in the past when she'd
used the Force? And wasn't it just how she'd felt when she tried to talk to
the Bafforr trees?
Tash moved the controls again, and her Starfly looped easily around the
next space rock.
She almost laughed out loud. She felt as if she were playing speed globe
again. Only now she was the globe, and all the asteroids were trying to catch
her!
It's like I can predict where they're coming from and where they're
going, she thought. Almost like... I'm connected to them.
Tash knew that the Force was an energy field that connected all living
things. Did it apply to space rocks, too?
More than ever, she wished that someone could answer her questions. She
wished...
Whatever she wished, she forgot it the next instant, as her eyes fell on
a small white object turning slow circles toward a giant asteroid-an asteroid
even larger than the one the miners lived on. The surface of the asteroid was
covered in holes and caverns. In one of those caverns, Tash could see a space
slug huddling, its mouth slowly opening and closing like that of a fish in
water.
The small white object was Zak.
He was heading right into the space slug's mouth.
CHAPTER 10
Zak was about to be swallowed by the space slug.
Tash felt the tingling sensation leave her body. The asteroids that had
seemed easy to dodge a moment ago swirled around her again. She jerked the
controls hard to avoid one rock and nearly smashed into another.
"Uncle Hoole, help!" she called out.
"Stay calm, Tash," the Shi'ido's steady voice replied. "I'll distract the
space slug while you try to grab hold of Zak."
"I-I can't!"
There was a pause. Then Hoole said, "Yes, you can. A moment ago you were
flying this asteroid field like it was an obstacle course back on the
playground on Alderaan. You can do it."
Tash felt her palms start to sweat, but since they were trapped inside
her gloves, she had no way to wipe them dry. Hoole was right. She could do it.
She had to do it.
There was no time left to be afraid. The space slug lunged out of its
hole toward Zak.
Hoole's Starfly tilted its nose toward the space slug and fired its
thrusters, diving toward the creature. Its lasers fired, sending two beams of
white-hot energy into the giant worm's hide. It was like pricking a bantha
with a needle, but the shots distracted the worm enough to make it swerve
aside, looking for whatever had attacked it. Jaws that could crush an Imperial
walker chomped down just as Hoole slipped out of its way.
Sprranng!
Tash felt something bounce off the side of her Starfly and thanked the
Force that it had only been a mini-asteroid. Anything larger would have
crushed her. Taking a deep breath, she punched her thrusters to full power and
shot toward her brother.
An asteroid seemed to appear out of nowhere. She turned her ship in a
tight spin and slipped around it.
Two asteroids headed right for one another. Tash eased off her thrusters
as the rocks collided in front of her.
But the two smashed asteroids had turned into a hundred smaller rocks.
There was no way to avoid them. Tash closed her eyes tight and moved her
control stick, flying totally by feel.
When she opened her eyes, she'd passed through the debris untouched.
Zak was right in front of her now. She was close enough to see his arms
waving helplessly in the void. She could see his frightened eyes. They were as
wide as a Rodian's. But they weren't staring at Tash. They were staring into
the mouth of the space slug. As wide and bottomless as a black hole, it
reached out as Zak hurtled forward.
"Activating tractor beam," Tash said, reaching for the right button
without even knowing it.
A beam of pale white light reached out from her Starfly and touched Zak.
Instantly, her brother stopped his tumble through space.
The space slug's jaws slammed down less than a dozen meters from Zak. If
the tractor beam hadn't caught him, Zak would have been on the inside of its
mouth rather than the outside.
Hoole's Starfly flashed into view, blasters blazing. Energy bolts pounded
the space slug's head. It thrashed about angrily for a moment, then retreated
into its cave.
Tash found the control knob that pulled the tractor beam in, drawing Zak
toward her ship. "Zak, do you copy?" she asked into her comlink.
"Y-Yeah," came a weak, trembling voice. "But I think I've had enough
spacewalking for one day."
Using the tractor beam, Tash drew her brother toward her ship until he
could reach out and touch the hull.
Quickly, she popped open the top of her Starfly and pulled him inside.
"Is there room?" he asked.
"I think so," she replied. "There's some space behind the seat. Curl up
back there. And hurry. I want to get out of here before another asteroid comes
our way."
They reached the mining facility in minutes, with Hoole flying just
behind them. When they landed, they were surprised to find that the Starflies
Jerec and his men had used to reach the asteroid were gone. The Imperials had
left the asteroid and returned to their Star Destroyer.
A low rumble in the rock beneath their feet told them why. "The
asteroid's unstable after that explosion," said Hodge as they walked into the
main room. He and his partner, still wearing their spacesuits, Were stuffing a
few personal items into travel packs. Fandomar sat in a corner, nervously
adjusting her space helmet.
Hodge went on: "We're safe for a few minutes, but we've got to evacuate
immediately."
"Can we take off our spacesuits now?" Zak asked.
"No!" Fandomar almost shouted.
Hodge explained, "The explosion knocked out the environmental controls.
There's no air."
"What caused the explosion?" Hoole asked. He glanced at Fandomar. "Jerec
seemed to think it was sabotage."
Hodge shrugged. "Hard to tell. Could have been a malfunction or sabotage.
"
Tash couldn't help asking, "Fandomar... where were you during the
explosion?"
"I-I was-" the Ithorian stammered, "I was... a-alone."
Tash swallowed. That wasn't much of an alibi.
Hodge, however, didn't seem concerned about who might have set off the
explosion. "All I care about now is getting off this rock and down to Ithor.
Fandomar's going to take us."
The six survivors hurried aboard Fandomar's cargo ship as the Ithorian
sealed the hatch. "Don't remove your spacesuits," she warned. "I managed to
repair the damage done by the space slug, but this explosion has caused a loss
of environmental controls. No air. Your suits must stay on until we reach
Ithor."
"Great," Zak groaned, dropping down into a flight chair. "I'll never get
out of this suit."
"Tash, Zak, would you come with me, please?" Hoole asked.
The two Arrandas followed their uncle out of the cockpit. Behind the
pilot's room lay one small cargo hold, then another larger one beyond that.
Hoole passed through each cargo hold, shutting the doors tightly behind him.
When they reached the back of the ship, Hoole spoke into his comlink.
"Fandomar? Fandomar, do you copy?"
When there was no answer, he nodded. "Good. The cargo doors are blocking
the signal, so she can't hear us." He looked at his niece and nephew. "Tash,
Zak, I am afraid we must consider an unpleasant possibility." He paused.
"Fandomar may be a murderer."
"No!" Tash replied. "She couldn't be. She's too gentle."
Hoole nodded. "I know how she seems. But she is the only being without an
alibi for the time the miner was murdered."
Tash shook her head. "Hodge and the other miner were out of sight, too."
Zak shrugged. "Yeah, but why would they kill their own partner?
Especially with Imperials in the neighborhood?"
Hoole agreed with Zak. "And Fandomar was the only person not present when
the explosion occurred. She must have slipped away as soon as we returned to
the mining facility."
"But why would she kill someone? And blow up the miners' station?" Tash
asked.
Her uncle replied, "I do not know. All of this is somehow connected to
the tomb on the asteroid. Something was kept at the bottom of that tunnel. I
am not sure what it was, but I have at least a few clues."
Tash and Zak listened closely as their uncle lowered his voice even more.
"The writing on the inner chamber was somewhat clearer than on the sign at the
base of the statue. I read the word Spore."
"Spore?" Zak asked. "What's that? A person?"
"I'm not sure," the Shi'ido admitted. "But there were dates written on
the inner room as well. They were nearly destroyed, but I believe they match
the dates Tash mentioned. The dates when all Ithorian records were missing."
Zak wrinkled his brow. "I'm getting a headache. So we've got a mysterious
time in history the Ithorians didn't want to record, and something called
Spore buried on an asteroid. Then we have an Imperial who wants this Spore, a
miner who gets murdered for it, and an explosion that drives everyone off the
asteroid."
"Do not forget," Hoole added, "that Fandomar volunteered to fly the
shuttle from the planet to the asteroid. That meant that she could keep her
eye on the miners..."
"To see if they discovered the tomb!" Zak finished. "Of course! She knows
what this Spore is and wants it for herself."
Tash clicked her tongue in frustration. "She's an Ithorian. What about
the Law of Life?"
"We must remember that Fandomar's husband has already disobeyed Ithorian
law," Hoole replied. "He gave secrets to the Empire. Fandomar may be equally
unpredictable."
Tash didn't agree.
"I just don't believe it," she said stubbornly.
"Help!" a voice suddenly shouted loudly enough to be picked up by their
comlinks.
Tash, Zak, and Hoole rushed toward the front of the ship in time to see
that one of the ship's hatches had been opened. Stars twinkled in the darkness
beyond.
Fandomar stood in the doorway, shoving one of the miners out into the
void.
CHAPTER 11
The miner's fingers clung desperately to the edges of the hatch. He tried
to pull himself back into the ship, but Fandomar grabbed hold of his hands and
pried them loose. Not until that moment did Tash realize that the long,
delicate Ithorian fingers were also incredibly strong.
"Help! Help!" the miner cried, but it was too late. He was kicked free of
the ship's hull. Even on sublight drive, the cargo ship was traveling
incredibly fast. He was floating through space ten kilometers behind the ship
before anyone could move.
Hoole drew a blaster from the pouch in his spacesuit. Briefly, Tash
wondered where he'd gotten it. Her uncle almost never used weapons. He usually
relied on his incredible shape-shifting ability in time of need. But she
guessed that his power was as limited here as it had been near the asteroid
tomb.
"Do not move," the Shi'ido said, his voice like hard stone.
Fandomar hardly looked at the blaster. "He'll be fine, he'll be fine!"
she said, almost to herself. "He's got enough oxygen in his tank to last
almost twenty-four hours. We can send a rescue ship out to get him as soon as
we reach the planet."
This took Tash totally by surprise. She could see that it had shocked her
uncle, too. "If you want to rescue him, why throw him off the ship in the
first place?" Hoole asked.
"Oooohhhhh."
A low moan came from the floor near their feet. Tash saw that Hodge lay
in the corner. Moving awkwardly in his bulky spacesuit, the chief miner
staggered to his feet. He shook his head and muttered, "S-Somebody dropped
sleeping gas into my air tank."
Tash felt her face turn red, and a hot tear welled up in her eye. She
didn't know whether to be embarrassed or horrified or angry or all three at
once. "You were going to kill Hodge, too," she whispered. "Were we next?"
Fandomar shook her head. She was crying. The sobbing from her twin
throats was pitifully sad. "I-I haven't killed anyone. And I wouldn't have
touched you, Tash. I knew it couldn't be any of you. You were in the mining
facility the whole time."
"What whole time?" Zak asked.
Hoole kept his blaster steady on the Ithorian. "Fandomar, I think it is
time you told us what is happening here."
Fandomar's two mouths trembled. "It's Spore," she whispered.
A soft alarm sounded.
"It is nothing," Hoole said, sparing a quick glance at the instrument
panel. "We are entering the Ithorian atmosphere."
The instant he looked away, Fandomar bolted for the cockpit.
"Uncle Hoole!" Tash warned.
Hoole pointed his blaster at Fandomar's back. But he didn't fire. Tash
knew her uncle couldn't shoot anyone in the back.
They were only a few steps behind her, but in those few seconds Fandomar
slammed into the controls, tearing at the control stick and smashing the
scanner screens with her gloved hands. The ship's nose tilted up and everyone
tumbled forward against the console as the cargo carrier went into a steep
dive.
Tash and Zak grabbed Fandomar's arms, trying to drag her back from the
controls. Hodge staggered up behind them and grabbed the back of Fandomar's
spacesuit. Much stronger than the two Arrandas, he was able to haul Fandomar
away from the pilot's seat.
Instantly, Hoole took her place. He pulled back on the control stick, but
the ship responded sluggishly. Fandomar had damaged the flight-control system.
On the viewscreen, they could see the nose of the ship plunge out of dark
space into the blue sky of Ithor. The green planet rushed up to meet them.
Hoole worked like a machine, running through every option. He tried the
thrusters. He worked the repulsor engines. He diverted power from the ship's
deflector shields. Nothing worked. The ship barely responded to his commands.
The front of the falling cargo ship turned white-hot. They were falling
so fast, they had caught fire.
Tash couldn't even scream-her heart was pounding in her throat. "Seats!"
she heard her uncle rasp. For a second she didn't know what he meant. Then she
realized she wasn't buckled in to anything. Frantically, she let go of
Fandomar, dropped into the nearest chair, and strapped herself into the
crashwebbing. Beside her, Zak had done the same thing.
Something bumped against Tash's leg. The speed globe. She picked it up
and nervously held the soft globe tight as the ship continued to fall.
Tash told herself they would be all right. Hoole would never give up. He
was too calm, too capable to give up. The Shi'ido always found a way out of
the most desperate situation.
