"Is that a s.p.a.ceport?" Zak said. "It looks more like a junk heap."
The Lightrunner did not fall apart. The engines kept them aloft as Hoole guided the ship onto the small launch deck. As the ma.s.sive repulsors took over, lowering the cruiser clumsily to the tarmac, Hoole sighed with relief. But then the Lightrunner gave one final shudder and the engines died.
"That is not encouraging," Hoole said. "We should look at the engines."
"All right!" yelled Zak, a born tinkerer. "Let"s go, Tash."
"Right behind you."
Tash was still sulking after the near accident. She was sure she hadn"t damaged anything on the ship. She had been daydreaming about the Jedi Knights, but she didn"t deserve to be scolded for it.
Because she was still surly, she lagged behind her brother on his way to the exit. She would rather have a tooth pulled than look at a starship engine. By the time she had unbuckled her crash webbing, Zak and Uncle Hoole had lowered the ramp and were outside.
The moment Tash reached the door, a hole opened up in the pit of her stomach. She was overcome by a feeling of dread-as though some terrible evil was looming right before her eyes, staring at her, about to pounce on her. She had gotten such a feeling once before-on the day her parents died. She shivered.
But there was nothing there. She peeked out the hatch, but all she saw was the s.p.a.ceport"s landing pad and the blue sky above it. Still, the feeling lingered. Something was out there.
"Zak? Uncle Hoole?" she whispered. "Deevee?"
No answer.
Tash crept out of the Lightrunner"s door. The s.p.a.ceport was very quiet. Most star ports were crowded with ships coming and going, workers unloading cargo, pilots hurrying to and from dozens of flight decks, and maintenance droids busily trying to repair the wear and tear of constant arrivals and departures. Not this place. D"vouran"s s.p.a.ceport looked deserted, and there were only a few ships on its flight deck. All of them looked like flying junk heaps-the thrown-together ships of poor travelers on the move.
The feeling of being watched was still there.
Tash took another step out. Where was her brother? "Zak?" she whispered.. .
... As something cold and slimy dropped around her neck.
CHAPTER 4.
"Aaaagh!" she cried, pulling at the thing that grabbed her. It was soft and squishy, and when she yanked, it broke away. Tash saw that her hand was full of flowers.
"Nice going, Tash," Zak laughed, stepping around the side of the ship with Deevee beside him. He and Deevee both had necklaces of flowers around their necks. "I"m sure the Enzeen really appreciate you tearing their gifts apart."
Zak pointed at a person standing right beside Tash. She had been too nervous to see the man-well, not a man exactly. He was definitely humanlike, except that he had blue skin, and instead of hair, the top of his head was covered with short needlelike spines. He was plump, with chubby fingers and a round face covered mostly by a very friendly smile.
He was holding a pile of flowered hoops. "Welcome to D"vouran. I am Chood, an Enzeen."
"N-Nice to meet you," Tash stammered. "Sorry about the, um..."
"Friendship necklace," Chood finished pleasantly. "That"s quite all right. Have another." He hung another flower necklace around her neck.
"The Enzeen use these to welcome people to their planet," explained Deevee, coming up closer from around the side of the ship. "A nuisance, if you ask me.
"If you"d come out with us, you wouldn"t have been so surprised,"
Zak added.
"Where were you?" Tash asked. "I called your name."
Zak pointed toward the tail end of the ship. "Sorry. Uncle Hoole had opened up the exterior panels to the lateral stabilizer, and I went with him to watch. I"ve never seen the inside of an ion thruster before."
"Thrilling," Deevee said, sounding as sarcastic as a droid could.
Uncle Hoole appeared, wiping oil from his hands and frowning even more than usual. "The damage is severe. Chood, is there anyone on D"vouran who can help us repair our ship?"
The Enzeen looked sympathetic. "I"m sorry. We Enzeen are not great travelers, and we don"t know much about starships. In fact, we have very little use for any technology. However, there are several starpilots on the planet who may be able to help. Most of them spend time at the local cantina."
"Excellent," Hoole said. "Would you take us there?"
The Enzeen bowed low. "I would be honored to a.s.sist."
Chood led them down a flight of wide stairs and out of the s.p.a.ceport. Just outside the exit stood a large sign in Basic, the common language most species in the galaxy used. It read: WELCOME TO D"VOURAN.
OUR GOAL IS TO SERVE.
"Now that"s a friendly sign," Zak said.
"I guess," Tash responded glumly.
Her brother leaned closer and whispered. "What"s the matter with you? This Chood is doing his best to make us welcome here, and you look like someone"s planning your funeral."
"I can"t help it," she whispered back. "I just have a bad feeling about this place."
"You always have bad feelings," he muttered.
Chood led them through a little town next to the s.p.a.ceport. It seemed primitive to Zak and Tash. They saw no vehicles, and most of the houses were small, one-story structures made of mud. They pa.s.sed several people. Most of them were human, but there were some aliens among them.
Every now and then they would see another Enzeen, and Tash noticed that they all looked very much like Chood, with chubby blue bodies, spikes on their heads, and wide, friendly smiles. Each Enzeen they saw stopped to say h.e.l.lo and welcome them to D"vouran, as though they were old friends.
"Is this the" whole town?" Zak snorted. "There"s not even a good skimboard run!"
"This is it," Chood said. "There are a few homes closer to the forest, but most of the houses are here, in town. It"s more like a village really."
Chood cheerfully explained the recent history of D"vouran. Ever since it was "discovered" by outsiders, the Enzeen had encouraged people to come to the planet. "There aren"t many of us Enzeen," he explained.
"And we don"t like to travel. Inviting others to D"vouran is our way of learning about the galaxy."
"How was D"vouran discovered?" Zak asked.
"A cargo ship," Chood answered. "It wasn"t expecting D"vouran to be here and was surprised by the planet"s gravity. It crashed. When a rescue flight from offworld came to investigate, they discovered our planet, and our hospitality. The word spread from there."
Tash noticed that Uncle Hoole wasn"t asking questions. So she decided to ask one of her own. "Were there any survivors of the original crash?"
Chood paused. "Only one. The rest died in the crash."
"Have many settlers come here since then?" Zak asked. "I mean, this place sounds pretty boring."
"Zak!" Tash scolded.
But Chood didn"t seem offended. At least his smile never wavered.
"There are a few hundred here. It"s not a bad start for a planet that still hasn"t been put on the official star maps. But there will be more.
D"vouran has perfect weather and plenty of natural resources. We expect to have thousands before too long."
"Don"t you worry about D"vouran becoming overcrowded?" Tash added.
"Oh, no," the Enzeen replied cheerily. "We enjoy it. We could never get our fill of visitors."
He led them down a short dead-end street. At the end of the street was a squat building with a wide-open door. Loud noise-music mixed with laughter and shouting-came from inside. A sign over the door revealed the cantina"s name: THE DON"T GO INN. Tash and Zak both laughed when they saw the sign.
So far, Chood told them, most of the settlers who had come to D"vouran were explorers and treasure-seekers, hoping to strike it rich on an uncharted planet. "But," he added, "we are encouraging families like you to join our happy planet. D"vouran is paradise."
At that moment, someone came flying through the Don"t Go Inn"s front door, landing face-first in the dusty street.
"Do you think he feels that way?" Zak joked.
"I"m afraid," Chood admitted, "we also have our share of ruffians."
"And there they are," Deevee noted.
A crowd of thugs poured out of the Don"t Go Inn. They stood on the cantina"s porch, jeering down at the man they had just thrown into the street.
"And stay outta here, Bebo!" one man called.
"Stop coming around here with your crazy stories!" another yelled.
"We"re tired of hearing about invisible monsters!"
"Yeah," snarled another, "we don"t need you causin" us problems!"
They hurled a few more insults and warnings at their victim before fading back into the shadows of the cantina.
Tash bent down next to the man, who had just crawled to his knees.
"Are you all right?"
"They won"t listen!" the man croaked. "They just won"t listen."
His clothes were filthy rags. His hair was gray under a layer of dirt, and his beard was ragged and thin. He looked like a wild man who had just come out of the wilderness.
"I"ll listen," Tash offered.
The man glanced at her suspiciously. He clutched his worn shirt collar. "I won"t have you mock me, too! I"m safe enough! I don"t have to try to help them or anyone!"
Tash looked at Chood. "Do you know what he"s talking about?"
"Pay him no attention," Chood said apologetically. "His name is Bebo. He is harmless, but not completely rational."
The wild man, Bebo, stared at Tash. "I should bring Lonni. They may believe her. Yes, that"s it. But I don"t think she"ll come. She"s too afraid. But I"ve got to try. Yes. That"s what I"ll do. Lonni."
The man got to his feet and walked off, still muttering to himself.
"I"d say he"s a few starships short of a fleet," Zak said.
Chood pointed at the door. "This is the cantina I told you about,"
Chood explained. "I"m afraid the Don"t Go Inn is not the nicest place on D"vouran, but you did want to find a starpilot who could help with your ship. Also, inside you will find all the free food you can eat.
Compliments of the Enzeen. "
Zak"s eyes lit up. "Free food! I like this place already."
"It will do," Hoole said. "Thank you for your help."
"Please consider yourselves our honored guests on D"vouran. If there is anything we can do, please let me know."
"There is one more thing," the Shi"ido replied. "I will be conducting some... business... starting tomorrow. Zak and Tash will need a place to stay, under the supervision of their caretaker, Deevee."
Deevee stifled an electronic screech.
Chood held up one hand. "Please. Say no more. It would be an honor if they would stay with me. My house is not far from here."
"What!" Tash cried. "Uncle Hoole, you never said you were going to leave us!"
Hoole said calmly, "I have anthropological research to do, Tash. I will have no time to watch over you."
"But... but you"re going to leave us!" she said.
"It won"t take long," her uncle promised. "You can obviously rely on Chood, here, and you"ll have Deevee. What could be the problem?"
Tash"s mouth tightened into a thin straight line. How could she explain it? How could Hoole not understand? Her parents had left them in a stranger"s care, and then they died. Now Hoole was doing the same thing. And that feeling of being watched still bothered Tash. But she knew she wouldn"t be able to make Hoole understand, so instead she said nothing.
Hoole turned back to Chood. "Then it"s settled. Again, I thank you."
Chood bowed. "Our goal is to serve." He told them where he lived, and turned away.
Tash and Zak had been in cantinas before, but never any place like this.
Instead of a brightly lit room where people could see what they were eating and drinking, the Don"t Go Inn was dark and smoky. Tash couldn"t tell how many people were inside because everyone kept to the shadows.