"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 s.p.a.ce slug lunged out of its hole toward Zak.
Hoole"s Starfly tilted its nose toward the s.p.a.ce 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 p.r.i.c.king 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 pa.s.sed 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 s.p.a.ce 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 b.u.t.ton 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 s.p.a.ce.
The s.p.a.ce 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 s.p.a.ce slug"s head. It thrashed about angrily for a moment, then retreated into its cave.
Tash found the control k.n.o.b 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 s.p.a.cewalking 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 s.p.a.ce 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 s.p.a.cesuits, Were stuffing a few personal items into travel packs. Fandomar sat in a corner, nervously adjusting her s.p.a.ce helmet.
Hodge went on: "We"re safe for a few minutes, but we"ve got to evacuate immediately."
"Can we take off our s.p.a.cesuits 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 s.p.a.cesuits," she warned. "I managed to repair the damage done by the s.p.a.ce 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 c.o.c.kpit. Behind the pilot"s room lay one small cargo hold, then another larger one beyond that. Hoole pa.s.sed 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 s.p.a.ce ten kilometers behind the ship before anyone could move.
Hoole drew a blaster from the pouch in his s.p.a.cesuit. 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 s.p.a.cesuit, 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 embarra.s.sed 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 c.o.c.kpit.
"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 s.p.a.cesuit. 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 s.p.a.ce 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 b.u.mped 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.
She watched Hoole work until the last second, hoping he would find some trick that would bring the ship out of its dive. Then her heart sank. Hoole removed his hands from the controls and covered his head.
"Brace yourselves," he said. "We"re going to crash!"