Star Wars.
Galaxy of Fear.
The Hunger.
by John Whitman.
PROLOGUE.
The bounty hunter stalked the corridors of the Super Star Destroyer.
The walls of the enormous battleship gleamed. The floors had the shine of brand-new, recently polished durasteel. Starship officers and white-armored stormtroopers-the cream of the Imperial crop-hurried past.
They walked with the arrogance of men who knew they were serving aboard the newest and largest of the Emperor"s ships. This was the Super Star Destroyer Executor, flagship of the Imperial Fleet, and the command ship of the Emperor"s most ruthless servant, Darth Vader.
The bounty hunter couldn"t have cared less.
His face was hidden by a gray helmet. Otherwise, the Imperials would have seen the hard, disinterested expression on his face and the cold look of a killer in his eyes. He wasn"t impressed by ships or uniforms. He only cared about one thing: the job.
A set of ma.s.sive doors hissed open, and the bounty hunter stepped inside a large, dark chamber. If the bounty hunter had had any emotions left, he might have felt afraid. But he"d left his feelings behind in bits and pieces, scattered among the bodies of countless victims on hundreds of worlds. So he didn"t feel anything.
A figure stepped out of the shadows. Tall. Covered in black armor.
Face hidden behind a skull-like mask. Breath rasping like a death rattle.
Darth Vader.
The Dark Lord of the Sith acknowledged the bounty hunter"s presence with a nod. "Boba Fett."
"Lord Vader," the bounty hunter replied. Then he waited. He knew Vader would get right to the point.
"I have an a.s.signment for you," the Dark Lord said. "I have just put a large bounty on the heads of three individuals. Two human children and a male Shi"ido."
The bounty hunter"s helmet dipped forward slightly. "I"ve never hunted a Shi"ido before. But human children-that doesn"t sound interesting. Or profitable."
"Fifty thousand credits for each of the two children. Alive. One hundred thousand for the Shi"ido. Alive. Seventy-five thousand dead."
Boba Fett paused. "Then it"s profitable. But still not interesting."
Vader held up one gloved hand. "These three have eluded capture several times. There is more to them than meets the eye."
The bounty hunter said, "I have another job. I"m hunting for a killer named Malloc. It pays more. A lot more."
Vader closed one gloved hand into a fist. "Consider this job a diversion until you find him." It was more of an order than a suggestion.
Boba Fett weighed his options. He didn"t want the job. He didn"t need the credits. But even he did not ignore the wishes of Darth Vader.
Finally, the bounty hunter said, "Done."
Vader handed him a datadisk. Without another word, Boba Fett turned to leave. The moment he did, he forgot about his reluctance. He forgot that Vader had just threatened him into accepting the task. He forgot about everything but the job.
He wouldn"t stop until he"d finished it.
CHAPTER 1.
"Don"t move, or I"ll shoot the boy," said the greasy-haired human, pointing his blaster at Zak.
Zak Arranda"s eyes widened, but the blaster-wielding human wasn"t looking at him. The killer had his eyes fixed on Zak"s uncle Hoole. He didn"t bother to look at Zak or at Zak"s sister, Tash, who stood next to him.
They stood in a dark alley in the grimy s.p.a.ceport of Nar Shaddaa.
The man, grinning at them through a mouthful of broken teeth, had practically melted out of the shadows the moment they turned off the main street and into the alley.
"What is the meaning of this?" Hoole demanded in a calm, cool voice. "You have no right to threaten us."
"This gives me all the right I need," the man said, brandishing his weapon. "That and my bounty hunter"s license. And you three have a price on your head I couldn"t resist."
"A bounty hunter?" Tash said, surprised.
Beside her, Zak was stunned. He knew that he and his sister and their uncle Hoole were wanted by the Empire. They"d been on the run for months, ever since they"d stumbled upon a horrifying Imperial science experiment and helped to destroy it. He knew the Empire wanted to arrest them. But he"d had no idea the Imperials wanted them badly enough to put a price on their heads.
That meant not only that they were wanted by every Imperial agent in the galaxy but also that there could be dozens, maybe even hundreds, of bounty hunters tracking them as well. Any bounty hunter who captured them and turned them over to the Empire would receive a fortune in credits.
Zak saw Hoole pretend to be confused. "I do not know what you are talking about. You must be mistaken."
"I don"t think so," the bounty hunter laughed. He recited facts as though reading off a datapad. "Two human children. A girl named Tash Arranda, blond, about thirteen standard years. Her brother, a boy named Zak Arranda, about twelve, dark hair. Traveling in the company of a Shi"ido."
The bounty hunter continued to glare at Hoole as he said, "Never seen a Shi"ido before. You look almost human, except for that gray skin."
The killer snarled. "But I done my homework. I know you Shi"idos can change shape. So you twitch one muscle and I"ll use the boy"s head for target practice."
Zak looked at Uncle Hoole"s face. What the bounty hunter said was true-Hoole could change shape. But even Hoole wasn"t fast enough to stop the killer from firing his blaster. Zak saw a look of frustration pa.s.s across his uncle"s face.
Looks like we came to the wrong place, Zak thought. Again.
Nar Shaddaa was a s.p.a.ceport moon orbiting the planet Nal Hutta.
Buildings rose dozens of kilometers into the sky and were connected by bridges, decks, and balconies that crisscrossed like streets suspended in midair. The walkways of Nar Shaddaa were filled with grime, graffiti, and shady-looking characters. Most of them looked tough enough to scare the wrappings off a Tusken Raider.
Zak, Tash, and Uncle Hoole had flown to Nar Shaddaa in their ship, the Shroud, several days earlier. They needed to resupply the ship, and while Nar Shaddaa wasn"t the most wholesome place in the galaxy, it suited their needs. Nar Shaddaa was known for its smugglers, gangsters, and bounty hunters. The s.p.a.ceport was dangerous, and although the Empire had a garrison here, the local Imperials did little to keep the streets safe.
Which was exactly why Hoole and the Arrandas had come.
Since the Imperials never bothered to patrol the streets of Nar Shaddaa, it was a safe enough stop for two humans and a Shi"ido wanted by the Empire.
Or so they"d thought.
As though he were reading Zak"s thoughts, the bounty hunter said, "I bet you figured you"d be safe from the Empire here on Nar Shaddaa.
Figured maybe the Imperials wouldn"t look around this black hole of a s.p.a.ceport. Well, you were wrong. There are plenty of bounty hunters that"d love to turn you in. Lucky for me, I spotted you first."
"Whatever the bounty is," Hoole said, "we will pay you double if you let us go."
The bounty hunter laughed. "You ain"t got those kinds of credits.
Besides, word in the s.p.a.ce lanes is that some of the biggest bounty hunters in the galaxy are after you three. Hauling you in before any of them could send my reputation into lightspeed."
As the bounty hunter and Hoole spoke, Zak noticed how quiet Tash was. She"d hardly said a word, and she hadn"t moved a muscle since the bounty hunter appeared. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, Zak saw that his sister had focused her gaze on the bounty hunter"s blaster.
A calm look had fallen across her face. For an instant-a fraction of a second-Zak felt something like a warm breeze pa.s.s through him. He knew what she was doing.
Tash was calling on the Force.
"Please put the blaster down," Hoole said. "I don"t want the children to get hurt. I promise I won"t cause you any problems."
"Oh, I know you won"t," the bounty hunter said with another jagged-toothed smile. "You"re worth almost as much dead as alive. And since I get the feeling you"d jump me first chance you got, I figure I"ll just shoot you now and save myself a load of trouble."
With a snap of the wrist, the bounty hunter turned the blaster from Zak to Hoole. Zak felt the warm breeze turn into a blasting wind.
Just as the bounty hunter pulled the trigger, the arm holding the blaster jerked upward, and the blaster bolt sizzled over Hoole"s shoulder.
Before Zak could move a muscle, the Shi"ido had shape-shifted into the bulky, snout-nosed form of a Gamorrean and pummeled the bounty hunter into unconsciousness with a few powerful blows. By the time Zak had taken two steps, Hoole had shifted back into his own shape and was tucking the bounty hunter"s blaster into the folds of his robe.
"Tash," the Shi"ido said calmly, "I a.s.sume you caused that shot to miss?"
Tash nodded. "Yes. I"m starting to get the hang of the Force, I think. I still can"t do much, but . . ."
Hoole nodded. "Your power is becoming most impressive."
Tash shrugged. "You did the real work."
Zak frowned, suddenly aware that he hadn"t done anything to help.
"We must get back to the Shroud," Hoole said. "Nar Shaddaa is obviously not going to be as safe as we had hoped. In fact, if that bounty hunter is telling the truth, then Nar Shaddaa is one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy for us to be."
"But every place is dangerous," Zak said wearily. "Everywhere we"ve gone, the Empire has found us."
It felt to him as though they"d been on the run forever. In fact, they"d only been with Uncle Hoole for a little over a year. Almost twelve standard months ago, the Empire had destroyed Tash and Zak"s home planet of Alderaan, killing their mother and father and all their friends in one terrible blow. Zak and Tash had survived only because they"d been offplanet at the time. Hoole, their uncle by marriage, was their only living relative. So they"d gone to live with him. And they"d hardly had a moment to catch their breath since.
"There"s got to be someplace safe we can go," Tash said.
"No place I"ve ever heard of," Zak grumbled. Hoole raised an eyebrow. "An interesting idea."
"What do you mean?" asked Zak.
"A place that no one has ever heard of," the Shi"ido said thoughtfully. "We should find a planet that has not been charted. That would be safe from the Empire."
Zak shook his head. "But if it"s a planet no one"s ever charted, how are we going to find it?"
Hoole led them out of the alley. "There is a way. As you both know, my anthropology work has taken me to many different planets. Whenever an exploration party has discovered a new planet, they send data to our research facility on the planet Koaan. Sometimes, it takes months for this data to be studied. And since the Empire took over . . ."
Zak snorted. "I"ll bet since the Empire took over, things have slowed down even more."
"Precisely," Hoole said. "The data banks at the research facility are filled with planets that have been located but never studied or colonized."
Tash"s eyes lit up. "You"re saying we could use the information stored on Koaan to find a planet that no one else has bothered to study, a planet that hasn"t made it onto the official charts."
"Precisely," Hoole said again. "We shall go to Koaan."
They had been lucky to escape the first bounty hunter, and their luck held out as they hurried through the streets of Nar Shaddaa. If they did pa.s.s any other bounty hunters, the killers didn"t recognize them. The three fugitives reached the Shroud with no trouble.
A few minutes later they received clearance to depart, and the starship roared out of the atmosphere and into s.p.a.ce.
"Once we reach Koaan," Hoole said when they were all seated in the ship"s c.o.c.kpit, "we must find Deevee. I am sure he will be able to help us."
"Deevee!" Tash said with a laugh. "We haven"t seen that droid in ages!"
D-V9, or Deevee for short, had been Hoole"s servant droid, and had accompanied Hoole and the Arrandas on several of their adventures.
However, after being severely damaged by stormtroopers on the planet Kiva, he had retired to a quieter life as a research a.s.sistant on Koaan.
"Deevee is still doing work at the Galactic Research Academy,"
Hoole said. "I am sure he will have access to the-"
An alarm bleeped softly on the control board. Hoole studied the scanners and frowned.
"What is it?" Zak asked.
"There is a ship behind us," Hoole said. "It left Nar Shaddaa just as we did, and it seems to be following us."
"An Imperial ship?" Tash asked tensely.
Zak looked at the scanner, which gave a general outline of the ship behind them. "Doesn"t look like it. It"s too small.
And-this is weird-according to the scanners, there are no life-forms aboard."