Galaxy of Fear_ Eaten Alive Part 8

"Thank you."

"We've been gone too long, Tash," Deevee urged. "I must report to Master Hoole."

Tash suddenly realized that Uncle Hoole and Zak were in danger.

They were out there on the planet, without the protection of a device like the one Bebo had given her. They had to hurry. "Thanks, Bebo," Tash said to the man. "I still don't know what's going on here, but at least I do know there's a bigger mystery than Smada the Hutt."

Tash and Deevee climbed out of the laboratory and hurried through the shadows under the trees.

Back in the laboratory, Bebo huddled near the edge of the terrible pit.

He was afraid of it, but he knew that somehow it was the cause of all the evil he had seen. Now, at last, someone else believed him.

There was a rumble from deep within the dark abyss. The rumble became a groan.

Bebo leaned over the edge of the pit. For just a moment he thought he saw something moving down there.

But he did not see the Gank killer creep up behind him until it was too late.

"This is from Smada the Hutt," the Gank snarled, raising his blaster. "It's your turn to disappear." He fired. The bolt struck Bebo and sent him tumbling into the pit.

Halfway back to the village, Tash asked Deevee, "Do you think Uncle Hoole will believe me now?"

"I cannot say," the droid replied. "There is certainly a laboratory here, but what does that mean? It was abandoned long ago. If there is foul play about, I'd say it has far more to do with Smada the Hutt than with an abandoned laboratory. He is the real danger on this planet."

But Tash had stopped listening. Another sound had reached her ears.

Slurp-Slurp.

The same sound she had heard last night. "Do you hear that?"

Slurp-Slurp.

"Yes," the droid replied. "A most unusual sound. Not unlike the bloodsucking leeches of Circarpous Four-"

"It's coming from over there."

With Deevee close behind, Tash crept toward the sound.

Slurp-Slurp. Slurp-Slurp.

Not only did the sound grow louder, but it multiplied many times.

And it was coming from just beyond the next tree.

Tash cautiously pulled a branch out of the way and peered into a small clearing. At first she was relieved. All she saw were a few Enzeen standing around the clearing. As Tash watched, she saw another Enzeen step into the clearing. It was Chood.

Tash opened her mouth to call out to him. Then she gagged.

Chood opened his own grinning mouth and stuck out his tongue. It was surprisingly thick, and incredibly long, and wriggled out of his mouth like a long, thick snake. It squirmed in the air for a moment, then plunged deep into the ground.

Slurp-Slurp.

CHAPTER 12.

Slurp-Slurp.

The sucking sound filled the air.

What was Chood doing?

Tash pulled the tree branch even farther back to get a better look.

But the branch snapped with a loud crack. The startled Enzeen looked right at her.

She saw Chood's face clearly. The friendly smile fell away, revealing a hate-filled glare. "She has seen us. Get her!"

The group of Enzeen started toward them. Tash was confused. Why were they angry?

"Run!" Deevee yelled, pulling Tash away from the clearing.

For the second time in two days, Tash was running for her life.

Tash and Deevee rushed away from the small clearing. But the Enzeen were much too fast. They came up quickly from behind, and Tash could see them slipping through the trees on either side. Soon they would be surrounded. Beside her, Deevee's mechanical joints whined as he tried to keep up with his human companion. He was not designed for sprints through the woods. Tash leaped over a tree root. Behind her, Deevee tripped and fell clattering to the ground. The Enzeen were on him instantly.

"Deevee!" Tash yelled, slowing down.

"Run!" the droid cried out. Then he was buried beneath a pile of Enzeen.

Tash heard them pounding mercilessly on his metal body. As she ran, she looked back over her shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of the droid.

When she looked forward again, an Enzeen was standing in front of her.

Tash dodged to the left. But there was another, and another.

Everywhere she looked, there were Enzeen. She was surrounded.

She struggled, kicking and punching as the Enzeen grabbed hold of her. But there were too many of them. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"Why are you making people disappear?"

One of the Enzeen laughed an evil laugh. "We have harmed no one."

"Then what's going on here?" Tash demanded.

The Enzeen laughed again. "You will never know." He looked at his companions. "Chood will catch up in a moment. We'll hold her until then.

Tash gave up struggling. The Enzeen were too strong for her. She started to tremble as the feeling of dread began to overwhelm her. And yet, as it had in the laboratory, her fear sparked another feeling, a sense of peace and calm, powerful, like some kind of force.

The Force.

Tash had searched for it. Hoped for it. Longed for it. But she never actually thought she had it. But she felt something. Didn't she?

"You've got nothing to lose," she told herself.

Tash closed her eyes. She tried to call on the Force. Taking a deep breath, she remembered what the Jedi had written about the Force. The Force surrounds us, she had read, it binds us together. It can draw objects to us, or push them away. It is the most powerful force in all the galaxy. The strength of armies, of starfleets, even the strength of planets, is nothing compared to the power of the Force.

Tash imagined the Force as a field of energy pushing the Enzeen back. At first she felt foolish. But slowly her embarra.s.sment gave way to calm. She forgot about her fear. A warm tingle spread through her body.

She imagined the energy field expanding, driving the shrieking creatures farther and farther away. As she did, the tingle in her body grew into a strong electric current, running from the top of her head down to her toes. For just an instant she felt a sense of connection with something larger than herself, larger even than the planet on which she stood.

That's when the ground began to move.

It started as a low rumble. The ground started to tremble beneath their feet. In seconds the rumble became a roar, and the trembling turned into a full-fledged groundquake. The Enzeen shouted in surprise. Trees started to creak, and a few of them snapped and crashed to the ground.

Tash was thrown off her feet, coughing as the groundquake kicked up clouds of dust and dried leaves. The sun seemed to vanish as the sky grew dark. Somewhere in the distance Tash heard the loudest sound she would ever hear, a sound like two mountains grinding together. The grinding, booming explosion seemed to come from above and below. Later, thinking back, Tash imagined that if a planet could speak, it would speak in a voice that loud.

The quake ended even faster than it had begun. There was a final boom, like a giant door closing, and then the terrible noise just stopped. Tree branches, shaken by the quake, continued to vibrate for a few seconds. Then there was silence. Only the gloom remained. The day seemed to have gone from midmorning to late afternoon in a few seconds.

It was as though the ground- quake had caused the planet to spin closer toward night.

Did I do that? she wondered in awe.

The groundquake had surprised the Enzeen as much as it surprised Tash. They, too, had fallen to the ground. Tash saw her chance.

She ran.

This time she didn't look back. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the branches and twigs that scratched her. If she could just reach the village, Hoole and the settlers would help her.

Tash did not hear anyone following her. The Enzeen had been too startled by the tremors to chase her. She knew that wouldn't last, so she kept running. She wouldn't stop until she was safe.

She saw the buildings of the village through the trees. Her heart leaped! She was going to make it! She was going to be safe!

Tash broke through the trees into the village, shouting, "Uncle Hoole, Uncle Hoole! Zak! Anybody!" No one answered.

She shouted it again and again, running from door to door. She ran down the main street. She ran to the s.p.a.ceport. She ran to the Don't Go Inn.

But the village was completely deserted.

CHAPTER 13.

She was all alone.

Somehow every person in the village had vanished. Uncle Hoole was gone. Zak was gone. Even Deevee was gone. Tash's worst nightmare had come true. She had been abandoned.

She knew the Enzeen would find her soon. She didn't care. Her entire family was gone. Her poor parents had been vaporized in the destruction of Alderaan. Now Hoole and Zak had vanished, along with a village full of settlers.

Then an even more terrible thought struck her. Had she caused it?

She had tried to call on the Force. Instead a ground-quake had erupted. Had the groundquake swallowed the villagers-and Hoole and Zak?

And had she created the groundquake with the Force?

The thought pressed down upon her like the weight of a planet.

Weak and defeated, Tash walked to the s.p.a.ceport. All the ships were still there. No one had flown off the planet. But they were still gone.

Tash stopped in front of the Lightrunner. Briefly she considered trying to fly it away, to escape from the Enzeen. But she knew she couldn't do it. She could only pretend to be a pilot. She couldn't really fly a starship.

Dragging her feet, Tash stubbed her toe on something. It was a flat board about a meter and a half long, with stick-strips across the top and thruster vents on the back.

Zak's skimboard.

What was it doing here?

Next to it, Tash noticed a shattered gla.s.s bowl.. and amid the broken gla.s.s were three or four small, slimy bodies. Eels. A bowl full of eels.

Smada the Hutt had been there. And so had Zak.

Tash tried to steady her beating heart. Maybe Zak hadn't vanished.

Maybe he had been kidnapped by Smada. Maybe Zak was right. Smada was behind all the disappearances.

But then what about the Enzeen? What were they? And why had they wanted to kill her?

Tash felt questions ricochet around in her head like blaster bolts.

She didn't know the answers. She only knew one thing, and that was that it appeared that her brother had been captured by Smada.

Which meant he might still be alive.

Tash tucked the skimboard under her arm and left the s.p.a.ceport. She headed through the village looking for Smada's stronghold.

She did not notice something creeping slowly behind her.