Part 3 (1/2)
”The P'w'eck?” Tahiri repeated. ”Weren't they the slaves of the Ssi-ruuk? ”
”They were indeed,” Leia said.
”But how-?”
”I guess that's what we're about to learn,” Han said, the tension in his posture already easing. He reached forward to punch a new course into the Falcon's command board. ”In the meantime, let's show these reptoids how to fly.” Leia relayed the situation to Captain Mayn as Han sent the Falcon streaking toward Sentinel. While she could understand his readiness to accept the immediately obvious explanation, she preferred to reserve judgment until she'd heard what Panib had to say. Nothing, she knew, was ever quite as simple as it seemed.
Only by force of will was Jacen able to hold on to the contents of his stomach as he watched Tekli operate on the injured stormtrooper. The man lay facedown on the operating table, naked to the waist and fed by numerous intravenous drips and tubes. They had barely reached the Widowmaker's medical bay in time. Had it not been for Luke and himself propping up the trooper's defenses with large amounts of the Force, the alien invader would have probably overtaken his immune system completely and effectively killed him. As it was, Saba Sebatyne still had to strengthen the stormtrooper while Tekli tried to isolate the organism, carefully cutting through and around delicate tissues with her vibroscalpel. It was difficult and dangerous work, but after almost forty-five minutes of painstaking surgery, Tekli seemed to have finally exposed the problem.
The centipedelike creature the stormtrooper had been force-fed on Munlali Mafir had turned out not to be a ”meal” at all, but rather, as Hegerty had suspected, an uninvited guest. The juvenile Jostran had survived the acids in the man's stomach long enough to burrow its way into his abdominal cavity and locate his spine. Once there, it had used the tips of its many legs to infiltrate nerves and tunnel into his spinal column. It had been working its way up to his skull, gradually taking over his body as it went. Tekli had caught it at the very top of the man's spine, just as it was about to invade his brainpan.
Its central body had already sent dozens of hairlike tendrils snaking into delicate neural tissues, and these were making extraction exceedingly difficult.
Tekli didn't doubt that the creature had numerous defense mechanisms designed to discourage removal. The filaments could physically damage nerve cells during extraction, or they could excrete any number of chemicals designed to kill as much tissue as possible around themselves.
Only with the help of Jacen was she able, strand by strand, to finally save the stormtrooper from a horrible fate. Jacen attuned his mind to that of the Jostran and kept it docile while Tekli worked, finding it much easier when it was on its own rather than in a pack of eleven.
Jacen couldn't shake the ghastly thought of what might have happened as Tekli scooped up the wriggling body of the alien and dropped it into a tissue sample container. Hair-thin tendrils trailed it like roots from a plant.
”Well done, my friend,” he said. ”Master Cilghal would be proud of you.”
”Thank you, Jacen,” Tekli said, stepping back from the table and removing her gloves, leaving a medical droid to suture the patient's wound. ”But perhaps we should save congratulations until the anesthetic wears off.” The Chadra-Fan's ears were limp with fatigue and her fur appeared dull. It was clear that the intense concentration required for the operation had taken a lot out of her.
”You're exhausted,” Jacen said.
She nodded. ”I feel as tired as you look.” Jacen acknowledged the comment with a tight smile. He hadn't had time to change from the gear he'd worn on Munlali Mafir. He'd only had time to wash the dirt and sweat off his face and hands. In all, he suspected he looked as exhausted as he felt.
They left the patient in the care of Imperial meditechs. Outside the surgery, they met Lieutenant Stalgis waiting in the narrow corridor.
He had removed his helmet - revealing a long, lined face that suggested an age much older than his thirty or so years-but like Jacen, he hadn't had time to fully refresh himself yet.
”How is he?”
”He's fine,” Jacen rea.s.sured him. ”He just needs time to recover from the surgery.”
”The thing-the Jostran-” Stalgis's face contorted into a look of revulsion.
”Has it?...”
”It's been removed.” Relief rolled off the lieutenant in waves. ”I can't tell you how grateful I am, to both of you. Tarl is a friend, as well as a member of my ground team. If he had died-if we hadn't made it back in time-” Stalgis gesticulated for lack of words.
Jacen placed a hand on the armor plating of the man's upper arm.
”We were glad to help. But I suggest you get some rest, now. Your friend is going to need you when he wakes.” Stalgis nodded almost formally and strode off up the hallway.
”Perhaps you should listen to your own advice, Solo.” Jacen turned to find Danni Quee standing behind him. She was smiling, but there was no mistaking the concern underlying it.
”I'm okay.”
”You're tired,” she said, her green eyes flas.h.i.+ng at him. ”And don't even try to deny it.” A touch on the back of his hand signaled Tekli's departure. He sent a wave of grat.i.tude to the Chadra-Fan through the Force, then devoted all his attention to Danni. She stood before him wearing a standard Jedi expeditionary suit with her arms folded across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her blond, curly hair had been cut to her shoulders.
”It's true,” he admitted, stepping closer. ”I am tired. In fact, I'd give anything right now to be able to curl up on my bunk and sleep for a day or two.”
”Not even an attempted denial,” she said. ”I'm impressed, Jacen.
Unfortunately, there won't be time for you to sleep. You're wanted on the bridge now.” Momentary alarm welled up in him, but he pushed it back down. ”Is anything wrong?”
”Nothing that can't wait ten minutes for you to cleanup.”
”Is it the Chiss?” he pressed.
”In ten minutes you'll have all the answers you need. But if you were to meet Commander Irolia looking like this, it would probably be taken as a declaration of war.”
”She's not letting us proceed?” Danni continued to evade his questions. ”... illegal use of biological weapons or something...”
”At least give me a hint!”
”... cruel and unusual punishment...”
”All right, all right!” Smiling, and feeling energized by the brief exchange, they walked along the narrow corridors of the Imperial frigate to the cabin he'd been a.s.signed. ”Tell Uncle Luke I'll be there shortly.”
”That's what comlinks are for.” Her expression was mock indignant, but turned into a smile as she turned and headed off for the bridge.
”The planet is a legend,” Commander Irolia said. Her youthful features were set in stubborn, self-a.s.sured lines. ”I cannot believe that finding it is your true objective.”
”I a.s.sure you that it's much more than a legend,” Master Skywalker said. Saba was amazed at his self-control. She knew that he was exhausted and irritated, but all he allowed his face to display was calm and patience. ”We have evidence that it once existed; the only question is whether it still exists today.”
”What evidence is this?”
”We were told about Zonama Sekot by Vergere, a Jedi Knight from-”
”Vergere?” Irolia's eyebrows shot up at the name. ”The same Vergere who sabotaged the Alpha Red initiative?” Master Skywalker didn't flinch from the truth. ”The Vergere who prevented genocide the likes of which this galaxy has never seen, yes.” The commander's exhalation had a mocking bite. ”You expect me to trust her testimony?”
”No one is forcing you to accept anything,” Captain Yage said, clearly annoyed by the Chiss commander's mockery. ”We only want to go about our business. That's all. ”
”But what is your business? That's what I am attempting to determine.” The meeting was being conducted on Widowmaker's bridge in full view of the crew. Irolia carried herself as though it was her own s.h.i.+p and her own crew. Her tone and poise displayed nothing but self-a.s.surance. Saba knew that, should anything happen to the Chiss officer or the small contingent of guards that had escorted her across, then there would be dire consequences for Master Skywalker and his expedition.
What's more, Irolia knew that they knew-and that, presumably, was why she was so confident.
Saba wasn't an expert on humanoid appearances, but she imagined that the Chiss commander would have been regarded as quite striking among her own people. Her face was narrow and angular, her blue skin smooth and soft looking. Her wide red eyes contained both character and intelligence, and upon entering the meeting, had quickly scanned everyone on the bridge. She didn't doubt that the woman's evaluation of them would have been equally as brisk.
”All we ask,” Luke said, ”is for the freedom to look.” Irolia paced three steps to her left, contemplating his words. ”This is our territory,” she said. ”You do realize that.”
”We recognize your authority over regions near here, yes. But we weren't aware that the Expansionary Defense Fleet had specifically annexed this system.”
”If I were to tell you that we have, would you leave?”
”We are a peaceful expedition,” Luke said. ”Would you bar a trading mission from your territory, or a scientific team?” The commander laughed. ”Don't try to fool me, Sky-walker! You're no more a trader than I am. And as for your motives being scientific, I ask this of you: Were you to find this planet, what exactly would you do with it?” A new voice spoke up from behind them when Luke hesitated: ”It is our hope that Zonama Sekot will help us in our war effort, and in doing so save trillions of lives - including your own.” Commander Irolia turned her attention to Jacen Solo, who had just entered the room. ”Then your intentions are clearly not scientific, but rather military. So why should we allow you to pursue such objectives when you so readily interfere with our own?”
”Alpha Red wouldn't have won the war,” Luke said calmly. ”It would have turned us all into monsters.”