Star Wars - [Galaxy Of Fear 12] - The Hunger (by John Whitman)

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Star Wars

Galaxy of Fear

The Hunger

by John Whitman

source : IRC

uploaded: 13.II.2006

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 massive 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 assignment 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 spaceport 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 pass across

his uncle's face.

Looks like we came to the wrong place, Zak thought. Again.

Nar Shaddaa was a spaceport 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 spaceport 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 spaceport.

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 space 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 pass 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 assume 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

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