[Black Fleet Crisis(49)

“Not acceptable. I have to see him personally. I can’t take the chance that this information won’t be brought to his attention. “

“Mr. Nylykerka, Admiral Ackbar is resting. He is not available to see you, ” the droid said implacably. “Now, will you leave, or do I need to signal the guard? “

Hugging the datapad to his chest, Ayddar squinted angrily at the droid.

“Very well, ” he said finally. “I’ll go. “

“Thank you, Mr. Nylykerka, ” said the droid. It waited until Ayddar had turned and taken his first steps down the path before closing the door.

The moment the door closed, however, Ayddar wheeled around on the path and ran past the entrance toward the shore. Gritting his teeth and cringing, he waded clumsily out into the water, splashing wildly.

Alarms began to sound, and a brilliant bank of lights on the underside of the skywalk suddenly cut short the twilight. With an animal cry, Ayddar flung himself headlong into the waist-deep water and began to thrash his way toward the lake cylinder in a wretched imitation of swimming.

His simple and single-minded impulse had been to pound on the lake-level viewpanes to get Ackbar’s attention.

But as he got closer, he saw that the cylinder was an aquahab, filled with water nearly to the level of the skywalk.

A security airspeeder swooped low overhead, and an amplified voice bellowed orders at him. “Attention, intruder—this is your only warning. You are trespassing on government property. Antipersonnel blasters are aimed at you. Stop where you are, and you will not be fired on. If you do not surrender, you will be shot. “

Panicked, Ayddar raised his arms. When he did, his fragile grasp of swimming abruptly ended, and he slid below the surface. Before he realized what was happening, he found himself mired hand and foot in a layer of muck on the bottom, unable to push off and free himself to return to the surface.

A ring of lamps around the base of the aquahab flooded the dark waters with light. For the first time Ayddar could see that there was an underwater entrance to the cylinder. He fought his way along the bottom to it, reached up with his free hand, and squeezed the Open lever.

Nothing happened.

In final desperation, with the sound of a jetboat’s engines surrounding him and quickly growing louder, Ayddar reached up and swung the datapad against the hatch. It seemed to move in slow motion and to make hardly any sound when it struck.

But to Ayddar’s surprise, the hatch slid open. A blur in the water grasped him firmly by the front of his shirt and dragged him inside with an ease that spoke of impressive strength. Moments later Ayddar found himself breaking the surface at the top of the aquahab.

Gasping noisily, he grabbed wildly for the edge. Only when his fingertips had found precarious purchase there did Ayddar realize that he no longer had the datapad.

He looked around wildly and found Admiral Ackbar watching him. The Calamari glided easily through the water on the far side of the pool, making barely a ripple.

“You are Tammarian, are you not? ” Ackbar said.

Ayddar was shaking uncontrollably as he clung to the edge of the walkway surrounding the water. “Yes, Ad-Admiral. “

“I have heard that Tammar has an unusually thin atmosphere for an inhabited world, ” said Ackbar casually.

“That is t-true, Admiral. “

“I have heard, ” the admiral went on, “that as a consequence your people evolved a sort of chemical pouch where you store oxygen while at rest. “

“Yes, ” Ayddar said through chattering lips. “Thecbagbizs torre. It al-allows us to expend en-en-energy faster, for-for a short time, than res-respiration alone would al-allow. “

“I am told, ” said Ackbar, “that this is why your people can freelive in vacuum for short periods of time. “

Feeling nauseous, Ayddar closed his eyes and rested his head on his arms. “Yes, ” he said, his voice small and muffled.

“I have also heard, ” said the Calamari, gliding nearby, “that your planet is wholly without surface water, and that your people’s most powerful fears have come to involve being immersed in standing water. “

Ayddar nodded weakly.

“I confess that such fears are completely alien to me, ” said Ackbar. “Yet you willingly entered the lake in an effort to see me. “

“Y-Yes, Admiral. I thought it was my d-duty. “

Effortlessly, the big Calamari eased himself out of the water and onto the ledge. Ayddar saw that he held the datapad securely in one big hand.

“Well, ” Ackbar said, extending his empty hand to Ayddar, “I find I am not resting any longer. So perhaps you will come to my study with me and tell me what news has inspired such reckless devotion to duty. “