And the Infirmary was run by Hoole’s friend.
Tash needed to talk to ForceFlow now more than ever. Exiting the Infirmary, Tash walked passed the stormtroopers and out onto the top of the ziggurat. How to get back to the ship?
“Excuse me,” she said to one of the troopers. She tried not to sound nervous. The trooper had no reason to think that she was anything other than a thirteen-year-old girl who needed help.
“Yeah?” the trooper asked. His voice sounded flat and filtered through his mask.
“Are there any shuttles back to the landing dock? I need to get back to my uncle’s ship.”
The trooper checked his chronometer. “No shuttles for another twenty minutes.”
Tash didn’t want to wait that long.
Since the ziggurat on which she stood was the highest in the city, Tash could see the landing docks in the distance. Four bridges separated her from the ship.
She hurried for the first bridge. As soon as she was out of the stormtroopers’ sight, she started to run.
Tash wasn’t as athletic as her younger brother, but she was in good shape, so it surprised her when, after she’d passed through a second ziggurat and crossed a second bridge, her chest started to heave and her clothes to dampen with sweat. She stopped and leaned against a guardrail.
Must be the heat, she thought.
The sweat had also begun to make her itch. Her left arm felt a little numb.
Tash slowed her pace and continued to the landing dock. She noticed that the platform was crowded with starships. Tash guessed that they had been grounded by the blockade.
Reaching the Shroud, Tash punched in the access code and slipped inside the hatchway.
“Hello!” she called out, expecting both Hoole and Deevee to be there. But she only found Deevee working at his computer on the codes for Evazan’s files.
“Hello, Tash,” the droid said. “I did not expect you to return to the ship so soon.” He was focused on the computer screen.
“Any luck breaking the code?” she asked.
Deevee’s voice was clipped. “No. As I said before, much as I hate to admit it, this code is far too complex for my programming.”
“Then why do you keep trying?” she asked.
The droid shrugged. “If I had a cipher droid, I would make use of its talents. If I had a protocol droid, I would request its assistance. But I do not. I only have my own programming, so I use it to the best of my abilities.”
Deevee stopped, pressed a button, and the screen went blank. “I believe I am done for now. I must go and see how Zak is doing.”
“I’ll come back as soon as I can,” Tash said.
“No, Tash,” Deevee said. “Master Hoole’s instructions were that should you come back to the ship, you should wait here until we return.”
“Right,” she replied as Deevee slipped out the door. Tash passed through the main lounge and entered her cabin. Dropping into the chair at her computer, she powered on and tried to catch a link to the HoloNet. She wanted to talk to ForceFlow. Whoever he was, he obviously knew something about Gobindi.
HOLONET ACCESS DENIED.
The signal appeared on her computer screen. She typed in, RETRY.
HOLONET ACCESS DENIED.
Tash typed in a command, searching for the cause.
ALL OFFWORLD TRANSMISSIONS PROHIBITED BY ORDER OF THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT. DUE TO INCREASED PIRATE ACTIVITIES IN THE SECTOR, THE IMPERIAL STAR FLEET HAS ORDERED ALL INTERPLANETARY TRANSMISSIONS IN THIS SECTOR STOPPED WHILE THEY SEARCH FOR ILLEGAL SIGNALS.
What’s going on? No interplanetary travel. No communications. The Empire has completely cut Gobindi off from the rest of the galaxy, and no one seems to notice.
She typed in more commands, trying to find a way around the jamming. She was so focused on her efforts, that she didn’t hear the hatchway open a second time.
She didn’t hear her own door open.
And she never saw the figure that crept up behind her until it was too late.
CHAPTER 10
A shadow fell across her computer screen, and Tash started. She turned around and found Wedge standing in her room. Behind him stood two other figures: One was a human with a scar running from the corner of his left eye, across the bridge of his nose, and down to the right side of his jaw. The other was a Bothan, a humanoid with blue fur that ruffled nervously.
They were the pirates Tash had seen on the data screen. She backed against the wall of her room. She was trapped.
“Tash, don’t be afraid,” Wedge said calmly. “We’re not here to hurt you.”
“What do you want? Stay away from me,” she said thickly. Her heart had begun to beat rapidly.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Wedge repeated. “In fact, we need your help.”