Tash could feel the virus starting to control her movements. She tried to stand up, but her muscles didn’t respond. Something was fighting for control of her body.
The virus was taking over.
“Please…,” she said. “Help me.”
“And ruin all my hard work?” the Shi’ido said mockingly.
Tash had never encountered anyone so absolutely evil.
The Shi’ido smiled. “No, I think I will leave you here instead. In a little while you will be just another mindless blob spreading my virus around the planet.”
Tash tried to speak. Her jaw felt heavy. “Wh-Why?” She could barely get the word out.
The Shi’ido leered down at her. “Why? With this virus at my command, I will have a biological weapon capable of wiping out entire planets! Think of it, a virus that overwhelms its host, not killing it, but feeding off it, and spreading the virus again and again. Each victim becomes another virus bomb. This virus is a weapon that never runs out of ammunition.”
Tash struggled to make her words clear. “Why… St-Star. .”
“What is Project Starscream all about? Is that what you are asking?” the Shi’ido taunted. He laughed a muffled laugh behind his oxygen mask. “I don’t think I will tell you. Now excuse me once again, this time permanently. The pump is about to vent the virus into the atmosphere, and I think I will have the best view from orbit.”
The Shi’ido looked at Hoole one last time, grinning triumphantly before turning and leaving.
Tash’s fear gave way to outrage. He had no right to do this! It was horrible beyond understanding. Tash heard the word echo in her head. Hate.
She hated the Shi’ido.
Hoole pounded on the plexiform. Tash looked up and saw her uncle point to the side of the cell. There was a small control panel set into the wall. She could free him!
If she could reach him.
Gritting her teeth, Tash struggled to her feet. Anger and sheer stubbornness allowed her to stand. The weight of the virus blob on her shoulders made her feel as though she were carrying another person.
All she had to do was walk ten meters.
But her muscles seized up. The virus took hold of them, and she stumbled to her knees again.
Tash refused to give up. She felt driven by a powerful force: revenge. The Shi’ido had toyed with her and terrified her. He had injected her with a deadly virus and fooled her into thinking her uncle was a villain.
Tash staggered up the first step.
Revenge.
She took another step, and another.
Revenge. Revenge.
She would resist the virus. Her anger was stronger than the infection. She would win! She would have her revenge on the Empire and the mysterious Shi’ido.
In his cell Hoole pounded on the glass.
Tash was halfway to the control panel when the virus blossomed.
Thick tendrils of ooze burst from the center of the blob on her shoulder and wrapped themselves around her waist and legs, dragging Tash down to her knees.
The virus had grown stronger.
Tash stopped struggling. She couldn’t defeat it. The angrier she got, the stronger the virus became. She couldn’t fight against it.
She was only five meters from the control panel, but she knew she couldn’t go any farther. She shuddered and blinked hot tears away. She was losing. Soon she would become another blob. She had lost.
At that moment Tash remembered what Dr. Kavafi said. Strong emotions changed the body, and the virus fed off of those changes. Strong emotions like anger.
And thinking of that, Tash remembered what Wedge had told her about the Jedi Knights: They didn’t get angry. They didn’t hate their opponents. The Jedi always kept their minds more on what they were fighting for than what they were fighting against.
Tash realized that she had been fighting against the virus, against the evil Shi’ido, against the Empire. She had been filled with anger and a desire for revenge. That wasn’t the Jedi way.
Tash stopped struggling. She turned her mind away from the virus. She forgot about her hatred for the Empire. She forgot her desire for revenge on the Shi’ido.
Instead she thought about what she was fighting for. She thought about the home she’d had on Alderaan. She thought about Uncle Hoole, who had taken her in when she was orphaned, and about Deevee.
Tash felt her heart rate slow. Her breathing grew steady. She tried to remain calm. The anger drained out of her. And the virus started to lose its grip.
Tash felt the slimy tentacles drop away from her legs.
She took a step forward, leaving a thin trail of melting ooze on the stone behind her. The weight on her back felt lighter.
Tash thought about her brother, Zak, who would stand by her through a meteor storm.
More ooze dripped away from her body. She stood up straight. She did not hurry. She stayed calm, the way she imagined a Jedi would be.