She thought about her parents. She thought about how much she had loved them. All the Imperial warships in the galaxy could not take that away from her.
She felt her muscles free up. The disgusting ooze still covered her arm and shoulders, but she was free to move.
She took one step toward the control panel, and then another. In another moment she was there. She pushed her hand wearily against the control panel, and the plexiform barrier slid back.
With unbelievable speed Hoole jumped out of the cell and closed the door again.
“Tash!” Hoole said. For the first time since she’d known him, Tash saw the stern Shi’ido’s face break into… well, almost a smile.
Hoole located the controls and easily shut down the pump mechanism; then, with a shimmer of his gray skin, he transformed into a Wookiee. One swipe of his paw smashed the control panel, ruining the device. No virus clouds would fall on Mah Dala. Then he returned to Tash, shrinking back into his own form as he did.
“Uncle Hoole,” Tash said weakly. “I thought you were working with the Empire. I thought you were behind this virus plot. I was stupid.”
Hoole shook his head. “I allowed that Shi’ido to fool me. He was waiting for us. He allowed us to land on this planet in the first place. I walked into his trap, and I exposed you and Zak to danger.”
“Am I… am I cured?” she asked. She could still feel the ooze sticking to her shoulders and see it on her arms.
“I’m not sure,” her uncle confessed. “We will find out as soon as we get out of here.”
“Dr. Kavafi,” Tash said. “The real Dr. Kavafi. We have to get him.”
“He is here?” Hoole started. “Where?”
Supported by Hoole, Tash brought her uncle down the passageway that led out of the pump room. The tunnel was deserted-the Shi’ido and whoever worked for him did not want to be on Gobindi when the plague virus flooded the atmosphere. After several twists and turns, Tash and Hoole found the virus chamber, where the battered Kavafi still waited. “Hoole!” Kavafi shouted when he saw them.
Taking the electroscope from Tash, Hoole confirmed that the virus clouds no longer floated in the room. The virus still did cover much of the walls and floor, but with Hoole as his guide, Kavafi was able to make his way to the door.
“Hoole! I can’t believe-” the doctor began.
“We have no time for conversation, Doctor,” Hoole said. “We must get out of this place.”
They tried the tunnel that led to the turbolifts, but the path was blocked. Dozens of the virus blobs now filled the corridor-the evil Shi’ido’s way of ensuring that no one came down through the lifts to discover his hidden chambers.
Hoole, wearing the electroscope, led the others on a twisting, turning route through the ziggurat’s tunnels. They passed the virus chamber, and the pump room, and finally found a tunnel that led away from those chambers. Following this passageway, they came to a door, and Hoole quickly triggered the opening.
Tash found herself staring at the backs of Zak, Deevee, and the two Rebels.
CHAPTER 19
“Tash! What happened!” Zak cried, seeing the coating of slime that covered Tash’s arm.
“There is no time to explain,” Hoole said. “We must leave.”
Wedge fired his blaster at the blobs again. The blaster bolt left a tiny bum mark on the blobs’ flesh. “Good idea… but I don’t think it’s what these blobs have in mind.”
Hoole looked up at the high wall above them. “Hold on,” he said to Tash. To the others he said, “Please make room.”
His skin crawled across his bones as Hoole changed shape. He had become a mammoth frog, a creature Tash had seen in the galactic encyclopedia. She clung to its bumpy skin. The mammoth frog braced itself, then sprang into the air, just catching hold of the top of the wall.
Quickly Hoole repeated the act until all seven of them were on the wall, just as the blobs converged on the spot where they had stood. Only when they were all safe did Hoole say, “Dr. Kavafi, we need a cure for Tash.”
The doctor shook his head sadly. “I wish I could help. I do not know of one.”
Zak and Deevee exchanged glances, recalling the writing carved into the stones over the ziggurat door. “We do!”
Hoole made the trip up the ziggurat in seconds flat, his body a blur as he transformed into a flying, batlike creature called a rawwk. A few moments later they heard the whine of engines as he returned, piloting the Shroud. The others scrambled aboard.
“What now?” Wedge asked. “Even if we do make it back to the top we’ll have stormtroopers to deal with.”
“I think not,” Hoole replied. “The landing bays were nearly empty when I reached the ship. The Empire expected this city to be full of the plague virus. I suspect we will find that the Infirmary is deserted.”