Nearby, Luke had regained control of himself. She could feel him concentrating along with her.
Tash aimed all her thoughts at Eppon. She summoned all the images of the baby boy Eppon into her brain, recalling how she had held him, and played with him, and hugged him when the commandos wanted to desert him.
The images penetrated Eppon’s angry mind. He lowered his claws again. His flaming eyes studied Tash, then turned to look at Zak. He growled softly.
Gog shrieked, “Kill them now!”
Eppon roared again, but this time he did not attack Zak and Tash. The creature whirled about and started toward Gog, its massive arms reaching out to crush him.
“Get him, Eppon!” Zak cheered.
As Eppon approached, Gog raised a small, flat object and pressed a single button.
Eppon’s head exploded.
CHAPTER 19
The creature’s body slumped to the ground. His head had disintegrated in a flash of light.
Gog shook his head. “Did you think I learned nothing from my past failures?”
He stood over Eppon’s body and kicked it with his toe.
“Learning from mistakes is the basis of all science,” he said. “I knew that once I had created the invincible soldiers for my Army of Terror, I had to be prepared in case I lost control.” He patted the small device in his hand. “I planted a tiny explosive device in the creature’s brain. It was the only way the creature could be destroyed.”
“You killed him!” Tash cried.
“Murderer!” Zak spat.
Gog only shrugged. “I created him. He was mine to destroy.”
“But you’ve still lost, Gog,” Hoole said. “You’ll never get off this planet.”
“Oh? Who will stop me, Hoole?” Gog laughed.
“We will,” Han said weakly. Beside him, Chewbacca snarled. The Rebels were recovering from Eppon’s fear power.
“You? You have more important things to worry about.”
Even as Gog spoke, Hoole and the others felt a shadow fall across them. No, not one shadow-thousands of shadows.
The wraiths were rushing into the laboratory.
They filled the room with swirling darkness, whispering and moaning, Murder! Death to Mammon! Death!
Zak and Tash felt the wraiths smother them, holding them down, while more of the shadow creatures pinned Hoole in place. He struggled, but could not move. The wraiths surrounded the Rebels.
It didn’t matter, Zak realized. They had no ion weapons. They had nothing with which to fight the wraiths.
They all seemed too exhausted to fight. They waited for the shadow creatures to take their revenge.
Except for Deevee. The droid struggled against the shadows
that imprisoned him. Calling on every spark of energy that his mechanical body could muster, he pushed his way toward the center of the room.
“Deevee, what are you doing?” Zak asked.
Deevee couldn’t spare the energy to answer.
Mammon must die! Mammon must die! the voices moaned.
A black claw slashed through the darkness, ripping a long red line across Hoole’s chest. Gog cackled gleefully.
Deevee reached the control console in the center of the room.
Another black claw cut Hoole, drawing blood on his cheek. Gog cheered.
Tash and Zak watched Deevee punch commands into the computer console. In response to his instructions, the console lit up, sending power to the five video monitors that hung overhead.
Gog’s image appeared on all five screens.
It was an old recording, blurred by years of electronic storage. But it clearly showed Gog transmitting a message to the Emperor himself.
“Your Excellency,” Gog said in the message. “I have completed the final arrangements for the experiments here on Kiva. As we suspected, our experiment is a failure. It will not create life. It will destroy life. However, I plan to let the test go forward. I suspect that the results should be quite devastating, and may provide you with a useful weapon.”
The recording ended.
The room was utterly silent.
Then the whispers started.
Gog.
Another voice joined the first.
Gog.
More voices joined in. The wraiths seemed to be debating
among themselves. For a moment, the voices of the shadow creatures were filled with doubt. They had been cursing the name of one scientist for twenty years. It was almost impossible for them to change course now. But Deevee had set the tape on replay, and Gog’s recorded voice echoed throughout the chamber: “I plan to let the test go forward.”
Suddenly, a thousand voices accused: Goggoggoggoggoggoggog!
Gog backed away, pointing at Hoole. “No, no. He is responsible. He did it!”
You are a murderer! You are a killer! Gog, you must die! The shadows fell away from Zak and Tash. They fell away from Hoole, and the Rebels.
They poured onto Gog.