“As Han Solo said,” Hoole replied, “we could say the same of you.”
There were ten soldiers with the Rebel leaders, and Zak noticed the emblems on their uniforms. He recognized the Rebel symbol from smuggled news reports he’d seen on the HoloNet. “I knew it!” he said. “You guys are Rebels. I said so the minute we met you.”
Hoole’s dark eyes returned Leia’s steady stare. “May I assume that you came here to learn more about Project Starscream?”
Leia was surprised, but only for a moment. “Actually, we came here to destroy Project Starscream. After D’vouran, we started investigating the Imperial Science Department and learned that the Empire was up to something-as they usually are. We finally learned the name Project Starscream and traced it to this planet.”
“Only to find that you’d gotten here first,” Luke Skywalker said. He winked at Tash, and she felt the Force flow between them, just as she had during their first meeting. It was a warm, electric tingle, as though she were on one end of a wire with Luke at the other. Together, they made a connection. “I knew there was more to you than meets the eye,” he said, looking at Tash.
Zak’s eyes lit up. “Hey, it’s a good thing you guys are here. You can give us a lift off planet. Our ship was blasted by an ion cannon and we crash-landed.”
Han jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Yeah, we got fried by the same weapons. Our ships hit the surface pretty hard about fifty kilometers back, but the Millennium Falcon isn’t too badly damaged. Thanks to my flying.”
Chewbacca barked something sarcastic. “Yeah, and Chewie’s, too,” Han translated. “Anyway, we left some technicians working on the problem. The ship’ll be ready to fly by the time we get back there.”
“We can start just as soon as we make sure Project Starscream is destroyed,” Leia said. “And, if possible, we’d like to question the being behind the project. Our sources tell us he’s-“
“A Shi’ido named Borborygmus Gog,” Hoole interrupted. “We know.”
Leia’s eyes widened. She was obviously impressed. Hoole continued. “But I’m afraid you won’t be able to question him. He died several days ago. I’m sure that any vital information died with him.”
“Sounds like you’ve got quite a story to tell,” Han said, shaking his head.
“Later,” Leia said. “Right now, we should check to make sure Gog is gone. Threepio! Artoo!”
A golden, humanlike droid, very similar to Deevee in shape, shuffled forward, trailed by a squat, barrel-shaped companion. Tash and Zak recognized C-3PO and R2-D2.
“Here, Your Highness!” the golden droid, Threepio, called out. “We were just, er, guarding the rear.”
Artoo emitted a series of whistles and squeaks.
“Be quiet, Artoo!” Threepio said. “You couldn’t guard your servos from rust!”
Leia ignored them. “Artoo, plug into the main computer. I want to know everything there is to know about Project Starscream.”
With a cheerful bleep, Artoo rolled over to the computer console and jammed his interface plug into an open socket.
Hoole explained. “I had been conducting my own investigation from a different angle. We encountered Gog before I knew that his headquarters were here on Kiva. When we got here, this facility was abandoned and there was nothing left of the project.”
“Except him!” Tash laughed, lifting the little boy onto her shoulder. He had grabbed hold of her single neat braid of blond hair and was tugging at it. “We found him in that egg chamber.”
“And just who are you, little one?” Leia said, holding the baby’s chubby face in her hands.
“Eppon!” the boy squealed.
“We think that’s his name,” Tash explained. “It’s the only word he knows. “
Leia ran her finger through a thick layer of dust gathered on top of the computer console. “This place looks as though it’s been deserted for some time. How could the baby have survived?”
Hoole pointed at the egg-shaped chamber. “I believe that’s the purpose of this chamber. It was meant to keep the child alive during Gog’s absence.”
“This Gog, he must have been planning to experiment on the baby,” Han said, sneering. “These Imperials are slimier than Jabba the Hutt.”
“Well, he seems to have met his fate before he could do anything to this little one,” Luke said, tickling the baby under the chin. Eppon giggled.
Artoo let out an excited bleep.
“Your Highness,” Threepio explained. “Artoo says that he has downloaded this computer’s files into his memory banks. If there ever were any files on Project Starscream, they’ve been destroyed.”