“This is not prime,” he whispered, and turned to run. The brain spider ran after him.
Clickclickelickeliekeliekelickclickcliekclick!
“Help!” Zak called out. “Help me!”
“Help… help… me…,” his echo called back to him.
Where was he? How far had he come?
Zak didn’t know the answer. But by the sound of its clicking legs, the brain spider was closing in on him. He didn’t want to find out what those metal limbs would do if they caught him.
A small glowpanel set in the wall ahead revealed a narrow opening and a steep staircase. Without slowing, Zak plunged through the doorway and scampered down the stairs.
Behind him, he could hear the brain spider slow, then stop. It wasn’t following him anymore!
Lit only by a faint glowpanel every dozen meters or so, the stairs spun their way for two hundred steps down into the planet. At the bottom, Zak paused to catch his breath. There was still no sound from the brain spider.
He saw a set of gates that led into a wide corridor. The gates were made of thick durasteel bars.
“A dungeon?” he muttered.
Two voices echoed from down the corridor, breaking the silence. He crept forward. If he wasn’t supposed to be here, he didn’t want to get caught-even if he could explain why he’d run down the stairs.
A dozen meters farther on, the corridor met another hallway, with paths leading left and right. The voices were coming from the left. They were whispering, but Zak was able to catch some of the words.
“I can’t stand this waitin’,” rasped one angry voice. “I’m not used to waitin’ for anything.”
A deeper voice rumbled back, “Be patient. You’ll have your chance soon enough.” Zak was sure the second speaker was Jabba the Hutt.
Creeping forward, Zak peeked around the corner. The hallway wasn’t well lit, but he clearly saw the bulky figure of the crime lord. Next to him stood a huge human. By the dim light on his face, Zak saw that one of the human’s eyes had been nearly crushed.
“How soon?” crush-face growled. “This planet’s been crawlin’ with Imperials ever since those Rebels blasted outta here ten months ago. I didn’t come all this way just to get thrown into a detention center.”
The Hutt said, “You’ll have no fear of Imperials. Just wait one more day, Karkas.”
Karkas? Zak thought. Hadn’t the Imperials been looking for someone named Karkas? What was he doing here, and why was Jabba helping him, and not turning him in for the reward?
Clickclick-click.
Zak heard the sound trickle down the staircase behind him. The brain spider had followed him down the stairs. If Jabba and his companion heard the noise, they ignored it.
“One more day,” Karkas agreed.
Clickclick. Zak looked around for another way out. There was none.
“Until then,” Jabba said. Zak heard the wet, squishy sound of the Hutt slithering along the stone floor.
Just in time, Zak thought. He dashed forward. The voices had come from the left, so he cut to the right and ran as quickly and quietly as he could.
Speeding through the gloomy tunnels, Zak finally found an open door. He leaped through the door, hoping to find another tunnel that would lead him back to the higher levels. Instead, he saw only three thick walls.
He had reached a dead end.
Zak spun around just in time to see a heavy door slide shut behind him. A small set of polished bars guarded a tiny window in the door.
Zak had walked into one of Jabba’s prison cells. And now he was locked inside.
CHAPTER 7
“Hey!” Zak yelled. “Let me out! Somebody let me out!”
Clickclick-click.
Zak watched through the bars as the brain spider approached. It shuffled up to the cell door and straightened its legs, raising the brain up to its full height. The brain seemed to be studying Zak through its transparent jar.
Zak shuddered. “Well, at least you can’t get me,” he whispered. “So why don’t you get back to your study or your meditation or whatever it is you do.”
The spider turned and shuffled away.
Once the spider was gone, Zak filled his lungs with air and shouted as loudly as he could. “Help! Someone help! I’m stuck in here!”
He yelled until his voice went hoarse. Then he paused to listen. A voice answered.
“That won’t do any good.”
It came from across the hall. The light was dim, but Zak could just make out another cell across the way, and a prisoner inside with his face pressed against the barred window.
“But I got in here by accident,” Zak explained.
“I know,” said the prisoner. “I saw you. But that won’t matter. No one comes down here but the Gamorreans, and they don’t speak Basic.”