Everything was as normal as it could be in the palace of Jabba the Hutt.
Uncle Hoole’s right, Zak thought as he descended into the B’omarr tunnels. I have to remember where I am. Wanted criminals and innocent prisoners aren’t out of the ordinary here. There’s nothing for me to worry about.
The tunnels were deserted. Keeping an eye out for brain spiders, Zak tried to remember where the monks’ tea room was, figuring he’d find someone there who could help him locate Tash.
“Psst! Zak!” a voice whispered.
Zak looked around. No one was there.
“Over here!” The voice came from a dark corner where the corridor curved. Stepping into the corner, Zak saw Brother Beidlo huddled there. He looked frightened.
“What is it?” Zak asked.
“Keep your voice down,” Beidlo warned.
Two monks appeared in the hallway, and Beidlo pulled Zak into the darkness. The young monk pressed his back against the wall until the B’omarr had passed.
“You have to get out of here,” Beidlo told Zak in a frightened whisper. “We all do. Or we’re all going to end up dead!”
CHAPTER 9
The look of fear on Beidlo’s face was so intense that Zak thought he might be crazy. “What do you mean?” he asked. “This morning you said everything was just fine.”
“That was before”-Beidlo swallowed-“… before I found out about the brain transfers.”
Zak scratched his head. His mind was cluttered enough without Beidlo confusing him further. “But you told us about the brain transfers. You just about showed us one!”
“I know! I know!” Beidlo explained. “That’s how it started. There wasn’t supposed to be a brain transfer yesterday. It made me curious, so I started looking around. I found out that there have been an awful lot of unscheduled brain transfers recently. Then I realized there are at least twice as many brain spiders as there were when I joined the B’omarr just a few months ago.”
“So?” Zak asked. “Doesn’t that just mean more monks are becoming enlightened or whatever?”
“Either that,” Beidlo said in a trembling voice, “or someone is removing their brains against their will.”
“What?” Zak said in disbelief. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone want to stick their brains in little jars? Besides, Uncle Hoole just told me that only the B’omarr monks know how to perform the operation. Which means they’re doing it to themselves.”
Beidlo shook his head. “No, no, it’s worse than that. Ten monks have supposedly become enlightened in the past few months. But there have been fifteen operations! And I’m telling you, there are way too many brain spiders around. And they’re acting strangely.”
Zak remembered the brain spider that had chased him. “I can’t argue with that.”
“Something bad is happening here,” Beidlo nearly sobbed. “Someone is performing the brain transfers on monks who aren’t ready!”
Zak swallowed. “Okay, if this is true, why tell me? Why not tell the other monks?”
Beidlo smacked his head in frustration. “Don’t you think I tried that? But the monks just don’t care. I told you, they spend all their time studying and thinking. They don’t care what happens to their bodies. They don’t care about anything outside their meditation. They won’t listen!”
“And you think I will,” Zak guessed.
“You and your uncle. Please, call the authorities. Ask them to come down here and investigate. Anything!”
Zak wasn’t sure what to think. He didn’t know anything about brain spiders or B’omarr monks. Beidlo’s story didn’t make very much sense. But he still had the nagging feeling that something weird was going on in Jabba’s palace. “Okay, I’ll tell my uncle. Maybe he’ll have an idea.”
“Thank you!” Beidlo said in relief. “While you do that, I’m going to tell the one monk who might be willing to act. Grimpen’s not like the rest. He’ll get to the bottom of this!”
Zak hurried up the tunnel as Beidlo ran in the opposite direction. Armed with this new information, Zak returned to his uncle’s quarters.
“Back so soon?” Hoole asked. “Where’s Tash?”
Zak quickly explained what Beidlo had told him.
Hoole frowned. “I do not understand, Zak. What would the monks have to gain by doing more brain transfers? And why would they do them on anyone but other monks?”
“I don’t know,” Zak replied, “but I’m telling you, something’s wrong here.”