“Okay by me,” Zak said. “I’m about ready for things to get back to normal, anyway.” He motioned to Tash. “What do you say we go back to the ship and play a few holo-games. I might even let you win at Starbattle!”
Tash frowned. “Hologames are for kids,” she grumbled, and quickly followed Hoole into the noisy gloom of the cantina.
Tash blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She hadn’t meant to snap at Zak like that-he was her best friend. But lately she’d started to feel, well, older than her brother. After all, she would be fourteen in a few weeks. Also, she had recently become aware of her sensitivity to the Force, the mysterious power used by the ancient Jedi Knights.
Squinting, Tash searched for Hoole, but the cantina was so dark that she could barely see where she was going. Besides, Hoole was a Shi’ido, and the Shi’ido were shapechangers. The moment he stepped into the dark bar, Hoole could have transformed into any shape in the galaxy.
The only real light leaked out of a row of tiny lamps over the squid-shaped head of the bartender. Tash saw many humans lined up at the bar, as well as a few alien species. There was a long-snouted Kubaz, a small group of pudgy Kitonaks, and a horn-headed Devaronian. But most of the customers seemed happier hiding in the shadows.
A bulky figure sitting at a nearby table suddenly let out a deep sigh, and Tash found herself engulfed in a cloud of smelly t’bac smoke.
“Hey!” she said without thinking. “You blew that smoke right in my face!”
She threw an angry glance in the direction of the smoker, and found herself looking into the ugliest face she had ever seen. One of the smoker’s eyes was wide and bloodshot, but the other was so flat and squinty that it looked as if one side of his face had been crushed by a gravity well. His nose was wide and flat, and it bent in two different directions as it grew down from his forehead. His mouth was twisted into a permanent snarl. He had no neck-just two huge, sloping shoulders and a pair of arms thicker than Tash’s waist.
“Yeah, I did,” the smoker agreed with a growl. He blew another cloud of smoke that made Tash cough.
“Stop it!”
Slowly, the smoker stood up. He was almost as tall as a Wookiee. He leered down at Tash. “Who’s going to make me, little girl?”
“I-” Tash swallowed. She knew she should just back off, but she hated being called little girl. “I will,” she said weakly.
The bar fell silent. Everyone waited to see what the huge being would do.
The smoker looked at Tash again, then threw back his head and let loose a roar of laughter. Tash felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. When the creature was done laughing, he put one huge hand on her head. Then he bent down to look her in the eye.
“Little girl, I would eat you for lunch if you were big enough to make a meal. You’re lucky Drudo found me someone else to eat. Now run along before I decide to have an appetizer.”
He spun Tash around so she was facing the opposite direction, then gave her a gentle shove that sent her stumbling across the dark cantina toward the exit. A ripple of laughter followed her.
When she regained her balance, Tash fumed. She didn’t care how big that bully was-he didn’t have the right to embarrass her.
She walked up to the bartender. “I want to see the owner.”
The squid-headed bartender blubbered something in a thick, liquid-sounding language. It sounded like laughter. Then he said in Basic, “He’s in the back room. But you don’t want to disturb him. He’s not in a very good mood.”
“Yes, I do,” Tash said stubbornly. The smoker had insulted her, but she decided to handle the situation like an adult. She would register a complaint with the management.
She strode over to a door next to the bar and stepped through as it slid open.
Tash found herself in a small, brightly lit room. A man in a white apron stood with his back to her, working over a table.
“Excuse me,” she said.
“It’s not ready!” the man yelled, whirling around.
As he did, Tash saw that the table was covered in blood. Then she looked at the man’s hands. In one hand he held a blood-stained vibroblade. In the other he held a still-beating heart.
CHAPTER 2
The man stuck the throbbing heart in Tash’s face and snapped, “Is this what you want?”
Tash jumped back in surprise and terror, trying to shut the horrible sight from her eyes and the smell from her nose. “No!” she shrieked.
The man blinked and looked at Tash again. “Wait a minute. You’re not a Whiphid.”
“No, I’m not,” Tash said, her own heart pounding faster as the one in the stranger’s hand began to slow. “I-I’m Tash.”