The brain spiders retreated. In moments, the hallway was clear.
The Gank turned to look at Zak and Tash. Its skin crawled across its bones, and a moment later it had changed into the shape of a Shi’ido.
“It is a good thing I came to look for you,” Hoole said.
“I did not think brain spiders acted in that fashion.”
“I told you one of them chased me,” Zak said.
“Are either of you hurt?” Hoole asked.
Both humans held out their hands and arms to show that they hadn’t been cut. “They never really touched us,” Tash explained. “It was more like they were herding us somewhere. They were trying to trap us.”
“Intriguing,” Hoole said. “But it does not matter. We won’t be here much longer.”
“Did you finish translating those B’omarr documents?” Tash asked.
Hoole shook his head. “Not completely. But I have decided not to accept Jabba’s offer. I simply cannot take on a new identity.”
Zak knew the reason, but Tash asked, “Why not?”
Hoole explained, “To a Shi’ido like me, identity is everything. I must always remember who I am. Otherwise, with all the shapechanging I do, I am in danger of forgetting who I really am.”
“You mean, if you shape-shifted into a Gank, you might forget you weren’t really a Gank?” Tash asked.
“Exactly.” The Shi’ido suddenly morphed with such blinding speed that Tash and Zak caught only glimpses of wings, and fur, and claws, and tails, and beaks, and teeth in a blur of motion. For a moment, Hoole paused, settling on the form of a vornskr, a furry four-legged predator with a poison tail. The fierce creature nipped at Zak and Tash, then changed shape again. When the morphing stopped, Hoole stood before them. “It’s important always to remember exactly who you are.”
“So we’re leaving now?” Tash asked. “But… I don’t think I’m ready.”
“Not ready?” Zak replied in disbelief. “After what just happened?”
“Well, it’s not like I want to see brain spiders again, but Grimpen was teaching me so much. I can’t leave without saying goodbye.”
Hoole considered. “Very well. It is too late to leave tonight anyway. Jabba would be insulted if I didn’t say goodbye properly. But I want to make sure nothing else happens to you, Tash.”
“I’ll be safe,” she explained. “The tunnel to Grimpen’s meditation chamber is just down that way, and there’s a bed of hot coals that the brain spiders can’t cross.”
“Yes, they can,” Zak scoffed, remembering Hoole’s comment about the lume rocks. “Remind me to tell you about those so-called hot coals sometime. They wouldn’t stop a brain spider for a second.”
Tash shrugged. “Well, whether they can or can’t, I know that they don’t cross it. They absolutely refuse. So I’ll be safe.”
She hurried down the tunnel, with Hoole watching until she was out of sight. He seemed about to change his mind and go after her, when a loud noise drifted down the tunnels. Hoole and Zak heard music and cheering. Something big was happening in Jabba’s audience chamber.
Glancing back at Tash, Hoole turned up the hall to investigate.
They reached the audience chamber a few minutes later to find all of Jabba’s henchmen gathered around his throne, accompanied by the Imperial officer Commander Fuzzel and a squad of stormtroopers.
Fuzzel shouted over the noise, “Jabba! You promised me the criminal! What are we waiting for?”
Jabba blinked his huge eyes. “Patience, Commander, patience. There is merely a short delay in fetching the body. It will arrive any moment now.”
The stormtroopers looked around nervously. They were uncomfortable being surrounded by so many gangsters. As Hoole and Zak watched, Jabba kept them waiting for nearly a quarter of an hour longer. Just as Zak was starting to grow bored, a murmur swept through the crowd.
Bib Fortuna pushed his way through the mob, guiding a small hoversled. On the hoversled lay a body wrapped in sheets.
Jabba boomed, “As I promised you, Commander Fuzzel, I have delivered the body of the galaxy’s most wanted killer. Here is all that remains of Karkas!”
The mob cackled and cheered. Fuzzel stepped forward and pulled back the sheet, revealing a massive head with one crushed eye.
“This is Karkas, all right,” Fuzzel said, shaking his head. “That makes five criminals you’ve turned in this month. You’ve started up a whole new line of work, Jabba.”
“Indeed I have,” the Hutt gurgled.
At the edge of the crowd, Zak whispered to Hoole, “I don’t get it. When I saw Jabba talking with Karkas yesterday, they were the best of friends. Jabba even promised to help him escape from the Imperials.”