Reading Online Novel

[Galaxy Of Fear] - 07(28)



Come on, Uncle Hoole, Zak thought. Where are you? As the hoversled approached, Zak saw that someone lay on it.

That someone was Hoole.





CHAPTER 17


Hoole lay unconscious on the hoversled. He was the other victim Jabba had mentioned. Zak moaned. For the first time, he realized that he might have failed. He would end up trapped inside a jar until the end of time.

“They’re here,” Grimpen said. “I’ll call you again after the operation. Grimpen out.” He snapped the vidscreen shut.

Grimpen nodded to Karkas. “Did you have any trouble?”

Karkas, behind Tash’s face, smirked. “Not much. This girl’s body is weaker than a nerf cub. But the Shi’ido wasn’t expecting to get brained by his own niece.” Karkas laughed with Tash’s clear laugh. “Get it? Brained!”

“Humorous,” Grimpen said dryly. “Are you ready?”

Karkas snorted. “I can’t wait to get out of this stupid body.” The criminal leered over Hoole’s unconscious figure. “This one will do much better. And the best part of it is, no one will ever suspect that Karkas the killer is hiding inside a Shi’ido.”

Zak shuddered. They were going to perform another brain transfer and put Karkas’s brain inside Hoole’s body. Would that mean that Karkas would have Hoole’s shapechanging power? Did the Shi’ido ability come from the body or from the mind? Hoole had never told them.

“Here, watch the boy,” Grimpen said. He shoved Zak toward Karkas. The killer grabbed Zak with Tash’s hand, drawing a blaster with the other.

For a second, Zak considered fighting back. Karkas was a killer who had terrorized the galaxy, but right now he was trapped in the body of a thirteen-year-old girl. Zak wasn’t quite as tall as Tash, but he was strong, and he was more of an athlete than Tash was. He was sure he could beat her.

But as soon as Karkas clutched him, Zak abandoned the idea. The hand on his arm was Tash’s hand, but it wasn’t. They were her fingers, but the grip felt nothing like hers. It was hard and mean. Zak could tell that if he made any sudden moves, Karkas would kill him without a thought.

Besides, even if he could wrestle free, he would still have to deal with Grimpen and the two Gamorrean guards.

The monk positioned the hoversled next to the table. With the help of Jabba’s Gamorreans, he slid Hoole onto the operating table and then bound his hands and feet with the leather straps.

“One cannot be too careful,” he observed as he began to sort through the trayful of instruments. “I think I’ll do this the old-fashioned way,” he said, casually picking up the skull saw.

“No!” Zak yelled.

Grimpen only smiled. He lowered the saw until its sharp teeth rested on Hoole’s forehead.

Hoole’s eyes flew open.

One of the Gamorreans snorted.

“He’s awake!” Karkas yelled.

“It’s of no concern,” Grimpen assured him. “I’ve had several patients wake during the brain transfer. He’s securely tied down.”

Karkas lunged forward, aiming the blaster. “No, you idiot. He’s a Shi-aahh!”

His warning turned into a cry of surprise as Zak tripped him up. Tash’s body sprawled onto the stone floor of the Great Room of the Enlightened.

On the table, Hoole tugged once at his restraints and then closed his eyes. His entire body shifted and collapsed on itself, morphing into the form of a Circapousian water snake. The snake slithered easily out of the straps and dropped onto the floor as the Gamorreans squealed and jumped back in surprise. They recovered quickly, and both guards chopped down with their axes. But Hoole changed shape again, this time becoming a tall, thin-bodied Duro. The axes passed harmlessly on either side of him and struck the floor in a shower of sparks.

A few meters away, Zak dove on top of Karkas, struggling to gain control of the blaster. He managed to pin down the hand that held the blaster, but he didn’t know what to do next. He was fighting his own sister!

Karkas lashed out with a savage elbow that snapped Zak’s head backward. For a moment the blaster came free, and Karkas leveled the weapon at Hoole.

“No!” Zak shouted. He punched as hard as he could, hitting the side of Tash’s face. The blow made the blaster shot go wide, slamming into the wall and shattering a shelf full of brain jars. Yellow-green chemicals and gray brains oozed down the walls and onto the floor.

Near the shelf, Hoole shifted again. He became a vornskr, leaping forward on all four feet, his poison tail whipping behind him. The vornskr lunged at a Gamorrean, jaws snapping. At the same time, its tail lashed out at the other guard, slashing the guard’s snout.