[Galaxy Of Fear] - 08(13)

Zak and Tash both fell to their knees, trying to brush the swarming drog beetles from the Imperial’s body. Some of the beetles landed in the grass and waddled away to investigate other things, but most merely opened their wings and fluttered back toward the body.

“Help us!” Zak called out to Thrawn.

“Don’t bother,” the Imperial captain replied. “He’s dead.”

Thrawn was right. The body wasn’t moving. The officer’s skin was already pale and cold. Zak could see wriggling bulges in his uniform where the beetles had crawled under his clothes.

Something bit Zak. “Ow!” he yelled, leaping back.

Tash looked up. “Zak, what’s - Ow!” She jumped to her feet, too, sticking her finger in her mouth. “One of those things bit me!”

“Me too,” Zak said. He looked at his hand. There was a tiny red mark. “I guess they don’t want us interfering with their meal.” He shuddered.

Behind them, Captain Thrawn pulled a comlink from his belt and spoke to someone on the other end, probably on board the Star Destroyer orbiting overhead. “This is Captain Thrawn. Order the entire Sikadian Garden sealed. All ships within one thousand kilometers are to be grounded immediately, then searched. Someone has murdered Lieutenant Wolver.”

Thrawn moved with lightning-fast efficiency. Tash and Zak watched as, for the next hour, Imperial investigators shuttled down from Thrawn’s Star Destroyer to examine the area. A medical team examined the body where it lay. Imperial crewmen cut tree branches and uprooted bushes, using them as brushes to drive the swarming beetles away.

As they did, Vroon seemed to materialize out of nowhere. His wings hummed angrily, and he said, “I must protest! This garden is a protected area. You can’t just come in here, tearing up the plants. And the beetles! You must not- “

Thrawn waved him off. “I will do whatever I must. One of my men has been murdered. The investigation is more important than your bugs.”

But Vroon continued to complain until Thrawn ordered his men to take the caretaker away. At that, Vroon hurried off, complaining as he disappeared down one of the garden’s many paths.

Once the drog beetles were removed from the body, the medical examiner found several large wounds.

“What caused the wounds?” Thrawn demanded.

“Difficult to say,” the doctor replied. “I’m not sure if they were made before the beetles did their work, or if the insects crawled into the existing holes and made them wider. But I would say that, if anything, the wounds were made by a very large handweapon, perhaps a vibropike.”

Zak and Tash looked at each other, remembering Sh’shak.

Thrawn spoke through his comlink. “Thrawn to Star Destroyer Vengeance. Begin monitoring all planetary transmissions. It’s possible that there is an anti-Imperial group operating on S’krrr They may have murdered Lieutenant Wolver. Keep me informed.”

Tash and Zak slipped off while Thrawn was giving orders for the body’s removal, and returned to the Shroud.

They found Hoole waiting with a frown etched deeply into his face. The interior of the Shroud looked like it had been torn apart by Tusken Raiders.

“Zak, Tash, I’m relieved to see you here. Stormtroopers marched through here and searched the Shroud. They would not say what they were looking for.”

“They were looking for a murderer!” Zak replied. “We were with Captain Thrawn. We found one of his officers. The man was dead, and there were drog beetles all over him.” She shuddered.

Zak added, “And you won’t believe it. Earlier, we saw-“

He stopped. Sh’shak had suddenly appeared.

“Oh,” Zak ended lamely.

“Yes, Zak?” Hoole prodded.

Zak swallowed. “Nothing. It’s just that Captain Thrawn thinks there are anti-Imperial agents on the planet.”

Sh’shak’s wings hummed. “Most interesting. If that is the case, the Imperials may declare a curfew. I must finish some errands before they do so.” He bowed to Hoole. “It was a pleasure speaking with you. Good day.”

Zak waited until the S’krrr was out of sight. “He’s the murderer!”

Hoole blinked. “Nonsense.”

“But we saw him practicing with a vibropike!” Zak insisted. “He looked like a killing machine.”

“I think Zak may be right, Uncle Hoole,” Tash admitted. “Sh’shak told me he was a poet, but after what I saw today…”

Hoole shook his head. “Zak, Tash, this is where an understanding of alien cultures can help you. You see, the S’krrr are-“

Hoole’s sentence was cut off by the sound of pounding on the ship’s hull. Hoole looked outside to find Thrawn’s other lieutenant, Tiers, waiting. “You are to come with me,” he said to Hoole.