[Galaxy Of Fear] - 08(21)

The pit was filled with the bodies of shreevs. Armies of beetles covered the pit, eating the creatures that usually ate them.

“There must be hundreds of shreevs in there,” Tash whispered.

“Thousands,” Sh’shak said, bowing his head. “Vroon has been at his work for some time, it seems.”

Tash frowned. “Does this mean we won’t be able to save the garden?”

“It’s no longer the garden I’m worried about,” Sh’shak said. “We must hurry.”

Turning, they made their way out of the beetle-infested forest. If Zak hadn’t been so frightened of the creeping insects that scurried underfoot and flew overhead, he would have been relieved. As they walked out of the forest, with the bright sun of S’krrr shining down on the garden, Zak told himself that the shreev he had killed hadn’t been the start of this whole mess. At least that was something.

But Sh’shak’s next statement wiped out his relief. “If Vroon has been tampering with the natural balance in the garden for even one year, that would be enough time for every female drog beetle to lay hundreds of eggs. And each of those young beetles would in turn hatch hundreds. That means this is not a small overpopulation problem. It means the garden could be infested with millions upon millions of beetles.”

As if to emphasize the gloom in Sh’shak’s words, a cloud passed over the sun.

“I have had enough of this garden,” Thrawn said. “I’ll summon a few gunboats to come down and scan the entire area.” The Imperial reached for his comlink, but it was gone. “Blast,” he muttered. “It must have fallen during the chase.”

The sky grew suddenly darker. Zak looked up to see if storm clouds were moving in.

But the sky was not filled with storm clouds.

It was filled with beetles!





CHAPTER 13


The swarm of beetles spun like a tornado, and began to twist down out of the sky toward them.

“Look out!” Zak cried. But it was useless. The swarm was moving too quickly, and there was nowhere to run.

Suddenly, Hoole began to shiver, and the skin crawled across his bones. An instant later, a dark-winged shreev stood in his place.

“By the Emperor!” Thrawn cried. Then he paused and muttered, “A Shi’ido. How very interesting.”

Hoole, in the shape of a shreev, launched himself into the air and darted directly at the massive swarm. Zak heard the shreev shriek as it plunged toward the cloud of hungry beetles.

It worked. Instinctively, the beetles swerved away from their natural enemy. The entire cloud veered to the right, heading away from those still on the ground.

“This is our chance. Run!” Sh’shak urged.

“Where?” Zak asked.

“My ship,” Thrawn ordered. “We’ll be safe there.”

“We won’t have much time,” Tash said.

She was right. Hoole in shreev form plunged into the cloud, striking at the thick wall of beetles. But one shreev could hardly attack the entire swarm. Although the beetles gave way wherever the shreev flew, the rest of the cloud leaked around it and continued to pour through the sky toward the victims on the ground.

Hoole was nearly overwhelmed by advancing beetles. Letting out one more frustrated shriek, he turned and flapped away. But instead of flying toward Zak and Tash, Hoole flew off in the opposite direction.

“Where’s he going?” Zak called out as he started to run.

“Tactical retreat,” Thrawn suggested. “Either that or he’s a coward.”

“Uncle Hoole is no coward!” Tash snapped.

Thrawn shrugged. “Either way, your Shi’ido friend won’t be helping us now. We’ve got to get to the shuttle.”

It was like racing the wind. Zak willed his feet to fly as fast as they could carry him as Thrawn and Sh’shak pulled ahead. Behind him, he could hear a soft whirrr sound grow into an angry buzz. And then the buzz became a violent drone.

The swarm was getting closer.

The sun vanished. Zak found himself running in near darkness, hoping he wouldn’t trip over any stray rocks or clumps of grass.

The swarm was directly overhead.

“There’s the shuttle!” Tash gasped.

Zak felt something bump against his ear. He swatted away a beetle that had landed on his shoulder. The fastest of the insects had reached them. A hail of bugs flew down on them from the sky.

Sh’shak and Thrawn had reached the shuttle and hurried up the ramp on the underside of the craft. As soon as he was inside, the Imperial turned and slapped something on the wall. The ramp began to rise.

“Hey!” Zak and Tash shouted.

Thrawn was going to lock them out!





CHAPTER 14


The ramp lifted off the ground.