Fandomar nodded. “In its dormant form, Spore would have looked like a small hard shell, maybe even a valuable stone. Somehow, Spore awakened and was able to infect Hodge before he left the tomb.”
“But why did Hodge kill his partner?” Tash asked. “Why not just infect him?”
“They were still in space,” Fandomar explained. “Spore cannot infect people across the vacuum of space. Hodge undoubtedly put the Spore creature near his own skin, but once Spore had infected him, it could not get at the other miner. I think that the other miner saw Hodge being infected. Since Spore couldn’t reach out with its tentacles to control the other miner, it used Hodge’s body and a vibroblade to kill the miner and keep him quiet.”
Tash’s eyes lit up. “And you were the one who blew up the mining station. “
Fandomar nodded. “I had to stop Spore, but I didn’t know at the time who was infected. I couldn’t allow the creature into an oxygen atmosphere, so I destroyed the station’s controls. Then I lied about the environmental controls aboard my ship to make sure everyone kept their spacesuits on. It bought me some time.”
The heavy tone in Fandomar’s voice caught Tash’s attention. “Why have you gotten so involved in this?”
“Because,” Fandomar said, “it is all my fault!”
CHAPTER 17
“What do you mean it’s your fault?” Tash asked.
The shadows of the cave seemed to wrap around Fandomar as she answered. “The Ithorians have kept Spore a secret for four hundred years. We knew that someone might be tempted to open the tomb. Only the High Priests knew of the tomb’s location.”
Fandomar sighed, then continued. “I learned
about
its
location accidentally, from my husband, who was a High Priest. The Imperial officer who forced my husband to reveal his secrets was a terrible, violent man. He would have killed my husband and wiped out an entire forest of Bafforr trees without thinking. I was afraid he would not be satisfied with the secrets my husband gave him”-Fandomar shuddered-“so I told him about Spore!”
Tash gently put her hand over Fandomar’s. She had guessed the rest. “You said you volunteered to make the shuttle run to the mining station. Was that so you could keep an eye on the tomb?”
Fandomar nodded. “I had to make sure no one opened it, especially after the miners discovered the slug hole. I thought I could manage, until the Imperials arrived.”
Tash wondered how Jerec had learned about Spore. She shrugged. The Empire was evil and corrupt. Officers traded information to get more power. Jerec had probably bought or stolen the secret of Spore from someone, then kept it for himself. It didn’t matter.
Tash had more important things to worry about. She stood up. She had been sipping Fandomar’s broth as they talked, and she felt better. Fandomar followed her as they walked toward the front of the cave. The planet-dwelling Ithorians shied away as they passed.
“Fandomar, isn’t there any way to stop Spore and save the others? Or at least to warn the herd ships?”
The Ithorian shook her head. “There are no communication devices here,” she said, pointing out the primitive lifestyle of the Ithorians around them. “As for stopping Spore, I have a theory. Hodge is the first person infected. That makes him the primary host, or the main body. If he is forced into space, I think Spore will go dormant and lose his power over the others.”
They reached the front of the cave. They were on a mountainside. Below them, the Ithorian forest stretched on forever. It was an inspiring view, but Tash’s shoulders slumped. “We might as well just wish it away. I doubt Hodge will accidentally step out of an airlock.”
Fandomar agreed. “There is only one thing in our favor at the moment. When Spore and his victims were looking for you, I sabotaged the medical craft with this.” She held up a blaster. “I found it near the wreckage of the cargo ship.”
Tash guessed that it was probably the same blaster Hoole had been holding just before the cargo ship started its fall.
“I am unfamiliar with weapons,” Fandomar admitted, “but I set it on its highest strength and fired into the ship’s engines. They will not function. Since no other Ithorians come down here, Spore will be unable to find any more victims. He still controls the crew of the medical shuttle, your brother, and your uncle, but at least he has been neutralized. There is no way for Spore to leave the surface of the planet now.”
But Fandomar spoke too soon. Even as the words left her mouth, an Imperial shuttle streaked over their heads and shot toward the forest floor.