[Galaxy Of Fear] - 11(10)

Hoole still hadn’t taken his eyes off the red-haired man. “We would have reached you sooner, but the design of these ruins is most intriguing. And confusing.”

“Yeah,” Zak agreed. “And I think Maga knew about it. He wanted you to wander in here and get lost, rash.”

Tash had nearly forgotten about Maga and didn’t care about him at the moment. She pointed to the man. “I think it’s all right, Uncle Hoole. You can let him up.

Hoole stepped back, his face still dark with anger. “Why did you attack my niece?”

The man stood up and dusted himself off. He was wearing an old flight suit. His red hair was a tangled mess and dust now covered his face. His eyes were bright but, Tash thought, kind of empty.

The glowpanels are lit, she thought, but nobody’s home. “I didn’t attack her,” the man answered. Words tumbled out of his mouth. “I was so surprised to see anyone here… we never get visitors… I just didn’t know if she was real.”

“Where did you come from?” Hoole demanded. “Over there,” the man said, waving his hand toward the river.

“How did you get here?” Hoole demanded.

“I walked,” the man replied.

Hoole’s frown deepened. He tried an even simpler question. “What is your name?”

“My name is Eyal, and as I said, I should be the one asking questions.” Eyal’s eyes brightened, as though he’d just gotten a brilliant idea. “But why don’t we go back to our base? We can talk there.”

Hoole raised an eyebrow. “Your base?”

“Sure,” Eyal said warmly.

He pointed in the direction of the group of newer buildings.

Hoole and the two Arrandas exchanged glances, and Tash could tell her brother and uncle had the same questions she had: Was this the old Rebel base? Wasn’t it supposed to be abandoned?

“Excuse us,” Hoole said, pulling Zak and Tash to one side. Eyal simply nodded and smiled.

“I don’t like this,” Zak said. “He attacked Tash!”

“Yes,” Hoole agreed in a low voice. “But his presence also raises some intriguing questions. I am curious to know who is on this planet. If there are Rebels here, they could help us in our efforts to evade the Empire.”

Zak was still suspicious. “Uncle Hoole, you’re usually the one who warns us to keep out of trouble. Don’t you think we should avoid this guy like a black hole?”

Hoole considered. “You have a point, Zak, but if we keep our eyes open we should be fine.”

Before they left the Jedi ruins, Tash asked Hoole and Zak to examine the round room, wondering if they would feel the same thing she had. They did. Zak said it felt like the electric tingle of a scanner. Hoole merely shrugged.

Eyal led them out of the ruins. Although the layout of the place still confused Tash, Eyal seemed to have an excellent sense of direction.

“How do you know where you’re going?” Tash asked him. Try as she might, she couldn’t tell exactly where they were. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought the ruins were shifting around, making new paths and blocking old ones. But of course that was impossible.

“It just takes some getting used to,” Eyal explained.

Instead of taking them back toward the prairie, from where they’d come, he led them in the opposite direction. As they exited the ruins, they found themselves near the river. To Tash’s surprise, she saw that a bridge had been built across the river. It was simple, made of bilba tree wood, but it was a good, solid construction.

“I didn’t think the Dantari built anything,” she said.

“Oh, the Dantari didn’t build this,” Eyal said. “They never come here. I don’t think they like the ruins, or the base.”

The abandoned Rebel base rose up out of the grassland as if it had been put there by mistake. Located a short distance from the river, it had only five buildings-round, modern, brown domes that rose several stories high.

As they drew near, Tash and Zak heard sounds of activity. Voices were carried to them on the wind, as well as the sounds of hammering and drilling.

“I thought the Rebel base was abandoned long ago, before the Death Star even,” Zak said as they crossed the bridge.

Eyal blinked. “What is the Death Star?”

“Are you kidding?” Zak answered. “I thought everyone had heard about the Battle of Yavin, and the Death Star. The Rebels destroyed it!”

Eyal shrugged. “We have been cut off from the rest of the galaxy for some time. In fact, that’s why I’m bringing you to the base. I’m hoping you can help us get off this planet.”

Hoole and the Arrandas quickly saw what Eyal meant by us. Not only was the Rebel base not abandoned, it was filled with people. All of them were dressed in jumpsuits that looked as if they’d come out of the same box. There were humans, and short, gill-faced Sullustans, and Bothans, and several other species Tash didn’t recognize. They all seemed to be working hard, carrying bundles this way and that.