[Galaxy Of Fear] - 11(22)

“Ask it anyway.”

While they were bickering, Tash slipped out of the shadows and hurried up the stairs just before the trapdoor closed. She was back in the round room.

Tash poked her head outside. She could hear a few distant voices, but nothing nearby. She guessed that the clones had swept through the ruins right on her heels. When they couldn’t find her, they’d fanned out onto the prairie, hoping to track her down.

As quietly as possible, Tash made her way through the maze of the ruins. She needed to form a plan, and to do that she needed someplace to hide, someplace where she could think. Suddenly she heard steady, unhurried footsteps approaching around a nearby corner. She pressed herself into the shadow of a fallen stone and listened as the footsteps grew closer.

A tall figure appeared, dressed in a long robe, with a concerned look on his gray face.

“Uncle Hoole!” Tash said in an excited whisper. She jumped out of the shadows and raced toward him.

“Tash,” Hoole said calmly.

“Thank the Force,” she said. She collapsed into his arms. Hoole caught her and held her on her feet. “I’m so glad you got away!”

Hoole looked down at her. “I didn’t get away. At least, the original Hoole didn’t.” His grip tightened. “And neither will you.”





CHAPTER 14


Hoole was a clone, too!

Tash tried to jerk her arms free, but the clone Hoole’s grip was too strong.

“Don’t bother struggling,” the clone said. “Or I’ll shape-change into a creature strong enough to crush you like a blumfruit.”

Tash stopped struggling. “Please, let me go.”

“No. Come with me.” The clone started to drag her into the ruins.

The clone spoke like Hoole. It even had his inflection. If it was that much like Hoole, maybe she could reason with it.

“Uncle Hoole,” she said. “Please, it’s me, Tash. You don’t have to do what Vader says. Think a minute!”

The clone Shi’ido looked at her with disdain. “Do not be foolish. I am Hoole, but not the Hoole you know. Our leader has taken care of that. I am everything that is strong about Hoole, with none of his petty weaknesses. I am invincible.”

Just as he finished the word, something hard slammed down on his skull and the Hoole clone dropped to the ground like a sack of nerf wool. As he fell, Tash turned to see who had sneaked up behind them.

“Zak!”

Her brother stood holding a chunk of stone block in his hand and grinning from ear to ear. “That’ll teach Vader,” Zak joked. “I like Uncle Hoole, but one’s enough to deal with.”

“Where were you?” Tash asked.

“Caught,” her brother explained. “I found some computer records that told me what was going on, and Vader’s clones grabbed me before I could tell Uncle Hoole. The real one, that is.” He tapped the unconscious clone Hoole with his toe. “But I guess you and Uncle Hoole caused some commotion near the bridge. When everyone started chasing you, I was able to get free.”

“Have you seen the real Uncle Hoole?” she asked.

“No,” Zak answered. “But I hope he escaped.”

“We’ve got to find him!” Tash said.

“First things first,” Zak said. He pulled something out of his pocket and held it out for Tash.

“The remote control for the ship!” Tash cheered.

Zak answered, “Yep. You call the Shroud. I’m going to see if I can find anything useful in this clone’s pockets.”

“Right,” Tash said. She took the remote control from Zak’s hands. She knew the security code. Hoole had given it to both of them just to be safe. She punched in the first few digits.

Then she stopped.

“Zak?” she said.

“Yeah?” her brother answered. He was busy searching through the pockets of the clone Hoole’s robe, finding nothing.

“Why didn’t you just call the ship after you escaped?”

Zak stopped his searching and looked up. “I wanted to find you and make sure you were all right. You know, good brother stuff”

“You could have found me more easily with the scanners on board the Shroud,” Tash pointed out.

Zak scratched his head. “I guess you’re right. I didn’t think about it.”

Tash clenched her teeth. Since when did Zak not think about using technology?

Tash handed the remote activator back to Zak. “Why don’t you call the ship?”

Zak stared down at the remote without taking it. “Why? You could have done it by now.”

“No,” she insisted. “You do it.”

Zak sighed and looked at her as if she were a disobedient child. “Oh, well, we’ll just have to do this the hard way.”