[Galaxy Of Fear] - 12(11)

“We were hunting,” The pale man said. “We saw you come down the steps. Didn’t know what you were. Came for a closer look, when that one fell in the water. Tried to help.”

The story sounded suspicious to Zak, and he could see doubt in everyone else’s eyes, too. But this stranger was no danger to them at the moment.

“We thought Dagobah was uninhabited,” the Shi’ido said. “What is your name? And who are these parents you speak of?”

“I am Galt,” the skeleton man explained. “The parents were … the parents were the parents of the Children. Us. They were the explorers. We are the Children.”

“You mean the explorers who came to Dagobah forty years ago?” Tash asked.

Galt nodded. “That is when the explorers came here.”

“How many of you are there?” Hoole asked.

“This many,” Galt said. He held his hand up to show five fingers. He did that five times.

“Twenty-five people?” Platt groaned. “So much for our uninhabited planet.”

“How can that be?” Tash asked. “According to the records, there weren’t that many people on the original expedition.”

“The records are incomplete,” Hoole pointed out. “Maybe they are flawed. At any rate, Galt is proof that someone survived here long enough to have children. Galt, where are your friends? Can you take us to them?”

Galt agreed to lead them to his home, but he insisted on bringing the body of his companion with them. Some of Platt’s smugglers helped him lift the body out of the swamp, and Galt hefted the corpse over one shoulder.

Despite his frail appearance, Galt seemed quite strong. Even with the added weight of the body, he jumped easily from stone to stone, and soon they were hurrying along the path.

“We should go fast,” Galt said. “There’s a dragonsnake nest around here. We don’t want to be here when she gets hungry.”

Zak was glad of the path, and not just because it kept his feet out of the slimy water. The swamp seemed to go on forever, and it was impossible to tell one part from another. The massive trees, the moss-covered mud, and the endless pools of water all looked alike. Without the path, they would have gotten lost in minutes. And Zak had a feeling that getting lost in this swamp was not a good idea.

Ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

A deep growl, long, low, and menacing, rose from the swamp water. Instantly, Galt dropped to his hands and knees,

cowering

on

the steppingstone where he’d stopped. He froze so quickly that Platt stumbled over him and almost fell. To keep her balance, she hopped to the next steppingstone in the line.

“What in space are you doing?” she demanded, turning back. “You nearly made me fall right into that-“

Another deep growl cut her off. Suddenly, the stone on which she stood started to rise. The water beneath it churned, and Zak realized that something was rising up from under the water, lifting the stone as it came. Platt shouted in alarm and jumped from the stone, falling into the murky swamp.

The creature that rose out of the water was enormous. Its head towered at least five meters above them, and Zak saw that most of its body was still hidden beneath the water. Its skin was sickly white and its huge eyes glowed yellow. Two thick antennae grew out of its head, quivering as the creature swayed back and forth. A gigantic mouth opened and shut slowly, as though tasting the air.

“Swamp slug!” Galt shrieked, not moving.

“Shoot it!” Platt sputtered from the water. “Shoot it!”

Her smugglers opened fire. Several shots went wild as the shooters panicked. But even the blaster bolts that hit their mark seemed to do nothing but vanish in the giant slug’s slimy flesh. It gurgled and lurched toward its attackers, pushing itself through the water alongside the stone path. Terrified, the smugglers dove into the water.

Zak saw Hoole start to shape-change, but he was too slow. The swamp slug lunged at him, its mouth open, and the Shi’ido had to jump aside to avoid being swallowed.

Only Zak and Tash were left teetering on the steppingstones. “Run!” Tash yelled.

“Where?” Zak asked.

There was nowhere to go.

Zak saw Tash pick up a tree branch that was floating in the water. Following her lead, he grabbed a rock. They raised their little weapons as the swamp slug reared to its full height, towering over them.

Suddenly, a loud shriek filled the air. The swamp slug paused and growled, its antennae quivering in the direction of the scream.

Another huge creature pushed its way out of a wall of bushes and slipped into the water. Zak caught a glimpse of a long black tail covered with scales, splashing across the surface.

“We’ve got more company,” he said Tash. “I bet that’s the dragonsnake Galt was talking about!”