[Galaxy Of Fear] - 02(15)
Uncle Hoole opened his mouth to speak, but Meego continued. “Wait, lemme guess. You’re looking for a family star cruiser. Something you and the kids can tool around in. Visit the Hologram Fun World, maybe do some sight-seeing in the Outer Rim. I’ve got just the thing. Right this way!”
He tried to drag Hoole toward a sleek new star cruiser that looked expensive. Hoole stood as still as a statue. “That particular ship may be out of my price range.”
Meego was undaunted. “On a budget? Aren’t we all? But I’m sure we can work out some financing. And believe me, this is the kind of ship that’ll pay for itself in no time. Besides, with an energetic family like yours you’ll-“
“Need the room?” Tash interrupted.
“Exactly,” said Meego, still talking to Hoole. “And I can tell from your attitude that you’re not just a tourist. You travel for a living, am I right? You’ll need-“
“To be comfortable,” Tash ended.
“Right again. And don’t forget about-“
“Dependability? Low cost of repairs? Style?” Tash guessed. The dealer looked annoyed. Tash had somehow figured out everything he was about to say.
Zak recognized the look on the dealer’s face. “Don’t mind her,” he said. “She does that a lot.”
Tash only smiled. Her little gift came easy with this ship dealer-maybe because his thoughts were so shallow.
“How… delightful,” the dealer sputtered. He seemed irritated that she had interrupted his speech and tried to get back on track. “Well, come on, it won’t cost you anything to look…”
The dealer’s mouth ran faster than a hyperdrive engine. Zak groaned inwardly. He was only thirteen, and he still had a lot to learn about starships. But he knew enough to see that the starship the salesman was pushing was all looks and no power. His eyes wandered over to a ship tucked in an unlit corner of the dockyard.
“Now that,” Zak said aloud, “is a ship. What about that one?”
“That looks like a used ship,” Tash pointed out. The salesman winced. “We prefer the term ‘preowned.’ We just acquired it from its previous owner, who is, urn, deceased. I’m afraid it’s not yet available for sale.”
The fast-talking salesman managed to lure Uncle Hoole over to the new ship, but Zak didn’t follow. His feet turned automatically in the direction his eyes were looking. Zak recognized the “preowned” ship from star catalogs. It was an Arakyd Helix Interceptor. Even docked, the Interceptor looked like an angry bird of prey. Its forward hold stuck out like a wicked beak, and its hull curved downward like sloping wings. Black streaks ran along its side and bottom where it had been burned making rushed entries into the atmosphere. Its landing gear looked battered from landings and takeoffs that were too fast.
But all that was meaningless. Sleek, durachrome exteriors were just candy for the eyes. Smart pilots looked at one thing: the engine, and the engine on this ship was…
“Prime,” Zak said to himself. “That’s an Incom GBp-629 with a backup hyperdrive motivator and double-reinforced power couplings.” Which meant, simply, that the ship could go very, very fast.
Zak walked around the ship, examining the fittings and power cable connections. Most of the fine points were too technical for him, but he had studied enough to know that some of the modifications on that ship were illegal. He had seen that kind of custom fitting on only one other ship: the Millennium Falcon.
Which means this ship belonged to a smuggler… or a pirate, he decided. Or at least to someone who needed to make a lot of fast getaways.
Zak wondered what the interior looked like. If it was a smuggler ship, it would have all sorts of modifications, maybe even a high-powered weapons system. He looked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being watched, then slapped the hatch controls. The portal slid open with a soft hiss. Zak stepped onboard.
The first thing he noticed was the advanced computer system. The second thing he noticed was a long corridor leading to the cockpit.
The third thing he noticed was Dr. Evazan, the dead Dr. Evazan, running down the corridor toward him.
CHAPTER 10
Dr. Evazan was alive!
That was impossible. Boba Fett had shot him. Dr. Evazan had been buried. Zak had seen it with his own eyes.
But if Zak was going to believe what his eyes had seen last night, he had to believe them now. And right now his eyes told him that a dead man had come back to life and was charging toward him.
Zak was frozen in fear. Evazan’s scarred face, his angry sneer, and his lightning speed were now even more terrifying. Zak could only stand there as Dr. Death reached out for him.