[Galaxy Of Fear] - 02(16)

But instead of grabbing him, Evazan gave a sudden, violent twitch that shook his whole body. Then he snarled, shoved Zak out of the way, and bolted through the ship’s hatchway, carrying something in his free hand. Evazan disappeared almost instantly as he ducked behind the landing gear of a nearby ship.

Finally Zak unfroze. He ignored the gangway ramp and leaped out of the starship. He hit the ground running and dashed across the dockyard to the others, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Evazan! Dr. Death! He’s here. He’s here!”

His frantic cries stopped Meego in midsentence. The salesman, along with Hoole, Tash, and Deevee, turned to look at the out-of-breath boy. “Ev-Evazan!” Zak gasped one more time.

“You are interrupting,” Hoole said calmly. “Why?”

“I saw him. I saw Evazan.”

“The Dr. Evazan?” Deevee asked.

Zak nodded. “Yes-scarred face and all.”

Hoole looked annoyed. “If I recall correctly, this is the same Dr. Evazan who was buried today. In other words, the one who is dead?”

“He is! I mean he was! I mean…” Zak paused to catch his breath and saw the look on Tash’s face. He realized that he must sound foolish. He tried to think of some way to prove what had happened.

“Perhaps I should excuse myself for a moment and let you four talk,” the salesman said.

“No, wait!” Zak had just remembered something. “I saw Evazan running out of that ship back there. He was carrying something! Look over the ship and I’m sure you’ll find something missing.”

The salesman smiled in sympathy but said, “I’m afraid I can’t help. You see, the reason that ship is unavailable is that it hasn’t been overhauled yet. My technicians haven’t even been inside, so I have no idea what might have been onboard.”

No one spoke until they reached the hostel. They sat in the hostel’s common room where they had seen Boba Fett the night before. But now the room was empty. Zak sat with his back to the wall, staring glumly out one of the small windows onto the darkening street.

The hostel was a cavernous place with high ceilings and stone pillars carved into the shape of giants holding up the roof. Their voices echoed so loudly that they found themselves whispering.

“Zak,” Uncle Hoole began slowly. “I have tried to be understanding. I know that you have been having bad dreams about your parents, and that is quite understandable. But I believe your sudden concern about-forgive me for being so blunt-about death is becoming an obsession.”

Zak knew arguing with Hoole wouldn’t do any good. He tried to keep eye contact with his uncle, but the Shi’ido’s stare made him nervous. Every now and then Zak looked away, out through the window to the dark streets beyond.

“We have hardly been here a full day and you’ve already offended a local custom by entering a cemetery. You’ve snuck out of your room with a boy who poisoned himself, and you have associated with a known bounty hunter.”

Zak had stopped listening to his uncle. Had he seen something moving outside the window? “Furthermore, you’ve become obsessed with this idea that the dead can return. I was fond of your parents, and I miss them, too, but you must accept that they are gone now. They cannot come back any more than this Dr. Evazan can.”

Zak hardly heard what Hoole was saying. There was definitely something out in the shadows. It was a man-size shape. It shuffled one way, then the other, as if trying to get a good view of the room through the transparisteel. The figure pressed a little closer, and for a moment the light from the room spilled onto its face.

It was Dr. Evazan.

“There!” Zak shouted, pointing over Uncle Hoole’s shoulder.

Everyone turned to look.

But Evazan had vanished.

“What?” Tash asked. “What was it?”

Zak opened his mouth, then shut it quickly. He wasn’t about to make any more claims in front of his uncle. “Nothing,” he lied. “Just a shadow.”

Zak could tell that Hoole didn’t believe him. As he excused himself and went to his room, Zak decided that he couldn’t blame his uncle or Deevee. But he at least hoped that Tash might believe him.

He told her so as they went to their rooms. “You’re the expert on weird things,” he told her. “Don’t you think this really might be happening?”

“I believe that you believe it, Zak. But not even Jedi Knights can do what you’re describing.”

“But I know what I saw,” Zak insisted. “Maybe Dr. Evazan faked his death so Boba Fett would stop tracking him.”

“Maybe,” Tash considered. “But it’s pretty hard to fake your own burial after you’re dead. He was put in a grave, remember?”