He tried to open his eyes but couldn’t. He tried to sit up, but he couldn’t. When he tried to move his arms, his hands, even his fingers, nothing happened. He was completely paralyzed.
He still had his sense of touch. He could tell that he was lying down on something soft and warm. Was he in his own bed?
He heard someone crying nearby. It was Tash. Then he heard Deevee’s voice.
“That’s right, Tash,” the droid was saying awkwardly. “Let it out. It’s no shame to cry when a loved one passes on.”
Loved one? Who had died? Zak wondered if something terrible had happened to Uncle Hoole. But then he heard Uncle Hoole’s voice. “They’re ready to begin now, Tash.”
What’s going on? Why can’t I move?
He heard Tash sob. “Oh, Zak, what happened to you? You knew those cryptberries were dangerous. How could this have happened?”
What? Zak wanted to yell. But he couldn’t speak.
Uncle Hoole spoke again. “Step back now, Tash. At least the Necropolitans have allowed us to say goodbye to Zak. It goes against their customs to let mourners be so close to the grave. Come now. They’re ready for the burial.”
Burial?
Zak heard a heavy lid close right over his head, and he sensed that he was now in a small, confined space. A cold feeling settled in his stomach as he realized that it was a coffin.
He was inside a coffin.
They were going to bury him alive.
CHAPTER 14
From inside the coffin, Zak tried to shout “I’m alive! I’m alive!” But his mouth wouldn’t move. He was still under the influence of the paralyzing cryptberry juice.
He heard someone begin to speak outside. It was Pylum, the Master of Cerements. Pylum began to repeat the same funeral rites he had said over Kairn’s grave.
I don’t need a funeral! I’m not dead! I’m not dead! Zak cried. No one heard him. His screams were all in his head.
Pylum finished the funeral rites and added a speech, which he directed to those who had gathered. “It is a tragedy when any young person passes on. It is especially sad that an offworlder has gone into the void. But let the living learn a lesson from the passing of Zak Arranda. He was a good young man, but he disturbed the graves of the dead, and for that he paid the ultimate price.”
There is no curse! It was Evazan! He’s come back! He did this to me!
Pylum continued. “We dedicate this ground to the memory of the dearly departed Zak Arranda. Let all honor be bestowed upon the dead. Let the dead rest with the dead as long as the galaxy spins. Let this ground remain sealed over the departed forever and ever.”
No!
Zak heard a heavy bolt slam into place, just like the one he’d seen on Kairn’s coffin. He was locked inside. Forever.
Zak felt himself being lowered into a hole. He heard Tash sob one more time. Then there was a loud thump on top of the coffin.
They were shoveling dirt over him.
Zak had a terrible thought. Maybe he was dead. Maybe Evazan had given him too much cryptberry juice and had killed him. Could this be what death was like, to be frozen forever in one place?
As more clumps of dirt dropped onto the coffin, Zak imagined the hours turning into days, the days turning into weeks, the weeks into years. After hundreds of years, would he still be here, stuck in this same dark hole for all time?
The sound of shoveling had grown quieter. Dark thoughts crept into Zak’s brain. There was no use in struggling. Just accept your fate. Your life is over.
Zak imagined his parents. He had wanted to see them again, to say goodbye to them. Now he knew that was useless. What little was left of them floated among the space debris that had once been Alderaan. Frozen, unreachable, untouchable.
Memories filled Zak’s mind: picnics with his parents and Tash, riding a hoverboat on the lake, playing two-person touchball. He remembered the day his father had taught him to ride a skimboard.
Eager to remember everything about his parents, Zak tried to recall every moment he could, right up to the last one. Six months ago he and Tash had packed their things to go on a two-week field trip. It was their first time away from home, and they were both a little nervous. Zak remembered telling his parents how scared he was.
“I’ve never been so far away from you before,” he had said.
His mother had hugged him. “Don’t worry, Zak. You could be on the other side of the galaxy, but you’re always right here in my heart, so you’re never really far away. And as long as you keep me there, I’ll be near to you, too.”
Zak had forgotten those words until that moment. His mother had told him to keep her in his heart. He hadn’t done that. He’d been too busy feeling depressed to think of all the good times he’d had with them, to keep his memories of them alive.