'No.'' Leaft said. 'Not in my universe. That's the craziest thing I ever
heard of, even with your luck. I mean, I know he was the enemy, but that's
just not fair.''
'Well, it's not like I had anything to do with it,'' Uldir grunted,
retrieving his blaster. Even as he said it, he had an uneasy, prickling
feeling. His luck had always been strange and was frequently unlikely. Most
people figured it had some thing to do with his Jedi training, but Uldir
knew that couldn't be the case-he hadn't ever been able to lift even a
pebble with the Force.
Still, he had to admit Leaft was right-this was ridiculous.
And not something he had the leisure to ponder, anymore than he had the
spare time to think about Klin-Fa's lips on his, and those eyes, so near his
own . ..
No pondering.
'Come on,'' he said, 'We've got work to do. That must be com-mand and
control up ahead.''
Vook flinched as the blast he had intended for a coralskipper went wide,
bending at a sharp angle as it passed near one of the small sin-gularities
the vessels generated to protect themselves, and punched through the
transport's outer hull. He'd been trying to avoid actually damaging the
vitals of the transport, since the others were aboard it. He took comfort in
the statistical knowledge that the odds against one stray bolt hitting one
of his friends were about the same as the blue-white star below him going
nova in the next two minutes.
But he didn't have too long to dwell on the improbable. He'd sent one of the
four coralskippers whirling off to the Cenotaph of Joor, but the other three
were still coming strong.
So was he, though. The controls felt good beneath his hands, and he realized
he hadn't flown enough lately. Flying made him feel good, yet he had been
deferring that duty to others, wrapping him-self in his role of ship's
mechanic.
Why?
He rolled the ship and hit reverse thrusters. One of the coralskip-pers
trailing him came so close to his hull that it sang with magnetic resonance.
He pulled some distance, fired a concussion missile, and cut in the forward
lasers. Voids appeared, sucking the light into noth-ingness-then the slower
missile caught up. A void appeared to gob-ble it, too-and the warhead
promptly exploded, as it was pro-grammed to do. The coralskipper made a
dramatic and involuntary course change when the shockwave slapped it, and
Vook fired the laser again. This time one of the beams sliced through, so
that for a moment the irregular craft looked like a grilled_urt_ on a
charspit.
'That's for my uncleTyro,'' he muttered. He swung the ship around. 'Come on,
you two,'' he said. 'I have plenty of dead relatives left.''
The 'door'' to the bridge was dilated shut, but Leaft sliced it with his
vibrodagger and hurled himself through the opening, blasting. They found two
warriors on the other side-one sat beneath a cognition hood, obviously
piloting the ship. The other was waiting for them by the door. He slashed at
Leaft as the Dug rolled by, saw Uldir, and tried to hit him with the reverse
end of the staff. Uldir shot him twice in the armpit. The Vong staggered
back, looking offended, then started toward Uldir again.
Four bolts hit him at once, and he crashed, snarling, into the bulkhead.
The second warrior-the pilot-ripped off the hood and reached for his staff.
He found himself confronting Leaft. The Dug was bal-anced on one foot-hand
and had three blasters aimed at him.
'Do it,'' Leaft said. 'Please.''
The warrior jerked up the staff and whir!ed it over his head, slicing
through the cognition hood as he stabbed the sharp-headed end toward Leaft.
Leaft's blasters whined in unison.
'Leaft, watch the door,'' Uldir said, after checking to make certain neither
warrior would ever rise again.
'Got it, boss.''
He keyed on his comlink. 'Vega? What's happening?''
'No problem, boss-boy,'' the Corellian's tinny voice assured him. 'Not a
Vong treat their guests.''
'That other Jed i there? Bey?''
'Our favorite girl is looking for him. No luck, so far.''
'That's not good:'
'No, I'd say not. But I'm sure you're hopeful. I assume you've taken the
bridge?''
'I'm master of all I survey,'' Uldir replied. 'Keep looking. And keep your
eyes open. I think we got all the warriors up here, but this ship may hold a
few surprises yet.''
'No doubt.''
He changed frequencies and hailed the_No__Luck Required._ 'Vook?''
'Yes, sir.''
'Are you busy?''
'No, sir. I finished off the last of the coralskippers a few moments ago. I
assume you command the enemy vessel, as it has ceased fire.''
'Yep, we've got the bridge. Good work, Vook. I knew you could do it''
'Thank you sir. It was a pleasure.'' There was a slight pause. 'Sir?''
'Yes?''
'Thank you. For the opportunity-and the advice.''
'Any time, Vook.''
'And sir?''
'Yes?''
'I'm sure you've noticed this and are working to correct-''
'What is it, Vook?''
'You might want to change your course. The transport is acceler-ating toward
the black hole. You have plenty of time-15.02 min-utes-but the sooner the
better.''
'Oh, that's-thanks, Vook.''
'Did I hear something about a black hole?'' Leaft asked, from the doorway.
Uldir stepped over the body of the pilot. 'Yes. The pilot must have aimed us
at it. Leaft, what do you know about flying Yuuzhan Vong ships?''
'No more than you, probably. They link to their ships telepathi-cally, with
those hoods.''
'Is there any back-up system that you know of? Manual controls?''
'If there is, I've never heard about it. Why?''
Uldir lifted the remains of the hood the pilot had been wearing. It was
sheared more or less in half, and the cable-or nerve cord, he supposed-had
been cut as well. Yellowish ooze leaked from both ends of the severed
connection.
'Because if there isn't, we may be in a bit of a situation.''
'Nah. Let it fall-one less Vong ship is a good thing. We'll go back to
the_No Luck.''_
Uldir tapped his comlink on. 'Vega, you there?''
'Of course I am. It's a party down here. We found the Jedi, too. He's in
some sort of coma.''
'That's good. That you found him, I mean. I don't mean I'm glad he's in a
coma-''
'Boss-boy, you sound like an idiot. What's the matter? You think this guy is
competition for your suave good looks and smooth talking?''
'Vega, get serious for a second and tell me how many captives you have
there.''
'Looks like around two hundred. Why?''
'That's about a hundred and eighty more than we can get aboard the_No Luck
Required.''_
'Yes, surprisingly, I knew that,'' Vega replied. 'I thought our plan was to
capture this ship and use it to get the captives to safe space.''
'Right. It was.'' He rubbed his forehead. 'Why can nothing ever be simple?''
'I think you're pretty simple sometimes, boss,'' Vega said, sweetly. 'What's
the trouble?''
'Nothing much. We're just falling into a black hole.''
'We're what-''
Uldir cut her off, switched back to Vook.
'Vook? We have a small problem. We can't fly this thing. I need you to
figure out if the_No Luck_ has the power to tow us. And I need you to figure
this out quickly.''
'Yes, sir. I think we-oh, no.''
'Vook?''
'Sir, I may have a problem too. A Yuuzhan Vong ship just arrived.'' There
was a moment of silence.
'Yes,'' Vook said afterthe pause. 'Definitely a problem. It's firing on
me.''
Tsaa Qalu allowed himself a grimace of pleasure as he turned his weapons on
the transport. He had hunted often since entering the infidel galaxy, but
never had there been a hunt like this. It was clear Yun Harla favored him.
The infidel began returning fire. That was even better, for helpless prey
brought no glory.
And this hunt would bring him much glory, if it continued to go as he
anticipated.
His smile vanished. Kills were counted after the battle, not before. A
confident hunter was a stupid one, and Tsaa Qalu was not stupid.
*VI: Emissary of the Void*
'I ALWAYS FIGURED I WOULD SEE what killed me,'' Leaft said, scratching
behind one ear with his right foot-hand.
'Well,'' Uldir said, absently, 'you can see where it_isn't._ ''
Leaft snorted. 'Human word games,'' he said. 'We not only won't see
anything, we won't feel anything. No way for a warrior to go. My mother
always said I would come to a bad end, hanging around with humans.''
'Well, nobody twisted your leg. Anyway, you were already destined for a bad
end, no matter what company you kept.'' Uldir shrugged. 'If it's any
consolation, nobody knows exactly what you feel when you cross the
singularity of a black hole. It might be extremely painful when every atom
in your body collapses into neutrons. And since time virtually stops, it
could last a really long time.''
'You're trying to cheer me up.''
'No, what I'm doing is trying to think of a way to keep it form happening at
all, Leaft. There are over two hundred people on this ship. Maybe you should
stop worrying about whether this is a worthy death for you and start-''
He turned at a sound behind him, raising his blaster. After all, they were
on an enemy vessel. He thought they had accounted for all of the crew, but
with the Yuuzhan Vong you never knew. The ship, like all of their tools, was
a living organism. It probably had weird pockets and chambers everywhere
that they hadn't noticed.
But the woman shrugging through the shredded biolock of the slave
transport's bridge was not Yuuzhan Vong; she was a short Corellian with
platinum hair, a diamond-cutting gaze, and a blaster rifle.
'Hi, Vega,'' Uldir said. 'Good work down there.''
'Good work yourself. Explain to me again how we're falling into a black
hole?''
'The pilot aimed us at it, then attacked Leaft. Leaft had to kill him.'' He
gestured at one of the three mutilated bodies on the floor. The scars and
mutilations were old ones - the Yuuzhan Vong cut themselves up as a sign of
rank. What had killed the pilot were the three blaster bolts the Dug had put
in him.
'So un-aim it,'' Vega recommended. 'Change course.''
Someone else was coming through the ruined portal behind Vega - a young
woman with dark hair with bangs. Half-supported on her shoulder was a tall
human male with a shock of red hair and emerald eyes. Uldir knew the woman -
she was a Jedi, Klin-Fa Gi, and she was directly responsible for the mission
that had led them to their present situation. He didn't know the man, but
from the way he and Klin-Fa were so chummy, he figured it was the Jedi they
had come here to rescue.
'The pilot destroyed the cognition hood, too,'' he explained, trying to
ignore the sudden sinking feeling in his belly.
Vega's brow folded. 'There aren't any manual controls?''
'None that I know of. If you see any, be sure and let me know, though.'' He
turned to a Jedi. Klin-Fa, you've had a little more experience with Vong
ships. What do you think?''
'The Yuuzhan Vong aren't much for back-up systems,'' she said.
'Probably think it's cowardly thinking, or some such idiocy,'' Vega snorted.
'How about we get a tow? Vook's still out there with the_No Luck Required._
He should have enough power to divert us from this suicide course.''
'Yes, although with the gravity well that thing has, that window is rapidly
closing. Unfortunately, it's not an option now - he's under attack.''
'I thought he took care of all the coralskippers,'' Vega said.
Uldir shrugged. 'Something else showed up. I'm not sure what, he didn't
really have time to talk. But unless he beats them in the next ten minutes,
we're on our own.''
Tsaa Qalu snarled with satisfaction as he put his ship into a roll and
prodded the plasma nacelles to disgorge. Red gobbets leapt out toward the
infidel ship,_No Luck Required._
'This pilot is quite good,'' he said. 'He knows our ways.''
'He is an infidel, sir,'' his subordinate reminded him.
'You deny his piloting skills, Laph Rapuun?'' Tsaa Qalu grunted, as the dim
was suddenly banded by viridian laser fire. That was no worry, the_Throat
Slasher_ defensive voids should stop them all, but something didn't smell
right.
A hunter lived by instinct. He yawed hard to upper port.
The cognition hood through which he flew the_Throat Slasher_ made the ship
seem as his own body, so when he changed direction violently he felt
something akin to a twisted ankle. At the same time, he felt the surge of
g-forces as the dovin basal taxed itself, unable to cancel all of the
momentum from such an abrupt shift.
But it was a good move. Distracted by the laser barrage, he hadn't noticed
the concussion missile falling in a long parabola from another quadrant. The
infidel must have released it much earlier in the battle, instructing it in
this delayed maneuver. Even with his sudden course change, the detonation
was almost too close. The blow briefly stunned the Slasher, sending it off
in a flat spin. Slices of enemy light followed him, nipping off cubic meters
of yorik coral hull before he regained control.
'Well, Rapuung?'' he sneered. 'Only the instincts given me by the gods saved
us from that. Still you question his skill?''
'It is his machine, sir, not him.''
'Bah. Their machines are lifeless and vulgar. Do you truly suggest that
a_machine_ nearly killed us? You would prefer_that_ explanation to the
simple acceptance that some infidel pilots have superior skill?''
'That is heresy, sir.''
'It is_not,_ '' Tsaa Qalu roared. 'It is truth. Truth is essential to a
hunter, Rapuung. If you underestimate the prey because you lie to yourself,
you will become prey yourself. The infidels are corrupt, yes, and most are
weak. But some are worthy, as they have proven time and time again. It is
utterly foolish to say otherwise.''
'But the priests-''
'The_priests._ '' Tsaa Qalu spat the word out as if it were poison.
He had the_No Luck Required_ beneath his talons again. He gnashed his teeth
and fired. This time a red flare of evaporating metal told him he had
pierced the enemy shields.
'He may be a good pilot,'' Laph Rapuung conceded. 'But he cannot match
you.''
'Of course not. I am a hunter, chosen by the god for the cloak of the_nuun._
''
'And now you will destroy him.''
'Soon.''
The villip before him chose that moment to configure into the face of Viith
Yalu, the master Shaper on Wayland, the planet where this hunt had begun.
'Tsaa Qalu!'' The Shaper demanded, as the villip tried to imitate the
writhing tendrils of his headdress and thus convey the Master's agitation.
'Yes, Master Shaper.''
'If you are not alone, send your subordinates away. I have something to