Diversity Alliance Page 5

  lights strobed and sirens whooped. Kusk flailed for the entry hatch of the Rock

  Dragon and attempted to pull himself inside.

  "I wouldn't, if I were you,"' Tenel Ka said.

  Kusk hesitated for just a moment. "My ship has a fail-safe navigational

  program," she explained. "Unless my crew or I input the proper authorization

  code, the ship is programmed to find the most direct route to Hapes and dock at

  the high-security hangar of the Hapan royal house." She smiled coldly. "Not even

  you would want to explain yourself to my parents, my grandmother, and the seven

  hundred hand-picked guards stationed there."

  A burst of static blasted from the comlink in Kusk's hand. He dropped it as

  if it were a venomous reptile and sank to the floor. The next moment the

  Tradewyn's security squad arrived. One of the guards stopped to report. "That

  particular bounty hunter won't be bothering you anymore," she said to Aryn Thul.

  "We sustained only minimal damage, but the High Roller made an unlucky bet. The

  ship is completely destroyed. No survivors."

  "Thank you," Raynar's mother said.

  A thin wail rose from the floor next to the Rock Dragon. Jacen could just

  barely make out the words of Kusk's mournful cry: "My brother!"

  STILL TRYING TO make peace with the memories of his Dark Jedi days, Zekk

  eagerly sought out an assignment to begin his new career as a bounty hunter. As

  a first step toward finding an employer, he went to the most bustling place he

  could think of--a bazaar of traders and smugglers, scam artists, lawbreakers,

  and opportunists, inside the hollow center of asteroid Borgo Prime. From there,

  he hoped to establish his credentials, while adhering to the Bounty Hunters

  Creed.

  At a loss after his arrival, he spent days wandering through the airlocked,

  low-gravity city. He moved from establishment to establishment, putting out the

  word that he was looking for work as a bounty hunter. He also made numerous

  inquiries about the most recent known location of a man named Bornan Thul.

  It seemed every bounty hunter in the galaxy had set out to find Thul, and

  if Zekk could succeed, his name would become famous indeed.

  Many people laughed at his youthful optimism and his battered ship. Zekk

  fought hard to keep his anger in check, but when his emerald eyes flashed, most

  of those who had joked at his expense fell silent and turned away. Naturally,

  Zekk could tap into the Force if he wanted to, but it frightened him to do so.

  He dreaded the possibility of slipping again into the endless gulf of the dark

  side, a place from which he knew he would never escape a second time.

  One afternoon, he found his way into a popular interspecies bar called

  Shanko's Hive, whose insectoid caretaker was famous for using his many arms and

  legs to whirl about, mixing several drinks at the same time. Shanko hibernated

  for a month out of every year, though, and when Zekk entered the hive he found

  that the insect had cocooned himself in his chambers and would not return again

  for some time.

  Shanko had left management of the bar in the capable hands--the capable

  three hands, actually--of his lead bartender, Droq't. The three-armed, blue-

  skinned semi-humanoid had two eyes centered in the middle of his head, another

  in the back, and one on top of his bald blue skull.

  "Bornan Thul, eh?" the bartender said, washing glasses with one hand and

  mixing a drink with another, while the third arm (which protruded from the

  center of his chest) reached forward to shake Zekk's hand. "You do know that

  Nolaa Tarkona has put out a widespread call, now don't YoU? She's offering

  enough credits to interest every bounty hunter in the galaxy."

  "Yes. And you do know that most of them aren't as good as I am, now don't

  you?" Zekk countered.

  "I see you don't lack in self-confidence," Droq'l answered with a smile,

  flashing glossy black teeth.

  "No," Zekk answered! "No I don't."

  At one table in the back of the bar two squealing Ranats threw glowing dice

  at each other and attempted to catch them in their long, ratlike snouts. It

  appeared to be some sort of a game rather than an argument.

  Suddenly loud sirens erupted, along with clanging, whoops, flashing lights,

  and tinging bells. Zekk jumped to attention, fully alert and ready to defend

  himself. "What is it? What happened? Is that an alarm?"

  The ear-splitting noise continued without interruption for a full minute.

  "No, that's just music," Droq'l shouted over the din. "It's that blasted Ishi

  Tib popular stuff.

  Most of the other patrons can't stand it but--hey--whichever customer puts

  a credit chip into the music machine gets to pick the tune."

  Finally the commotion ended, and the three-armed bartender set another

  freshly washed glass aside. Leaning across the bar, he placed all three blue

  elbows on the polished countertop and stared at Zekk with his front pair of

  eyes. "Listen, kid--I might be able to give you a little errand to run. That is,

  if you're interested," he said.

  "Of course. I'm ready to take on any assignment," Zekk said, a little too

  enthusiastically.

  "Good. I need you to find somebody who said he had a buyer for a small

  shipment of mine: ronik shells with a premium luster finish. He's a scavenger

  and a trader, some times even a bounty hunter... but not too successful at any

  of those careers." He took off.

  "Haven't heard a thing from him since."

  "Who is it?" Zekk said.

  Droq'l flipped out a small holo 'image and switched it on, showing a

  rodentlike creature with big eyes, large round ears, and a pointed snout. Zekk

  didn't recognize the species.

  "Name's Fonterrat. Not overly trustworthy, but I didn't think he'd have the

  nerve to skip out on me. I'll pay you a modest bounty if you can find him for me

  so I can sell that shipment of shells myself," The bartender stared at Zekk

  intently.

  "Since you're new at this, you can't command a high fee, of course."

  "Of course. I'm out to establish my reputation, and you're providing me

  with an opportunity--the start I was looking for," Zekk said. "Where do I find

  this Fonter-rat?"

  The bartender laughed and clapped all three hands together to mimic a round

  of applause, "If I knew for certain where to find him, I wouldn't need to hire

  somebody, now would I?"

  "All right," Zekk countered, "where should I start to look for him?"

  "Now that's a better question," the bartender said. "I knew a bit of

  Fonterrat's schedule. He had a few other stops to pick up routing cargo and meet

  with certain associates... but his last scheduled destination was a human colony

  known as Gammalin. He never came back, and I never received any word from him."

  "Gammalin," Zekk said, letting the word burn itself into his memory. "My

  ship has navigational files, so I'm sure I can find out where that is."

  "Good. And when you do find him, you might want to backtrack his route,

  because..." Droq'l paused for effect, his round eyes twinkling as if he were a

  child with a secret "one of those associates Fonterrat was supposed to meet

  along the way was none other than the person you'r
e trying to find for Nolaa

  Tarkona's big bounty: Bornan Thul. So, if you do a good job for me, you may just

  find more than you actually thought you would."

  Zekk felt a surge of excitement. "It's a good start, at least! Thanks for

  the lead. You can count on me."

  "Yes, but don't get too cocky. Everyone else in the galaxy is looking for

  Bornan Thul too, remember?"

  "I remember. But it doesn't matter," Zekk said. "I don't mind the

  competition as long as I'm the one who finds him first."

  And with a cheerful wave, he turned and raced back to the Lightning Rod.

  AFTER THE BATTLE against the predatory ship High Roller, Lowie climbed out

  of the quad laser emplacement on the bridge of the Tradewyn. Though full of

  energy and pumped up from the fight, he was also disturbed that the ill-

  conceived ambush had cost their ruthless attacker his life.

  Turning in a slow circle, Lowbacca scanned the viewports, observing the

  space debris and mangled bits of hull plating that drifted there all that

  remained of the bounty hunter's ship. They were safe now... at least until the

  next unexpected attack from someone else with a grudge against the Thul family.

  When the weapons officer had been unable to score a hit on the swift High

  Roller from the control console, Tyko had called on Lowie and Jaina to assist

  him. The attacker's ship had fired relentlessly at the bridge, darting and

  dodging all return fire--until Lowie and Jaina had joined the fray, with their

  Jedi-enhanced abilities.

  In the end, one of Jaina's shots had taken out the High Roller, and the

  danger from outside was truly over. For the moment.

  Lowie's battle-ready reflexes began to relax, but waves of tension still

  rolled from the quad laser emplacement where Jaina sat.

  A security guard entered the bridge deck, his face grim. He informed Tyko

  that Officer Kusk had been apprehended while trying to abduct Raynar and Aryn

  and that Jacen, Tenel Ka, and.Raynar himself had thwarted 'the plan devised by

  Kusk and his bounty hunter brother.

  Tyko thrust out his generous lower lip and commented, "Brother? So Kusk was

  in on it. You see, you just can't get good help these days."

  Lowie helped a shaky Jaina climb from the quad laser well. Her face

  remained flushed from the excitement of the space battle, but her brandy-brown

  eyes were somber. "If Zekk still wants to become a bounty hunter, I hope he

  never does anything that stupid," she said in a low voice.

  Lowie crooned a soft note of understanding.

  Tyko Thul approached them, his hands clasped behind his back.

  "Those bounty hunters must be after all members of the Thul family,

  including me! Presumably, we can be used as bait to lure Bornan out of hiding."

  He shook his head. "I wish my brother wasn't so self-centered and foolish.

  I'm getting a good picture now of what happened," he said. "The High Roller

  must have intended to create a diversion while Kusk kidnapped Aryn and Raynar,

  then launched them from this ship in an escape pod or any other craft that

  happened to be available."

  "Like the Rock Dragon," Jaina said.

  Lowie mulled this over, then rumbled his understanding. "Indeed," Em Teedee

  piped up. "A relatively simple plan."

  "So the High Roller would have broken off its attack, picked up Kusk and

  the hostages, then made a quick hop into hyperspace," Jaina said as full

  comprehension dawned on her.

  "But what happened to the rest of the merchant fleet then?" Tyko asked.

  Em Teedee made a sound as if he were clearing his throat. "Ahem. If you

  would allow me, sir, I'd like to access the Tradewyn's Computers. I believe I

  might be able to rectify the situation."

  "Direct access to the Tradewyn's computers?"

  Tyko's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

  "I've had quite a bit of experience with droids, and I know how susceptible

  they are to programming glitches. How can I be sure this droid is trustworthy?"

  "Programming glitches? Indeed!" Em Teedee huffed at the same moment Lowie

  let out a roar of offended pride.

  Tyko backed away, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.

  "Very well, very well, be my guest. Just don't tell Aryn I gave you access.

  " In a matter of minutes the Wookiee and Jaina had Em Teedee hooked up to the

  flagship's bridge computer system.

  As he scanned, Em Teedee began making cryptic comments. "Ah, yes.... I see.

  ... Oh, indeed.... Fascinating!"

  Jaina listened, biting her lower lip. Finally she could wait no longer.

  "Mind sharing your insights with us, Em Teedee?"

  "Why of course, Mistress Jaina," the little droid said. "How' remiss of me.

  It's just that this machine is so marvelously intelligent, and I--"

  Lowie gave an impatient bark.

  "Cut to the chase," Jaina said.

  "Go on, droid--tell us what happened," Tyko added imperiously.

  "Well," Em Teedee began in a defensive voice, "I should think it is

  intuitively obvious by now. Officer Kusk had the navigational link to all of the

  fleet's computers.

  He sent the rest of,them false jump coordinates."

  "So," Tyko said, "that transmission burst security picked up a few minutes

  before our last hyperspace jump must have been Kusk sending the true coordinates

  to his brother the bounty hunter."

  "That seems highly likely, sir," Em Teedee agreed. Lowie was interested to

  see Tyko's attitude change subtly at this indirect praise from the miniaturized

  translating droid.

  "A simple and elegant plan," Tyko said.

  "Excellent work, droid. Can you plot us a route to where the rest of the

  fleet is now?"

  "Of course, sir. Nothing simpler," Em Teedee said. "I have become quite

  adept at establishing rapport with starship navicomputers."

  Uncle Tyko gave a decisive nod. "Very well, do that." He paused for a

  moment.

  "Oh, and, er... Em Teedee, is it?'When you've finished, can you work out an

  algorithm for randomizing our hyperspace jumps so that no one will be able to

  broadcast our coordinates ahead of time?"

  "It would be my greatest pleasure, sir," Em Teedee replied with pride.

  Apparently satisfied, Tyko retreated to consult with the ship's security

  staff while other crew members went to call Aryn Dro Thul back to the bridge.

  Lowie gave Em Teedee a congratulatory pat.

  "Who says one can't find any trustworthy help these days?

  Hmmmph!" the little droid said.

  Even if official ceremonies with the Thul family were boring, Jacen

  thought, meals were not. Their group sat under a soundproof, gravity-controlled

  dome in a vast room with glossy yellow walls. They all lounged on cushioned

  benches that surrounded the low toroidal meal table.

  In the open center of the table, a food carousel turned slowly to display

  every kind of fruit, meat, bread, vegetable, sweet, and delicacy Jacen could

  imagine. At the very center of the carousel bubbled a fountain filled with

  effervescent blue ossberry ale. Above the soundproof dome, a dozen low-gravity

  dancers tumbled and pirouetted through the air in the yellow room. But even such

  a large and wonderful ship as the Tradewyn must have seemed like a cage to Aryn


  and Raynar at the moment, Jacen supposed.

  "Mother," Raynar said suddenly, "tell me what you know about Father's

  disappearance. I've never gotten anything but secondhand reports so far."

  Jacen snagged a cluster of orange berries from the food carousel and

  listened carefully. Aryn pressed her hands tightly together in her lap, and her

  lively, intelligent face filled with distress. "Bornan said it would be safer

  if. I didn't know about the negotiations he was conducting--some important

  exchange with a representative of a new political movement. He said that the

  situation with his contact was quite volatile, but he hoped to have everything

  smoothed out before the trade conference he would attend on Shumavar."

  "He never arrived at the trade conference," Raynar said, filling in the

  part that he already knew. "But do you know where he went before that? Where was

  the last place anyone saw him?"

  "That much I was able to find out," Aryn said. "Before he disappeared, he

  was going to some sort of mysterious meeting on an ancient planet called Kuar.

  Maybe that has something to do with the secret he was hiding."

  "Then that's where I need to go to pick up his trail," Raynat said.