Jedi under Siege

23

Imperial commando Orvak finally awoke, feeling thickheaded and groggy. He fought away nightmares that were filled with serpent fangs and invisible predators slipping out of cracks in the wall. When he shook his head, a wave of dizziness and nausea pounded through his skull.

Orvak couldn’t remember where he was or what he was doing. The stone floor felt hard beneath his sprawled body. He had fallen in an uncomfortable position and apparently slept there for some time. His hand throbbed, and he saw two small wounds there—punctures—before his vision blurred and lost focus again.

He must have taken his gloves off, and his helmet. What had he been doing? Where was he?

He heard no other sounds of combat around the Jedi academy. What could be happening?

Then Orvak remembered creeping into the ancient temple, his important mission for the Second Imperium … and the invisible glistening snake that had struck at his hand. For some reason, its venom had knocked him unconscious.

He brought his hand close to his eyes, but clarity of focus continued to evade him. Some kind of poison … he had been drugged, but now he was coming out of it. Was he a captive of the Jedi sorcerers?

Orvak heaved himself to a sitting position, and the universe turned in giddy circles around his head. He clutched at the cool, smooth floor for support. He had come here to the temple to plant explosives, to wipe out the great stone pyramid. Then everyone would see the weakness of the Rebellion and its Jedi, and they would make room for the Second Imperium.

But something had gone wrong.

Now he heard something. A clicking. Shaking his head again, he looked in the direction of the strange sound. It came from the timing device across the stone platform from him—

Timing device!

He blinked and finally managed to bring his vision into focus. His eyes burned, but he could see the string of descending numbers on the clock display.

Twelve … eleven … ten …

He launched himself to his feet—but too quickly. Dizziness swept through him again and he fell into black oblivion.

Nine … eight …