The Emperor's Plague

14

Inside the plague chamber, Lowie planted his last thermal detonator and set the controls. He stood up, satisfied with his work, and growled at the insidious storehouse of destruction. He looked around one last time, surrounded by a forest of tall, bubbling cylinders. Suddenly he felt a chill as his Jedi senses brought him to full alert. He was no longer alone in the room. Lowie heard no change in the background hissing and burbling, no muffled conversation—but he did feel an unaccustomed stir in the air currents. From the center of the crowded equipment room he couldn’t see the outer walls.

In fact, he could see very little except barricades of tubes and canisters. But as he listened, his fur prickling against his skin, he heard a grating, rasping breath … heavy footfalls that came slowly, stealthily.

As if something were stalking him. Lowie’s fingers drifted to his lightsaber. His muscles tensed, and the dark streak on his forehead stood upright in an intimidating brush. Danger, he sensed, danger. He held himself utterly still.

Then Em Teedee said in a whisper that sounded louder to Lowie than his uncle losing a hologame, “Master Lowbacca, I do believe there’s someone else—”

Lowie jumped backward, startled, and planted a ginger-furred hand over Em Teedee’s speaker grille. But it was too late. He heard a roar and the scrape of claws on the cold floor as the giant reptile Corrsk marched around the corner, his fang-filled jaws open as wide as their hinges would allow.

His hiss was like a boiler explosion.

“Time to die, Wookiee!” Corrsk drew a huge blaster, wrapping his scaly fingers around its grip. Lowie ignited his lightsaber with a throbbing snap-hiss.

“Master Lowbacca, you mustn’t allow him to shoot at you in here!” the droid said. “Any blaster fire could break open one of the plague canisters!”

Lowie roared to acknowledge that he was fully aware of the danger. Licking the scaled edges of his mouth with a long tongue, Corrsk nodded and reholstered the blaster with a gleam of pleasure in his cold yellow eyes.

The Trandoshan came at Lowie, his bare claws extended. Lowie ducked behind two cylinders as Corrsk lumbered after him, growling with anger but also expressing joy in the hunt. Em Teedee was absolutely right—he had to get the Trandoshan out of the plague chamber so that their fight would not cause accidental damage. Lowie ran full-out in a long-legged sprint across the slick metal floor. After gaining some distance, he deactivated his lightsaber, afraid of what a careless blow against one of the cylinders might do. He heard the Trandoshan follow, crashing … and then the reptile fell silent, stalking him again.

Lowie slipped between two large canisters that contained the human-killing virus. The fluid-filled transparisteel felt very cold against his back. He growled quietly for Em Teedee not to voice a word. The little droid flashed his optical sensors to show he understood the order. The Wookiee listened, but heard nothing. He stepped out, cautiously peering around. He gazed down a long corridor filled with identical-looking tubes of plague solution. The chamber door remained open, inviting him to dash out into the corridors. He had not sealed it, thinking to leave himself a clear path for escape—but he had inadvertently made it easy for Corrsk to come in and stalk him. If Lowie could get out the door and lock it behind him, he could perhaps trap the Trandoshan inside.

But then another realization struck him—Corrsk could not possibly be on the asteroid alone. He must have brought the Diversity Alliance with him! Perhaps Nolaa Tarkona herself was already in the plague depot. Lowie moved as silently as he could, ready to dash for the doorway. Suddenly, with an exploding roar, Corrsk lurched out from where he had hidden, waiting for Lowie to head toward the chamber door.

The Wookiee’s Jedi senses warned him in the same instant, and he leaped aside. The giant reptile, however, wrapped his muscular arms around Lowie in a murderous bear hug. Lowie struggled and roared, but his arms were pinned at his sides. He looked down to see a smooth, waxy scar on the scaled arm, the remnants of the lightsaber gash Lowie had dealt him during their previous battle, when he had caused a tunnel ceiling to fall down on Corrsk.

The Trandoshan should have died then, but the monster was just too mean to die so easily, Lowie thought. Lowie could not move his arms, could not bunch his muscles or draw his lightsaber. He was helpless. Corrsk snarled a hot, wet breath against his fur-covered ear. The sharp teeth were close, close enough to rip out Lowie’s neck if they wished, but Corrsk was enjoying his victory too much. He tightened his grip.

Lowie’s ribs creaked; his muscles strained. His lungs wanted to burst because he could not draw a breath. He could not reach his weapon—so instead, with a final bestial wheeze, Lowie used the primal weapons he still had available to him. He opened his mouth wide and sank his Wookiee fangs deep into the Trandoshan’s scaled shoulder, biting down with all the force he could muster. Leathery skin ripped, and greenish-black blood spurted into Lowie’s mouth as he bit down hard again, snarling. Corrsk drew in a long hiss of shock and pain and loosened his grip just enough for Lowie to snap both of his arms sideways, breaking free of the embrace. Without taking the time to draw his lightsaber, he spread both of his hands and clapped them like cymbals against the Trandoshan’s flat earholes.

Corrsk staggered back, disoriented and shaking his head. Lowie broke away and ran as fast as he could. He had no need to be quiet now, no requirement for stealth. Corrsk howled after him, but Lowie made his best speed toward the door. The Trandoshan, finally giving up his attempt to savor the kill, drew his blaster and fired. Lowie ducked, and the energy bolts struck the metal walls of the plague chamber. Luckily, the ricochets dissipated, and the secondary bolts struck none of the plague canisters.

“Run, Master Lowbacca, run!” Em Teedee urged. For once Lowie did exactly what the translating droid told him, without the least thought of argument. The reptilian charged after them, bellowing in fury.