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Star WarsThe New Jedi OrderFORCE HERETICBook 2Refugeeby Sean Williams and Shane Dix###############################################################################In a last-ditch attempt to save the galaxy, Luke Skywalker, his wife, Mara, and Jacen Solo blaze new frontiers in uncharted realms as the dazzling Star Wars space epic Continues...There will always be people who are strong for evil.The stronger you become, the more you're tempted.- Luke Skywalker, Jedi MasterPROLOGUEThe man who was no longer a man stood before an alien who was not what it seemed."Everything is in place," the man said.The alien tasted the air as though sniffing for lies. "Are you certain?""Yes, General," he replied confidently. Nevertheless, he felt extremely selfconscious of how he was standing. The aliens he thought he was dealing with were particularly good at reading body language; the slightest gesture or twitch of a facial muscle might be misconstrued as doubt. "The population has been lulled into a false sense of security-or if not security, then certainly hope that security might one day be possible. Barring the unforeseen, all should proceed according to plan.""I am pleased," the alien said, claws clicking on the floor as it paced restlessly before him.Inwardly he sighed his relief. Meeting his side of the bargain was literally a matter of life and death. "Does that mean-?""When you return, and I am completely satisfied that your half of the bargain has been met," the alien said sharply, "then and only then will you receive that which you desire." The alien's tail thumped the ground once: End of discussion.It couldn't have been clearer if it had used words.He shrugged, nodding his acceptance of the alien's terms. There was no reason to believe that things wouldn't go as expected. He would get what he wanted. He had taken care of everything, after all."Then I shall leave you, General," he said, "with your permission." It looked him over briefly as it concurred. "You may depart," it said in a series of tones too loud for the human ear to endure comfortably, yet possessing such subtlety that few could comprehend it. No human mouth had ever uttered so much as a single word in that tongue.That he spoke it fluently was simply to be expected. "I shall meet you back here in a matter of days.""Be assured that I will be waiting," the alien said, still pacing the floor. "And remember: we have what you want." He bowed, knowing that he could never forget that. As he left the picket ship via the narrow umbilical, his body adapting to free-fall with built-in ease, he eagerly anticipated his return to claim what was rightfully his--the triumphant beginning of his new existence. It didn't matter how many lives it cost. He would happily stand by a bonfire of bodies if that's what it took for a chance to warm himself on immortality's fires.With a smile, he set a course for destiny.PART ONE EXPEDITIONLuke Skywalker scrambled up the rocky slope, his lungs burning with each heavy breath he took. He was relieved to hear his nephew beside him also panting for breath, because that meant his own difficulties with the climb were in no way a reflection of his age or fitness; it was simply that the atmosphere on Munlali Mafir was thin, that was all.Behind them came the terrible baymg of the KrizJaws. The sound was high-pitched and piercing, even through the rarefied atmosphere, and sent a shiver down his spine. With their great rancorlike heads bent low, sniffing for a scent, Luke knew that the smooth - and pink-skinned aliens wouldn't be too far behind, converging from around the ruined palace to join in the hunt for the landing party.He glanced over his shoulder, half expecting to see them snapping at his heels already. Thankfully, though, they weren't that close. But even as he looked, he saw seven of them emerge from a decorative archway at the base of the nearest wall, tripping over one another and slipping on the rubble in their haste as they headed for the ceremonial mound. Another three jump-rolled from a window, scurrying out of sight behind a statue.Small reddish eyes, two thin arms tipped with three poisoned claws, two powerful legs designed for pouncing, mouths with jaws extendable enough to swallow a human head in one gulp...The thought was a reminder for Luke that he should keep moving."Only ten of them," Dr. Soron Hegerty said, the surprise evident beneath her own panting. She seemed to be finding the pace more difficult than the others, barely keeping up even with Jacen's help. "There have-always been - eleven. I thought that-might have been-significant." A second later another Krizlaw leapt through the window, shattering what little remained of the already splintered ornate frame, then dashed for the mound also.The xenobiologist shook her head, as if to suggest she was tired of being right all the time. "Eleven," she confirmed."Come on, Doctor Hegerty," Jacen said. Luke felt his young nephew subtly augmenting her stamina with the Force. "We have to keep moving!""Ritual hunting party, you think?" Lieutenant Stalgis asked. The stocky Imperial in light combat armor turned to snap a shot back at the seven coming up the mound. The blaster bolt took one on the shoulder, provoking an earsplitting squeal of pain, but didn't slow the creature down."Something-like that," Hegerty gasped.Luke and Jacen exchanged worried looks. The xenobiologist was tiring fast, and the top of the mound was still some distance away. The structure consisted of soil packed tight around a central core of stone, creating a tall, conical pseudo-pyramid with a truncated, stone summit perfect for an impromptu landing field. The shuttle was waiting for them there, engines warmed up and ready to whisk them off to safety. The only problem was that at this rate, with the doctor's endurance flagging, they weren't going to make it.The two Jedi turned simultaneously to see the Kriz-laws making their way up the slope in assured and steady bounds, digging in with their claws and using their enormous thigh muscles to propel them forward. Seeing Luke and Jacen making a stand, the creatures hurried their ascent, their howls intensifying with each leap. Luke had seen the effects these ululations could have on lower life-forms when he'd witnessed the Krizlaws feeding. The intense vibrations of their howls stunned nerve centers, disoriented senses, and sent muscles into spasm. While their prey was thus incapacitated, the Krizlaws would eat them whole. Dr. Hegerty had said that the Krizlaws believed the still-beating heart to be essential for good digestion.You won't be digesting this Jedi, Luke swore determinedly. Whole or otherwise! He sent his senses deep under the surface of the mound. Packed it might be, but the soil wasn't bound like ferrocrete. There were fissures underneath the surface, numerous pressure points that, with one solid nudge, could be...There. Signaling Jacen, he mentally linked up with his nephew using the Force-meld technique perfected in recent months. Together their minds pushed at the pressure point he had found beneath the surface. Dirt erupted from the slope below as though a buried machine had suddenly come to life. The shower of dirt hid the shifting forces beneath as disturbed ground found itself falling, gathered momentum, disturbed more in turn, and became an avalanche that swept over the Krizlaws, driving them back down to the base of the mound.Stalgis cocked an eyebrow. "Impressive," he said approvingly, and with obvious relief. Slinging his blaster rifle over his shoulder, he headed back up the mound at a more leisurely pace."We're not out of this yet," Jacen said.Luke silently agreed. Urging himself forward, he activated his comlink. "We're on our way," he reported. "Any sign of disturbances?" The pilot of the Imperial shuttle didn't waste any words. "All clear. We're ready for liftoff." Above them, he could hear the whine of engines. Relieved that they would soon be offplanet, Luke allowed himself a moment to puzzle at what had gone wrong. Everything had gone so well at first. Munlali Mafir was a planet that Hegerty had listed as one whose indigenous population told of a migratory world that had once appeared in their system, stayed briefly, and then vanished. It wasn't necessarily Zonama Sekot, but everyone agreed that the lead was worth following up.Upon arrival, however, it had been apparent that something had changed. The Jostran natives of Munlali Mafir were, according to Hegerty's records, slow-moving centipedes barely larger than a human arm. What they'd found, though, was a colony of Krizlaws-listed as feral herd beasts with no more intelligence than a common nerf-and no sign of the Jostrans at all. Something appeared to have elevated the Krizlaws to full intelligence while at the same time wiping out the Jostrans. Either that or the Imperial probe records had simply been wrong. The language used by the Krizlaws was in fact the same as that recorded in Hegerty's files, except that it was attributed to the Jostrans.The Krizlaws were not a starfaring species, so the arrival of the Imperial shuttle had prompted an enthusiastic welcome. Luke, Jacen, Hegerty, and a small honor guard of stormtroopers had been invited to a ceremonial banquet at which the visitors had witnessed the grisly eating habits of the planet's indigenous inhabitants. The local chief, who looked indistinguishable from the others except for a brightly colored belt wrapped around his smooth midriff, had freely passed on the legend about the "Star-World" that had appeared in the sky four decades earlier. Lacking telescopes or other optical instruments, their observations had been somewhat limited, but it seemed that this Star-World had ap... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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