Chapter 17
Denz exited the hospital dome and began walking quickly back toward his Jome. The dew-covered grass was cold and wet on his bare feet. He was still dripping bacta, and there was a brisk morning breeze. Denz did not notice the cold. Feelings of hatred and betrayal were beginning to overwhelm him. He should have expected his typical, human body to respond this way. Denz quickly blotted out all emotion and focused on his plan.
He reached the Jome five minutes later and went inside. Denz strode past all of the other Jedi students in the lounge. No one noticed him. He had hidden his presence from them. He did not want to be stopped or questioned.
Denz entered his room and encoded the door, not wanting any intrusions. He was pleased to find that his lightsaber was lying on his desk. That saves me the trouble of having to go into the forest to retrieve it. Denz seated himself at his desk and began to work.
Cordell had been roaming the streets of Dryknar for several hours now. Other than stopping a few pickpockets and muggers, it had been quite uneventful. He was disappointed that he did not even have an occasion to use his lightsaber. Cordell had needed only his physical strength to take down those thugs.
His brown cloak pulled around his body, and the hood covering his head and hiding his face, he stepped into an alley. Going this way would save him the trouble of going around the stretch of buildings. He was ready to call it a day. It was time to head back to the ship for some shut-eye.
Cordell was almost out of the alley when a tall, cloaked figure stepped out from the shadows, blocking his path. Cordell did not want any more trouble that day, so he tried to place a suggestion in the figure's mind to move aside; but this mind could not be swayed. Cordell stepped back when he saw the only thought on the figure's mind: Kill Jedi!
Denz, now dressed in a black T-shirt, the same color pants and a hoodless Jedi robe, stepped out of his room. There was no one in the hallway, so Denz finally stopped hiding himself. He turned and walked down the hallway toward the turbolifts.
The door to the lounge opened and Salah entered the hallway. She glanced at Denz but did not recognize him at first. Salah was about to go into her room when she caught a glimpse of his face. Immediately realizing whom it was, she started running toward him, calling his name. "Denz!"
Denz looked over his shoulder but did not stop walking. When he finally did stop, it was outside of Tahiri's door. He knocked loudly on her door.
"Who is it?" Came the response from inside the room.
"It is Denz."
The reply was angry, "That's not funny! Now go away, whoever you are."
Salah finally caught up to Denz and looked closely at him. "You really are Denz aren't you?"
He gave her a sidelong glance and raised an eyebrow, as if that was a stupid question. Without giving her an answer, Denz turned back to the door and knocked again.
"I told you to go away!"
Denz frowned and placed his hand on the door, which blew into the room and landed with a loud crash. Salah gasped and stepped back. Inside the room, Tahiri and Lowbacca sat at a table holding datapads. Their expressions bore surprise; not only for the destruction of the door, but also for the fact that Denz was standing in Tahiri's doorway.
"Wha … What?"
Lowbacca growled in confusion.
Tahiri tried to rise but found that she could not move.
Denz smiled at this, "How does it feel to be helpless, Tahiri?"
Now Tahiri looked confused and even more surprised. "What are you talking about?"
"While I was in that bacta tank, I could tell almost exactly what was going on. I was helpless to stop Cordell from leaving or keep Jyo, Zeek and Todan from going after him. However, you were out here and had full power and authority to keep them here if you had wanted to. But instead you let them all go, based on the assumption that it was the will of the Force. Well I'm not about to entrust the safety of my friends and family to "the will of the Force". I am going after them. Not because no one else will, but because no one else can. Once I leave the Jome, you will be able to move again. Although I doubt you would come after me anyway." Denz turned and left the room, and Salah followed in stunned silence.
She was still behind him as they went through the lounge. Denz did not bother to hide, and no one noticed him anyway. Once they were outside, Denz kept walking but finally asked Salah why she was following him.
"You're going to need help. I'm coming with you." She replied.
"Trust me, I don't need any help."
"Well! Aren't you sure of yourself! And this coming from someone who just got severely injured by his own cousin a little more than a day ago!"
Denz stopped walking but did not turn around.
Salah regretted saying that, "I – I'm sorry. That came out wrong."
Denz breathed deeply. "Tell me. For what reason do you wish to come with me? Why would you voluntarily put yourself in harm's way?"
"That's what you're doing isn't it?"
"They are my family." Denz said with resolution.
"You know, Zeek asked me the same question you just did right before they left."
"And your response?"
Silence.
"Hmm. I see."
Salah gasped.
"I apologize for picking your brain, but I was intrigued to know why you want to come so badly." Denz said. "I understand now. I will not stop you if you still wish to come along."
Salah nodded, clearly embarrassed.
"Come then. We must hurry to the spaceport and secure a vessel … and perhaps a pilot."
The Twilight Trekker hung in orbit above Myrkyr.
"Well we know what planet he's on, but where on the planet is he?" Zeek asked.
"I don't want to use the Force to find him, because even if we're in orbit, he still has enough time to get to his ship and get away if he senses me." Jyo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "However, if I recall correctly information that I gathered on Myrkyr while still at the Installation, I believe the orbital security is pretty loose on Myrkyr. Most likely, they saw Cordell land but did not care enough to question him. And Jedi Starfighters are rarely seen in the galaxy. So, all we need to do is hack into their surveillance videos for the past, say twenty-four hours, and find out where a Jedi Starfighter set down."
Zeek chuckled, "See? This is why we call you the 'Plan Master'."
Jyo shrugged and nodded at Todan.
Todan glanced at Kam, "Is it alright if I use your onboard computer?"
Kam spread his arms, "Hey! I'm just the chauffer. Y'all have full access to whatever's on my ship."
"Groovy," Todan replied as he sat down in front of the monitor.
After a moment or two of constant keyboard clicking, Todan announced that he had a location, "It's sixty-five degrees latitude and thirty-two degrees longitude. Outside a city called Dryknar."
"Just enter the coordinates into the navicomputer, I'll set the ship on auto pilot." Kam said.
Several minutes later, Kam set the Twilight Trekker down outside of Dryknar. "I scanned the area," Kam said, "and the computer picked up another spacecraft parked about a mile away. It's probably Cordell's ship."
"Nonetheless, we should make sure he is not there before I try to contact him." Jyo replied.
Jyo, Zeek, and Todan exited the Twilight Trekker via the landing ramp followed by Kam, who had slung something large over his shoulder.
Todan noticed it and asked Kam what it was.
"Somethin' I hopefully won't hafta use." Kam replied.
They walked along in silence with Jyo and Zeek in the front clearing a path with their lightsabers; Todan, munching on a ration bar, followed next; and Kam with his heavy load brought up the rear.
Several minutes passed before the tiny group finally came upon the Jedi Starfighter, partially hidden in the underbrush. A quick search revealed that Cordell was not there. "Okay. Assuming he is in Dryknar, I'm going to scan the city and hopefully get a pretty accurate idea of where he is."
Jyo closed his eyes and opened them a second later. "Wow! The reading is really prominent!"
"Why do you say that?" Todan asked.
"Well, it didn't seem like he was trying to hide anymore. Just the opposite, it was like he was trying to call attention to himself."
Jyo closed his eyes again and without opening them began to speak. "Oh, boy."
"What is it?" Zeek wondered.
Jyo slowly opened his eyes and replied, "Cordell is scared and is calling out for help."
Todan swallowed, "That can't be good."
Cordell was too stunned by what he saw to do anything but stare. He was not even aware enough to draw his lightsaber. Before him stood what he classified as "Grade A Gruesomeness".
The cloak that had been covering most of its body was gone now, and what stood before Cordell now was what he thought only could exist in a myth. Had Luke Skywalker been there, or anyone from the Dantooine surveillance team, they would have realized right away that this was a vort; the monstrous hand-to-hand combat weapons created by the Vong.
The vort stood a good three feet taller than Cordell. Its amphistaff arms seemed to look at him as if in anticipation. The vort's beastlike head twitched as it sniffed anxiously at its prey. The vort advanced a step, and Cordell retreated in the same manner. For every step the vort took, Cordell took one or two in response. The vort's primitive mind seemed to enjoy this game of cat and mouse.
Just then, Jyo and the others rounded the corner of a building and saw it, "Cordell!" Jyo called.
"Jyo?!"
"Stay calm Cordell, we'll think of some way to get rid of that thing."
"Hmph! I say we just let the thing kill Cordell and be done with it." Todan grumbled.
Jyo ignored the remark and focused on coming up with a plan.
Kam grunted from behind them as he set down his large shoulder bag. He unzipped it and pulled out a laser canon. "My aim isn't perfect with this thing, so I should probably try to shoot it in the front or back. Don't wanna take a chance on missin' when it's standin' sideways."
Jyo nodded, "Cordell! Did you hear that?"
Cordell seemed to have finally come to his senses, "Forget it, Jyo! I can take this thing down myself." As he said this, Cordell pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it.
"Cordell! NO!"
Denz and Salah approached the man in charge of resources and personnel for the spaceport. The middle-aged man with graying hair frowned at the two kids that stood before him. "What do you two want?"
Denz dismissed the man's brashness and politely asked about a young Jedi that was to be a pilot.
"Oh," the man said, "you must mean that Krison Glynt kid. He is in hangar thirty-eight. Or at least he will be when he finishes his run."
Denz thanked the man, and he and Salah made their way to hangar thirty-eight.
Salah studied Denz discreetly as they walked. Something was different about him, but she could not place exactly what. His early awakening could have had something to do with it, but it seemed like it was more than that, almost as if he was emitting the Force in a different way than before.
Denz noticed her quick glances and raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Salah shook her head as if to say it was nothing.
They reached hangar thirty-eight and found it empty. "I guess we wait until this Krison guy gets back, huh?" Salah asked.
Denz did not answer the obvious question. Instead he walked to one side of the hanger and found a terminal. Perfect. This terminal has all the navicomputer information I need.
Salah had sat down in a chair to wait while Denz had gone over and done something on a computer terminal. When he finished and came over to stand beside her chair, she asked him about it.
He smiled for the first time since he had left the bacta tank and said, "That's for me to know, and you to find out."
Salah stuck out her lower lip and faked pouting. Silently though, she was glad he still had a sense of humor.
An alarm blared in the hangar, signaling an incoming ship. A moment later, a new-model X-Wing cruised into the hangar. After it set down and shut down, the hatch popped and a kid about Denz's age climbed out and dropped to the floor.
Salah glanced at Denz as she rose from her chair and was startled to see his eyes closed, brow creased, and a deep frown etched in his face. When he opened his eyes a second later, his whole demeanor had changed. Denz dashed over to Krison followed closely by Salah.
"Hey! Who are you guys?" Krison asked. Then he recognized Denz, "Wait a minute! Aren't you…?"
"No time to explain," Denz said quickly. "Do you have access to a larger ship?"
"Well, sure but…"
"I'll tell you all about it on the way. We need to go now!"
"Go where?"
"I'll tell you later!"
As they followed Krison to another hangar, Denz's thoughts drifted back to what he had just felt. They are all together now, but something has them all shaking in their boots. That something has one purpose: to kill Jedi.