Part 3:

Surprises

Chapter 11

The Jedi reacted quick enough to steady and slow their descent into the hole, landing gently at the bottom. The YVH droid, however, slammed into the bottom hard. But because of the droids special armor, it took no damage and got up shortly after.

Luke looked up and estimated that the crater was about fifty feet deep. He saw the other two droids on the lip of the hole looking down at them. Luke waved them forward, and the droids jumped into the hole, using their hydraulic legs to land without damage.

Salah felt herself being hoisted to her feet. She turned to say "Thanks" but saw that it was Trey who had helped her. Salah pushed him away and brushed herself off instead.

"I warned you, Red."

Salah did not respond.

"Are you alright, Salah?" Jyo asked as he walked over.

Salah smiled and said. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Trey grinned. "So I guess that means you fell on your head." He shrugged. "I mean, it's the only thing hard enough to have withstood a fall like that."

Salah growled at Trey angrily and gave him the evil eye.

Trey laughed at this.

"Hey!"

The three turned to see Nayanll waving them over. "Let's go."

They suddenly noticed that Luke, Ben and the droids were nowhere in sight. All they could see was what looked like lights moving at the other end of the cavern.

"Master Luke discovered a tunnel out of here. Get your glowrods out and follow me." Nayanll said.

Tay thought that each time she treated someone it would become easier and easier; until eventually she would have become immune to the sight of any injury, no matter how gruesome. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

When she saw Zeek's charred and broken body lying there on the examination table, unconscious, she wanted to cry. How many more of my friends will Cordell hurt before he is stopped? Tay thought angrily. Through teary eyes, Tay began to wipe down Zeek's body with soft rags soaked in bacta. With no bacta tank available, Zeek would not make a very speedy recovery.

The most serious injuries were the third degree burns covering Zeek's entire body, and his left arm looked like it had been broken. After the burns and cuts had been disinfected, Tay placed small bacta patches on the more serious ones. She then prepared the material for a cast.

Tay suddenly stopped and put down the plaster and mold. She walked over and sat down on a stool next to the examination table. Tay reached out to Zeek tentatively with her hand. She touched Zeek's forehead with her tiny fingers. Tay felt the tears start to come back, but she forced them down. She had to stay focused.

Tay closed her eyes and sent her Force perception into Zeek's body through the connection with his forehead.

The tunnel was not small. It was easily twice as high as Luke Skywalker was tall. The walls had many rough edges. No machine did this. Jyo thought to himself.

The glowrods cast an eerie light on the walls of the tunnel as the small group of Jedi and droids marched along. YVH-1 was in the lead with its Vong detection equipment on full alert. There was no telling what could be down in the depths of Duro.

Luke and Ben followed closely behind the lead droid. Their faces were calm, but every muscle in their body was ready to react at a moment's notice.

Nayanll walked silently behind the Jedi Master and Knight. Her padded feet made no sound as she stealthily followed, with a glowrod in one hand, and her unlit lightsaber in the other. She had been acting pretty high strung lately. It most likely had something to do with Todan's disappearance.

Trey Jint loped casually along behind the Bothan. He had hooked his glowrod to his belt and locked his hands behind his head. Although it was faint, Jyo could swear he heard him humming something.

Then came Jyo and Salah. Salah had slowed her pace at first to put some distance between her and Trey, and Jyo hung back as well. He could not understand why Salah disliked Trey so much. Sure he had taken Salah down a few notches with the whole falling into the hole thing; not to mention consistently calling her "Red" even after she told him not to. But that did not seem like enough reason to have a grudge against him.

Jyo sighed and glanced back at the other two YVH droids that brought up the rear. I guess I'll never understand girls. Jyo almost jumped when he felt something touch his hand. But then he realized that Salah had grabbed a hold of it. Wait a minute! Jyo thought. What is she doing? What is this? He turned his head and looked down at her. She seemed so small and delicate. But then, Jyo had just recently had a growth spurt and was now almost a head taller than most of the others in his class.

He turned to face forward again as they continued to walk down the dark, yet surprisingly straight tunnel. Even with his goggles set on night vision, he could not see the end of the gigantic passageway. He wondered just how far it really stretched. Will it lead us back up to the surface? He wondered. Jyo glanced at Salah again and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He kind of liked having Salah there beside him.

Tay surprised herself with the ease in which she sent her consciousness coursing through Zeek's veins. She had never tried this technique before, and yet it seemed natural.

Tay sent herself down into Zeek's left arm and could actually see the break in the bone. She visualized grabbing the separated bone and pulling the two pieces back together. Tay saw the bone reform before her very eyes and relaxed slightly. Suddenly, she was looking at Zeek from the outside again. Did I just dream that? Gently she picked up Zeek's left arm and maneuvered the joint in every direction. She then felt around the break point. Tay let his arm fall to the table and stared in shocked disbelief. It's fixed! It's working perfectly! Tay sat in awed silence. She had never expected that technique to work on the first try.

I wonder if I can do the same thing with the severely burned areas! Tay thought excitedly.

The group had reached a crossroads … literally. The single tunnel they had been traveling through for miles now, suddenly branched off in several directions.

"Well, it only makes sense to stay together." Luke was saying.

"I agree. Splitting up in such an unfamiliar place would not be advisable." Ben added.

"Trial and error then?" Luke asked.

Ben nodded and pointed to the leftmost tunnel. However, after only a minute of walking, they reached the end of the tunnel. Thus, they backtracked and headed down the next tunnel. This one continued on for a ways before making a left turn and emptying into a rather large chamber with three more tunnels leading out.

Suddenly, YVH-1 began to emit a low beeping sound. Everyone froze. "Wha- what does that mean?" Salah asked nervously.

Luke turned around to look at her. "That's the YVH droids' Vong detection alarm."

Immediately, the Jedi formed a small circle, facing outwards. Then YVH-2 and 3 started emitting the same alarm. Luke gave the command to silence the noise and asked for a brief analysis of the situation.

YVH-1 complied instantly. "Vong life detected. Approaching our position from the north, northeast, northwest, and south."

Jyo checked his holocompass. The directions indicated by the droids matched the locations of the four tunnels that emptied out into the chamber.

"Can you give us an approximate number?" Luke asked YVH-1.

"Negative. Life signs approaching too closely together. Reasonable estimate: seventy." The droid replied in its monotone voice.

Tay relaxed in her seat as the last of the severe burn marks slowly turned from black and red back to Zeek's natural flesh tone. After a couple of tries, Tay was able to go in and repair several patches of damaged nerves at once. She felt satisfied that she had fully repaired all of the damage Zeek had incurred. Tay was just about to call for Master Din when she felt a faint disturbance in the Force.

Without warning, Zeek jolted upright, startling Tay. "The others are in trouble." He said. Zeek suddenly realized that he was no longer in pain. "How long have I been out?"

"Only a couple of hours." Tay answered.

"Then how…?" Zeek trailed off as Tay's smile answered his question.

Zeek shrugged. "Well, I still don't know how you did it, but that's not important right now. What is important is getting to Jyo and the others A.S.A.P."

Tay tossed him his tattered T-shirt and pointed to the brand new Jedi robe and standard lightsaber that Din had left him. Zeek donned both and hopped off the examination table just as alarms started going off.

"What in the world is that?" Tay asked as she covered her ears and her headtails thrashed violently.

Din burst into the room and was surprised to see Zeek up and about. He remembered his reason for barging in and told Tay and Zeek that something of Vong nature had activated Sand Grain City's perimeter alarms.

"More vorts?" Zeek asked as he clipped the replacement lightsaber to the back of his belt.

Din nodded. "A LOT more by the looks of the readings they're getting in central command."

A flustered man in a blue uniform screeched to a halt outside the open doorway. "Master Din! You must help protect our city!"

"Don't worry, Yibin. Just get the perimeter defenses up and running. Me and my apprentice here will guard the front gate." Din glanced at Zeek. "If you're up to it that is."

Zeek nodded. "I feel one hundred percent better, but I sensed that something was amiss with Jyo and the others. Frankly, I'm worried that it might be something similar to what's happening here."

Din rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Very well. Get to the Twilight Trekker, and have Kam take you to them. I will remain here to guard the city."

At this, Yibin grabbed Din by the wrist and started to tug the Kamino Jedi out the door. As he ducked out Din said, "May the Force be with you, young Solo. I have sensed great things in your future."

Zeek smiled as Din disappeared around the corner. He made for the exit, but was stopped when Tay grabbed his wrist. "I'm coming with you."

Zeek was surprised at how determinedly she said those words. How could the little Twi'lek he knew to always be so timid, sound so brave? "Wait a minute. You'd be defenseless."

Tay grinned and reached inside the medical bag she had brought from Jedron. She dug beneath the bottles of medicine and the bacta patches, and pulled out a hunk of metal that looked surprisingly familiar.

"You have a lightsaber?"

Still grinning, Tay said. "I kind of slipped one of the leftover focusing chips into my pocket as I handed them out back on Jedron. I figured it would be a nice little project for me to do on the side."

Zeek laughed. "Tay, you rock on so many levels."