Bruchacca thought he was going mad!
The prison cell was filled with hot, blinding light that seared his sensitive eyes. Not even his huge hands and hairy arms, thrust up over his face, could entirely protect him from the glare. And to add to his misery, a high-pitched whistle blared into the cubicle, tormenting his keen sense of hearing. He roared in agony, but his guttural roars were drowned out by the piercing, screeching noise.
Bruchacca paced back and forth within the confines of the cell. Moaning pitifully, he pounded at the thick walls in desperation, wanting someone, anyone, to come and free him. While he pounded, the whistle that had nearly exploded his eardrums suddenly stopped and the deluge of light flickered and went out.
Bruchacca staggered back a step with the sudden absence of torture, and then moved to one of the cell walls to try to detect whether anyone was approaching to release him. But the thick walls revealed nothing and, maddened to a fury, Bruchacca slammed a huge fist against the wall.
But the wall remained undamaged and as impenetrable as before, and Bruchacca realized that it would take more than brute strength to topple it. Despairing of his chances of breaking through the cell to freedom, Bruchacca shuffled toward the bed, where A-10's body had been dumped.
As he looked at the body, Bruchacca noticed that part of the head had melted and A-10's biomechanical brain and some of the wiring were visible. Idly at first, and then with more interest, Bruchacca began to toy with some of the wires. Now, he was no expert on the biomechanical systematic behind the student androids, but he figured if he rerouted a few of the wires then he could get A-10's brain working again. He knew if he could at least do that then the biomechanical programming of the brain would allow A-10's charred flesh and damaged limbs and organs to begin regenerating themselves. Besides, it would be much more use to have A-10 in one piece than as a hunk of dead weight to carry around.
Bruchacca quickly set to work reconnecting the wirings of the brain, crossing a few here and there to get a fresh electric current flowing. When all of the wires had been reworked A-10's eyes finally flickered open and Bruchacca began to see the flesh mending itself. But instead of speech, a stream of inane babble poured out of A-10's mouth when he tried to speak.
Before the skull closed up, Bruchacca quickly shoved his hand back inside A-10's head and changed one last wire.
"Sax troopers? Here?" he whispered fearfully. "We're in danger! I must tell the others."
But as his brain slowly returned to normal, made repairs, and his memory returned, something occurred to the student.
"Oh no! I've been shot!"
XxX
Quite possibly it was the first time Keoni Solo had ever screamed. Never had he endured such excruciating torment. He was strapped to a platform that was angled away from the floor at approximately forty-five degrees. While he was strapped there, electric currents of searing power shot through his body at short intervals, each jolt more painfully powerful than the last. He squirmed to free himself but his agony was so severe that it was all he could do just to remain conscious.
Standing near the torture rack, Darth Fred silently watched Keoni Solo's ordeal. Seeming neither pleased nor displeased, he watched until he had seen enough, and then the dark Drum Major turned his back on the writhing figure and left the cell, the door sliding behind him to muffle Keoni's anguished screams.
Outside the torture chamber, Chelsea Fett waited for Lord Fred with Keith Calrissian and his aide, K-2.
"Lord Fred?" Keith tried to speak with dark Drum Major.
Ignoring him, Fred went straight to Fett and spoke with her instead.
"You may take Section Leader Solo to Kim the Bass after I have Skywalker."
"He's no good to me dead," Chelsea said, ignoring the disdain in Fred's voice.
"He will not be permanently damaged," Fred assured her.
"Lord Fred!" Keith called after them as they strode away. "What about Amanda and Bruchacca?"
"They must never again leave this system," he answered coldly.
"That was never a condition of our agreement!" Keith shouted angrily. "Nor was giving Keoni to this pit hunter!"
"Perhaps you think you're being treated unfairly?" Fred asked silkily as he raised his gloved hand just slightly.
Keith suddenly felt a threatening pressure around his neck. A warning of what would happen if he dared go against the dark Drum Major.
"No," he whispered.
"Good," Fred said firmly. "It would be unfortunate if I had to leave a section here."
Keith stared angrily after Fred as he, Chelsea Fett and the Sax troopers filed away through the door. Keith turned to go the other way, his aide following him.
"This deal is getting worse all the time," he hissed under his breath.
XxX
"Well something's not right because I still can't stand," A-10 reported to Bruchacca from his place on the floor.
Bruchacca didn't believe that there was really anything wrong with the paranoid student. His brain probably just hadn't had time to repair his legs yet.
He was about to say something smart-alecky to A-10 when the cell door opened and two sax troopers entered, dragging Keoni between him. The two dropped the trumpet captain in a heap on the floor and left. Bruchacca quickly rushed over to his friend and tried to help him stand but it was soon clear that he was unable to.
"I feel terrible," Keoni said, almost casually as Bruchacca laid him on the rough bed where A-10 had been sitting before.
The door opened once again, and Princess Amanda was shoved in by the Sax troopers. She was still dressed in her elegant cloak but, like Keoni, she looked tired and disheveled. When the Sax troopers left, Bruchacca helped Amanda over to Keoni. The two gazed at each other with great emotion, then reached out and tightly embraced. After a moment they kissed tenderly.
"Why are they doing this?" Amanda asked in despair.
"They didn't even ask me any question," Keoni said aloud, just as baffled as she was.
Suddenly the cell door hissed open again.
"Keith," Amanda reported to Keoni as the Arapahoe administrator and two of his guards entered.
"Get outta here Keith," Keoni hissed dangerously.
"Shut up and listen," Keith ordered firmly. "Fred's agreed to turn Amanda and Bruce over to me."
"Over to you?" Keoni asked.
"They'll have to stay here, but at least they'll be safe," he reassured Keoni.
"What about Keoni?" Amanda asked urgently.
"Fred's giving him to the pit hunter."
"Fred wants us all dead!" Amanda said fiercely.
"He doesn't want you at all!" Keith told them. "He's after somebody called…uh- Skywalker."
The two caught their breath at the casual mention of that name.
"Chris," Keoni breathed in horror.
"Lord Fred has set a trap for him," Keith continued.
Amanda's mind was racing. All of the facts were beginning to fit together in a terrible mosaic. In the past, Fred had wanted Amanda because of her political importance in the war between Woodwind Empire and Brass Alliance. Now she was almost beneath his notice, useful only for one possible function.
"And we're the bait," Amanda finished.
"Yeah. Well he's on his way."
"Perfect," Keoni said sarcastically as he struggled to his feet. "You fixed us all up real good didn't you? My friend!"
As he snarled that last, accusing word, Keoni's strength returned in a rush. He put all of his might into a punch that sent Keith reeling. Instantly the two former friends were engaged in a furious, close-quarters battle. Keith's two guards moved closer to the two grappling opponents and began striking at Keoni with the brunts of their tenor saxophones. One powerful blow struck Keoni on the chin and sent him flying across the room, blood streaming from his jaw.
Bruchacca began to growl savagely and started for the guards. As they raised their laser weapons, Keith shouted, "Stop!"
Bruised and winded, Keith turned to Keoni.
"I've done all I can. I'm sorry I couldn't do better but I've got my own problems."
"Yeah," Keoni retorted, regaining his composure. "You're a real hero."
When Keith had left with his guards, Amanda and Bruchacca helped Keoni back to his feet and led him to one of the bunks. He eased his weary, battered body onto the bunk, and Amanda took a piece of her cloak and began gently dabbing at his chin, cleaning off the oozing blood.
"You certainly have a way with people," she teased.
XxX
Keith Calrissian and Darth Fred stood near the hydraulic platform that dominated the huge spit-freezing chamber. The dark Drum Major was quiet as aides rushed to prepare the room.
The hydraulic platform was housed in the center of the chamber and was surrounded by countless steam pipes and enormous chemical tanks of various shapes.
"This facility is crude," he remarked. "But it should be adequate to freeze Skywalker for his journey to the Empress."
"Lord Fred," one of his officers reported. "Case approaching, X-wing class."
"Good," Fred said coldly. "Monitor Skywalker and allow him to land."
"Lord Fred," Keith spoke up. "We only use this facility for spit-freezing. If you put him in there it might kill him."
"I do not want the Empress's prize damaged. We will test it…" Fred said. He already had a plan. "…on Captain Solo."
Keith quickly glanced at Lord Fred, shocked at the mere suggestion of it. He hadn't been prepared for the pure evil that was manifested in this terrifying being.
XxX
Six of the Band moms quickly scurried to prepare the spitfreezing chamber for use, while Keith Calrissian and Darth Fred, now the true master of Arapahoe, observed the hasty activity. As they scurried over the spit-freezing platform the Band Moms lowered a network of pipes, resembling some alien giant's circulatory system, into the pit. They raised the spit hoses up and hammered them into place. Then the six lifted a heavy, coffin like container and set it securely onto the platform.
When the Sax troopers came in, dragging the prisoners with them, Keith stepped over to have a few words with them. Strapped to Bruchacca's broad back and facing the opposite direction was A-10. His burnt legs were still not repaired and Bruchacca was carrying him in a kind of sling on his back. A-10 was fussing the whole time.
"What's going on, buddy?" Keoni asked contemptuously.
"You're being put into spit freeze," Keith answered in a dead, toneless voice.
"What if he doesn't survive?" the calculating Chelsea Fett asked. "He's worth a lot to me."
"The Empire will compensate you if he dies," Fred answered succinctly. "Put him in!"
This was more than Bruchacca could stand. With a furious howl, he launched himself at the line of Sax troopers, beating them down and throwing them every which way, trying to prevent them from taking Keoni. A-10 was shrieking in terror the entire time.
"Bruce! Stop! Stop, Bruce! STOP!" Keoni tried to calm his raging friend.
As Bruchacca calmed the Sax troopers recovered and bound his wrists.
"Bruce, listen to me. This won't help me. Save your strength. There'll be another time," Keoni cajoled the howling Bruchacca. "The princess…you have to take care of her. Huh? You hear me big fellah?"
Bruchacca just nodded, not resisting the restraints. But before the Band Moms dragged Keoni away he turned to Amanda. He took her in his arms and they embraced as if they would never let go. Then Amanda pressed her lips to his in a lingering kiss of passion. When their kiss ended there were tears in her eyes. The tears began to roll down her cheeks as Keoni turned away from her and walked quietly and fearlessly towards the waiting hydraulics platform.
The Band Moms rushed to his side and positioned him on the platform, binding his arms and legs tightly into the hydraulic deck. He stood, alone and helpless, and gazed one last time at his friends. Bruchacca looked at his friend mournfully, A-10's head peaked over his shoulder to get one last look at the brave man. The administrator, Calrissian, watched this ordeal, a solemn look of regret etched deeply into his face. And then there was Amanda. Her face was contorted with the pain of her grief as she stood regally trying to be strong.
"I love you!" she called out to him. She hadn't been able to say the words before now, but now there was no time left for them.
"I know," he replied solemnly. The same passion and emotion was mirrored in his brown eyes.
The Band Moms quickly backed away as the hydraulics platform began to descend into the pit. Keoni kept his eyes locked on Amanda's the entire time. Amanda's face was the last thing Keoni saw before he heard the hiss of the spit pipes and the cold rushing of the seething liquid. When this happened, Bruchacca bellowed a final, baleful farewell. The grieving Amanda turned her face away and Keith grimaced in sorrow.
Bruchacca half-turned from the horrifying spectacle, giving A-10 a better view of the process.
"Oh, they're encasing him in spit," the student reported. "He should be quite well-protected…if he survives the freezing process that is."
Bruchacca quickly glanced over his shoulder at A-10, silencing his technical description with an angry bark.
When the spit finally solidified, huge metal tongs lifted the smoldering figure from the pit. The figure, which was cooling rapidly, had a recognizably human shape, but was featureless and rocky like an unfinished sculpture.
Some of the Band Moms, their hands protected by thick black gloves, approached the spit-encased body of Keoni Solo and shoved the block over. After the figure crashed to the floor with a loud clang, the Band Moms hoisted itinto the coffin shaped container. They then attached a boxlike electronic device to its side and stepped away.
"Well Calrissian? Did he survive?" Darth Fred asked.
Kneeling, Keith turned some knobs on the device and checked the gauge measuring Keoni's body temperature. He sighed with relief and nodded his head.
"Yes, he's alive…and in perfect hibernation."
Darth Fred turned to Chelsea Fett. "He's all yours, pit hunter," he hissed. "Reset the chamber for Skywalker."
"Skywalker has just landed, my Lord," an aide reported.
"Good. See to it that he finds his way in here."
Keith quickly went to Amanda and Bruchacca, determined to whisk them out of Fred's clutches before the dark Drum Major reneged on their contract. But Fred noticed the movement.
"Calrissian," he started. "Take the princess and the copilot to my case."
"You said they'd be left in the city under my supervision!" Keith protested hotly.
"I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further," Fred said as he swept past the small group of grieving friends.
Once he had gone Keith turned to face Amanda and Bruchacca. The look in his eyes might have expressed despair, but neither of them cared to look at him at all.
XxX
