CHAPTER 6.

The scream came from outside, somewhere near the cantina. Most of the patrons looked up just long enough to make sure they were in no danger, then ignored the cries. They had come to this new planet to escape trouble, not to find it.

But everyone at Tash's table jumped up and ran toward the door. The cries were coming from behind the cantina. Their new friends-Tash was now sure they were Rebels, because they acted with so much courage-drew their weapons.

But the street was deserted except for the wild man, Bebo. He was on his knees, scratching at the dirt and shouting. "No! No! No!"

Tash was not afraid of Bebo. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"She's gone! She's gone!" The madman croaked. "My friend Lonni was standing here a minute ago, and she just vanished!"

"What do you mean 'vanished'?" Hoole asked.

Bebo stood up. The light in his eyes had become fierce. "I mean vanished! Gone! Disappeared! And it's all my fault! I convinced her to come out of hiding. To warn everyone! They didn't believe me, but they might believe her. She came because I told her she'd be safe! But she's gone. She was standing here, and then she wasn't!"

Although no one from the cantina had come out, a few settlers had come to investigate the shouting. These people were a more wholesome-looking crowd, Tash noted. Probably the families and pioneers Chood had mentioned. But they seemed as uninterested in Bebo's ravings as the cantina patrons. In fact, most of them were laughing.

Someone called out, "Go ahead, Bebo! Tell us another!"

"Yeah," someone added, "Tell us about vanishing people!"

"And invisible monsters!"

"Or was it invisible people and vanishing monsters?"

The crowd laughed at the joke. Chood appeared, and for a split second, Tash thought she saw the smile leave his face at the sight of Bebo. But it reappeared again, as bright as ever. "May I be of service?"

Tash pointed to Bebo. "He needs help. A friend of his disappeared."

Chood sighed. "I'm sorry if this has troubled anyone. Unfortunately Bebo has done this many times before. I a.s.sure you that no one has disappeared."

"Lonni disappeared!" Bebo's voice dropped into a whisper. "She was my only friend."

Tash felt something tug at her heart. She knew what it was like to lose someone.

One of the settlers called out, "You're crazy, Bebo!"

Chood nodded. "Sadly, it's true. Ever since he came here, poor Bebo has been ranting and raving about disappearances."

"It's true!" Bebo responded. "They died. The entire crew of the Misanthrope! They disappeared!"

Chood gazed sympathetically at Bebo, then turned to Hoole and the others and said softly, "This is a sad tale. The Misanthrope was the cargo ship that first crashed here. Bebo, here, was the captain and the only survivor. I'm afraid the guilt was too much for his mind. It snapped."

"No, no, no!" Bebo argued. "They disappeared. All of them!"

"He should be treated at a mental facility," observed Deevee.

"It's not that simple," Chood replied. "The official report said that he was responsible for the crash. If he leaves the planet, he'll be thrown into prison. But we Enzeen are a little more sympathetic, so we let him live here, despite the fact that he continually disrupts the environment we try to create for our settlers."

"Have you followed up on his claims that there were other survivors?" Hoole asked. "Who is this Lonni person he talks of?"

"There was a full investigation of the crash," the Enzeen replied.

"And the Imperial officials declared no survivors. This person Bebo is raving about could not have lived."

"That's a lie!" Bebo snapped. "She was here!"

"Oh, really?" Chood said. His voice was still very calm and pleasant. "Then, please tell me, Bebo, where was your friend when she disappeared?"

Bebo pointed at the ground. "Right there! Right there! We were walking along, and poof! she was gone!"

"Walking along, you say? Are those your footprints, then?" Chood pointed at a line of footprints in the dirt road.

"Yes! That's where I was."

"Then where are your friend's footprints?" the Enzeen asked.

"Why they're right..." For the first time, Bebo stopped muttering to himself. There were no other footprints on the ground. There was no sign that anyone but Bebo had been standing there. "But she was right there! Right there!"

Chood shrugged. "You see. He is quite mad. It is most regrettable."

"Can't you help him? At least search the village?" Tash asked.

"We can, but we won't find anything," Chood says. "People who wish to be found on D'vouran are easy to find. Those who wish to hide, well, it's a large planet."

By this time, most of the settlers had lost interest and gone about their business. Uncle Hoole, too, wanted to move on. "Let's go, Tash," he said. "These people have offered to help us fix the Lightrunner, and we can't keep them waiting."

As the others turned away, Tash said softly to Bebo, "I'm sorry I can't help you. I wish there was something I could do for you."

Bebo gave her a cold, hard look. "It doesn't matter. Before long you'll be dead. You're all going to die."

CHAPTER 7.

The look on Bebo's face still haunted Tash as she followed her brother and the others back to the s.p.a.ceport. Han and Chewbacca examined the Lightrunner's engines, and Han nodded confidently. "Don't worry.

We'll have her asteroid-hopping in no time."

"He means it," Leia said. "If he can keep his own sc.r.a.p pile in the air, he can sure handle your ship."

Han looked hurt. "The Falcon is the best ship in the galaxy." He pointed his finger at a saucer-shaped freighter across the landing bay.

"That's your ship?" Zak asked. "I thought it was a garbage scow."

"Zak!" Tash chided.

But Han had obviously met with this reaction before. "Tell you what, kid. You keep quiet for about half an hour while I work, and I'll show you some things about the Falcon that the Imperial engineers would love to get their hands on."

As they went to work, Tash paced about anxiously. She couldn't get Bebo's hurt, angry look out of her mind, and his voice whispered in her ear: You're all going to die!

Luke Skywalker appeared beside her. "Still have that feeling?"

"Yeah," she replied, once again surprised at his perceptiveness. "I couldn't help feeling sorry for Bebo. I don't know why, but I felt like he was telling the truth. I feel like I should check out his story."

Luke said seriously, "I meant what I said. You should trust your feelings."

She thought for a moment. "For what I want to do, I need to get on the HoloNet, and I can't do that until the Lightrunner is up and running again."

"Why not use the computer aboard the Millennium Falcon?" Luke offered.

A few minutes later, Tash was sitting at a cluttered computer station inside the battered freighter. She studied the computer setup.

Han Solo wasn't kidding about modifications. Even the computer looked rigged.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at a small black box attached to the computer terminal.

"I'm not sure," Luke said. "But I think it's a trace detector. It signals you whenever someone is locking on to your computer signal."

"Why would you need that?" Tash asked.

Luke grinned. "Let's just say Han doesn't always work with the most trustworthy people."

Tash left it at that. Powering up the computer, she entered a few quick commands and logged onto the HoloNet News Service. Then she typed: SEARCH REQUEST: MISANTHROPE.

The computer responded quickly.

SEARCH WORD MISANTHROPE RETURNED SIX HUNDRED ITEMS. DISPLAY ALL?.

Tash groaned. That was far too many. She had to narrow down her search. She typed again.

SEARCH REQUEST: MISANTHROPE AND D'VOURAN.

The computer responded: TWO ITEMS FOUND. DISPLAY?

The first item looked like an official Imperial report. Tash displayed it. The report described the loss of the cargo ship and the subsequent search. She was hoping to find something in the report that might prove Bebo's story- that there had been survivors. But she lost hope as she read the report.

THE MISANTHROPE WENT DOWN WITH ALL HANDS ABOARD. ONLY THE PILOT, CAPTAIN KEVREB BEBO, SURVIVED. BEBO IS CURRENTLY WANTED FOR QUESTIONING, BUT IS AT LARGE.

She sighed. "Oh, well, I guess that's it, then. He really is mad from guilt."

The second file, oddly enough, was in code. "That's strange. Why would a news-service report be in code?"

"That's an Imperial code," Luke noted. "You'd better not mess with it."

Tash smirked. She started to enter signals, trying to break through the security system that kept her from reading the Imperial messages. But she had only entered a few commands when the little black box screeched an alarm.

"What's that?" she cried, almost jumping out of her seat.

Luke replied, 'The trace detector! Someone's trying to track you down."

"What do I do?" she asked in a panic. The alarm grew louder.

"Shut it down!"

She slapped the Off key. The computer screen faded to black, and the alarm cut off. Tash felt her heart flutter. "What was that all about?"

"I don't know," Luke said. "But obviously the Empire wants to know about anyone asking questions about D'vouran."

Tash and Luke returned to the Lightrunner to find Chewbacca sitting with Zak, who was tinkering with a flat board. It was a little over one meter long and a half meter wide, and filled with intricate circuitry.

"Hey, Tash!" Zak said happily. "Chewbacca here is helping me rewire my skimboard! It's going to be souped up fast enough to race a speeder bike!"

Nearby, Deevee said dryly, "And I hope the Wookiee is prepared to pay your medical bills when you break your neck."

Han wiped maintenance oil from his hands as he said to Hoole, "That should do you for the short run. Your lateral stabilizer's damaged, and you'll need an overhaul, but the ship'll get you off planet."

Hoole said his thanks as Han and his friends prepared to leave.

Tash said very shyly to Luke Skywalker, "I didn't realize you were going so soon. I wanted to ask you about... about your lightsaber. And,"

her voice dropped to an embarra.s.sed whisper. "about the Force."

He smiled warmly. "I'm not sure how much I could tell you, Tash.

But we may meet again some day and you and I can have a talk then."

An electric tingle rose up Tash's hand as Luke shook it. The tingle lasted long after the Millennium Falcon had blasted into the sky.

It was growing dark by the time they left the s.p.a.ceport for a second time. Following the directions they had been given, Uncle Hoole led them to Chood's house. The Enzeen lived in the forest, not far from the settlement.

Chood welcomed them warmly to his home. It was a modest house, with three or four rooms connected by a long hallway. Although it was well built, Tash was surprised to find that, like the streets outside, the floor was uncovered, leaving only bare dirt.

"We have our traditions," Chood said when she noticed. "We like to keep in touch with the planet that is our home."

Chood certainly did love D'vouran. For an hour, Hoole, Tash, and Zak listened as he told them about the planet, singing the praises of its landscapes, its resources, its potential.

"He sounds,". Zak whispered to Tash, "like a used landspeeder salesman."

Toward the end of the conversation, Tash found herself yawning. It had been a long, strange day-from their near crash to the incident in the cantina to meeting Luke Skywalker. She was tired. Beside her, Zak was nodding off.