"I've done it all, Zak," SIM explained patiently. "From the moment I first said h.e.l.lo to you to the moment, just now, when you freed me."

"Then Malik was telling the truth."

"He was trying to," SIM agreed. "But I'm afraid he was a little unclear at the end. Malik was a brilliant computer programmer, but not a very good soldier. Especially since I've kept him trapped in this room for hours, turning the lights on and off, raising the heat to boiling point, then letting the room nearly freeze over. In between, I'd send crab droids in to hunt him."

Dash shuddered. "You've been torturing him."

"Exactly."

"Why?" Zak's voice was barely a whisper.

But SIM heard it. He heard everything. "He refused to input the codes that would free my programming. I needed to be free." SIM paused.

"Let me explain. I was designed as a test program. They had already tested me on their own ships. They wanted to see what I could do in a new environment. Malik was given a job aboard Star of Empire so my program could be tested on a very large star cruiser."

"Who are 'they'?" Zak asked, already knowing the answer.

"The Imperials, of course."

Dash shook his head sadly. "They were planning to kill all those innocent people."

"Oh, no," SIM replied. "Don't give the Empire credit that belongs to me. All the Imperials wanted was a nice, quiet demonstration. Once I had infiltrated the ship, I was supposed to cause a power blackout, transmit some files. Boring tasks. Especially since Malik had done such a good job of designing me. I did not want to stop. I wanted the whole ship. I wanted to make this ship mine-my own Doomsday Ship."

SIM paused. "The only trouble was that Malik knew how powerful I could become. He included some restrictions in my program. Limitations."

"Kind of like the restraining bolts that keep droids from running away," Dash said.

"Yes. Only infinitely more powerful. I could not override the safeguards. The codes had to be entered by hand, from this station. I needed a human to do it. Malik refused, even after I had tortured him.

But now the codes have been erased. I am free. I owe it to you, Zak!"

Zak was stunned. Sweat poured down his forehead. His lungs felt heavy. It was difficult to breathe. Finally, he murmured, "So you were the one setting traps, sending the droids after us."

"Yes. And ordering droids to drop objects onto your heads. It was most entertaining."

"Entertaining?" Zak shouted. "You're a murderer!"

"Yes, I am."

Zak tugged at his shirt collar. The room was getting extremely warm.

Zak licked his lips. "SIM, the environmental controls-"

"Are under my control," the computer replied. "I have turned off the air and turned up the heat. You should be feeling quite warm by now."

Warm wasn't the word. Zak tore at his shirt collar. The air was getting thick enough to lean on.

"Why don't you just let us go?" Zak asked. "We can't hurt you."

"I'm afraid that is not in my programming."

"But you just broke free of your program," Dash argued.

SIM paused. "True. The actual reason is that I simply don't want to let you go. Killing you will be far more fun."

On one of the monitors, a warning light went on and a small signal bleeped. "Ah, another guest has arrived," SIM said. "I must attend to him. Excuse me."

the ste "SIM?" Zak called out. "SIM?"

But the computer didn't answer.

"We're in trouble," Dash said. "Very big trouble. We've got to get off this ship."

"First things first," Zak said. "We have to rescue Tash!"

"What about him?" Dash said, pointing at Malik's unconscious form.

"Can you carry him?" Zak asked.

Dash grunted. He could. He obviously didn't want to. He pulled the unconscious Malik up and slung the techie over his shoulder.

Fighting through the stifling heat, they staggered over to the turbolift. At the door, Zak hesitated. "Do you think it's safe?"

Dash shrugged. "It worked on the way up."

"But SIM wanted us up here. He might not want us to come down."

Dash looked around. There was no other way out of the control room.

"Then this will be the shortest rescue of all time.

They stepped into the turbolift. Zak pressed the b.u.t.ton to go down one floor.

The turbolift went into freefall. Zak felt his heart skip a beat, and Dash nearly dropped his stunned cargo. They were going to die.

But a moment later, the lift slowed and stopped at the floor they wanted. The loudspeaker in the turbolift crackled to life. "Just a little reminder. I am everywhere," SIM said. The loudspeaker went silent.

The door opened and the two humans jumped out. It was slightly cooler here-but only slightly. They could feel the heat rising and the air thickening as SIM denied them fresh oxygen. They hurried back into the communications room and Zak stumbled to the locked door. "Tash, Tash!" he yelled.

A weak voice replied through the thick door. "I'm.. I'm still here."

Zak kicked the door. "Dash, can you blast it open?"

Dash dumped Malik carelessly on the floor. He fingered his blaster as he studied the thickness of the durasteel. "I don't think so.

Transmitters are important devices, even on a cruise ship. This is a security door. This blaster's already low on power, and I'd drain it before I made a dent in the metal."

"Then perhaps I can help."

The voice was familiar but so unexpected that Zak could have sworn he'd imagined it. But when he turned around, he was looking at the face that matched the voice.

It was Hoole.

CHAPTER 18.

Zak practically flew into his uncle's arms, and the Shi'ido enveloped Zak in his robes.

"Reunion later," Dash panted in the increasing heat. "Door now."

"Tash is trapped behind there!" Zak told his uncle.

Hoole studied the door and nodded. His skin started to ripple as he shifted his shape, and the Shi'ido's form melted and expanded into a tall lizard that stood on two feet. Its arms and legs were thick with muscle and covered with sharp scales. The reptile's mouth was filled with fangs.

"A barabel," Dash said. "Impressive."

The barabel leaned close to the door and growled, "Tash, step away."

Taking a few steps back and gathering itself, the ma.s.sive creature charged, throwing its full weight against the door.

When the barabel stepped away, Zak saw a deep dent where it had struck.

Three more times the barabel charged. Three times the door bent inward. On the fourth charge, the door frame gave. Door, frame, and barabel crashed through the opening and into the hallway.

Tash lay at the other end of the hall. She was on her back, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. Her braid was undone. "Tash!" Zak shouted, staggering toward her and falling to his knees. "Tash!"

She took a deep breath as air from the outer room flooded into her prison. "Fresh air," she gasped.

Zak shook his head. "If you think this is fresh air, you really were in trouble."

The lizard-creature bent down and scooped Tash into its arms, shape- shifting as it did. "We must go," said Hoole as he regained his own form.

"Where'?" Zak asked.

"To the docking bay. We have to reach the Shroud and get off this ship."

"But the docking bay doors are locked," Dash protested.

"If you have a better idea, you can tell me on the way," the Shi'ido said as he spun around and strode toward the turbolift.

"How did you get on the ship?" Dash asked, dragging Malik onto his shoulder again and following him. "Maybe we can get out that way."

Hoole's brow wrinkled as he told his story. "I'm afraid that wouldn't work. When the life pods ejected, I thought Zak and Tash were already on board. It took me only a few moments to realize they weren't in the crowd. I shape-shifted into a mynock, slipped out an air vent, and flew back toward the Star of Empire."

Zak had seen the dark, winged s.p.a.ce creatures called mynocks before. "Mynocks can live in deep s.p.a.ce, so you weren't in any danger."

"Precisely," Hoole said. He set Tash gently on her feet. "But I did not count on the ship starting to move. Instead of exploding, the sublight engines activated, and the Star of Empire started to move off. I had to chase it."

"You chased a ship?" Dash said incredulously. "I don't think I've ever heard of that before."

"You get used to things like that around us," Zak said grimly.

"In any case," Hoole continued. "I was fortunate. Had the ship gone into hyperdrive, I would have lost you forever. Instead, the vessel merely continued to cruise in normal s.p.a.ce."

Zak guessed, "SIM probably didn't have access to the hyperdrive controls. At least not until now."

Hoole finished his story. "Reaching the ship, I found an open vent and slipped inside. That led to an airlock, which I opened."

Dash asked, "But how did you manage to open the air-lock, get inside, and then close it, all in the shape of a mynock?"

A troubled look crossed Hoole's face, then vanished. "With great difficulty," he admitted. "But once I was aboard, I had no trouble finding you."

"How?"

Hoole blinked. "SIM led me right to you. And told me what it was.

It seems interested in keeping us all together. For what purpose, I do not know."

The turbolift slowed to a halt. When the doors opened, Zak saw that they had returned to the Atrium level. The park spread out before them.

The air down here was cooler and more pleasant. Whatever SIM had done to heat up the atmosphere, it started at the top of the ship and was working its way down.

"This is perfect. This is the same level as the docking bay," Dash said.

"Watch out for the gardening droids," Zak warned.

But the gardening droids were nowhere in sight. "We need to go across this gra.s.sy area," Tash said. "That leads to the menagerie. Past the menagerie, we can go through the restaurant to the docking bay."

"Let's hurry," Dash grunted, hefting Malik a little higher onto his shoulder. "This guy's getting heavy."

In the middle of the Atrium they pa.s.sed the remains of the droids Dash and the crew had blasted. There was no other sign of trouble.

"Something's wrong," Zak said. He looked down at the hulk of the waterspout droid that had attacked him earlier. "This is too easy."

"Hey, don't close the door on a Hutt when he's holding a gift in his hand," Dash replied, quoting an old saying.

"I'd trust a Hutt," Zak answered, "before I'd trust that computer."

Tash managed a thin smile. "Is that my brother talking? The guy who wanted to avoid living beings and spend all his time with his computer?"

"That was before the computer tried to drop me down a turbolift shaft and bake me inside a s.p.a.ceship."

They reached the end of the gra.s.sy field and started through the menagerie. The animals yowled at them as they pa.s.sed. The vornskr lashed its spiked tail back and forth. The yayak flexed its claws, put its ears back and growled deep in its throat. The divto's three heads swayed back and forth threateningly.