The Bartokk Assassins Page 5

  the remote control device.

  That device also had ten buttons. There were two yellow buttons on the

  airlock control board. Obi-Wan pressed them both at the same time. Obi-Wan's

  hunch was correct. The airlock re - pressurized and the Talz appeared to

  breathe more easily. Then the hatch opened with a hissing sound, and the Talz

  stepped out of the cabin. He had to duck to avoid hitting his head on the

  hatch's frame.

  Obi-Wan looked up at the hairy alien. Chup-Chup was 2.2 meters tall. At

  the sight of the hulking child, Obi-Wan nearly fell over backward.

  "You're taller than your father!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. Chup-Chup shrugged

  and pointed to his slaving collar. Using the device he'd retrieved from one of

  the Bartokks, Obi-Wan pressed two yellow buttons and the slaving collar fell

  from the Talz's neck. Chup-Chup pointed again to his furry throat, and Obi-Wan

  realized the Talz was without a vocabulator. Remembering the vocabulator he

  had taken from the Bartokk on Esseles, Obi-Wan drew the device from his pocket

  and handed it to Chup-Chup. Chup-Chup held the vocabulator in front of his

  mouth. "Thanks for rescuing me, mister," he said in a high voice.

  "Are you a real Jedi Knight'?"

  "Practically," Obi-Wan replied, eyeing the Talz with some suspicion.

  "What happened to you? Did the pressure in the airlock make you grow?"

  The Talz giggled.

  "No, I'm just tall for my age. Did my father come with you?"

  "No, he..." Obi-Wan stopped short, reluctant to cause any more worry for

  Chup-Chup. "Your father is still on Esseles, and he's looking forward to

  seeing you. He let me pilot his Headhunter here."

  "He let you fly the Z-95?!" Chup-Chup asked with disbelief. "Wow. He must

  like you a lot."

  "Chup-Chup, please listen," Obi-Wan said, his voice suddenly very

  serious. "There are two Bartokk assassins still at large on this freighter, so

  we should leave this ship as soon as possible." Obi-Wan glanced at the

  Neimoidian prototype hyperdrive engine on the worktable, then back at the tall

  Talz.

  "I want to examine this prototype engine. Do you think you can carry it

  to the Headhunter?"

  "Sure!" Chup-Chup answered. "I'm good at lifting stuff."

  The Talz unclamped the cumbersome engine from the table and tucked it

  under one of his thick arms. Carrying the engine, Chup-Chup followed Obi-Wan

  through the cargo hold and past the twenty-two droid starfighters.

  "I was under the impression this freighter was carrying fifty droid

  starfighters when it left Esseles," Obi-Wan commented.

  "It was carrying fifty starfighters," Chup-Chup continued. "But when the

  freighter entered space, another Bartokk freighter was waiting for us. The

  Bartokks transferred twenty-five starfighters to the second freighter."

  "Transferred?'* Obi-Wan said. "Of course! That would have been the

  Bartokks' backup plan in case they were pursued from Esseles." Then Obi - Wan

  remembered the second blip that had appeared on his scanner grid when he left

  Esseles' orbit. He realized that particular blip must have been another

  Bartokk freighter. Although Obi-Wan had little respect for the Bartokks, he

  couldn't ' help but acknowledge their cunning. Obi-Wan led the Talz out of the

  cargo hold and into the long, dark corridor. He returned to the octagonal

  docking port tube and helped Chup-Chup, board the Headhunter.

  "Stay in the ship and wait for me," Obi-Wan ordered. "I still have to

  find out this freighter*s destination.'* Obi-Wan left the docking port tube

  and walked up the corridor to the control room.

  Numerous, lights glowed and winked in the dim, filthy chamber. Thick

  cables dangled like mechanical vines from the ceiling, and a thin layer of

  moss covered, some of the instruments. There was not any sign, of the

  surviving Bartokk crew. The freighter appeared to be running on autopilot.

  Without warning, a Bartokk dropped down from the ceiling. The Bartokk

  carried four sharp gutting knives. He came at Obi-Wan with immense speed and

  fury. Obi-Wan knew that if he hesitated, the Bartokk would open him up like a

  ripe blumfruit. Obi-Wan drew the stun net pistol and fired. The net shot

  through the air and snagged on the assassin, slamming him back against a moldy

  console. The duracord webbing glowed and stunned the Bartokk, and he fell to

  the control room floor.

  The battered Bartokk breathed in a harsh rasp. His insectoid body slumped

  against the console that housed the freighter's nav computer. Obi-Wan noticed

  that the Bartokk wore a vocabulator.

  "What were you planning to do with the star-fighters?" Obi-Wan asked.

  The Bartokk remained silent.

  "What's your destination?" Obi-Wan asked, using the Force to apply

  pressure to the assassin. The Bartokk squirmed. Obi-Wan concentrated hard,

  trying to search the alien's mind. But the Bartokk's intelligence was

  maddeningly intricate, with trillions of nerve cells thinking of nothing but

  murder.

  "Corulag," gasped the Bartokk before he realized he had actually spoken

  out loud.

  "What?" Obi-Wan said. "Who were you planning to kill on Corulag?"

  "You will not defeat the Bartokks," the angry assassin hissed through his

  mandibles. "Our assignment will be carried out no matter what!"

  "I already know about the transferred droid starfighters," Obi-Wan

  revealed. "I'll make sure the freighter never reaches its destination. Just

  wait until I turn you over to the authorities."

  "I would sooner die than remain your hostage!" the Bartokk sneered.

  Suddenly, he twisted his neck sharply and bit down. His mandible contained a

  quick-acting toxin. Before Obi-Wan could intervene, the Bartokk was dead. Obi-

  Wan quickly consulted the nav computer. The records showed the freighter was

  indeed set on a course for the planet Corulag. Obi-Wan realized the Bartokk

  freighter probably contained too many booby traps to reprogram a new

  destination or allow its return to Esseles. To prevent the freighter and its

  cargo of droid starfighters from reaching Corulag, Obi-Wan decided to destroy

  the entire ship. Obi-Wan removed the proton grenade from his weapons belt. It

  was the same grenade the Bartokks had planted under the seat in the Head -

  hunter. Obi-Wan knew that if the grenade were set in the control room, it

  would cause a chain reac - tion and blow up the freighter. He set the timer

  for a two-minute countdown, then twisted the grenade's arming mechanism. This

  action primed the grenade's battery to deliver a small electrical charge to

  the proton core. Obi - Wan pressed the activation plunger to start the timei,

  then secured the grenade under the nav computer. Obi-Wan ran from the control

  room and raced down the dark corridor. His feet pounded on the metal floor and

  the rising steam whipped at his face. He was almost at the octagonal docking

  port when he saw a dark form slip out from the shadows.

  It was the last Bartokk assassin. Each one of his four arms wielded a

  different weapon: a gutting knife, a spear, a crossbow loaded with two poison

  - tipped arrows, and a stun net. Unexpectedly, he dropped all the weapons and

  let them fall to the co
rridor floor. At first, Obi-Wan thought the Bartokk was

  offering his surrender, but something in the alien's inviting stance conveyed

  that he had something else in mind. The Bartokk wanted to take Obi-Wan apart

  with his own bare claws. The corridor was still thick with the smell of death

  from Obi-Wan's earlier encounter with two Bartokks. He knew that it was not so

  easy to use a lightsaber against a Bartokk in such close quarters. He took a

  cautious step toward the docking port tube. The Bartokk lashed out and tore

  through his opponent's tunic. Obi-Wan decided to take his chances with the

  lightsaber. His weapon blazed and he whipped the blade back and forth at his

  relentless attacker. Soon, there were over a dozen dismembered insectoid body

  parts clawing at the Jedi apprentice. Obi-Wan kicked at the severed limbs that

  continued to crawl after him into the docking port tube. Chup-Chup was already

  seated in the back of the Headhunter. Obi-Wan jumped into the front seat and

  dropped the canopy.

  "Why didn't you start the Headhunter's engine?" Obi-Wan asked, trying to

  keep his voice calm. "The freighter's going to explode in less than thirty

  seconds."

  "But you didn't ask me to start the engine," Chup-Chup whimpered.

  "Besides, I'm not old enough to fly a starship."

  "Then hang on!" Obi-Wan commanded. He punched the controls and the

  engines roared to life. The Headhunter broke off from the freighter and

  blasted away. Within the Bartokk freighter, the proton grenade detonated just

  as the Headhunter began to fly off. Suddenly, the entire freighter erupted in

  a violent explosion that sent a small shock wave across space.

  "Where to now'?" Chup-Chup asked from behind Obi-Wan's seat. "We're not

  going after the other Bartokk freighter, are we?"

  "Not yet," Obi-Wan replied as he navigated the Headhunter back toward

  Esseles. "Our first stop is Trinkatta Starships to check on our friends. If

  there's any chance of stopping that other freighter, we'll need all the help

  we can get!"

  On Esseles, the heroes who had been stunned by the Bartokks were fully

  recovered. Despite Trinkatta's cantankerous nature, he had done a good job of

  caring for the wounded at his starship factory. Sitting on a bench in

  Trinkatta's workshop, Bama Vook gave his son a playful sock in the arm.

  "I'll bet you're glad to be back on Esseles, eh, son?"

  "I'll sayf" Chup-Chup declared. "Wait'll I tell my friends about my

  adventure."

  "Perhaps you should delay your storytelling for now," Qui-Gon calmly

  suggested. "Until we settle the matter of the missing droid starfighters,

  lives are still in danger. You'll be able to tell your friends soon, I

  promise."

  Qui-Gon turned to Obi-Wan and Leeper. Both the Padawan and the droid were

  hunkered over a table that was littered with numerous tools. Leeper was

  examining the Neimoidian prototype hyperdrive engine that had been retrieved

  from the Bartokk freighter, and Obi-Wan was monitoring a subspace transceiver.

  "What do you make of it, Leeper?" Qui-Gon asked.

  The droid tapped at the engine. "It's a fast unit, this is," he admitted.

  "If all those Trade Federation droid starfighters were powered by engines like

  this, they could be deployed almost anywhere within the next three sectors in

  a matter of minutes."

  "Then I think we can assume that was the Trade Federation's motive for

  wanting their starfighters built on Esseles," Qui-Gon proclaimed. "If they'd

  built such threatening weapons within Republic space, they'd be breaking more

  than a dozen treaties. The Trade Federation representative would be kicked out

  of the Senate."

  "I wouldn't know about that," Leeper admitted. "But I'II tell you this:

  if that second Bartokk freighter is carrying twenty-five droid starfighters,

  it can't be for any good reason."

  The Jedi Master turned to Obi-Wan and asked,

  "Any word from Corulag'?"

  "I sent a message to Corulag Academy," Obi - Wan replied. "They know the

  Bartokk freighter may be on its way."

  "It's a long trip to Corulag," Qui-Gon observed. "It's my guess that the

  Bartokks plan on delivering the droid starfighters there. If they'd wanted to

  deploy the starfighters, they could have done so as soon as they left Esseles.

  If the freighter is trav-eling below light speed, we'll catch up to it with -

  out any problem."

  "Actually, we may already have a problem," Obi-Wan admitted. "I tried

  sending a message to the Jedi chapter house on Rhinnal to check on Adi

  Gallia's condition. There's no response. I'm only getting static. It might

  just be subspace interference."

  "Then again, there might be trouble on Rhinnal." Qui-Gon grimaced. "We

  must go to Rhinnal immediately. We'll deal with the Bartokk freighter as soon

  as we can."

  Bama Vook jumped up from his bench.

  "Leeper and I can take you to Rhinnal in the Metron Burner."

  "I'll take you up on that offer, Bama," Qui-Gon said. "Let's get going!"

  Nute Gunray paced the main deck of the Trade Federation battleship. He

  was scheduled to deliver a report to Darth Sidious, and he was not looking

  forward to it. Still he knew the Sith Lord would not forgive a late

  communication, so he sat down in front of the holocom. The image of the cowled

  Darth Sidious appeared above the transceiver.

  "What is the report from Esseles?" Darth Sidious demanded.

  Nute Gunray struggled to find the best words to answer the question.

  "There has been an unexpected development," he babbled. "Our two agents

  have reported they overheard that a Bartokk freighter left Esseles with all

  fifty droid starfighters and the prototype hyperdrive engine."

  "Is that all?" Darth Sidious asked.

  Gunray was surprised by the Sith Lord's question. Darth Sidious sounded

  almost unconcerned about Bartokks.

  "There is another problem," Gunray added. "Our agents also believe they

  saw Jedi Knights on Esseles."

  "I have little tolerance for unexpected developments, Gunray," Darth

  Sidious responded. "You have not handled this situation well."

  "I... I will pursue the Bartokk freighter myself!" Gunray boldly

  stammered.

  "Do not bother," Darth Sidious answered. "I have someone else lined up

  for the job."

  The hologram flickered off.