Star Wars_ Darth Bane 02_ Rule of Two - Drew Karpyshyn [124]
“I can give you credits. You’ll be richer than you can possibly imagine.”
He waved his hands around at the austere little shack. “What use are credits to a man like me?”
“What about your daughter?” Zannah countered. “Think of how much easier her life could be.”
“Even if I wanted to let my child take your blood payment, I could never find a way to get it to her. For her own protection, I insisted she change her name when she left this world. I do not know what she is called now; I do not know where she has gone.”
Zannah chewed her lip, then tried something desperate.
“If you do not help my Master I will hunt your daughter down. I will find her, torture her, and kill her,” she vowed, carefully hitting each word for emphasis. “But first I will make her watch as I torture and kill every other person she cares about.”
Caleb smirked, amused at her empty threat. “Go, then. Seek her out and leave me alone. We both know you will never find her.”
Again, he had her. With no name and not even a physical description, it would be impossible to track down one woman who could be on any of a million Republic worlds.
Scowling, Zannah glanced once more down at his scarred hand. It stood as mute testament to the fact she couldn’t break him through raw physical pain, no matter how brutal. But with no other options left, she decided to try anyway.
She reached out with the Force and picked Caleb up. His feet dangled only a few centimeters off the floor, yet his head brushed against the shack’s low, slanted roof. She began to squeeze, applying pressure directly to his internal organs, slowly crushing them as she inflicted an agonizing pain few beings had ever experienced. She was careful to leave his lungs alone, however—allowing him enough air to breath and speak.
“You know how to make this end,” she said coldly. “Say you will heal my Master.”
He grunted and gasped in pain, but shook his head.
“Zannah! What are you doing?”
Darovit had come into the shack, curious as to what was taking her so long. Now he stood in the doorway, staring in horror at the scene.
“Stop it!” he shouted at her. “You’re killing him! Put him down!”
With a sharp growl of frustration she released her grip, letting Caleb fall to the floor. Darovit rushed to his side to see if he was okay, but the older man shook his head and waved him away. He rose to his hands and knees, then settled back onto his heels, his hands resting on his thighs as he took slow, deep breaths.
Darovit turned on her. “What did you do that for?” he demanded angrily.
“He refused to help us,” she said, her voice more defensive than she meant it to be.
“I will not release that monster on the galaxy a second time,” Caleb declared, his teeth still clenched against the lingering effects of Zannah’s torture. “There is nothing you can do to make me save him.”
Zannah dropped to one knee beside him. “I can use my powers to conjure up your worst nightmares and bring them to life before your eyes,” she whispered. “I can drive you mad with fear, shred your sanity, and leave you a raving lunatic for the rest of your life.”
Darovit just stared at her, shocked by her words. Caleb only smiled his infuriating smile.
“If you do,” the healer calmly replied, “your Master will still die.”
Zannah chewed her lip, glaring at him. Then she leapt to her feet and stormed out of the cabin, leaving Darovit and Caleb alone.
23
Fuming, Zannah stomped her way across the sand between Caleb’s shack and the edge of the camp, where her Master lay on the hover gurney.
She checked the monitor attached to the gurney’s side, getting a reading of his vitals. He was still alive, but fading fast. Soon he would be gone, taking all his knowledge and secrets with him.
She was standing over the gurney when Darovit emerged from