Star Wars_ Darth Maul 02_ Shadow Hunter - Michael Reaves [66]
She gripped the weapon in both hands, weaving it in a figure-eight defensive pattern. It was hard to concentrate, as I-Five was still emitting his painful siren cry and her head was feeling like it would come apart at any minute. She hoped that some of the Cthons would at least get hit by the shrapnel.
Against the combined threats of her lightsaber and the droid’s howl, the subhumans had no choice but to fall back. The three entered the tunnel at a dead run, I-Five in the lead and Darsha bringing up the rear. Their former captors’ enraged cries followed them, but that was all.
The phosphorescent lichen that covered the chamber’s walls continued only a short way into the underground passage and then died out, save for sporadic patches that did little or nothing to relieve the darkness. I-Five illuminated his photoreceptors, revealing a brick-lined tunnel barely high enough for Lorn to stand upright. It did not run in a straight line, but instead meandered gently, first left, then right.
I-Five shut off the screeching sound once they were out of sight of the Cthons’ chamber. They dropped from a run to a fast walk. Darsha had to hustle to keep up with the long-legged strides of the other two, and each time her boots contacted the hard pavestones she felt a new spear of pain go through her head. She wished devoutly that one of the Force’s attributes was an ability to cure headaches.
As if reading her mind, the droid began making another sound: a low trilling that was as unlike the discordant noise of before as it was possible to be. It seemed to somehow penetrate her bones and muscles—indeed, her very cells—and subtly vibrate them, flushing away the toxins and pains that had filled them. After a few minutes the sound ceased, leaving her feeling, if not in top shape, at least markedly better.
After walking for another few minutes, I-Five stopped. Pavan and Darsha stopped, as well, the latter deactivating her lightsaber as she did so.
“My sensors indicate no one is following us,” the droid said.
“Let’s keep moving anyway,” Pavan replied. “You were wrong before, remember?”
“Don’t be so hard on him,” Darsha said. “After all, he just saved our lives again.”
“Much as I crave validation, I feel constrained to point out that you saved us this time,” said I-Five. “I couldn’t have done anything if you hadn’t reactivated me.” Though the droid was speaking to Darsha, he was looking at Lorn Pavan.
Pavan hesitated a moment, scowling. Then he looked at Darsha and said, “He’s right. Thanks.”
It obviously had taken a herd of wild banthas to drag the words out of him. Why did he hate Jedi so much? Darsha wondered. Aloud, she said, “No problem. You saved my life back in the skycar. Now we’re even.”
Pavan gave her a look that seemed equal parts gratitude and resentment. He said to I-Five, “Let’s find the fastest route back to the surface. Even the Raptors look friendly compared to what lives down here.”
The droid nodded and started walking again. The two humans followed. Neither of her companions spoke further, which suited Darsha just fine. She strode along behind Lorn Pavan, wondering once again what caused his intense antipathy toward her and her order.
She could simply ask him, of course. The only reason she hadn’t done so yet was because there hadn’t been any time to; they’d been on the run from the moment they’d met. But her instincts told her that now would not be a good time to bring it up, so she kept quiet. Maybe after they emerged from these labyrinthine catacombs—if they ever did—she would broach the subject. For now it seemed best to just let it lie.
“I’m surprised the Cthons gave up so easily,” Pavan said abruptly to the droid. “They didn’t even follow us into this tunnel.