Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 01_ Jedi Search - Kevin J. Anderson [64]
But the Empire no longer controlled spice production. Doole had expected to have no further problems—until Solo came back.
Doole had been waiting for the call from Coruscant for days. He had rehearsed his answers over and over, knowing exactly what he should say. Perhaps he had rehearsed too much, coming up with snap answers that might make Minister Organa Solo suspicious.
Skynxnex told Doole he was overreacting, that they just needed to play their part. Solo and the Wookiee had been safely exiled to the spice mines. No one would ever find them. But there was always a chance something could go wrong. Maybe it would be best if he just ordered Solo killed and got rid of all the risks.
Doole walked along the rows of larval workers. His vision in the blurry infrared was not much worse than the normal eyesight from his mechanical eye. The caterpillarlike larvae bowed in silence, working slavishly. Doole had taken them from the egg sac and raised them here, centering their existence on processing spice. He was a god to them.
As Doole passed, one of the largest males reared up in a defensive posture, waving his frail arms as if to ward off Doole from his territory. To his shock Doole noticed that the male larva had nearly reached maturity. Had time gone by so quickly? This one would soon shed his skin and emerge as a strong adult.
Doole would have to kill him well before that. The last thing he needed right now was competition—even if it did mean killing one of his own children.
Boss Roke stood in the muster room with hands on his hips, giving the workers a lumpy, appraising smile. “We lost another team yesterday. A guard and four workers, down in the deep new tunnels.” He waited for that to sink in, but most of the prisoners had already noticed the missing workers.
“The samples brought up earlier show that this could be one of the richest strikes of spice we’ve found, and I’m not going to let incompetence and superstition cheat me out of a big payoff. I need some volunteers to go down with me to the lower tunnels and check it out—and if I don’t get volunteers, I’ll pick them anyway.” Boss Roke waited. “Don’t all volunteer at once.”
He scanned the room. Watching him, Han knew that because of his part in the brawl the day before, he would be one of those picked. But he didn’t mind—not if his suspicions were correct. Rather than give Roke the satisfaction of coercing him, Han stepped forward. “I’ll volunteer. Beats another day of getting dirt under my fingernails.”
Roke looked at him in surprise, then narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“I’ll go along, too.” Kyp Durron stepped beside Han. Han felt a happy warmth swell up inside him, but he pushed it back. He didn’t want to explain anything, not just yet.
Chewbacca yowled in surprise, then grunted a question about Han’s sanity.
“What did he say?” Boss Roke asked.
“He’s volunteering, too,” Han said.
Chewie let out an uncomfortable snort of denial but made no further argument.
“One more volunteer,” Roke said, then scanned the room. “You, Clorr.” He pointed to a former prison worker who had done a lot of damage in Han’s brawl. “I’m taking one guard and you four. Suit up. Let’s go.”
Roke didn’t waste any time. By now Han had grown used to pulling on his thermal suit and adjusting the breath mask. He switched on the power pack to start warmth pulsating through his suit. Chewbacca looked ridiculous with his suit’s empty third sleeve limp and taped flat against his torso.
Kyp and Chewbacca kept staring at Han, wondering what he had in mind. Han moved his hands slightly to quell their questions for the time being. Of course he had a plan.
One of the other guards, looking fidgety and uncomfortable, shifted a blaster rifle from shoulder to shoulder.
“Let’s go!” Boss Roke said, and clapped his hands.
The four volunteers