Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 02_ Dark Apprentice - Kevin J. Anderson [114]
Qwi laughed as the thick, cold mist blanketed them, drenching their clothes. Wedge dropped the skimmer to where all three rivers crashed against the rocks with a sound like exploding planets. Green batlike creatures flitted through the spray, catching insects and tiny fish that tumbled over the falls.
“This is fantastic,” Qwi shouted.
“It gets better,” Wedge said, “if Momaw Nadon gave us good information.”
He steered the skimmer toward a cluster of slick black outcroppings that jutted from the side of the pit. The overhang sheltered them from most of the cold spray and cyclonic winds swirling in the rock-walled chimney. The booming echo of water became a constant background.
Wedge brought the skimmer in among the rocks to a sheltered place where shafts of sunlight pierced the rising swirls of spray. “Nadon said we could land here.”
He reached into a compartment under the seat, pulled out two translucent waterproof capes, and removed two packages of self-heating meals Nadon had also provided. Wedge helped Qwi fasten one of the waterproof garments over her narrow shoulders, then fastened his own. He picked up their lunches and indicated the smooth rocks under the overhang.
“Let’s have a picnic,” he said.
At the end of an exhausting day Qwi stood outside her vine-covered stateroom door on the Tafanda Bay. Wedge looked into her indigo eyes and shuffled his feet.
“Thank you,” Qwi said. “This has been the most wonderful day of my life.”
Wedge opened his mouth and closed it three times, as if searching for something to say. Finally he bent forward, touched her silky mother-of-pearl hair, then kissed her. He let his warm lips linger on hers for a long moment. She pushed closer to him and felt delight surge through her.
“And now you’ve given me one more interesting thing,” she said in her quiet musical voice.
Blushing, Wedge backed away from her and said, “Uh, I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned and practically fled back to his own stateroom.
With a wistful smile Qwi watched his door close. She opened her stateroom and slipped inside, feeling as if she had repulsorlifts in her feet. She leaned against the door as it closed and shut her eyes as the gentle illumination in her room slowly brightened. She heaved a contented sigh.
And opened her eyes to see a dark man rising from his crouch in the shadowy corners of the room.
The looming silhouette approached her, and she froze in terror at the sight of the swirling black cape that flowed around his body.
Darth Vader!
She tried to shout for help, but her voice locked in her throat as if an invisible hand had stilled her vocal cords. She whirled for the door and hung in midstride, yanked back by unseen spiderwebs.
The dark man was closer now, gliding toward her. What did he want? She couldn’t scream. She heard his hollow breathing echo like the snarl of a beast.
A hand reached out for her, and Qwi couldn’t move, couldn’t duck away as the fingers wrapped around the top of her head. She felt him pressing there. The other hand, cold and supple, grasped her face. She blinked her wide eyes and looked up to see the face of Kyp Durron, eyes blazing, his expression soulless.
He spoke in a freezing voice. “I have found you, Dr. Xux. You hold too much dangerous knowledge,” he said. “I must make certain no one can ever again create the weapons you’ve been responsible for. There must be no more Death Stars. No more Sun Crushers.”
His fingers clamped down harder on her forehead, on her face. Her skull seemed ready to shatter. Waves of pain plunged through her brain like the claws of a nightmare monster. She felt the sharp points of metal talons scraping through her mind, digging, prying up, and ripping out memories and scientific knowledge she had accumulated over the course of many years.
Qwi finally managed a scream, but it was a weak, watery cry that faded as she fell down a long, dark tunnel into forgetfulness.