Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 10_ Jedi Bounty - Kevin J. Anderson [42]
But today she could not escape the feeling. It seemed closer than ever.
Letting the pure, cool liquid envelop her, Lusa approached the waterfall.
She plunged into it, hoping the cascading stream would wash away the feeling of dread. Water rushed over her and thundered in her ears.
Cleansing rivulets sluiced down her bare torso as the heavier flow pounded against her back, easing the tense muscles. The serenity of her surroundings calmed her spirit. Her thoughts were far away on Ryloth, though....
With her back st'fil under the waterfall, she turned to get a better view of the beautiful jungle trees along the shore. To her surprise, she discovered she was not alone, as she had thought.
Twenty-five meters away, at the edge of the pond, stood a short New Republic guard she had seen before.
Lusa recognized the Bothan who had accidentally stumbled into the infirmary several days earlier. She wondered if perhaps there was a message in the comm center for her, or if her friends had returned from Ryloth with injuries and the guard had been sent to fetch her.
With a rising sense of alarm, Lusa started to swim for shore. But before she got halfway there, something flew from the hand of the Bothan guard, directly toward her.
A noiseless explosion threw Lusa backward in the water. She tried to flail her arms and found that she could not move them. Furiously, her mind told her four legs to kick--but she could not feel her legs.
The sky bove her was veiled by a rippling curtain of reddish brown, and she realized that she had sunk beneath the water. Her hair floated before her eyes. She wanted to cry out, but bubbles gushed from her nose and mouth. If she gasped, water would fill her lungs and drown her. She was paralyzed. Her mind cried out for help, again and again.
The next moment, a strong grip pulled her head high above the water and she drew in grateful lungfuls of fresh air. When the hand in her hair gave a vicious jerk, her eyes flew open to find the Bothan's face only centimeters from hers. His expression was filled with hatred.
"Oh, no. You won't die so peacefully," the guard growled. "A traitor to the Diversity Alliance doesn't deserve a peaceful death."
A loud, ominous humming sound sliced past her ear. Lusa rolled her eyes to see that the Bothan held a vibroblade half a meter long in his other hand. She ordered her arms and legs to move, but to no avail.
She couldn't speak, couldn't protest, couldn't cry out.
"No, that would be too easy," the Bothan said.
"It wouldn't serve Nolaa Tarkona's purposes. You have to know that you died for betraying her.
And you'll also serve as a lesson to whoever might find your body here!"
He slashed the vibroblade through the air in front of her nose, enjoying his position of power.
"We can't let a good assassination go to waste and look like an accident.
No, this must be reported as a murder. Anyone who hears about it will know that a traitor cannot hide from the Diversity Alliance."
He yanked her head back and touched the tip of the vibroblade to the base of her throat. A few drops of blood welled up where the point pressed into her skin. Lusa tried to shake her head, to strike him with her crystal horns. To her relief, although her arms and legs could not respond, and he still held her fast in his grip, her neck was able to move.
For just a second, a sound distracted the Bothan. The guard's blade wavered and lifted, and he turned to see what had made the noise.
That was all the chance Lusa needed. Ignoring the pain from her pulled hair, she wrenched her head sideways and down and around. With all the force she could muster, she rammed upward, goring the Bothan's furry arm.
Blood spurted from the wound. The blood ran into her hair and down her face. She struggled to push her sharp horn deeper.
The traitorous guard bellowed with rage. He l'ded the vibroblade high above her,