She was panting now and close to tears. She recited half a dozen choice curses that she had never spoken in front of the young Jedi Knights as she rummaged again for the small vial among her belongings.
There. There it was.
Anja had no memory of the intervening few minutes in which she opened the vial and took the spice. The next thing she knew, she felt energy coursing through her body. Her vision was clear and acute, her mind alert, her doubts gone.
Yes, now she could think clearly. She didn’t have to have andris. She could give it up anytime she wanted, of course.
But she didn’t want to. It made her feel so much better.
“Wow. I had no idea all these tunnels were even down here,” Jacen said, gazing at the maze of passages that stretched in all directions beneath the entertainment complex. He kept his voice low in case the Ugnaught they were following was somehow still within hearing range.
The warrens were dimly lit, and just barely tall enough for Jacen to stand up in. Lowie, however, had to stoop to move around.
“Em Teedee, would you please give us a little extra light?” Jacen murmured. “But not too much—we don’t want to be seen.”
“Certainly, Master Jacen,” Em Teedee said in a loud whisper. “I should be delighted to be of service.” He bobbed up to the top of the tunnel and directed the light from his optical sensors down toward the floor of the passage. “But however are you going to locate that Ugnaught now?”
“We must use the Force,” Tenel Ka said. “He cannot have gone far.”
As if to prove her point, Lowie suddenly woofed and pointed to a side corridor about ten meters away.
“Right. I sense it too,” Jacen said, thinking of the seedier areas deep within Cloud City. “He must be heading to lower levels, probably Port Town. Let’s go.”
Em Teedee stopped. “Just a moment, Master Jacen. Dear me! Although I realize I’m not endowed with the Force, I was attempting to reach out with all my sensors, and I believe I’ve just intercepted a comm transmission originating from somewhere extremely close by. The words were in Ugnaught dialogue—with which I am of course quite familiar, being fluent in over sixteen forms of communication—”
Lowie growled and tapped the floating droid with one finger, as if to remind him that they were in a hurry.
“Ah. Aha. What did the communication say?” Tenel Ka asked.
“Yes, of course, I was coming to that. It was something to this effect: Retrieved the spice. Deal is back on. Meet outside tunnel 83, section 11. Bring hard credits only.”
Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Lowie exchanged concerned glances. Jacen gave a low whistle. “A drug deal, then. For hard cash?”
Tenel Ka quirked an eyebrow at him. “So it would appear.”
Lowie gave a thoughtful growl.
“Right,” Jacen said. “If that’s not suspicious, I don’t know what is.”
“I sense him moving away,” Tenel Ka warned.
“Let’s stay with the Ugnaught then,” Jacen said, moving up the tunnel and toward the side passageway. “I’ve got a stronger feeling than ever that this guy knows something about Cojahn’s death.”
11
As they followed the Ugnaught through convoluted catacombs to the lower, darker levels of Cloud City, Jacen wondered if the creature had any idea where he was going.
“I think this guy’s lost,” he muttered quietly to Tenel Ka.
Lowie groaned softly, and Em Teedee translated as the little droid bobbed in front of them on his microrepulsorjets. “We must be quiet. Stealth is of utmost importance.”
After passing through the cluttered, seedier levels of Port Town—the “bad part” of Cloud City—Jacen and his friends needed to use their Jedi skills to the fullest just to keep track of their quarry. They hurried through dimly lit sectors, ducked around junked equipment and debris that had been waiting for centuries to be hauled away and sorted into one of the scrap incinerators.
Each time they thought they had lost the Ugnaught, they managed to glimpse his patchy-furred head once again, just as they were about to give up hope. If the former foreman knew he was being followed, he certainly made no attempt to elude or avoid them.
After they hurried past a group of Ishi Tibs huddled in a corner placing bets on some sort of combat insects, they saw the small apelike creature turn sharply to the left.
“Where did he go?” Jacen asked.
Lowie grunted, extending a furred arm to point at a small chute opening. Without hesitation, Tenel Ka sprinted ahead and scrambled into the chute. Jacen and Lowbacca followed. “Oh, my!” Em Teedee said. “Are you certain these passages are safe enough to use for transportation?”
“The Ugnaughts use them,” Tenel Ka said. “They live in these tunnel warrens.”
As they proceeded, the light around them grew red and warm. Lowie sniffed, using his Wookiee nose to follow the scent. They ducked low and took shortcuts through passageways that seemed no larger than air shafts. Em Teedee hovered next to the big ginger-furred Wookiee, who had considerable difficulty fitting into the cramped spaces while remaining quiet and secretive. Somehow, they managed to stay on the Ugnaught’s trail as he led them deeper and deeper into Cloud City’s interior.
Jacen mentally reviewed what he knew about the Ugnaughts and their culture, how they had come here as slave creatures for a rich and eccentric developer named Ecclessis Figg. Lord Figg had promised them their freedom if they would help him to complete his impossible dream of building a city in the clouds.
Now, Ugnaughts were among the most respected inhabitants of the huge metropolis in Bespin’s skies. The creatures filled important positions in all strata of society, from city politicians and bureaucrats to salvage engineers on the hot conveyor lines.
This Ugnaught had been an engineer, the chief construction foreman on SkyCenter Galleria, before Cojahn had fired him for “certain irregularities.” So what had he been doing back at the amusement facility? And where was he going now?
The Ugnaught scuttled along without a backward glance, seemingly without noticing the young Jedi Knights following him. In the cramped tunnels and halls they heard few other creatures moving around, just the throbbing sounds of machinery and equipment deep in the Tibanna gas processing levels of the giant city.
A tingle of fear skittered up and down Jacen’s spine. Tenel Ka touched his arm and he could feel the tension rippling through her as well.
“Something is not right,” she said.
“I know it,” he answered, frowning. He knew they had been quiet, using their Jedi skills, but in such an uninhabited area, he found it hard to believe that the Ugnaught ahead didn’t suspect their presence.
The furry creature popped down another dropshaft, and Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Lowie hurried so they wouldn’t lose sight of him. “I wish I knew where he was going,” Jacen muttered. “This is like a scared-mynock chase.”
At the bottom of the shaft they emerged into a large storage area, and Jacen immediately sensed the danger. The large chamber was silent, muffled with shadows; they saw no sign of their quarry whatsoever, though he had dropped into this room only seconds ago.
The three companions stood together, stock still in the shadows. Jacen glanced around, his Jedi senses at the peak of alertness. He saw no movement. A shroud of deathly quiet hung around them. It was too quiet.
Lowie snuffled, trying to detect scents in the musty air. Each breath echoed in the enclosed storage room. Em Teedee’s golden optical sensors glowed in the dimness as he floated above them, unconsciously marking their position.
Tenel Ka pressed closer to Jacen, her back against his. The contact sent a tingle through his senses, though he would have enjoyed it more had they not been in such a tense situation.
Lowie growled deep in his throat. The Wookiee formed no actual words, but the miniaturized translating droid relayed the meaning anyway. “Master Lowbacca believes the Ugnaught has led us into a trap.”