Maga grunted at them as they passed. His forehead was bumpy and sloped
down to his eyebrows, which were bushy and thick. Tash recognized the other
Dantari who were with Maga. She didn't know their names, but she knew they
were Maga's closest friends, and they didn't like Zak and Tash any more than
Maga did.
"Sun falls," Maga growled. "Time to move. You slow us down."
Tash looked up at the sun. "Sun falls" to the Dantari meant exactly what
it sounded like: the sun had reached its highest point and was now sinking. It
was just past midday.
Maga took an angry step forward. "Offworlders always slow us down." His
companions growled in agreement and stepped forward, too.
As the Dantari crowded around her, Tash's heart skipped a beat.
"That is not true," said the cold, hard voice of Uncle Hoole.
Tash suddenly realized her uncle was standing beside her. She didn't know
where he had come from. Hoole, like most Shi'ido, had a gift for moving
silently and smoothly, and by now she was used to being surprised by him.
The Shi'ido was as tall as Maga, and stared right into his eyes. "My
niece and nephew are always ready to move when the tribe moves," he said, "and
we always move just as quickly."
Maga blinked. He didn't like Hoole. But he was frightened by Hoole's
shape-changing power. He wouldn't dare attack the Shi'ido. Maga stared back at
Hoole for just a moment, then turned away, grunting, "Tribe moves. Do not be
slow."
Then he and his followers trudged away.
Tash scowled at Maga's broad back. "That guy really sets my scanners off.
Why does he have to treat us so badly? It makes me mad."
"We must be tolerant," Hoole advised. "Remember, we are their guests."
"I don't get why these Dantari are always so concerned about starting on
time anyway," Zak observed. "It's not like there's anywhere to go."
Hoole frowned. "It may seem that way to us, Zak, but we are on their
world. They have their own customs. They are nomads, and it is their tradition
to travel from place to place."
"You'd think they'd get tired once in a while," Zak muttered.
"Remember," Hoole said, "the Dantari do not possess modern technology,
and they know little about farming. They must continually travel across the
plains in search of food."
Even after nearly a month, Tash and Zak were amazed by how quickly the
Dantari broke down their tents, rolled up their animal-skin packs, and started
off. In minutes, the small village of tents had vanished completely. The
Dantari began marching away from their campsite in a loose, straggly line.
With no discussion, the tribe seemed to know where it wanted to go.
Walking in the middle of the crowd, Tash saw the line of low hills ahead
grow steadily larger. Because the prairie was so flat, it was hard to judge
the distance. Tash thought the hills were very far away, but the tribe reached
them long before sunset. The slopes weren't very high, but they were steep.
"How are we going to climb those?" Tash asked.
"Not climb," one of the Dantari said, pointing ahead.
Tash spotted a crack in the steep slope. As they approached, she realized
that it was a ravine that led straight through the hills and to the other
side.
Without pausing, the tribe of Dantari marched single file into the gap,
forming a line to fit into the narrow pathway.
"Uncle Hoole," Tash asked, "how do they know where they're going?"
Hoole shook his head. "I do not have enough information to make a guess,"
he explained. "However, I believe they are following a traditional path. Their
ancestors probably made the same journey, at the same time of year, for
thousands of years."
"Boring!" Zak exclaimed.
His voice echoed loudly in the ravine. A moment later, something rumbled
in answer.
"What's that?" Tash asked.
"More echoes," Zak replied. "I hope."
But the sound wasn't an echo. It got louder by the second, until it
sounded as if the mountain itself was roaring. Tash looked up. For a fraction
of a second, she thought she saw a broad-shouldered Dantari standing at the
top of the ravine. Then her view was blocked by a boulder that came crashing
down the slope. Behind it came another, and another. There were hundreds of
rocks bouncing and tumbling down on them.
"Avalanche!"
CHAPTER 2
The shout of warning was all Tash could manage. She stood rooted to the
spot, watching a boulder twice her size bounce down the steep hillside,
heading right for her.
She watched it bounce once. Twice. Three times.
There were boulders falling all around Tash. She didn't know if she was
paralyzed with fear or was just in shock, but she couldn't move.
Luckily, Hoole could. As soon as the boulders started falling, Hoole's
skin rippled across his bones-the weird effect that signaled a shape-change.
In the next instant, the Shi'ido had vanished, replaced by a wide-bodied,
thick-legged dewback. Tash had seen the creatures once before on a visit to
the planet Tatooine. They looked like giant lizards, and they were as strong
as a dozen gundarks.
The dewback lunged forward, planting itself between Zak and Tash and the
avalanche.
Tash and Zak threw their arms over their heads as the boulder slammed
into the dewback's side. The dewback Hoole grunted, but didn't move.
Shocked out of her paralyzed state, Tash felt a flush of anger. She had
seen someone on the hill. Someone had started the avalanche on purpose!
Around them, the Dantari shouted and screamed, searching for cover.
"Over here!" Tash yelled, motioning for the Dantari with her outstretched
arms. Her voice was drowned out by the rumbling and scraping of falling rocks,
but many of the Dantari saw her movements and dove for the cover of the
dewback's broad body.
More boulders slammed into Hoole, but the Shi'ido stubbornly held his
ground.
Most of the Dantari had reached safety behind Hoole, but a small Dantari
child stumbled and fell to her knees, crying. Her mother turned and started
back for her just as another boulder came hurtling into the ravine. It was
going to land right on the child.
"Look out!" shouted Zak, but they could see that the little girl couldn't
move in time.
Tash was too angry to think. She reached out with the Force, trying to
move the flying rock the same way she'd moved the pendant. She pushed with her
mind. In the split second before the falling stone would hit the girl, Tash
felt something give, like a stuck drawer suddenly opening. The rock slammed to
the ground, just missing the Dantari girl's head.
"That was close!"
"Yeah," Tash said. She felt exhausted, as though she'd just finished a
footrace.
The dewback shivered, and a moment later, Hoole stood in its place.
Boulders were piled up all around him. The Shi'ido's stern face wrinkled into
a grimace of pain, and he rubbed his left arm.
"Are you all right, Uncle Hoole?" Zak asked.
"I am... bruised," Hoole replied. "Many of those boulders were quite
heavy, and trave
ling quickly. Even in the form of a dewback, I'm afraid I took
a beating."
It seemed like a miracle, but no one else was hurt. Many of the Dantari
had not yet entered the ravine. And those who had, managed to find safety as
the rocks fell.
The travelers hurried the rest of the way through the ravine and came out
on the other side of the hills. By now the sun had begun to set. Before them
stretched the prairie.
"Oh, that's just prime," Zak groaned. "More grass."
"This looks different, though," Tash said. She squinted and stared at
something. On the horizon, she could just make out a few shapes rising out of
the grassland. They were too small to be hills and too large to be trees.
"There's something out there."
Zak squinted, looking where Tash pointed. "I wonder what it is."
"We'll have to find out tomorrow," Hoole replied. "The Dantari have
decided to set up camp for the evening."
This was the most unsettling time of day for Zak and Tash. They were
nearly blind in the thickening darkness, while the Dantari seemed to have no
problem setting up their animal-skin tents in the dark. Today, however, Zak,
Tash, and Hoole quickly set up their tent while the sun was still throwing
reddish rays over the prairie. By the time it had set, they were sitting
around a small campfire in front of their tent, just one of a dozen campfires
lighting the temporary village.
"I'm glad no one was hurt," Tash said, finally catching her breath. "But
there's still a problem. Who started the rockslide?"
Hoole raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask that? I suspect such occurrences
are quite common in these hills."
"Maybe," Tash said. "But I think this one was started on purpose." She
told them what she'd seen on the hill.
"Are you sure you saw a Dantari?" Hoole asked.
Tash shrugged. "I can't be sure. Everything happened so quickly. But I
saw someone... and whoever it was, was as big as a Dantari. As big as a
certain Dantari we all know and hate."
Hoole sighed. "You mustn't hate Maga, Tash. Remember, we are intruders in
his tribe. And we have taken away some of his authority. But," the Shi'ido
added, "if you think that Maga is the being you saw, we must report this to
the elders."
Zak and Tash jumped to their feet and followed Hoole through the
collection of tents until they reached a campfire burning at the center of the
temporary village.
Unlike some other cultures, the Dantari didn't have one single leader.
All important decisions were made by five or six of the oldest and most
experienced members of the tribe. These elders generally discussed any
problems facing their people and tried to find a solution together. The
closest thing the Dantari had to a king or a chief was Maga, the garoo.
There were six elders sitting around the fire, their faces lined with
age. Maga sat nearby, scooping out a bowl of porridge from a cauldron that
hung over the fire. The elders were already discussing the rockslide, trying
to decide if it was still safe to travel the ravine, when Hoole approached
them.
"My niece has something to say," Hoole announced.
The elders looked at Tash. She had never really spoken to the elders of
the tribe before. She had never thought of them as leaders-just quiet old men
and women wearing animal skins. But now, looking at them, she realized that
despite their primitive ways, they really were leaders.
Their keen, bright eyes reminded her of a look Princess Leia Organa had
once given her, long ago.
"I...," she began, then stopped. She glanced at Maga.
"Perhaps this should be said in private," Hoole suggested.
One of the elders, who had a gap between his front teeth, shook his head.
"Not Dantari way. No secrets from people."
Tash nodded. It was probably a good way to run the tribe. Or the galaxy.
Secrets and hidden schemes were methods the Empire used. Still, she felt
uncomfortable accusing Maga to his face.
"I saw...," she started again. "That is, I think I saw Maga standing at
the top of the hill just before the avalanche started."
"Maga push rocks?" another elder asked.
Tash nodded.
All six elders turned toward their garoo, who was glaring at Tash. But
instead of becoming angry, Maga shrugged and said through a mouthful of
porridge, "Girl is wrong."
The gap-toothed elder turned back to Tash. "You saw his face? You know?"
Tash frowned. She hadn't seen a face. Finally, she admitted, "Everything
happened too fast. I saw something up there. Then the rocks came down. I
thought it was Maga... but no, I didn't see his face."
Maga snorted. "Not see my face because Maga was not there. Ask Bann. Ask
Durba."
Tash scowled. Bann and Durba were two of Maga's friends. They'd say
anything to protect him.
One of the elders shrugged. "Maga is garoo. Garoo does not lie."
But the gap-toothed elder shook his head. "Girl has power. Girl is like
garoo."
"Only Maga is garoo!" Maga growled, leaping to his feet.
The elders stirred briefly, unsettled by his outburst. They murmured to
each other in low voices for a moment, then nodded. Finally, the gap-toothed
elder spoke. "Girl says she saw, but is not sure. Maga says he was not there,
and was seen by eyes of others. We will do nothing. Water mixes with water."
Tash sighed. "Water mixes with water" was a popular Dantari saying. The
Dantari believed that some problems could not be solved. It was like one cup
of water poured into another cup of water. Which water was which, and did it
even matter?
"But I saw someone!" Tash insisted.
"Who?" the elder asked.
Tash didn't answer.
Maga grinned. His teeth were crooked and yellow. "Yes, offworlder," he
said. "Who?"
Again, Tash didn't answer. Maga snorted. "Girl is crazy. Whole family is
crazy. Parents probably crazy, too."
Tash bristled at the mention of her parents. Anger boiled up inside her,
hotter than a nova. Gathering her strength, she glared at Maga and lashed out
with the Force.
CHAPTER 3
Tash was surprised at how easily the Force bent to her will this time.
The cauldron near Maga suddenly tilted. A blob of hot porridge sloshed out of
the pot, spilling right into his lap. The big Dantari leaped to his feet,
howling as he tried to wipe the hot, sticky substance away.
The elders and Zak laughed. To them, it looked as if Maga had stumbled
against the pot and spilled the porridge all over himself.
Tash turned away to hide the smug expression on her face. Without saying
a word to Zak or Uncle Hoole, she went back to their tent, crawled onto a soft
fur blanket that served as her bed, and fell asleep.
That night, Tash dreamed.
She was standing on the bridge of a starship. Through the viewport, she
could see her home planet, Alderaan, floating in space like a blue-green gem
on a necklace of stars. She felt happy. She was going home to see her parents.
Everything was all right.
Suddenly, a shadow fell across the planet as a
large dark object passed
between Alderaan and the sun.
It was the Death Star. Tash watched the Imperial battle station slowly
rotate until its enormous superlaser pointed directly at her homeworld.
"No!" Tash screamed, hut her voice made no sound. The Death Star was
preparing to fire.
Tash remembered the Force. She had moved the tiny pendant. She had moved
the large boulder. Maybe she could even move the Death Star. She tried to calm
herself to find the peaceful place within her where the Force seemed to be.
Then she reached out and willed the Death Star to move.
It didn't.
She tried again, pushing harder, but still the battle station crept
forward, preparing to destroy her home planet, her parents, and everything she
loved.
Tash's stomach twisted into an angry knot. She couldn't let her parents
die! She wouldn't!
The minute she grew angry, Tash felt the Force take on a new shape inside
her. It wasn't calm or peaceful - now it rolled and wriggled inside her as if
she'd swallowed a snake. But it was powerful. Very powerful. With it, she knew