But if Jerec had heard of these three criminals, he wasn't interested. "That tunnel and its contents are now the property of the Empire," he declared. "Entry is forbidden."

"But we own the deed to that mine!" Hodge protested. "It belongs to-"

"You may discuss it," Jerec said in a voice like a vibroblade, "with the Emperor. I can arrange a personal interview."

The way he said "interview" made it sound more like "torture."

Hodge said nothing.

Hoole filled the silence. "I feel you should know that, whatever is buried down there, the Ithorians seem sure that it should not be dug up."

"What the Ithorians want is no concern of mine," Jerec snapped.

"But...," Fandomar began. It was the first time she'd spoken in over an hour. "But it could be... dangerous."

Jerec turned toward Fandomar. Again, even though his eyes were hidden behind the black band, Tash felt that he was seeing something. The presence of the dark side grew stronger. This man definitely knew how to use the Force-for evil.

"You are Fandomar," Jerec stated. "Your husband is Momaw Nadon, the Ithorian in exile."

"Yes," she confessed.

"Then I would be quiet, if I were you," Jerec said threateningly.

"Unless you want me to tell your people your husband's last little secret."

Fandomar closed both her mouths.

Jerec turned to Hodge. "You will take me to this tunnel, and there you will tell me everything you know about it. Now."

Hodge hesitated. "I don't think this is a good time."

Jerec snapped his fingers and one of the stormtroopers put a blaster to Hodge's head. "You will take me to this tunnel now, or your friends will wipe your remains off the floor."

Hodge's face turned pale. "Whatever you say. It's just that this is prime hunting time for the s.p.a.ce slugs. They'll be more alert than usual, and you never know when a slug's asteroid will pa.s.s right overhead. It would be better to wait a few hours until they calm down again."

For a moment, Jerec did not move. Tash felt her skin crawl as waves of dark-side power pa.s.sed through her again. She knew that Jerec was trying to tell whether Hodge was being honest.

"Very well," Jerec said. He turned to his storm-troopers. "Disable this station's comlink antenna. No one is allowed to send messages from this lifeless rock. Then stand guard over all the ships." He smiled cruelly. "No one is allowed on or off this asteroid until I have examined that tunnel.''

"What do you think he wants?" Zak whispered to Tash.

They were sitting in what must have been the mining facility's entertainment room. There was a hologame board, several vidscreens, and shelves full of holodisks. Tash and Zak hadn't touched any of them. Instead, they'd settled in front of a small computer. Tash was riffling through its files.

None of the Imperials were in the room. Jerec had accepted Uncle Hoole's story, which was mostly true anyway, that they'd been on their way to the planet Bespin when they'd stopped at Ithor for supplies. The Imperial had seemed more interested in relaying messages to his Star Destroyer, which was hovering just outside the asteroid field. With his mind focused on other things, Jerec had hardly paid any attention to them at all.

Even though no Imperials were in sight, Tash whispered anyway. "I don't know. He talks like he knows what's behind that door. And he wants it."

"Then it can't be good," her brother said.

"I agree," Hoole said. The Shi'ido had sneaked up on them again, giving Zak and Tash a start.

"Uncle Hoole!" Zak said, clutching his heart. "You know, you're almost as scary as that Jerec."

"Do you know anything about him?" Tash asked. "I mean, is he human?

Why does he wear that black band over his eyes?"

"And those tattoos on his face," Zak said. "Are they natural, or did someone put them there?"

Hoole shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with Jerec. He appears human, but I suspect he is not. My guess is that blindness is natural to his species. However, this is no time to question him about his origin."

Hoole pointed to the screen. "Besides, I came to ask questions, not answer them. I thought I would find you at a computer, Tash. Have you had any luck finding information?"

Tash sighed and admitted, "No. The miners did a lot of research about Ithor when they built this place. The records go back thousands of years. There are records for almost every herd ship, every day, for two thousand years. I can tell you almost anything you would want to know about Ithor. But there's nothing about this asteroid."

"Do you get the feeling Fandomar knows more than she's saying?" Zak asked. "She was awfully quiet while we were trying to figure out how to get out of the tunnel."

Tash nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that, too. But I don't think she knew about the trap. There's no way she'd do anything to hurt us."

"Why not?" Zak asked.

"The Law of Life, remember? Fandomar wouldn't hurt a Circarpousian swamp fly, let alone another sentient being," Tash said.

"Maybe she's decided to break the law," Zak suggested. "Her husband's an outlaw, after all."

Hoole nodded. "Jerec mentioned Fandomar's husband, Momaw Nadon. She said he was exiled from Ithor. Can you find out what he did?"

Tash nodded. "Already did. According to the records, the Ithorians know a lot about gene-splicing."

"Is that like making clones?" Zak asked.

"Not exactly," Hoole replied. "Clones are exact copies. In gene-splicing, scientists combine the genes of many different life-forms to make a new one."

Tash continued, "Apparently the Ithorians kept their knowledge to themselves. Momaw Nadon was a High Priest, so he knew all about that stuff. Some Imperial wanted this secret knowledge and forced Momaw to tell him. Even though Momaw did it to save lives, the Ithorians banished him for revealing their secrets.'' '

"That is not prime," Zak muttered. "Gene-splicing. Imperials,"

Hoole muttered. He wrinkled his dark brow. He looked as if he were trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle. "Tash, you said there was a record for almost every day. Is something missing?"

His niece nodded. "There's a gap in the records. For almost a hundred years, nothing is recorded. Then the records start again without mentioning the missing time."

"Curious," Hoole mused. "Perhaps-"

But he was interrupted by one of the stormtroopers, who stomped into the room and growled, "Time to go."

In the docking bay, under the stormtrooper's watchful eye, Hoole and the two Arrandas slipped into their s.p.a.cesuits. Jerec, already dressed in a protective suit, waited impatiently.

The other stormtrooper marched into the docking bay with one of the miners and reported. "I could only find this man. Hodge and the other miner are missing."

"Where are they?" Jerec demanded.

"Here I am!" said Hodge. He came trotting into the docking bay already dressed in his flight suit. He smiled, but his eyes flitted nervously from person to person. He seemed to be looking for something.

"Where is your companion?" Jerec demanded. Hodge hesitated for a fraction of a second. "He went ahead to make sure it was safe."

Tash could tell that Jerec was suspicious. He ordered one of his stormtroopers to remain behind and guard the Starflies to make sure no one left the asteroid. Then he led the way out onto the surface, with the others following. The second stormtrooper brought up the rear. Tash couldn't help noticing that his blaster was set to kill.

They marched along, back toward the slug tunnel. The asteroid was as lifeless as before-except for one change. In the distance, near the tunnel entrance, they could see a small, white figure. As they got nearer, they saw that it was a man in a s.p.a.cesuit.

"There he is," Hodge said. "I told you he was just making sure it's safe. "

They continued toward him. The man did not move. He stood there, waiting for them.

They drew nearer, and still the figure didn't move. He stood perfectly still. Even from a distance, Tash could tell there was something strange about the way he was standing. As they came within a few dozen meters, she realized what it was. He was holding both hands above his head.

He had been holding them above his head the whole time.

They reached the mine. The figure still hadn't taken a single step, and his arms were still reaching over his head.

Tash blinked. His arms weren't reaching. They were floating.

Inside his s.p.a.ce helmet, the miner's face was frozen in an expression of horror.

Even though he was standing on his feet, the man in the s.p.a.cesuit was obviously dead.

CHAPTER 7.

By the look on the miner's face, whatever had killed him had filled him with surprise and terror.

It reminded her of the look on the face of the Ithorian statue.

"But if he's dead, how is he still... standing there?" she whispered.

"Gravboots," Jerec said. He pointed at the miner's feet. The mini-tractor beams in the victim's gravity boots were still functioning. They had pinned his feet to the surface of the asteroid while the rest of his body tried to float away.

Taking command of the situation, Jerec approached the body. "So this is the man you sent out to make sure the trail was safe," he sneered. "It would appear that it is safe. At least from s.p.a.ce slugs."

"What happened to him?" Tash asked.

Jerec reached behind the miner's head and tugged at the hose connecting his air tank to his suit. It came away in two pieces.

"No air," the Imperial said.

Fandomar whispered, "What a terrible accident."

Jerec snorted. "This was no accident. Look at this air hose. It's been cut through by something sharp. A vibroblade or a laser torch."

Jerec looked up. Even through his blindfold, he appeared to glare at them. "This man was murdered."

"But there's no one on the asteroid except us," Hoole said. "And we were all in the mining facility."

"Perhaps," Jerec said. "Perhaps not. I obviously should have brought more guards with me. All of you were out of my sight during at least part of our wait. So unless someone else has sneaked onto the asteroid, I'm sure one of you is a killer."

Tash shuddered as Jerec's skull-like face turned in her direction.

She could feel his dark-side power sweep over her like a scanner. Then it pa.s.sed on to Zak and Hoole.

Tash wondered who could have committed such a horrible act. If it wasn't Jerec himself (which was possible, she thought, since the Imperials had done worse things), then who? It obviously wasn't Zak or Uncle Hoole. Hodge and the other miner weren't likely suspects. Why would they kill their own friend, especially with so many witnesses around?

That left only one person.

Fandomar.

Tash stole a glance at the Ithorian. She had certainly been acting strange since they'd discovered the warning and the tomb. Tash remembered how Fandomar had yelled, "No!" as Hodge tried to break through the sealed door. She'd seemed to know what would happen next. And once they were trapped, she had done nothing to help find a way out.

Then there was the connection between her husband and the Empire.

Whatever was happening, Tash thought, it was all connected to that strange room, or tomb, or whatever it was, at the bottom of the tunnel.

But Tash couldn't believe that Fandomar had killed the miner.

Fandomar seemed so dedicated to the Ithorian Law of Life. Not only had she saved Zak from the vesuvague tree, but she had also defended the actions of the tree itself when Tash thought it should be destroyed.

Besides, Tash didn't get the same sort of dangerous feeling from Fandomar that she got from Jerec. She didn't know if it was her Force sensitivity or just plain common sense, but Tash could tell that Fandomar simply wasn't the kind of being who could kill.

These thoughts raced through her head as they traveled through the tunnel. Jerec did not wait for a glowrod-maybe he didn't need one. He walked ahead of the others, muttering, and soon was out of sight.

At the end of the tunnel, Tash could see indentations in the floor where the stone barrier had fallen. Beyond it stood the weird statue, and beyond that, the tomb. There was no sign of Jerec.

But the door stood open.

Cautiously, they approached the door. Hodge looked frustrated, like a man watching someone else steal his treasure. Fandomar didn't move at all. Hoole crept forward, with Zak and Tash right behind him.

In the silence of s.p.a.ce, Tash thought she could hear her own heart pounding more loudly than a ship's engine. Hoole's words ran through her mind: This tomb was not meant to be opened.

But someone-Jerec? - had opened it.

Hoole reached the half-opened door. Carefully, he leaned inside to try to get a better look around. Suddenly, before Tash and Zak could even blink, something grabbed hold of Hoole and pulled him into the room!

Tash lunged forward without thinking, slipping through the doorway to help her uncle.

She didn't get a good look at the room beyond. She was too surprised at what she saw in front of her.