Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance (57 page)

"I'm
still here, Cinzia. That's right. We'll all protect you, together. "

"But
what if you were right, Mother? What if the droids have grown too
powerful? That means you agree with Satele Shan and shouldn't argue
against her. I should listen to her, too. Maybe I should use the
overrides to stop the droids now, before it's too late. "

"No,
Cinzia, you mustn't!"

The
fluid coiled around her tighter than ever. Even though she struggled,
she couldn't get a grip on the glass.

"Mother,
let me go!"

"No!"

"I
can't stand by and let innocent people be hurt. You wouldn't have
wanted that. "

"I
must keep you safe!"

"But
I have to-you have to..."

Thick
currents closed around her throat and filled her mouth, silencing the
words. She choked and coughed, unable to fill her lungs.

"Cinzia!"

The
cry came from outside the tank.

Help
me, she tried to shout. Save me!

With
a shattering of glass and a great rush, the tank exploded. Cinzia was
tossed and flung on a wave of writhing liquid. Her mother was
screaming. She was screaming, too. Something hard smacked against her
flesh all down her back and legs. For the first time in her life, she
felt her full weight. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. The
pressure around her throat eased, only to be replaced with another.

"She
can't get enough oxygen, " someone said. The sound was all
wrong. So was the light. "She's not used to breathing air. "

"What
do we do?" That was the other Cinzia. "We have to keep her
alive. "

Cinzia
flapped weakly with one hand.

"Gene...
sampler... " She pointed to the machine that would feed the
other Cinzia's genetic pattern into the hexes' collective memory.
"Promise... save... "

"We're
doing everything we can for you, " said Satele.

She
shook her head. "Save... Mother... "

"She's
in the blood, right?" said the other Cinzia. "I thought she
was killing you. I thought you were drowning. "

"Promise!"

"All
right, all right. I promise. "

Cinzia
couldn't lift, but she could still grip. "Her daughter... her
daughter... "

The
other Cinzia came closer, dragged into focus by the last of her
strength.

"Tell
me... everything. "

*
* *

The
body of the hairless, emaciated girl became still. Master Satele
shook her head. Apart from the trickling and dripping of crimson
fluid, the laboratory was silent.

Ax
fell back onto her haunches and put her hands over her face. What had
just happened? Had she been trying to kill the girl or save her? Not
just any girl, of course: her own clone. Did that make it murder,
suicide, or fratricide?

She
suspected she would never know.

"I'm
sorry, " said Master Satele, touching her lightly on the
shoulder. "The shock killed her. With the right equipment, we
might have..."

Ax
shrugged her off and stood too quickly. Her head swam. She imagined
she heard a voice from the far depths of her memory, weeping and
demanding her attention. She ignored it.

The
gene sampler was exactly where Cinzia had indicated it would be. Ax
crossed to it and stuck her hand into its diagnostic chute. The cold
machine pricked her, drank her blood, hummed to itself, and then
beeped inquiringly.

Ax
felt a brief moment of panic. The machine wanted confirmation of
something. A password? A command phrase? A code?

She
remembered everything Cinzia had said in her final moments. She'd
made Ax promise to save what was left of Lema Xandret. Was there
anything else she'd emphasized? Anything at all?

"
'Her daughter, '" Ax said.

The
machine beeped confirmation.

"What
does that mean?" she asked the room in general. "Do the
hexes now think I'm her? Am I immune to them? Will they obey my
orders now?"

Master
Satele had no answers, and neither did anyone else. The way the fluid
from the tank tugged at her ankles told her nothing she wanted to
know. It had nurtured and smothered Cinzia at the same time-just like
Darth Chratis had Ax herself. Cinzia had broken free the only way
open to her. Ax hoped to have more options.

There
was just one way to find out how the hexes would react to her.

"Let's
go get one and see what happens. "

CHAPTER
45

Larin
was beyond surprise. After escaping the rain of artillery from the
Paramount and riding the skyhook all the way to the equator, it was
with only a mild sense of concern that she felt the structure beneath
her begin to drop. What now?

Jopp
echoed her confusion. "I thought this thing was taking off, and
now it's coming in to land. I wish the hexes would make up their
minds. "

The
skyhook lurched beneath them, and they gripped each other for
support.

"This
doesn't feel like landing, " she said. "Something else..."

She
didn't finish that thought. Every hex in the structure chose that
moment to let go of its neighbor, causing the whole structure to
slump and sag downward. She was suddenly riding an accelerating wave
of individual hexes, not one solid structure. It was like surfing,
but without a board, and a sea of molten lava instead of a beach at
the other end.

"Hang
on!" she cried as the wave of hexes carried them downward.

Jopp
clung to her arm as long as he could, but the tide inevitably swept
them apart. Larin crouched down and gripped the leading edge of a
single hex with all the strength of her prosthetic left hand, hoping
to ride out the wave without tumbling or being crushed. The hex
didn't object. It seemed utterly passive. That surprised her, but she
didn't complain. It was just another surprise on the heels of so
many.

The
torrent of hexes was sufficient to fill the crater that was all that
remained of the former CI site. She flinched as a mass of red fluid
rose up to meet her, but it wasn't lava at all. The bloody fluid came
up to her knees, then stopped rising. She let go of the hex and found
that she could stand.

Feeling
like she was walking in a dream, she stepped from hex to hex toward
the nearest crater wall. There was no sign of Jopp, but she did make
out a figure watching her progress on the edge of the lake, waving
encouragement. As she drew nearer, she recognized the forbidding
black shape of Darth Chratis. It wasn't him waving. That was the
tall, slender figure standing next to him.

Her
heart tripped. It was Shigar.

She
increased her pace. Dream or no dream, she was going to take
advantage of this development while it lasted.

*
* *

Shigar
watched the green-helmeted figure crossing the seething mass of hexes
in the lake. He couldn't be sure it was her, and he told himself not
to get his hopes up. But his gut was certain. There was something
about the way she moved, the slight stiffness of the figure's left
hand as it waved cheerily back.

Darth
Chratis stalked away, still trying to raise the Paramount on his
comlink. Thus far there had been no answer from the fleet above, even
though the comms were finally beginning to clear.

Shigar
walked carefully down the bank as the wading figure approached. He
held out his hand, and finally caught a glimpse of the face inside
the helmet. It was indeed Larin, and she was beaming. With one
powerful tug, he pulled her ashore.

She
flipped up her visor, and he did the same.

"Fancy
meeting you here, " she said.

"Are
you crying?"

"What?
No. I have allergies. And what if I am? It's been a long day. "

He
embraced her. "It sure has. "

She
returned the hug, but not for too long.

"What's
with the hexes?" she asked as they pulled apart.

"I
don't know, " he said. "The thing in the lake disintegrated
as the skyhook arrived. I didn't even know it was made of hexes until
then. They looked confused. Now they're not doing anything at all. "

He
spoke too soon. The center of the lake boiled and bubbled. Hexes
writhed as the leading edge of something large and gray emerged from
the depths. Shigar put his left arm around Larin, ready to protect
her behind a shield if this turned out to be a new kind of attack,
but she pulled away.

"It's
a ship, " she said, hurrying back down to the lake's edge.
"Look!"

He
shaded his eyes. The object did look like a starship. An older model,
of Imperial make, perhaps.

The
ship rolled, presenting one broad flank to the sky. A hatch opened
and two figures climbed out. A strange sound swept across the surface
of the lake-a clicking of metal limbs moving through thick fluid. The
hexes were stirring, forming a new agglomeration.

All
they made was a bridge connecting the ship to the shore. The bridge
was aimed directly for Darth Chratis. He looked up as two figures
began to walk toward him.

Shigar
and Larin loped to join him. A handful of other figures scattered
along the crater rim did the same. Shigar picked up speed when he
recognized Master Satele as one of the pair that had emerged from the
ship. He felt a resurgence of optimism. First Larin, and now her.
Perhaps disaster had been averted after all!

Accompanying
Master Satele was the Sith apprentice, Eldon Ax. Her helmet was off,
exposing wild red hair and dark-rimmed eyes. Shigar was close enough
to hear what she said as she approached her Master.

"I
release myself from your service, Darth Chratis. "

"Nonsense,
" he said with a look of startled outrage. "You are my
apprentice, and so you will remain until I judge you fit to be called
a Sith. "

"You
will release me, " she said, coming to a halt two paces from
him, "or suffer the consequences. "

He
laughed. "What possible consequences can you threaten me with?
Don't tell me this pathetic Jedi has turned you. " He raised his
lightsaber and adopted a ready pose. "I will kill both of you
before you take a single step toward me. "

Master
Satele drew her blade in response and Shigar wished he hadn't lost
his.

But
Eldon Ax didn't move. "I have not been turned, " she said.
"I have simply realized how I have been used. My anger was
constantly directed outward, at my mother and Dao Stryver, or inward
at myself. The person I should have been most angry at was standing
right beside me. My teacher. My Master. You. "

Darth
Chratis grinned like a skull. "Anger leads to hate, " he
said. "Hate leads to power. See how well I have taught you?"

"You
have indeed taught me well. And so I release myself from your
service, my lord, knowing that you never would. "

A
growing sound from behind her caught Darth Chratis's attention. The
hexes were rising up in an enormous swell and flowing out of the
lake. Dripping blood-like fluid, they came en masse for the huddle
standing on the crater's edge. Larin took Shigar's arm and pulled him
well out of the way. Master Satele joined them. Only Ax and her
Master stood before the ghastly tide.

Lightning
flashed. Darth Chratis's lightsaber stabbed and cut. But there were
too many of them for one man-even a Sith Lord-to hold them back. Ax
did nothing as the swell enveloped them both.

"What's
going on?" asked Larin.

Over
the noise of the hexes, Master Satele replied, "I think our
young friend has discovered who she really wants to be. "

"And
who is that?" Shigar asked.

With
a high-pitched whine, a shuttle swooped low overhead. Master Satele
looked up as the craft came around to land. It displayed Republic
insignia, and was closely tailed by an Imperial counterpart. They
touched down on either side of the tentacle of hexes that had lunged
out of the lake.