Star Wars - 210 - Jedi Prince 01 - The Glove of Darth Vader (6 page)

"It fits your hand perfectly, your lordship," said Grand Moff Hissa, flattering Trioculus,

"as though it were made for you to wear!"

They proceeded to Captain Dunwell’s cabin.

When they approached the part of the corridor where the sabacc game was being played, Grand Moff Hissa cautioned Trioculus, telling him that the noisy Aqualish gamblers in their path seemed to be out of control.

As Trioculus drew closer, the gang of Aqualish didn’t even look up, let alone step out of his way. They were as rude and stupid as any Aqualish he had ever encountered anywhere in the galaxy.

Grand Moff Hissa clicked his heels to get their attention. "Why aren’t you Aqualish at your work stations?" he demanded.

But there was no reply, only a snarling growl from the loser and a coarse laugh from the winner as he picked up his credit chips. Trioculus’s three eyes turned fiery.

"You are blocking the path of the Supreme Ruler of the Empire!" Grand Moff Hissa shouted.

"Clear a path and get back to work now or you’ll all be executed!" The one with the thickest tusks just sneered, then spit on the floor and hissed at the Imperials.

"How dare you!" an enraged Trioculus boomed, raising the glove of Darth Vader and pointing it at the Aqualish who had just insulted him.

But to Trioculus’s amazement nothing happened.

The glove didn’t work for him the way it had worked for Darth Vader, who had been able to choke the life-breath out of his victims by pointing the glove in their direction. Scowling, Trioculus raised his other hand and lightning bolts flowed from his fingertips, causing the offending Aqualish to crumple to the ground, kicking and writhing. The electricity quickly reduced him to an unrecognizable heap.

The remaining Aqualish scattered at once, without any further incident. Moments later Trioculus, Grand Moff Hissa, and Emdee arrived at the captain’s private quarters. Captain Dunwell agreed to depart so that the Imperial leader could confer with his most trusted advisors without being disturbed.

Shaking his head in disgust, Trioculus sat down in the captain’s favorite chair. "When Darth Vader pointed this glove, he had the power to choke his victims," he said. "The glove is useless if it no longer has that power."

"The important thing to remember," said Grand Moff Hissa, "is that the glove is a great symbol of evil. As we know, the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side, Kadann, prophesied that the new Emperor would wear that glove. And now that you wear it, none of the Imperial warlords can question your claim to be our new Emperor. And Kadann won’t be able to question your authority, either, once we go to Space Station Scardia and prove to him that you have found it."

"I’m not interested in symbols," said Trioculus. "I want the same power as Darth Vader!" Grand Moff Hissa continued. "My lord, you must realize that, though you are a great slavelord, it could still take many years for you to become a True Master of the Dark Side. Don’t forget, the lightning bolts don’t flow naturally from your fingertips like they did with Emperor Palpatine. Emdee had to implant a cybernetic device inside of you so that you could appear to have the lightning power. But if you use it too many times, all that electricity could prove fatal to you. You mustn’t use it anymore. Fortunately, however, the lightning device has already served its purpose. It helped us to convince everyone that you are the Emperor’s son, which is exactly what the Central Committee of Grand Moffs wanted to do."

"Never forget," Trioculus said with a blaze of anger in all three of his eyes, "that when the Central Committee of Grand Moffs proposed to me that I be the one to declare himself the Emperor’s son, you grand moffs swore you would keep the plot a secret. And in turn I agreed that when I became Emperor, I would share my rule with the Central Committee of Grand Moffs."

"And I hope you shall never forget," said Grand Moff Hissa, bearing his pointy teeth,

"that we dreamed up this plot only because we had absolutely no choice. The Emperor’s real three-eyed son, Triclops, is hopelessly insane, and all of our attempts to cure him have met with failure. Obviously it’s better that a trusted three-eyed mutant, such as yourself, should take his place, my lord. If we were to permit Triclops to rule the Empire, his madness would surely bring about the end of us all!" Emdee removed a small utility case from his left side. He opened the case, then carefully took out five very tiny mechanisms, each the size of a man’s fingertip.

"I can put one of these inside the tip of each of the glove’s fingers," Emdee said, holding one of them up. "When your fingers press against these devices, they will give off a piercing, high-frequency sound, an earsplitting pitch heard only by the one you’ve aimed the glove at. It will make your victims gasp and fall to their knees. Their eardrums will explode and their brains disintegrate, just like Darth Vader was able to do with his own natural power."

Luke stared through a minisub window down at the giant squid, which lay almost lifeless in a huge, cube-shaped Whaladon storage chamber. He breathed a sigh of relief that the squid had been stunned into a state of unconsciousness by the whirlpool. However, there was no relief at all for him when he realized that the minisub was trapped inside the same storage chamber as the squid. Although Luke, Admiral Ackbar, and the two droids were safe for the moment, they had to find a way out-fast.

Ackbar piloted their minisub to the top of the storage chamber, which was filled with seawater. Then he attached their sub magnetically to a hatch that led into the main corridor of the Whaladon-hunting submarine. Artoo sent an electronic signal that caused the hatch to pop open.

"Good work, Artoo," said Luke. "Admiral Ackbar, I think you should wait here and be ready in case we need to make a quick escape."

Moments later Luke, Artoo, and Threepio walked cautiously down the corridor. Passing several other Whaladon storage chambers, they looked down into them and saw a trapped Whaladon in each.

Then they saw the chamber where Leviathor was imprisoned. Leviathor was flapping his tail aimlessly, moaning sadly.

Luke spied Captain Dunwell, who was standing alone, armed with a standard blaster, staring down at Leviathor. Luke recognized Dunwell immediately from the WANTED holograms that Ackbar had projected for him.

The captain was stroking his beard. He was deeply disturbed because he had overheard the conversation between Trioculus, Grand Moff Hissa, and Emdee. Captain Dunwell had deliberately bugged his own quarters with hidden microphones. And Trioculus, in his haste to find a private place to talk, had forgotten to have Grand Moff Hissa check for any listening devices.

The captain now knew some very dark and dangerous secrets. But what should he do with this information?

As Captain Dunwell glanced up, he suddenly noticed Luke, Threepio, and Artoo. He pulled out his blaster and fired two short blasts, one of which struck Artoo and sent the little droid spinning around and around in a circle.

Luke instantly drew his lightsaber. He struck the blade against Captain Dunwell’s blaster, and the weapon tumbled out of the captain’s hand.

"Who are you?" the captain demanded. "And how did you get on board this ship?"

"I’m asking the questions and giving the orders now, Captain," said Luke. "And here’s order number one. You’re going to find us a computer terminal so we can hook up with this ship’s master control system."

"A computer terminal won’t do you any good," replied the captain. "You could never decipher our data codes."

"I seriously doubt that Artoo here will have any problem with your codes," said Luke.

"Kill me if you want. But I’ll never help you!"

Using a Jedi mind trick that Obi-Wan Kenobi had taught him, Luke looked Captain Dunwell straight in the eyes and said, "You’ve mistaken us for your enemies."

"I’ve mistaken you for my enemies," a dazed Captain Dunwell repeated in a soft voice.

"You wanted us to come here so we could help you."

"I wanted you to come here," said the captain.

"We’re supposed to check your master control," said Luke, continuing to use his Jedi mind power. "Now take us to a computer terminal quickly."

"I will take you to a terminal."

The captain lead them up one corridor and down another. Finally he showed them to a computer terminal.

"Artoo," said Luke, "hook into this terminal and figure out how to crack the communication code. Then instruct the ship’s master control to open the doors to the Whaladon storage chambers. Let all the Whaladons free!"

Artoo extended a little metal arm and hooked himself into the computer terminal.

"You fool," said Captain Dunwell, recovering his senses. "You think that little utility droid of yours can crack a code I spent three years creating?"

"Gaaaaaz booop dweeet!" beeped Artoo.

"He says you underestimate him, Captain," said Threepio. "He says Darth Vader’s codes used to be much more complicated than yours, and it never took him more than fifteen seconds to figure those out."

"Artoo, I just thought of something," Luke said. "Before you free the Whaladons, the first thing you should do is scan the ship’s data banks. Find out if this vessel has a self-destruct system."

"It doesn’t," said Captain Dunwell.

"Zuuuuung! Galooooop!" squawked Artoo.

"Artoo says it does, Master Luke," Threepio confirmed.

"Excellent," said Luke. "Find out the precise self-destruct code. Tell me when you’ve got it."

"Trioculus expects me to be back in the navigation room by now," said Captain Dunwell. "If he comes looking for me and finds you, he’ll destroy you instantly!"

"Zoooosh-bee-dwee," beeped Artoo, rolling his domed top around to show his excitement.

"He has the self-destruct code, Master Luke," explained Threepio.

"Good droid, Artoo. Now punch in the self-destruct code and set the ship to blow up in . .

. "

Luke stopped to think. How much time would the Whaladons need to swim to a safe distance? And how much time would he, his droids, and Admiral Ackbar need to get their Calamarian minisub away from here without being destroyed by a gigantic explosion?

"Give us ten minutes-that should do it," said Luke. "And if it doesn’t, well then we’re all history."

"You can’t do this!" Captain Dunwell protested. Artoo beeped and squeaked and whirred.

"Booooshsh! Zweeech!"

"Artoo says yes we can," Threepio translated. "Just watch us."

"Ziiish bajoooop!" Artoo tooted.

"Self-destruct is activated, Master Luke!" reported Threepio. Just then alarm bells started to go off and warning lights blinked along the corridor.

CHAPTER 7

The Captain’s Reward

"Quick, Artoo!" said Luke. "Tell the master control to free the Whaladons!"

"He’s searching for a way to do it, Master Luke," said Threepio. "He’s looking and-oh, gracious, he can’t find it! Keep looking, Artoo. We’ve got to save Leviathor and the other Whaladons before-"

Suddenly Trioculus appeared down at the end of the hall. "Oh, no, Master Luke, Trioculus has found us!" Threepio shouted. "We’re doomed!"

"Your droid has grasped your situation well, Skywalker," said Trioculus. He raised his gloved right hand and pointed it at Luke. "Now prepare to die!" he shouted. Luke ducked behind Captain Dunwell. Gripping the captain, Luke positioned him directly in front of the glove of Darth Vader.

Captain Dunwell gasped as a high-pitched deadly sound vibration struck him. Luke then lifted the captain and heaved him, making him collide with Trioculus and toppling them both to the floor. Then Luke drew out his lightsaber.

"Jeeep booo poooooz!" tooted Artoo.

"Success!" shouted Threepio. "Artoo has instructed the master control to free the Whaladons!"

Just then the doors of the Whaladon storage chambers began to open. All the while the alarm bells were getting louder and the warning lights were flashing faster. Time was getting short before the Whaladon-hunting submarine would self-destruct in a furious explosion that would destroy them all.

Trioculus raised his left hand, electricity crackling from his fingertips. Luke met the electric bolt with his lightsaber, deflecting it. Trioculus’s eyes bulged and his chest froze, as the warning of Grand Moff Hissa flooded back into his mind. The lightning power would be the death of him if he continued to use it. He was not yet a True Master of the Dark Side, not yet able to absorb intense electric shock without experiencing side effects. But Trioculus allowed the flow of electricity to increase, aiming the bolts so that they would avoid Luke’s lightsaber blade and strike him directly in the chest. Luke crumpled to the ground, writhing on the floor as he felt the full force of the powerful jolts. Trioculus continued to pour bolts of electricity from his fingertips until Luke had stopped stirring. Then he lowered his hand and spoke rapidly into a pocket communication device. "Hissa, power up the escape sub! Quickly!" Hissa’s reply came from the device. "We’ll need Captain Dunwell’s key card to power it up!" Trioculus turned to the captain. "Hand me your key card for the escape sub! At once!" By the time Trioculus had snatched the key card from Captain Dunwell’s hand, Luke Skywalker was back on his feet and was running down the corridor that would lead him to the Calamarian minisub.

"You may have escaped from Emperor Palpatine, but I shall destroy you, Skywalker!" Trioculus shouted. "You have my promise!"

Luke kept running-all the way back to the Calamarian minisub. He crawled through the hatch and saw that Threepio and Admiral Ackbar were already strapped into their seats waiting for him, and Artoo was in position, too.

They began their escape. The giant squid was just beginning to stir as Ackbar deftly navigated their Calamarian minisub over its slowly writhing body. A tentacle nearly grabbed them, but Ackbar successfully steered a course through the open door of the storage chamber and into the ocean depths.

As they sailed away, Luke looked out the window and saw Leviathor leading the freed Whaladons back through the Seascape Mountains, swimming as fast as their fins would take them.