'For them, it's got to be serious.'
'Perhaps.'
Thetenspikeballs drew back and stopped theirrestless motion.The air was rich with their scent, now tangy,like breeze from a salty sea.
'Iwish Sheekla had told us more,' Anakin said, hiseyes darting around the chamber.
Theatmospherewas thick and damp, as ifastormwere near.
Thespikeballsbegan to vibrate onthefloor.Obi-Wan lookedup to the rim of the chamber wall and saw manymore descending.Thepurposefuldescentquicklyturnedinto frenzied dropping. The carpet of seed-partners unraveledas dozens,then hundreds of the thorny spheres broke freeand fellto collide with their companions in the bottom ofthe bowl. Thespikeballsbounced,whistled,clicked, and released a nose-cloying cloud of electric-flowery scent.
'They'reall going to drop!' Anakin shouted, andturned, buttherewasnowhereto run. Hestoodstraight,then crouched and reached for Obi-Wan. 'This is going to bebad! But whatever you do, don't be afraid!'
Obi-Waninstinctivelyreached forhislightsaber,but thatwould have been useless. All they could dowasstand back-to-back and cover their faces as every spikeball in the chamberpoured down onto the floor in a thorny cascade.In seconds, Anakin and Obi-Wan were awash in the deluge, bumped andbattered mercilessly. They pushed out with theirhands tokeep their faces clear. But the torrent pressed from all sides,rising over their heads and slammingthebacksof theirhandsagainsttheir lips andnoses.Fragmentsof spikeball shells flew into the air, and a cloud of dust rose from the churning heap.
They could not move.
In seconds, they could not even breathe.
Chapter 24
I have great respect for the culture of the Blood Carvers,' Raith Sienar told the tall, quiet, golden figure that stood in the anteroom to the commander's quarters. He could hear Ke Daiv's slow, soft breathing and the steady click-click of his long black nails on one hand, knocking together like wooden chimes in a breeze.
'Why did you bring me here?' Ke Daiv asked after a mo ment. 'It is early in the mission.'
'So insolent!'
'It is my way. I serve and obey, also in my way.'
'I see. Please, make yourself comfortable.' Raith stood back and gestured toward the sitting room.
Ke Daiv moved half a step, then hesitated and bowed slightly. 'I am not worthy.'
'If I say you are worthy, then you are worthy,' Sienar told the young Blood Carver, with just the right measure of sternness.
Ke Daiv bowed again and walked into the viewing room. The port hatches were still closed. The navigator droid had predicted another four or five hours in hyperspace before they emerged into realspace.
'Please, sit' Sienar urged again. He wished to hold his command voice in reserve. He sensed Ke Daiv would be more susceptible in due time, after he learned a few things about his situation-and about Raith Sienar.
Ke Daiv gentry bent his triple joints and knelt by the crystal-top table, rather than sit on the divan.
'Have you been treated well aboard the Admiral Korvin?' Sienar asked.
Ke Daiv said nothing.
'I am concerned with your well-being,' Sienar said.
'I am fed and left alone in small quarters reserved for me. As I am not part of the crew, they stay away, and that is good.'
'I see. Something of a wall there, hm?'
'No more so than on Coruscant. My people are few in that part of the galaxy. We have yet to make our mark.'
'Of course. I, personally, admire your people, and I hope we can exchange information useful to both of us,' Sienar said.
Ke Daiv turned his head, and his face formed that disconcerting blade shape as his wide nose flaps came together. He turned slowly to look at the E-5 droid hulking in one corner. The droid rotated its wide, flat head in their direction, jewel-red eyes glowing like coals, and adjusted its stance to face the Blood Carver directly.
'Do you believe all that you've been told about this mission?' Sienar said.
Ke Daiv shifted one eye toward him, but kept the other on the E-5. 'I have been told little. I know that you do not trust me.'
'We're equal in that regard,' Sienar said. 'And in no other. I am still commander. I am your leader.'
'Why remind me if you are so certain?' Ke Daiv asked bluntly.
Sienar smiled and held out his hands in admiration. 'Perhaps we are equal in other ways. You have doubts, and I have doubts. You know little or nothing about me, or what I hold in reserve.'
Ke Daiv's joints cracked softly, and he looked away from the E-5. The droid did not frighten him. 'What do you wish to know?'
'I understand you have a contract with Tarkin.' 'You cannot understand what you do not know, and you cannot know this.'
