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Read on for an excerpt from Shadow Games by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Available in print and eBook formats November 29, 2011 Dash stopped and rested a hand against the side of a large carboplas container the size of a ships life pod. Half a dozen people could cram themselves in there if they tried, he knew. Do you think theres any way that could happen again? I mean that a fan with a deep desire to get close to Charn could distract someone and either sneak in or . . . leave her a nice, deadly little present? Melikan gave Dash a positively bone-chilling look from his almost colorless eyes. Thats not fannish adoration. Its sabotage. Cant they go hand in hand? The cargo master raised a ginger-colored eyebrow. Before he could comment, a klaxon pierced the holds quiet, making Dash just about jump out of his boots. A calm, female voice followed, expressing every spacers worst nightmare in dulcet tones: Hull breach on the aft quarter deck. Venting atmosphere. Hull breach on the aft quarter deck. Venting atmosphere. The klaxon resumed its wailing as the Novas Heart dropped back into realspace. Shut that stupid thing off! Mel bellowed, racing for the turbolift with Dash on his heels. Sir? An owl-eyed young Sullustan crewman and an Otoga 222 series maintenance droid met them just outside the door to the cargo masters office. Did you mean? Yes, blast it! Shut the klaxon off and stay here. But if theres a hull breach Stay on the comm, Nik. If its bad, youll be told to

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abandon ship. If its not youll get the all-clear. In either case, do not leave this area unless and until youre ordered off the ship. Do you understand? Yessir! Do you wish me to stay, too, Cargo Master Melikan? the droid asked politely as Mel and Dash stepped into the turbolift. Yes! roared the cargo master as the door slid shut. Droids, he added for Dashs benefit. Gotta spell everything out for them. Despite the fact that Nik had turned off the klaxon in the hold, it was going full-tilt on the upper decks, nearly deafening the two Corellians as they stepped from the lift onto the forward section of the quarterdeck. They were not the first ones to respond. Arruna Var and her new Nautolan sidekick were some meters up the corridor, as were Leebo and the med droid, Gea. Arruna, her face covered by a breathing apparatus, was in the process of obtaining atmospheric readings from the aft section of the deck, which had self-sealed automatically after the alarm sounded. As new as he was to the ship, it didnt take Dash more than a moment to recognize his surroundings. His quarters were on the other side of those emergency doors . . . as were Javul Charns. He ran. He reached the group clustered about the emergency doors with Yanus Melikan at his side. He was just in time to see Arruna rip off her breath mask and turn her attention to the doors controls, which were in a panel set into the port bulkhead. She was reaching for the emergency override. Dash put out a hand to stop her. Whatre you doing? he shouted above the klaxon. You want this whole section to vent? She shook her head, making her lekku swing. Theres no leak. Ask your droid. She pulled her arm away from

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him and hit the override. Nothing happened. Frang! she said explosively. The klaxon cut out just then, and the expletive echoed harshly in the suddenly silent hallway. Mel slid into the corner beside Arruna as she began punching codes into the control pad. Whats she mean theres no leak? Dash asked Leebo. The ship seems to think there is. With all due respect, the ship is wrong. Theres no difference in pressure on that side of the bulkhead and no sign that the air is going anywhere it doesnt belong. Dash pointed at the emergency doors. Is Javul Charn in there? We dont know. Well, have you tried to communicate with her? Communications seems to have been affected by the event, said Eaden. Whatever the event was. Dash turned to Mel and Arruna, who were still poking at the control panel. Any luck? Arruna glanced back over her shoulder. The controls are dead. Dash nodded. Leebo, open it. The droids head swiveled toward him, optics glowing. Whatyou mean by brute force? Like thats gonna happen. Do I look like an 11-88 factory droid to you? Move back, Dash said sharply, waving aside Mel and Arruna. They moved back. He pulled his blaster pistol, aimed, and drilled the control panel right above its transparent faceplate. It flew open with a small explosion of sparks and a fizzle. He holstered his pistol. Now open it, he told Leebo. You didnt say the magic wo Dashs blaster was back in his hand. Leebo finished smoothly, but youre under a lot of stress. I under-

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stand. As the droid spoke, it moved to the door control and inserted an index finger into the servo mechanism. Nothing happened. Huh. Thats odd. There appears to be no power reaching this panel at all. He put a second hand to the controls, completing the circuit, and fed a jolt of energy into it. The servo whined, and the doors began to slide open. They got no more than a half a meter apart when they stopped. Thats all I got, boss. Its enough. Dash slipped through the breach and into the aft section of the quarterdeck. It was darkthe emergency lights had apparently been affected as well and eerily quiet. The air was devoid of the countless background noisesthe muffled clicks of relays, the gentle exhalation of recycled air, the felt-more-thanheard thrum of generatorsthat are a starships usual ambience. More than just the lights had been shut down in this section. Eaden came through right behind Dash, every tendril on his head on full alert. All along the corridor the doors were sealed shut. At the far end, Dash could see the blur of light and dark as they hurtled through hyperspace. Leak or no leak, his skin still crawled and his jaw hurt from gritting his teeth. He tried to relax his face. Didnt help much. He waved Eaden to the starboard side of the corridor while he stepped to port. He sensed Mel and Arruna behind him. Arruna, he whispered to the Twilek, get up to the engineering station and see if you can figure out what happened to the power back here. You got it, she said, and headed back. She sounded relieved. Sensible, he thought. Mel, how good are you with a blaster? Scale of one to ten? Twelve. Good. Dash pulled a second pistol out of the hidden holster inside his jacket and handed it to the cargo

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master. Just in case. Mel examined it somewhat dubiously. Of course, thats a scale where one is the best . . . Dash stopped short and looked at him. The other gave a sheepish shrug. Sorry. Cant hit a cargo hold wall from inside. Dash blew his breath out, and noticed that it fogged the air. Even with the yachts state-of-the-art insulation, it was getting cold fast. He quickly adjusted Mels hand on the weapon, ensuring that the mans finger was inside the trigger guard. Squeeze here; death and destruction comes out here. Right? Good. Leebo, stand by. No worries, boss. I was planning on doing just that. Dash passed the door to his own quarters, moving with intent toward Daras rooms. Eaden was slightly ahead of him and reached Dara Farlions door first. He raised several tendrils, tapping their tips lightly across the smooth surface and taking on an attitude of intense listening. After a moment he withdrew his tendrils and shook his head. No one in there. At least, no one eager to get out. If Spike was home, wedve heard it all the way from the cargo hold. Spike? repeated Mel. Pet name. Dash stepped closer to Javuls door. He didnt need head-tresses to tell him what his ears and fingertips couldsomeone was behind that door making a very noisy, violent effort not to be behind that door. He signaled Eaden, who crossed the corridor to join him. I make two voices, he said. Eaden nodded. Agreed. It would seem theyre both in there. And very much aliveat least as long as life support holds out. Dash moved to inspect the exterior control panel. Dead. Dash. Eaden stood with one hand and a couple of

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tresses in contact with the door. Theyve stopped shouting. What? Dash turned back to the door and pounded on it with his fist. Javul! Dara! Hey! No response. He pounded the door again. Hey! Javul! Dara! If you can hear me, bang on the door! Nothing. Leebo! The droid pushed through the half-open emergency doors and moved down the corridor at less than top speed. Oh, yes, Master. Of course, Master. Dash gestured at the door. Can the chatter. I need you to work on this door control. My pleasure. But let me take care of the faceplate this time. Your methods are so . . . brutish. The droid eyed Dashs blaster while moving to the control panel and pressing an index finger to the upper left-hand corner of the defunct control plate. There was a tiny tink! and the plate popped out. Leebo poked an index finger into the guts of the door control. There was a zap! followed by a hum and, with a whisper of sound, the chamber doors slid backto reveal an empty room. The lurid glow of emergency lights washed into the corridor; here, at least, they worked. Not that they helped much, as Dash, Eaden, and Mel quickly learned by checking the entire suite. There was no sign of either Dara Farlion or Javul Charn.

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