Distant Horizons/Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The Monsters in the Hold

Ghoel’s face turned a pale browny-yellow. He stared at the floor. Hando stared at him, still clutching his bleeding arm. At last, Ghoel spoke. “I cannot know this” he said solemnly, “but I don’t think this is the only one” Hando stared at him. Then he turned away. He paced back to the door and pushed it open. “There you are,” cried Ghai from the table in the corner, “where the hell have you...” “do me a favour will you?” pleaded Hando. The big Herglic stared at him, and then, finally, he raised. Standing at his full height, Ghai was indeed an impressive figure, a towering man of muscle and brawn. But the Herglic was no brute, and he followed Hando into the hall. Hando was searing with a mixture of rage and triumph. At last, the cause of the constant malfunctioning of the life support would be unveiled and destroyed. He tore into a crate of guns and pulled out a KYD-21 assassin pistol. Then he jumped down into the hole and down to the maintenance bunker. He climbed through the large hatch and into the compartment with the life support recharger. Then he listened. He heard a faint rush of air coming from other machinery somewhere else. A faint electric hum was coming the life support recharge. Behind him, Ghai squeezed through the hatch. He was carrying a CR-1 shotgun, in one hand. Hando peered out into the main smuggling hold, and saw Ghoel’s head appear through the hole. “How d’you get down here” he muttered to Ghoel, but there was no answer, even through the magnetic earpiece. Three beings. In the hold. Shia and Trisha were obviously still asleep. “Okay” said Hando, “this should do it”, and he clipped a heat scanner from his belt. He held the sensor high and watched the screen. Ghai breathed heavily behind him. Ghoel was motionless. The engine should have been the hottest, but right now, it had not been switched on for days, maybe even weeks, so it was cool. The hyperdrive was the coolest. No wonder, it was destroyed anyway. The heating was hot, so much was clear, and so were any electrical systems. But apart from himself, Ghai and Ghoel, there was virtually no... “Wait a second,” said Ghai, clutching his gun. “We don’t give off all that heat. No way not even...” but Ghai never finished. That instant, Ghai dropped to the floor, kicking and panting. “Get this thing...” “What?” said Hando. “That... Thingg goaaad” Then Ghai grabbed the vile creature. He threw the sarlacci at the floor, before another leapt at him. Ghai raised his gun and fired. The sarlacci flew into bits and flipped back into the darkness. “Look ooouuut!” he roared, trying to stand again. Hando looked up. A vile mouth full of teeth flew straight at him. He dropped his blaster and clutched the creature. Ghai shot again. Hando felt the searing pain as a single shotgun pellet scraped his crown, but the creature was gone. Hando wiped the sarlacc blood from his head. He grabbed his blaster. A terrible screech atoned from the darkness. Ghai and Hando looked down. A swarm of vile toothed mouths emerged from the blackness. Simultaneously, the two fired their weapons. A blast from Hando hit one of the creatures, sending blood spattering across the mass, and causing the sarlacci to trip over one another. Ghai blasted and blasted. “What do we do man?” he shouted over the screeching mass. Hando gave him an honest look: They had no chance like this. “Ill holder” said Ghai, snatching Hando’s blaster and firing at the mass. Hando climbed back to the corridor, and dashed over to one of the larger boxes. He had a plan. Ghai took another step back. There were too many of them for him. Yes he was big, and yes he was strong. But they were a savage mess. They would eat him alive, and he knew it. He relentlessly kept blasting. The red and orange blasts from the blaster and the shotgun pounded the massive swarm, and still they kept coming closer. Suddenly a huge slimy maw came over his head. He screamed. And blasted the creature, but then another creature got him by the arm. He was done. He tripped and fell, and lay there helpless as the sarlacci began to chew on his flesh. He writhed and kicked. He was like and animal. He wanted to live, however much suffering it involved. He would fight to his last breath to protect himself. He kicked the creatures. He swung his fist at his head, knocking the monster away, and he looked up. But that was only the beginning. Now, there came more. Bigger ones, more powerful ones. They leapt at him, and drowned him in their mass. They piled on top of him, more and more... until suddenly they stopped. The weight on top of him became lighter, flashes of bright light lit up the hold, sarlacci screamed in agony... With his last breath, Ghai tore the sarlacci from his face, and looked up. There was Hando, proud and determined, behind huge E-WEB cannon, blasting the foul horde. Ghai smiled. The proud smuggler captain and warrior in action once more. Ghai watched as the sarlacci were fried and burnt, and then dragged himself towards the wall glowing with victory.