“To anyone who can hear my voice,” she said, trying to ignore the fight that raged behind her, “this is Rhil Dairo of the GoNet news team. Valo is under attack by Nihil forces. Please send assistance. Repeat, Valo is under attack. We need your help.”

She slammed a control on the terminal, sending the message out on a loop.

Beside her, OrbaLin was in trouble, pinned under the Lamproid, using the Force to deflect its venomous stinger that was trying to stab down at him. The alien had managed to yank the staff from the Ugor’s hand, flinging it to the side. Pulling the cables from her face, Rhil lunged for the weapon, funneling all her anger and rage into a swing worthy of a speedball batter. The Lamproid’s head snapped around, but it didn’t let up, continuing to press down on the archivist. Rhil tried again, but this time the Nihil was ready. It grabbed the staff with one of its pincers, twisting hard to break her grip. The world went white as the end of the staff found her head, sending her spinning back into the wall.

Hissing, the Lamproid threw the weapon clear, slashing across OrbaLin’s chest with a serrated claw. If the Nihil expected blood, it was disappointed: Green jelly gushed up into the Lamproid’s face, OrbaLin’s true gelatinous form finally flowing free of the containment suit. The Lamproid thrashed and twisted, but there was no escape, the archivist encasing his opponent within seconds.

Who needed a lightsaber?

As Rhil watched in ever-so-slightly grossed-out fascination, a snakelike pseudopod stretched up from the top of the cocoon, forming a rough approximation of a mouth, complete, it seemed, with vocal cords.

“The signal?” OrbaLin asked, his voice wet and garbled.

Rhil scrambled back to the relay unit and saw to her horror that the message had stopped transmitting. Had the Nihil discovered it? She pressed buttons and turned dials, trying not to look at the smashed remains of her cam droid to the side of the unit’s main screen.

Her cry for help had transmitted, of that she was 99 percent certain, but there was no way of knowing if it had been heard.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Fair park, Valo

Elzar didn’t even have time to curse beneath his breath as Ty disappeared into the war-cloud. The roar sounded almost as soon as she vanished, followed immediately by a scream. Without thinking he raised a hand, doubts banished as his lightsaber flew back into his palm. Elzar hadn’t even known when it had fallen, but the Force knew. The Force hadn’t deserted him, no matter what he had done. That had to be worth something.

Now all he had to do was to get back to the business of saving lives.