Star Wars - Hunting the Gorach by Jeff Grubb

Author:Jeff Grubb [Grubb, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-06-05T03:21:48+00:00

Instead, the helmet rang with a low, hollow sound. The mud bubbled and erupted with the mire-spattered form of the Hutt, naked now, his armor shed as a decoy. Parella had kept his vibrobayonet, though, and drove it deep into the center of the Gorach’s torso. The surprised creature fell backwards onto the bank, and the Hutt was on top of it in an instant, crushing its wounded legs beneath his bulk, holding it in place while he stabbed it a second time. The Gorach continued to flail about, and Parella stabbed it a third time, and only now did its spasms cease as the light died from its luminous eyes.

Parella pulled himself fully from the pit, scraping off the worst of the thick muck. He dressed the body of his prey as best as he could with the vibrobayonet and slung it over his shoulder. He reflected that he probably had not needed to stab it a third time, but that would be a problem for his taxidermist.

It was almost nightfall when Parella reached his ship with his deadly burden. He turned the jets of his personal shower up high, but the hot steam did little to remove the grit of the Lowickian swamp. He shrugged on a heavy robe, poured himself a strong herbal infusion, and curled up next to his holorecorder. “Expedition Log 2436,” he began. And then he heard someone calling his name, from outside the ship. He lowered the landing ramp and saw the Pa’lowick guide standing in the gathering gloom.

“You’re alive!” said Kashina Furt.

“The hunt is over,” said the Hutt. “Your efforts will be rewarded.”

“I passed out when you threw me down the hole,” warbled the Pa’lowick, “but when I awoke, I found myself in its lair. It was gone, but its lair! Its lair!”

“What madness are you going on about?” grunted the Hutt.

“It is filled with art! Carvings made of stone and simple pottery and firegems! What I found there was a treasure trove! They were I the most beautiful things I have I ever seen!”

“So the Gorach stole shiny objects,” said the Hutt, its eyes reduced to suspicious slits.

“No!” shouted the Pa’lowick, “I found the Gorach’s tools! And his models! He created this art. This was no world-killing tyrant—this was an artist! The greatest artist I have ever seen! You—” the guide stammered, and looked up at the Hutt, “You didn’t kill him, did you?”

Parella looked down at the small Pa’lowick. “The hunt is over,” he repeated. “Your efforts will be rewarded.”

The Pa’lowick stood there, unable to reply, and Parella raised the landing ramp once more. He returned to his cooling tea and touched the record sigil. “Expedition Log 2436,” said the Hutt, and paused for a long moment, thinking of the inert form of the artist in his stasis chamber.

Then he said, “Nothing to report,” and toggled the recorder off.

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