New Threat by Elizabeth Hand Page A

out?
    He was working on pure intuition now. The curved passage seemed to spiral endlessly up into the fortress. Sometimes it would branch. When that happened, Boba would choose one way or another, on
instinct.
    He came to another place where the tunnel divided. To his left, it curved upward, its smooth walls gleaming purple. To Boba’s right, the passage curved slightly downward. Here the tunnel
had a deeper glow, almost indigo.
    Wonder what that means?
thought Boba.
    For a moment he paused, thinking. Then he placed his hand on his blaster, and walked boldly into the right-hand passage.
    He hoped he’d made the right choice.
    Up until now he had—but not anymore.
    Boba didn’t know it yet. But his good fortune was about to dissipate like the malvil’s spores.

CHAPTER TWENTY
    The air here was warmer; so deep and dark a blue it was almost black. Boba didn’t want to risk shining a light in the tunnel. He adjusted the infrared on his helmet, but
that seemed to make it worse. So he moved very slowly, feeling his way. His gloved hands stuck to the slick walls. The soft, dank floor sucked at his boots. Worse, the faint thrumming sound was
louder here. He could feel the floor vibrating under his feet. Ahead of him, the tunnel’s walls grew uneven. As Boba drew closer, he quickly yanked his hand away.
    Flabby, pale, fingerlike growths extended from the wall’s surface. As Boba stared, they wriggled like the tendrils of a Bestine sea anemone. The tendrils were dark purple. Their tips were
crimson.
    “The Xabar fungus!” Boba exclaimed, recoiling. He remembered Xeran’s warning: The tentacles released a paralyzing toxin.
    “Who goessss there?”
    A hissing voice slashed through the air. Boba looked up sharply.
    “Stranger—identify yourself!”
    Boba felt his stomach clench—but not with fear. Anger had been building inside him ever since he entered the fortress.
    Now it boiled over.
    A shadowy figure stood before him. Tall, with greenish skin, cold deep-set eyes, a lipless mouth. Even in the indigo darkness Boba recognized him.
    The Clawdite, Nuri!
    It had been two years since Boba had last seen him. That was on Aargau. The shapeshifter had been smaller then. So had Boba.
    But Boba was definitely bigger now—bigger, and stronger, and heavily armed. And this Clawdite had betrayed Boba. Boba had trusted him. In return, the shapeshifter had stolen what
remained of his father’s fortune.
    “Nuri,” Boba said in a low, controlled voice. He saw the Clawdite’s eyes narrow. “You owe me.”
    “Owe you?” The Clawdite did not recognize him. His gaze shifted uncertainly from Boba to the passage behind him.
    “That’s right,” said Boba. He drew his vibroshiv.
    He lunged for the shapeshifter. As he did, Nuri’s form seemed to melt. His neck grew longer and longer. His arms and legs shrank into nothingness. His head narrowed. Long, knife-sharp
teeth filled his mouth. Feathered scales covered his body. Where the Clawdite had been, a huge arrak snake drew back to strike. Its glittering green eyes fixed on Boba. Then, hissing furiously, it
wrapped its coils around him.
    “Not so fast!” Boba yelled. He struggled against the thick, powerful serpentine shape. The arrak snake’s coils began to tighten. Boba fought for breath. His vibroshiv fought to
discover some weak spot in the snake’s scaly armor—
    And found it! Just beneath the snake’s fanged jaw there was a patch of flesh unprotected by scales. Boba plunged the vibroshiv there—when once again the shapeshifter’s form
changed!
    In place of the arrak snake was a copper-colored dinko. It had crushing jaws, and pointed talons the length of Boba’s arm. Its jaws snapped at Boba. When he kicked back at it, a
foul-smelling spray squirted from the dinko.
    “Ugh!” Boba staggered backward. For a moment even his Mandalorian helmet was no help—the fumes choked him. Then his secondary filters kicked in. Coughing and shaking, Boba
struck back. The dinko