Zak felt the cold metal of the blaster press against his forehead and braced himself for the shot. Hoole did not fire right away. He waited, prolonging the moment of terror with an evil laugh. A quiver of terror ran through Zak like a groundquake, and he hugged himself to keep still. His hand brushed against something hard in the pocket of his tunic. He felt the square shape of the sabacc card shuffler and pulled it out. "Enough torment, Hoole," Gog said. "End this once and for all." Hoole nodded and began to squeeze the trigger. But before he did, Zak shoved the sabacc shuffler in Hoole's face and squeezed. The sabacc cards rattled and flew out of the shuffler chute. A deck full of hard plastic wafers slapped Hoole in the face. The Shi'ido grunted and reeled backward, waving his free hand be- fore him to clear his sight. "Run!" Zak yelled. Tash was already ahead of him, racing for the turbo- lift. Zak slipped into the lift just as the doors closed. "Everything's gone crazy! Everything!" he shouted at the walls. Tash's only answer was a violent shudder and a whisper: "One of us must die." The lift doors opened and they ran for the exit. As they reached it, they heard another turbolift open, and a blaster shot burned a hole in the wall to their left. Hoole was chasing them. They were running through a horror-filled ainuse- ment park, being chased by their own uncle, who was working for the galaxy's most evil scientist. Zak real- ized that Tash might be right they might not get out of Fun World alive. A blaster bolt passed so close to Zak, he heard it burn the air around his ear. "In here!" he panted, and ducked into the nearest doorway.

  He stumbled forward and found himself floating in . deep space. This time, however, it was not the lifeless cold of real space. Zak was standing in the cavernous Star Chamber, which he and Tash had visited on their first day in Hologram Fun World. Stars and planets whirled past his head. "Zak? You okay?" Tash said weakly. He saw her in the light of a passing sun, nine planets spinning around it. "I feel like you sound," he answered. "I'm miserable," she replied. "This is worse than anything, Zak. I thought it hurt when Mom and Dad died, but this..." she choked on the rest of her words. "And I failed. I could have saved you from those machines. I could have used the lightsaber. But I blew it. I want to be a Jedi so badly, but I was always afraid to fail..." "You didn't blow it, Tash," Zak said. "I think you saved us by dropping the lightsaber. It didn't matter that you were afraid." Something about his own words pricked Zak's mem- ory, but before he could follow the thought, a new so- lar system came rushing through the void at them. "Zak!" Tash started. "Do you know what system that is?" "You're the one who does all the studying." "It's Alderaan!" She was right. He recognized the planets of the Alderaan system including the hologram of their own blue-green planet. The system swept toward them and then slowed down, hovering a few meters away. Zak swallowed. "I never thought I'd see home again, even in a hologram." Then a single sphere appeared in the darkness. It was silver, and cold, and as it approached, they saw the thousands of laser towers on its surface. The approach- ing globe was pocked by one single indentation, like an eye, that slowly rotated toward the planet Alderaan. It was the Death Star. "No!" Zak and Tash yelled together. The Death Star's eye began to glow as the massive battle station powered up its superlaser. There was a blinding Aash. A powerful energy beam streaked through the holographic darkness and punctured Al- deraan. A second later, nothing remained of the planet but a cloud of debris spreading out through space. Tash and Zak's despair turned to fear when the Death Star rotated to face them. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Zak warned, backpedaling away. "Where's the door?"

  Tash scanned the room, but saw only the whirling .' planets of the galaxy. "I don't see it." "Here!" a voice called out. Tash and Zak recognized the sound immediately.

  "Deevee!" "Over here!" the droid called again. They ran toward the sound, dodging in and out of a dozen star systems, running from one end of the galaxy to the other, outrunning even the holographic Death Star. Deevee stood in a square of light framed by the doorway, holding out one beckoning hand. Sprinting past him, they burst out of the galaxy and back into Fun World. "Thank goodness I found you!" Deevee started. "I've been all over this holographic madhouse " "Never mind that!" Zak snapped. "We need a place to hide. This entire place is a killing machine. And I think Uncle Hoole is involved." The droid's circuits whirred. "Master Hoole? You must be mistaken " His sentence was cut off by a blaster bolt that sizzled through the space between the droid and the boy. Hoole had found them. "This way!" the droid said. "I know where we can hide." Zak and Tash followed their caretaker droid, who hurried down a few twisting, turning lanes past the Volcano Slide and the Hall of Reflection. Although Hoole was out of sight in a few moments, Deevee kept up the pace. Tash, however, could go no farther. "My head I have to rest," she said. She staggered over to a small stone bench and sat down. "We can't stop!" Deevee cried. "No," Zak replied. "We can't go any farther now anyway." "It's not safe here!" Deevee nearly screeched. "It's too much, Deevee," Tash gasped, trying to clear her head. "Everything that's happened. It's like our worst nightmares come true." His sister's words struck Zak like a blow to the head. It's like our worst nightmares come true. "Tash, that's it!" Everything came into focus like a steamed mirror suddenly clearing. "That's why we keep stumbling across all these terrible scenes. That's how the rancor killed Lando. And why I was attacked by technology. And why you blew your chance to be a Jedi." Tash didn't understand. "Zak, what are you " Zak interrupted his sister. "Yes! That's why Uncle Hoole betrayed us because you and I have both been afraid that the one adult willing to take us in might turn out to be evil. And we were both forced to con- ,'- front our worst fear the destruction of Alderaan!" ' He looked at his sister. "We've gone through our worst ' nightmares because it's part of the program. "We're still inside The Nightmare Machine!" "Nonsense," Deevee said flatly. Tash blinked. "We left The Nightmare Machine, re- member, Zak? We haven't been inside it since yester- day." "Exactly," the droid added. "Exactly wrong," Zak almost shouted. "We never left. Everything that has happened since then has hap- pened inside The Nightmare Machine. Remember that creature I saw the first time I went in? It's the same one I've been seeing ever since. Fajji said that the pro- gram read people's minds to discover their fears. But Deevee said that no machine could read minds only certain living beings."

  Deevee admitted, "Actually, Zak, on further consid- , eration, I think I may have erred. It might be possi- ble " "Besides," Tash interjected, "Fajji said they'd in- vented new technology." "He was lying!" her brother insisted. "That brain creature must read minds and create the illusions. I really did see it. And we both just saw Gog. If Gog's here now, that means he could have been here be- fore and I could have actually seen him experi- menting on those two kids! We're in big trouble here!" He leaped to his feet. "We've got to get back to The Nightmare Machine. That's the only way out." "That wouldn't be wise," Deevee quickly countered. "We should stay here." Zak furrowed his brow. "A minute ago you wanted us to find a hiding place. Now you want us to stay here?" To Tash, Zak's argument sounded unbelievable. She was willing to believe that hidden machines created the illusion of a rancor or another person next to her but what machine could make her think an entire space station like Fun World was real, and keep up the illu- sion for two days? "Zak, if Gog were behind this, why wouldn't he have just killed us? He's had the chance." "I don't know," her brother said. "Maybe he's test-ing out The Nightmare Machine creature. Think about it. It's the fear we were put through, never the real danger. Every time we were about to actually get killed, we were saved by " Zak stopped cold. He looked at Deevee. "We were saved by you.*' The droid stiffened indignantly. "I was merely doing my duty." Zak did not respond at first. He could not. He re- membered how fast Deevee had run from the rancor. How Deevee had suddenly produced a laser torch to open the Whaladon's mouth. How Deevee had ap- peared just as the Death Star was about to disintegrate them. "You've been reacting to the holograms," Zak said, his voice barely above a whisper. "What?" Tash asked. "Deevee's been reacting to the holograms. The ran- cor. The Whaladon. The Death Star. He's been treat- ing them like they're real. But he said he couldn't do that, remember?" The droid huffed. "Zak Arranda, I was merely doing my duty as your caretaker, as I have in the past." "If your opponent's acting normal under unusual circumstances, you can bet he's bluffing," Zak recited Lando's lesson.

  He looked at his sister. "Tash. Deevee is a hologram, too." As the words left Zak's mouth, Deevee emitted a roar of supreme rage. His body began to change. Small hatches opened up in his metal plating, producing laser weapons and vibroblades. His face changed into a gruesome metallic war mask. Deevee had transformed into a battle droid. Zak stumbled backward and tripped over the stone bench, barely dodging a slashing vibroblade as Tash scrambled out of the way. The battle droid that had once been Deevee hesitated a moment, unsure which target to pursue. Seeing his chance, Zak broke into a run, circling around the droid and joining up with his sister. Together they ran. "D-Do we need to run?" Tash gasped. "I mean, if it's just a hologram..." "Ask Lando," Zak sputtered in reply. "Whatever's happening here, it's real enough to kill if we let it. We have to find a way out. We have to get back to The Nightmare Machine." Zak turned down a street he thought led back toward the center of Fun World. But the nightmarish landscape had fooled him. Instead of heading toward The Nightmare Machine, Zak and Tash found them-selves on the green gem path they'd followed when they first arrived at Hologram Fun World. Before they knew it, they were standing at the door to the airlock. "Blaster shot!" Zak swore. "How do we get back to The Nightmare Machine?" "If we're already inside The Nightmare Machine, I'm not sure that would help, or that we could," Tash guessed. "How did Fajji say to end the game?" "Of course!" Zak said. He yelled at the top of his lungs, "End simulation!" Nothing happened. He yelled it again and again. Each time nothing hap- pened except that his voice drew the battle droid to them. The droid appeared at the far end of the path, stomping toward them. "It's not working," Zak groaned. "What's the other way?" Tash tried to think. "Fajji said there was another way." Zak remembered. "To win the game, you have to face your worst fear. Maybe that's what we have to do!" "But we already have! We've lost our uncle! We lost Deevee! I lost the power I thought was the Force! What more could happen?" Zak knew. He knew it as surely as he knew his own name, and he said it quickly. "We could lose each other."

  The battle droid was closing in on them. "My worst fear isn't being attacked by technology, or eaten by a rancor, or even losing Uncle Hoole. Tash, my worst fear is losing you! My sister!" The battle droid was almost upon them. "Don't you see? We haven't faced our worst fear yet because we're still together!" Zak's urgent words cut through Tash's brain like a laser. In the time it took to think a thought, she real- ized: "My intuition. It has been working all along. It's been trying to tell me, Zak. 'One of us must die!' Get it?" A blaster bolt melted the gems in the path at their feet. Zak looked around, and his eye settled on the air- lock door. He pushed open the first door, and stepped into the airtight room beyond. Now just one thick door separated him from the lifeless void. He pointed. "Should we go together?" Tash shook her head. "I think we have to separate. That's the fear. Being apart. Losing each other." He nodded and reached for the button that would open the second door. "Zak!" Tash burst out. "Listen, I tease you a lot, but you're my brother, and " "Yeah," he said, happy to interrupt his sister for once in a conversation. "Me too." Zak put his hand on the button and looked back. The battle droid was almost in reach of Tash. At the last moment, he hesitated. A new fear chilled his heart. What if Tash were a hologram, too? What if she were an illusion designed to trick him into destroying him- self? He shrugged. That was just another fear he was go- ing to have to face. He pushed the button. Zak felt like the hands of an invisible giant had thrown him out of Fun World. Head over heels, he found himself spinning out into... nothing. It wasn't air, it wasn't water. It was the void, and it was so cold that his bones turned instantly brittle. Everything went black.

  Zak woke with a jolt, as though his mind had suddenly slammed back into his body. He was lying on cold metal. For a inoment, he could not move. His body felt heavy. His arms and legs were numb. He felt like he'd been sleeping for many hours. He could not open his eyes. Straining with his ears, Zak heard a soft, wet, squish- ing sound, like the sound of liquid passing through a suction tube. The sound was very close. He listened carefully. The sound was coming from right between his own eyes. Because he was blind, his other senses sharpened, and Zak felt the skin on his forehead. Something was stuck to the skin of his head. Some- thing was stuck into the skin of his head. Gathering all his strength, Zak forced his eyes to open. He was staring into a bright light and he blinked once, twice, three times, before his vision cleared. He was lying down, looking up at the ceiling of The Nightmare Machine. Between him and the ceiling, on a pedestal, crouched the brain creature. It screeched angrily at him. Zak managed to sit up. Tash was lying on a table next to him, and she, too, was waking up. Beyond her was another table, and still another, where other victims lay unconscious. Each of them had a thick, wet tentacle attached to their fore- heads. The strings of flesh stretched from each victim back to the fearsome creature's gaping mouth. Zak's stomach turned when he realized that he, too, had a tentacle attached to his head. Gagging, he grabbed at the tendril. It ripped away from his skin with a sickening squish, and The Nightmare Machine creature wailed. Beside him, Tash freed herself the same way. The creature squealed in pain and rose up to its full height. Its weird spindly arms thrashed through the air.

  Then it fell back into a quivering crouch, snarling at Zak and Tash.

  Zak and Tash backed away from the creature. The monster took one menacing step off its pedestal. Zak felt his back touch a wall, and at the same time, he realized someone on the other side was pounding desperately on it. He turned, saw a door, and quickly slapped the opener. The door slid back. Lando Calrissian leaped into the room, a small hold- out blaster in his hand. The brain creature took an- other step forward, snarling at the newcomer. Without hesitating, Lando leveled his weapon and fired. An en- ergy bolt pierced the creature's oversized head, shat- tering its skull. "Lando!" Zak cried joyfully. "You're alive!" The gambler's roguish grin was gone. "I could say the same for you, kid." He looked back over his shoul- der. "Don't count your dragon eggs before they're hatched. We're not out of this yet." "I'm afraid Master Calrissian is correct," said a fa- miliar voice. Deevee stepped into the room. The real Deevee, Zak knew. He did not bother to greet his two charges. "The stormtroopers are closing in." "Stormtroopers?" Tash asked. Lando explained .in a rush. "When you and Zak went back into The Nightmare Machine, Deevee and Iwere locked out. I complained to Fajji, but he said it was simply a malfunction. He said you were safe, and the problem would be corrected shortly. Deevee and I decided not to wait. You had already been in here an hour. We tried to break into the building a few minutes ago, and a squad of stormtroopers appeared out of nowhere!" "Wait a minute!" Zak sputtered. "We've only been in here an hour? It seemed like days!" "Days?" Lando asked. An energy beam shattered the wall beside him. "Never mind!" "SURRENDER OR BE DESTROYED!" The voice that boomed over a loudspeaker was too powerful to be ignored. Zak peeked over Lando's shoulder as the gambler poked his head out of the building. A hundred stormtroopers aimed their blasters at him. They had no choice but to surrender. Lando dropped his blaster and stepped out into the open, fol- lowed by Zak, Tash, and Deevee. Stormtroopers rushed forward, roughly searching them all for any hid- den weapons. Then they slapped binders on each of their wrists, including Deevee's. When the prisoners were secure, the crowd of stormtroopers parted, and a tall, gray, scowling figure stepped forward.