Part 9 (2/2)

Gunray came to a halt.

”Immediately on being apprised by Shu Mai of the Belderone rendezvous, I contacted Grievous, expressing anger that he hadn't informed me personally. I accused him of purposely leaving me out of the command loop.”

Haako was horrified.

”You said that to him?”

Gunray nodded.

”He maintained that he had attempted to communicate through the mechnochair hyperwave transceiver. I said that I had received no such transmission.”

”They're coming!” Haako said, aiming a quivering finger at the display screen.

Gunray saw that Grievous was accompanied by four of his elite MagnaGuards. Fearsome bipedal battle droids built to exacting specifications, they stood as tall as the general and were armed with combat staffs tipped with electromagnetic pulse generators. Armorweave capes fell diagonally across their broad-shouldered bodies, swathing the crowns of their heads and lower faces. Benefiting from Grievous's own programming, as well as from the instruction Grievous had received from Dooku, the elite were trained in the Jedi arts, and more than a match for most.

The four Neimoidians stood their ground, bringing their rifles across their chests in a gesture of warning. Grievous's elite didn't even slow down. Mirroring the Neimoidians, they raised their double-tipped electroshock batons, then swung them forward with such speed and precision that Gunray's sentinels were literally swept off their feet, as if they were children.

Grievous glared into the lens of the holocam mounted outside the hatch.

”Admit us, Viceroy. Or shall I instruct my elite to lay waste to everything that stands between me and you?”

Haako spun on his heel and hurried for the suite's rear hatch.

”Where are you going?” Gunray said. ”Running will only make us appear guilty!”

”We are guilty!” Haako threw over his shoulder.

”He doesn't know that.”

”Viceroy!” Grievous rasped.

Haako stood in the open hatch.

”He will.”

And disappeared through it.

Gunray paced for a moment, wringing his hands, then, straightening robes and miter and pulling his shoulders back, he pressed a fat finger to the hatch release.

The general swept into the suite, the four MagnaGuards in his angry wake spreading out to both sides, ready for violence.

”What is the meaning of this intrusion?” Gunray said from the center of the main room. ”Your Masters will not tolerate such ill treatment of me!”

Grievous glowered at him. ”They will when they learn what you've done.”

Gunray touched himself in the chest.

”What are you talking about, you... abomination. When Lord Sidious hears that you promised us a world you could not deliver - - ”

Stepping forward, a MagnaGuard thrust his staff to within a millimeter of Gunray's face.

”Lord Sidious's alloy puppet,” Gunray said, his voice quavering. ”If not for the Trade Federation, you would have no army to command.”

Grievous raised his right claw and pointed to Gunray.

”The mechno-chair. I want to see it.”

Gunray gulped. ”In a fit of anger, I had it destroyed and purged from the s.h.i.+p.”

”You're lying. There was no problem with my transmission to you. The chair relayed my message.”

”What are you suggesting?”

”The chair is no longer in your possession. It has somehow fallen into enemy hands, and, through it, the Republic was able to learn of my plan to attack Belderone.”

”You're brain-dead.”

Grabbing Gunray by the neck, Grievous lifted him a meter off the floor.

”Before I leave here, you will tell me everything I wish to know.”

22.

Poor Gunray, Dooku thought. Pitiful creature... But for having left the mechno-chair behind on Cato Neimoidia, he deserved all the fear Grievous had put into him.

Secluded in his castle on Kaon, Dooku had just spoken with the general and was pondering how best to handle the situation. While the incident at Belderone wasn't conclusive proof that the Republic had managed to decrypt the Separatist code and intercept Grievous's transmission to Gunray, it was prudent to a.s.sume that this was the case. Dooku had already ordered the general to refrain from using the code for the time being. But the matter of the expropriated hyperwave transceiver was cause for added concern. The very fact that the Republic had tipped its hand at Belderone, declaring the success of its eavesdropping, implied that the mechno-chair had furnished more than intelligence. Clues to secrets that would astonish even Grievous.

The general was not accustomed to losing in battle. Even when a general among his own species, he had suffered few defeats. That was originally what had brought him to the attention of Sidious. After the Sith Lord had expressed interest in Grievous to Dooku, Dooku, in turn, had expressed interest in Grievous to Chairman San Hill, of the InterGalactic Banking Clan.

Poor Grievous, Dooku thought. Pitiful creature... During the Huk War, and later, while in the employ of the IBC, Grievous had survived numerous attempts on his life, so an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt was ruled out almost immediately. Hill himself had come up with the idea of a shuttle crash, though that, too, presented risks. What if Grievous should actually die in the crash? Then the Separatists would simply have to look elsewhere for a commander, Dooku had told Hill.

But Grievous had survived - - and only too well. In fact, most of the life-threatening injuries he sustained had occurred after he had been pulled from the flaming shuttle wreck, and with great calculation. When at last he had agreed to be rebuilt, promises were made that no critical alterations would be made to his mind. But the Geonosians had ways of modifying the mind without a patient ever being aware that he had been tampered with.

Grievous certainly believed that he had always been the cold-blooded conqueror he was now, when in truth his cruelty and prowess owed much to his rebuilding. Sidious and Dooku couldn't have been more pleased with the result. Dooku, especially, since he had no interest in commanding an army of droids, and already had his hands full nursemaiding the likes of Nute Gunray, Shu Mai, and the hive-minded others who eventually would form the Council of Separatists.

Grievous had been a delight to train, as well. No need to coax him to release his anger and rage, as Dooku had been forced to do during the training of his so-called Dark Jedi disciples. The Geonosians had arranged for Grievous to be nothing but anger and rage. And as to the general's combat skills, few, if any, Jedi would be capable of defeating him. There had been moments during the extensive combat sessions when even Dooku had been hard-pressed to outduel the cyborg.

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