Part 24 (1/2)

Moments later, Bria was facing her commanding of-ricer, Pianat Torbul. She stiflened to attention. ”Sir?”

”Bria... just wanted to wish you luck tomorrow,” he said. ”And to tell you...” he hesitated.

”Yes? Tell me what?” she prompted.

”I can't be specific. But our intelligence reports that the Empire has something big underway. Really big. Something that could crush the entire Rebel Alliance in one or two engagements.”

Bria stared at him, in shock. ”Some kind of secret fleet?” she asked.

”I can't tell you,” he reminded her. ”But bigger than that.”

Bria couldn't imagine what he was talking about, but she'd grown used to the ”need to know” system long ago. ”Okay, so what does that have to do with this raid tomorrow?”

”It's going to take everything we have, every resource we can muster, every credit we can sc.r.a.pe together, to de'a] with this,” Torbul said. ”your mission was impor-tant before this... now it's critical. Take everything you can get, Bria. Weapons, spice... everything.”

”Sir... that's my objective,” she said, her heart be-ginning to thud.

”I know that. I just . . . thought you should know. We're dispatching several intelligence teams to Ralltiir to try and find out more. They'll need credits for bribes, surveillance equipment... you know the drill.” ”Of course,” Bria said. ”Sir, I won't fail you.”

”I know you won't,” Torbul said. ”I shouldn't have contacted you, perhaps . . . you're under enough pres-sure. But I thought you should know.”

”I appreciate your telling me, sir. Thank you.” Torbul gave her a quick salute and broke the connec-tion. Bria sat there in her office, wondering if she should go back to bed, or just start the day early.

She heard Han's voice, a little rough with sleep, from the other room. ”Bria? Everything okay?”

”Everything's fine, Han,” she called. ”I'll be there shortly.”

Rising, she paced slowly back and forth, remember-ing what he'd said to her earlier. They'd be together... always. Yes, we will, she thought. We'll be together. We'll guard each other~ backs, and wgether we'll fight and we'll prevail against the Empire. And if we have to sac-rifice to achieve that... we will.

She knew that Han would understand about the treasure and the credits. He pretended to be such a mercenary, but at heart, he wasn't, she knew that ....

Her mind once more at rest, her resolve firm, Bria went back to bed ....

Sunset at Ylesian Colony Five. The ruddy rays of the low sun, breaking through a hundred gaps in the ma.s.sed clouds, were projected as pastel spikes across the sky. By the choppy waters of the Sea of Hope, the robe-clad Pilgrims a.s.sembled on the beach cast long shadows across the sand.

Pohtarza, Head Sacredot of the colony, raised his ugly t'landa Til head and surveyed the crowd, his horn sweeping slowly back and forth as lie did so. His bul-bous eyes shone like blood as they bulged from his grayish, wrinkled flesh. After a moment, he brought up his diminutive arms, and the ceremony began.

”The One is All,” he intoned in the rumbling, nasal-heavy language of the t'landa Til.

Five hundred voices echoed the phrase back ....The One is All.

At that very moment, at Colony Four on the other side of the planet, it was just 'after midnight. Dark clouds drifted across the moonless night sky, extinguis.h.i.+ng stars, making the night even blacker. On the wall of the Priests' Quarters, there was a soft, chitinous scratching. Ylesian vermin frantically darted away in 'all directions.

Noy Waglla, small and bug-like herself, scuttled up the smooth permacrete and, barely pausing to chew a hole in the grating, through the window. She crouched, poised, on the sill.

Below her, in the darkness, she could hear the sleep-ing noises of the Priests she had come to kill. Jabba would pay well for this, enough that she might someday be able to return to her own species. The great crea-tures in their sleeping harnesses filled the small room, made it stink of musk. The Hyallp crawled up the near-est rough-textured harness, and paused below the enor-mous head. The t'landa Til s.h.i.+fted slightly, and she backed away, 'alarmed, but, after a moment, the Priest's snoring resumedu Waglla advanced even closer. This is going w be easy ....Waglla seized the large vial strapped to her back in her formidable mandibles, pulled out the stopper with her palps. Jabba had tested the substance himselfu A drop of the poison called srej-ptan, placed on the Sacredot~ lower lip, would kill even the largest t'landa Til in seconds, silently and without struggle. Retracting several of her legs, Waglla climbed toward the Priest's mouth.

”The All is One,” intoned Pohtarza.

The All is One.

Aiaks Fwa, Whiphid a.s.sa.s.sin and bounty hunter, waited in the corridor leading to the underground mud baths of Colony Seven. It had been a tedious few weeks, living as Pilgrim, trying to blend in, when 'all his instincts c',dled for getting it over with, hunting the ugly muphrida down and escaping. But the Bloated One had specified tonight as the time, and Fwa wanted to collect his full fee.

The sound of t'landa Til voices echoed up from the dimness below, and Fwa heard their characteristic shuf-fling gait. The a.s.sa.s.sin checked the two small hold-out blasters he had smuggled into the compound. Fully charged, of course.

He tensed, thinking that the credits he was about to become ent.i.tled to were not so much the prize of a hunt, so much as a gift. Security here in Colony Seven was lax beyond belief.

Fwa could see them coming now, and he pressed himself into a hollow in the uneven wall. As he'd ex-pected, it was his targets-the three male Saeredots. He could smell them, and his sensitive nostrils recog-nized the reek of the males.

They were close now, coming closer, closer....

Fwa leaped out with a ferocious roar, blasters raised.

Aim for their eyes/he thought, as he fired his first salvo.

”In service to the All, every One is Exulted.”

u.. eve~j One is Exulted.

Tuga SalPivo, down-on-his luck Corellian s.p.a.ce-tramp and jack-of-all-trades, paused for a moment at the edge of the Ylesian jungle and looked back. Colony Eight was a gray smudge in the very first light of dawn. Sunrise was still an hour away. SalPivo grinned and wiped the sweat off his face with a back-and-forth motion, catching a whiff of the vinegary vomm powder residue on his hand. He couldn't wait to see the explosion ....

It was so quiet. Even the sc.r.a.ping and peeping of the Ylesian jungle was gone. There was no wind at 'all.

SalPivo forced himself not to blink as he waited. When the brilliant orange flame flowered from the t'landa TiI's sleeping chamber, there was a moment be-fore the sound reached him, and he thought, It doesn't seem real ....

Then the crack and boom rolled over him, almost knocking him down, followed by the cries and wails of the remaining inhabitants. Job well done, he said to himself, chuckling. I'll be back on Poytta 'before the fire ~ put out ....

”We sacrifice to achieve the All. We serve the One.” u.. serve the One.

The RodJan named Sniquux sniffed the air thought-fully, his aqua snout wiggling. Mid-afternoon sun slanted down into the wide courtyard, and dust seemed to hang in the hot, thick air. With infinite care, he se-cured the last strand of monofilament fiber across the opening of the pa.s.sageway to the factory compound. Colony Nine was not yet finished, but the main build-ings and dormitories were close enough to completion to start up operation. Nearly three hundred Pilgrims were resident, most of them employed on the construc-tion gang. Sniquux had come in with the last bunch, his experience as a permacrete 'artisan coming in handy.

Here they come/The Rodian stepped back from the invisible wire, then ducked under it, making sure he came nowhere near the deadly stuff. Once in the corri-dor, he made his way up to the first level balcony, which overlooked the courtyard. The six t'landa Til, three males and three females, were returning from their post-siesta walkabout, ambling toward the dinner hall and their supper. A cadre of Gamorrean guards sur-rounded them, their axe heads glinting in the sun. Sniquux pulled the sound projector remote control from his little pouch, hefting the device and feeling the smoothness of its contours.

I don't even have to get near them, he thought, delight-edly. I b~ve this a.s.signment. I don't have to risk my delicate little neck. His ears twitched expectantly as he turned the dial to its maximum position and engaged the trigger.

Suddenly, from the other side of the courtyard, a hideous, shrill wailing began, a sound so high it made Sniquux s.h.i.+ver. It was an ancient recording of the sav-age thota, the princ.i.p.al predator of the t'landa Til on their long-lost homeworld of Varl.

The t'landa Til froze for a second, their protuberant eyes swinging in every direction as they tried to locate the source of the cry. The head Sacredot, Tarrz by name, reared up onto his hind limbs and spun about, calling to the others, but it was no use. The huge crea-tures stampeded mindlessly in 'all directions, trampling Gamorreans as they headed for the openings in the courtyard wall that Sniquux had b.o.o.by-trapped. Finally even Tarrz panicked and dashed for the nearest exit.

The Rodian, who had a taste for bloodshed, smacked his prehensile lips as the Priests came apart, monofi 'la-ment slicing them more cleanly then any b 'lade. Tarrz got halfway through the opening before his upper tono peeled back, revealing the dark maroon interior, internal organs laid out side by side, blood pooling and spilling as he fell to complete the gash. In a trice, they were 'all dead, big pools of wine-red blood slowly spreading around the quartered corpses, and only a few cl~ed Gamorreans were left to try to figure out what had happened.

Maybe this'U mean a promotion, Sniquux told him-self. Jabba seems to like me already... all I have to do is stick with him ....

”Prepare for the blessing of Exultation!” Pohtarza took a step forward and sensed the Priests on either side of him doing the same. The Pilgrims broke ranks, pressing forward, falling over one another, uttering little whimpers of antic.i.p.ation. Pohtarza began to inflate his neck pouch, scanning the expectant faces, When some-thing caught his eye. There was a humanoid Pilgrim pus.h.i.+ng toward them, nothing unusual about that. However, instead of a Pilgrim's cap, there was a dark hood thrown over his head.

Pohtarza stared in fascination. The hood was empty. The thing was quite close now-he was sure of it. Sud-denly the hood fell back and the headless thing pulled a weapon out of its robe. Nameless dread gnawed at the t'landa Til; he took a few steps back, b.u.mped into one of his brothers. The robe fell to the ground, and the Sacredot looked straight into the muzzle of a blaster, seemingly floating in the air. His thinking seemed fuzzy and oh-so-slow, but one thought came with crystal clarity. Oh. An Aar'aa. Just an Aar'aa . . .

Then brightness fell from the air....