Part 17 (1/2)

”The data's already in the system,” Mara said. ”But at the moment it's in one of my private files, isolated from everything else, with a thirty-day release timer on it. That means that anytime in the next thirty days I can go in and erase it, and no one will ever even know it was there.”

”So what we're talking about here is sort of like a blanket pardon?”

”Basically,” Mara said. ”Interested?”

The tip of Tannis's tongue slipped across the center of his upper lip.

”What do I have to do?”

”We're taking the Happer's Way to your base,” Mara told him. ”After suffering damage to his hyperdrive and comm system in the battle, your friend Captain Shakko decided to send you home with the prize while he and the rest of the crew stayed behind to make repairs.”

”And where did you come from?”

”My men and I were hijackers who'd sneaked aboard the Happer's Way” Mara said. ”We were making our move when you showed up, which is why you were able co capture the s.h.i.+p without having to first blast it into a worthless hulk. We'd heard about the BloodScars and made a deal with Shakko for you to take us to the Commodore to discuss our joining up.”

”What if he asks what group you're with?” Tannis asked. ”He knows a lot about the people in this sector.” ”Trust me,” Mara said. ”I'll make it work.” Tannis grimaced. ”You're asking me to betray my comrades.”

”You're a pirate,” Mara countered. ”Your comrades are acquaintances of convenience, any of whom would stab you in the back for an extra ten percent.”

She gave that a moment to sink in before continuing. ”As it happens, though, you're not really going to betray them. You're a local problem, to be dealt with by the local authorities. The only person I'm interested in right now is whoever it is who's currently pulling your strings.”

Tannis frowned. ”You mean Caaldra?”

”I mean the one behind Caaldra,” Mara said. ”Impressive though he might look, he's only a high-priced errand boy. I want access to the Commodore's records so I can find out who's making the decisions, who's giving the orders-” She paused, just briefly. ”-and who's handing out the money.”

Once again Tannis's face gave nothing away, but the sudden emotional ripple showed Mara she'd hit the target directly on the crossmark. Tannis might be a few steps down the chain of command, but he knew how to follow a money trail.

So she'd been right. At least some of the money from Glovstoak's artworks had apparently found its way to the BloodScars.

”What happens if the Commodore tumbles to you?” Tannis asked.

”You'll try very hard not to let that happen.”

”And if you krong up and end up getting yourself killed?”

”You'll try even harder not to let that happen. Are you in?”

Tannis snorted. ”Do I have a choice?”

”Sure-you can start your sentence today,” Mara said.

”No thanks,” he said, and in his eyes and altered tone, Mara knew he'd suddenly realized that he had a third option: to betray her to the rest of the BloodScars and use his thirty-day grace period to find a place to hide. ”I'm in.”

”Good,” Mara said, stepping over to stand in front of him. ”And just so we're clear what exactly it is you're agreeing to-” Dropping her gaze to his binders, she reached out with the Force and unfastened them, letting them drop clattering to the deck.

For a handful of heartbeats Tannis stared down at them, the muscles in his neck suddenly taut. Then, slowly, he lifted his eyes to hers again.

And whatever thoughts he might have had about betrayal were suddenly gone. ”Vader,” he whispered. ”You're like Vader.”

”Only better,” she said coolly, a part of her mind wondering what Vader would do if he ever heard her talk that way. But what the Sith Lord didn't know wouldn't hurt him. ”We have a deal?”

Tannis swallowed hard. ”Yes,” he managed. ”Absolutely.”

”Good,” she said, taking a step back and stretching out again, this time to call the binders to her hand. Tannis followed them with his eyes the entire way. ”I'll have a guard take you to your s.h.i.+p to pick out some clothing and anything else you want to take with you. Then you'll report to the Happer's Way for an equipment orientation. I'll make sure there's enough bacta in the medical capsule to get that leg of yours back in shape before we arrive at your base.”

”Right.” Slowly, Tannis stood up, his eyes still on the binders. He looked back up at Mara, and managed a taut smile. ”Welcome to the BloodScars, Emperor's Hand. You're going to love it.” ”Thank you,” Mara said. ”I'd better.”

Captain Ozzel leaned back in his chair, staring at his computer display with a bitter sense of defeat. All of it- all the work, all the sweat, all the struggling-gone. The admiral's bars. Gone.

Across the office, the door slid open and Colonel Somoril stepped in.

”They've just made the jump to light-speed,” he told Ozzel.

”It doesn't matter,” Ozzel muttered, gesturing to the display. ”We're finished.”

”What in s.p.a.ce are you talking about?” Somoril demanded, stepping to the desk and swiveling the display around to face him.

”Our clever little Emperor's Hand found her way into the s.h.i.+p's computer,” Ozzel said bitterly. ”She accessed the personnel files, the bridge log, and the flight log.”

Somoril's face had gone stiff, his eyes darting back and forth as he skimmed the file on the display. Ozzel watched; then, to the captain's amazement, he saw some of the other's tension drain away. ”Fine,” Somoril said, sitting down. ”So she knows the Gillia left a couple of weeks ago.

So what? As far as she knows, that could have been a perfectly legitimate ISB operation.”

”Oh, really?” Ozzel snarled. ”You really think she maneuvered herself aboard this s.h.i.+p and into the computer without already knowing what she was looking for?”

Somoril lifted his eyebrows 'She maneuvered her self aboard? Including setting up a pirate attack on an Imperial-chartered freighter? ”

”Special Imperial agents don't bother with anything as trivial as pirates,” Ozzel shot back. ”And the Emperor's Hand certainly doesn't. If she happened to foil a pirate attack, it was purely incidental to her main mission.”

Somoril shook his head. ”I'm not convinced.”

”Then be convinced,” Ozzel said acidly, keying for a new file. ”I pulled up these items from planetary news services. We have two separate reports of Imperial stormtroopers in action.”

Somoril's eyes narrowed. ”What sort of action?” ”The first wasn't too bad,” Ozzel said. ”All they did was engage and destroy a swoop gang who were hara.s.sing a group of farmers. But the second action ended up tearing down a city's entire patroller structure.” ”They took over a city?”

”No, apparently just reinstated the last group who'd been in charge,”

Ozzel said. ”I haven't been able to get any more details. Not that it matters. The point is that our Emperor's Hand now knows where those storm-troopers came from.”

”If she's made the connection,” Somoril said. ”She may not have. More to the point, even if she has, it won't matter if she's never able to tell anyone else.”

Ozzel stared at him, something unpleasant starting to gnaw at his gut.

”What exactly are you suggesting?”

”I'm saying that she sent no transmissions from the Reprisal, and that she won't be sending any from the Happer's Way,” Somoril said. ”Brock and Gilling will make sure of that. That just leaves the transmitters at her destination point.” He paused. ”Which, from our track of their departure vector, is almost certainly the mining operation on Gepparin.”