Part 9 (1/2)
They call me the Diktat. And it's a t.i.tle I have ev'ry right to daim.”
”How so? How did you earn it?”
Thrackan smiled coldly. ”The old-fas.h.i.+oned way,” he replied.
”With old-fas.h.i.+oned determination. Determination and ambition.”
”With maybe a little backstabbing and skulduggery thrown in for good luck,” Han said.
”Watch what you say to me, Han, or I'll-”
”You'll what?” Han said, tired of playing nice. ”Beat me to a pulp?
Try and kidnap my children? Order a rocket attack on the building my family is in? Don't tell me a man capable of all that didn't play a trick or two here and there on his way to the top.”
”And suppose I did play the game? There'd be nothing new in that.
Lots of other leaders have to do it on their way up.”
”Now there's a fine moral lesson for you. Eveiyone else does it.”
”I should have let the Selonian kill you,” Thrackan muttered.
”Yeah. What a pity you seem to need me. But you were telling me about your heroic climb to the top.”
”Maybe I will let her kill you,” he said, in a sulky tone. ”But about me, there's not that much to tell. Let's just say that I maneuvered my way into progressively more important posts. By the time your stinking Rebellion won its first battles against the Empire, I was the heir presumptive to the Diktat. Dupas Thomree was the Diktat, Daclif Gallamby was heir apparent, and 1 was third in the line of succession.
”That would be news to a lot of people,” Han said. ”I remember Thomree, of course, but I've never heard of Gallamby-and I never knew you were up there, too.”
”Th' fact was not widely known,” Thrackan said, once again trying to speak in formal tonend not quite pulling it off. ”But the Imperial government of Corellia had a tradition of secrecy. We din't answer to anyone.”
”You're forgetting your close personal friend the Emperor. You must have answered to him.”
”Not really. The Emperor believed in order, and we kept order here.
I can a.s.sure you of that. In exchange for keeping order, which we would've done anyway, and for swearing absolute loyalty to the Emperor's external policies, the Emperor granted Diktat Thomree permission to run the sector any way he pleased. There was no reason for the public to know the arrangements for the succession. Even the most poweif members of the leaders.h.i.+p were unknown to the public.
People jus' knew who the Diktat was. Secrecy was a real handy thing for those in power.”
”So what happened?”
”When the war against the Rebellion started, Thomree kept his side of the bargain. He provided troops and s.h.i.+ps for the Emperor. But not long after, Thomree, ah, well, he-he died unexpectedly.”
”I bet it's a real interesting story how that happened,” Han said, noticing his cousin's hesitation. ”There might even be more than one version.”
”I had nothin' to do with it,” Thrackan said. ”But I won't kid you.
Lots of Diktats died under suspicious circ.u.mstances. 1 think Thomree figured he had protected himself from a.s.sa.s.sination by makiri' a n.o.body his successor. Wouldn't be the first time someone tried thatr the first time it failed.”
”So who did succeed?”
oc, -q-I AS-U ”Gallamby took over. He was the last Diktat. II you can call him that. Jus' a figurehead, a puppet on a string-”
”Were you one of the ones pulling the string?” Han asked.
”Nope. I tried, but others got to m first. They managed to control policy. They called for economy. They cut back on Thomree's support of the war against the Rebellion.” Thrackan paused a moment and shook his head. ”How close were some of those fights, cousin?”
he asked. ”Do you think maybe a few more Corellian s.h.i.+ps, a few thousand more Corellian troops, might've tipped the balance? Do you think maybe Gallamby and his gang might've won the war for you?”
Han did not answer. It was no secret that the Rebel Alliance had won more than once by the skin of its teeth.
”Yeah, don't talk,” Thrackan said. ”I say a few fools eager to save a credit or two lost us the war.”
”There was more to it than who had the most s.h.i.+ps, Thrackan. We had other things going for us.”
”Skywalker, you mean.”
”Well, yes. Luke Skywalker. And maybe the forces of history.”
”I've never believed in fate,” Thrackan said. ”I've always made my own fate.”
”Except the Rebel Alliance defeated the p,?
Han said. ”You weren't able to do much about that.”
”Why do you take such pleasure in baiting me, when I could have you killed or tortured any time I want?”
”Mostly because I don't like you,” Han said. ”But I want to hear this story and you want to tell it. What happened in the Corellian Sector when we defeated the Empire?”
”Even up to the end, I was struggling, behind the scenes, to return Corellia to her former policy.”
”You were trying to seize power.
”Of course I was, y' fool. Gallamby was letting everything fall apart. Act of patriotism to try and kick m out.
And by the time of the battle of the second Death Star, I was almost ready to get rid of him. We were all set.”
Thrackan paused for another swig on his bottle, and his face darkened. ”But then we heard about the Emperor's death, and about the defeat at Endor. That was enough for the alien sc.u.m here, and for their sympathizers.
”Aliens? What aliens?”
”You know d.a.m.n well. The nonhuman sc.u.m here on Corellia.”
”The Selonians and the Drall.?
”Right.”
”How could they be aliens? They've lived here for thousands of years.”
”They aren't human. So they're aliens.” Obviously, as far as Thrackan was concerned, there could be no argument. ”And they all figured that without an Emperor, there wasn't any Empire. There were celebrations here when the Emperor died, if you can believe that.”