Part 18 (2/2)

Leia kept her face expressionless. In point of fact, she'd always found the average Bothan somewhat difficult to read, and wasn't at all sure she'd be able to tell if the clan leaders had been tipped off.

But of course Fey'lya didn't know that. ”I understand,” he muttered. ”When do you wish her to leave?”

”As soon as possible,” Gavrisom said. ”Councilor Organa Solo?”

”We could probably leave within a couple of hours,” Leia said, running quickly through a mental list of the necessary arrangements. Han would want to come along, of course. Come to think of it, it would be a good chance for the two of them to have same quiet time together. ”Chewie and the Noghri can watch the children here for us.”

”The Noghri,” Fey'lya murmured, an edge of bitterness to his voice. ”They should have killed that Devaronian on Wayland. Then none of this would have happened.”

”The Devaronian did nothing deserving of death,” Gavrisom said quietly. ”And there has been far too much killing throughout the galaxy already.”

”With more yet to come,” Fey'lya countered darkly. Would sacrificing one life to prevent it have been such a bad bargain?”

”That is a question all beings eventually ask themselves,” Gavrisom said. ”For those who wish to remain civilized, there can be only one answer.” He settled his wings back into resting position across his withers and back. ”Thank you both for coming, Councilors. I will speak with you again later.”

Moff Disra laid down his datapad. ”Very satisfactory,” he said, looking at the others. ”It all seems to be going quite well.”

”It all seems to be going quite slowly,” Flim countered sourly, leaning back in his seat with his feet hoisted up on a corner of Disra's ivrooy desk. We have, what, a few pirate raids and maybe a hundred riots to our credit?”

”Patience is a virtue,” Tierce reminded him. ”Even for soldiers. Especially for soldiers.”

”Ah, well, that must be the problem,” Flim countered. ”I'm a con artist, not a soldier.

But I can tell you that in my world, you can't afford to string things out too long. You have to hook the target, taut the line, and then boat him-zip, zip, zip. You give him too much time to think, and you'll lose him.”

”We're not going to lose them,” Tierce soothed. ”Trust me. This is a delicate stew we're creating. It merely needs to simmer a bit longer.”

”Then maybe you should turn up the heat a little,” Flim said. ”This is my greatest role ever; and so far the only people who've seen it have been the two of you and four Star Destroyer captains. When do I get to really show it off?”

”Keep it up and you may not get to show it off at all,” Disra told him, trying hard to hold on to his temper. Flim was starting to show all the eccentricities and quirks of a self-important stage entertainer, a personality type Disra had always despised.

”Don't worry,” Tierce soothed. ”You'll get your chance for at least a private performance for the Rebels. But not until we know where it will do the most good. We need to know which alien governments are for heavy sanctions against the Bothans and which are for forgiveness and peaceful conciliation.”

”Which means you'll probably be showing off for a Mon Calamari or a Duros,” Disra growled, glaring under his eyebrows at Tierce. This particular scheme was one of the Guardsman's latest brain twists, and Disra still wasn't at all sure he approved of it. The whole idea here was to use Flim to quietly inspire their Imperial forces, not scare the New Republic into coming down on their heads.

”Actually, the time is much closer than it looks,” Tierce went on, ignoring Disra's comment. ”Our spies on Coruscant have heard rumors of some pet.i.tion that's been filed with the President. If they can get hold of a copy and circulate it publicly, that should speed up the process. A few more days, I think, and we'll be able to move on to the next phase.”

”I hope so,” Flim said. ”Incidentally, I presume it's occurred to you that there's a very simple way the New Republic could resolve this whole crisis and cut the ground out from under us.”

”Of course it has,” Disra said with strained patience. ”All they need to do is find out which specific Bothans were involved with Palpatine's agents on Caamas.”

”And you've taken steps to prevent this from happening?”

”What do you take me for, a fool?” Disra snapped. ”Of course I have. The only intact set of records is here on Bastion, and I've already dealt with them.”

”Actually, that's not entirely accurate,” Tierce said thoughtfully. ”The records at the Ubiqtorate base on Yaga Minor may also contain a copy.”

Disra frowned at him. ”Why haven't you said anything about this before?”

”The subject of enemy information raids hadn't come up before,” Tierce said. ”I knew you'd been into the Bastion records; I suppose I was a.s.suming you'd taken care of the Yaga Minor copies as well.”

”I haven't, but I can,” Disra said. ”I'll head out for Yaga Minor tonight.”

”That might not be a good idea,” Tierce said. ”You going personally, I mean. The general in charge of the base knows Admiral Pellaeon fairly well and with the Bastion library right here at hand, you really don't have a good excuse to examine his records.”

Disra frowned at him. ”So who's going to go there? You?”

”I am the logical choice,” Tierce pointed out. ”General Hestiv doesn't know me by either name or sight, and I can make up a story that won't link me to you. As long as Pellaeon's grand tour of the Empire doesn't drop him there the same time I am, there shouldn't be any problems.”

”Except how you're going to get into the Special Files section,” Disra said.

Tierce shrugged. ”I'll use a copy of your decryption method, of course.”

Disra frowned a little harder. ”You know, this is the second time you've tried to get that decrypt from me,” he pointed out. ”One might wonder why you're so anxious to get hold of it.”

”Would you rather the Rebels got to the Caamas Doc.u.ment first?” Tierce countered. ”What in the Empire are you so afraid of, anyway?”

”I'm not sure,” Disra said darkly. ”Perhaps that all you really want-that all you've ever wanted from the start-is to get your nose into those files. Maybe I'm thinking that once you've gotten whatever it is you're looking for, you'll vanish and leave us holding the bag.”

Tierce smiled tightly. ”A minute ago you were upset that I seem to be taking over your grand project,” he pointed out ”Now you're worried that I might suddenly desert it? Make up your mind.”

”You haven't answered my question,” Disra bit out ”What is it you're looking for in those files?”

”I don't know,” Tierce said. ”The Emperor had many secrets, some of which are bound to be useful to us. But I can't know which ones until I have a chance to look them over, can I?”

”If it's all that simple and aboveboard, why didn't you suggest it in the first place?”

Disra demanded. ”I could have let you look through the Bastion records.”

”Fine,” Tierce said. ”Consider the request made. However, if I go look at the files at Yaga Minor I can take care of two problems at once, can't I?”

Disra grimaced. Except that if Tierce did his searching at Yaga Minor, he wouldn't be able to look over the Guardsman's shoulder while he did it.

Across the desk, Flim stirred. ”We're all in this together, Your Excellency,” he reminded Disra. ”Whatever secrets Major ”Fierce digs up, he can't possibly use them by himself as effectively as he can together with the two of us.”

”Exactly,” Tierce said, nodding. ”In fact, I'll go further. One of the files I'm hoping to find will only be useful in conjunction with the two of you.”

So there has something specific he was after. ”And that mysterious secret is . .

. ?” Disra prompted.

Tierce shook his head. ”Sorry. I'll definitely need help from the two of you to utilize it; but it's possible the two of you won't need me. No offense, but at this point I'd prefer to remain indispensable.”

Disra grimaced, but he could tell that this part of the conversation was now over. He'd pushed Tierce as far as the Guardsman was willing to be pushed, and had learned all he was likely to learn, and that was it.

At least for now. ”You're still indispensable as the master tactician of our little group,” Disra reminded him, waving a hand in dismissal. ”But if this will make you feel a little safer-”

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