Part 3 (1/2)
Then a thought struck him, and the conflicted look on his face eased.
”I wonder, ” he mused, tapping his chin with one long digit. ”Just yesterday, a report arrived from our informer in the Republic Senate. The Hutts claim to have gotten their hands on something valuable, and they think the Senate would like to bid for it. Against us. I searched diplomatic dispatches and learned that we've received exactly the same offer, but couched in the opposite terms, of course. Ordinarily I would dismiss such an approach as unworthy of attention, but the fact that it came from two widely different sources does lend it some credence. And now this. ”
”I fail to see how the Hutts are connected. They are compulsive liars. ”
”Undoubtedly. But you see, Darth Chratis, this is where it gets interesting. The s.h.i.+p from which the Hutts claim to have retrieved this mysterious, ah, artifact, data, what have you-that s.h.i.+p is called the Cinzia. And I note in the file you accessed that this is the girl's birth name. ”
Darth Chratis nodded. ”There must be a connection. ”
”That the s.h.i.+p was named after Lema Xandret's daughter and a Mandalorian is asking after both of them? I think so. ”
”But it helps us very little without knowing what the Hutts are auctioning. ”
That took some of the triumph out of the minister's expression. ”I will pursue that information immediately, Darth Chratis. ”
”I trust you will, Minister, as a matter of principle. ”
The long-distance audience ended with a shower of static.
It took Eldon Ax almost a minute to realize. Disconnected phrases filled her head like birds, looking for somewhere to roost.
... a potential lead...
... named after Lema Xandret's daughter...
... the girl's birth name...
It occurred to her only then that the name she thought of as hers was nothing but a version of her mother's initials.
What have you been doing these last fifteen years. Mother?
”Tell me what you remember, Ax. ”
”I don't want to remember, Master. ”
”Why not?”
”Because it's nothing to do with who I am now. So what if Lema Xandret was my mother? If I met her tomorrow, I probably wouldn't recognize her. I've never known her, never needed her. ”
”Well, you need her now, Ax-or at least, you need her memories. ”
Her Master came so close, she could feel the deathly cold of his breath. ”It appears that knowledge of Lema Xandret and her missing droid makers is important to the Mandalorians. That means it's important to the Empire, too, for what strengthens another weakens us. Anything you can remember about your mother's whereabouts might be crucial. I therefore suggest you try harder. To reward you, I will put the block back in place afterward, so the memories will disappear again, like they never existed. ”
”All right, Master, ” she said, although her head hurt at the thought. What if nothing came? What if something did? ”I'll try. ”
”You'll do better than try, ” Darth Chratis told her with chilling finality. ”In ten standard hours I expect to be standing before the Dark Council with you beside me. If you let me down, both of us will suffer. ”
CHAPTER 3:.
On a good day, Ula Vii didn't talk to anyone. He just listened. That was what he was good at. In his time off, he would sit in his quarters and replay the week's recordings, scanning whole conversations for anything important. Important things were happening all the time on Coruscant, of course, but isolating items of greatest significance was a critical part of his job, and he liked to think that he was very good at it. Ula was an Imperial informer in the Republic Senate. He bore that responsibility with pride.
On a bad day, he was thrust out of the shadows and into the light: the trouble with playing a part was that sometimes Ula had to actually play it. As a senior a.s.sistant to Supreme Commander Stantorrs, Ula was often called upon to take notes, conduct research, and offer advice. All of this placed him in a unique position to a.s.sist the Empire in its mission to retake the galaxy, but at the same time he was forced to perform two demanding jobs at once. On bad days, his head ached so much that it felt like it would crack open, spilling all his secrets out onto the floor.
The day he heard about the Cinzia was a very bad day indeed.
The Supreme Commander had had a busy morning: countless visitors, endless supplicants, the eternal buzzing of his comlink. Ula didn't know how he stood it. Then came the request from Grand Master Satele Shan for an audience, throwing the Supreme Commander's schedule completely out of whack.
”Can't you put her off?” Stantorrs asked his secretary, with a look that signaled annoyance. The longer Ula occupied his role, the better he was getting at understanding the expressions of aliens, even noseless, moon-faced Duros like this one. ”She was here only an hour ago. ”
”She says it's important. ”
”All right, all right. Send her in. ”
Ula had never formally met the Jedi Grand Master before. He regarded the Jedi with suspicion and dislike, and not just because they were the Emperor's enemy.
She strode into the palatial office and offered the Supreme Commander a bow of respect. With a finely boned face and gray-streaked hair, she was not a tall woman, but the position she occupied in the Republic hierarchy was considerable.
Stantorrs stood and offered a nod that seemed much slighter in comparison with hers. Like Ula, he didn't approve of Jedi, but his reasons had nothing to do with philosophy. Many in the Republic placed the blame for the Empire's ascendance firmly on the Jedi Council's collective shoulders. The Treaty of Coruscant had wrenched the galactic capital out of the Emperor's control once more, but only at great cost to the Republic and its allies, and at terrible loss of face. The Council's retreat to Tython hadn't helped.
”How can I help you, Master Shan?” he asked in gruff Basic.
”I've received a report from my Padawan of a possible bounty hunter loose in the old district, ” she said in measured tones. ”Running riot among the criminal cla.s.ses, apparently. ”
”That's a minor issue. Why bring it to me?”
”Your brief is restoring security on Coruscant. Furthermore, the bounty hunter is a Mandalorian. ”
Ula didn't need to read minds to know what Stantorrs was thinking now. A Mandalorian blockade of the Hydian Way trade route in the last decades of the Great War had crippled the Republic and very nearly led to its ruin. Since his defeat, Mandalore had lost many of his raiders to the gladiatorial pit fights on Geonosis, but Ula wasn't the only person on Coruscant who knew that Imperial operatives had been behind the anti-Republic action, and that he was still looking for a fight. If he was considering making a move on Coruscant itself, it had to be addressed immediately.
”What can you tell me about him?”
”His name is Dao Stryver. He's looking for information regarding a woman, Lema Xandret, and something called Cinzia. ”
Ula's ears p.r.i.c.ked up at the latter name. He had heard that recently. Where, exactly?
The Supreme Commander was performing the same mental search. ”A report, ” he mused, drumming his long fingers on the desk. ”Something from SIS, I'm sure. Perhaps you should ask them about it. ”
A hint of Grand Master Satele Shan's true authority appeared in her voice. ”I am to contact Tython immediately regarding our earlier discussions. General Garza impressed upon me the urgency and secrecy of the matter. I cannot afford to be delayed any further. ”
Stantorrs's waxy skin turned a deep purple. He didn't like the Republic's own policies being used against him. Ula hoped for a momentary loss of control, that something might slip about the nature of those earlier meetings. Try as he might, he could learn nothing about them, although he was certain they were of grave importance to his Masters on Dromund Kaas.
Unfortunately Stantorrs's self-control was a match for his temper.
”I haven't got time to investigate every minor disruption, ” the Supreme Commander fumed. ”Ula! Look into it, will you?”
Ula jumped at the mention of his name. ”Sir?”