Part 4 (2/2)
”The world you've heard of belongs rightfully to the Emperor. I cannot claim it for myself. ”
”But you're the Minister of Logistics now! The entire Imperial bureaucracy is yours. ”
She rebuffed him gently, as she always did. ”It is the Emperor's, as it should be. I am his instrument, and I would not betray his trust. ”
”I would never ask you to do that. ”
”I know, Ula. You are as loyal as I am, and you mean well, but I fear that what you ask is impossible. ”
He took pains never to push their friends.h.i.+p too far, but he was unable to hide his disappointment ”What will it take to change your mind, Minister?”
”When you have the location of the world, talk to me again. ”
He knew all too well that betraying the Republic while at the same time trying to convince a senior minister to increase the influence of ordinary people in their relations with the Sith ruling cla.s.s could bring his entire world to ruin.
”Thank you, Minister, ” he said. ”You are kind to indulge me. ”
”It's neither kindness, Ula, nor an indulgence. You may call me anytime. ”
She ended the transmission, and this time Ula didn't sag. He already felt fully deflated, insignificant-even if Watcher Three did describe his mission of being one of significance to the Emperor himself. He felt like a grain of sand buffeted by powerful ocean currents. No matter which sh.o.r.e he landed upon, the waves pounded him harder than ever.
Maintain a close watch and report all developments.
That he could do. Exhausted from his day of talking, he filed a written report for Supreme Commander Stantorrs. Then he undressed and lay on his hard bed and waited for dawn.
CHAPTER 4.
Larin Moxla stood in the Senate Gardens, on a busy thoroughfare lined with benches. It was early evening, and the sky was full of lights. She felt uncomfortably exposed, and was struck by how used she'd become to the old districts. Only a few months had pa.s.sed since she'd been drummed out of Blackstar Squad, and already the hazy sky of the upper levels looked too large, the people too refined, the droids too clean, and the buildings too new. Give her a year, she thought, and she'd be completely at one with the dregs of society.
Her feeling of alienation was only confirmed when a quartet of Senate Security officers strode by, three men-Twi'lek, Zabrak, and human-and a stocky Nikto woman. The SSO's caught sight of her and approached.
”Are you lost?” rumbled the Twi'lek. ”You look like you've been pulled backward through a Sarlacc. ”
”Twice, ” the Nikto woman chittered, not unkindly.
Larin wanted to walk away. They were speaking to her soldier-to-soldier, using familiar, bantering tones, but her heart wasn't in it.
”Thanks, guys, ” she said. ”I'm okay, and I won't be here long. ” She was waiting for s.h.i.+gar to return from talking to Satele Shan, and this was where she had said they should meet.
”No worries, ” said the human with a wink. ”l.u.s.t try not to frighten anyone. ”
”Wait, ” said the Zabrak, peering at her. ”Do I know you?”
”I don't think so, ” she said.
”Yeah, I do, ” he said. ”You're Toxic Moxla, the Kiffar who snitched on Sergeant Donbar. ”
Larin felt the blood rising to her head. ”That's none of your business. ”
”Oh, yeah? I've got a cousin in Special Forces who'd disagree, ” said the Zabrak, right into her face.
She held his stare, lighting the urge to retreat, or to head-b.u.t.t him-one swift, solid lunge that might cut her forehead to the bone on his horns, but would certainly lay him out cold.
But then she'd have a probable affray charge to wear afterward. The gardens were full of witnesses, fine, upstanding witnesses who didn't sleep in an abandoned warehouse and hand-weld their clothes from castoff sc.r.a.p.
”Easy, Ses, ” said the Twi'lek to the Zabrak. ”You've had one too many fizzbrews over lunch again. ”
”When did you hear from your cousin, anyway?” added the Nikto woman, taking his arm and guiding him firmly away. ”Last I heard, he owed you money. ”
The human cast Larin an apologetic look as the trio led their drunk friend away, but not before he could call over his shoulder, ”Crawl back into your hole, Toxic Moxla. We don't want your kind up here!”
Larin watched the Zabrak go with her face burning hot. How did such a lout ever get into the SSO, Jet alone know someone in Special Forces? It didn't seem possible.
But mixed with her outrage was a feeling of deep shame. Yes, she had snitched on her commanding officer. Yes, she was playacting at being a soldier in a poorly made costume. But neither came lightly to her. She had her reasons.
Larin turned to face the distant Jedi Temple. Abandoned in ruins and sealed off ever since the sacking of Coruscant, it was an ominous, shadowy presence against the lights of the skylanes and skysc.r.a.pers. Like fate, ever-present.
s.h.i.+GAR WAITED FOR five minutes before his Master appeared as though out of nowhere, right by his side. He never heard her coming, but had learned at least not to be as startled as in the early days of his apprentices.h.i.+p. That, he a.s.sumed, was the heart of this particular lesson: some things could never be antic.i.p.ated, but he could control the way he reacted to them.
They stood together for a moment in the empty cloisters, staring up at the looming, silver cylinder that was the Galactic Justice Center. Its lights burned brightly, and never flickered once.
”You've put something in motion, s.h.i.+gar, ” she said.
”Do you see this in the future, Master?” The foresight of Grand Master Satele Shan was legendary, and never wrong.
She shook her head. ”Not this time. I received this a moment ago from Supreme Commander Stantorrs. ”
She pa.s.sed s.h.i.+gar a datapad, and he read the packet of information displayed there twice. It contained everything uncovered about Dao Stryver, Lema Xandret, and the Cinzia in the previous hours. Someone had been busy, he thought.
”The Hutts certainly recognize an opportunity when they see one, ” he said, wrapping the new data around everything he had already gleaned about the Mandalorian, the Black Sun, and the attack on Larin Moxla.
”The Cinzia gives Ta.s.saa Bareesh two plays for the price of one, ” his Master said. ”To the administrations of the Republic and the Empire, the primary concern is the s.h.i.+p's origin. Where it came from matters much more than its purpose or what it contained. We all know that the Republic is desperate for resources, and any new world will aid its cause. It goes without saying that Supreme Commander Stantorrs will pursue this matter further, on that ground alone.
”From the point of view of the Jedi Council, however, the situation is precisely reversed. The Hutts are auctioning more than just information: there's the cargo of the s.h.i.+p to consider, too. The object they're selling presumably has some recognizable value, but as yet we do not know what it is. It could be anything. We can't ignore the possibility that they have stumbled upon something critical to the Jedi Order-an artifact, perhaps, or a weapon. Many are spoken of in ancient records but are yet unaccounted for; just one might make a difference in the war against the Emperor. ”
”It could lie a Sith artifact, ” he said, knowing full well that the forces of the enemy had their own a.r.s.enals, as ancient as the Jedi Order's.
”That's also a possibility. We must, therefore, do everything in our power to ensure that this thing the Hutts have-whatever it is-does not fall into the wrong hands. ”
”It's already in the wrong hands, ” he said.
”That's true, but Ta.s.saa Bareesh only recognizes one side: her own. I have no fears of her using this find directly against us. Still, we need to know more about it, and soon. That's where you come in, s.h.i.+gar. ”
s.h.i.+gar studied his Master's face. He had felt that the conversation was more than idle chat, but he hadn't expected an active role in the situation.
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