Part 5 (2/2)
”Well, that's something, ” she said with more satisfaction than she actually felt. Now that she had accomplished everything she'd set out to do that day, she could reasonably retreat to her sanctuary in the old districts and go back to doing what she did best. The trouble was, she wasn't quite ready to cast free of s.h.i.+gar Kons.h.i.+. He reminded her of what it was like to be given a new mission: objectives, resources, constraints, deadlines. She missed the days when everything was sharply defined and unambiguous.
”Ever been to Hutta before?” she asked him.
”No. Not the surface. ”
”It's vile and dangerous. I was there on a covert op two years ago. Very nearly didn't get out again. ”
”You've done covert work?”
”More than I care to think about. ” She hadn't told him about special forces and the Blackstars. As far as s.h.i.+gar knew, she was just an ordinary trooper, taking a temporary break from duty.
”What about slicing?” he asked her, visibly picking up. ”Do they teach you that kind of thing, too?”
”The basics. I learned a whole lot more from a girl called Kixi when I arrived here. Now I could do it in my sleep. ”
”And you're familiar with some of the rougher gangs that run around the underworld. You'd even pa.s.s for one of them, with a bit of a wash. ”
”Hey, watch it. ” She threw a punch at his shoulder, which he dodged with surprising ease.
He stopped walking, not joking around at all, and they stood facing each other.
”You could come with me, ” he said, as though the idea had just occurred to him. ”To Hutta, I mean. ”
”I thought you'd never ask, ” she said.
He didn't laugh. ”I'm serious. You just implied I'd need a guide there, and I could certainly use the help. It's a big job. ”
”Will you tell me what we'd be looking for? I don't like being left in the dark, ever. ”
”I don't know what it is myself. Not yet. I know as little about it as you do. ”
”Well... ” She pretended to think about it, although she'd worked out her answer while he had been asking about her covert ops qualifications, just like he had been wanting to ask her ever since he finished talking with his Master. That was what he'd had trouble spitting out this whole time. She could see it perfectly now. He didn't want to ask her outright for fear of putting her on the defensive. And maybe he imagined that she didn't want to ask him for fear of looking desperate. This way, it looked like they were coming up with the idea together. No one needed to be rescued. They were a team.
His transparency both amused her and warmed her to him. She had no choice but to go to Hutta, if only to save him from what was waiting for him there. Sure, the Sith were hard work, but the Hutts would eat him alive if they captured him in this state.
”All right, ” she said, ”but one condition. ”
”What's that?”
”You stop thinking that you're doing me a favor. ”
He flushed. ”All right. ”
”And you buy me a proper meal. I've been living on concentrates for weeks. ”
”That's two favors. ”
”Think of that last one as good troop management. You don't want me losing my concentration on the job, do you?”
”I guess not. ” He smiled in a way that made him look even younger than he was. ”Come on, Moxla. We're not getting any closer just standing here. ”
She sloppily saluted.
They strode off into the night, and within three paces their steps had unconsciously fallen into time.
CHAPTER 5.
Black on black, and a hint of bright steel.
The twelve Lords of the Emperor's Dark Council stared at Eldon Ax and her Master with the combined force of a glacial avalanche.
”... and so you see, my lords, ” Darth Chratis concluded, ”how this situation can be advanced by the application of swift and appropriate action: the right people in the right place at the right time. My apprentice and I are the people. The place is Hutta. The time to strike is right now. ”
They were standing in a recessed section of the floor, surrounded by the Dark Council. Twelve monstrous visages gazed down at them-some exposed and scarred, others hidden by masks-all radiating cool and constant hate. These were the Emperor's confidants, his most prized servants. They alone saw his face, and now they were seeing Ax's.
She felt her Master's fear for the first time, and it thrilled her.
”Spare us the rhetoric, Darth Chratis, ” said one of the Dark Lords, a being that might once have been a woman but whose face now was little more than a s.e.xless skeleton. ”We will not be moved by speeches. ”
”What is it, exactly, that you want?” added another, his voice a high-pitched stiletto issuing from a featureless iron mask. ”Tell us your plans. ”
”My apprentice will infiltrate the court of Ta.s.saa Bareesh” Darth Chratis said, ”in order to steal the information from the Hutts. I will wait offworld. When she has succeeded, I will proceed to the location of the colony and begin its annexation, to the continued glory of the Empire. ”
He bowed low, and Ax was filled with contempt.
”A simple plan, ” said another of the Dark Lords. Darth Howl had teeth sharpened to points, and his face was slashed by random patterns of straight lines. ”I admire its directness. We do not negotiate with criminals. ”
”Ta.s.saa Bareesh has been of use to us, ” said another. ”It would not be wise to anger her. ”
”My apprentice will be circ.u.mspect, ” Darth Chratis a.s.sured them. ”She is unknown to them. They will not detect her. ”
”And the annexation itself. How will you facilitate this? You cannot have sufficient resources of your own to capture an entire world. ”
”No, my lords. I will require at least a division to quash any resistance. ”
”An entire division?” Dry mutterings circulated around the ring of Dark Lords. ”You ask too much. ”
”Do you expect significant resistance?”
”Yes, Darth Howl. ” Here Ax's Master hesitated. The one point he had downplayed during his summary was at last being dragged into view. ”The colony was founded by fugitives from the Empire. ”
”What kind of fugitives?”
He outlined everything they had uncovered about Lema Xandret while the Council listened in chilly silence. When he described the connection between Xandret and Ax, all eyes turned to her. She did her best to stare right back, although it caused her physical pain at the back of her eye sockets. It was like meeting the gaze of a black hole.
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