Part 30 (1/2)
The Padawan, s.h.i.+gar, stiffened at her description of him as a child. ”Not so weak, ” he said, ”that I didn't save your life at least once on Hutta. ”
”You are mistaken, ” she said, feeling heat rise up her neck.
”Am I? I'll try harder not to be, next time. ”
”Enough, ” said the Grand Master, and the Padawan obeyed her instantly. ”We're all here now, Stryver. Get on with it. ”
”I do not take your orders, Grand Master, ” said the Mandalorian. ”Nonetheless, you have a point. I have brought you here to show you something. ”
The holoprojector between them flickered into life. Ax recognized the globe of Sebaddon, with its tiny, gem-like lakes scattered among irregular, continent-sized bulges of heat. Magma seams glowed orange, forming a tracery that on other worlds might have been rivers. Several blue circles at the intersections of such traceries indicated settlements or industrial centers. Ax recognized the one Darth Chratis had bombed when the Paramount was attacked, and many others. Some that she remembered weren't visible at all.
”This is how Sebaddon looked when I arrived six hours before you, ” Stryver said. ”This is how it looked when you arrived. ”
There was a clear difference: many of the missing hot spots were now present; the brightest were brighter still.
”This is how it looks now. ”
Ax didn't need to study what she already knew. ”Your point?”
”They work fast, ” said the Padawan. ”That's what Jet said when we arrived. He thought the colony was about twenty years old. ”
”It can't be more than fifteen, ” said Ax, remembering how long it had been since Lema Xandret defected.
”It's actually much less than that, ” Stryver said, resting his giant, gloved hands on the edge of the holoprojector and leaning over the image. ”Study this sequence of images carefully and you'll see that the colony expanded five percent since I arrived. If you project that rate of growth backward in time, that gives a founding date of about three weeks ago. ”
”Impossible, ” she said.
”That's around when the Cinzia was intercepted, ” said Ula.
”So what? It's still impossible. ”
”Is it?” Stryver said. ”Lema Xandret chose this colony partly because of its wealth of resources. With an army of willing workers and a means of making new ones, why couldn't she do whatever else she wanted?”
”If the colony could grow so quickly, why is it still so small?”
”That's a good question, Eldon Ax. You should know your mother better than anyone else here. What do you think?”
Instead of blus.h.i.+ng, Ax felt her face grow cold and taut. ”Start talking sense, man, or I'm leaving. ”
Both of Stryver's index fingers tapped heavily, just once, and for the first time Ax noted that he had only four fingers on each hand.
Not exactly a man, then, she thought. But who cares about that?
”I've been watching all of you, ” he said, ”while you blunder about getting yourselves killed. That's the advantage of being first on the field of battle. Instead of testing Sebaddon's defenses myself, I sat back and watched you do it. It has been an interesting experiment, one that confirmed my previous observations. The inhabitants of Sebaddon are unwilling even to talk about opening their borders to outsiders-particularly the Empire-and they are capable of defending themselves when pushed. ”
”We were taken by surprise, ” said Ax. ”That won't happen, next time. ”
”If you wait too long, surprise won't be the only thing you have to worry about. ”
”What do you mean?” asked Satele Shan.
”How long will it take you to call for reinforcements? You can't call, so it's a two-way trip to send a messenger. Then a fleet has to be a.s.sembled. The larger the fleet, the more time you'll need. And with each hour, Sebaddon is converting more of its precious metals to machines of war. More than thirty s.h.i.+ps tailed today. How long until fifty s.h.i.+ps isn't enough? A hundred? A thousand?”
Ax sneered. ”No single planet could withstand the might of the Imperial war machine. ”
”I might agree, if the Imperial war machine was available. But it's currently stretched across all the galaxy, thin and vulnerable, and the same can be said for the Republic's. Furthermore, we all know that neither would come if we called. They would think your concerns exaggerated. They are more interested in fighting each other than this single, isolated threat. ”
”Is it a threat?” asked s.h.i.+gar. ”Xandret won't talk to us, but at least she's stopped firing now we've moved away. Why don't we give her what she wants and leave her alone?”
”Do you really think that's possible, now?” said the female near-human.
”Why not?” s.h.i.+gar looked at his Master for support, but she wasn't giving it to him.
”You are naive” said Ax. ”This world is too valuable. The Emperor will have it, or no one will. ”
”And your mother must be made an example of, ” said Stryver, ”otherwise the power of the Sith will be eroded. ”
”Stop calling her my mother. Lema Xandret is a criminal and a fugitive. There is no possibility that she will escape justice. ”
”Would you strike her down yourself, if you could?”
”I would, and I will. She means nothing to me. ”
”Good. I believed once that I might reason with her. I believed that I could broker an agreement that would keep her and her creations in check. Now I fear that it is too late for any kind of negotiation. No reasoning or agreement is possible. ”
”Has she gone mad?” asked the trooper to s.h.i.+gar's right. ”If so, there are other options. We could take her out and talk to someone else, for instance. ”
”This plan suffers from one small but fatal flaw. ”
”That is?” asked the Republic envoy.
”Lema Xandret is already dead. She has been for some time. ”
An icy splinter snapped in Ax's heart at those words, leaving her unable to tell if she felt triumph or grief, or both.
”I think it's time you told us everything you know, ” said Master Satele.
”I agree, ” said Larin. ”Since when do Mandalorians negotiate with anyone?”
Ula remembered Jet telling him, They don't believe they have any equals.
”You were the person Xandret's emissaries were hoping to meet, ” Ula said. ”You came looking for them when they didn't show up. ”
The giant, domed helmet inclined in his direction. ”Correct. ”
”Was Xandret herself supposed to be aboard the Cinzia?” asked s.h.i.+gar. ”Is that why you think she's dead?”
”No. She sent another. I believe she was here when she died. ”
”So you don't know for sure?” asked the Sith. Her face had a white, pinched look under her bloodred dreadlocks.