Part 31 (1/2)
”I'm ready” he said in as strong a voice as he could muster. ”Let's not keep your Master waiting. ”
”Indeed, ” she said. ”Let's not. ”
”If we don't hear from you within thirty minutes, ” Stryver said, ”we'll a.s.sume you are dead. ”
Ula walked around the holoprojector and let the Imperial guards take him by the shoulders and frog-march him to the door. There was no turning back now. The eyes of his erstwhile allies in the Republic followed him as he was led off to betray them all.
The moment the air lock closed behind them, the puny envoy started to struggle. Ax strode on, her mind full of ways to lessen the inevitable consequences of her failure. She didn't know what Darth Chratis had expected, but he was sure to turn this unexpected result against her. That she was finding it hard to think wasn't helping.
”Listen to me, ” the envoy called after her. ”You have to listen to me!”
She didn't slow down. She barely even heard him. Lema Xandret is dead, Stryver had said. Everyone down there is dead. She didn't know why that p.r.o.nouncement had made a difference, but it seemed to. Her family, her mother-what had happened to her father? She had never asked. Maybe he was dead, too, had died years ago, when she was a child. Maybe he was a Sith Lord who wouldn't lower himself to be a.s.sociated with a common woman. Maybe, she thought, just maybe... ?
Impossible. She mocked herself for even thinking it. Darth Chratis was no kind of father to her, and never would be. She needed no father, just like she needed no family. If Stryver was right and the fugitives were all dead, that just made her life easier. She wouldn't have to expend the energy finding and killing them, in the Emperor's name.
”Please, I'm trying to tell you that I'm not who you think I am! We're on the same side and have been all the time!”
The squawking of the envoy finally penetrated her consciousness. On the brink of entering the shuttle, she stopped and reached out one half-gripped hand.
He swept out of the guards' hands and smashed into the air lock wall.
”Don't even think of lying to me” she said.
”I'm not. ” The envoy was as pale as marble and his voice little more than a whisper, but he didn't flinch as she approached. ”I'm an Imperial agent. ”
She activated her lightsaber and held it across his throat.
”You don't look like a Cipher Agent. You're not even fully human. ”
Her contempt was ferocious. ”All right. Not an agent per se, but an informer at least. And I am loyal regardless what species I am. Utterly loyal. I swear it. ”
Ax didn't move. She knew that many highly ranked Republic officers sometimes preferred nonhuman staff in the belief that this would protect them from surveillance. If this envoy had been turned, he would be highly prized by the Minster of Information.
”I tried to board your shuttle on Hutta, ” he pressed on, beginning to stammer now, ”but the guards t-turned me away. ”
That much was true, and it made her hesitate. Ax couldn't believe she was listening to him-and more, actually considering his story. But his brazenness and bravery in the face of certain death were persuasive. She had to admire his guts, even if she would see them sizzling if she found out that he was trying to trick her. It wasn't impossible that he was a double agent placed by Satele Shan to lead her and her Master astray...
Ax smiled with her teeth. Darth Chratis would know. If the envoy was telling the truth, it would be a boon for her. If not, her Master would have someone else upon which to act out his displeasure.
”What species are you?” she asked him.
”E-Epicanthix. ”
”Never heard of it. ”
”We come from Panatha in the Pacanth Reach...”
”I don't care. If you ever want to see your home again-if you ever want to see anything again-then you'll tell my Master everything you just told me, and convince him that it's true. ”
”Who is your Master?”
”Darth Chratis. Does that name mean anything to you?”
If anything, the envoy went even paler.
”Good. Then you appreciate the gravity of your situation. ”
She deactivated her lightsaber and let him drop. The guards picked him up and dragged him after her, into the shuttle where her Master waited.
Darth Chratis awaited her in the shuttle's s.p.a.cious but inhospitable pa.s.senger cabin, wearing a bulky armored suit. Only his face was visible, pinched and puckered into a permanent scowl. He leaned heavily on his lightsaber staff.
When he saw the envoy, his brow came down even farther.
”Explain. ”
Ax did so, starting at Dao Stryver's dire predictions and moving quickly on to the possibility of cooperation. The prisoner remained silent throughout, struck dumb by Darth Chratiss forbidding mien. That was a good thing; had he interrupted at any point, he might have been killed out of hand.
”And Satele Shan has been taken in by this Mandalorian's machinations?” Her Master's eyebrows, as thin as old scars, rose up toward his time-worn scalp.
”It appears so, ” she said. ”She sent her envoy to negotiate on her behalf. ”
Now Darth Chratis's stare descended fully upon him, and the envoy quailed. ”Speak. ”
”My name is Ula Vii, ” he stammered. ”I report directly to Watcher Three in the operations division of the Ministry of Intelligence. I am your servant, my lord-a loyal agent of the Empire. ”
”A spy? How unfortunate for the Grand Master. ” Darth Chratis's face broke into a broad, cracked smile. ”Tell me, spy, how you propose to betray her. ”
”Republic and Empire share the same initial objectives, ” the envoy said, pulling free from the two guards. He had clearly been thinking hard while waiting his turn to speak. ”The smas.h.i.+ng of Sebaddon's...o...b..tal defense system comes ahead of any invasion or ma.s.s bombardment-the purpose of which would be the neutralization of the planet's central authority, since it must have one, human or artificial-and together, I agree that we can probably achieve that. But once we have the planet toothless and brainless, the need for an alliance will be gone. I suggest we turn on the Jedi and Dao Stryver then-break the so-called alliance and take what's rightfully ours. Sebaddon will be the Emperor's at last. I'll supply misinformation at every opportunity, ensuring that the Grand Master does not ever find the chance to do the same to you. ”
”What do you ask for in return?”
The envoy looked surprised by the question. ”Me? Nothing, my lord. I'm simply doing my duty. ”
”There must be something important to you, beyond your duty. Ask, and it shall be yours. ”
”Well, there is one that I would ask you to spare, after your inevitable victory. ”
”Tell me who. ”
”She is no one, lower even than a trooper. Her name is Larin Moxla. ”
”Do you know this woman, Ax?” Darth Chratis asked.
”I believe I do, Master. ”