Part 22 (1/2)
Levet knew, and there was only one way of permanently scrubbing a human memory that Ordo trusted. But his con-science, the rules of decency that Kal'buir had instilled in him, said to leave the man-this brother-alone.
”I'm going to have to remove her for a while. I a.s.sume you're happy to continue the removal of the colonists here on your own.”
”Oh, I think we can blunder along ...”
”How long until the planet's cleared?”
”Another week, maybe, depending on how they react. We're losing too many men to mines. The locals are very good at concealing them from sensors with metal chaff, so we're adjusting our tactics.”
”Either they come out quietly and board the transports...”
”Or we'll call in air support.” Levet traced his fingertip through the three-dimensional representation of the Tingel Arm and the northeast quadrants. ”The Thirty-fifth is due to take part in the a.s.sault on Gaftikar, so we need to clean up here, even if that means getting a little heavy-handed.”
There wasn't a better time to move Etain. Once she knew how tough things were getting for Darman, she'd be tempted to seek him out. Gaftikar was relatively close to Qiilura.
Ordo paused in the hallway to check the messages on his datapad. Jusik had reported Delta's latest position on their way to Da Soocha; Kal'buir was on his way to Dorumaa.
Ordo thought of calling Besany, but it seemed a selfish indulgence while Etain and Darman were denied routine con-tact. And Kal'buir had left one more message: Suggest that the name Venku is quite nice, son.
Naming the child seemed to be a harmless concession to Etain's anxiety. If Darman or the child himself didn't like the name in due course, then it could always be changed. Ordo tried to imagine how Darman would react when he found out that n.o.body had told him about the baby, and that he was the last to know. Ordo was sure he would have been upset if he'd been in the same situation, however necessary it might have been.
”General?” Ordo thudded up the stairs. ”Are you ready to leave?”
Etain emerged with a rough bag over her shoulder that looked like it had one change of clothes in it. Jedi didn't have much by way of possessions, just like clones.
”I need to say good-bye to Levet,” she said.
”He knows you're pregnant, by the way. He's not blind or stupid.”
Etain paused on the stairs for a moment. ”Oh.”
”And...” Come on, the name's important to her, and it's important to Kal'buir, or he wouldn't have pa.s.sed it to you. ”Kal says Venku is a good name.”
Etain looked totally distracted for a second and her lips moved. ”Venku,” she said at last. ”Venku. Does it have a meaning?”
”It's derived from the word for 'future,' vencuyot.”
”In the sense of...”
”A positive future.”
”Ah.” She nodded and managed a smile. The future was obviously as tantalizingly fragile for her as it was for any clone. ”Tell Kal it's an excellent name.”
Ordo waited by Mereel's shuttle and took in the clean silence of the snow while he waited for Etain to say her good-byes. Every time he tried to be civil to her, he couldn't seem to make it work. It wasn't as if he even disliked her. He just couldn't find any common ground, despite the parallels in their lives.
She emerged from the building and trudged through the snow, seeking out the path already worn down by boots.
”Where are we going, then?”
Ordo opened the hatch. ”A resort beach.”
”You're winding me up, aren't you?”
”No. It's what I believe they call a tropical paradise. I'll acquire a change of clothes for you.”
Etain settled into the copilot's seat and looked like she was having trouble taking it all in. Ordo suddenly had an insight into the mind of a Jedi who wasn't comfortable with authority like Zey, or happy being one of the ordinary people as Jusik was.
She s never done this. She s never been somewhere purely for relaxation. She x as inst.i.tutionalized as any clone trooper. And there s no Kal'buir to look out for her.
Yes, he pitied her, as he'd told her once before. It surprised him that he could, if being grateful that he wasn't her was pity.
”I don't feel right about going to a resort when men are still fighting, Ordo.”
”And indulging in self-flagellation when you're pregnant and in danger of losing the child serves no purpose at all.”
”I suppose that's your unique way of telling me to be kinder to myself...”
It was so much easier to have a conversation with Besany. She was a precise woman, and endlessly patient when he didn't understand some finer point of civilian etiquette.
”Dorumaa,” Ordo said, trying hard for Darman's sake. ”Mereel says it's an excellent place to relax.”
Kal'buir had only told him to make sure Etain was safe and well. He hadn't told him not to return to the hunt for Ko Sai.
Like Etain, Ordo didn't like sitting on his shebs while the people he cared about were facing danger.
Chapter 9.
Millions of us were wiped out when the seas rose and engulfed Kamino. We survived as a species because we were willing to think the unthinkable. Some genetic characteristics helped us survive the starvation and overcrowding, and some did not, and there was no room for sentiment or for weaklings. We culled; we refined; we selected. The prospect of extinction forged us into the species we designed ourselves to be, the purest expression of the Kaminoan spirit, and at a level of social maturity that weaker mongrel species will never attain, because they lack the courage to cull. We are the masters of genetics and sole arbiters of our fate, never to be at the mercy of chance again.
-Draft memoirs of former Chief Scientist Ko Sai, on Kaminoan eugenics and the desirability of the caste system; never published * * *
Eyat City, Caftikar, Outer Rim, 477 days after Geonosis The bodies of the two covert ops troopers were much heavier than Darman expected.
The wait for Niner and Fi to show up-two hours-was the longest of his life, and every creak and click made him think the Eyat police were surrounding the apartment. When his brothers finally arrived, he felt inexplicably guilty, as if he had to explain himself.
Niner stood staring down at the two troopers.
”Have you tidied them up, Dar?”
Darman had done his best. Apart from the damage to the one he'd shot in the face, they both looked quite peaceful now. They looked like him, but dead-and he was having a. hard time dealing with that. Their arms were neatly at their sides, legs straight.
”I felt bad leaving them lying around like meat. What are we going to do with them?”
Fi shrugged. ”Can't leave them here as air fresheners ...”
”Fi, they're our own.” Darman couldn't bear looking at the faces any longer, and grabbed a blanket from the bedroom. ”We have to dispose of them properly.”