Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance (5 page)

"But
it helps us very little without knowing what the Hutts are
auctioning. "

That
took some of the triumph out of the minister's expression. "I
will pursue that information immediately, Darth Chratis. "

"I
trust you will, Minister, as a matter of principle. "

The
long-distance audience ended with a shower of static.

It
took Eldon Ax almost a minute to realize. Disconnected phrases filled
her head like birds, looking for somewhere to roost.

...
a potential lead...

...
named after Lema Xandret's daughter...

...
the girl's birth name...

It
occurred to her only then that the name she thought of as hers was
nothing but a version of her mother's initials.

What
have you been doing these last fifteen years. Mother?

"Tell
me what you remember, Ax. "

"I
don't want to remember, Master. "

"Why
not?"

"Because
it's nothing to do with who I am now. So what if Lema Xandret was my
mother? If I met her tomorrow, I probably wouldn't recognize her.
I've never known her, never needed her. "

"Well,
you need her now, Ax-or at least, you need her memories. "

Her
Master came so close, she could feel the deathly cold of his breath.
"It appears that knowledge of Lema Xandret and her missing droid
makers is important to the Mandalorians. That means it's important to
the Empire, too, for what strengthens another weakens us. Anything
you can remember about your mother's whereabouts might be crucial. I
therefore suggest you try harder. To reward you, I will put the block
back in place afterward, so the memories will disappear again, like
they never existed. "

"All
right, Master, " she said, although her head hurt at the
thought. What if nothing came? What if something did? "I'll try.
"

"You'll
do better than try, " Darth Chratis told her with chilling
finality. "In ten standard hours I expect to be standing before
the Dark Council with you beside me. If you let me down, both of us
will suffer. "

CHAPTER
3

On
a good day, Ula Vii didn't talk to anyone. He just listened. That was
what he was good at. In his time off, he would sit in his quarters
and replay the week's recordings, scanning whole conversations for
anything important. Important things were happening all the time on
Coruscant, of course, but isolating items of greatest significance
was a critical part of his job, and he liked to think that he was
very good at it. Ula was an Imperial informer in the Republic Senate.
He bore that responsibility with pride.

On
a bad day, he was thrust out of the shadows and into the light: the
trouble with playing a part was that sometimes Ula had to actually
play it. As a senior assistant to Supreme Commander Stantorrs, Ula
was often called upon to take notes, conduct research, and offer
advice. All of this placed him in a unique position to assist the
Empire in its mission to retake the galaxy, but at the same time he
was forced to perform two demanding jobs at once. On bad days, his
head ached so much that it felt like it would crack open, spilling
all his secrets out onto the floor.

The
day he heard about the Cinzia was a very bad day indeed.

The
Supreme Commander had had a busy morning: countless visitors, endless
supplicants, the eternal buzzing of his comlink. Ula didn't know how
he stood it. Then came the request from Grand Master Satele Shan for
an audience, throwing the Supreme Commander's schedule completely out
of whack.

"Can't
you put her off?" Stantorrs asked his secretary, with a look
that signaled annoyance. The longer Ula occupied his role, the better
he was getting at understanding the expressions of aliens, even
noseless, moon-faced Duros like this one. "She was here only an
hour ago. "

"She
says it's important. "

"All
right, all right. Send her in. "

Ula
had never formally met the Jedi Grand Master before. He regarded the
Jedi with suspicion and dislike, and not just because they were the
Emperor's enemy.

She
strode into the palatial office and offered the Supreme Commander a
bow of respect. With a finely boned face and gray-streaked hair, she
was not a tall woman, but the position she occupied in the Republic
hierarchy was considerable.

Stantorrs
stood and offered a nod that seemed much slighter in comparison with
hers. Like Ula, he didn't approve of Jedi, but his reasons had
nothing to do with philosophy. Many in the Republic placed the blame
for the Empire's ascendance firmly on the Jedi Council's collective
shoulders. The Treaty of Coruscant had wrenched the galactic capital
out of the Emperor's control once more, but only at great cost to the
Republic and its allies, and at terrible loss of face. The Council's
retreat to Tython hadn't helped.

"How
can I help you, Master Shan?" he asked in gruff Basic.

"I've
received a report from my Padawan of a possible bounty hunter loose
in the old district, " she said in measured tones. "Running
riot among the criminal classes, apparently. "

"That's
a minor issue. Why bring it to me?"

"Your
brief is restoring security on Coruscant. Furthermore, the bounty
hunter is a Mandalorian. "

Ula
didn't need to read minds to know what Stantorrs was thinking now. A
Mandalorian blockade of the Hydian Way trade route in the last
decades of the Great War had crippled the Republic and very nearly
led to its ruin. Since his defeat, Mandalore had lost many of his
raiders to the gladiatorial pit fights on Geonosis, but Ula wasn't
the only person on Coruscant who knew that Imperial operatives had
been behind the anti-Republic action, and that he was still looking
for a fight. If he was considering making a move on Coruscant itself,
it had to be addressed immediately.

"What
can you tell me about him?"

"His
name is Dao Stryver. He's looking for information regarding a woman,
Lema Xandret, and something called Cinzia. "

Ula's
ears pricked up at the latter name. He had heard that recently.
Where, exactly?

The
Supreme Commander was performing the same mental search. "A
report, " he mused, drumming his long fingers on the desk.
"Something from SIS, I'm sure. Perhaps you should ask them about
it. "

A
hint of Grand Master Satele Shan's true authority appeared in her
voice. "I am to contact Tython immediately regarding our earlier
discussions. General Garza impressed upon me the urgency and secrecy
of the matter. I cannot afford to be delayed any further. "

Stantorrs's
waxy skin turned a deep purple. He didn't like the Republic's own
policies being used against him. Ula hoped for a momentary loss of
control, that something might slip about the nature of those earlier
meetings. Try as he might, he could learn nothing about them,
although he was certain they were of grave importance to his Masters
on Dromund Kaas.

Unfortunately
Stantorrs's self-control was a match for his temper.

"I
haven't got time to investigate every minor disruption, " the
Supreme Commander fumed. "Ula! Look into it, will you?"

Ula
jumped at the mention of his name. "Sir?"

"Follow
up this incident for Master Shan. Report to both of us when you find
something. If you find something. "

The
last was directed at the Grand Master with a generous amount of ill
feeling.

"Of
course, sir, " said Ula, hoping that the concession was simply a
ruse to get the Grand Master off Stantorrs's back.

"Thank
you, Ula, Supreme Commander. I'm most grateful. "

With
that, Satele Shan swept from the room, watched resentfully by
Stantorrs and his staff. Every department in the Republic was
overstretched and understaffed. The last thing anyone wanted was the
Jedi sticking their noses in, finding fault, and handing over more
work.

Ula's
job wasn't to sow dissent, but sometimes he wished it was. Dissent
practically sowed itself on cursed Coruscant, where the sky was the
same heavy gray as its pedwalks and the pockmarks of war still
scarred its artificial face.

The
Supreme Commander resumed his seat with a heavy sigh. "All
right, Ula. You'd better get started. "

"But
sir, " Ula said, "surely you don't-I mean, I thought-n

"No,
we'd better do exactly as I said, just in case it does turn out to be
important. No sweeping anything aside when Mandalorians are involved.
If that rabble of troublemakers is helping the Empire make another
move on Coruscant, we need to know about it. But don't spend too much
time on it, eh? The rest of the galaxy won't wait. "

Ula
inclined his head in frustrated obedience. He was dismayed that the
Grand Master's minor request was removing him from the Supreme
Commander's presence. How was he going to gather the intelligence he
needed now? This pointless quest could cost him valuable data.

There
was no use arguing, and perhaps some benefit to complying, too.
Mandalorians weren't any kind of rabble: their vast numbers of
individual clans, each available for hire to the highest bidder,
added up to a potent fighting force capable of shifting the balance
of power in a major battle, as the Republic had already learned to
its cost. The Empire had given the Mandalorians the means of
returning to the galaxy and gaining revenge on their enemies, but
there was no loyalty lingering between the two sides. With the
signing of the Treaty of Coruscant, Emperor and Mandalore had gone
their separate ways.

It
was worth pursuing this lead, he told himself, even if an hour or
two's research proved that someone had been chasing at shadows and
business returned to usual afterward.

It
would be out of character, too, to do otherwise. Ula Vii, the
amenable functionary, always did as he was told. That was how he had
gained such intimate access to the Supreme Commander's affairs. With
a brisk bow, he smoothed the already impeccable front of his uniform
as he left the office and headed for the headquarters of his opposite
number in the Republic.

*
* *

Strategic
information systems didn't advertise its offices in the Heorem
Complex, but anyone with any seniority in the administration knew
where they were. Ula had had reason to visit only once before, while
covering for a Cipher Agent, and he'd made a point of avoiding it
ever since. The company of other intelligence operatives bothered
him, no matter whose side they were on. They were all of the same
breed, more or less: observant, quick thinking, used to seeing-or
imagining- deception all around them. Creatures of few words, they
gave little away, and their eyes were as pointed as the needles of an
interrogator droid.

Ula
masked his nervousness behind a facade of calm as he entered the
spacious, cultured atrium. The secretary smiled warmly at him.

"Can
I help you, sir?"

"Ula
Vii, adviser to Supreme Commander Stantorrs. "

His
voiceprint was checked, naturally, but unobtrusively. The secretary
waved him through. He was met in a conference room by an unreadable
Ithorian, possibly female, dressed in simple, black robes bearing no
name tags or insignia.

"You're
an Epicanthix, " she said bluntly, from both of her mouths.

As
conversation starters, it was a disconcerting one. Most people failed
to notice that he wasn't fully human. He refused to give her the
advantage.

"Supreme
Commander Stantorrs requests information, " he said.

"Why
doesn't he follow the usual channels?"

"We
need an answer quickly, " he said, thinking: So I can get back
to my real job. Both of them.

"Ask,
" she said.

He
gave her the Mandalorian's name, and the other names associated with
the case.

The
Ithorian produced a datapad from beneath her robes and tapped at it
with one long, slender finger. Apart from that digit, no part of her
body moved. Ula waited with no outward sign of impatience, wondering
how the creature breathed.

"A
ship registered to a Dao Stryver landed on Coruscant two standard
days ago, " she finally said. "It left an hour ago. "