Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance (8 page)

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With
relief, Larin saw Shigar striding along the thoroughfare toward her.
He had been gone less than half an hour, but it felt much longer than
that. After the encounter with the Senate Security Officers, she had
spoken to no one and avoided catching anyone's eyes, feeling more out
of place than ever. When he returned, she promised herself, and when
he had finished assuring her that he had spoken to his Master about
the situation down below and she would do something about it, Larin
could vanish back down her hole again, just as the Zabrak had advised
her to.

It
wasn't that she thought the Zabrak was right. On the contrary.

She
just didn't know where to fit in anymore, up here. At least she had
something to do in the old districts. Ever since her discharge, she
had committed herself to protecting the weak and disenfranchised,
those whom even the justicars ignored, to the extent her meager
resources allowed. Unlike the justicars, she was interested in
something more important than territory, and if that meant working
alone, so be it.

"How
did it go?" she asked Shigar when he reached her.

"Well.
I think. "

"Are
you sure about that?"

She
didn't know him well enough to be able to tell what troubled him, but
he didn't seem remotely content. His brow was knuckled, and the blue
chevrons on his cheeks were twisted out of shape by the clenched
muscles beneath. Perhaps the reassurance she'd been hoping for wasn't
coming after all.

"I
have to go somewhere, " he said. "Will you walk with me,
part of the way?"

"Sure.
Where are we going?"

"Eastport.
"

"I
thought you only just got to Coruscant. "

"That's
right. " He glanced at her, as though surprised that she had
remembered. "I've been traveling all my life-since Master Satele
took me on, anyway. "

They
walked at an easy pace through the temperate night. A light breeze
ran its fingers through her short hair, and she was reminded of one
good thing about life topside: weather. The last time anything had
rained on her was when a sewage line had burst two levels up.

"I
haven't seen another Kiffar for years, " she said to break the
silence. "Were you on Kiffu during the Annexation?"

"No.
Master Tengrove, the Jedi Watchman of that sector, found me the year
before. I was on Dantooine when it happened, helping my Master dig
through some ruins. "

"Find
anything interesting?"

"I
don't remember" He glanced at her again. "What about you?
The Annexation, I mean. "

"I
was there, although I don't remember it clearly. I was too young. My
parents slipped me into a shuttle and got me offworld before the
worst of it hit. The shuttle took me to Abregado-rae, where a host
family adopted me. They had taken on a lot of kids after the Treaty
of Coruscant, but there was always space for another. It was a
madhouse. "

"What
happened to your parents?"

"They
died in prison on Kiffex. "

"I'm
sorry, " he said.

"Don't
be. It's just more ancient history. What about yours?"

"Dead,
too-from a vacuum seal accident on a Fresian shuttle, though, nothing
to do with the Annexation. "

They
walked in silence for a while again, he looking fixedly ahead and she
down at her booted feet. She felt the usual mixture of relief and
sorrow whenever the matter of her parents' sacrifice came up. She
hadn't known it at the time, but she had worked out later how much
her narrow escape had cost them. With Imperial warships crowding
their home planet, they must have bribed an Imperial gunner to
overlook an escaping shuttle, plus the shuttle pilot and who knew how
many spaceport guards? They had given up everything, just to save
her.

And
how had she repaid them?

"I
have to go to Hutta, " he finally said.

"Why?"

"One
of the cartels has discovered something. I need to find out what it
is. "

"Is
this connected to that Mandalorian?"

"Seems
so. But he's off Coruscant now and won't be bothering you again. "

"Are
you sure he won't come back?"

"As
sure as I can be. "

"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 Shigar Konshi. 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 Shigar 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 pass 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 sexless 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 Tassaa 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. "

"Tassaa
Bareesh has been of use to us, " said another. "It would
not be wise to anger her. "

"My
apprentice will be circumspect, " Darth Chratis assured 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.

"The
Mandalorian let the daughter of the fugitives live, " said Darth
Howl when the account was finished. "Can you be sure there is no
connection between them?"

"I
have examined her thoroughly. She feels no sympathy for the ones we
seek. "

"What
say you, girl? Tell me what you remember of your mother. "

Ax
forced her tongue to unfreeze. She had been spoken to, so she must
reply. That was how it worked.

"I
remember nothing, my lord. That is both a curse and a blessing. "

"Explain.
"

"My
lack of memory means that I can offer no clue as to the whereabouts
of the fugitives. That is a curse, because it would be simplest to
avoid dealing with the Hutts altogether. But if I did remember, my
feelings might indeed be clouded, and you would be right to mistrust
me. I offer you my assurance that I am loyal, and that the Hutts can
be dealt with. "