by James Luceno
entered the bridge of the picket ship and swept her eyes over the instruments.
Boiny's charge, the chief, followed, her wrists sporting stun cuffs and the
rest of her clothed in Rella's spacer garb.
Boiny motioned the woman into the copilot's chair, then pressed his
sucker-tipped forefinger to a communications bead in his right ear.
"Lope wants to know what he should do with the inspection team," he said
to Rella.
She answered while continuing to study the instruments.
"Tell him to secure them in the aft hold of the freighter." She eased
into the pilot's chair and adjusted it to her liking. Drab Eriadu filled the
forward viewport. Rella switched on the communications array and swiveled to
face the chief.
"Send a message that you're bringing a load of confiscated cargo down the
well. Say that you want the cargo transferred to the customs building for
immediate inspection, and to have hoversleds standing by to meet you." The
woman smirked. "That's against procedure. They won't do it." Rella smiled.
"Thanks for the warning. But they will do it this time, because the people in
the customs building are on my team." She gave it a moment to register.
"Glare at me all you want, chief, but you're going to do it eventually."
The woman bent toward the audio pickup, clearly hoping that Rella would be
proved wrong. But after listening to the transmission, the voice on the other
end replied, "We'll have the hoversleds waiting." The chief continued to
glower at Rella. "You think no one knows we boarded your ship?" "I'm aware of
that," Rella said. "But we don't need all day to accomplish what we came here
to do." She fastened the chief's seat harness in such a way that the woman
could scarcely move. Then she accepted an adhesive strip from Boiny and
plastered it over the chief's mouth.
"You sit tight for a while," Rella said, squatting to eye level with the
woman. "We won't be long." She and Boiny went aft to the picket's small rear
compartment. Cohl and the mercenaries were already there, pressed in among a
half-dozen two-meter-tall cargo tubes that had been conveyed from the
freighter.
All of them were wearing rebreathers and extravehicular suits, with
armorply vests beneath.
"Is this necessary?" one of the humans was asking Cohl, gesturing to the
upright cargo tubes.
"I suppose you'd rather blast your way through customs, is that it?" "No,
Captain," the man answered sullenly.
"It's just that I don't like tight spots." Cohl laughed ruefully. "Get
used to it. It's going to be nothing but tight spots from this point on.
Now, in you go." Reluctantly the man opened the cargo tube's narrow hatch
and squeezed inside. "It's like a coffin in here!" "Then just be happy you're
still alive," Cohl said, securing the door from the outside.
With similar aversion, the others began to secrete themselves.
"You, too, Cohl," Rella said.
"Wish I could be joining you, Captain," Boiny said with a smile.
Cohl scowled. "You're lucky there was a Rodian on the inspection team, or
I'd have you sharing a canister with Lope." He turned to Rella. "I don't know
exactly how we would have pulled this off without your help." She narrowed her
eyes at him. "Save it, Cohl. I just want to get us out of it in one piece." He
stepped into the canister. "Seriously. I don't deserve you." "That's the first
true thing you've said. But that's just who I am." She reached into the
canister to fasten the collar of Cohl's space suit. "We can't have you
catching a chill." Cohl grinned at her.
She sealed the cargo tube and looked at Boiny.
"Ready the ship to leave orbit." As promised, a half-dozen hoversleds
were on hand to meet the customs ship when it touched down at Eriadu's
overtaxed spaceport.
Now fettered only by stun cuffs, the chief was the first to step from the
picket's hatch. She took one look at the humanoid and alien operators of the
hoversleds and inhaled sharply.
"Who are you people?" She asked in utter dismay.
"You don't really want to know that," Rella said from just behind her.
She nodded to Boiny, who placed a small styrette to the chief's neck and
injected her with a measure of clear fluid. Instantly, the woman slumped back
into Boiny's arms.
"Stow her in one of the empty cargo canisters," Rella said. "We'll take
her with us for safekeeping." She hopped down onto one of the hoversleds. "We
have to work fast," she cautioned Havac's downside contingent of terrorists.
"It won't be long before the freighter is discovered and searched." Rella rode
one of the repulsorlift flatbeds to the picket's aft hatch, which was already
open. There, she leapt into the rear compartment and rapped her knuckles
against the matte surface of Cohl's container.
"Not much longer," she said quietly.
When the coffinlike canisters had been loaded, the flotilla of hoversleds
moved across the spaceport's duracrete apron to the customs warehouse, where
more of Havac's terrorists were guarding the roll-away doors.
To all sides, ships were arriving and launching.
Closer to the spaceport terminals, passengers were disembarking from the
shuttles that had carried them from transports anchored in orbit. PK and
protocol droids were everywhere, as were teams of security agents, waiting to
hustle diplomats and dignitaries through immigration. Massed along the
spaceport's stun-fenced perimeter, mobs of demonstrators were declaring their
discontent, with chanted slogans and crudely lettered signs.
The hoversleds streamed into the warehouse in single file, the roll-away
doors closing behind them. At once, the humanoid and alien pilots began to
unseal the canisters, which opened with a hiss of escaping atmosphere.
Cohl climbed from his coffin, pulled off his rebreather, and jumped to
the sawdust-covered floor, gazing around expectantly. The place smelled of
spacecraft exhaust and hydrocarbons.
"Punctual, as ever, Captain," Havac said, as he and a group of his
cohorts emerged from behind a palisade of stacked cargo bins. Sporting a
colorful headcloth and scarf that left only his eyes exposed, the Nebula Front
militant started for the now motionless sleds, coming to an abrupt halt when
he saw Rella.
"I thought you'd retired." "I had a memory lapse," she told him. "But I'm
about to get over it." Havac appraised the gathered mercenaries and turned to
Cohl. "Will they follow orders?" "If you feed them regularly," Cohl said.
"What do we do with this one?" Lope asked, indicating the still-
unconscious customs chief.
"Leave her there," Havac answered. "We'll take care of her." He swung
back to Cohl.
"Captain, if you'll follow me, we can conclude your part in this." "That
suits me fine," Cohl said.
Havac glanced at Lope and the others. "The rest of you wait here. I'll
brief you when I return." I n a restricted area of the spaceport, Adi Gallia
met Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan as they stepped from the sharp-nosed shuttle that had
brought them downside.
"The High Council's favorite Jedi," Adi said as Qui-G
on approached, his
long hair and brown cloak stirred by the wind. "I half expected you and your
loyal Padawan to come bolting overhead in Captain Cohl's gunship." "We left
the Hawk-Bat in orbit," Qui-Gon replied without humor. "What's the situation
here?" "Master Tiin, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Vergere, and some of the others are on
their way from Coruscant." Qui-Gon planted his hands on his hips. "Did you ask
security to run a check on Corellian freighters?" Adi gave him a long-
suffering look. "Do you know how many Corellian freighters are in orbit just
now? Unless you can provide a registry or a drive signature of some sort,
there's little anyone can do. As it is, it will take customs and security a
week to search every vessel." "What about Captain Cohl?" Adi shook her head,
the tails of her tight-fitting bonnet whipping about her handsome features.
"No one fitting Cohl's description has passed through Eriadu immigration."
"Could we have arrived first, Master?" Obi-Wan asked. "The Hawk-Bat is about
the fastest ship I've ever flown in." Adi waited for Qui-Gon's response, which
was to shake his head negatively.
"Cohl is here somewhere. I can feel him." The three of them glanced
around, reaching out with the Force.
"There is so much disturbance just now, it's difficult to focus on any
one thing," Adi said after a long moment.
Determination quickened Qui-Gon's gaze. "We must prevail on the Supreme
Chancellor to allow us to take the place of his Senate Guards. It's our best
hope." Havac led the way down a long corridor. Against one wall were slumped a
dozen or so bound, gagged, and blindfolded customs agents, who voiced muffled
exclamations of fury as Cohl, Rella, and Boiny passed. Havac continued on to a
room that housed the warehouse's small power plant.
He opened the door and gestured everyone inside.
Flickering overhead fixtures illuminated a clamorous generator, along
with scores of unopened shipping crates. The room reeked of lubricants and
liquid fuel.
Havac's demeanor changed as soon as he shut the door behind him. He
unwound the cloth scarf that concealed his face and threw it to the floor.
Cohl regarded him curiously. "What's gotten you so jumpy, Havac?" "You,"
Havac seethed. "You've nearly ruined everything!" Cohl swapped brief looks
with his comrades, then said, "What are you babbling about?" Havac fought to
compose himself. "The Jedi learned that you've been hiring assassins, and that
you're planning something for Eriadu. Your likeness is all over the
Holoationet!" "Again, the Jedi." Cohl narrowed his gaze at Havac. "I thought
you and Cindar were supposed to keep them occupied." "We did our part. We
lured the Jedi to Asmeru, and we managed to lure even more of them away from
Eriadu. But you, you left a trail any amateur could follow, and now Cindar's
dead because of it." "You'll forgive me if I don't sob," Cohl said flatly.
Havac ignored the remark and began to pace the floor. "I've been forced
to modify the entire plan. If it wasn't for the help of our advisor - - was
"Take it easy, Havac," Cohl cut him off.
"You're going to give yourself a stroke." Havac came to a halt behind
Rella and aimed his forefinger at Cohl. "I'm going to have to use the ones you
delivered to fashion a diversion." Cohl's features warped into a mask of
acrimony. "I can't allow that, Havac. I didn't deliver them here to be killed.
They trust me." "Content yourself that they'll die rich, Captain.
What's more, I don't care what you think you can and cannot allow. I
won't have you interfering in this." Cohl laughed shortly. "You're going to
stop me?" He turned and started for the door.
"Stay where you are!" Havac made a sudden grab for Rella's blaster. She
tried to turn away, but wasn't in time. Havac threw his left forearm around
her neck and pressed the blaster to the side of her head.
Cohl stopped dead in his tracks and turned slowly toward him. Boiny was
about as far from Havac as he was, but neither of them risked a move.
"You haven't got the stomach for this kind of work, Havac," Cohl said in
a controlled voice.
"Put the blaster down and let her go." Havac only tightened his choke
hold on Rella. She clamped her hands on his forearm.
"You said it yourself, Captain anyone can be killed.
I'll do it if you try to leave. I swear, I'll do it." Cohl glanced at
Boiny before replying. "Havac, think it through. You're the brains, remember?
You hired us to be the brawn." Havac's face was red with fury and panic; he
was trembling from head to foot. "You underestimate me.
You always have." "All right," Cohl said. "Maybe I have. That still
doesn't mean--was "I'm sorry it has to be this way," Havac interrupted. "But
when it comes to safeguarding the interests of the Outer Rim, people like you
and Rella and me are expendable. Our advisor prefers as few loose ends as
possible, in any case." The door opened and two of Havac's confederates
entered the room with blasters raised.
Cohl saw the sorrow in Rella's dark, beautiful eyes. "Oh, Cohl," she said
in a sad, quiet voice.
Abruptly, Havac turned his blaster and fired.
The bolt whizzed past Rella's head, hitting Cohl in the chest.
A second bolt struck the wall behind Cohl and glanced off into the room.
Twisting to one side, Cohl threw himself at the two men by the door, dropping
both with a body block.
At the same instant, Rella bent her right leg, raising her foot into
Havac's groin. He stumbled backwards, gasping for breath, but managed to hold
on to the blaster. Boiny hurled himself at Rella, intent on driving her to the
floor, but Havac began to fire wildly, catching Rella in the neck and Boiny in
the side of the head.
Wrestling with the two men he had knocked down, Cohl heard the blaster
bolts and saw Rella collapse in a heap. Sudden rage rushed to his aid in
ripping a blaster from one of the men and killing him with a shot to the face.
The other man rolled and came to his feet in a crouch, loosing a volley of
bolts at Cohl.
Cohl felt intense heat sear his thigh, abdomen, and forehead. He flew
back against the wall and slid slowly to the floor, the blaster slipping from
his grip.
Across the room a groan escaped Boiny, and he turned over onto his back,
blood oozing from his head.
Through half-closed eyes Cohl stared at Rella.
A single tear moved in fits and starts down her right cheek to her
jawline. Cohl extended his right hand toward her, only to have it fall to his
side, like dead weight.
"Havac," he said weakly, before his head fell to his chest.
His back pressed to the wall, a quaking Havac dropped Rella's blaster, as
if he had just realized he was holding it. He gazed wide-eyed at his comrade.
"Is--is she dead?" Keeping his blaster ready, the human went first to
Rella, then to Boiny, and finally to Cohl. "Yes - comand these two are well on
the way. What should we do with them?" Havac swallowed audibly. "The
authorities are hunting for Captain Cohl," he stammered.
"Perhaps we should let them fi nd him." "And the others--the ones Cohl
brought?" Havac considered it briefly. Then he retrieved the scarf he had
thrown to the floor and began to wind it around his lower face.
"They know me only as Havac," he said, and moved for the door.
A uniformed detachment of Eriadu security guards escorted Qui-Gon, Obi-
Wan, and Adi Gallia to the heavily guarded door of the Supreme Chancellor's
temporary quarters in the majestic home of Lieutenant Governor Tarkin.
Sei Taria led them the rest of the way.
"I never got to thank you personally for your actions at the Senate,"
Valorum said to Qui-Gon.
"If it wasn't for you and Master Gallia, I might not be standing here
today." Qui-Gon nodded in respect and acknowledgment.
"The Force was with you that day, Supreme Chancellor.
But we're not satisfied that the threat has been removed. There is reason
to believe that the assault in the plaza was contrived to lure Republic law
enforcement to the Senex sector, and thus distract us from a similar plan the
Nebula Front hopes to execute on Eriadu." Valorum beetled his thick brows. "A
strike against me here would undermine what little support the Nebula Front
currently enjoys in the Outer Rim." "The Nebula Front has no more faith in the
Republic than it does in the coalition of outlying worlds," Qui-Gon replied
calmly but firmly.
"By attacking you here, the Front may be hoping to induce the Republic to
forsake any interest in the free trade zones, and lay the ground work for a
separatist movement in the Outer Rim." He compressed his lips. "I know that it
defies all reason, Supreme Chancellor, but the Nebula Front appears to have
abandoned reason." Valorum paced away from Qui-Gon, then whirled around. "Then
it's up to me to convince the delegates of the outlying sectors to loosen the
yoke the Nebula Front and Trade Federation have thrown about them." "Supreme
Chancellor," Adi interjected, "will you at least consider postponing your
opening remarks until we've had a chance to uncover the Nebula Front's plan?
It's possible that assassins have already managed to penetrate Eriadu
security." Valorum shook his head. "I won't hear of it.
At this late stage, any change to the proceedings would be interpreted as
weakness or hesitancy." He glanced at the three Jedi. "I'm sorry. I realize
that you have my best interests in mind. But for the sake of the Republic, I