Star Wars - Cloak Of Deception

by James Luceno

  something he probably doesn't expect to be found," he said as he was standing

  up.

  Cohl narrowed his eyes at the stubby metallic cylinder Boiny showed him.

  "A restraining bolt?" "But an uncommon variety." Boiny brought the bolt to eye

  level. "Similar to the ones we fired into the security droids aboard the

  Revenue, but altered to suit a more advanced droid. Maybe a combat model."

  "Havac has a droid," Cohl said, mostly to himself. His eyes searched the

  floor. "Could that be what was in the crate? Or is this one restraining bolt

  of a bunch?" Boiny adopted a skeptical look. "The Nebula Front employing

  droids? That can't be right." He regarded the bolt again. "One thing is

  certain, Captain. This bolt has already been in a droid. I can see the

  impressions left by whatever tool pried it out." Cohl took the bolt and

  clenched his hand around it.

  "I warned Havac that someone in the Nebula Front had informed the

  Judicial Department about our plans to attack the Revenue.

  Suppose he decided to take extra precautions when planning this

  operation." Cohl looked at Boiny. "Havac said that the Front had lured the

  Jedi to Asmeru. That could mean that the attempt on Valorum's life on

  Coruscant was a ruse, designed to divert attention from Eriadu." "Right,"

  Boiny said uncertainly.

  Cohl glanced at the holoprojector. "Havac leaves us and the holoprojector

  to be discovered by the authorities..." He grinned wickedly. "I'm not sure how

  Havac plans to do it, Boiny. But I think I know what he's planning to do."

  "Captain?" the Rodian said in confusion.

  Cohl shoved the restraining bolt into his breast pocket and began to limp

  toward the corridor.

  Boiny followed him, gesturing back to the holoprojector. "Shouldn't I at

  least delete this thing?" Cohl shook his head. "Hide it in plain sight, just

  as Havac did. The only way we're going to get to him is by making sure that

  everyone else keeps chasing their own tails." Outside the front entrance to

  Lieutenant Governor Tarkin's palatial residence, Valorum, Sei Taria, and the

  rest of the Coruscant delegation waited for their caravan of repulsorlift

  vehicles to arrive.

  Fashionable tunics and brocaded cloaks were once again the order of the

  day, except in the case of security personnel, who were nearly as numerous as

  the diplomats.

  "I trust that your stay with us has been pleasant," Tarkin was saying to

  Valorum.

  "Very pleasant," Valorum replied. "Permit me to extend the same courtesy

  to you, should you ever visit Coruscant." Tarkin smiled without showing his

  teeth. "I hope, Supreme Chancello r, that Coruscant will one day be a second

  home to me. All the Core, in fact, from Coruscant to Alderaan." "I'm certain

  it will." The captain of the Senate Guard detail approached with a durashcct

  in hand. In place of the customary ceremonial rifle, a state-of-the-art

  blaster was slung over his shoulder.

  "We have the hovercade route, Supreme Chancellor." "May I have a look at

  it?" Tarkin asked.

  The guard looked to Valorum for permission.

  "Let him see it." Tarkin perused the durasheet. "A bit circuitous--

  perhaps needlessly so. But we should have no problem arriving at the summit

  hall by the appointed time." He glanced down the long drive that led to the

  mansion. "The governor should be here momentarily. Then we can all depart."

  Tarkin was about to add something, when a landspeeder leapt into view, making

  fast for where he and Valorum were standing.

  "What now?" Tarkin asked as the two-seater pulled up to the house and

  came to a halt.

  Absent their Jedi cloaks, Adi Gallia and Saesee Tiin climbed from the

  hovering vehicle and made straight for Valorum. Tiin did the talking.

  "Supreme Chancellor, there is a problem. We have confirmation that

  assassins contracted by the Nebula Front have breached Eriadu security. Qui-

  Gon Jinn and several other Jedi have gone to the spaceport, in the hope of

  intercepting them." "The danger is no longer conjectural, Supreme Chancellor,"

  Adi said earnestly.

  Valorum's forehead wrinkled in apprehension. "I want them found," he said

  at last. "I will not have the summit interrupted." Tiin and Adi nodded. "Will

  you now consent to our accompanying you!" Tiin asked.

  "No," Valorum said flatly. "Appearances must be maintained." Adi looked

  hard at him. "Then will you at least agree to keeping your vehicle's force

  field ena4?" "I absolutely insist on it," Tarkin interjected. "It is Eriadu's

  obligation to assure that no harm comes to you." With obvious reluctance,

  Valorum nodded.

  "Until we've reached the grounds of the summit hall." His face blushed

  with sudden anger, Tarkin swung to a group of Eriadu security guards, who were

  standing behind him. "See to it that the streets are cleared.

  Arrest anyone you have cause to suspect. Don't concern yourvs with

  legalities. Take whatever steps are necessary." Eriadu security agents were

  already on the scene by the time Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Vergere, and Ki-Adi-Mundi

  reached the customs warehouse.

  One human agent was aiming a scanning device at several repulsorsleds

  parked just inside the entrance, still supporting a dozen tall and narrow

  cargo containers, whose opened hatches revealed them to be empty. Elsewhere in

  the large space, a group of infuriated customs agents were being interrogated.

  The uniformed human commander of the security detail entered from a dimly

  lighted corridor. Behind him moved two green-scaled and chitin-sheathed

  insectoid bipeds, with large black eyes, short ridged snouts, and toothless

  mouths.

  Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan's jaw go slack.

  "Verpine," he explained. "Organs in the chest enable the species to

  communicate by means of radio waves. But they can also speak and understand

  Basic, with the assistance of translator devices. Their keen senses make them

  brilliant at detail work." "Verpine," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head in

  wonder.

  Seeing the four Jedi, the commander approached, while the pair of aliens

  set about scrutinizing the sawdust-covered floor.

  Qui-Gon introduced himself and the others.

  "We have two dead humans in the rear room," the commander said, after

  giving Vergere the same look Obi-Wan had given the Verpine trackers. "One

  male, one female, each dead of blaster bolts fired at close range, but from

  different weapons.

  Carbon scoring on the floor and walls indicate a full-scale blaster

  fight. Blood spots show that at least one of the combatants who got away was a

  Rodian. Bacta patches, synthflesh, and who knows what else is missing from the

  room's medkit. We're waiting for results on finger - and handprint analysis."

  "Captain Cohl's partner is a Rodian," Qui-Gon said.

  The commander made note of it on a datapad, then pointed to the group of

  customs agents. "They were taken by surprise by no less than eight heavily

  armed assailants, most of them human, but at least four Nikto and a couple of

  Bith.

  "After the surprise raid, they were stashed in the corridor, so they

  can't provide much in the way of additio
nal information. But the woman, there,

  is chief officer of the customs ship the terrorists commandeered.

  She identified the dead female in the back room as captain of the

  Corellian freighter she boarded.

  She's still a bit dazed from a knockout injection, but she says she also

  saw a Rodian, and she thinks she remembers seeing a Gotal and a couple of

  human males.

  "Everyone appears to have left the warehouse through a rear door that

  opens onto the spaceport service road. We're assuming that they're piloting

  skimmers or landspeeders." The commander stepped toward the center of the room

  and gestured broadly. "Everything here is just as we found it, except that

  little piece of hardware, which we discovered beneath one of the sleds." Qui-

  Gon and the other Jedi followed his finger to a portable holoprojector,

  sitting atop a cargo crate.

  "Whatever else he is, Cohl is not careless," Qui-Gon said.

  "Deliberate is the way we're reading it, too.

  But even professionals have been known to make mistakes." The commander

  walked over to the holoprojector. He was about to activate it, when one of his

  assistants intruded.

  "Commander, the Verpine say that there are signs of well over a dozen

  men, several of whom arrived inside these tall containers. At some point, most

  of them gathered around what must have been a crate, just over here, perhaps

  to observe whatever images the holoprojector contains. Among them was a Gotal,

  who also arrived inside one of the containers. Bits of fur were found inside

  the second-to-last container, and also on the floor there, in large amounts."

  "A tussle?" the commander asked.

  "Could be, sir. Gotals have a tendency to shed when they're taken by

  surprise or frightened." "What would have frightened him?" "No telling, sir."

  The commander glanced up from his datapad. "Anything else?" "The prints

  leading down the corridor and back.

  One pair is certainly Rodian. The blood in the rear room explains why the

  Rodian was walking unsteadily when he returned to this room. The one who

  accompanied him back here wasn't doing very well either, judging by the fact

  that he was supporting the left side of himself on a crutch, improvised from a

  length of pipe. Footprints of the two walking wounded are all over this room.

  The Rodian retrieved something from underneath one of the hoversleds, but we

  can't be sure what that was--unless it was the holoprojector. Evidence

  suggests that the pair left by the rear door, same as the others, but they

  were on foot, at least until they reached the pub-trans booth on the corner."

  The commander finished his note taking and looked at Qui - Gon. "All this give

  you any insights?" "Captain Cohl, the Rodian, and the woman must have been

  ambushed in the rear room." "Ambushed? By Havac?" Qui-Gon nodded.

  "Havac thought all three were dead?" "No, he expected us to find Cohl and

  the Rodian alive." "Why would he risk that?" the commander asked.

  Qui-Gon looked at him. "Because he wants to throw us off the scent." The

  commander scratched his head in thought.

  Obi-Wan slid the holoprojector toward him.

  "Let's see what we find in here." L ope peered through the small doorway

  that led to the roof of the Nebula Front's safe house in the southern part of

  the city. A security craft made a low pass from the south, continuing on in

  the direction of the summit hall.

  "Right on schedule," he told the five human and alien terrorists

  crouching on the stairs below him.

  "We have ten minutes." The Gotal squeezed by him and scampered out onto

  the roof, his ringed horns twitching as they monitored the hazy air for

  portents.

  Five meters from the doorway, the Gotal flashed Lope an all - clear sign

  and disappeared behind the first of the many domed rooftops they would need to

  traverse before attaining a clear view of the summit hall.

  Lope and the rest hurried outside, rounding the same dome that now

  concealed the Gotal. On his hip, Lope wore a sheathed vibroblade, and on his

  wrist, a rocket launcher. The others carried both in-close weapons and

  blasters.

  Beyond the first dome, the expanse of interconnected roofs was a terrain

  of spherical hills and steep peaks, cut through with shallow ravines and

  washes.

  Octagonal towers, slender steeples, and antenna arrays rose above the

  domes like isolated trees.

  The diverse domes resembled the knobbed lids of giant cook pots. Some

  buildings were topped by long barrel vaults, and others with hip roofs,

  covered with tile or slate. Small houses with tiny windows graced the few

  level sections.

  With the Gotal at point, they began to move at a steady clip, worming

  through tight meanders, negotiating precipitous ledges, and leaping to

  adjacent rooftops. Their mimetic suits allowed them to blend with the gray

  roof tiles, reddish bricks, and acid - rain-stained domes.

  They scaled a tall roof and dropped down into a hollow formed by a

  quartet of contiguous domes. Then they edged around a massive cupola that gave

  them their first unobstructed view of the summit hall. East of the domed

  building was a range of high hills, shrouded in particle-laden haze. Far to

  the north, a broad river emptied itself into a slender projection of the sea.

  A long stretch of flat roof ran all the way to the final dome, below

  which two streets joined to become a broad boulevard that arrived ultimately

  at the summit hall mount.

  They were halfway across the flat roof when sounds of a commotion reached

  them from street level. Forging through his fear of heights, Lope crawled to

  the edge of the roof and looked down over the low retaining wall.

  Squads of riot-control security troops were rerouting ground traffic and

  dispersing bystanders who had gathered for a glimpse of whatever dignitaries

  might pass by.

  In a building across the street, people drew curtains over their windows

  or pulled shutters closed. From slowly cruising landspeeders, announcements

  blared in half a dozen languages, threatening dire consequences for anyone

  caught on the rooftops or found loitering in restricted areas around the

  summit hall.

  Lope saw a hovercade approaching from the south and waved for one of

  Havac's men to join him at the wall. The convoy of ten repulsorlift vehicles

  was being escorted by as many speeder bikes piloted by helmeted police.

  Havac's man trained electrobinoculars on the fifth vehicle in line.

  "Valorum," he uttered in a hushed voice. "Eriadu's governor and lieutenant

  governor are with him." Lope asked for the electrobinoculars.

  "Your boss should have listened to reason and let us hit Valorum here."

  He patted the rocket launcher strapped to his right wrist. "One shot with this

  and the job would be done." Havac's confederate took back the

  electrobinoculars. "For the moment, Havac's your boss, too. Besides, Valorum's

  riding under the protection of an energy shield. Now, get on the comlink and

  inform the team at the summit hall that the target will be arriving through

  the south gate." Lope crawled back to where the others were waiting, and

&n
bsp; removed a small comlink from his pocket.

  "Valorum's right below us," he explained.

  He activated the comlink and keyed in the number Havac had given him, but

  all he got for his efforts was an earful of static. "You need to get above

  some of these antenna arrays," the Gotal suggested. "Try from the top of the

  big dome." Lope nodded. Jogging in a crouch to the base of the dome, he began

  his ascent. But he was just short of the ornamented summit when he heard

  engine noise behind him. Over his shoulder, he saw three airspeeders

  approaching rapidly from the direction of the summit hall.

  He slid down the dome and hurried back to the others. "Hover patrol

  headed our way." The woman Cohl had hired glanced at her wrist timer. "It's

  too soon for them to be making another sweep." Everyone hunkered down as the

  blunt-nosed hovers sped overhead. But the trio of vehicles went only a short

  distance before coming about for a second pass.

  "They spotted us," the Gotal said.

  Lope armed the rocket launcher. "We can remedy that." Raising his right

  forearm, he fixed his sights on the lead vehicle.

  From the passenger seat of an airspeeder, all of Eriadu City looked the

  same. That, at least, was Qui-Gon's considered opinion after more than an hour

  of searching the city from above for the location of the roofscape image

  stored in Havac's holoprojector.

  Bisected by a slow-moving, muddy river, the city was a confusion of

  domes, interior courtyards, and precarious towers, cleaved by narrow streets

  and a few broad avenues. Dwellings were built on top of one another in

  haphazard fashion, sprouting annexes here and additional levels there,

  extending from the bay clear to the barricade of hills at the city's back.

  It was little wonder that none of the security officers had been able to

  identify the span of roofs Havac's holoprojector had singled out. When a quick

  study of 2-D maps had only complicated matters, copies of the stored image had

  been fed into the terrain - following computers of three airspeeders, in the

  hope that a series of overflights would allow the computers to match the image

  to an actual roofscape. But flights to the north and to the east of the summit

  hall had failed to yield even a possible match.

  Qui-Gon continued to believe that Havac had wanted the holoprojector to

  be found, but he wasn't willing to take the chance that Havac's leaving the