by Timothy Zahn
Chin reached for his board "No, I'll do it," Karrde told him, visibly bracing himself as he touched his comm switch. "This is Talon Karrde aboard the freighter Wild Karrde, Admiral David. Our intentions are totally peaceful. We'd like permission to land."
There was a long pause. A very long pause, in fact. Shada rubbed her knuckles gently, visualizing a heated argument going on in the Exocron Combined Fleet office...
"Wild Karrde, this is Admiral David," the voice came back. "I'm told you're here to see Jorj Car'das. Can you confirm that?"
Shada watched Karrde closely. But aside from a brief twitch at the corner of his mouth there was no reaction. "Yes, I can," he said, his voice a little hollow but under control. "There's a vital matter I urgently need to discuss with him."
"I see." There was another pause, shorter this time. "Is he expecting you?"
Another twitch of the lip. "I don't know if expecting is the proper word. I do believe he knows I'm coming."
"Do you," David said, his voice suddenly sounding a little odd. "Very well, Wild Karrde, you're cleared for Circle 15 at the Rintatta City military landing field. Coordinates are being sent to you now."
"Thank you," Karrde said.
"Got it," Odonnl muttered, studying his nav display. "Looks pretty straightforward."
"We have an escort on the way," David continued. "I trust I don't have to tell you to cooperate with them."
"I understand completely," Karrde said. "Will I be seeing you there?"
"I doubt it," David said; and this time there was definitely a darkness in his voice. "But perhaps we'll all be lucky. You never know. David out."
For a moment the bridge was quiet. Shada looked around at the others, at their tight faces and tense shoulders and grim expressions. If they hadn't known before what they were getting into, she decided, they knew now.
And yet, she saw no indication that any of them were even thinking of trying to back out. A truly loyal, close-knit crew, completely dedicated to their chief.
Much as Shada herself had once been dedicated to the ideals of the Mistryl. Even when the Mistryl themselves had all but forgotten those ideals.
Even in the face of the looming danger ahead, the memory of that loss still hurt.
"Instructions, Captain?" Odonnl asked quietly.
Karrde didn't hesitate. "Take us down," he said.
* * * Rintatta City was a middling-sized cluster of military-style buildings interspersed with about fifty landing pads of varying sizes, many with ships already settled down onto them. The military areas were in turn surrounded by a wide ring of civilian-style homes and businesses and community buildings. The whole thing was nestled up against the base of a short but rough-sided ridge of mountains, the city giving way to a grassy plain on its other sides.
There was no shakedown like there had been at Pembric 2. Nor was there any sort of customs or entrance inquiry at all as the Wild Karrde headed in to the surface. The two aging system patrol ships that Admiral David had sent escorted the freighter to its assigned landing circle, watched as it set down, then headed off again into the sky without comment. Around the other ships, hundreds of men and women and dozens of small vehicles were hurrying about various tasks of their own, completely ignoring the offworld ship that had set down in their midst. From all appearances, Karrde thought as he and the others started down the ramp, all of Exocron might be trying to pretend the visitors didn't exist.
With one notable exception.
"Good day, Captain Karrde," Entoo Nee beamed from the foot of the Wild Karrde's landing ramp. "Welcome to Exocron. I see that even without my help you were able to find us. Hello, Shada; hello, Threepio."
"Hello, Master Entoo Nee," Threepio replied, sounding distinctly relieved to see a familiar face. "I confess I had not expected to find you here."
"There was some question about you, as well," Entoo Nee said cheerfully. "When I last saw you on Dayark, you seemed to be having pirate trouble." He took a step closer to the ramp and peered up into the ship. "Will your charming Togorian be joining us?"
"No, H'sishi will be staying with the ship," Karrde told him, eyeing the little man with some bemusement. H'sishi was an increasingly valued member of his crew, but charming was not a descriptive term that would have automatically sprung to mind.
"Too bad," Entoo Nee said, looking at Shada and Threepio again. "Is this it, then? You don't want to bring any others along?"
Karrde felt his muscles tense up again, despite all his efforts to relax them. Certainly he wanted to bring more people along. The Wild Karrde's entire crew, for starters, plus the crews of the Starry Ice and the Etherway, General Bel Iblis's complete New Republic task force, Rogue Squadron, and about four clans' worth of Noghri warriors.
But even if he had had such resources, it would be a futile gesture. Car'das was waiting for him, and bringing more people would only mean putting more people at risk. That wasn't why he was here. "Yes," he told Entoo Nee. "This is it. Do I assume you're here to take us to Jorj Car'das?"
"If you wish to see him," the little man said, his eyes thoughtful on Karrde's face. Once again, as on Dayark, glimpses of the true Entoo Nee were peeking through the carefully crafted facade of harmlessness. "Well. Shall we go?"
He led the way to an open-topped landspeeder at the edge of the landing circlea landspeeder, Karrde noted, that despite Entoo Nee's apparent surprise at the small size of the party was only a four-seater. Weaving his way expertly in and out of the rest of the traffic, the little man headed off toward the mountains. "What's going on here?" Shada asked, gesturing around them as Entoo Nee dodged around a particularly slow-moving fuel truck.
"They're preparing for some sort of maneuvers, I expect," the other said. "Military people are always maneuvering one direction or another."
"How far is it to where we're meeting Car'das?" Karrde asked, not particularly interested in what the Exocron Combined Air-Space Fleet had on its agenda for the day.
"Not far," Entoo Nee assured him. "Do you see that light blue building straight ahead, the one just a bit up the slope of the mountain? That's where he is."
Karrde shaded his eyes from the sunlight. From this distance, at least, it was not a very impressive place. Not a fortress; not even a mansion.
In fact, as Entoo Nee cleared the military area and started across the more sparsely trafficked civilian section of the city, the light blue building ahead began to look more and more like a simple, unassuming house.
Shada was apparently thinking along the same lines. "Is that where Car'das lives, or just where we're meeting him?" she asked.
Entoo Nee threw her a quick smile. "It's always questions with you, isn't it? Such a good, thoughtful mind."
"Asking questions is part of my job," Shada countered. "And you haven't answered me."
"Answering questions isn't part of my job," Entoo Nee said. "Come now, there's no need for impatienceit's only a little farther. Just relax and enjoy the trip."
The blue house continued to look smaller and less impressive the closer they got. Smaller, less impressive, older, and considerably shabbier. "As you can see, it was built right up against the cliff face," Entoo Nee commented as they drove past the last cluster of other houses and started across a grassy field with a rapid creek running through the middle of it. "I believe the original owner thought that would provide extra stability during the winter winds."
"What happened to the left side?" Shada asked, pointing. "Did a wing get torn down?"
"No, it was never built," Entoo Nee told her. "Car'das once began to add on to the house, butwell, you'll see."
An unpleasant tingle ran down Karrde's back. "What do you mean, we'll see? What stopped him?"
Entoo Nee didn't answer. Karrde glanced over at Shada, found her looking at him with an odd expression on her face.
A minute later they were there. Entoo Nee brought the landspeeder to a smooth halt in front of a once-white door whose paint had chipped and faded with age and neglect. "You lead t
he way," Shada said to Entoo Nee, sliding herself deftly between Karrde and the house. "I'll be behind you; Karrde will be behind me."
"Oh, no, that won't do at all," Entoo Nee said. He shook his head, a quick, nervous-looking movement. "Only Captain Karrde and I will be able to go in."
Shada's eyes narrowed. "Let me put it another way"
"No, that's all right, Shada," Karrde said, moving around her and taking a step toward the door. Away from the center of the group, with nothing between him and the blank and empty windows, he felt painfully exposed. "If Car'das only wants to see me, then that's the way it has to be."
"Forget it," Shada said flatly, catching hold of Karrde's arm and hauling him bodily to a stop. "Entoo Nee, either I go in with him or he doesn't go in at all."
"Shada, this isn't helping," Karrde growled, glaring at her. Did she want all of them to be summarily shot down before he even had a chance to plead the New Republic's case? "If he wanted me dead, he could have done it at any of a hundred points along the way. He could certainly do it right here."
"I know that," Shada shot back. "And it doesn't matter. I came along as your bodyguard. And that's what I'm going to do."
Karrde stared at her, a sudden strange sensation running through him. Back at that Orowood Tower meeting with Solo, Organa Solo, and Calrissian, Shada had merely agreed to come along on this trip to help out. When during the two and a half weeks since then had that grudging agreement transmuted into the far deeper commitment of bodyguard? "Shada, I appreciate your concern," he said, quietly but firmly, reaching up to where she still gripped his arm and putting his hand gently on top of hers. "But you need to remember the big picture. My life, and what happens to it, isn't the most important thing at stake here."
"I'm your bodyguard," Shada said, just as quietly and just as firmly. "It's the most important thing to me."
"Please," Entoo Nee spoke up. "Please. I think you misunderstand. Captain Karrde and I must go in first, but you may certainly come in right behind us. It's simply thatwell, you'll see."
Shada still didn't look happy, but she gave a reluctant nod. "All right, fine," she said. "Just remember that if anything happens, you personally will be directly in my line of fire. You two first, then me, then Threepio."
"Really, Mistress Shada, I'm sure it's not necessary for me to come in with you," the droid hastened to assure her, taking a shuffling step back toward the landspeeder. "Perhaps I should remain here and guard the landspeeder"
"Actually, he may be useful," Entoo Nee said, smiling reassuringly. "Come, Threepio, it'll be all right."
"Yes, Master Entoo Nee," Threepio said in a resigned tone. Moaning almost inaudibly to himself, he shuffled to a spot half a meter behind Shada. "But I must say, I have a bad feeli"
"Good," Entoo Nee said cheerfully. The solemn moment past, he was radiating his usual harmlessness again. "Shall we go?"
The door was unlocked. Karrde followed the little man in, feeling more vulnerable than ever as they stepped out of the sunlight into a dank, gloomy room.
A room that, to his surprise, had apparently not been used for some time. The few pieces of furniture scattered about were old and dusty, with the same signs of long neglect that they'd seen in the exterior of the house itself. The three windows, which from the outside had seemed so dark and threatening, could now be seen from this side to be merely incredibly dirty, with the slight frosting effect that came from years of wind-driven dust or sand slashing across them. In the shafts of dim sunlight that managed to penetrate the grime, long strands of cobweb could be seen stretching from some of the chairs to the ceiling.
"This way," Entoo Nee said quietly, his voice an intrusion in the eerie atmosphere as he led them across the room to a closed door. "He is here, Captain Karrde. Please prepare yourself."
Karrde took a deep breath. Behind him, he heard the faint scraping sound as Shada's blaster came free of its holster. "I'm ready," he said. "Let's get it over with."
"Indeed." Reaching past him, Entoo Nee touched the door control. With a faint squeak, it slid open.
It was the smell that hit Karrde first. An odor of age, and distant memories, and lost hopes. An odor of sickness and tiredness.
An odor of death.
The room itself was small, much smaller than Karrde would have expected. To both sides built-in shelves covered each of the side walls, on which were stacked a strange assortment of small art objects, useless-looking knickknacks, and medical vials and equipment. A large bed took up most of the rest of the space, the foot coming to within a meter of the doorway and leaving barely enough room left over for two people to stand.
And lying in the bed beneath a stack of blankets, humming softly to himself as he stared at the ceiling, was an old man.
"Jorj?" Entoo Nee called softly as he stepped through the doorway. The humming stopped, but the man's gaze remained on the ceiling. "Jorj? There's someone here to see you."
Karrde stepped in beside him, squeezing into the remaining space, his mind spinning. No. Surely this couldn't be Jorj Car'das. Not the vigorous, hot-tempered, ambitious man who'd almost single-handedly created one of the greatest smuggling organizations ever known. "Jorj?" he called carefully.
The wrinkled face frowned, and the head lifted up. "Mertan?" a quavering voice asked. "Mertan? Is that you?"
Karrde let his breath out in a tired sigh. The voice, and the eyes. Yes, it was indeed him. "No, Jorj," he said gently. "Not Mertan. It's Karrde. Talon Karrde. You remember?"
The old man's eyes blinked a couple of times. "Karrde?" he said in the same uncertain voice. "Is that you?"
"Yes, Jorj, it's me," Karrde assured him. "Do you remember me?"
A tentative smile started on the old man's face, fading as if the muscles were too old or too tired to hold on to it. "Yes," he said. "No. Who are you again?"
"Talon Karrde," Karrde repeated, the bitter taste of defeat and disappointment and utter fatigue in his mouth. All this way. They'd come all this way to see Car'das and plead for his help. All of Karrde's fears about this meetinghis fears, his regrets, his guiltall of it for nothing. The Jorj Car'das he had lived in quiet terror of for so many years was long gone.
In his place was an empty shell.
Dimly, through the darkness swirling through his mind, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Karrde," Shada said quietly. "There's nothing here anymore."
"It was Karrde, right?" the old man asked. A thin arm came up from beneath the blankets, flailing a bit before the hand was able to tuck the pillows tighter behind his neck. "Tarron Karrde?"
"It's Talon Karrde, Jorj," Entoo Nee corrected, his voice that of a patient parent to a very young child. "Is there anything I can get for you?"
Car'das frowned, his head settling back onto the pillow, his eyes again drifting to whatever it was he saw on the ceiling. "Shem-mebal ostorran se'mmitas Mertan anial?" he muttered, his voice almost inaudible. "Karmida David shumidas krree?"
"Old Tarmidian," Entoo Nee murmured. "The language of his childhood. He's been slipping into that more and more lately."
"Threepio?" Shada prompted.
"He's asking if Mertan has been by here today," the droid translated. For once, there was no mention of how many types of communication he was fluent in. "Or that nice Admiral David person."
"No, neither of them," Entoo Nee said to the figure in the bed, motioning Karrde to back out of the room. "I'll be back later, Jorj. Try to get some sleep, all right?"
He followed Karrde out of the room and reached for the door control. "Sleep?" The old man snorted weakly, giving a cackling laugh. "Can't sleep now, Mertan. Too much to do. Far too much to"
The door slid shut, mercifully cutting off the rest. "You see, now, how it is," Entoo Nee said quietly.
Karrde nodded, the taste of ashes in his mouth. All those years... "How long has he been this way?"
"And why did you even bother bringing us here in the first place?" Shada demanded.
"What can I say?" Entoo Nee
said. "He's oldvery oldwith the many and varied afflictions that so often come of long age." His bright eyes shifted to Shada. "And as for bringing you here, you were the ones who wanted to come."
"We wanted to see Jorj Car'das," Shada bit out. "What's in there is not what we had in mind."
"It's all right, Shada," Karrde said. All those years... "It's my fault, not Entoo Nee's. I should have come here years ago."
He blinked sudden tears from his eyes. "I suppose there's only one more question to be asked. Entoo Nee, Car'das once had a huge datacard library. Do you have any idea where it might be?"
Entoo Nee shrugged. "Whatever he did with it, he did it long before I came to be in his service."
Karrde nodded. So much for even their last hope of finding a copy of the Caamas Document here. Wasted fears, and now a wasted trip. Suddenly, he was feeling very old. "Thank you," he said, pulling out his comlink and keying it on. "Dankin?"
"Right here, Chief," Dankin's voice came promptly, an edge of tautness to it. "How are things?"
"Running quite smoothly, thank you," Karrde said, giving the all-clear code response. "The mission is over. Get the ship ready; we'll be leaving as soon as we get back."
"Yeah, well, that might be a bit tricky," Dankin said, his voice turning grim. "There's something about to happen here, Chief, something big. Every ship on the field's getting tooled up for combat."
Karrde frowned. "Are you sure?"
"I'm positive," Dankin said. "There are racks of missiles being taken aboard, gunner-type flak-vac suitsthe works. And they seem to be arming a lot of civilian ships, too."
"It's Rei'Kas and his pirates," Entoo Nee murmured quietly at Karrde's side. "It would appear one of them followed you in."
Karrde grimaced, yet another piece of his carefully built up mental picture crumbling to dust. He'd been so sure that Rei'Kas had been hired and brought here by Car'das. "No one should have been able to follow us," he told Entoo Nee. "We always watch our backtrail very closely."