Part 12 (1/2)
”So I was told. ”
”And the other item?”
”I don't know what it is. ”
”Describe it. ”
”Silver, tubular, about a meter high-made of rare metals and some kind of organic component. No insignia. Do you know what it is?”
The Mandalorian fiddled with his armor and projected a tiny holovid of the palace grounds. ”There are seven maximum-security vaults in Ta.s.saa Bareesh's enclave. Tell me which one contains these two items. ”
”Why?” asked Jet. ”It's just s.p.a.ce junk. ”
”You did not believe so, ” said the Mandalorian.
”I'll sell anything, or try to. ”
”If you release my hand, ” said Ula, ”I'll show you which vault it is. ”
”You're not after this mystery planet as well, are you?” asked let, rolling his eyes as Stryver loosened the web restraining Ula's left hand. ”Unless-ah! Yes. Unless you want the navicomp for an entirely different reason. ”
Stryver ignored him. ”Point, ” he said, holding the holovid out to Ula.
”Bring it a bit closer. That one there, I think. ”
As the Mandalorian studied the floor plan, Ula slipped his hand into his pocket and produced the holdout blaster.
He listened to himself speak calmly and without fear, as though he were standing outside his own body, watching what was going on.
”Release my other hand, ” he said, pointing the blaster at Stryver's stomach. ”I'd prefer to talk as equals. ”
Stryver pushed the holovid into Ula's eyes, blinding him. Ula squeezed the trigger, but Stryver was too fast. With one sweep of his other arm, he swatted the blaster away. The single shot discharged harmlessly into the ceiling ”Nice try. ” Jet chuckled as Stryver reaffixed Ula's hand to the chair. ”You've never dealt with his kind before, have you?”
Ula was having trouble seeing the funny side. The fear had come cras.h.i.+ng back in. His eyes were still dazzled, and his hand felt like it was broken. ”How can you tell?”
”Mandalorians don't believe they have any equals. ”
Larin sliced into another layer of the palace security program and conducted another search. Dao Stryver's name still appeared only once: his s.h.i.+p, First Blood, was docked in the palace's private s.p.a.ceport. Mentally, she kicked herself for missing something as obvious as that, but she didn't lose any time over it. The architecture of the palace's security programs was even more baroque than the palace itself. Even if she had thought to search for the Mandalorian's name, chances were it wouldn't have appeared the first time.
”Anything?” asked Sergeant Potannin, who was peering worriedly over her shoulder.
She shook her head. Searches on Ula Vii's name had turned up nothing as well.
”You're blocking my light. ” Potannin was trying to be helpful, but he was no s.h.i.+gar. ”I'll holler when I've found something. ”
Pulling another decryption algorithm from her repertoire, Larin tried another route.
Behind them, the Twi'lek, Yeama, entered the missing envoy's suite and sketched a bow. The b.u.mp on his temple stood out in bright red against the green of his skin.
”My mistress offers her profound apologies. The hunt for the kidnappers and those who attacked your sentries will begin immediately. ”
Larin scrambled the holoprojector's view so Yeama wouldn't see what she was up to in his mistress's security infrastructure.
”You have a Mandalorian loose in the palace, ” she said, ”and you didn't know about it?”
”He is one of many. They do not like to be watched too closely. ”
”Now you know why. Perhaps you'll think twice about the kind of sc.u.m you're dealing with. ”
Yeama stiffened. ”And you are-?”
”Does it matter who I am? I'm helping you find the envoy. What are you doing?”
The Twi'lek turned an unhealthy color, even for his species. ”Everything in our power, naturally...”
”Good, so hop to it. We're busy here. ”
Yeama retreated and Larin de-scrambled the view she'd been looking at.
”There's a whole other layer down here, ” she muttered, marveling at the intricacies of the system. Either it had evolved piece by piece, as each new development added an extra level to what was already there, or it had been designed by the galaxy's most paranoid software engineer.
Still no luck with Duo Stryver, however. And Envoy Vii didn't produce a hit. If either of the two men was moving about in the palace, none of the security system's pattern recognition systems was tracking them.
Larin was beginning to get desperate. This was the one job she had to do, while s.h.i.+gar attended to the rest of the mission, and she was failing at it. Proving herself capable wasn't the issue-she knew she was, or had been, at least, otherwise she would never have been in special forces. Getting a score on the board was the main thing, after so long on the bench.
In desperation, she tried ”Jet Nebula. ”
Instantly a hit appeared. Not just a location, but a coded tag she recognized as a smuggler's call for help.
”Got something. ” Potannin hurried over. ”You said Envoy Vii was with that Nebula character, didn't you? Well, I've found him, at least. ”
Potannin clapped his hands together and grinned without humor. ”Good work, Larin. ”
He turned to the escort squad and rattled off a series of orders. Half would stay; the other half would come with him. Larin had to fight the reflex to obey. Had she remained enlisted in the Blackstars, Potannin would have outranked her.
”I'm coming with you, ” she told him as his group a.s.sembled, checking weapons and light armor.
He nodded. ”I was just about to ask you, Larin. Thank you. ”
”Don't mention it, Sarge. ”
”Take point, and lead the way. ”
Her face was burning as they hurried through the corridors, the echo of their booted feet preceding them, encouraging the throngs to part. This was too familiar, she told herself-dangerously familiar. She couldn't let herself think that she was back in the fold. If they found out who she was, they would turn on her, just as the goons on Coruscant had. Better to stand apart, for the future's sake.
They had almost reached the location on her holopad when an explosion shook the ground beneath them, followed by another a short time later. She called a halt, wondering if they were walking into a trap, but the blasts didn't come any closer. The lights dimmed for a second, then brightened. The palace's generators, she guessed-damaged either by sabotage or by accident.
The inhabitants of the palace hurried to find shelter. They didn't scream or panic. They simply gathered up their valuables and loved ones and went somewhere else. Such things were clearly not uncommon on Hutta, Larin gathered.
”Nearly there, ” she said, waving the squad forward again. She moved more cautiously as she approached the flagged location. Just because someone had blown up the power plant didn't mean there wasn't a trap ahead.