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Authors: Jeff Grubb
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danced over the keys of the display. “They are making for the Endregaad system, in a Suwantek freighter. I am giving you the coordinates where they should appear.”
Matriarch Hedu’s eyes lit up at the sight of the figures, and Koax remembered that the ancient bird had been a spacer as well. She probably could outfly most of her clan. “I know these coordinates. Who is this
Jeedai
, that he walks such secret paths?”
“One favored by a Hutt consortium,” said Koax. “And for that reason, if for no other, you should tread carefully. Intercept their ship on the way in. Do not do anything that would bring the Hutts down on top of our profitable trade.”
Hedu chugged a deep laugh again, “Because our Spice Lord does not want to share with the Hutts, I suppose?”
“You may suppose as you see fit,” said Koax, covering her lies with a thin smile.
Someone to the right of the old woman handed her a datapad. “Endregaad,” she said, scanning the information.“Corps are all over it. Quarantined. Interdicted. Bad business.”
“All the more reason to catch their ship on the way in, and leave nothing but debris for the Corporate Sector to find.” Koax glared at the matriarch with her good eye. “Are we agreed?”
Matriarch Hedu of the Bomu clan pulled her snout inward, trying to physically stave off her acquiescence as long as she could. At last she said, “We are agreed. I can have one of our raiders in that sector within the day. There will be no survivors.”
“Good,” said Koax, and reached to disengage the screen. Before she could do so, though, Hedu added quickly, “I have but one question.”
“Yes?” said Koax, her own patience thin now. It was always the last question, the last bit of information that created new problems. Thinking of the late Dejarro, whose death was now laid at the feet of the
Jeedai
, Koax realized it must be a genetic tic of the clan, to ask one question too many.
But the matriarch just smiled. “How did you discover all this information? Names, ship ID, coordinates? You must have some contacts among their Hutt patrons to know all this.”
“The Spice Lord is mighty,” said Koax, “with a great reach and powerful allies. Keep that in mind if you choose to go beyond my orders.” And with that she broke the connection and the horrid, reed-thin Rodian flashed out of existence.
Koax let out a deep sigh. Would that all of her problems could disappear so easily. Tempest was now extant on half a hundred worlds, and while the Spice Lord had proven capable of meeting that great demand, there were always small matters to deal with: The local authorities. Rival gangs. Nosy interlopers trying to create, or steal, their own supply. Half a hundred worlds, half ahundred tasks too small for the Spice Lord … but fit entirely for that most trusted servant, Koax the one-eyed Klatooinian.
She turned back to her guest in the small room. A deactivated 3PO unit, its metallic casing the color of the green evening sky on her homeworld, was partially collapsed in one chair. Hours before, she had “borrowed” it from its Anjiliac masters as it oversaw the loading of medical supplies for Endregaad. She had walked up to it, asked it for directions, and then spoke the override code that the Spice Lord had given her. The 3PO unit froze up for a moment, then entered into a fugue state. After that, it had easily allowed Koax to walk it to a quiet quarter and find out what was going on aboard Popara Anjiliac’s ship. Then she let it collapse in the chair while she did business with Matriarch Hedu.
She spoke another series of words now, and the droid reactivated, its eyes lighting up and its body suddenly shocking itself out of its dormant state.
“I’m sorry,” it said, then repeated itself as its diagnostics kicked in. “I’m sorry. One moment. Something has gone wrong. Was I offline?”
“I think so,” said Koax. “I found you wandering near the landing bays about an hour ago.
Matriarch Hedu’s eyes lit up at the sight of the figures, and Koax remembered that the ancient bird had been a spacer as well. She probably could outfly most of her clan. “I know these coordinates. Who is this
Jeedai
, that he walks such secret paths?”
“One favored by a Hutt consortium,” said Koax. “And for that reason, if for no other, you should tread carefully. Intercept their ship on the way in. Do not do anything that would bring the Hutts down on top of our profitable trade.”
Hedu chugged a deep laugh again, “Because our Spice Lord does not want to share with the Hutts, I suppose?”
“You may suppose as you see fit,” said Koax, covering her lies with a thin smile.
Someone to the right of the old woman handed her a datapad. “Endregaad,” she said, scanning the information.“Corps are all over it. Quarantined. Interdicted. Bad business.”
“All the more reason to catch their ship on the way in, and leave nothing but debris for the Corporate Sector to find.” Koax glared at the matriarch with her good eye. “Are we agreed?”
Matriarch Hedu of the Bomu clan pulled her snout inward, trying to physically stave off her acquiescence as long as she could. At last she said, “We are agreed. I can have one of our raiders in that sector within the day. There will be no survivors.”
“Good,” said Koax, and reached to disengage the screen. Before she could do so, though, Hedu added quickly, “I have but one question.”
“Yes?” said Koax, her own patience thin now. It was always the last question, the last bit of information that created new problems. Thinking of the late Dejarro, whose death was now laid at the feet of the
Jeedai
, Koax realized it must be a genetic tic of the clan, to ask one question too many.
But the matriarch just smiled. “How did you discover all this information? Names, ship ID, coordinates? You must have some contacts among their Hutt patrons to know all this.”
“The Spice Lord is mighty,” said Koax, “with a great reach and powerful allies. Keep that in mind if you choose to go beyond my orders.” And with that she broke the connection and the horrid, reed-thin Rodian flashed out of existence.
Koax let out a deep sigh. Would that all of her problems could disappear so easily. Tempest was now extant on half a hundred worlds, and while the Spice Lord had proven capable of meeting that great demand, there were always small matters to deal with: The local authorities. Rival gangs. Nosy interlopers trying to create, or steal, their own supply. Half a hundred worlds, half ahundred tasks too small for the Spice Lord … but fit entirely for that most trusted servant, Koax the one-eyed Klatooinian.
She turned back to her guest in the small room. A deactivated 3PO unit, its metallic casing the color of the green evening sky on her homeworld, was partially collapsed in one chair. Hours before, she had “borrowed” it from its Anjiliac masters as it oversaw the loading of medical supplies for Endregaad. She had walked up to it, asked it for directions, and then spoke the override code that the Spice Lord had given her. The 3PO unit froze up for a moment, then entered into a fugue state. After that, it had easily allowed Koax to walk it to a quiet quarter and find out what was going on aboard Popara Anjiliac’s ship. Then she let it collapse in the chair while she did business with Matriarch Hedu.
She spoke another series of words now, and the droid reactivated, its eyes lighting up and its body suddenly shocking itself out of its dormant state.
“I’m sorry,” it said, then repeated itself as its diagnostics kicked in. “I’m sorry. One moment. Something has gone wrong. Was I offline?”
“I think so,” said Koax. “I found you wandering near the landing bays about an hour ago.
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