by James Luceno
"No more than what you present to support your belief that they will push for the Core. With their forces in Hutt space, they are practically at Bothawui's door."
"So this is what he's been getting at," Brand muttered. "He's finally gone over to Borsk Fey'lya's side. Fey'lya the warrior, the hero of Ithor."
A'baht refused to speak to the remark. "I propose that elements of the Third and Fourth Fleets be relocated to Bothan space as soon as possible. Bothawui is where we should draw the line and launch our counteroffensive."
Brand snorted derisively. "And if you're wrong? If the Yuuzhan Vong should decide to assault Bilbringi, Kuat, or Mon Calamari instead?"
A'baht glowered. "Are you suggesting that those worlds are more important than Bothawui?"
"I'm saying precisely that. If any of our shipyards fall, the New Republic will topple."
"And if Bothawui falls?"
"We will mourn the loss, but the New Republic will survive."
A'baht shook his head in dismay. "Times like this make me wish that Ackbar could be persuaded to come out of retirement."
Sow held up his hands to silence half a dozen separate conversations. "Contrary to General A'baht's assertions, no scenarios have been ruled out. Based on current intelligence, Bothawui is just as likely to be targeted as Bilbringi. But more important, we are not simply standing by, waiting for the Yuuzhan Vong to strike. Two plans have already been put into action." He looked at Brand. "Commodore, if you would be so kind."
A'baht leaned forward in interest.
"The first plan involves inducing the Hapes Consortium to join the fight," Brand said. "The Hapans are not only well armed but well positioned to outflank the enemy. Indeed, the Yuuzhan Vong may have skirted the Hapes Cluster in order to avoid having to engage them."
"Then why should the Consortium worlds elect to get involved now?" A'baht asked. "Why wouldn't they secure their own space as the Imperial Remnant has, or cut a deal, as the Hutts appear to have done?"
"Because the Consortium has allied with us in the past," Sow explained calmly. "Following the Battle of Endor, they captured several Imperial Star Destroyers, but instead of holding on to those ships, they donated them to the New Republic. Additionally, the Hapan queen mother's homeworld of Dathomir is threatened."
"More to the point," Brand interjected, "the Jedi recently did the royal family a favor by foiling a coup directed against the queen mother. It is hoped that Ambassador Organa Solo can persuade the rulers of the noble houses to repay us in kind."
A'baht feigned a look of confusion. "The Jedi did them a favor, and yet you've asked Organa Solo to intercede. To the best of my knowledge, she is not a true member of that order. Or is it perhaps that she was once courted by Prince Isolder?"
Brand fielded the question. "I won't deny that that didn't influence our decision to approach her."
"And she has agreed?"
"For a price. We had to promise to back her in seeking added funds for SELCORE-refugee relief. But, yes, she has agreed. She will leave for Hapes immediately on her return from Gyndine."
A'baht allowed an uncertain nod. "And this other plan?"
Brand adjusted the fit of his collar. "We're hoping to lure the Yuuzhan Vong into attacking the Corellian system."
For a moment, even A'baht was too surprised to speak; then he said, "Corellia isn't Gyndine, Commodore. If it's your aim to make that system a battlefield to avoid fouling Coruscant's space lanes, you will never have my vote. Wasn't it enough that we stripped the Corellians of the ability to defend themselves after the Centerpoint Station crisis?"
Sow put his small hands on the table and leaned toward A'baht. "Centerpoint Station is the very reason we hope to lure the Yuuzhan Vong there."
Larger than the Death Star, the artifact had been discovered to be a hyperspace repulsor, used in the dim past and by an unknown race, to capture and transport planets to the Corellian system. The station was also a weapon of unparalleled power, both starbuster and interdiction field generator, and eight years earlier had been employed as s uch by a group known as the Sacor-rian Triad, in an unsuccessful attempt to achieve independence from the New Republic.
"Are you telling me that Centerpoint is operational?" A'baht asked in disbelief. "The last I heard, it had been shutdown."
"It shut itself down," Brand snapped. "But as we speak several hundred scientists are attempting to return it to operational status. If the Yuuzhan Vong can be encouraged to attack Corellia, we will use a Centerpoint-generated interdiction field to prevent their ships from going to hyperspace while our fleets attack from the rear."
"Much to the dismay of the species of the Corellian sector, I would imagine," A'baht said. "After all, we didn't win many friends by interceding in the system's attempts at self-governance. If memory serves, the blowback from that interference is what prompted Organa Solo to resign as chief of state."
Sow nodded. "But Governor-General Marcha is a New Republic appointee, and she has given her conditional approval. As a Corellian citizen, her word carries a lot of weight, not only on her native Drall but on Selonia, Corellia, and the Double Worlds. What's more, we haven't made the full extent of our plans known."
A'baht stared at him for a moment, then looked at Brand.
"As far as the Corellians know, we're readying Center-point as a defensive weapon, in lieu of stationing a flotilla there."
"How very noble of us," A'baht said in obvious disgust. "Here they've been supplying us with Strident-class Star Defenders, and we withhold the fact that we're planning to use their system as a battleground. Just how do you plan to lure the Yuuzhan Vong into attacking?"
"By making Corellia appear too attractive a target to pass up," Brand said. "By leaving the system essentially unprotected."
A'baht stroked his jaw in thought. "It's bold, I'll grant that much. But have Fey'lya and the Advisory Council members been apprised of this plan?"
"They know only what Corellia knows," Brand barked, then softened his tone to add, "Fey'lya would never sanction the rearming of Centerpoint-if only to prevent Corellia from reaping such power." He laughed shortly. "Even in the remote chance he did support us, how then could we ensure that word of the plan wouldn't leak? Once that occurred, every world in the Corellian system would rise up in revolt."
A'baht snorted in displeasure. "Fey'lya's isn't the only voice on the council. He can be overridden by a majority vote."
Brand and Sow traded looks. "From what we have been able to determine," the admiral said, "three of the council members would certainly follow Fey'lya's lead. Four of the others could very well support us."
A'baht considered it. In response to the clamor from far-flung sectors for increased representation, two additional senators had been appointed to the council since the poisoning of Ithor. "That's four against, four in favor. Who is the unknown quantity?"
"The council's newest member," Brand said, "Senator ViqiShesh."
"Has anyone approached her?" A'baht asked. "Unofficially, of course?"
Brand shook his head. "Not yet."
Sow pressed his hands together. "Then I suggest we do so, Commodore. Before our window closes."
Ixidro Legorburu spoke up. "Is there any hope that the Hutts can be persuaded to join us, actively or indirectly?"
"Intelligence agents on Nal Hutta and Nar Shaddaa have reported that the Hutts' decision to ally themselves with the Yuuzhan Vong is a ruse," Sow said. "They apparently wish to serve as conduits of information for the New Republic."
"You accept that?" A'baht asked.
"Given their history of alliances, they wouldn't align themselves with anyone without having a contingency plan in place." Sow ran his hand down his prominently jowled face. "Even the Hutts can't risk being caught on the wrong side when the Yuuzhan Vong are defeated."
"When, not if," Commodore Brand said around an arrogant grin. "I find such optimism refreshing."
A'baht frowned. "I find it wishful thinking."
From the wa
iting room of the great spired and onion-domed palace of Nal Hutta's ruling Hutt, Nom Anor gazed out on a despoiled landscape of feculent swamps, mold-covered stunted trees, and parcels of wan vermin-riddled marsh grass. Stained by a melange of industrial pollutants and spotted with flocks of ungainly birds, the sky was a brooding ceiling, frequently lamenting its wretched state with lackluster showers of grimy rain. The stilted, destitute precincts so abundant in the vicinity of the spaceport were nowhere to be seen, but the terrain itself reeked of impoverishment and decay.
"What a vile world this is," Commander Malik Carr commented as he joined Nom Anor at the bay window.
"The Hutts know it as 'Glorious Jewel,' " the executor replied nonchalantly. "But it's not without potential. The moon, Nar Shaddaa, is far worse-completely encased by buildings and technology."
Malik Carr grunted. "I see no potential. But perhaps your one true eye sees more clearly than my pair."
Nom Anor quirked a smile. "I have been in this galaxy for some time, Commander, and have learned to look beyond appearances." He turned slightly in Malik Carr's direction. "Imagine Nal Hutta as, say, a laboratory for genetic experimentation."
4O
Malik Carr smiled slowly. "Yes, yes, even I can envision that."
Taller than Nom Anor, the commander was displayed in all his glory, without ooglith masquer or cloaker. Malik Carr's incised face and bare upper torso told of an illustrious military career. Cinched around his backward-sloping forehead was a vibrant head cloth whose tassels were braided into lustrous black hair, forming a tail that hung nearly to his waist. Recently arrived from the galactic edge, where argosies waited eagerly for the warrior caste to complete the invasion, the commander had been charged by Supreme Commander Nas Choka with overseeing the next phase of the conquest.
To keep his own identity concealed-even from the Hutts-as well as in deference to Malik Carr, Nom Anor wore an ooglith masquer that obscured the scars, augmentations, and like evidence of his sacrifices to the gods, along with a prosthesis in the empty eye socket that normally housed a venom-spitting plaeryin bol.
Malik Carr swung from the window and planted his fists on his hips in anger. "How dare this creature keep us waiting. Is he completely unaware of what he risks for himself and his pathetic world?"
"She, Commander," Nom Anor corrected. "Currently, at any rate. Hutts are said to be hermaphroditic. That is to say, male and female characteristics are combined in each."
Malik Carr looked at him askance. "And just now this one is female?"
"Fully female, as you will see. As for the prolonged wait, it's nothing more than tradition."
"But the precedent-"
"Don't concern yourself with precedent. I have a plan for dealing with this outmoded formality."
As the two Yuuzhan Vong walked toward the center of the antechamber, an entourage of ten honor guards and as many attendants snapped to attention. The guards wore vonduun crab armor and carried living amphistaffs and doubled-edge coufee knives. The female attendants were attired in veils, tunics, and cloaks that left visible only the sinuous markings that adorned their bared arms.
Malik Carr acknowledged the guards' brisk salutes and sat down on a cushioned bench. Nom Anor remained standing. The waiting room's high ceiling was supported by a dozen stately if moldy pillars. The floor was made of cut stone polished to a dazzling sheen, and woven textiles of intricate design graced the walls.
A bright-green, orb-eyed biped of medium size entered the antechamber. The creature's lumpy head featured twin hornlike appendages, pointed ears, and a narrow crest of yellow spines. Its long, tapered fingers appeared to be equipped with suction cups.
"A Rodian," Nom Anor supplied quietly. "A bellicose species given to warfare and bounty hunting. This one is the Hutt's majordomo, Leenik."
Leenik approached his master's guests, his stubby snout twitching. "Borga the Almighty is prepared to grant you audience now," he said in Basic.
Malik Carr shot Nom Anor a vexed glance. The entire Yuuzhan Vong entourage stood and began to trail the Rodian through an enormous doorway flanked by thickset churlish guards, whose pointed lower teeth and forehead tusks were perfectly matched.
"I suggest you take a deep breath before we enter," Nom Anor advised the commander.
"Is the Hutt odor so unbearable?"
"Picture bathing in a reopened grave."
Malik Carr grimaced and sucked in his breath.
The vaulted ceiling of the opulent court was even higher than that of the antechamber, and floating midway to the ceiling on a bolstered antigravity couch was an outsize, bulbous-headed slug whose disproportionately short arms might have been vestigial were the small hands they ended in not beckoning imperiously to Malik Carr and Nom Anor.
Atmosphere exchangers were working overtime, but there was enough residual rankness in the air to make the commander's eyes water. Sybaritic toadies sprawled about on couches and carpets-musicians, gunsels, and scantily attired dancers, all of diverse species. Chained to one wall, though obviously a pet, was a ferocious-looking beast Nom Anor knew to be a Kintan strider.
Borga favored Nom Anor with a look. "How pleasant to see you again," her deep voice boomed. "Come and sit beneath me."
Nom Anor-whom Borga knew as Pedric Cuf, and who claimed to be nothing more than an intercessor between the Yuuzhan Vong and the Hutts-smiled without showing his teeth and remained where he was, a good distance from the repulsor platform. At his hand signal the attendants conveyed to the center of the room several ornate boxes of the sort that might contain tribute. Nom Anor went to the closest box and opened the lid. Almost immediately the levitated couch gave a shudder and crashed loudly to the stone floor, nearly spilling Borga the Almighty into her coterie of shocked sycophants.
"I'm terribly sorry," Nom Anor said, as the chagrined Hutt struggled to regain her former composure. "I didn't realize that the Yuuzhan Vong had brought along a finely tuned dovin basal for your amusement. The creature was apparently offended by your couch's attempt to outwit gravity and decided to rectify the imbalance by catching hold of it."
Nom Anor was proficient at mimicking the subhar-monics that furnished the Hutt language with nuance. Even so, Borga had difficulty establishing the sincerity of the apology. Her oblique, heavy-lidded eyes blinked in confusion, then she quickly propped herself up, putting a curl in her muscular purple-patched tail, and gestured for two of her attendants to bring chairs for her guests.
The commander and the executor seated themselves with decorum, careful not to demonstrate too much smugness over their small victory, though a fleeting smile did escape Malik Carr.
"The Yuuzhan Vong have brought other wonders, as well," Nom Anor said finally.
Once more at his signal two attendants placed an aquarium well within Borga's limited reach, its murky waters hosting a variety of fist-sized life-forms, the likes of which the Hutt had never seen. Borga whispered something to Leenik, and the majordomo fished one of the creatures from the tank, sniffed at it, and took a cautious bite.
At the Rodian's mildly enthusiastic nod, Borga snatched the thing from Leenik's long-fingered hands, swallowed it whole, and loosed a resonant and lengthy belch of satisfaction.
"Another," she ordered.
This time Borga opened her jaws so wide that Nom Anor could almost hear the living morsel plop into her enormous stomach cavity. She belched again and ran her powerful tongue over her lips and nostrils.
"A bit like a Carnovian eel-pup, but with just a hint of the resistance one expects from the finest nala-tree frogs supplied by Fhnark and Company," she said, as only a gourmand could. "All in all, on a par with some of the classic droch appetizers fashioned by Zubindi Ebsuk." She turned her gaze on Nom Anor. "How did you come by these, Pedric Cuf ? On which world can they be found?"
"None in this galaxy." Nom Anor smiled pleasantly. "They are bioengineered."
The Hutt glanced at Malik Carr. "He created them?"
"Not personally. A Yuuzhan Vong sh
aper did so."
"And this... this shaper could replicate the product?"
"I'm certain he could." Nom Anor stood and gestured respectfully to Malik Carr. "Borga, permit me to introduce Commander Malik Carr, who will be overseeing this sector of space."
The Hutt blinked. "Overseeing?"
Head canted slightly to one side, Malik Carr regarded her for what seemed an eternity. "You speak for all of your kind?" he asked in passable Huttese.
Borga's blubbery body stiffened proudly. "I do. And I have been vested with the power to negotiate with your species."
"By whom have you been vested?"
"By the leaders of the voting kajidics, as well as the Grand Council."
"Kajidics?" Malik Carr said to Nom Anor.
"Criminal syndicates," Nom Anor told him in their own tongue.
Malik Carr continued to appraise Borga openly. "Yours is the ruling kajidic, then?"
"I am Borga Besadii Diori, cousin of Durga Besadii Tai, son of Aruk the Great, brother of Zavval. Wealthiest and most powerful of the Besadii kajidic, I lord over the Desilijic, the Trinivii, the Ramesh, Shell, and all other clans. All the three billion of this world pay obei-"
"You are male or female?" Malik Carr cut her off.
Borga blinked. "Just now I am with child." She indicated a pouch, low in her bulging abdomen.
"You birth live offspring?" Malik Carr said in obvious astonishment. When Borga nodded, the commander's jaw dropped ever so slightly. "Like one of our lowliest caste women," he remarked to Nom Anor. Borga's broad forehead wrinkled in uncertainty. "Let us talk business," Malik Carr said abruptly. "As . . . Pedric Cuf has undoubtedly apprised you, the Yuuzhan Vong have need of some of your worlds-for purposes of resource gathering. To effect this, we may be required to remove entire populations, and in some cases remake those worlds we select."
"Yes, so Pedric Cuf has explained," Borga said after a long moment. "In fact, we Hutts know a good deal about remaking worlds. When we arrived here from Varl, for example, Glorious Jewel was not the paradise you see now, but a primitive world of dense forests and untamed seas. There was even an indigenous species called the Evocii, who we were obliged to relocate on Glorious Jewel's moon, where the pitiful creatures gradually died out. By then, of course, we had replaced all Evocii structures with proper palaces and shrines ..."
