clear, reminding him of the eyrie in which he had been born and raised.
Maybe it was time to go home. He had enough credits stashed away so
that he could retire to Nedij and live comfortably, if not opulently, for
the rest of his days. Find a few nubile females, build a nest, while away
his time as patriarch of a new brood. Build his own family and forget the
past that had driven him to leave Nedij in the first place. His flock
considered him not of the Nest, but Nedij was a big world. There was room
enough for him there somewhere.
The cold and the snow called strongly to Kaird. He had spent decades as
an operative of the organization, and his masters would not like him to
leave, but it could be allowed under the proper circumstances. He knew where
too many bodies were buried-corpses that he had created on the orders of his
superiors. Should he die suddenly, under suspicious circumstances, he had
seen to it that certain information would come to light, and so it was in
the best interests of his employers to make sure that he lived a long and
healthy life.
The thrill of the hunt, the taking of dangerous prey-yes, he would miss
that. But sooner or later, those thrills would be the end of him. Not today,
perhaps not for years, but eventually he would be a half step too slow, a
heartbeat off in his calculations, and a faster, hungrier opponent would
walk away from the field instead of Kaird. He had, on some level, never
believed it, but on another, he knew it must be so.
The unexpected snow here was some kind of sign. True, it was caused by
a malfunctioning machine, but even so, it meant something. Kaird was sure of
it.
Abruptly, he made a decision. Yes, by the Cosmic Egg! After he
completed this assignment, which should not take much longer, he would
return to Black Sun and figure out a way to tender his resignation. A
sufficiently large gift would make his vigo disposed to wave him along. He
could go back to his homeworld and enjoy a different kind of life, one in
which he tickled downy fledglings and cooed sweet words to his wives instead
of killing people and engineering disasters.
It was no less than he deserved.
The beings who had gathered in the cantina were a motley bunch. Jos,
unable to find anything remotely resembling a coat, had found a blanket and
cut a hole through which he'd put his head-it was makeshift, but it worked
reasonably well to keep the cold out. Uli had, of all things, a paraglider
jacket, with full seals and gloves. He was the subject of many envious
glares. Den Dhur, who had spaced long enough to be prepared for any weather,
had a shiny thermal polyfab windbreaker that kept much of his body heat in,
and he received his share of glares as well. Barriss wore her usual Jedi
robes and looked as if she was enjoying the change from tropical to frigid.
I-Five, was, of course, unaffected by the chilly air, which was cold enough
even in the cantina to allow breath-fog, but still considerably warmer than
it was outside.
The cantina was the warmest public building in the camp, due to the
place having been double-walled to contain the sounds a typical cantina
would produce on a crowded night. That, combined with the body heat the
warm-blooded species within gave off, made the temperature within
survivable, if not comfortable.
Many members of the traveling show had also found their way here, and,
while they mostly kept to themselves, they seemed friendly enough,
particularly after the first few rounds of drinks.
"What did Vaetes say?" Den asked Jos. He took another gulp of some
fiery red liquor that he claimed was guaranteed to kick an imbiber's
internal thermostat up a notch. Jos was tempted, but the liquid gave off a
rank odor that reminded him of a full and long-forgotten laundry hamper.
"He said there should be spare parts on MedStar, and as soon as
somebody up there can find them-they seem to have been misplaced-they'll get
the regulator rehar-monized and things will go back to normal. Or whatever
passes for normal around here."
"Never thought I'd say it, but the heat wasn't so bad,"
Uli said.
"Me, I prefer caves," Den said. "Constant eighteen to twenty degrees,
plenty of mushrooms, no loud noises, Don't see why everyone doesn't live in
'em."
"Words like dark, gloomy, and depressing come to mind," Jos said.
Teedle rolled silently up. "How ya doin', sentients? Everybody okay on
libations? Anything little old me can do for you?"
Everyone in the small group allowed as how they were fine, and Teedle
wheeled away to check on the show people.
"Another funny droid. Place is getting thick with them," Den mused.
I-Five said, "I'll let you in on a little secret. All droids have a
sense of humor. Which is more than I can say for a lot of bio-sentients."
"The snow was kind of pretty wlien it first started falling," Den said,
looking out the window and ignoring I-Five. "But once it got
waist-deep-that's knee-deep for you overgrown breeds-it stopped being fun. I
never heard of this kind of dome malfunction happening before."
"Of course not," Jos said. "When it comes to original disasters, we set
the bar."
"I understand somebody in Central Supply has figured out a way to make
battery-powered heaters out of food zip-paks. They produce enough heat to
keep a kiosk relatively warm." This from Uli.
" 'Relatively warm'?" Den said.
"Might keep you from freezing solid in your sleep,"
Barriss said.
"Of course, without food you'll eventually starve," I-Five said.
"Let me guess," Jos said. "And afterward you and Teedle repopulate the
planet."
Den shook his head. "Won't be easy."
"E chu ta," I-Five muttered.
"Whoa," Uli said. "Touched a circuit, did he?"
The droid was about to reply, when he suddenly stiffened and cocked his
head somewhat. It was a posture Jos had seen before.
"Oh, no," Jos said softly.
"I hear it too," Den said. In another moment, the others picked it up
as well-the faint drone of faraway medlifters.
"Kark," Jos said. He finished his drink in one swallow. The others
hurried to finish theirs as well.
Just then a comm-tech came running into the cantina, obviously very
agitated. He slammed into and nearly knocked over one of the crew members of
the troupe, a big and burly Trandoshan. The reptiloid's drink sloshed all
over him. He ripped out a curse in Dosh that Jos was glad he couldn't
understand, grabbed the comm-tech and lifted him off the floor with one
hand.
Several people charged over to stop the impending slaughter, but before
anything could happen-
"There's been an explosion on MedStar!" the comm-tech shouted. "Half
the flight decks and most of a storage level just got blown to vac!"
Fear stabbed Jos.
Tolk-!
14
I here were a few matters that needed to be taken care of before Kaird
could begin planning his triumphant return to his homeworld. Foremost among
these was making su
re that the rogues Thula and Squa Tront were established
securely in the linkage that ran from the bota fields ultimately to the
cargo holds of the Black Sun freighters, This meant, among other things,
that they insinuate themselves into the good graces of Nars Dojah the
quartermaster, an old and irascible Twi'lek. Fortunately, Twi'leks were one
of the many species that could be easily affected by Falleen pheromones.
Unfortunately, Dojali was aware of this, and as a result was enormously
suspicious of Thula. During the interview he had gone so far as to insist on
wearing a filter-equipped rebreather. All of this Thula related later to
Kaird-or, as far as anyone passing by their cantina table could see, to
Hunandin the Kubaz-with great amusement.
"You seem to find this funny," Kaird said in annoyance. "If Dojah does
not hire you because of this prejudice, I assure you, my employers will not
be smiling, and neither will I."
"Oh, you'll be smiling in a minute," the Falleen assured him. "I
haven't finished my story."
Kaird leaned back. "Amuse me, then."
"Dojah's researches into Falleen body chemistry are incomplete. I also
shed protein analogs, which work through skin contact rather than the
olfactory organs."
Kaird smiled, and the mask's sensors once again translated it into the
Kubaz equivalent, rolling the pendulous snout up like a proboscis. "So-even
though he could not smell your scent, you nonetheless had an effect."
"Just so." The Falleen quaffed the rest of her Dark Side Daiquiri. She
leaned back, muscles shifting lithely under her finely scaled skin. Kaird
could feel his own libido stirring slightly. Amazing-he was probably about
as genetically compatible with the reptiloid as he was with bota DNA, but
even so ...
He saw her watching him and smiling slightly. Obviously, she didn't
need her partner's mind-reading abilities to know what he was thinking.
Kaird cleared his throat and turned to the Umbaran. "And you?"
"Not to worry," Tront said in his whispery voice. "I am firmly
ensconced as a shipping data processor. The diversion of small amounts of
bota looks to be no problem."
"Glad to hear it. Unfortunately, there will be a problem meeting the
quota Black Sun requires for this week. The explosion on the MedStar blew
out one of the storage compartments that had been consigned for our purpose,
and we lost a sizable shipment of carbon-frozen contraband. In addition, as
you are both no doubt aware, the extreme temperature fluctuation has
decimated much of the local crop base. We will need another two hundred
kilograms of processed material in the next three days. Fortunately, the
harvests from Rimsoos Six, Nine, and Fourteen are usually routed through
here for shipment." Trent's eyes widened slightly. "This is a considerable
amount to be shifted without notice, particularly so early in the game." He
gestured at the window and the steadily falling snow. "This bizarre dome
malfunction makes things even more difficult."
"Agreed," Kaird said. "Nevertheless, such is our state of affairs. What
with the assassination of the last agent sent here, and the current
aggressive Separatist tactics to advance and encompass the fields, my
superiors are growing nervous. This is a volatile situation, and I've been
told to make every effort to maximize profits while still possible."
Tront frowned. "Do you know the fable of the Crystalline Kahlyt,
Hunandin?"
Kaird shook his head.
"A popular parable on M'haeli. A farmer comes across a kahlyt-an
inoffensive oviparous creature-that has the miraculous ability to lay rubat
crystals in the form of eggs, once every moon cycle. The farmer sells the
crystals and begins to accumulate wealth. But his wife is impatient. She
doesn't want to wait for riches, so she kills the kahlyt and cuts it open to
remove all the crystals at once."
Kaird made an impatient gesture. "And . . . ?"
"And she finds only the innards of an ordinary kahlyt-no crystals at
all." Tront delicately sipped his drink. "Perhaps your superiors have not
heard this tale, friend Hunandin. It is not a wise thing to kill the kahlyt
that lays the rubat crystals."
"Perhaps not," Kaird replied. "But it is also not particularly wise to
yank on a nexu's tail, which is tantamount to telling the new underlord
'No.'"
Thula shifted uncomfortably. "I have heard stories of the underlord's
temperament." She glanced at Tront, then shrugged. "Squa and I will make it
happen." - "Excellent." Kaird rose, dropped a couple of credits on the
table, and left the cantina.
He strode across the snow-blanketed compound, thinking. For their sake,
Thula and Tront had better meet the smuggling quota. Now that Kaird had
determined to quit Black Sun and return to Nedij, he was impatient with
anything that smacked of hesitation or obstruction. The sooner he raised
ship and left Drongar behind forever, the better.
And may the Cosmic Egg crack for anyone who got in his way.
I-Five had managed to rig enough of the battery-powered heaters in the
operating theater so that at least the patients' blood wasn't freezing
anymore. A small AG droid had been reprogrammed and dispatched to the roof,
to plane the snow down to a level where it wouldn't cave in the thin
structure and bury everybody. The droid had been instructed to leave a few
centimeters of the white stuff in place, to act, oddly enough, as
insulation.
Jos cut and stapled and glued wounded troopers, but it was as
mechanical as the droid above shoveling snow from the roof. Tolk had not
commed him, and his gut was twisted in fear.
Vaetes had come in himself, to relay as much as he knew about the
explosion on MedStar-which wasn't much. Nothing was certain, but the colonel
passed along what news there was in a terse recital as Jos operated:
"A seal blew on one of the external ports-possibly a micrometeor
impact, though how it got through the shields is unknown. The blowout caused
a short-circuit in the ship's electrical system. The system monitor shut
down the power grid, but somehow a container of volatile chemical spilled,
and the vapor from that ignited, setting off other flammable material in the
supply hold. There was a secondary explosion, which blew the in-
tegrity. Automatics sealed off the section, but there are at least a
dozen dead."
Jos's throat was dry. "Tolk?"
Vaetes had shaken his head. "I don't know, Jos. The ship's comm is on
emergency status, they aren't letting any calls in or out until they lock
things down. I got the mortality figure from the pilot of a transport-that's
how many bodies he counted in space outside the hull rupture. No report of
the onboard casualties yet. As soon as I hear anything more ..."
"Yeah. Thanks."
The sterile field had a heater, almost never used on this world, but
the surgical droid assisting Jos had cranked the field up to maximum, so at
least his hands were warm.
The chill he felt over the rest of his body, however, was nothing
com
pared to the cold in his soul.
Tolk...
She couldn't be dead. No cosmos could be so cruel as to allow such a
travesty. After he had worked so hard for so long, healing so many wounds,
saving so many lives, it was inconceivable that the one life that meant the
mostto him could be lost.
Do you really believe that?
I have to, Jos told himself. / have to.
Uli stepped up next to him. "I'm caught up," he said. "Need.ahand?"
Jos let the nurse wipe his brow, then shook his head. "I'm good." He
couldn't recall telling a bigger lie in his entire life, but there was
nothing the boy could do to help him-not on any level. He just had to keep
working. He excised and debrided burns, amputated and reat-tached limbs,
stanched bleeding, drained wounds, ligated bleeders . ,
The sufferers passed beneath his healing hands, and Jos kept working,
hoping that their injuries would be his anodyne.
In the cantina, Den Dhur worked the room. He pulled in every favor he
had built up since he'd stepped off the transport months ago. All the drinks
he'd bought for techs and grunts, all the unauthorized uses of his private
comm to let people call their families, creches, litters, and so on back
home, the creds he had tent until payday . . . he begged, cajoled, wheedled,
shamelessly. This was a big story, and he needed access to it.
Bits and pieces began to drift in, and eventually to coalesce. Den
tallied them.
From an Ugnaught shuttle mechanic, he heard that one of the supply
sections that had spewed its contents into vac had been the electronics
small-parts storage. Which, according to the mech, meant that those
replacement harmonizers and crystal stabilizers the dome-dinks were waiting
on to stop the mopakky snow? They were gonna be part of the meteor shower
lighting up the sky soon as they hit atmosphere, blood, y'know?
Talk about your vaporware . , .
From a comm droid that had been on duty when the accident happened,
before the emergency status shutdown had hit, Den heard that there had been
186 people stationed on the affected decks. Some of them had made it past
the blowout doors before they'd automatically sealed. Some had not. There
were probably pockets of air in the affected section, rooms that could be
shut and seals rigged, but with life support off, it was going to get
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