Showdown At Centerpoint
Page 32
sort out all the loose ends." Luke nodded. But at least some of the loose
ends were being tidied up already. Admiral Ackbar brought news of the arrest
of one Pharnis Gleasry, a self-styled agent of the Human League, part of the
spy ring that had sliced its way into far too many government files back on
Coruscant. It had taken very little to get Gleasry singing like a bird. The
whole Human League spy ring back in Coruscant had been scooped up and thrown
in jail where they belonged. There was, of course, the question of what to
do about the next star on the starbuster list. The short-term solution was
to de-imprint the repulsor controls so they could be used by someone over
seven, be ready with the right targeting numbers, and simply fire this
repulsor-or the one on Selonia--as needed. Once it was too little, and too
late, the Sacorrian Seionians had indeed caved in altogether. The long-term
solution was to get the shutdown codes from the Triad. As the Triad was in
an understandably cooperative mood-what with the New Republic occupation
troops already on the way-that didn't seem likely to be too much of a
problem. Someone had started the completely false rumor that the New
Republic Navy was going to re-aim Centerpoint straight at Sacorria's sun,
and leave it that way through all the starbuster pulses until they got the
shutdown code. The rumor might well encourage cooperation. And then there
was the whole question of studying Centerpoint, and the repulsors on the
other three worlds. Who had built the Corellian system, and when, and why,
and what had happened to them? Well, some ends were looser than others.
Those mysteries might easily take centuries to be solved-if they ever were.
There was one other loose end that Luke took a personal interest in. But he
had a feeling that it would get sorted out without undue delay. "You know,"
said Admiral Ackbar, "you said it was the people here who won this war. I
can't help noticing two rather prominent names that seem to be missing. They
were on the transport with us. Where in the world have they gone to?" Luke
smiled. He knew exactly where they were, but he had a feeling they were not
much in the mood for company. "I wouldn't worry too much, Admiral. They're
both the sort who are pretty good at taking care of themselves." "Lando?"
asked Tendra as they wandered about on the churned-up land that the rise of
the repulsor had produced. It was not the loveliest of landscapes, but it
did have the advantage of providing a good deal of privacy behind every
hummock and furrow of ground. "Yes?" Lando asked. "What is it?" Tendra had
found herself on top of a higher than usual clump of loose rock. Lando
offered his hand, and she took it, used it to steady herself as she slipped
and slithered down into the next little furrow of ground. He did not let go
of her hand once she was on level ground, and she did not let go of his.
"Remember how I told you that a Sacorrian woman is not allowed to marry
without her father's consent, no matter how old she is?" Lando felt a little
flutter in his chest, a flutter of fear, and excitement, and interest, all
mixed up together. "Yes," he said, managing to keep his voice steady. "What
about it?" "Well," she said, "there's just one thing. We don't have to do
anything about it immediately, but there's something more I want to tell you
about that law. An interesting legal technicality. It's been well
established by many precedents that a Sacorrian woman is not bound by that
law-(/she is outside the Sacorrian system. If she were on, oh, Drall for
example." "Is that so?" Lando asked, quickly regaining his old equilibrium.
The idea needed time, and thought-but he definitely liked it at first
glance. He smiled, and looked at her lovely face. "Is that a certifiable
fact?" he asked. "It is," she said, smiling right back at him. "Then why
don't we get back to the Lady Luck and discuss the whole matter over
dinner?" he asked. "I've always found legal technicalities to be downright
fascinating."