by Timothy Zahn
“A malfunction in the recorder.”
“Of course,” Tarkin said. “Tell me, what exactly did you give him?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Arihnda assured him. “It was complete gibberish wrapped in what appeared to be an advanced encryption layer. He’s probably still trying to find a coherent sentence in it.”
“I see,” Tarkin murmured. “So Colonel Yularen will get data on the Empire’s politicians. Commander Thrawn will get his aide promoted. I’ll have Yularen’s data before Yularen gets it, plus the satisfaction of removing Moff Ghadi from the face of the galaxy.” He raised his eyebrows. “We haven’t yet talked about you. What do you get out of this?”
“Your patronage and support,” Arihnda said. “The satisfaction of knowing I’ve helped the true powers that keep the Empire running.” She paused. “And if you should find it useful and expedient, I’d like the governorship of Lothal.”
“Lothal,” Tarkin echoed, leaning forward again and keying his computer. “Not exactly the ground-shaking demand I’d expected. Why there?”
“The rivalry between Governor Azadi and Senator Renking cost my parents their mining company and forced them out of their home,” Arihnda said, an unexpected surge of anger rising inside her. She’d thought she’d put the emotion of that betrayal behind her. Apparently not. “Being made governor of Lothal will humiliate the first, and make it easier for me to take down the second.”
“A clear vision of one’s goals is important in a governor,” Tarkin said drily. “But governorships are valuable commodities. I’m afraid this”—he tapped the data cards on his desk—“isn’t quite enough.”
“I thought it might not be.” Taking a deep breath, Arihnda pulled out another data card. “But this is.”
“And it is…?”
“Everything about Lothal the Empire would ever want to know,” Arihnda said. “Its mines and refineries, including the quiet and secret mines that no one talks about and no one pays taxes or tariffs on. Its infrastructure and factories, including output numbers and efficiency ratings. The banking structure and how assets are hidden or spirited away. Its people, including social frameworks, and which species get along or don’t get along together. Summaries of archaeological surveys in the northern areas that suggest the presence of untapped mineral resources, on both protected and unprotected lands.”
She straightened up in her chair and set the card on Tarkin’s desk. “The Empire is gathering up the Outer Rim worlds. It might as well be as easy and painless as possible. For everyone.”
“Interesting,” Tarkin said, making no move to take the card. “Some would consider that a betrayal of their homeworld.”
“I prefer to think of it as loyalty to my new homeworld.”
“Well said,” Tarkin said approvingly. “And if I may say so, your timing is impeccable. As it happens, that particular governorship may soon be vacant.”
“Governor Azadi is retiring?” Arihnda asked, frowning. She hadn’t heard anything about that.
“Yes,” Tarkin said. “Rather against his will, it would seem.”
“Interesting,” Arihnda said. Not that Azadi didn’t deserve it. Whether he’d been actively involved in her mother’s arrest and the loss of their company, or whether he’d simply stood aside while others in his office did his dirty work, he still deserved it. “Renking?”
“Perhaps,” Tarkin said. “Perhaps other reasons. Still, Senator Renking is angling for the governorship.” He raised his eyebrows. “I wonder which of you wants it more.”
“I’ve given you the means to take down Moff Ghadi,” Arihnda said, forcing calmness through her sudden flash of anger and frustration. She would not lose now. Especially not to Renking. “I have inside information on other moffs, governors, and senators. I’ve given you Lothal. I want that governorship, Your Excellency. What more do you need to make that happen?”
“Oh, much, much more, Ms. Pryce,” Tarkin assured her. “There are many people in power whom I would like to know better. Fortunately, I now have you.”
Arihnda clenched her teeth. She’d started as a senator’s lackey; and now she was being offered the job of a grand moff’s lackey? “Your Excellency—”
“Of course, as a governor you’ll have much better access to those people than you will as an advocate,” he continued. “Yes, I can see this being advantageous to us both.”
Arihnda let out a silent sigh. So he’d just been playing with her. She should have known. “I’m glad you approve, Your Excellency.”
“Of course, going from a mere civilian to a planetary governor is quite a step,” Tarkin continued. “Still, you’ve had a great deal of experience and contact with the powerful of the Empire, as well as the advantage of being a local of the world in question. Perhaps we’ll begin by designating you as acting governor before granting you the full title.”
“For how long?” Arihnda asked.
“Oh, a few months,” Tarkin said with a shrug. “A year at the most. Technically, of course, these appointments are supposed to be run through the Palace, but I see no reason we need to bother the bureaucrats. You’ll need to spend a fair amount of your first year or two in office here on Coruscant, learning the details of your new position.”
“While also gathering the data you want?”
“But a short absence from Lothal shouldn’t be a problem,” Tarkin continued. “There are several ministers in place there, any of whom can run things while you fulfill your side of our bargain. You’ll simply need to pick one before you return to Coruscant.”
Arihnda smiled. The governorship of Lothal, a clear shot at taking down Renking, and she’d get to live among the elite on Coruscant for a while longer. She couldn’t have planned it better if she’d tried. “I think we have an agreement, Your Excellency.”
“We do.” Tarkin held out a hand. “The rest of your data, please?”
“Here’s half of it,” Arihnda said, pulling two more data cards from her pouch. “I’ll give you the other half once I’ve been confirmed in the governorship.”
“Of course,” Tarkin said. “You’ll fit in quite well here, Ms. Pryce. Or should I say, Governor Pryce?”
“Thank you, Your Excellency,” she said, standing up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have one more errand to run. I’m sure you want to look over those data cards anyway.” She pointed at them. “Oh, and the recording of Moff Ghadi is on the second card. You’ll want to take special care with that one.”
—
Juahir was walking across the Yinchom Dojo’s central mat, duffel bag in hand, when Arihnda arrived. “Hey—Arihnda,” Juahir greeted her. “You get off early?”
“No, just between jobs,” Arihnda said. “You have a good workout?”
“Fair,” Juahir said. “Senator Xurfel signed up her two newest bodyguards with us this morning. I had to run them through the grinder to see how good they are.”
“And?”
“They’ve got potential, but they’re not up to Coruscant standards,” Juahir said. “But we’ll get them in shape. So which jobs are you between?”
“Well, I was at Grand Moff Tarkin’s office yesterday,” Arihnda said. “We had a nice chat.”
“Yes, I heard about that,” Juahir said, brightening. “Driller said he actually got you in to see him. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Arihnda said. “Not much happening today, so I thought I’d drop by here.”
“Great,” Juahir said. “So we doing a workout, or lunch?”
“Neither,” Arihnda said. “We’re making an arrest.”
“Who?”
“You.” She watched Juahir’s mouth drop open as Colonel Yularen and his agents filed silently into the dojo behind her.
“Arihnda, what are you doing?” Juahir asked carefully.
“We’re arresting a traitor,” Arihnda said. “A woman who’s been using her training position to suborn or blackmail high-level bodyguards and send them off to spy on their bosses.” She raised her eyebr
ows. “And, occasionally, to try to murder them.”
“What?” Juahir breathed, her eyes widening, her skin going ashen.
“Senator Evidorn’s bodyguard Kaniki,” Yularen said darkly as he walked up to them. “He tried to kill the senator this morning. Apparently, your indoctrination on the evils of the Empire was a little too effective.”
“We never told them to kill anyone,” Juahir protested. “They were just supposed to get information for—” She broke off, throwing a sudden look of understanding at Arihnda.
“That’s right,” Arihnda confirmed. “I’m the one who pulled the data Driller and Higher Skies have been collecting and handed it over to the ISB. Driller and everyone else connected to the group are being picked up right now, but given the Kaniki incident Colonel Yularen decided he wanted to arrest you personally.”
“Arihnda—”
“There’s just one thing I want to know,” Arihnda said, her throat suddenly aching with suppressed emotion. “Were you ever my friend? Or was I always just a tool to you?”
Juahir stared at her as the ISB agents moved around behind her, binders in hand. “Yes, I was your friend,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t involved with…this…until after Senator Renking fired you. That was so horribly unfair. It showed me how corrupt the whole system was. It was only later that Driller approached me and—”
“Driller and Nightswan?” Yularen cut in.
Juahir transferred her stare to him. “Driller mentioned someone with that name. But we only talked about what we could do to fix things. To make the Empire better for everyone.”
“And then you thought about me and figured you could use me,” Arihnda said. “Poor Arihnda Pryce, cast adrift in the swirling dregs of Coruscant. The perfect patsy.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“But close enough,” Arihnda said. She looked at Yularen. “I’m finished. Thank you.”
“Wait,” Juahir pleaded as the ISB agents started her toward the door. “Arihnda, I was your friend. I helped you out when you needed someone. Can’t you help me now?”
Arihnda held up her hand. Yularen did likewise, and the agents stopped. “Here’s what I’ll do, Juahir,” she said. “Colonel Yularen is going to interrogate you. If you give him everything—and I mean everything—he’ll send you to prison instead of having you executed.”
Juahir’s face had gone even whiter. “Arihnda—”
“I’m on the road to power now,” Arihnda interrupted. “If I achieve my goals, I should be able to pull enough strings to get you out in a few years. If not…” She shrugged.
“Arihnda!”
But Yularen had already gestured, and the men were on the move again. Arihnda remained where she was, not turning, until the door closed again behind her.
“What about her?” Yularen asked.
Arihnda turned, blinking away sudden tears. H’sishi was standing silently in the doorway of her office, watching them.
Had Yularen just asked her for advice?
Of course he had. Yularen and Tarkin had been in contact regarding the Higher Skies affair, and while Arihnda’s new status hadn’t been officially announced the colonel had probably been given the news. “Commander Thrawn said she was in the clear, didn’t he?”
“That was his conclusion, yes,” Yularen said.
“Did you find anything in the records to contradict that?”
“No.”
“Then I suppose we can let her go.” Arihnda lifted a warning finger toward the Togorian. “But I’d recommend you leave Coruscant as soon as possible. Your former employee might try to shift some of her guilt onto your back. She does that sort of thing to her friends.”
“Thank you,” H’sishi said gravely. “Mistress Arihnda; Colonel Yularen.” Turning, she disappeared back into her office.
Arihnda smiled. Mistress Arihnda. A meaningless title, a veneer of respect overlaying a deeper and more casual disdain. The title of the small and powerless.
But she was done with it now. Done with it forever.
Governor Pryce. Yes, that was better. Much, much better.
—
Another week, Eli had gotten used to saying to himself, another mission.
This time it was smugglers, small gangs working out of obscure systems. The Thunder Wasp had proved especially good at rooting out such blights upon Imperial commerce, and Coruscant had apparently taken notice.
Of course, Thrawn owed at least some of that success to Eli’s own talent at identifying and tracking shipping and supplies. That had led to successful attacks on no less than four smuggling operations, three of which had included black-market doonium.
Two of which had apparently included Nightswan.
Eli scowled to himself. This whole Nightswan thing was starting to get out of hand. The Thunder Wasp had been in time to close down one of the schemes Eli had spotted, but they’d been too late to stop the other before it was abruptly shut down. Worse, Eli had identified at least five other operations that seemed to fit Nightswan’s pattern that were out of the Thunder Wasp’s patrol area and thus out of Thrawn’s ability to defeat.
Thrawn always sent warnings to the commanders in the affected sectors. But the communications were usually too slow, or the ships were too busy with other matters, or the commanders simply didn’t believe him. ISB was only marginally better, and even there it was often only Colonel Yularen who took the reports seriously.
Thrawn always spoke of patterns and connections. After nearly four years of serving with him, Eli was only now getting the knack of spotting those patterns. Others in the navy apparently weren’t so astute. Possibly they never would be.
The one puzzle neither Eli nor Thrawn had so far been able to figure out was why Nightswan was so obsessed with taking doonium away from the Empire, and what the Empire itself wanted with the stuff.
They weren’t building ships with it. Every time Eli ran the numbers, the amount of doonium the Empire was gathering far exceeded any possible need. Were they stockpiling it against some future need for ships? Thrawn’s discussions at the Palace—could the Emperor be planning something special? A series of expeditions into the Unknown Regions, perhaps? There were too many questions Eli didn’t have answers to.
But those questions paled before the one looming before them today. Namely, the question of why he and Thrawn had been suddenly summoned back to Coruscant.
It couldn’t be over the Cyphar incident. Thrawn had already been cleared of misconduct over his actions there. Had Yularen discovered something new about Nightswan that he wanted to share personally? Or had the High Command decided they were tired of Thrawn’s continual focus on the man and wanted him to stop harassing the other commanders just because he thought they weren’t doing their job?
Or had Eli perhaps crossed some unseen line in his searches and examinations of the subject? The fact that he’d been specifically ordered to appear with Thrawn was more than a little unnerving.
“Do you know what this is about, sir?” Eli murmured to Thrawn as a group of senior officers filed into the room.
“No,” Thrawn said. “But I find it interesting that you were also summoned.”
So Thrawn had noticed that, too. Not really surprising.
“Try to read their faces,” Thrawn murmured.
Eli suppressed a grimace. He was trying. Had been trying since the officers began filing in. Focusing his attention on the admiral in the lead, he studied the man’s expression and body language—
And caught his breath, his analysis sputtering to a halt as the last man in line appeared through the doorway.
Grand Moff Tarkin.
And suddenly, all bets were off. Tarkin’s title was technically a civilian one, his position giving him authority across a huge swath of the Outer Rim. But he also wore an Imperial Navy uniform, and his duties and authority straddled both civilian and military venues.
Which area, Eli wondered, was he representing today?
The admiral in the center wa
ited until everyone was seated. Then she rose to her feet. “We are met this morning,” she said, “to pay special honor to two of our own.”
Eli blinked. Honor? So this wasn’t another inquiry board or court-martial?
“Never has any officer of the Imperial Navy achieved such success in so short a time,” the admiral continued.
Eli felt a whisper of relief, mixed with a hint of melancholy. So that was it. Thrawn had been called back to receive yet another promotion.
Not that Eli begrudged him the recognition. On the contrary, he more than deserved it. Aside from the thorn in the side that was Nightswan, his record was an unbroken string of wins against the enemies of the Empire.
“It is therefore with great pleasure that this board confers upon Commander Thrawn the rank of commodore. Congratulations, Commodore Thrawn.”
And there it was. Eli smiled and tried to look happy—which he was, really—as he joined in the applause. Coming all the way to Coruscant seemed excessive for what was, for Thrawn, a fairly commonplace ceremony, but at least they could get back to space now. Even as the admiral stepped forward and handed Thrawn his new insignia plaque, Eli started mentally sorting through the files that ought to lead them to their next smuggler nest—
“It is also an honor and privilege,” the admiral continued, “for this board to rectify a situation that has too long been allowed to stand.”
Eli frowned, thoughts of lists and supply manifests vanishing. Was there a situation Thrawn had gotten himself into that Eli hadn’t heard about?
“It is therefore with equal pleasure that this board confers upon Ensign Eli Vanto—”
Eli caught his breath. It was happening. It was finally happening. After all this time, they were finally promoting him to lieutenant.
“—the rank—”
Lieutenant Vanto. The sound in his head was like a drink of cool, clear water after a session in the dojo. Lieutenant Vanto…
“—of lieutenant commander.”
Eli felt his whole body stiffen. What had the admiral said? Lieutenant commander?
That was impossible. For an ensign to jump ahead that many ranks at once was unheard of. He must have heard it wrong.
