Mara lifted her eyebrows, nodding fractionally toward the cylinder.... [May I
have the cylinder section back, Your First Greatness?] the Togorian asked.
"When I'm done with it," Praysh said shortly, his attention still on
Mara. "No? Very well, then. Guards..."
And abruptly, Have'sishi leaped up to the throne in front of him.
Slashing her claws across the faces of the two bodyguards flanking Praysh, she
snatched the cylinder section from his hands, slammed it across his head hard
enough to stun, and reached her hand in to the inner lining. Above the roar of
multiple Drach'nam bellows came the screech of tearing metal; and just as the
inner ring of guards reached Have'sishi and threw themselves on top of her,
she flicked her wrist over their heads-
And Mara's lightsaber came spinning across the room toward her.
There was a warning shout from someone; but it was already far too late.
Mara grabbed the weapon in an iron Force grip, yanking it through the
Drach'nam hands trying to slap it out of the air. "Down!" she barked to Sansia
as she caught and ignited the weapon, in the same motion cutting down the two
guards flanking her.
And the entire audience chamber collapsed into pandemonium.
The nearest of the Drach'nam, too close to use their whips against her,
went for their knives instead. They died holding them. Those further back
lived a little longer, but not much. With no time to organize, too densely
packed together for efficient use of their whips, and facing a weapon that
could cut through the lashes with ease, they had no chance at all. Mara
slashed through their ranks like a mowing machine, littering the rocky ground
behind her with their bodies, a haze of righteous fury clouding her vision.
Retribution for Sansia and the other degraded women in the slave pits;
retribution for piracy and robbery and cold-hearted murder; retribution for
the danger they'd put the WildKarrde's crew in-
And suddenly, or so it seemed, it was over.
She stood in the middle of the room, lightsaber held high, gasping hard
with her exertion. All around her were piles of Drach'nam bodies-
[I would not have believed it.]
Mara spun around. Have'sishi was pressed against the wall behind the
throne, staring at Mara with an expression of stunned disbelief, a half-dozen
oozing wounds scattered across the matted fur of her face and torso. "How
badly are you hurt?" Mara called, crossing the room toward her. None of the
injuries looked serious, but she wasn't familiar enough with Togorian
physiology to know for sure.
[Not badly,] Have'sishi assured her. [They lost interest in me very
quickly.]
"Lucky for me they did," Mara said grimly, focusing on the false wall
behind Have'sishi, the wall containing the two hidden blaster ports she'd
spotted on her first trip through the chamber.
Only now there was a second hole, knife-blade-sized, just beneath each of
the ports. And gripped in Have'sishi's hand was an appropriated Drach'nam
knife, its blade stained with the pale pink of Drach'nam blood.
"Thank you," Mara said, gesturing to the wall. "I wondered why they never
fired at me."
[They never had time,] Have'sishi said simply.
"I see that. Thank you. What about Praysh?"
[I believe he escaped,] Have'sishi said. [Alongwith many of his guards.
But we must hurry-your companion is already gone.]
"What?" Mara demanded, looking around again. Sansia was gone, all right.
"Did Praysh take her?"
[No, she left alone, by that door.] Have'sishi pointed.
Heading for her ship, no doubt, all set to take off and leave Mara and
Have'sishi stranded here. "Blast it," Mara snarled. "Come on."
The corridors, not surprisingly, were deserted. Mara led the way,
lightsaber in hand, silently berating herself for not expecting a last-minute
back-blading like this in the first place. Like father, like daughter...
And then, almost before she was ready for it, they pushed open one final
and rows of deadly, spine-winged starfighters. Midway across the yard, a
single ship was just lifting off into the air.
A SoroSuub 3000 luxury yacht.
[Is that her?] Have'sishi asked.
"Yes," Mara said sourly. Like father, like daughter, all right.
But there was no time now for the luxury of anger. "We'd better find a
way out of here before Praysh gets what's left of his thugs organized," she
told Have'sishi. "Let's see if any of these other ships are unlocked-was
She paused, frowning. The yacht, contrary to her expectations, wasn't
heading for the sky as fast as Sansia could push it. Instead, it had moved on
repulsorlifts to a hovering position a few meters over the center of the
courtyard.
And even as Mara wondered what in the worlds Sansia was doing, a pair of
turbolaser blasts blazed outward from the underside of the craft into one of
the parked starfighters, blowing it into a violent yellow fireball.
Have'sishi snarled something Mara didn't catch over the roar of the
flames. Still firing, the yacht swiveled slowly around in a circle,
methodically turning the rest of Praysh's potential pursuit craft into scrap
metal. Then, maneuvering across to where Mara and Have'sishi stood, it dropped
again to the ground and the hatch popped open. "I thought you two would never
show up," Sansia's voice called impatiently from the direction of the bridge.
"Come on, let's get out of here."
The guards who'd been watching the outside of Bar drin's mansion during
Mara's first visit were nowhere to be seen as she and Sansia parked their
landspeeder and headed inside.
And, as it turned out, for good reason.
"Welcome back, Mara," Karrde said, rising from his chair beside Bardrin's
massive desk as Mara and Sansia entered. He was smiling, but Mara could sense
the icy anger simmering beneath the pleasant expression. "Excellent timing, as
always. We've just secured the mansion, and I was about to start putting
together an attack force to come after you." He half bowed to Sansia. "You
must be Sansia Bardrin. Welcome home, as well."
"Thank you," Sansia said, nodding back. "I'm impressed-the people who
designed this little fortress for my father claimed it would be impossible for
anyone to take it. Not intact, at least."
"I had some professional assistance." Karrde looked at Bardrin, seated in
glowering silence behind his desk. "As well as considerable motivation. You
may want to explain to your father later that playing games with my people
this way is not a way to maintain a long and healthy life."
"Don't worry," Sansia promised darkly. "He and I have a great deal to
talk about. Starting with his willingness to leave me to rot in Praysh's slime
pits as long as he got his precious Winning Gamble back."
"You wouldn't have been there more than another six hours," Bardrin
rumbled. "I already had a team assembled to come in after you."
"Through Praysh's outer defenses?" Sansia snorted. "They'd have been cut
to ribbons before they even hit atmosphere."
Mara cleared her throat. "Actually, I think you'll find he's been even
more devious than you thought," she said, stretching out with the Force to
Bardrin's mind. She had most of the pieces now, but his emotional reactions
would help confirm she was putting them together in the right order. "I think
he set you up deliberately to be captured by those pirates, knowing they'd
send you and the Winning Gamble straight to Praysh."
Sansia frowned at her. "You can't be serious. What would he gain by that?
"
Mara smiled tightly at Bardrin. "Some brand-new, high tech prototypes
Praysh stole from the Uoti Corporate."
Bardrin's expression remained solidly under control, but his guilty
mental twitch was all the confirmation Mara needed. "I don't know what you're
talking about," he growled.
"But continue anyway," Karrde invited, a sly smile touching his lips.
Mara had been with him long enough, she knew, for him to recognize that she
never used this tone of voice when she was just guessing. "This is most
interesting."
Mara looked at Sansia. "You remember that Praysh mentioned it had only
been a week since the Uoti theft. Your father heard about it and decided to
steal it from them before Uoti could get organized to retrieve it themselves.
He knew that when the pirates gave you to Praysh they'd also give him the
Winning Gamble; and so he rigged that fancy targeting system you told me about
to make a complete sensor recording of Praysh's defense array on the flight
in."
Sansia's face had turned to glazed stone. "Why, you vac-hearted,
manipulative nerf belly," she breathed, her eyes locked on her father's face
like twin turbolasers. "You deliberately put me through that-his"
"I thought someone of Jade's skills would have a better chance of getting
out alone," Bardrin cut her off brusquely. "And she would have an easier time
getting to the Winning Gamble from Praysh's audience chamber instead of the
slave quarters, which is why I sent that anonymous dp suggesting he contact
the Mrahash of Kvabja about the floater globe. Once we had the Winning Gamble
said could analyze Praysh's outer defense array, our private troops could have
swept in with ease, rescued you, and destroyed Praysh's operation in a single
blow."
"And the Uoti prototypes?"
Bardrin shrugged. "A small bonus. A reward, if you like, for our civic-
mindedness in eliminating a particularly noxious slaver. We are business
people, Sansia."
He looked significantly at Karrde. "And I taught you better than to vent
business disputes in front of outsiders."
"Yes, you certainly did." Sansia took a deep breath; then turned to look
at Mara. "Whatever he promised to pay you, you deserve more. Name your price."
Mara looked coolly at Bardrin. "You can't afford to pay for what he put
me through," she said. "But I'll settle for a copy of the Winning Gamble's
tracking record. There's some serious justice I intend to rain on Praysh's
head, and I don't think I want to trust your father to do it for me. Civic-
minded or not."
Sansia threw a malicious smile at Bardrin. "I'll do better than that.
Take the whole ship."
"What?" Bardrin leaped to his feet, oblivious to the blaster that had
suddenly appeared in Karrde's hand. "Sansia, you are not going to give my ship
to these- - these-was
He sputtered to a halt. Sansia gave the silence a couple more heartbeats,
then looked back at Mara. "You already know the access and operating codes,"
she continued as if her father hadn't spoken. "It's a good ship. Enjoy."
"Thank you," Mara said. "I will."
"There's also the matter of my fee," Karrde spoke up.
"What are you talking about?" Bardrin demanded. "She already gave Jade
more than-was
"I'm not talking about payment for your daughter's rescue," Karrde cut
him off coldly. "I'm referring to my fee for not killing you outright over
your kidnapping my crew."
He looked at Sansia. "Unless you'd rather not make such a deal, of
course. I can certainly take my fee in blood instead if you prefer."
"It is tempting," Sansia admitted. "But no, I'll deal with Daddy dear in
my own way." She smiled thinly. "Out of sight of outsiders. What sort of fee
do you want?"
"We'll work out something later," Karrde told her, putting his blaster
away. "I'll be in touch. Come, Mara. It's time to get back to clean air again.
"
They left the room and headed through the strangely deserted mansion; and
it was only as they were descending the final staircase toward the vestibule
that Karrde's earlier comment about having had professional assistance finally
became clear. Lurking in the shadow of a carved support pillar where he could
cover both the stairway and the door was a silhouette she remembered all too
well.
"I called in a few favors from Councilor Organa Solo," Karrde murmured in
explanation from beside her. "It was a very profitable trade."
"Yes," Mara said, shivering involuntarily as they passed the Noghri
warrior and headed down the stairway. "I'll just bet it was."
"Mara?"
Blowing a drop of sweat off the end of her nose, Mara keyed off the
combat practice remote and shut down her lightsaber. "Come in," she called.
"Thought I'd find you here," Karrde said, glancing around the
WildKarrde's exercise room as he walked in. "Have'sishi said you'd been
spending a lot of time alone in here. Making angry sounds was how she put it."
"I've been working out a few frustrations," Mara conceded, snagging a
towel and wiping the moisture off her face. "How's she doing?"
"Mostly healed," Karrde said, crossing to one of the resistance benches
and sitting down. "It was her very first time in a bacta tank, as it happens.
She's rather impressed."
"We need to do more for her than just get her back to health," Mara said.
"She really put her neck on the block when she brought my lightsaber into
Praysh's palace."
"I agree," Karrde said. "Though oddly enough, she doesn't see it that way
at all. She told me that once she found your lightsaber and realized you were
a Jedi, she had no doubt at all that you could handle Praysh's legions with
ease."
Mara grimaced. Jedi... "I trust you disabused her of that notion?"
"Not really. As far as I'm concerned, you're a Jedi in everything but
name."
It wasn't that simple, Mara knew. Not nearly that simple. But it also
wasn't a subject she wanted to get into right now. "Were you able to dig
anything out of her as to what sort of reward she might like?" she asked
instead. "I couldn't make any headway at all on that subject on our way off
Torpris."
"According to her, all she's ever wanted was to get out of that demeaning
scavenger life she'd been forced into," Karrde said. "It doesn't sound like
she has much in the way of marketable skills, though, so I was thinking of
offering her a course of study in starship operations at our training center
on Quyste."
"I think she'd like that," Mara nodded. "She seemed fascinated with
everything about the Winning Gamble during the flight."
"Good," Karrde said. "If she proves competent enough after her training,
I thought I'd also see if she'd be interested in joining the organization." He
smiled. "Though whether that would qualify as a reward or a punishment is
probably debatable in some circles."
The smile faded. "Actually, I was wondering if you were finding yourself
in one of those particular circles at the moment."
Mara felt her lip twist. "You do find convoluted ways to bring up these
subjects, don't you?"
"It adds variety to conversation," he said. "Particularly when the other
party to the discussion seems inclined to avoid the issue."
Mara sighed. "I don't know, Karrde. I've been feeling- - I don't know.
Squeezed, I suppose. The responsibilities have been weighing more and more on
me lately, and this thing with Bardrin seems to have brought it all to a head.
I don't like the fact that he picked on us in the first place because we were
smugglers and couldn't go to the authorities over the kidnapping of the Wild
Karrde's crew. And I really don't like the fact he was able to manipulate me
so easily by threatening them that way."
She waved the lightsaber. "I feel like I need to get out somewhere.
Anywhere. At least for a while."