But there should be one of D-4's swoops parked just a little way aft.

Ninety seconds later, he was racing down the corridor, the wind of his pa.s.sage whipping through his hair and stinging his eyes. Fortunately, with Outbound Flight at full alert, everyone was either at their battle stations or huddled in their quarters out of the way; the corridors were empty. Reaching the forward pylon, he punched for the turbolift, but instead of leaving the swoop at the way station like he was supposed to, he maneuvered it into the car. Let C'baoth complain about it-let him even lock Uliar in the brig for a few days if he wanted to.

Whatever it took, he would see this Mith-whatever before he left Outbound Flight.

Car'das had been waiting for nearly three hours before the Miskara again summoned him to the throne room.

"All is prepared," the Vagaari informed him. "We fly at once to draw our vengeance from Mitth'raw'nuruodo and the Chiss."

"Yes, Your Eminence," Car'das said, bowing his head and trying not to look at the half dozen fresh Geroon bodies scattered around the throne room. Apparently, the Miskara had been playing some more with his new toys. "I would once again ask you to remember that my companions and ship are also there, and would beg your soldiers to be careful."

"I will remember," the Miskara promised. "And I will do even more. I have decided you will be permitted the best view possible of the forthcoming battle."

Car'das felt something cold run through him. "You mean I'll be on the bridge, Your Eminence?"

"Not at all," the Miskara said calmly. "You will be in the forward most of my flagship's external bubbles."

Car'das looked sideways to see a pair of armored Vagaari striding toward him. "I don't understand," he protested. "I've offered you the chance at both vengeance and profit."

"Or the chance to fly into a trap," the Miskara said, his voice suddenly icy. "Do you think me a fool, human? Do you think me so proud and rash that I would simply fly a task force to a supposedly small and undermanned Chiss base in my thirst for revenge?" He snorted a mult.i.toned whistle. "No, human, I will not send a small task force to be destroyed.

My entire fleet will descend on this base . . . and then we shall see what sort of teeth this Chiss trap truly has."

"The Chiss aren't waiting there with any trap," Car'das insisted. "I swear it."

"Then you should have nothing to fear," the Miskara said. "If we destroy the enemy as quickly as you claim we will, you will be released and your companions freed. If not . . ." He shrugged. "You will be the first to die."

He c.o.c.ked his head slightly "Have you anything else you wish to say before you are taken away?"

A confession, perhaps, or an admission of guilt? "No, Your Eminence,"

Car'das said. "I only hope your soldiers are as capable against the Chiss as they've proven themselves to be against other opponents."

"The Geroons could tell you of our capabilities," the Miskara said darkly. "But you will see them for yourself soon enough." He gestured.

"Take him away."

Five minutes later, Car'das was pushed through a narrow doorway in the hull into a zero-g plastic bubble perhaps twice the size of a coffin. Set against the hull on one side of his head was what seemed to be a small air supply and filtering system, while on the other was a mesh bag containing a couple of water bottles and ration bars from the Chiss shuttle, along with a diamond-shaped device of unknown purpose.

And as the thick hull metal was sealed against his back he knew the chance cube had been thrown. From now on, everything that happened would be under the control of others.

He could only hope that the Miskara had been telling the truth about the size of the force he was sending.

21.

The fact that Mitth'raw'nuruodo was a near human this far from Republic s.p.a.ce had been Lorana's first surprise. More surprising than that were the culture and refinement of his demeanor and speech as he spoke to her and C'baoth from the other side of the conference room table.

His reason for intercepting Outbound Flight was the biggest surprise of all. And the most chilling.

C'baoth, predictably, wasn't impressed by any of it. "Ridiculous," he said scornfully when Mitth'raw'nuruodo had finished. "A mysterious species of conquerors moving across the galaxy toward us? Please. That's the sort of story bad parents frighten their children with."

"You know everything there is to know about the universe, then?"

Mitth'raw'nuruodo asked politely. "I was under the impression that this region of s.p.a.ce was unknown to you."

"Yes, it is," C'baoth said. "But rumors and stories aren't limited by geographical and political boundaries. If a species so dangerous truly existed, we would surely have heard something about them by now."

"What about Vergere?" Lorana murmured from beside him. "Something like this might explain her disappearance."

"Or it might not," C'baoth countered. "It doesn't take a species of conquerors to silence a single Jedi." His eyes glittered. "To silence a group of Jedi, of course, is a different matter entirely. And as to this Darth Sidious you cite, I put even less faith in his words than I do in idle rumors. Darth is the t.i.tle of a Sith Lord, and the Sith have long since vanished from the galaxy. That makes him a liar right from the start."

"Perhaps," Mitth'raw'nuruodo said. "But I didn't come here for an open debate. The fact remains that I cannot and will not permit you to continue on through this region of s.p.a.ce. You must turn back to the Republic and pledge to never return."

"Or?" C'baoth challenged.

Mitth'raw'nuruodo's glowing red eyes were steady on him. "Or I will be forced to destroy you."

Lorana braced herself for the inevitable explosion. But C'baoth merely smiled thinly. "So says the avian chick to the billinus dragon. Do you truly believe your twelve ships could survive ten minutes against the firepower I hold here in my hand?"

Mitth'raw'nuruodo lifted his eyebrows politely. "Your personal hand?" he asked.

"My Jedi are even now standing by in the ComOps Center above us, as well as at the weapons stations of each individual Dreadnaught," C'baoth said.

"I'll soon be joining them . . . and if you've never before faced Jedi reflexes and insight, you'll find it a sobering experience."

Mitth'raw'nuruodo's expression didn't change. "Whatever their training, it will do them no good," he said. "Your only choices are to leave now and take your people home, or perish. What is your answer?"

"What if we promised to go around this region?" Lorana asked.

C'baoth looked at her, and she sensed his surprise at her presumption quickly turning to anger. "Jedi Jinzler-"

"I mean all the way around it," Lorana continued, fighting against the weight of his displeasure pressing against her mind. "We could go to a different part of the Rim and jump off for the next galaxy from there."

"No," C'baoth said firmly. "That would take us thousands of light-years out of our way."

"That would be acceptable," Mitth'raw'nuruodo said, looking at Lorana.

"Provided you avoided the entire region lying along your current vector."

"No," C'baoth bit out, his eyes blazing. "Lorana, you will be silent.

Commander, you do not dictate to us. Not you; not anyone else."

Abruptly, he shoved hack his chair and rose towering to his full height.

"We are the Jedi, the ultimate power in the universe," he declared, the words ringing through the conference room. "We will do as we choose. And we will destroy any who dare stand in our way."

Lorana stared up at him, her heart suddenly pounding in her throat. What was he saying? What was he doing?

There is no emotion; there is peace .. .

"In that event, the conversation is over," Mitth'raw'nuruodo said. His expression hadn't changed, but as Lorana tore her gaze from C'baoth and looked at the commander she could sense a hardening of his resolve that sent a fresh shiver up her back. "I will give you an hour to consider my offer."

"No, you will cease whatever you're doing to hold us in this system and move your ships out of our path," C'baoth countered.

"One hour," Mitth'raw'nuruodo repeated, sliding back his own chair and standing up. "Jedi Jinzler, perhaps you'll escort me back to my transport?"

"As you wish, Commander," Lorana said, not daring to look at C'baoth as she scrambled to her feet. "Follow me, please."

Captain Pakmillu had offered some of his security personnel to bring Mitth'raw'nuruodo aboard. Typically, C'baoth had refused, insisting he and Lorana needed no such show of force to keep the alien commander in line.

Which now left Lorana and Mitth'raw'nuruodo alone as they walked back toward the hangar. "Your Master C'baoth is both arrogant and stubborn,"

Mitth'raw'nuruodo commented as they walked. "A bad combination."

"He is all that," Lorana conceded. "But he's also a Jedi Master, and as such he has knowledge and power hidden from the rest of us. For your own sake, I beg you not to underestimate him."

"Yet if this knowledge is hidden, how can you be sure it is accurate?"

Lorana grimaced. That was, unfortunately, a good question. "I don't know," she said.

"Surely you don't stand alone," Mitth'raw'nuruodo pointed out. "There must be others aboard who oppose to Master C'baoth's tyranny."

Tyranny. It was a word Lorana hadn't dared use even in the privacy of her own mind. Now, suddenly, it could no longer be avoided. "Yes, there are,"

she murmured, frowning. Directly ahead down the corridor, shifting nervously back and forth between his feet, she could see Chas Uliar from D-4 loitering against the wall. Here to confront her with some new problem, no doubt.

But he said nothing as she and Mitth'raw'nuruodo approached, merely following them with brooding eyes as they pa.s.sed him.

There was another shuttle parked near the Chiss vehicle, she noted, one of Outbound Flight's transports. Curious; that hadn't been there when the Chiss commander arrived. "We don't intend your people any harm," she told Mitth'raw'nuruodo as they stopped at his shuttle's hatchway.

"I believe you," he said. "But intent alone is meaningless. Your actions are what will determine your fate."

Lorana swallowed. "I understand."

"You have one hour." Inclining his head to her, Mitth'raw'nuruodo turned and disappeared into his vehicle.

Lorana moved back to allow the pilot room to maneuver .. . and as she did so, she sensed a familiar presence. Turning, she saw Uliar walking toward her.

Striding along behind him, a cold fire in his eyes, was C'baoth.

"Jedi Jinzler," C'baoth said as Mitth'raw'nuruodo's shuttle slipped through the atmosphere shield and disappeared out into the blackness of s.p.a.ce. "I have another job for you."

The talks had gone on longer than Uliar had expected, and he'd had enough time to get rid of his swoop and find a spot in the corridor outside D-1's forward hangar where he could wait.

He'd been waiting now for nearly twenty minutes. More than enough time for his internal tension to start to fade away and then start ramping up again.

Where in blazes were Pressor and the others?

He could call Pressor and ask, of course. But comlink conversations among different Dreadnaughts ran through a central switching node. If C'baoth had taken over the comm system like he'd taken over everything else, that would show that Uliar wasn't on D-4 like he was supposed to be and tip him off that something was up.

And then, even as he tried to come up with another way to find Pressor, he saw them coming down the corridor: Lorana Jinzler and a blue-skinned, glowing-eyed near human who had to be Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo.

So he was an unknown alien, or at least one Uliar had never seen. More importantly, he didn't have the clothing or other trappings that would indicate he was some official from Coruscant. Uliar grimaced, a part of his hope dying within him.

But only a part. Whether he was a genuine military commander or just some pirate with an a.s.sumed t.i.tle, Mitth'raw'nuruodo seemed determined to keep them from pa.s.sing through his territory. If Uliar could persuade him to order them back to the Republic-or even if he and his gang were able to plunder enough of Outbound Flight's supplies that Pakmillu was forced to go back for replacements-they might still be able to get Palpatine to do something about C'baoth's growing stranglehold on the expedition.

At the very least, Uliar and the others would then have a chance to jump ship and find something else to do with their lives.

Jinzler and Mitth'raw'nuruodo were coming toward him .. . and with the rest of the committee still absent, it was all up to him. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth to speak.

Or rather, he tried to open it. To his horror, his mouth and tongue refused to work.

He tried again, and again, watching as Jinzler and Mitth'raw'nuruodo closed the gap, his throat and checks straining with his effort. But nothing worked.

And then they were there, right beside him. He tried to step in front of them, to at least keep them here until he could find a way to unfreeze his mouth. But his legs wouldn't work, either. Silently, he watched them pa.s.s him by, oblivious to his urgency and agony and helplessness.

"So you think to betray me, Uliar?" a quiet voice came in his ear.

Uliar's neck still worked, but there was no need to turn around. He knew that voice only too well. "Did you really think you could ride a swoop all the way from Dreadnaught-Four without my people in ComOps noticing and alerting me?" C'baoth went on. "So will treason always betray itself."

With a jolt like that of a suddenly released clamp, Uliar felt his mouth being freed from C'baoth's restraint. "It's not treason," he croaked. "We just want our mission back."

"My mission, Uliar," C'baoth said darkly. "My mission. Who else is in this pathetic little conspiracy?"

Uliar didn't answer. "Well, let's go see," C'baoth said. "Discreetly, of course, if you please."

As if Uliar had a choice. With C'baoth's hand riding loosely on his shoulder, the two men headed down the corridor after Jinzler and the blue-skinned alien. They reached the hangar just as the others arrived at Mitth'raw'nuruodo's ship. A few meters away was one of Outbound Flight's shuttles . . .

Uliar felt his breath catch in his throat as he suddenly realized why the rest of the committee hadn't appeared. Rather than bringing everyone in along the corridors and turbolifts like an impromptu parade, Pressor had instead loaded them aboard one of D-4's shuttles and had Mosh fly them across.

Which meant there was still a chance. All Pressor had to do was pop the hatch, and before C'baoth realized what was happening they would be in front of Mitth'raw'nuruodo, ready to plead their cause. Surely even a Jedi Master couldn't strangle the words out of all of them at the same time.

But the hatch didn't open. With his tongue frozen again, Uliar watched helplessly as Mitth'raw'nuruodo spoke briefly with Jinzler, then went inside his shuttle and closed the hatch.

And with that, their last chance was gone.

C'baoth's hand prodded at Uliar's back, nudging him forward. "And now,"

the Jedi said with cold satisfaction, "all that remains is for me to decide what to do with all of you."

Jinzler turned around as they approached, her expression flickering with surprise at their presence. "Jedi Jinzler," C'baoth greeted her. "I have another job for you." He waved a hand casually at the silent shuttle The hatch abruptly flew open, spilling Pressor and Mosh out. From the way they sprawled onto the deck, it was obvious they'd been shoving at the hatch with all their weight when C'baoth released his grip on it. "So they were trying to open it," Uliar murmured.