"I'm ready" he said in as strong a voice as he could muster. "Let's not keep your Master waiting. "

"Indeed, " she said. "Let's not. "

"If we don't hear from you within thirty minutes, " Stryver said, "we'll a.s.sume you are dead. "

Ula walked around the holoprojector and let the Imperial guards take him by the shoulders and frog-march him to the door. There was no turning back now. The eyes of his erstwhile allies in the Republic followed him as he was led off to betray them all.

The moment the air lock closed behind them, the puny envoy started to struggle. Ax strode on, her mind full of ways to lessen the inevitable consequences of her failure. She didn't know what Darth Chratis had expected, but he was sure to turn this unexpected result against her. That she was finding it hard to think wasn't helping.

"Listen to me, " the envoy called after her. "You have to listen to me!"

She didn't slow down. She barely even heard him. Lema Xandret is dead, Stryver had said. Everyone down there is dead. She didn't know why that p.r.o.nouncement had made a difference, but it seemed to. Her family, her mother-what had happened to her father? She had never asked. Maybe he was dead, too, had died years ago, when she was a child. Maybe he was a Sith Lord who wouldn't lower himself to be a.s.sociated with a common woman. Maybe, she thought, just maybe... ?

Impossible. She mocked herself for even thinking it. Darth Chratis was no kind of father to her, and never would be. She needed no father, just like she needed no family. If Stryver was right and the fugitives were all dead, that just made her life easier. She wouldn't have to expend the energy finding and killing them, in the Emperor's name.

"Please, I'm trying to tell you that I'm not who you think I am! We're on the same side and have been all the time!"

The squawking of the envoy finally penetrated her consciousness. On the brink of entering the shuttle, she stopped and reached out one half-gripped hand.

He swept out of the guards' hands and smashed into the air lock wall.

"Don't even think of lying to me" she said.

"I'm not. " The envoy was as pale as marble and his voice little more than a whisper, but he didn't flinch as she approached. "I'm an Imperial agent. "

She activated her lightsaber and held it across his throat.

"You don't look like a Cipher Agent. You're not even fully human. "

Her contempt was ferocious. "All right. Not an agent per se, but an informer at least. And I am loyal regardless what species I am. Utterly loyal. I swear it. "

Ax didn't move. She knew that many highly ranked Republic officers sometimes preferred nonhuman staff in the belief that this would protect them from surveillance. If this envoy had been turned, he would be highly prized by the Minster of Information.

"I tried to board your shuttle on Hutta, " he pressed on, beginning to stammer now, "but the guards t-turned me away. "

That much was true, and it made her hesitate. Ax couldn't believe she was listening to him-and more, actually considering his story. But his brazenness and bravery in the face of certain death were persuasive. She had to admire his guts, even if she would see them sizzling if she found out that he was trying to trick her. It wasn't impossible that he was a double agent placed by Satele Shan to lead her and her Master astray...

Ax smiled with her teeth. Darth Chratis would know. If the envoy was telling the truth, it would be a boon for her. If not, her Master would have someone else upon which to act out his displeasure.

"What species are you?" she asked him.

"E-Epicanthix. "

"Never heard of it. "

"We come from Panatha in the Pacanth Reach..."

"I don't care. If you ever want to see your home again-if you ever want to see anything again-then you'll tell my Master everything you just told me, and convince him that it's true. "

"Who is your Master?"

"Darth Chratis. Does that name mean anything to you?"

If anything, the envoy went even paler.

"Good. Then you appreciate the gravity of your situation. "

She deactivated her lightsaber and let him drop. The guards picked him up and dragged him after her, into the shuttle where her Master waited.

Darth Chratis awaited her in the shuttle's s.p.a.cious but inhospitable pa.s.senger cabin, wearing a bulky armored suit. Only his face was visible, pinched and puckered into a permanent scowl. He leaned heavily on his lightsaber staff.

When he saw the envoy, his brow came down even farther.

"Explain. "

Ax did so, starting at Dao Stryver's dire predictions and moving quickly on to the possibility of cooperation. The prisoner remained silent throughout, struck dumb by Darth Chratiss forbidding mien. That was a good thing; had he interrupted at any point, he might have been killed out of hand.

"And Satele Shan has been taken in by this Mandalorian's machinations?" Her Master's eyebrows, as thin as old scars, rose up toward his time-worn scalp.

"It appears so, " she said. "She sent her envoy to negotiate on her behalf. "

Now Darth Chratis's stare descended fully upon him, and the envoy quailed. "Speak. "

"My name is Ula Vii, " he stammered. "I report directly to Watcher Three in the operations division of the Ministry of Intelligence. I am your servant, my lord-a loyal agent of the Empire. "

"A spy? How unfortunate for the Grand Master. " Darth Chratis's face broke into a broad, cracked smile. "Tell me, spy, how you propose to betray her. "

"Republic and Empire share the same initial objectives, " the envoy said, pulling free from the two guards. He had clearly been thinking hard while waiting his turn to speak. "The smashing of Sebaddon's...o...b..tal defense system comes ahead of any invasion or ma.s.s bombardment-the purpose of which would be the neutralization of the planet's central authority, since it must have one, human or artificial-and together, I agree that we can probably achieve that. But once we have the planet toothless and brainless, the need for an alliance will be gone. I suggest we turn on the Jedi and Dao Stryver then-break the so-called alliance and take what's rightfully ours. Sebaddon will be the Emperor's at last. I'll supply misinformation at every opportunity, ensuring that the Grand Master does not ever find the chance to do the same to you. "

"What do you ask for in return?"

The envoy looked surprised by the question. "Me? Nothing, my lord. I'm simply doing my duty. "

"There must be something important to you, beyond your duty. Ask, and it shall be yours. "

"Well, there is one that I would ask you to spare, after your inevitable victory. "

"Tell me who. "

"She is no one, lower even than a trooper. Her name is Larin Moxla. "

"Do you know this woman, Ax?" Darth Chratis asked.

"I believe I do, Master. "

"Good. "

Darth Chratis's smile disappeared. The envoy was wrenched roughly forward and raised into the air. He struggled against the invisible hold on him, but there was no resisting it. Ax had experienced the power of her Master's Force grip. She knew how tight it could be.

"Listen to me, spy. "

The envoy frantically nodded, too frightened to speak aloud.

"I cannot read you. Your mind is shielded from me, by either some unnatural contrivance or a natural talent. I suspect the latter. The Minster of Intelligence seeks out your kind in order to keep his secrets from both his masters and our enemy. So when I look into you, I see no loyalty to the Emperor. I sense only tangled allegiances, with no clear outcomes. Given a choice, I would never trust you.

"Yet you and your kind are a loathsome necessity in times like these. I must find a way to curb your natural instinct for treachery. To that end... " Here Envoy Vii jerked violently forward, so he was staring straight into the eyes of Darth Chratis. "To that end, be sure that if you betray me I will hunt down the fancy of your nonhuman heart and put her through such torments that you will be grateful when I kill her. And then it will be your turn. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my lord. Abundantly so. "

The envoy dropped with a thud to the floor.

"Very good, " said Darth Chratis. "Ax, get him out of my sight. You will return him to Satele Shan with the agreement he promised her, and you will accompany him as my official mouthpiece. "

"But Master..."

"Be silent! I could hardly let him go alone. They would never believe that I trusted them unless I took such precautions. You will watch the Grand Master, and you will watch this one, too. At the slightest sign of treachery, you will notify me and my wrath will descend upon both of them. "

She bowed her head, thinking: Another dead-end task. And probably a suicide mission, too. "I will do as you instruct. "

"I sense your impatience. Ax. Remember that our rewards will be bountiful when victory is complete. When the Grand Master is dead and this world ours, then your apprenticeship will be over. Not before. Go now, and do my bidding. "

"Yes, Master, " she said, bowing deeply, sure that he sensed the burn of excitement in her mind. To be free of him at last, to be a true Sith-that was all she had ever wanted! And she deserved it. She knew that well. Not for nothing had she slaved this last decade and more, to the detriment of all else.

Lema Xandret is dead.

Ax suppressed even the barest hint of regret as she turned and left the shuttle, dragging the quivering informer behind her.

PART FIVE.

FATAL ALLIANCE.

CHAPTER 31.

"Did you have to bring her back with you?" Larin whispered to Ula as she escorted the pa.s.sengers of the Auriga Fire to the Commenor's conference room. "I don't trust her. "

The envoy adjusted his collar as though he was feeling too hot. "No choice, I'm afraid. Darth Chratis was insistent. "

"Well, he didn't offer to put one of us on his command deck. "

"I suppose he wouldn't offer, given the choice, and I'm afraid I didn't think to ask. I thought the Sith would be valuable as a hostage, that's all. "

"I suppose she will. " Noticing Ula's discomfort, she forced a smile. "Hey, look, I'm not saving you didn't do your best. I'm just glad you got us this far. No one else could've done it. " She patted him on the shoulder with her prosthetic half hand.

"Thanks, " he said, looking embarra.s.sed. "I'm glad you think so. "

She couldn't help a smile. His social awkwardness was both touching and puzzling. How had anyone so clumsy ever risen so high in the Republic administration, let alone survived an audience with a Dark Lord of the Sith? Perhaps Darth Chratis had taken pity on him.

That seemed rather unlikely.

The Sith apprentice, Eldon Ax, walked steadily between Master Satele and Shigar, surrounded by an entourage of business-like soldiers, all holding rifles at the ready. Her wild-haired head was held high, and she took each step as though fighting the urge to spin and fight. She was like a wild animal, held barely in check.

"I don't trust her, " Larin repeated, "and I'm good at reading people. "

Beside her, Ula cleared his throat but said nothing.

The meeting was uncomfortable from the beginning. Captain Pipalidi's crest was a deep purple, and her Basic difficult to understand, as was often the case with Anx, whose voices tended to be so deeply pitched that they bordered on the subsonic. Shigar swore he felt his rib cage rattle on a couple of occasions.

The captain first ordered all nonessential personnel out of the room. Larin was one of those, and Shigar caught the hurt glance she shot him. There was nothing he could do about it, though. He had no power here.

"Colonel Gurin had no opportunity to confirm his succession plans to me, " said Master Satele, "but I know he had the highest regard for you, Captain Pipalidi. He would be glad to know that the fleet is in reliable hands. "

"May it remain so, " the captain growled, with a sharp look at Eldon Ax. The implication was obvious, and twofold. Many in the military harbored hard feelings for the Jedi after the events leading up to the Treaty of Coruscant, when the Order had been deliberately trapped between the Empire and the Mandalorians. The closing of that trap had left the Republic divided over the role Jedi Knights should play in future conflicts. Some even went so far as to mistrust the Order entirely, preferring to leave them out. The fact that Master Satele had brought a Sith to the negotiating table only confirmed those mistrustful feelings.

"My enemy is your enemy, " said Ax. "That makes you useful to me. And vice versa. "

Captain Pipalidi's crest turned bright orange. "We do not need you, you murderous witch-child..."

"Enough, " said Master Satele, raising both hands. "This won't get us anywhere. The fact is that we do need her. Captain Pipalidi, and the Imperials as well, so we must negotiate accordingly. Have your a.n.a.lysts confirmed Dao Stryver's calculations?"

"Yes. " The captain raised herself up to her full height, making her the tallest person in the room by more than a meter. "I have sent a long-range probe droid to convey a message to the Supreme Commander, but I do not antic.i.p.ate a response of any kind within a day. "

"The chance of Stantorrs sending a fleet on the basis of one message is remote, " Master Satele said. "And by the time it came, Sebaddon would be boiling over. "

"Yes. " That single syllable conveyed a weight of import. For all her dislike of the situation, at least the captain understood its significance.

"I don't understand why Stryver didn't tell us this earlier, " said Shigar. "As it stands we have just fifteen ships, now. If we'd combined both our fleets on arrival, it would've been over thirty. If he'd warned us..."

"Would you have believed him?" asked Ula.

"No, " said Ax unexpectedly. "I tried to tell my Master about the hexes but he didn't listen. "

Shigar didn't add Me, too, but he could have. "So Stryver let us take a hammering just to make a point? If we'd been beaten, that would've done no one any good. "

"I'm sure he has his reasons, " said Master Satele. "The same reason, possibly, that he's the only one of his kind here. If the Mandalore feels so strongly about this, why wouldn't he send more to back us up?"

"Perhaps he wants us to do his dirty work for him. "

"Or he doesn't think his people are up to it, " the young Sith said.