[Bounty Hunter Wars] - 03(113)

“I’m not completely sure of your interpretation of Kuat’s actions.” Uzalg frowned and stroked his chin with his fingertips. “I’ve dealt with Kuat of Kuat in the past, before you became head of security for Kuat Drive Yards. At that time, I implored him to throw the resources of his corporation behind the Alliance, and he refused-but I was convinced that he bore the Alliance no ill will, but was simply concerned with

the corporation’s fate, should Emperor Palpatine defeat and destroy us. Such a decision on his part was prudent, but regrettable. Of course, he may have deceived me on that point; Kuat of Kuat is an undeniably clever individual whose wits have been sharpened by dealing on a constant basis with Palpatine and his admirals. Or Kuat may have changed his position regarding the Rebel Alliance; we can expect that Palpatine has brought great pressure on him. Or …” The Alliance attache nodded thoughtfully. “The scheme in which this fabricated evidence was to have played a part might not have been directed against the Rebels at all. It might have been considerably more devious than that; the target might have been Prince Xizor himself, while he was still alive. Rumors had circulated for some time concerning Xizor and Black Sun’s own designs on Kuat Drive Yards; greed and ambition are qualities hardly limited to Emperor Palpatine. By entangling Xizor with Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance, Kuat might very well have been getting one enemy off his hands, leaving all of his attention intact in order to fight off Emperor Palpatine.”

Sitting across from the attache, Kodir said nothing, but tried to conceal her own reaction to Uzalg’s words. He’s even smarter than I expected, thought Kodir. Maybe too smart…

“We don’t have time to sort out all the possibilities.” Commander Rozhdenst laid a hand down flat on the improvised conference table. “The question is, what’re we going to do about it?”

“True,” said Uzalg. “Whether Kuat of Kuat was conspiring against the Alliance directly, or whether he was attempting to use the Alliance against another enemy such as Prince Xizor, is immaterial at this point. The battle between the Alliance and the Empire, which we’ve been anticipating for so long, might already have begun; communications from that sector have been effectively silenced. We have no way of foreseeing what the outcome of the events out near Endor will be-the Alliance has a prime strategic opportunity in front of it, a chance to destroy the Imperial Navy’s new Death Star while it is still under construction, with its weapons systems not yet activated. Our analysis is that the Death Star is relatively unprotected, with most of the Imperial forces scattered about the galaxy attempting to engage with Rebel ships wherever possible. But there’s still no way of accurately predicting just what kind of losses our forces will indeed suffer in their attack upon the Death Star, or what the Empire’s response will be to such an action. In the aftermath, the relative balance of forces between the Alliance and the Empire may be absolutely critical-that’s where Kuat Drive Yards comes in.” The Alliance attache’s words had become more clipped and efficient. “If the Imperial Navy can take possession of the

fleet replacements sitting here in the KDY construction docks, they might still be able to administer a killing blow to the Rebels.”

“Or the other way around.” Rozhdenst’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. “If we could get our guys into those ships … it’d take more than my Scavenger Squadron, but still …” He drew his breath in through clenched teeth. “We’d be in line to finish off the Imperial Navy!”

“That would depend on a great many things.” Uzalg’s response was spoken in quieter tones. “But the fact remains that the ships here at Kuat Drive Yards would be valuable to both the Empire and the Alliance-perhaps decisively so. We need to make sure that they don’t fall into the hands of the Imperial Navy. And”-he glanced over at Kodir-“we also need to make sure that Kuat Drive Yards is on our side, not just now but in the future.

The Empire is still powerful; the struggle against it might continue for a lot longer. It would be best for both the Alliance and Kuat Drive Yards if we were united in that struggle. But given the evidence we’ve seen …” One hand gestured toward the items on the

conference

table. “Unfortunately, we can’t depend upon Kuat of Kuat to see it that way.”

“You’re talking about eliminating him,” said Rozhdenst.

“Or at least removing him from his position of control over the corporation. In which case, Kuat Drive Yards will need someone else running it.”