[Bounty Hunter Wars] - 03(116)

and

clenched

into

a

trembling,

white-knuckled

fist. “Everything-including why my own sister had tried to get rid of me.”

“I got rid of you”-a sneer curled one corner of Kodir’s mouth-“because you were a fool.”

“Because I wouldn’t go along with the schemes you had worked up to overthrow Kuat of Kuat and take control of the corporation.”

“Still a fool, I see.” Kodir shook her head in disdain. “It’s not a matter of ‘overthrowing’ anyone. As I told you long ago, it’s simple justice. Kuat and his predecessors have run Kuat Drive

Yards

for generations-and they’ve kept all the other ruling families frozen out. Kuat and his bloodline have never had the right to do that. But if you had joined forces with me, all of that would have come to an end. The others in the ruling families who had tried to force Kuat from the leadership-they were nothing but a diversion, too stupid to even conceal their intentions from him as I have.”

“You confuse justice with ambition, Kodir. That was your first mistake. And then you mistook me for someone as greedy as yourself.”

“Oh, I admitted that I was wrong-that’s why I had to do something about you, before you could let Kuat of Kuat know that I was plotting against him. I had to have you abducted from the planet Kuat, and have your memory wiped, so you’d no longer present a threat to me.” Kodir’s expression darkened into a venomous scowl. “But when I found out that the ones I had trusted-and paid-to do my ‘dirty work’ for me, as you call it, had failed me, I realized that I should have taken care of these things myself.” Kodir’s smile was hardly less ugly than the scowl had been. “And that’s exactly what I’ve done, isn’t it? After all-I tracked you down before you could do any damage to my plans. And believe me, it wasn’t easy.”

“You were lucky,” said Neelah. “I had just enough clues-enough little pieces of my memory left-to try and find out what had happened, and try to make my way to someplace where I could find out those answers. I didn’t realize that what I was doing would make it possible for you to stumble across me.”

“How ironic.” Kodir’s words were edged with sarcasm. “The things we do to try and save ourselves-they so often put us right in harm’s way. As when I offered to make you part of my plans to get rid of Kuat of Kuat; if I had known how stupid and blindly loyal you were, I’d never have done that.” She spread her hands apart, palms upward, in a mocking, blase show. “But that’s why it’s so important to learn from our mistakes. Isn’t it? You made your mistakes-and I’ve made mine. And we’ve both gotten what we wanted. You wanted the truth about the past, about what happened to you-and now you know. And I wanted the leadership of Kuat

Drive Yards. Guess what? That’s just what I’ve been given.”

“So you convinced the Rebel Alliance to get rid of Kuat, so you can take over the corporation. Congratulations. For however long it lasts.”

“That’ll be for quite a while,” said Kodir. “It doesn’t even matter which side wins the battle out near Endor. Now that I’ve got control of the corporation, I can deal with the Alliance or the Empire-it makes no difference to me.”

“I can see that.” Neelah gave a slow nod. “Maybe if the Empire wins the battle, Palpatine will find that you’re just the kind of servant he prefers. Greedy and self-serving, but smart enough to recognize just who’s got the upper hand.”

“Don’t bother trying to insult me.” Kodir’s laugh was quick and harsh. “As long as I’ve gotten what I want, I really don’t care about your moral opinions.”

“I’m sure you don’t. But that makes me wonder about just one thing.” Neelah peered closer at the figure standing before her, the woman whose bloodline she shared. “If getting what you want is all that matters … why were you so tenderhearted about my fate? If all that worried you was my interfering with your plans, wouldn’t it have been more effective-and final-to have simply had me killed, rather than abducted and memory-wiped?”

“As I said: we need to learn from our mistakes. And that’s one I’m not going to repeat again.” Kodir reached to the section of her belt that had been concealed by the flowing cape, and pulled out

a

small

but efficient-looking blaster pistol. She raised and pointed it straight at Neelah. “I’m sorry that I don’t still have the same sisterly feelings toward you that I once did. There was a time when my foolish sentimentality made me think that I could spare your life. I’ve gotten over it, though. The Rebel Alliance, on the other hand, has shown a depressing tendency to let mere ethics guide its decisions; that very likely means that after this coming battle at Endor, I will be dealing with the Empire rather than the Rebels. Palpatine, though, has a vindictive streak that’s just as worrisome. And he doesn’t like plotting and scheming that’s not his own: if anyone was going to get rid of Kuat of Kuat, the Emperor would have wanted to be the one to do it. So you see”- Kodir raised the blaster a fraction of an inch higher-“there’s no way I can afford to let you remain alive, and risk having you tell what you’ve remembered.”