[Bounty Hunter Wars] - 03(68)
Right now, those duties weighed heavily on Kuat of Kuat’s shoulders. Everything depends upon me, he mused. The felinx might very well consider its comfort to be the most pressing concern of its master, but there was far more than that in his thoughts. The fate of Kuat Drive Yards itself, the corporation whose ships and armaments spanned the galaxy and formed the bulk of the Imperial Navy-the leadership of that enterprise was Kuat’s hereditary legacy, just as it had been for his father and grandfather, and to generations before them. When he gazed out upon the construction docks, with a fleet of Destroyers and heavy cruisers nearing completion in them, he felt as though their combined mass bent his spine. And more: rising above Kuat Drive Yards was the mottled green sphere of the planet Kuat itself, an entire world and people dependent upon the fate of the corporation that funneled such a large share of the galaxy’s wealth into their coffers.
And I fought for this. Kuat’s fingertips continued their instinctive caress of the felinx’s silken fur. I fought to keep this burden mine, rather than let others usurp it from me. At times such as this, when the weight of his responsibilities translated into bone-weary fatigue, he began to question the wisdom of such a struggle. There had been plenty of others in the ruling families of the planet Kuat, nobles whose bloodlines were by custom prevented from taking over the leadership of Kuat Drive Yards, who had been eager to conspire against him, overthrow their world’s ancient wisdom, and place themselves in this seat of power. As much as Kuat of Kuat might have been willing to let them have their chance, he had found himself unable to let go of his tight grasp upon the corporation. Because I know-he closed his eyes as he stroked the felinx-that they would never have been able to prevail. Not against me, but against all our other enemies. Kuat found it cruelly ironic that when death had removed the threat posed by Prince Xizor, another potential opponent should arise, in the form of the Rebel Alliance.
“There’s no conflict,” said Commander Rozhdenst, “between your duties and mine.” The wintry blue eyes in the hardangled face seemed to have peered into and discerned the careful workings inside Kuat’s heart. “The Rebel Alliance has no designs upon Kuat Drive Yards. We would just as soon have the corporation remain in your hands.”
“I wish I could believe that, Commander.” Kuat’s hand froze in its gentle motions upon the felinx’s neck. He could hear his own voice turning cold. “But stationing a squadron of armed Rebel spacecraft-even one that so justly merits its ‘scavenger’ descriptor-is hardly the action of those who seek friendship with Kuat Drive Yards.”
“The Rebel Alliance would be satisfied with maintaining a neutral relationship with you. We seek no more than that.”
“Ah.” Kuat of Kuat managed a wry smile before slowly shaking his head. “But you see, Commander-that’s what everybody says. Everybody who has ever done business with Kuat Drive Yards, back to my father’s
and
my grandfather’s times before me, has always assured us that they had the corporation’s welfare-and independence-at heart. And if we had trusted them on that point, I doubt if Kuat Drive Yards would even exist now. So you’ll have to excuse my skepticism; I know it’s unseemly in even an unwilling host such as myself. But I assure you that Emperor Palpatine himself has informed me that he has no ‘designs,’ as you put it, upon us. Don’t be offended if I state that the reliance I place upon his words is just about the same as I put upon those from a representative of the Rebel Alliance.”
The commander regarded him for a moment, then spoke. “You have a way of putting things very bluntly, Kuat.”
“Ascribe it to my training as an engineer. I prefer to think of it as exactitude, rather than bluntness.”
“Then I’ll speak to you just as … exactly.” Rozhdenst’s voice grew even icier, like durasteel exposed to the vacuum of space. “My squadron and I were sent here on a mission, and we intend to carry that mission out. But you’re correct in assuming that there’s something that the Rebel Alliance wants from you. I’ve been quite thoroughly briefed on the political and strategic analysis that’s been made by our leadership concerning the value of Kuat Drive Yards. Not just to ourselves, but to Palpatine as well. When I say that your neutrality is something that we value, I don’t mean just toward the Alliance; I mean toward the Empire.”
“Kuat Drive Yards does business with the Empire. Nothing more than that. The armaments and fleet procurement authorities of the Imperial Navy value what we do here-as they should; we have no rivals when it comes to our military shipbuilding expertise-and they are capable of meeting our prices.” The felinx shifted lazily in the crook of Kuat’s arm as his shoulders lifted in a shrug. “We sell to others as well, if they can pay for the goods they desire. That, in fact, is the only distinction we make between our customers and potential customers: whether or not they’ve got the credits in their accounts, for us to take an order from them.” Kuat displayed a thin, humorless smile. “Believe me, Commander, if the Rebel Alliance was capable of paying, Kuat Drive Yards would be happy to take your credits. From the look of that motley collection of patched-together Y-wings you’ve got stationed around our construction docks, they could certainly use a little maintenance and retrofitting work.”