“I have everything under control!” the caretaker snapped. “I know my job. Everything is exactly as it should be.
“Not quite,” came yet another voice.
General Thrawn entered the small building holding a blaster in his hand. Lieutenant Tier followed him, toting a powerful blaster rifle.
“What’s the meaning of this!” Vroon sputtered. “This is my workshop!”
“This does not concern you, Vroon,” Thrawn said. He leveled his blaster at Sh’shak. “Sh’shak of the S’krrr, you are under arrest. The charge is murder. The sentence is death.”
CHAPTER 10
They were aboard the Imperial shuttle Tessera, the craft Thrawn had landed right inside the garden. Thrawn and his lieutenant had insisted that Zak, Tash, and Hoole accompany him as he marched Sh’shak back to his ship. Once they arrived, binders were placed on Sh’shak’s wrists.
“Under my Imperial authority,” Thrawn explained to his captive. “I could have shot you down where you stood. But I believe in following procedure whenever possible, so I’ve brought you here to record the evidence against you, and to allow you to make a statement if you so desire. These three,” Thrawn said, waving to Zak, Tash, and Hoole, “will serve as witnesses of the evidence against you.”
Thrawn nodded to his lieutenant, and Tier switched on a small recording device. Thrawn stated his name and rank, and Sh’shak’s name, then asked, “Do you confess to the murder of Lieutenant Wolver yesterday?”
“No, I am innocent,” Sh’shak replied calmly.
“Then how do you explain this?” Thrawn demanded. He walked over to a storage cabinet and removed the weapon Zak and Tash had seen Sh’shak use the day before. “For the record, I am holding a vibropike of the kind used on S’krrr,” Thrawn stated. “This pike was discovered hidden in some bushes inside the garden. We scanned the pike for fibers and skin samples. This pike definitely belongs to you.” Thrawn leaned forward. “And it could easily have been used to kill my officer.”
“Uncle Hoole, what should we do?” Tash whispered.
“Nothing,” her uncle replied in a barely audible voice.
Sh’shak spoke up. “I do not deny that this is my weapon. But I did not kill anyone. You say you examined the weapon. Did you find any of the lieutenant’s blood on it?”
Thrawn shrugged. “You could easily have cleaned the blade of the weapon to remove such evidence. Besides,” the Imperial captain added, “what would a so-called poet need with the weapon of a killer?”
“On S’krrr,” Sh’shak replied, “the most respected of our artists are poet-warriors-individuals who have mastered both the good side and the dark side of their personalities. We strike a balance, just as this garden strikes a balance. I have the honor of being recognized by my people as both a poet and a warrior.”
“A convenient story,” Thrawn countered, “especially for someone whose false identity has just been revealed.”
Hoole found his chance to speak up. “It’s true. You only have to look at the culture of the S’krrr. I have spent quite a bit of time over the last few days talking with Sh’shak and studying the S’krrr beliefs. Their history is full of both beauty and violence. So it is no surprise they have become both artists and warriors. They learn to fight with traditional weapons, and they perform ritual combats. It is part of their culture.”
Tash suddenly remembered her conversation with Thrawn. “Captain Thrawn, you said almost the same thing yourself when you were walking through the garden.”
Thrawn considered. “Perhaps. But even if this is true, and Sh’shak has a reason for carrying a deadly weapon near Imperial personnel, it still doesn’t mean he’s innocent.” The Imperial captain glanced at a small datapad. “My medical staff determined that Lieutenant Wolver’s
death
occurred
at approximately six o’clock in the morning. Where were you at that time?”
Sh’shak paused. “I was in the garden.”
Thrawn nodded. “And what were you doing?”
Again, Sh’shak paused. Zak wondered what Sh’shak would say next. If he told the truth, it might seal his fate. And somewhere in the back of his mind, Zak wondered what he would do in the same situation.
Finally, Sh’shak said, “I was practicing with my vibropike.”
A brief, thin smile crossed Thrawn’s face again. “I see. So you were in the location of the murder, with a weapon that could have caused the murder. And yet you say you’re innocent.”