[Hand Of Thrawn] - 01(117)

***

“Chief?”

Karrde looked up from his desk to find Dankin’s head poking around the open office doorway. “Yes, what is it?”

“Savich and her Noghri guard are here,” Dankin said. “She’s got the data drop you wanted.”

“Good,” Karrde said, frowning slightly. Back when the Wild Karrde’s bridge crew had been preparing to spring Booster Terrik’s Errant Venture on the unsuspecting H’sishi, Dankin had been wearing a half-concealed grin. He was wearing the same grin now. “And?” Karrde prompted.

The grin came fully out of concealment “And they also brought you a surprise.”

“Really,” Karrde said, letting the temperature of his voice cool a couple of degrees. “I hope you remember hew much I like surprises.”

“You’ll like this one, Chief,” Dankin assured him, stepping aside and gesturing. Plakhmirakh and Moranda Savich emerged around the doorway and stepped into the office, the latter holding a data drop cylinder in her hand. And coming in behind them&mdash

“Well, I’ll be Kesseled,” Karrde said, getting to his feet. “A pleasant surprise indeed. Hello, Skywalker.”

“Karrde.” Skywalker nodded in greeting. “I’m surprised to find you here.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Karrde agreed. “Are you alone?”

“Artoo’s with me,” Skywalker said, nodding back over his shoulder. “He spotted a GV9T repair droid working off your cargo bay and stopped for a chat.”

“I hope he enjoys it,” Karrde said, taking the cylinder from Moranda and glancing at its markings. “That’s the last GV9T I’m ever going to buy. Any trouble, Moranda?”

“We were jumped on the way back,” she told him. “Twelve men, very professional, no indications as to who they were working for.”

“Probably one of the Hutts,” Karrde said, turning the cylinder over in his hand. “They weren’t exactly thrilled about losing this.”

“Could be,” Moranda said. Whoever they were, Plakhmirakh took care of them.”

“With assistance from Master Skywalker,” the Noghri added in his gravelly voice. “He arrived at exactly the proper moment.”

“Jedi Masters have that knack,” Karrde said dryly, handing the cylinder back to Moranda. “Good. Take it to Odonnl, then you can go and relax in the crew lounge while he checks it out and issues your payment. Would you be interested in taking on another assignment?”

“Only if it’s more fun than courier work,” Moranda said. “Apart from the attack, it was all rather boring.” She waved a hand each toward Luke and Plakhmirakh. “And with these two around, even that part wasn’t very exciting.”

“I’ll try to do better the next time,” Karrde promised. “As a matter of fact, I have one job in particular where your talents might prove useful. Check back here after you’ve been paid and we’ll talk, all right?”

“Fine,” Moranda said, nodding. Plakhmirakh gave an abbreviated Noghri bow, and together they left the office.

Karrde cocked an eyebrow at Skywalker. “Thank you for your help. I believe it’s now my turn to owe you one.”

“Hardly,” the other said. “Plakhmirakh vastly overrates my assistance back there.”

“Yes, they don’t generally need much help, do they?” Karrde agreed. “I’ve been very pleased with their service. Aside from running interference against Hutt hirelings, what brings you to Cejansij?”

Skywalker shrugged. “The Force, actually,” he said. “I was trying for a vision of the future, and I saw myself here. So here I am.”

“Ah,” Karrde said. “Not a scheduling technique I’d be comfortable with, personally.”

“I’m not exactly used to it myself,” Skywalker said. “On the other hand, I was just thinking about trying to get in touch with you, and here you are, so it seems to have worked. What are you doing here, anyway, if I may ask?”

“It’s not a secret,” Karrde assured him. “At least, not from you. I’ve been looking into the possibility that outside agitators might be involved in some of the protests that have been cropping up around the New Republic. Since Cejansij has a long history of peaceful demonstrations, I thought it would be an obvious target for subversion.”

“Makes sense,” Skywalker mused. “Though maybe it’s too obvious.”

“Depends on how subtle our unknown agitators decide to be,” Karrde said. “I thought it still worth checking out. You said you’d wanted to talk to me?”