H’sishi’s fur had been stiffening again. Now, slowly, it settled back down. [You wished to see if I would run in fear.]
“Or freeze, or panic,” Karrde agreed. “If you had done any of those things-“
[I would have been executed?]
Karrde shook his head. “I don’t execute my people, H’sishi,” he told her. “Not unless a serious crime has been committed against me or the organization. No, you’d simply have been moved to a different position, some post where you’d be less likely to face this kind of stress. An information gatherer, perhaps, or else a shadow business liaison.”
H’sishi’s ears twitched. [I do not wish such a post.]
“I’m glad to hear that,” Karrde said, “because frankly I think you would be wasted there. You’d be far more useful aboard the Wild Karrde or one of my other ships.”
The Togorian seemed to think about that. [I would prefer to stay here, if that would be possible.]
“I think there’s a good chance of that,” Karrde said. “We’ll speak more about it later.” He gestured to her control board. “You can return the datacard to the computer room-we won’t need to run that baseline check until we leave.”
H’sishi showed her fangs again. [I obey, Chieftain,] she said. Delicately plucking the datacard from its slot with the tips of her claws, she padded from the bridge.
“Well, gentlemen,” Karrde said, stepping over behind H’sishi’s vacated chair. “You’ve had your joke, and we all lived through it. Did she pass?”
“Definitely,” Dankin said. “With banners waving, I’d say.”
“Agreed,” Odonnl nodded. “Took her a second to gather her wits, but then she got right back down to business.”
“And she did not forget how to use her console, as some have done,” Pormfil added, whistling emphatically through his nostrils. “I do not believe even Elkin did so well when he was thus tested.”
“Perhaps,” Karrde said. “Though I’d wager H’sishi left something behind that Elkin didn’t.”
Pormfil sniffed the air. “The aroma of nervous sweat?” he suggested.
“No.” Karrde pointed at the group of small indentations in the edge of H’sishi’s control board. “Claw marks.”
A familiar figure was waiting for Karrde and Odonnl as they headed down the Wild Karrde’s ramp. “Ah-Captain Karrde,” Nawara Ven said, dipping his head in a formal Twi’lek bow. “It is good to see you again.”
“And you, Ven.” Karrde nodded back. “I trust life is treating you well?”
“It is all enjoyment aboard the Errant Venture,” Ven said, smiling thinly. “Come. Booster’s waiting for you on the bridge.”
The Twi’lek led the way toward a bank of turbolifts, limping only slightly on his artificial leg. “I notice you’ve lost some of your turbolasers,” Karrde commented. “My people were reading only three active batteries as we came in.”
“Fortunes of business, I’m afraid,” Ven said, keying the turbolift call. “We had to break two of them down for parts for three others, but then had to sell those three to purchase components for the hyperdrive.”
“By my count, that still leaves five from your original ten batteries,” Karrde pointed out.
“Yes,” Ven said, rearranging his head-tail on his shoulder as the turbolift door slid ponderously open. “The other two are currently under repair.”
They stepped into the turbolift. The door closed again, and the car began to move. “Only two of the turbolifts in this section are still working,” Ven said. “You’d be amazed at how many things there are to go wrong on a Star Destroyer.”
“I can imagine,” Karrde said. “Back during the height of the Rebellion I heard a Special Operations man describe a Star Destroyer as 174,000 design flaws waiting to be exploited.”
Ven tossed his head. “A low-end estimate. Booster finally gave in and hired a group of two hundred techs-Verpine, actually-to upgrade some of our systems. That was seven months ago, and they’re still at it.”
“I suppose that’s what you get when you try to run a ship this size with less than what’s supposed to be the bare-minimum skeleton crew,” Karrde suggested, looking around the car. “Entropy will always get ahead of you. I presume Booster isn’t thinking of selling?”
Ven favored him with a sly grin. “Why? Are you thinking of buying?”
“I could probably be persuaded,” Karrde said. “Certainly if it comes down to the ship falling into someone else’s hands. I wouldn’t want to face down a Hutt in one of these things.”