[Republic Commando] - 02(63)

Ordo had his projection arm resting on his chair. “And Vau is trying to extract at least one link from the cell Omega lifted.”

“But they might not even know what that link is,” Skirata said. “It’s common to use the equivalent of a dead letter drop to deliver stuff. The prisoners tested positive for explosives, so they might be the manufacturers, but I’d assume the devices are made on Coruscant because it’s simpler to ship bulk explosives than complete bombs, given that you can’t pretend bombs are for mining use, although neither is easy. So our best guess is that they’re the procurement cell that buys the raw material.”

Jusik had his head cocked on one side. “I take it that if we don’t know this after a day, then Vau is not having much success with his interrogation. May I volunteer to help him? Jedi have some persuasive powers as well as ways of uncovering facts.”

“I know,” Skirata said. “That’s why Etain’s going to do it. I need you out and about at the moment.”

Etain’s stomach somersaulted. Is this a test? Jusik was watching her cautiously: he could definitely sense her discomfort. Perhaps he had tried to do the decent thing and save her from the duty. Or perhaps he was so caught up in being one of the boys that he really wanted to have a crack at a prisoner. Jusik had his own wary relationship with the dark side, it seemed.

“Okay,” Etain said. You’ve killed. You’ve killed hand-to-hand, and you’ve killed by unleashing missiles. On Qiilura, under deep cover, you stabbed and crushed and cut, and taught the local guerrillas to do the same. And now you worry about manipulating minds? “I’ll do whatever I can.”

“Good,” Skirata said, and moved on as if she had simply volunteered to cook dinner. “Now, the data Atin sliced is just a list of thirty-five thousand companies using the freight service that Vau’s guests were apparently hitching a ride with. That means a lot of physical checking we can’t do ourselves. So Obrim’s running it through his database-his personal, special one-to see if any of them have form in customs irregularities, shady dealings, or even a speeding ticket. While he does that, we ship out. Jusik, Enacca is going to turn you into the galaxy’s scruffiest taxi pilot, and the rest of you can draw your extra kit-by which I mean discreet body armor, plainclothes rig, and civilian weapons.”

“Aww, Sarge …”

“Fi, you’ll love it. You might even get to wear Hokan’s helmet.”

“Just for you, then, Sarge.”

“Good boy. Okay, we all RV back here at twenty-one-hundred hours when it’s nice and dark.” Skirata gestured to Ordo to kill the holoprojection and then beckoned to Etain. “General, Ordo-with me.”

He led them into the passage and, instead of taking her into a quiet alcove to discuss matters, simply hurried her down the length of the corridor and out onto the parade ground, where yet another battered speeder with darkened transparisteel windscreens was waiting.

“Are you starting up a used-speeder dealership with Enacca?” Jokes always seemed to work for Fi, but Etain found they offered her no comfort at all. “They don’t draw attention, though, I’ll admit that.”

“Get in. Time to go to work.”

Like the clone army, she had become very good at following orders. Ordo took the speeder at a sedate pace into the main skylanes and dropped it into a gap in a route heading south.

“This is where it gets difficult, Etain,” Skirata said.

In a way, she knew what was coming. “Yes.”

“This is harder than taking on a column of battle droids and playing the hero.” Skirata was still chewing the ruik. She could smell it on his breath, sweet and floral. “I won’t insult your intelligence. I want you to torture a man. It’s the first intelligence break we’ve had in months and we need to make the most of it. Men died making sure we got those prisoners.”

She wasn’t sure if it was a test of her loyalty or not. It was certainly something that Skirata knew would be the ultimate line for a Jedi to cross. But Jedi crossed the lines of decency all the time, and it was supposed to be fine as long as you didn’t commit violence out of anger, or dare to love.

She was finding it harder to follow her path than ever before, and yet she was now clearer about her own convictions than she had ever been in her life.

She was aware of Ordo, too.

He appeared perfectly calm in the pilot’s seat, but the eddies and deep dark pools in the Force around him spoke of a man who was not at ease with himself or the world. Great peaks of fear and pain and helpless trust and desolation and … and … sheer overwhelming speed and complexity hit Etain like a spray of cold water. He felt as foreign as a Hutt or a Weequay or a Twi’lek.