Jabba and Jiliac looked at each other during Teroenza’s tirade. Jiliac knew that Jabba had made some arrangement with Boba Fett so Solo could continue to work for them without fear of bounty hunters. However, that was not information Teroenza ever needed to know.
Seconds later Teroenza ran down. He bowed. “My apologies, Excellencies. As you said … to business.” “First, we need to determine a price for your … assistance, Teroenza,” Jabba pointed out.
The t’landa Til named a sum.
Jabba and Jiliac glanced at each other. Neither spoke.
After a couple of minutes, Teroenza named a second, significantly lower sum. This one, while high, was not unreasonable. Jiliac took a small crustacean from a tray near her resting dais, and contemplated it for several seconds. “Done,” she said, then popped the treat into her mouth.
“I want no one to suspect murder,” she said matter-of-factly. “It must be subtle …”
“Subtle …” Teroenza murmured, absently stroking his horn, which already looked as though it had been freshly oiled. “Not an armed attack, then.”
“Far from it,” Jiliac said. “Besadii security is second only to our own.
Our troops would have to blast their way in, and the whole of Nal Hutta would know who started it. No armed attacks.”
“An accident?” Jabba wondered aloud. “Perhaps with his river barge?
I understand Aruk enjoys his afternoon excursions. He often entertains on the river.”
“Possible,” Jiliac said. “But such an accident is difficult to control. It might destroy Durga, too, and I do not want Durga killed.”
“Why, Aunt? Durga is clever. He could be a possible threat to us,” Jabba pointed out.
Before Jiliac could respond, Teroenza did. Settling deeper into his resting sling, the High Priest picked a pickled ruff-roach off a plate and sampled it. “Because,” the t’landa Til said thoughtfully, “Durga will have trouble controlling Besadii. There are many in the kajidic who feel he is not fit to rule because of his birthmark. They say he is ill-marked, and thus ill-fated. Do away with Durga, and the kajidic may well unite much more strongly behind the new leader.”
Jiliac inclined her head to Teroenza. “You reason like a Hutt, Priest,” she said.
Teroenza was gratified. “Thank you, Your Excellency.”
“No assault, no accident,” Jabba muttered. “What, then?”
“I have a possible plan,” Jiliac said. “A substance that Aruk can ingest.
It has the advantage of being almost undetectable in the tissues. And while it is working, it slows and dulls the thinking processes, so that the victim makes poor decisions. For Aruk to make poor decisions is to our benefit.”
“Agreed, Aunt,” Jabba said. “But … poison? We Hutts are extremely resistant to poisons. For one of us, even an old one like Aruk, to ingest enough poison to kill us would surely be noticed and remarked upon.”
Jiliac shook her massive head, a mannerism she’d picked up from humans.
“Not the way I am thinking of it, Nephew. This substance, when introduced into the body, gradually poisons the victim. It concentrates in the brain tissues of higher life-forms. Over a long period of ingestion, the victim becomes actually addicted to the poison, to the point where sudden cessation of the substance will cause withdrawal symptoms so severe, they will result in either death or such massive brain damage that Aruk will be of no further harm to any of us.”
“And you can get supplies of this substance?” Teroenza asked excitedly.
“It is extremely expensive and rare,” Jiliac said. “But … yes. I can procure sufficient quantities.”
“But how do we get him to take it?” Jabba asked.
“Your Excellencies, I can manage that? Teroenza was bouncing up and down in his sling, like a youngster in a game. “The nalatree frogs!
Surely they would work!”
“Explain, Priest,” Jiliac commanded.
Teroenza went on to explain about the Besadii Lord’s predilection for the nalatree frogs. “Ever since he went home, two weeks ago, he has demanded an aquarium of live nalatree frogs with every shipment of processed spice we send home to Nal Hutta!” The tlanda Til rubbed his tiny, almost delicate hands together excitedly.
“And how would we use them?”
“The nalatree frogs are far from being higher life-forms. They have almost no brain to speak of. I doubt exposure to your poison would kill them.”
“From what I know of this substance, that would be so,” Jiliac said.
“Continue, please.”
“I could raise the nalatree frogs in water to which I have added your poison,” Teroenza said. “From the time they are small wigglers, they would be swimming through water containing concentrations of your substance. The nalatree frogs’ tissues would be riddled with the poison—and Aruk will consume them greedily! As the months go by, I increase the concentration of the poison in the water, and Aruk gradually consumes more and more of the poison. Over time, he becomes addicted to it. Then, when he’s thoroughly dependent on the substance—” He made a quick yanking-away gesture. “No more poison!