Vision of the future

Jorj Car'das. Can you confirm that?'

Shada watched Karrde closely. But aside from a brief twitch at the corner of his mouth there was no reaction. 'Yes, I can,' he said, his voice a little hollow but under control. 'There's a vital matter I urgently need to discuss with him.'

'I see.' There was another pause, shorter this time. 'Is he expecting you?' Another twitch of the lip. 'I don't know if expecting is the proper word. I do believe he knows I'm coming.'

'Do you,' David said, his voice suddenly sounding a little odd. 'Very well, Wild Karrde, you're cleared for Circle 15 at the Rintatta City military landing field. Coordinates are being sent to you now.'

'Thank you,' Karrde said.

'Got it,' Odonnl muttered, studying his nav display. 'Looks pretty straightforward.'

'We have an escort on the way,' David continued. 'I trust I don't have to tell you to cooperate with them.'

'I understand completely,' Karrde said. 'Will I be seeing you there?'

'I doubt it,' David said; and this time there was definitely a darkness in his voice. 'But perhaps we'll all be lucky. You never know. David out.'

For a moment the bridge was quiet. Shada looked around at the others, at their tight faces and tense shoulders and grim expressions. If they hadn't known before what they were getting into, she decided, they knew now.

And yet, she saw no indication that any of them were even thinking of trying to back out. A truly loyal, close-knit crew, completely dedicated to their chief.

Much as Shada herself had once been dedicated to the ideals of the Mistryl. Even when the Mistryl themselves had all but forgotten those ideals.

Even in the face of the looming danger ahead, the memory of that loss still hurt.

'Instructions, Captain?' Odonnl asked quietly.

Karrde didn't hesitate. 'Take us down,' he said.

* * *

Rintatta City was a middling-sized cluster of military-style buildings interspersed with about fifty landing pads of varying sizes, many with ships already settled down onto them. The military areas were in turn surrounded by a wide ring of civilian-style homes and businesses and community buildings. The whole thing was nestled up against the base of a short but rough-sided ridge of mountains, the city giving way to a grassy plain on its other sides.

There was no shakedown like there had been at Pembric 2. Nor was there any sort of customs or entrance inquiry at all as the Wild Karrde headed in to the surface. The two aging system patrol ships that Admiral David had sent escorted the freighter to its assigned landing circle, watched as it set down, then headed off again into the sky without comment. Around the other ships, hundreds of men and women and dozens of small vehicles were hurrying about various tasks of their own, completely ignoring the offworld ship that had set down in their midst. From all appearances, Karrde thought as he and the others started down the ramp, all of Exocron might be trying to pretend the visitors didn't exist.

With one notable exception.

'Good day, Captain Karrde,' Entoo Nee beamed from the foot of the Wild Karrde's landing ramp. 'Welcome to Exocron. I see that even without my help you were able to find us. Hello, Shada; hello, Threepio.'

'Hello, Master Entoo Nee,' Threepio replied, sounding distinctly relieved to see a familiar face. 'I confess I had not expected to find you here.'

'There was some question about you, as well,' Entoo Nee said cheerfully. 'When I last saw you on Dayark, you seemed to be having pirate trouble.' He took a step closer to the ramp and peered up into the ship. 'Will your charming Togorian be joining us?'

'No, H'sishi will be staying with the ship,' Karrde told him, eyeing the little man with some bemusement. H'sishi was an increasingly valued member of his crew, but charming was not a descriptive term that would have automatically sprung to mind.

'Too bad,' Entoo Nee said, looking at Shada and Threepio again. 'Is this it, then? You don't want to bring any others along?'

Karrde felt his muscles tense up again, despite all his efforts to relax them. Certainly he wanted to bring more people along. The Wild Karrde's entire crew, for starters, plus the crews of the