Vision of the future

Car'das's revelation. But he merely smiled. 'It's all right,' he said. 'I've known who you are for a long time.' She looked back at Car'das. 'Who I was,' she corrected Karrde quietly. 'What I am now... I don't know.'

'You'll find your way,' Car'das assured her. Abruptly he straightened and rubbed his hands together. 'But now, it's time to go.'

Shada blinked. 'Already? I thought we had until morning.'

'Why, it is morning out there,' Car'das said, coming around the computer desk and taking Karrde and Shada each by an arm. 'Close enough, at least. Come, come—there's a great deal yet for you to do. You, too, Threepio—come along.'

'What about this?' Shada asked, waving the datacard as Car'das hustled them up the aisle toward the exit.

'You can read it on the way to the rendezvous point,' Car'das told her. 'Just the two of you together—no one else. After that, I think you'll know what to do.'

They reached the door and Car'das waved it open. 'What about you?' Karrde asked as the old man steered them back down the hallway, now properly lit again, toward their rooms.

'My door's always open to you,' Car'das said. 'Either of you, of course. Come back anytime you want to visit. But for now, you must hurry.'

* * *

An hour later, the Wild Karrde lifted from Exocron and headed out into space. An hour after that, after assuring himself they were properly on their way to their rendezvous with the waiting Aing-Tii ship, Karrde took Shada back to his office.

And sitting together in front of his desk display, they read the datacard. Shada was the first to break the silence. 'He was right, wasn't he?' she murmured. 'This is incredible. If it's true, that is.'

'Oh, it's true,' Karrde said, gazing at the display, his mind spinning furiously. Shada had vastly understated the case: incredible didn't even begin to cover it. 'If he was nothing else in his entire life, Car'das was always reliable.'

'I can believe that.' Shada shook her head. 'I take it we're going to have the Aing-Tii take us straight back to Coruscant with this?'

Karrde hesitated. Coruscant was of course the obvious choice.

But there was a complete range of possibilities here. Some very interesting possibilities indeed.

'Karrde?' Shada cut into his thoughts, her tone suddenly suspicious. 'We are taking this back to Coruscant, aren't we?'

He smiled at her. 'Actually, no,' he said. 'I think we can do better than that.' He looked back at the display, feeling his smile turn grim. 'Much, much better.'

* * *

Standing astride the command walkway of the Imperial Star Destroyer Tyrannic, Captain Nalgol stared out into the blackness beyond the viewports.

There was still nothing to see out there, of course, unless one of their probe ships happened to dip into the edge of the cloaking shield or he wanted to contemplate the dirty edge of the comet at their side. But it was tradition for a ship's captain to gaze at the universe from his bridge, and Nalgol was feeling rather traditional today.

Four days. Four more days and the long, stultifying idleness would finally be over. Just four days, assuming the strike team was still on schedule.

Four days.

From the far end of the command walkway he could hear Intelligence Chief Oissan's slightly clunky footsteps approaching. Nearly ten minutes late, he noted with disapproval as he glanced at his chrono. 'Captain,' Oissan said, puffing slightly as he came up beside Nalgol. 'I have the latest probe ship report for you.'

Nalgol turned to him, noting the slight redness of Oissan's face. 'You're late,' he said.

'There was more analysis required than usual,' Oissan said stiffly, holding out a datapad. 'It seems the ships over Bothawui nearly started the war a few days early.' Nalgol felt his eyes narrow as he took the datapad. 'What are you talking about?' he demanded, keying for the proper file.