'Don't look at me like that, all of you,' Den protested. 'I'm an honest man!'
Qui-Gon cocked an eyebrow. Obi-Wan looked disgusted. Andra blew out an exasperated breath.
'Okay, so I'm not one hundred percent honest,' Den admitted. 'But I'm loyal! I was looking up Katharsis. When I worked there I found out by chance? well, not so much by chance, but because I broke into some files? that UniFy controls Katharsis.'
Andra swiveled, the pot in her hand. 'You mean the government doesn't control it?'
Den nodded. 'They just want you to think they do. If everyone knew that a corporation controlled Katharsis, they'd realize that..'
'UniFy decides how the profits from Katharsis are spent,' Andra said rapidly. 'Which means they totally control our public lands.'
Den nodded. 'UniFy came up with the idea for Katharsis in the first place. They paid off some key government people in order to push it through. Basically, the government is in UniFy's pocket.'
Andra sank into a chair, stunned. 'Do you think that UniFy deliberately devised Katharsis just to distract the population from their intentions? They're going to open all our global parks for development. And we're going to pay for it!'
'It's pretty diabolical,' Den said. 'You almost have to admire it. Some kind of evil genius had to come up with this plan.'
Qui-Gon exchanged a glance with Obi-Wan. 'Xanatos,' he said quietly. The plan had a simple elegance to its evil that was pure Xanatos.
But Qui-Gon wasn't finished with Den. 'Why were you looking up Katharsis again, Den?' he asked. 'If you knew this already, there wasn't much more to discover.'
They all turned to Den. He met their gaze with steady innocence. That meant he was no doubt about to lie, Qui-Gon guessed.
'I was just hoping to help Andra and the POWER party?' he started.
Andra interrupted him. 'Don't con me. Den. Not now. This is too important.'
He looked at her a long moment. Qui-Gon noticed the vulnerability in the look. He cares for her, he realized.
'Okay,' he said. 'I was hoping to help you. But I was also looking for a way to rig the lottery.'
'Always looking out for yourself, aren't you?' Andra said bitterly.
'No,' Den said quietly. 'I look out for you, too. But you won't see that.'
'So did you find out how to rig it?' Qui-Gon asked.
'Not exactly,' Den hedged.
'Did you find out anything?' Obi-Wan asked impatiently.
'Yes, I found out something,' Den admitted. 'The lottery already is rigged.'
Chapter 11
'Things are happening too fast here,' Andra said weakly. 'Let me pour the tea.'
They sat around the table, warm mugs of tea in their hands. The enormity of the plan stunned Andra. She had expected conspiracies and corruption, but not on such a vast scale. It was obvious that they had stumbled on a scheme to take over the resources of an entire planet. The question was how the pieces fit together, and what they could do about it.
Qui-Gon drained his mug. 'I suggest a two-part plan,' he said. 'First, Den will infiltrate the lottery system.'
'Whoa, hold on,' Den said. 'What do you mean, I'll infiltrate the lottery system? What makes you think I can do that?'
'I have a feeling you already know how,' Qui-Gon said coolly. 'Why else would you risk so much to get back inside UniFy? Why else did the security get triggered? You were able to invade the system.'
Den took a gulp of tea, then coughed. No one moved to help him.
'Okay, okay,' he croaked. 'I think I can rig it. I mean, I think I can rig the part that's already rigged.'
'And you know how to ensure that you'll win the prize,' Qui-Gon said.
Den nodded reluctantly. 'I can rig it so that I win the lottery. One winner is always someone selected by UniFy in advance. As the games go on, some contestants are given faulty equipment? not anything they would notice, but something slightly off that decreases their chances of winning. One of the contestants has been selected in advance and bribed. He or she agrees to pass half the fortune back under the table to the company. I can just put my name in the next winner's place.'
Andra shook her head. 'I knew you had an ulterior motive to helping me. You were going to take that fortune and run.'
'Joke, right?' Den said. 'Because I can't believe you would really think such a thing. After I won my fortune, I would have shared it. Some of it.'
'I don't want any part of a fortune built on destroying our sacred spaces,' Andra said fiercely. 'And you shouldn't either!'
'It's not my fault they're being exploited!' Den protested. 'And a fortune is a fortune.'
