Arrest anyone you have cause to suspect. Don't concern yourvs with legalities. Take whatever steps are necessary.' Eriadu security agents were already on the scene by the time Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Vergere, and Ki- Adi-Mundi reached the customs warehouse.
One human agent was aiming a scanning device at several repulsorsleds parked just inside the entrance, still supporting a dozen tall and narrow cargo containers, whose opened hatches revealed them to be empty. Elsewhere in the large space, a group of infuriated customs agents were being interrogated.
The uniformed human commander of the security detail entered from a dimly lighted corridor. Behind him moved two green-scaled and chitin-sheathed insectoid bipeds, with large black eyes, short ridged snouts, and toothless mouths.
Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan's jaw go slack.
'Verpine,' he explained. 'Organs in the chest enable the species to communicate by means of radio waves. But they can also speak and understand Basic, with the assistance of translator devices. Their keen senses make them brilliant at detail work.' 'Verpine,' Obi-Wan said, shaking his head in wonder.
Seeing the four Jedi, the commander approached, while the pair of aliens set about scrutinizing the sawdust-covered floor.
Qui-Gon introduced himself and the others.
'We have two dead humans in the rear room,' the commander said, after giving Vergere the same look Obi-Wan had given the Verpine trackers. 'One male, one female, each dead of blaster bolts fired at close range, but from different weapons.
Carbon scoring on the floor and walls indicate a full-scale blaster fight. Blood spots show that at least one of the combatants who got away was a Rodian. Bacta patches, synthflesh, and who knows what else is missing from the room's medkit. We're waiting for results on finger — and handprint analysis.'
'Captain Cohl's partner is a Rodian,' Qui-Gon said.
The commander made note of it on a datapad, then pointed to the group of customs agents. 'They were taken by surprise by no less than eight heavily armed assailants, most of them human, but at least four Nikto and a couple of Bith.
'After the surprise raid, they were stashed in the corridor, so they can't provide much in the way of additional information. But the woman, there, is chief officer of the customs ship the terrorists commandeered.
She identified the dead female in the back room as captain of the Corellian freighter she boarded.
She's still a bit dazed from a knockout injection, but she says she also saw a Rodian, and she thinks she remembers seeing a Gotal and a couple of human males.
'Everyone appears to have left the warehouse through a rear door that opens onto the spaceport service road. We're assuming that they're piloting skimmers or landspeeders.' The commander stepped toward the center of the room and gestured broadly. 'Everything here is just as we found it, except that little piece of hardware, which we discovered beneath one of the sleds.' Qui- Gon and the other Jedi followed his finger to a portable holoprojector, sitting atop a cargo crate.
'Whatever else he is, Cohl is not careless,' Qui-Gon said.
'Deliberate is the way we're reading it, too.
But even professionals have been known to make mistakes.' The commander walked over to the holoprojector. He was about to activate it, when one of his assistants intruded.
'Commander, the Verpine say that there are signs of well over a dozen men, several of whom arrived inside these tall containers. At some point, most of them gathered around what must have been a crate, just over here, perhaps to observe whatever images the holoprojector contains. Among them was a Gotal, who also arrived inside one of the containers. Bits of fur were found inside the second-to-last container, and also on the floor there, in large amounts.'
'A tussle?' the commander asked.
'Could be, sir. Gotals have a tendency to shed when they're taken by surprise or frightened.' 'What would have frightened him?' 'No telling, sir.'
The commander glanced up from his datapad. 'Anything else?' 'The prints leading down the corridor and back.
One pair is certainly Rodian. The blood in the rear room explains why the Rodian was walking unsteadily when he returned to this room. The one who accompanied him back here wasn't doing very well either, judging by the fact that he was supporting the left side of himself on a crutch, improvised from a length of pipe. Footprints of the two walking wounded are all over this room.
The Rodian retrieved something from underneath one of the hoversleds, but we can't be sure what that was-unless it was the holoprojector. Evidence suggests that the pair left by the rear door, same as the others, but they were on foot, at least until they reached the pub-trans booth on the corner.'
The commander finished his note taking and looked at Qui — Gon. 'All this give you any insights?' 'Captain Cohl, the Rodian, and the woman must have been ambushed in the rear room.' 'Ambushed? By Havac?' Qui-Gon nodded.
'Havac thought all three were dead?' 'No, he expected us to find Cohl and the Rodian alive.' 'Why would he risk that?' the commander asked.
Qui-Gon looked at him. 'Because he wants to throw us off the scent.' The commander scratched his head in thought.
Obi-Wan slid the holoprojector toward him.
'Let's see what we find in here.' L ope peered through the small doorway that led to the roof of the Nebula Front's safe house in the southern part of the city. A security craft made a low pass from the south, continuing on in the direction of the summit hall.
