Delusions of Grandeur Read online

  launched the new packet with its instructions for the staff and a

  special note to her son Raynar.

  Then Aryn scanned the hyperwave frequency bands in hopes of finding one

  of the message bursts sent from Coruscant. A minute later, her efforts

  were rewarded when she located a transmission packet carrying a Thul

  family identifier. Grateful to finally have some news from

  headquarters, Aryn

  quickly retrieved and decoded the message while her navigators and

  helmsmen calculated a new jump through hyperspace.

  Staring off through the viewports while she waited for the usual audio

  message to begin, Aryn Dro Thul was astonished to see a tiny hologram

  appear in the air above the comm console.

  Bornan Thul, himself.

  It was her husband, alive and well! The image of his face seemed

  thinner, and he wore the rough-woven garb of a Random trader, but he

  seemed healthy.

  The figure seemed to stare directly at her as it spoke. "My dear wife

  and son, I've been hiding for so long now that you may have feared me

  dead. But I am very much alive--for the moment at least. In my

  tradings I learned of a conspiracy so powerful, so . . . evil, that

  the fate of all humanity may depend on its prevention. I can tell you

  no more without placing your lives in great danger. I will not contact

  you again until I'm certain this threat is no longer to be feared. I

  hope I can survive long enough to do it. My thoughts are, as always,

  only with you."

  The tiny figure raised its hand as if to turn off a recording device,

  then seemed to think better of it.

  In a low voice, Bornan Thul added, "Perhaps I have too rarely told you

  in the past, but I love you both."

  The image dissolved into static.

  70 Silent tears of relief, joy, and loneliness ran in rivulets

  down Aryn Dro Thul's face. She reset the holomessage and played it

  again from the beginning.

  Lifting a finger to touch the tiny image in front of her, she listened.

  Again. And again.

  FOR THE TENTH time Lowie adjusted his crash webbing and rearranged his

  limbs in the Rising Star's cramped copilot area--but his fidgeting was

  due more to nervousness than discomfort. In contrast, Raaba's movements

  were spare and confident, like a well-rehearsed dance." Her deft fingers

  punched in coordinates and flicked switches, preparing for the skimmer's

  jump to hyperspace.

  Away from Yavin 4, away from his friends at the Jedi academy.

  Lowie's fingers tapped restlessly against one hairy knee, until Raaba

  told him to relax. He tried folding his hands and leaning back in the

  seat, but that felt too stiff and awkward. He reached down to check Em

  Teedee, only to remember that he had left the little droid behind with

  Jaina on the jungle moon. The tension inside Lowie just had to get out.

  He jiggled one leg but decided it might irritate

  Raaba, and so he stopped. He settled for simply crossing his arms over

  his chest.

  It was ironic that Lowie should feel so self-conscious alone with Raaba.

  She had been his sister Sirra's friend, but Raaba had always admired him

  when they were growing up--had even attempted her rite of passage alone

  because that was the way Lowie had done it.

  But now ... the chocolate-furred 'Wookiee seemed different.

  Poised, independent, self-assured.

  He was not sure what to make of her anymore. Even the freshly washed

  strip of red cloth she wore cinched above her ears as a headband made

  him wonder how well he knew her--or had ever known her. She carried an

  energy and a sense of direction that he couldn't help but admire. 'Lowie

  supposed anyone would find those qualities attractive.

  A tunnel lined with star streaks dilated in front of them as Raaba

  launched the Rising Star into hyperspace.

  Lowie shifted his weight and began to assess his agitation and

  restlessness with detached interest.

  He had always been confident, too, priding himself on being a deep

  thinker; he knew he could figure this out. Reason and logic came

  naturally to him--and he had no rational cause to be nervous, just

  because Raaba had changed.

  In the past, however, deep thought and discussion had not really been

  something that he and Raaba had shared. Lowie wondered if she had

  changed in

  that respect, too. Well, they were going to be in hyperspace for quite

  a while, so there was no better time to find out. He started the

  conversation by telling Raaba that it seemed she had done a lot of

  growing up since they'd known each other on Kashyyyk.

  The Wookiee woman found grim amusement in his observation and answered

  with a bitter growl of laughter. It would have been hard not to grow up

  after the atrocities she had heard of and witnessed firsthand. She and

  Lowie had both led sheltered lives in their beautiful tree city on

  Kashyyyk, she explained. Even the dangers of the lowest forest levels

  were nothing compared to the barbarous cruelties the alien species of

  the galaxy had suffered.

  This was what the Diversity Alliance had taught her. And most of those

  atrocities had been committed by humans.

  That was why the Diversity Alliance was so important as a political

  force for change, Raaba went on, the passion in her voice rising. The

  Alliance accepted and championed the rights of all the species who had

  suffered indignities at human hands. For example, the Empire had never

  been punished for its enslavement of Wookiees. The Diversity Alliance

  vowed never to allow such a thing to happen again.

  All species had been affected by the human-loving Empire's repression

  and prejudice, in fact.

  Raaba spoke with fire in her voice. Her eyes flashed, and Lowie

  couldn't help but realize how large and beautiful those eyes were--or

  how the shaved patches at her wrists, elbows, and neck contrasted with

  her luxurious dark fur.

  Clearly, Raaba had given some thought to the Diversity Alliance and what

  it stood for. Lowie was impressed by her spirit and enthusiasm . . .

  but also disturbed by the conclusions she drew.

  Humans were not the only species that had ever mistreated another, he

  pointed out. Surely she couldn't believe that all of the ills of the

  galaxy were the sole responsibility of human beings?

  Raaba pondered for a moment. No, she admitted that other species had

  also mistreated one another.

  The Diversity Alliance abhorred any abuse of alien species--even by each

  other.

  Lowie rumbled thoughtfully, then asked if the Diversity Alliance also

  abhorred the mistreatment of humans by other species.

  Raaba looked uncomfortable at the turnabout.

  Fr now, the Diversity Alliance did not have the resources to concern

  itself. with the treatment humans received. The subject simply did not

  come up. Raaba shrugged. Besides, such situations were anomalies, a

  minor swing of the pendulum. It was the alien species who needed

  protection from abuse; humans could take care of themselves.

  With the Diversity Alliance, Nolaa Tarkona was searching for the answer<
br />
  to all of their problems, and as soon as they found the long-awaited

  solution, the galaxy would be free again.

  In a consoling tone, Raaba asked Lowie not to make up his mind in

  advance. She wanted him to meet her friends and listen to what they had

  to say.

  The Diversity Alliance was a place where she felt she belonged.

  If Lowie kept an open mind, he might find that he belonged there, too.

  It would be so nice to have him with her.

  The Diversity Alliance could very much use the help of someone special

  like a Force-talented Wook-lee.

  Perhaps his sister Sirra would want to join, as well. Even if Sirra

  wasn't interested, though, Raaba asked Lowie to think about how much

  time the two of them could spend together if they were both part of the

  Diversity Alliance ....

  Lowie thought about it. A lot.

  "YES, I DO have a plan," Nolaa Tarkona said.

  "And I don't think the humans will enjoy it very much." When she smiled,

  her sharply filed teeth glinted like daggers in the dim light.

  "All the better then," remarked Adjutant Advisor Hovrak, a bristly faced

  wolfman who growled under his breath. He used a long claw to pick

  shreds of meat from along his gumline. A few fresh blood spatters on

  his otherwise neat uniform indicated that Hovrak must have eaten

  recently.

  Nolaa glided past the long black table in her private chambers.

  "Are the other representatives here in the caves? The three Diversity

  Alliance soldiers who have recruited the greatest number of new

  members?"

  "Yes, they just arrived on Ryloth." The wolfman shuffled his feet,

  uncertain. "I agree they deserve induction into our inner circle as a

  reward for their

  efforts. But are you sure that it's wise to use our last sample of the

  plague for so small a demonstration?"

  "It isn't a small demonstration, Adjutant Advisor," she said. Her

  remaining head-tail twitched with agitation, making her tattoos ripple.

  From the folds of her black robes she withdrew a vial that contained the

  deadly solution. "This spark will ignite the fire of utter loyalty we

  require."

  Two decades earlier a rebellious nonhuman group, the Alien Combine, had

  attempted to accomplish goals similar to Nolaa Tarkona's.

  But the Alien Combine had been unwilling to take sufficiently extreme

  actions. Nolaa knew how to learn from mistakes, though, and she vowed

  that her Diversity Alliance would succeed... no matter what it took.

  With the wolfman beside her, she walked into the echoing main grotto to

  receive her newly promoted followers. The chamber was cool and dim,

  just the way she liked it. The light was a deep red, as if filtered

  through panes of bloodstained glass.

  Three important Diversity Alliance soldiers stood waiting for her,

  puffed with pride. Out of all the thousands of members in her political

  movement, Nolaa had chosen them for this private meeting.

  She studied Rullak first, a tentacle-faced Quarren from the ocean world

  of Calamari. Decades ago, the amphibious Quarren species had

  collaborated with the Empire to protect their underwater cities, while

  the more peaceful Mon Calamari were enslaved, their floating cities

  blasted to rains. Now, Rullak stood basking in the shadows, robbing his

  clammy hands together to distribute the bodily excretions that prevented

  his skin from drying out.

  In the middle, a reptilian Trandoshan named Corrsk loomed silent and

  ominous, sluggish but powerful. His breath came out in a rasping

  gargle.

  The Trandoshans had a long-standing blood feud against Wookiees, and

  their bounty hunters made a habit of collecting Wookiee pelts. But in

  uniting alien species to fight the common enemy--humans--Nolaa had

  managed to secure concessions even from the vicious reptiles. Corrsk

  had sworn to ignore his natural bloodlust for any Wook-lee who adopted

  the cause of the Diversity Alliance.

  All others were, of course, fair game.

  Finally, on the right stood a wily Devaronian female, Kambrea, whose

  curving horns, hooded eyes, and pointed fangs gave her narrow face the

  appearance of a she-devil.

  "You three have heard me speak before great crowds, but this

  demonstration is for your eyes alone," Nolaa said, and sat down easily

  in the massive stone chair. On a low pedestal at her left she kept a

  rough file for sharpening her teeth during idle moments. She toyed with

  the tool now, running its pointed end under her tingemails.

  "This is a private ceremony--a reward for your

  80 unwavering service." Her breath came out in a hiss of

  anticipation. "What I am about to show you will convince you more than

  any words I can say."

  "You don't need to convince us, Esteemed Tarkona," said Kambrea.

  The Devaronian female's bright eyes darted from side to side, as if

  probing for assassins in the shadows. "We know our cause is just. The

  weight of human domination has crushed the galaxy for too long. We will

  follow you wherever the fight may take us."

  "Kill humans!" said Corrsk in a rough voice.

  Even with this brief statement, the towering reptilian seemed to feel he

  had said too much.

  "/wish to see this demonstration," the Quarren countered, the tentacles

  around his mouth quivering.

  Rullak's voice bubbled up like words spoken through a drinking tube into

  polluted water. "I harbor no doubts, Honored Tarkona . . .

  but I am certain it will be entertaining."

  Nolaa laughed. "Yes, it will be very entertaining."

  She held up the glimmering vial so that reddish light twinkled from its

  crystal sides. "This vial contains more destructive power than the

  Death Starmthan even the Sun Crusher. Selective destruction."

  The Quarren and the Devaronian sat in anticipation.

  Nolaa did not know how to interpret Corrsk's breathy snort.

  "You see, the Emperor did more than just create

  weapons of mass destruction. He had an entire cadre of his finest

  scientists--humans, but talented nonetheless--working on more insidious

  schemes.

  The great biological engineer Evir Derricote created numerous diseases

  that spread like wildfire through some species, particular species.

  Recall how non-human peoples suffered during the unleashing of the

  Krytos plague on Coruscant during the Rebel takeover."

  The three representatives all nodded gravely, remembering the death and

  terror shortly after the fall of the Emperor.

  "I have learned that Derricote also developed an organism more deadly

  than Krytos, perhaps even as bad as the Death Seed plague. A virus so

  horrible that Emperor Palpatine himself feared to use it."

  She held the vial out toward them. "This contains a sample of that

  plague."

  The three Diversity Alliance soldiers shifted uneasily and took an

  instinctive step backward.

  Nolaa restrained her smile of self-satisfaction.

  Good, she had impressed them--but not nearly enough. Her slick robes

  draped themselves regally around her as she stood, then she took two

  steps down to the fl
oor of the grotto. The three representatives

  flicked nervous glances at each other.

  Clutching the vial, Nolaa snapped at her Adjutant Advisor.

  "Hovrak, bring out the prisoner." Her tattooed head-tail thrashed in

  anticipation, while the

  optical sensor implanted in her other tentacle stump gleamed, recording

  all the details around her.

  The wolfman barked a command, and two lumbering Gamorrean guards strode

  in from a side tunnel, bearing between them the cloaked form of an

  Imperial guard. Limp scarlet robes hung around him. His bullet-shaped

  helmet was an impenetrable red mask with only a black vee-slit over his

  eyes.

  "An Imperial guard!" Rullak said, raising his moist hands. "I thought

  they had all been destroyed."

  "This one had schemes of his own," Nolaa said.

  "He and several partners concocted a fake Emperor in hopes that they

  could rule a Second Imperium in his name, like a gang of thugs--but

  their plans fell apart when the new Jedi Knight defeated the Shadow

  Academy. He was the only one to escape."

  The captive struggled, but the piglike Gamorrean security escorts held