Delusions of Grandeur Read online

  firm, paying no heed to the Red Guard's resistance.

  Kambrea, the Devaronian, leaned forward and cackled. "Yes, I remember

  how powerful the Red Guards were. They used to bully us."

  "Kill humans," Corrsk growled, as if the comment were somehow relevant.

  Nolaa stood in front of the scarlet-robed man.

  "This Red Guard continued to wear this uniform, this mask, to bank on

  his intimate connections with the former Empire. He went to the fringes

  of

  the underworld, hoping to ingratiate himself with certain...

  criminal elements." Her head-tail twitched. "For some reason he

  apparently considered the Diversity Alliance a 'criminal element." He

  didn't realize just how much hatred alien species still hold against the

  Empire. And now the tables have turned on him."

  Nolaa leaned closer to the guard, who stood rigidly at attention.

  "We can still make use of his Imperial knowledge, however."

  "But what about the plague?" the Quarren asked.

  "When will we see the demonstration you promised?"

  Nolaa wrinkled her brow. "Though the Emperor had no intention of ever

  unleashing it, he could not bring himself to destroy such an efficient,

  useful tool. So he ordered it stored in a hidden weapons depot on a

  small asteroid station. Then he erased the depot's coordinates from

  Imperial archives, so that no one knew where the stockpile of his

  terrible virus lay hidden.

  "Most of the surviving Imperials have been scattered by now, but this

  one ranked high, close to Palpatine himself. I presume he knows the

  location of the plague storehouse. I have asked him to direct me there

  so that the Diversity Alliance may commandeer these valuable resources

  .... "Nolaa ran her clawed hand along the polished plasteel of the Red

  Guard's helmet. He flinched. "But he has

  declined our offer." She flicked a glance back at the three spectators.

  "So far."

  She held up the tiny vial in front of the Red Guard's eye slit.

  "Tell me where the rest is stored.

  This is your final chance."

  The Red Guard's helmet swung from side to side in mute defiance.

  Nolaa heaved a sigh. "Very well, then, face the consequences."

  She dropped the crystalline vial to the stone floor of the cave. With

  barely disguised relish, Nolaa stamped down and crushed it with her

  booted foot, exposing the viral solution to the open air.

  The three spectators staggered backward. Gasping in horror, they

  scrambled to cover their mouths and nostrils and

  tried--unsuccessfully--not to breathe. Confused, the Gamorrean guards

  blinked stupidly down at the broken vial, wondering if they should clean

  it up.

  Nolaa Tarkona merely watched.

  The Red 'Guard lunged and writhed in a violent attempt to escape the

  Gamorreans' grasp--but the seizure rapidly became something else

  entirely. His body trembled. He bucked convulsively.

  "You may release him," Nolaa said. "There's no longer any danger." The

  piglike guards looked at each Other, shrugged, then stomped away.

  The captive sank to his knees, shaking. His gloved hands pawed at his

  chest, his stomach. The

  three honored Diversity Alliance soldiers stood back against the wall of

  the grotto, staring in fascinated horror.

  The Imperial guard's chest heaved. Gurgling sounds came from beneath

  the scarlet helmet, as if he were trying to suck in lungfuls of air but

  only managed to inhale viscous saliva.

  His gloved hands reached up to grasp his smooth helmet, fumbled with the

  hidden catch. His arms shook and his feet tapped against the floor as

  the plague flowed like molten lead through every nerve in his body.

  Above the noise of his rasping and retching for breath, Nolaa could hear

  the clasp of the helmet come loose. The Red Guard's hands clutched the

  glossy plasteel and pulled. His body arched. The helmet lifted just a

  little, not quite revealing the guard's face--then he sagged into a limp

  pile of scarlet cloth.

  "Impressive," Hovrak said with a growl, his long tongue licking the

  points of his canine teeth.

  "Even better than I had hoped." Nolaa turned to the three

  still-frightened Diversity Alliance observers.

  "You see, the plague was developed to be DNA-specific. It affects only

  victims with a human genetic structure. Aliens are immune. All of us

  here are breathing the same air, moving in the same room--yet the

  disease struck down only this pitiful

  Red Guard, while the rest of us went about our business unaffected."

  "But," Kambrea said, gradually inching forward, "why would the Emperor

  develop such a thing?

  Human were his subjects."

  "True," Nolaa answered, "but many were also Rebels. Palpatine intended

  to unleash this plague to quash insurrections on colony worlds--until he

  realized how easily it could spread. One carrier from world to world

  might break a quarantine--and within weeks this disease could have made

  his Empire a galaxy-wide charnel house."

  At Nolaa's gesture of dismissal the Gamorreans came forward, grabbed the

  Red Guard's body, and dragged him by his scarlet sleeves across the

  stone floor. Once they turned down a side passage and out of sight,

  Nolaa heard the Red Guard's helmet clatter to the flagstones.

  The Gamorreans grumbled and snorted, blaming each other for the

  accident, then one apparently snatched up the helmet again. They

  continued dragging their victim away to where he could be disposed of.

  "You mean to spread this plague?" Corrsk asked.

  "Kill all the humans?"

  Nolaa crossed her arms over her chest. "Wouldn't that be the proper

  work of the Diversity Alliance?"

  Rullak leaned forward, facial tentacles quivering.

  "How did you obtain this sample, Esteemed Tarkona?

  And where may we get more?"

  She stepped up onto the dais, where she slumped back into her stone

  chair. Hovrak stood quietly beside her, letting Nolaa do the talking.

  "A scavenger named Fonterrat stumbled upon the secret depot where this

  plague is stored. He stole two small samples, not entirely realizing

  what he had found, and brought the vials to me, along with a description

  of the facility. But Fonterrat was suspicious and greedy.

  He cited an outrageous price. I quibbled with him.

  "Because only Fonterrat knew the location of the depot, he was afraid I

  might torture him for the information. Of course, the Diversity

  Alliance would never harm a fellow alien." She smiled sweetly.

  "Humans are our only targets.

  "Fonterrat requested that I send an emissary to a neutral location.

  There, my emissary would hand him a time-locked container holding his

  enormous fee. He, in turn, would deliver his entire navicomputer

  module, the only repository of the plague depot's coordinates."

  She tapped her long fingernails on the arm of her chair. "It seemed a

  safe enough arrangement for all concerned. It amused me to enlist a

  human emissary to do my dirty work. Such delicious irony. I chose

  Bornan Thul, an arrogant merchant, who seemed to think he owned the

  galaxy.

 
"T. hul met with Fonterrat on the ancient world of Kuar. They

  presumably made the exchange and

  went their separate ways--but Bornan Thul never delivered the

  navicomputer to me. He must have figured out what he had been given,

  what the module contained, and so he chose to disappear.

  Thul never arrived at the Shumavar trade conference where we were to

  have consummated our deal."

  Nolaa folded her hands together, wearing a perplexed expression.

  "Oddly, he hasn't gone to the New Republic either. Perhaps he assumes

  that the Diversity Alliance has infiltrated the government on Coruscant.

  And of course we have."

  She tapped her other fingers on the opposite arm of her chain

  "Unfortunately, since Fonterrat didn't trust me enough to make the deal

  directly, and since my human go-between betrayed me, I still haven't

  retrieved the information I paid for. I had my joke on Fonterrat,

  though. In the sealed locker containing his fee, I placed one of his

  plague samples. As soon as he unsealed the time-locked box to study his

  reward, a device secretly cracked open the vial.

  Since Fonterrat was immune to the disease, he didn't even know that his

  ship was full of the plague organism when he landed on the isolated

  human colony of Gammalin."

  Nolaa smiled, looking up at Hovrak with her rose-quartz eyes.

  "Everyone on Gammalin is now dead. Unfortunately, no one managed to

  leave the colony to spread the virus. The plague organism

  doesn't survive long in open air without a host, and so Gammalin did not

  prove to be a proper flash point for the plague. Regrettable .

  . ."

  The three spectators now came forward, eyes gleaming. The Trandoshan

  scooped up a few broken shards from the plague vial. He brought them to

  his blunt nose and sniffed with great interest.

  "So how are we to obtain an adequate stockpile of this weapon to aid us

  in our fight against oppression?" Kambrea asked, brushing a hand across

  her smooth horns. "This was your last sample, and Bornan Thul has

  disappeared with the knowledge of where the rest is stored."

  "It is merely a setback," Nolaa said. "I have offered a large enough

  reward that every bounty hunter in the galaxy is trying to bring Thul to

  me.

  He won't be able to move anywhere without someone capturing him."

  She stroked her tattooed head-tail, feeling the tingle of response from

  her sensitive nerve endings.

  "It's only a matter of time."

  IN FLIGHT, ZEKK spent days studying the Bounty Hunter's Creed,

  memorizing its rules and practices as he wrestled with conflicting

  thoughts. He had so many questions, and so much to learn.

  It seemed impossible to reconcile the desire to capture Bornan Thul with

  the fact that he had accepted an assignment from him, regardless of the

  fact that Thul had been disguised at the time. Zekk also remembered

  that in the rubble field of Alderaan he had promised to give Jaina any

  news of the missing man who was Raynar's father....

  Of all the hunters in the galaxy mDengar and Boba Fett and a thousand

  others who were scouring the starlanes--he alone knew where Bornan Thul

  could be found. He had a meeting scheduled with his mysterious employer

  in less than a week, to tell him of his progress.

  At that rendezvous, Zekk could easily set a trap, deliver Thul to Nolaa

  Tarkona, and

  reap the fame and extravagant reward. How could he pass up such an

  opportunity?

  But betraying his own employer would forever blacklist Zekk among bounty

  hunters. No one would trust him for the rest of his life.

  Jaina and Jacen would be angry with him, too. His situation seemed

  untenable.

  He pondered the question while mulling over where to begin searching for

  Tyko Thul, the other half of the assignment he had accepted. Could he

  somehow take both bounty hunting assignments--find and bring back both

  brothers? Or would he have to make a choice? No matter how long he

  drifted in the Lightning Rod, he wouldn't resolve his dilemma by

  himself.

  He remembered hearing that Boba Fett had recently turned up on Tatooine

  in his own relentless search for Bornan Thul, and came to a decision.

  Since he was in the same sector, Zekk would go to meet the fearsome

  hunter who had proved an uneasy ally on the plague-ridden colony of

  Gammalin ....

  Fighting thermal updrafts, Zekk cruised under the harsh double suns down

  to the broiling city of Mos Eisley, the hub of civilization (such as it

  was) on this backwater world. Below him, the space-port's towers and

  low adobe structures shimmered in the afternoon haze.

  Zekk requested clearance and transferred credits for a temporary berth

  in one of the low-rent docking stalls in the busy traders' district.

  After he landed, he shut down his ship's systems and activated the

  theft-prevention devices old Peckhum had installed . . .

  though the best deterrent had always been the Lightning Rod's own

  battered appearance, which did not speak well for the fortunes of its

  owner.

  Zekk stepped out of the dock only to slam into a wall of heat rising

  from the dusty streets. He tied his dark hair back in a sweaty ponytail

  and kept to the shadows of low buildings, seeking relief from the harsh

  sunlight as he staggered along. He breathed through his sleeve to

  filter out the worst dust as he looked for the infamous cantina.

  The other creatures stirring in Mos Eisley's afternoon seemed either

  stunned and lethargic or hurried and anxious to get into the shaded

  coolness indoors. Zekk, his green eyes stinging, wanted to do the same.

  After making his way down narrow back alleys, he entered the noise and

  smells and blessed air-conditioning of the spaceport bar. The Mos

  Eisley cantina had a long history and quite a reputation, but little

  cleanliness or fresh air. In this dark and seedy bar, Luke Skywalker

  and Obi-Wan Kenobi had first hired Han Solo and Chewbacca for their

  legendary run to Alderaan.

  Boba Fett himself had come here in search of clues to help him ferret

  out Bornan Thul.

  Behind the bar stood a grizzled old Wooldee named Chalmun, who owned the

  cantina. Other bartenders often took care of the actual work so that

  Chalmun would not have to mingle with his own disreputable clientele.

  Zekk strode up to the bar, trying to look surly and tough, just like

  everyone else in the place. The old Wooldee snorted, seeing right

  through the young man's act, as if he had witnessed these shows of

  bravado so many times that they no longer impressed him.

  Zekk ordered a cold fizzy drink, then lowered his voice. "I'm looking

  for Boba Fett."

  The furry bartender chuffed with surly laughter.

  Zekk didn't understand the Wooldee language very well, and Chalmun

  gestured toward a small hairy creature propped up on one of the stools.

  The creature blinked its huge black eyes and spoke in a squeaking voice.

  "He laughs at your request," the creature said. "Boba Fett always looks

  for other people. No one looks for him."

  "He and I have met before. I need to s
peak with him, and in

  return"--Zekk swallowed hard--"I can provide information that may assist

  him in his current assignment."

  "Boba Fett will be here," the furry creature said.

  "Just drink and wait." The creature took a long snort

  from a foaming green beaker, swallowed noisily, and said, :'But you'd

  better keep drinking or Chalmun may throw you out into the streets. Hot

  out there."

  Eavesdropping, the Wooldee laughed and went off to serve other customers

  ....

  Zekk waited. The hours passed at a crawl, and he drank as slowly as he

  could get away with, ordering another beverage only when he saw the old

  Wookiee scowling at him.

  On the bandstand a group of soft-skinned amphibious musicians with

  multicolored neck frills auditioned for a job. The song sounded like

  echoing belches made into a sensitive microphone, while "musicians"

  jangled high-pitched bells at random.

  On the cramped and dirty dance floor, two aliens that looked like sea

  urchins with far too many eyes rolled around locked in an

  embrace--whether dancing or brawling, Zekk couldn't decide.