CHAPTER
ELEVEN

BENEATH THE SMUGGLERS’ MOON

“I am officially on detached duty,” said Lieutenant Commander Angela Krin. “While you were my guests on the Resolute, I started investigating the Tempest trade, and convinced my superiors that the trail led to Nar Shaddaa.”

The Bomu ambushers had fallen back once Angela had joined them—not outnumbered, but now facing three blasters operating from behind cover. Angela half led, half carried Mander to a nearby courtyard with a defensible entrance. Reen had recovered Mander’s now-deactivated lightsaber and handed it to him. Mander looked at it hard and long before he took it back. He had made an apprentice’s mistake, thinking the Rodian who had cut him down would just fall back in the face of the lightsaber’s power.

“You followed us,” said Reen to the CSA agent.

“I followed the trail,” said Angela frostily. “A trail you happened to already be on. I found you at the Dark Melody.” To Mander she said, “I have a contact nearby. We should go, if you’re ready.”

Mander let out a deep breath. He should have been aware that they had been followed. His side hurt, and he wondered if he had cracked a rib. The ringing in his ears had subsided to a great degree. “I’m good,” he said, standing up slowly. “Let’s press on.”

The surroundings decayed further now, the very pretense of civilization washed away. Here was the place that the trash and waste of the upper levels ended up. Piles of discarded packing and abandoned tools now littered the hallways, along with deactivated and repeatedly scavenged droids. There were humanoid bodies as well. Some of them had been partially eaten.

“Vrblthers,” said Angela Krin, and Reen shot a questioning look at her. She explained, “They are or were a native life-form, scavengers that hunt in packs. They’ve adapted terribly well to life in a Hutt city.”

“One more thing to worry about,” muttered Reen, now paying particular attention to the shadows.

“You said the trail led to Nar Shaddaa,” said Mander. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“Remember the crashed ship, the one that brought the plague?” Angela said. “We managed to track it by the engine numbers.”

“And what did you find?” Eddey asked. “Who owns it?”

“It was a Skydove ship,” Angela said, her face betraying no emotion. She was watching the Bothan for any reaction on his part.

Eddey did not disappoint, a wave of surprise spreading across his face. “Skydove Freight? It was an Anjiliac ship carrying the drugs?”

Angela Krin nodded. Reen snarled, “So Popara lied when he said that he didn’t deal in hard spice.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Angela. “My contact was sure that Popara was unaware. That someone else in the organization was responsible.”

“And we can talk to this contact?” asked Mander.

“He is waiting for us at the Headache Bar,” said Angela. “Always start with the last place on your list. And yes, my contact knows about your list. If you hadn’t gotten pinned down back there, you would have met him already.”

Ahead a sign flickered erratically. The Headache Bar, the three syllables of its name on different timers, long since fallen out of sync. Inside the place was unsurprisingly empty, a single spotlight over the central bar and deep shadows in a plethora of corners.

One of those shadows moved.

“My contact,” said Angela.

Mika the Hutt slid out of the darkness and beckoned the others to join him. He was wearing the same style of vest he’d sported at the party, but this one was set in greenish flamewire and small red gems. With a small bag slung over one shoulder, he looked like nothing so much as a Hutt running away from home.

Eddey flinched at the sight of him, and Reen reached for her blaster. Mander put a hand on the Pantoran’s shoulder. He said to Angela Krin, “That’s how you found out it was a Skydove ship, isn’t it? Mika told you.”

“The CSA would have discovered it eventually,” said the small Hutt. “The registration was buried behind a couple of false-front companies, but not so well that a dedicated investigator would have missed it. Smuggling, as you know, often depends on people looking the wrong way, either by accident or design. I myself was unaware that one of the family’s ships was being used for the trade until I personally tracked the engine numbers that your Pantoran provided.”

Reen ignored the idea that she was anyone’s Pantoran, and instead said, “So your father was responsible for the Tempest?”

Mika blinked in what would pass for a shake of his neckless head. “No. When I came back, I checked through my family’s records. The Endregaad ship was reported as lost in a comet storm two years ago. Someone took it out of service and repurposed it. I think they did it without my father’s knowledge. He would have been shamed and angry if he knew.” Mika let out a deep sigh, and Mander wondered if it was from grief for his parent or that the Hutt was embarrassed to reveal a weakness in the family.

The Jedi said softly, “We think that Zonnos may have been taking Tempest as well.”

Mika’s eyes flew open, obviously surprised by the idea. But, catching himself, he quickly returned them to slits. “Yes,” said the small Hutt. “That makes a sort of sense. But surely even my brother would not seek Popara’s death!”

Mander shook his head. “Not directly. There is more intelligence in play here than Zonnos has displayed so far.”

Mika let out a snort. “If you are saying that my brother is not smart enough to blow up my late father, you may be right. He must have had help, then.”

Mander asked, “What is the situation in your tower?”

“Uncomfortable,” said Mika. “And if it is true Zonnos is an addict, I can see much of that now in his behavior. He has put a bounty on your heads, regardless of your innocence. Zonnos is looking for someone to be blamed for this, so he can establish himself as the full heir to the Anjiliac clan. A change in leadership often leads to problems for the lesser siblings. I fled here soon after the … incident … with my father, to meet with my CSA contact.” He waved a stubby-fingered arm at Angela Krin.

“Can you get us offplanet?” Reen asked the woman.

“I can,” said Angela.

“My own resources are limited,” added Mika. “All the more so if my brother is truly under the influence of spice and involved in the smuggling. But I have enough sway to make sure you have a safe ship and a trustworthy pilot. Zonnos is not the only one with a couple of ships that exist off the official books.”

“The CSA maintains a safehouse near here,” said Angela, and Mika was startled at the news. Both things made sense, Mander thought. The CSA should have resources on the Smugglers’ Moon. And Mika would not think that they were there. She continued, not noticing Mika’s reaction, “We can hide there until you make arrangements.”

With that the group quit the Headache Bar. They had to avoid what passed for public transportation on the planet, and to reach the safehouse plunged still deeper beneath the concrete skin of the world. Even Mika seemed nervous now, clearly in unfamiliar terrain. If Angela was equally unfamiliar with the territory, she betrayed no sign, instead quietly pointing out the new direction at each crossing.

Up ahead, they could hear low growls.

Angela froze for a moment, and then said, “Vrblthers. We can loop back and find another way.”

Then there came a high-pitched, all-too-human screech, and Mander was suddenly moving toward it. Toward the growls.

A pack of lizard-like bipeds had surrounded a pile of trash long since brought down from the towers, scavenged, and then abandoned. The vrblthers had leathery hides the color of overly ripe fruit, and short, curled horns perched above underslung, fanged jaws. Their prey, a humanoid child, was scrabbling backward up the slope of loose trash. The vrblthers stalked forward on thick-knuckled claws.

Mander cut through two of the beasts from behind before they even knew he was there. He moved up the loose hillside of trash to the child and spun about, facing the rest of the pack. The loss of two of their members did nothing to deter the vrblthers, and they closed in on their new target.

Mander brought his blade up hard beneath the chin of the leading attacker, bisecting it from its chest to the top of its sloped forehead. The beast dropped without time to howl from the damage, but it was replaced immediately by two more. A sweeping, lateral blow caught both of these in their slavering jaws, and the Jedi could feel the trash beneath his feet give way. Rather than try to stop it, he rode the small avalanche of detritus down, taking three more of the beasts out in the process. Vrblther parts joined the other discards on the pile.

Now blasterfire sizzled the air around him as Reen, Angela, and Eddey caught up with him, a weaponless Mika alongside them. The newcomers peppered the flanks of the surviving pack. These wheeled on their new assailants, but to no good end. One broke from the rest of the pack and hurled itself at Mika. The small Hutt brought his hands up before him in what Mander thought was a feeble attempt to ward off the blow. Instead the creature yelped as it was flung backward, away from the Hutt, as if it had struck an invisible wall. The Hutt fell back behind the protection of the others, and Mander spun around and decapitated a beast that was trying to drag off the child while its fellows were otherwise occupied.

With another volley from the group’s blasters, the entire pack was dead. Mander deactivated his lightsaber and climbed back up the trash pile, where the would-be prey was curled and weeping.

It was a child, definitely, but the species was unknown to him. Its skin was the pale yellow of guinchin fruit, and a ring of small protrusions, proto-horns, formed a lopsided ring along one side of its head. It was dressed in rags that at one time long before may have had a color.

“Come on,” said Mander, “I won’t hurt you.” He held out his hand.

The child looked up, its luminous eyes weeping pale green tears, and reached out a slender hand to take Mander’s. The pair climbed down the trash heap. The child looked up at the others in wonder, but visibly shrank away from the Hutt.

“Amazing,” said the Hutt. “I thought they were all dead.”

“What is he?” asked Angela.

“Evocii,” said the Hutt. “They once lived on Nal Hutta, and were exported to Nar Shaddaa to help build the Smugglers’ Moon. They were never very hardy. I thought they had proved nonviable.”

Reen gave Mander a hard look, but before she could say anything, Eddey said, “He’s not alone.”

At the other entrance there were more of the Evocii, older and taller but still similar to the child. They were dressed in a tattered collection of rags and battle armor, and carried what Mander hoped were inoperative blasters.

Mander raised both hands to show that he bore no weapons or ill will, but the child burst loose from them and ran to the adults. He buried his head in the robes of one of the females and unleashed a torrent of what Mander could only identify as a creole of Huttese and Basic.

The lead Evocii strode forward, shot a withering glance at the Hutt, but bowed to Mander. The Jedi returned his bow, but when he straightened, all but the leader had vanished back into the darkness of the tunnels. The leader nodded at him, and then retreated as well.

Mika’s satchel made the sound of a baby chick in distress. The Hutt fumbled at the satchel and pulled out a holographic comlink. He frowned at the winking telltale light of an incoming message.

“I should take this,” he said. “The rest of you might not want to be seen.”

Reen and the others took a few steps back, allowing the darkness of their surroundings to cloak them. Mander took a step back as well, but stayed close enough to see the hololink clearly.

The head and shoulders of the dented H-3PO unit appeared in the radiance of the beam. “Kindly Mika, I hope that you are safe,” said the droid. “Zonnos has called for your return, and the destruction of all who stand with you. Crafty Vago has blunted the worst of his rage, but your brother has become more and more irrational with each passing hour. Vago thinks that it may be to your advantage to be somewhere else for a while. A shuttle to the family estates on Nal Hutta is waiting at dock Q2214 on level twenty-two. The pilot is expecting you.” There was some disturbance behind the droid. It turned and the connection was abruptly severed.

Mika’s face drew in on itself, the Hutt biting his lower lip. Mander stepped back into the light.

“My brother seems intent on confirming his control of the clan,” said Mika. “That control does not seem to include me.”

“So it appears,” said Mander.

“Vago wants me to hide out in our estate until Zonnos calms down.” Mika did not seem to like the idea.

“But what if Vago is working with Zonnos?” said Mander.

“That has occurred to me as well,” said the small Hutt. “It is a very distressing thought. My family dynamics have been always … strained.”

Mander looked around. Reen and Eddey were checking ahead for any ambushes, and Angela Krin had fallen behind to see if they had been followed from the Headache Bar. The Jedi said, “Anything you can tell me may help us.”

“We are a family, but we are an organization as well,” he said. “Popara was both our father and the patron of all those in his employ. Some Hutt leaders treat this as if they were invested royalty, but Popara, may his spirit rest quietly, took the concerns of his workers very seriously. If you were in my father’s employ, he demanded much, but he rewarded good service as well.”

“There were only the two of you as his heirs,” said Mander.

“The only two still living,” said Mika, and was quiet for a moment. Then he added, “I never knew most of my siblings. Hutts live a very long time, but the nature of their lives makes death by natural causes an unlikely occurrence. And given our biology—you know about that, as scholar?”

“You can be of either gender,” said Mander.

“That is putting it succinctly,” said Mika. “But yes, and part of it is that our fertility rate is very low. Perhaps damage from when we lost our first world, Varl. So descendants are normally a problem, and my father favored me, as the baby of the family.”

“And you think that might create problems with Zonnos?” asked Mander.

Mika puffed the air out of his cheeks in desperation. “Perhaps. Zonnos is the heir, and he’s a Hutt’s Hutt. The other families, the Council of Elders, would approve of him. He’s not the sharpest vibroblade in the armory, as you’ve noted, but he has that something that others respect in our political circles.”

Mander watched the little Hutt and felt sympathy, even pity for the creature. He was not a typical Hutt, and was afraid of being punished for it. The Jedi looked around, but things were still quiet. It was a peace that was sure not to last. “What can you tell me about Vago?” he asked.

Mika shook his head. “She’s dedicated to my father. She makes things work. She’s always been more dedicated to the family shipping business than Zonnos ever was. And she has always been very kind to me, teaching me about the business and encouraging me to explore on my own. Trips like the one to Endregaad were with her urging. I think that she feels that if something happened to Zonnos, I should know enough to handle myself in negotiations. I’d hate to think that Vago is wrapped up with this.”

Angela Krin joined them at this point. “Nothing behind us. We can still hide at the CSA safehouse. Find our own way offplanet. We can protect you, Mika.”

Mika looked at Angela, and Mander imagined he could see the wheels spin in the young Hutt’s mind. Accepting the CSA’s aid would be a safer choice, but carry with it additional obligations. Plus, not responding to Vago’s offer to help might cost him an ally. If Vago was truly an ally at this point.

“You want to go to Vago,” said the Jedi, trying to form the words as a question but failing. He added, “You should not go alone.”

The Hutt nodded. “Yes,” he said, “we should contact Vago. But we should be careful. The rendezvous spot is only a couple of levels above us.”

Angela Krin looked like she would disagree for a moment, but then furrowed her brow and nodded. Mika said, “Should I disappear, don’t let Vago get away with this.” Again, she nodded, but this time more slowly. Mander wondered what that promise would entail.

The group set out again, and the young Hutt proved more than capable in keeping up with others. As they ascended, more citizens of the depths appeared in the courtyards and arcades, and if they thought it odd to see a Hutt traveling with his retinue so deep beneath the spires, none said anything about it. There was still no open sky above them, but as they climbed, Mander felt a weight being lifted from his shoulders.

The shuttle pad was set along the length of a shaft bored through the towers and slums of the Smugglers’ Moon, with landing pads jutting out at different levels. Beneath them, the shaft continued down to the blast pits. Far above them a retractable dome had been pulled back, and Mander imagined he could see open sky at the very top. Catwalks and cross-supports turned the passage into a twisted maze for any pilot.

Cradled on the pad was a squat shuttle of SoroSuub make. A Quarren leaned against one of the support struts, sucking on a death stick. He caught sight of the five of them, waved, and entered the shuttle to make final preparations. The dented H-3PO unit emerged and waddled toward them.

Mander and the others walked out onto the narrow bridge to the landing pad as the droid approached. Mander realized he had been holding his breath and let out a relieved sigh. Eddey and Reen seemed to relax as well.

The droid came up, and in a conversational voice said, “Zonnos made me lie to you. You should run now.”

A squad of Wookiees tumbled out of shuttle, bellowing and brandishing blaster rifles and stun net projectors. Reen cursed and brought up her carbine, while Eddey spun around and shouted, “Pull back!”

The two forward Wookiees each dropped to one knee and aimed their stun nets. Microfilament netting blossomed from the barrels like greedy flowers ringed with electrified weights. Mander moved one aside easily with the Force, but the other found its mark and draped over the surprised Mika. With a ragged growl of pain the young Hutt slumped, small bolts of lightning sparking his light green flesh from the microfilaments.

They were halfway back to the blast doors when a group of Rodians boiled out from around the corner, armed with blaster pistols and stun batons. They cut off the retreat, laying down a withering pattern of fire. Mander leapt in front of the others, lightsaber drawn, and batted away the charged pulses of ionic energy as best he could. Behind him, Eddey and Angela Krin returned fire, dropping a Rodian with every other shot.

“Think they’re working together?” shouted the CSA agent.

“I doubt it!” the Bothan shouted back. “I think the Wookiees want to take us alive. The Bomus do not seem to be as discerning.”

Mander shot a glance over his shoulder and realized that Reen was still back along the platform, closer to the shuttle. She had taken up a position behind the stunned form of Mika, and was blasting the charging Wookiees.

She dropped two of them in quick succession, but the third was on top of her, and brought the butt of his blaster hard across her face. The Pantoran dropped like a rock.

“Reen!” Mander shouted.

“Look out!” bellowed Eddey. “They have a detonator!”

Mander looked back as the depleted Rodian force rolled a small thermal device toward them. He reached out with the Force and tried to shove it off the landing pad, out into the empty space of the launch tube itself.

He almost succeeded.

The detonator spun under his direction, teetering at the very edge of the pad. Then it exploded.

The thermal detonator became a brilliant red-white star for a moment, and half the pad disappeared. The stress rocked the rest of the landing structure, and the Wookiees behind them fell down. In the shuttle itself, Mander could see the Quarren pilot fighting with the controls, and the side thrusters came to life along the sides of the hull. The shuttle took a sharp lurch off its cradle and began to tip into the abyss beneath them.

Then the ground fell away beneath Mander’s feet. Without thinking, he leapt for the shadowy catwalks above. But they were too far and he realized that he would miss them.

A narrow, pale yellow arm, clad in rags, reached out of the darkness and grabbed Mander’s outstretched arm. Looking up, Mander saw the face of the Evocii leader.

“Sometimes you fight, sometimes you run,” said the leader in broken Basic. “This time you run if you want to fight later.”

Mander looked around and saw that Eddey and Angela Krin were in the hands of other Evocii, being pulled to safety at upper ledges. Behind and below them, the pilot was trying to save his craft from the crumbling landing pad, firing his landing thrusters to stay stable. He was failing.

Two of the Wookiees were protecting the fallen forms of Mika and Reen, while the others now bunched along one side of the shuttle, pushing it off the side of the platform. Unless the pad was lightened, it would collapse into the blast pits.

The Quarren at the controls panicked now and the main engines flickered for a moment. If they fired up, the entire pad would be incinerated, killing them all. The Wookiees let out a howl and pushed with all their might. The shuttle pitched over the edge of its cradle and for one brief moment Mander thought the pilot could regain control. Then it fell like a stone from heaven, spinning as its thrusters failed along the far side, spiraling into the depths.

His Evocii rescuer shoved him through the safety of a blast door as he heard the distant thunder of the crash. He wondered if the debris and flames would channel this far up the shuttle tube. Then the blast door safety engaged and the durasteel doors shut behind him with a final clang.