Starve.Org White Noise Usenet Archive: "NEW: X Jedi 2: A Cross Over-- Chapter 1 (4/4) (fwd) by JackeeC@aol.com, Gheorghe2@aol.com and ginef@aol.com"

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Chapter 1 (4/4)

Disclaimer in part 1

Mara jerked out of her indolent slump with a curse, and cold disdain,
"You trade with those bounty hunting pariah, Karrde?"

He shrugged affably, "Pariah who pay very well for some of the unique
things that have fallen into my possession over the years."

Leia tried sending a strong, "Quiet" signal to Mara, who either did
not hear her appeal or disregarded it. "What's happened to your principles
Karrde? Even the Emperor was careful in his dealings with the Urmari."

"As well he needed to be, as you probably know, Jade. But since
neither I nor any of my current staff have any Force sensitivity, I deemed
the risk minimal. So successful in their assistance to the Emperor, they
have, it seems, like yourself, moved on to other things."

Stilling her own revulsion, Leia began before Mara flung the forming
retort, "We will, as you had surmised before giving us the name, now want to
move to negotiation for the Urmari ship." The reviled word stuck in her
throat like a claw. "I would like your permission to send a team aboard to
inspect the goods as it were. I assume you have no objections?" Karrde
entered a sequence on his data pad and handed it to Leia, "This is the code
to open the ship." Leia glanced at and memorized it, then stood, "I would
like to set that in motion before we go any further. If you will excuse us."

She swept out of the room, Mara following, both of them rebuffing
Luke's persistent mental queries as to what had so staggered them. In the
bustling corridor, they were quiet, pale, hurrying to the others, who when
they met, were themselves flush with concern, having only Luke's report that
something ghastly had been revealed during the negotiation.

Leia shut the conference room door behind her, grateful for its solid
reassurance against her back, buffeted by Han and Luke's demands for the
news. "Urmari, Karrde says its an Urmari ship." The name cut through the
room like a blade on raw nerves, stunned silence punctuated only by a fierce
protest from Chewbacca.

Gesturing for them all to sit, Leia repeated to herself, we have to
keep moving, we can't *think* about this now. Aloud she said, "We don't have
much time. I don't want Karrde to think that we are as..."

Mara injected in a surly tone, "Stunned? Horrified?"

Leia continued, "As surprised as we are." She took Han's data pad
and entered the entry code, "This will get you into the ship." Handing the
pad back to him, his fingertips grazed her palm in a evanescent moment of
understanding.

Han said, "Knowing it's supposed to be Urmari will help. Threepio
and Artoo should be able to interpret the diagnostics, interface with the
computer. On our way to the ship we'll dump everything in the Palace
databank on the Urmari into Artoo, see what can kinda cross reference we can
do."

She turned grateful eyes on her husband who had also seen the urgency
in dealing with practical first, coping with the implications of Urmari and
what they and Palpatine had done to eradicate the Jedi would have to come
later.

In response to Chewie, Han added, "And we'll see if we can interpret
the ship's log. We need to figure out if the ship can account for the time
differences the way the Gate did." He was already on his feet, motioning for
Chewie and Luke, "Based on the coordinates from our last trip to Earth, we'll
see if the ship has ever been in that, or any other galaxy."

"Karrde said it had gone a long way," Mara contributed grimly.

"As soon as we can confirm any of this, we'll call you up. Luke,
you coming?" Han asked.

"Yeah." Rising Luke turned apprehensively to his sister, "If Karrde
is dealing with the Urmari, this explains a lot about him." To Mara he
entreated, "If you know anything . . ."

Mara cut in with icy contempt, the shock they all shared compounded
for her by a sense of betrayal, "You *still* don't trust me, Skywalker?"
Luke retreated with Han and Chewie, not wanting another argument with his
sensitive student.

Answering Leia's own unasked questions, Mara grumbled, "I've never
seen an Urmari that I'm aware of and I had no idea Karrde was dealing with
them."

Leia's question was harsher than she intended it, "Do you think it's
a coincidence that Karrde ends up dealing with purported Force stealers like
the Urmari, that he trafficks in semi-domesticated vronskrs that hunt using
the Force, is practically the only person in the galaxy who can keep Force
repelling ysalamiri alive and used to live on the one planet home to both
species?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know much more than you do." Mara buried
a clenched fist into a knotted forehead, "I wish to skies I did."

"We've been away long enough. We need to get back." Leia became
gently firm, "Can you still go through with this?" Not as if, Leia thought,
there were many alternatives. Mara's "Sure." was committed and grim.

* * *

Karrde opened with a bid Leia was hard pressed not to laugh at, the
sum, representing over 70% of the New Republic's annual military budget. As
the grueling offers and counter offers ground on, Leia and Mara both knew
that the numbers were high, far too high for the credit-strapped New
Republic. The feints and parries were clearly getting the better of Mara; in
this kind of waiting game she would have done well to imitate the studied
politeness of the Trader and Councillor. Leia had been born to this mental
jousting and Karrde was relishing the challenge of a worthy opponent.

During a brief break, Leia queried, "If you could indulge my
curiosity, I have assumed that it was not mere happenstance that you have
come to trade with the Urmari and had your base on Myrkr. Perhaps you could
share some of the story."

Karrde shrugged with feigned indifference, "We all know the tales of
the Emperor's murder of the Jedi, and the various means he employed to
accomplish the task. The Urmari, of course, were reputed to be one of those
means."

Leia suppressed the shudder, "Of course the more gruesome stories
claim that the Urmari did not actually kill their victims, but merely drained
the Jedi of their ability to contact the Force." Leia attempted calm,
adding, "In some languages, I understand that the word Urmari has come to
mean 'soul-stealer.'"

Karrde remained unruffled, "Certainly I have never discussed their
methods. By whatever means, they were undoubtedly successful and Palpatine
assisted by supplying them with vronskrs and ysalamiri from Myrkr." Karrde
casually continued, his breezy disclosures repelling and profoundly
unsettling the two Force-adept women with him. "Vronskrs, as you know, are
drawn to any strong Force aura; it is how they stalk their prey. And the
ysalamiri, well they have that unique quality of rendering Force users
helpless like the rest of us." The bitterness came only from the words, not
the cheery tone.

"These animals obviously were very useful to an Emperor bent upon
eradication of the Jedi and Palpatine supplied both to the Urmari. Many
years ago, I learned of the unique qualities of this Myrkr wildlife, as did,
you will recall, Grand Admiral Thrawn, likely from the same source. With the
resurgence of the Jedi, for business reasons, Myrkr was an excellent base."
Again a bubble of anger carefully contained behind of facade of gentility.
Karrde finished, ambiguously, "And after a time, an Urmari representative
contacted me,
anxious to resume the trade that had ended with Palpatine's death."

Leia shook off with difficulty the nightmare images every Alderaani
child learned and feared, of a dark shifting image that would seep in as you
slept to rob you of what had ever made you special and human, draining you
and leaving behind only an empty shell, a brittle dried husk of your former
self. Her chiming comm mercifully interrupted. "Yes?" She heard Han's
carefully phrased answer, "All checks out as represented."

Leia returned to Karrde, firing off in the measured language of
negotiation and compromise, their offer, "With that verification Trader
Karrde, we are prepared to deal. We will offer you ten million credits for
the Urmari ship." Karrde derided, "Councillor, really--"

"No, Trader Karrde, there is more. Ten million credits and the
return of Mara Jade to the Smuggler's Alliance for one year." Karrde's eyes
flickered to Mara, who remained impassive and unreadable. Leia had
preemptively struck, playing their trump before Karrde had time to make the
demand.

"Minimum three year commitment, effective immediately, and thirty
five million."
Now Leia scoffed, "Three years? That's a lifetime in the world of smuggling
Karrde. One year, ten million and not effective until we return from our
planned excursion."

Karrde laughed, "Now Councillor, why should I accept such
contingencies?" "And why should we accept anything less. You are, not
without justification demanding, a high price, but what assurance do we have
that the ship will perform for the purpose for which it is purchased."

Karrde arched an eyebrow, "You are demanding a warranty, Councillor?"

Leia was implacable, "Indeed I am. I will not insult your
intelligence, Trader, by implying that I am prepared to trust you. But, I do
trust that you would not endanger Mara Jade. She is going on that excursion,
and if the ship does not function as represented, you will be deprived of
your liaison. Permanently." Karrde again glanced at Mara but she only
stared back at him, enigmatic.

Locking her gaze, Karrde said slowly, "What warranty do I have that I
will not be admitting a viper back into my organization. A New Republic Jedi
has little credibility in smuggling circles." What else Mara might be hung
unspoken.

Mara did not rise at the bait Karrde dangled. Softly, with utter
sincerity, she said, "You know me better than that, Talon."

"I know the smuggler, the liaison, the lieutenant in my
organization, the person who once saved my life. But the Jedi...?" It was a
bluff, Karrde wanted Mara back.

Leia repeated, "One year, effective immediately on our return, ten
million."

"Thirty, two years."

Leia countered, "We know what has happened to your profit margins
since Mara left the liaison post. This isn't about sentiment."
Instinctively, Leia felt to the contrary, and used that now to her
advantage, "Her return alone is worth at least five million per year."

"Very well, two years and twenty-five."

Leia took a gamble, person versus profit, standing she indicated
Mara should join her. Over her shoulder she said firmly, "Two years and
eighteen."

"Your final offer, Councillor?"

"It is. With eighteen million credits, Mara Jade and the name
Urmari, we might just acquire our own ship. And you are not the only one who
knows where to acquire vronskrs and ysalamiri."

Karrde clapped his hands slowly, truly impressed, "Well done,
Councillor. So seldom does the reputation match the reality." Leia turned
back around, bowing slightly but with no humor as Karrde relented, "Eighteen
million, seventy five percent payable now. Mara Jade to the Smugglers
Alliance for minimum two year commitment, and the remaining twenty-five
percent, both payable upon your return. Mara, you'll see to the transfer?"
And with that Karrde rose and strode out of the room.

Leia let loose a long deep breath, quieting her shaking resolve and
limbs. She attempted to focus on Mara's reaction, but her own Force sense
could not penetrate the smuggler's customary rigid composure, "You okay with
this?"

Mara thrust hands into her pockets, eyes meeting the floor, whistling
absently, "Yeah. I guess so."

Leia had wondered if this might be an opportunity for Mara to escape
from a
commitment she had not been prepared to embrace. Some could never be fully
domesticated, some birds' wings were not meant to be clipped and Mara had
chafed at her return to the caged life of Coruscant. As if responding to
Leia's thought, Mara added, "I don't think I'm cut out for Jedi serenity.
But..." Mara abandoned all pretense of nonchalance, entreating, "Don't tell
Luke. Not yet."

No, Leia thought, that was not a conversation she wished to have with
her brother. Aloud, she said, "Of course not. "

* * *

Han dubbed the Urmari ship the "Flying Saucer," reflecting the
vehicle's
odd resemblance to a piece of dinnerware. He could not believe that the
huge, oddly shaped, brightly lit, and truly ugly ship was capable of what it
was. In defiance of any law of physics he had ever thought he knew, the
Urmari version of a navicomputer indicated three trips to Earth already
undertaken, six standard weeks to make the trip now, and that approximately
one half of Earth's standard rotations would have passed since their last
visit.

Han had itched to tinker with the ship's drive; on principle he
preferred trusting his and his wife's lives only to those things that obeyed
natural laws and that he could comprehend. In truth, however, flying the
Millennium Falcon was not all that different. The key distinction was that
pulling the Falcon together with spit and glue was commonplace; trying the
same tricks with alien machinery was likely to result in some fatal error of
navigation or engineering and spectacular fireworks. Neither the Urmari nor
Karrde had thought to provide a User's Manual, and even Han did not think it
was a good idea to ask.

Violating the self-imposed prohibition on fiddling with anything, it was
Chewie who discovered the ship's rudimentary cloaking device. It had not
been all that difficult of a task: a big red button on the console said in
Basic, "Push to Disappear."

Six weeks did give an even more insufferable than usual Threepio
sufficient time to instruct them in some of the basic phrases in the language
Fox and Dana had used. Fortunately, translator comm devices eliminated the
need for more detailed lessons with the fussy protocol droid and linguist.
Even so, Han figured the odds of Threepio surviving the trip at no better
than even money.

END-- CHAPTER 1

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