"By the time the rumor campaign is finished, Technician, the Alliance will be ready to give the ship to the first person that comes along."
"I'm not concerned about the nature of the bargain." Beyond the overarching curve of the segmented viewscreens, the last of the preparations for launching were nearly complete. Kuat could see the final checkout and clearance team departing from the battle cruiser, still shrouded beneath its net lines and pressurized construction canopies." The only thing that's important in this regard is that we acquire Slave I-and its contents-as discreetly as possible. When our subsidiary corporation has gained title to the ship, it is to be brought here to Kuat Drive Yards in a shielded cargo transport, and no one outside of the KDY security operations is to know about it."
"That may be difficult to pull off, Technician." Fenald inhaled through clenched teeth." The Imperial Navy has stepped up contraband-interception patrols in most of the navigable sectors between here and Tatooine. They've even been going over our regular supply shipments with a fine-tooth comb. Getting an entire transport past them, with its contents concealed, will take some doing."
The security head's statement didn't come as a surprise to Kuat of Kuat. He was already aware of slowdowns in the construction docks, due to the Imperial Navy's interference with the on-time delivery of necessary materials. Kuat Drive Yards had had to push back the delivery date on a number of the Empire's own orders. Since it was the fault of Palpatine's overzealous admirals, Kuat had been able to avoid any penalty rebates-for the time being, at least. But there had been no change in the ongoing situation, which indicated that the time-wasting searches must, at some level, have the Emperor's approval. Another psychological ploy: the Emperor was fully aware that Kuat Drive Yards wasn't doing any business with the Rebel Alliance, but ordering the searches to continue would indicate to Palpatine's underlings, and anyone outside the court on Coruscant, that the corporation was under suspicion.
Hard to tell what Emperor Palpatine was trying to achieve with a ploy like that, especially at a cost to himself of delaying these much-needed additions to his navy. With every time unit that passed, the Rebel Alliance was increasing in numbers and strength. Was tarnishing Kuat Drive Yards' reputation, and impugning its loyalty to the Empire, worth such a disadvantage? Kuat answered his own question: It is, if Palpatine wishes to destroy-or take over-the corporation. That was entirely consistent with the Emperor's lust for power and control. It wasn't enough to be a faithful ally to a madman like that; perhaps the time had finally arrived in the Emperor's carefully calculated plans, when he'd find it satisfying to consume those closest to him. The Emperor didn't want allies; he wanted slaves.
Perhaps I should go over to the Rebel Alliance. And take Kuat Drive Yards with him; the thought-and the temptation-had struck Kuat before. Was there any other option? Even if Kuat Drive Yards remained as the Empire's chief military contractor and was instrumental in achieving Palpatine's ambitions, what reward would there be for such service?
The same as there would very likely be for all of the Emperor's stormtroopers and admirals: annihilation, absorption, reduction into a will-less instrument of Palpatine's ego. Death, without the consolation of non-existence; life, where every atom of one's being was part of the prison into which the universe had been transformed.
Only one thing prevented Kuat of Kuat from following through on that notion, of taking Kuat Drive Yards over to the Empire's sworn enemies. What stopped him was the suspicion that that was exactly what Emperor Palpatine wanted him to do. All of the Emperor's actions regarding the corporation might be designed to push Kuat into the Rebel Alliance's arms. There were still forces in Palpatine's court that sought the destruction of Kuat Drive Yards as an independent entity. While Prince Xizor had been alive, he had whispered lies into the ear of the Emperor; perhaps Palpatine had finally been convinced by them. If Kuat made any move at all toward the Rebel Alliance, that could be justification enough for the Emperor to launch a full-scale assault against Kuat, placing the corporation's vast technical resources and construction docks under direct military control. There wouldn't be a Kuat Drive Yards after that; generations of engineering skill, the blood in Kuat's veins, would finally have come to an end, hissing into red steam under a storm-trooper's white-hot bolt of blaster fire.
"You might be correct about that. . ."
"Technician?"
"About bringing Slave I here to Kuat Drive Yards, once our subsidiary has acquired it from the Alliance." Kuat's deep musing about the dangers involved in his dealings with the Empire had connected with more immediate concerns. As delicate and ringed with hazard as the situation was, it might be a fatal mistake to be caught with such concrete evidence of being in touch with the Rebels; the enemies of Kuat Drive Yards would be sure to put the worst possible spin on it." Perhaps it would be better if we secured some remote locale to which Slave I could be taken, and an inspection team could go there and examine the ship. We'd have to make sure, though, that they couldn't be identified as Kuat Drive Yards employees."
The security head nodded." That could be arranged, Technician."
"See to it." Kuat stroked beneath the felinx's chin, perceiving in his fingertips the animal's contented murmur." That will be all for now."
In the executive offices of Kuat Drive Yards, there was no need for the elaborate and obsequious rituals found at Palpatine's court. Fenald turned and strode away, bootsteps echoing on the matte-surfaced metal flooring.
Kuat remained gazing out the segmented view-screens. Voicing his thoughts had helped sort them out, like examining a set of blueprints scrolling across a high-resolution CAD screen. Kuat Drive Yards' head of security was an unimaginative but thorough personality-Kuat had chosen and promoted him for precisely those reasons, plus an unflagging loyalty to the corporation that had nurtured him. There had been no need to remind Fenald of the importance of acquiring Boba Fett's ship-reacquiring it, actually, since the ship had been built here at KDY. Not because of any intrinsic value to the ship, but because of what it might still contain. It didn't matter whether Boba Fett was alive or not-and Kuat had the same gut feeling he'd experienced after the bombing raid on Tatooine's Dune Sea that Fett had eluded every force
that would have brought about a lesser creature's destruction. Even if the unlikeliest event had occurred, and Boba Fett really was dead, there were very likely traces aboard Slave I, evidence of some of the deeper and more dangerous conspiracies with which the bounty hunter had become involved. Evidence that led back to Kuat Drive Yards; that was the real danger that had to be averted at all costs.
If Fett destroyed the cargo droid, brooded Kuat. Or got rid of it somehow. . . then we might be safe. For all his cunning, Boba Fett had almost certainly been aware of the value of the material that had fallen into his hands; he might have disposed of it before leaving Slave I in orbit above Tatooine. But if the big, awkward droid still existed, with its boxlike innards full of spy equipment and incriminating data waiting to be deciphered and analyzed-then a whole new level of trouble would begin for Kuat Drive Yards. All because of a holo-video of an Imperial stormtrooper raid on an isolated moisture farm on Tatooine, and the pheromone scent of the galaxy's most powerful criminal, the leader of the Black Sun organization. . .
Into Kuat's meditations came the image of Prince Xizor's face, with its violet eyes and cold, sneering smile. Even more than Emperor Palpatine, that had been the enemy all of Kuat Drive Yards had to fear. Xizor's death had not eliminated the dangers the corporation had to confront.