The Republic was playing decoy games with him, and he with them. It was looking better all the time. They didn’t appear to be adopting their usual tactic of landing infantry in force. It was a game of wits, and if need arose he could sit tight and force the Republic to come to him.
If he wanted to bring the Republic close enough to shoot, then he might need an even more compelling bait.
Dr. Uthan would understand. She was a pragmatic woman.
Fi was getting edgy. It wasn’t like him. Niner had only known him a matter of days, but you made quick judgments on small detail if you were a clone commando, especially among your own.
He didn’t sleep when Niner relieved him on watch, and after fifteen minutes Fi came forward to the observation position and settled down beside him. The fires seemed to have stopped; the glow was still visible, but it was static. It had probably reached one of the streams and was burning itself out.
“They know we’re here anyway,” Fi said. Niner needed no telepathy to know he was worrying about Darman. “We could try the comlink at longer range.”
“They’d get a fix on positions.”
“They’d have to get lucky.”
“And we only have to be unlucky once.”
“Okay. Sorry, Sarge.”
He lapsed back into silence. Niner adjusted his infrared filter to remove the distracting light of the fire. Suddenly, it was abnormally silent, and that meant the gdans had stopped their incessant prowling, which was not good.
Niner looked down his rifle scope one-handed to get a narrower focus on the bushes in front of him. As he panned across 180 degrees, he caught sight of little paired reflections, the alert eyes of gdans huddled in uncharacteristic stillness to avoid something.
Movement. His scope flashed blue in one quadrant, warning him. Maybe whatever it was could see infrared. He killed the targeting, switching to image intensification and the Mark One Ear’ole, as Skirata called it. You got eyes and ears, son, good ones. Don’t rely on the tech too much. Something was coming, something slow, stealthy, smaller than a man, more sly than a droid.
Niner put his hand on Fi’s shoulder—Stay down–not daring to speak, even on comlink.
It was ten meters away, coming straight at them, making no attempt to stalk. Maybe it didn’t know what they were. It was going to get a surprise, then.
Niner flicked on his tactical spot-lamp, and the blinding beam caught a shining black shape. He cut the beam immediately, muscles relaxing. The creature was so flat to the ground now that it looked as if it were flowing water. It was only when it was right in front of them that it sat up and became Valaqil.
“I thought I’d let you see me coming, given your armaments,” said a voice that wasn’t Valaqil’s but was equally liquid and hypnotic. “I make it a rule never to startle a humanoid with a rifle.”
“Just as well that we’ve seen a Gurlanin before,” Fi said, and touched his glove to his helmet politely.
“I didn’t seem to surprise your colleague, either. I’ve come to brief you. I’m Jinart. Please don’t call me ma’am every two seconds like Darman does.”
Niner wanted to ask a hundred questions about Darman, but the Gurlanin had used the present tense and so he was alive. Niner was glad he had his helmet in place. Displays of emotion weren’t professional, not to outsiders, anyway.
“You’re heading for the wrong target,” Jinart said. “You’re on a course for the Separatist base. Normally you’d be knocking on the door of a barracks with a hundred droids inside, but they’ve moved half of them to defend the research facility and patrol the area. Neither Uthan nor her nanovirus is at the actual facility any longer.”
“So it’s all going just great,” Fi said cheerfully.
“Your targets are at a villa just outside Imbraani, despite what evidence you might see of the facility being defended. It’s a trap.”
“What’s Darman doing?” Niner asked.
“He has your special ordnance and detailed plans of your targets. I’ve sent him into hiding with the Jedi.”
“General Fulier? We thought—”
“You thought right. He’s dead. The Jedi is his Padawan, Tur-Mukan. Don’t get your hopes up. She isn’t commander material—not yet, perhaps never. For the time being, this is still your war.”
“We weren’t planning on a frontal assault, not without infantry,” Niner said. “Now that we’ve lost the advantage of surprise, we’re going to have to get it back again.”
“You do have one element—Ghez Hokan has no accurate idea how few of you there are. I’ve made sure there are many, many obvious signs of movement through the woods and fields.”
“You’ve been busy.”
“I can do a good impersonation of a small army, or at least its movement.” Jinart glanced at Atin and Fi as if checking them. Maybe she was working out how she would mimic the form of a commando. “Not thinking of shooting and eating any merlies, are you?”
“Why?”
“That armor isn’t looking such a tight fit on you as it should.”
Fi nodded. “She’s right. Expending about thirty percent more calories than planned, Sarge. They didn’t calculate for us carrying gear overland.”
“You’ll exhaust your rations soon,” Jinart said. “Merlies are delicious. Just never shoot one, please. If necessary, I could hunt them and leave them for you.”
“Why?”
“The one you shoot might be me.”
It was one more angle they hadn’t covered on exercises. Not even Kal Skirata had dealt with Gurlanins, it seemed, or if he had he hadn’t mentioned it. Niner liked them. He wondered what world they came from. It was bound to be a fascinating one.
“Where will you head now?” Jinart asked. “I need to let Darman know where you are.”
“I’d have said RV Gamma, but that’s going the wrong way, from what you’ve told us.”
“I can give you the location of a suitable area nearer Imbraani, and when I return to Darman I will give him the same coordinates.”
Atin cut in. “They mine gems here, right?”
“Zeka quartz and various green silicates, mainly, yes.”
“Picks and shovels or mechanized?”
“Mechanized.”
“They’ll have explosives for blasting, then. And remote detonators with nice, safe, long-range settings.”
Gurlanins chuckled just like a human. She might have been amused. On the other hand, she might have been thinking Atin was a madman. But Niner liked the direction that Atin’s inventive mind was taking.
“Get your holocharts,” Jinart said. “Let me give you a virtual guide to the gem industry of the Imbraani region.”
10
NOTICE TO QIILURAN CITIZENS
Anyone found with Republic personnel on their land will have that property confiscated and will forfeit their freedom. They, their family, and anyone employed by them in any capacity will be delivered to the Trandoshan representative at Teklet for enslavement. Anyone actively aiding or sheltering Republic personnel will face the death penalty. A reward is offered for anyone providing information leading to the capture of Republic personnel or deserters from the former militia or the Separatist armed forces, in particular Lieutenant Guta-Nay or Lieutenant Pir Cuvin.
–By order of Major Ghez Hokan, commanding officer, Teklet Garrison
A thin, cold drizzle started falling almost as soon as the sun came up. It felt like Kamino; it felt like home, and that was at once both reassuring and unpleasant.
The moisture beaded on Darman’s cloak, and he shook it off. Merlie wool was full of natural oils that made it feel unpleasantly clammy next to the skin. He longed to get back into the black bodysuit, and not only because of its ballistic properties.
Etain was pushing the rear of the cart. Darman was pulling it, walking between its twin shafts. There were times on the rutted track when she had the worst of it, but—as she kept telling him—Jedi could summon the Force.