"And since most of what we know comes solely from him, we wouldn't even be able to guess from that what he's really up to."
"Actually, everything we know about him comes solely from him," Mara corrected. "Karrde told us about Dean Jinzler's background, but we only have our gray-eyed friend's word for it that he really is Dean Jinzler."
Luke hissed between his teeth. That one hadn't even occurred to him. "Which means what I said about us having a few more puzzle pieces is meaningless, isn't it?"
"They could be pieces to an entirely imaginary puzzle," Mara agreed. "And it gets worse. It could even be we have two different sets of late-night skulkers, each with different agendas, working either parallel or at cross-purposes to each other. Don't forget, we had not only Jinzler up here but at least two Chiss crewers and one of Fel's stormtroopers, as well."
"And if Jinzler's telling the truth, one of the Geroons," Luke reminded her. "All we're missing is Formbi and Drask to round out the suspect list."
"Right," Mara said. "On the other hand, Jinzler's the only one who got caught where he wasn't supposed to be. How does that story about just happening to head through the Chiss quarters strike you?"
"It's actually not as far-fetched as it sounds," Luke said. "If there was a Jedi in his family, he could easily be Force-sensitive enough to be nudged to the right place at the right time without knowing how or why he'd done it. Not many people know enough about Jedi family patterns to spin that sort of subtlety into a lie, either."
"Car'das might have known," Mara said. "And whatever he senses or doesn't sense, Jinzler still needed Car'das's advice to get himself transferred to Comra in time." She waved a hand. "Yes, I know that's not the same thing."
"Still, we do keep coming back to Car'das, don't we?" Luke murmured. "I wonder what he and Formbi might have had to talk about."
"No idea," Mara said. "As far as I know, Karrde himself never did any work out in the Unknown Regions. If Car'das made it out this far, it was before he and Karrde met."
"Or after Car'das disappeared," Luke pointed out. "We don't know anything about him during that period, either."
"Maybe we should go ask Formbi," Mara suggested.
"Sure, why not?" Luke said. "We need to warn him to check the shield generators, anyway."
Mara shook her head. "I don't think the generators were the target," she said. "I think it was something else."
"Any idea what?"
"Not really," Mara conceded. "But if I had to vote, I'd vote for someone putting a tap on the sensor lines. Remember when we were called into the command center earlier this evening and Formbi was listing all the dangers we would be facing inside the cluster?"
"Yes," Luke said, wondering where she was going with this.
"Among the various natural hazards to life and happiness, he also mentioned something called firepoints," she went on. "I've been meaning to ask him what exactly those are, but I think I may have figured it out." She pointed out the viewport. "You see that asteroid over there? The one with all the dark spots?"
Luke peered out into the brilliant starscape. A spotted asteroid... "Yes," he said as he picked it out of the shadows.
"Ten to one it's either a missile cluster or a fighter nest," Mara said. "Those dark spots are almost certainly the ends of launching tubes."
"A firepoint," Luke murmured, studying the asteroid. There were a lot of dark spots on it, too. "Aptly named."
"Very aptly named," Mara agreed. "An unfriendly ship that stops here for a nav check is going to be in for a world of hurt."
She looked at Luke, her expression grim in the reflected starlight. "Anyone who might be thinking about taking on the Chiss would have a definite interest in locating as many of those defenses as possible."
Luke felt his stomach tighten. "Fel?"
"Or the Geroons might have an interested client with an unused planet to swap them," Mara said. "Jinzler could be fronting for someone, too."
"Car'das?"
She shrugged. "Could be. We do know that Car'das likes collecting information. This would certainly come under that heading."
"Point," Luke said, taking one last look around at the stars. The last refuge of the Chiss people, Formbi had called it. Who out there would be interested in learning its secrets? "I think we've pushed this set of puzzle pieces around as much as we can. Let's go see if we can pick up another piece or two."
Mara pushed away from the viewport. "Formbi?"
Luke nodded. "Formbi."
They found the Aristocra in a service corridor midway between the control center and the main engines, watching in silence as a pair of Chiss crewers dug into an open conduit access panel with long, tonglike probes. A third crewer stood expectantly by with a sealed metal container. "Ah, our noble Jedi," Formbi said as they maneuvered past the workers in the cramped space and came to his side. "I understand you've been busy this evening."
"I see you have, too, Aristocra," Luke pointed out. "Have you found the problem?"
Formbi nodded. "Line creepers, as we suspected."
"Line creepers?"
"Long, slender creatures that chew their way into power and control systems and live on the electrical power generated within," Formbi explained. "They're a vermin we've worked very hard to destroy or contain."
"Sounds like conduit worms," Mara commented. "That's a type of vermin we've tried hard to destroy."
"With no more success than we've had, I suspect," Formbi said.
"True," Luke said. "What was this particular batch working on? The engine control lines?"
"Yes," Formbi said. "That's what caused the flutter you apparently felt earlier. We're clearing them out now."
"What about the lights in the forward part of the ship?" Mara asked. "Did they get in there, too?"
"No," Formbi said. "It appears someone merely shut them down."
"Accidentally?" Mara asked.
Formbi's glowing eyes seemed to blaze a bit brighter as he looked at her. "What do you think?" he countered.
"We think the Chaf Envoy has some serious problems," Luke said. "We're not sure everyone aboard wants this mission to succeed."
He stretched out to the Force, hoping for a telling reaction. But Formbi merely shook his head. "You're wrong, Master Skywalker," he said quietly. "Everyone aboard very much wishes the mission to succeed."
"Maybe so," Mara said. "But it may not be the same mission as the one you have scheduled."
"I presume you've heard of the incident in the bow a few minutes ago?" Luke asked.
"I have," Formbi said. "Captain Talshib is already searching for damage or theft in that part of the vessel."
"Good," Mara said. "What did you and Jorj Car'das talk about?"
Luke had been trying, without success, to spark a reaction from the elderly Chiss. Mara's attempt was just as futile. "Jorj Car'das?" Formbi asked, lifting his eyebrows politely, his composure not even flickering.
"The human who brought Ambassador Jinzler to Crustai," Mara said. "The ambassador said you two spoke at length."
Formbi smiled faintly. "And you suspect something sinister about it?" He shook his head. "Not at all. He introduced the ambassador to me and listed his credentials and honors. I greeted him in turn, and welcomed him on behalf of the Chiss Ascendancy."
"And you did all this in that trade language, Minnisiat?"
"At the time I doubt he was aware I could speak your New Republic Basic," Formbi said.
"And you'd never met Car'das before?" Mara persisted.
"How could I possibly know anyone from the New Republic?" Formbi asked patiently. "I've never been farther than a few light-years outside Chiss space. Ah."
He pointed over Luke's shoulder. Luke turned to see one of the workers pull a long, segmented worm from the conduit with his tongs. The third Chiss had his container open, and the first eased the worm carefully into the opening. "A line creeper," Formbi identified it as the third crewer sealed the container again. "A young one, too, from its size. If left undisturbed long enough, they can grow to be as long as an adult Chiss and thick enough to nearly fill a conduit that size."