Free Star Wars: Scourge by Jeff Grubb Page B

But I checked the figures three times. It
should
work.”
    “And it would be a fairly elaborate effort just to test if the coordinates are correct. They have their own ships and pilots, and indeed, they gave us this one,” Mander said. “Let’s assume that what we’ve been told is true, and that these coordinates will take us to Endregaad.”
    Reen rubbed her arm where the vaccination needle had bit deep. “Speaking of trust, what do we know about this plague?”
    Mander motioned toward Vago’s datapad. “The Endregaad plague is so far confined primarily to Endregaad, thanks to the efforts of the Corporate Sector Authority. A smuggler’s ship from the planet showed up in Rudrig, in the Tion Cluster, about three weeks ago. Its crew was too weak to land, and the ship was boarded and impounded. The CSA quickly slapped a lid down on Endregaad itself, and have one of their Dreadnoughts in orbit.”
    “No other cases offplanet?” asked Reen.
    “Not according to this report, but the symptoms aresimilar to a couple of other known diseases that come from blasted, irradiated worlds,” Mander noted. “Symptoms include fever, dehydration, crusting around the mouth and ears, general weakness, and a thickening of the fingers and tongue. Repeated exposures can kill.”
    Reen rubbed her arm again. “I’ve never been to Endregaad. Is it a blasted, irradiated world?”
    Mander noticed her action. “No, but it’s no surprise you haven’t visited it. It’s hardly a tourist spot. Most of the planet is buttes, mesas, and dry washes. It is a pretty arid place, with the open bottomlands plagued by windstorms. One major city—Tel Bollin. Major product is the geode trade—crystals found within hollow rocks.”
    “Which is why Mika Anjiliac was there,” noted Reen.
    Mander nodded. “Again, from the report, it looks like it was purely routine business dealings. Then, a couple of days after he arrived, everything went blasters-up.”
    “And we have to find him,” Reen said. “A single Hutt on a big world.”
    “He’ll definitely stand out in a crowd,” said Mander. “What do you think of his family?”
    “Can’t say I like any of them,” said Reen. “Popara is fat, Zonnos is slovenly, and Vago acts like she owns us. That’s the Hutt trifecta right there.”
    “Popara is honest,” said Eddey. Mander and Reen both looked at him.
    “I can tell,” said Eddey. “It’s not a Bothan ability or anything, but I can tell. Even when his words were translated through a droid. He didn’t lie to you.”
    “But he may not have told the truth in all things,” said Reen.
    Eddey raised his hands, palms up.
    “You had asked if Popara’s clan ran spice,” said Mander. “Did you get the response you expected?”
    “No,” said Reen, “I expected a stronger condemnationof it, if they were involved in trading hard spice. So it was a good answer, as far as they were concerned.”
    “A good answer,” repeated Mander Zuma. Then added, “While you were sweeping the ship, I did take the opportunity of checking on the Bomu clan. No one had seen any of them on Makem Te since the night of the attack. They are all hiding, dead, or gone.”
    The Pantoran smuggler and the Bothan exchanged a glance—just a quick one, but enough to confirm to Mander that they had done some of their own checking when they were supposed to be readying the ship.
    “Gone but not forgotten,” said Reen. “Each Rodian clan spans at least a dozen planets. The survivors of our little set are likely on other worlds getting their aunts and uncles all indignant about us shooting up their place.”
    Mander nodded and returned to the business at hand. “Thoughts on Zonnos?”
    “Reen’s right,” said Eddey. “Typical Hutt.”
    “You look up
Hutt
in a lexicon and you’ll see Zonnos’s picture,” said Reen. “It appears he spends his time drinking his father’s fortune with his Wookiee friends.”
    “They didn’t seem to like you much,” said Mander