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“We have the hovercade route, Supreme Chancellor.”

“May I have a look at it?” Tarkin asked.

The guard looked to Valorum for permission.

“Let him see it.”

Tarkin perused the durasheet. “A bit circuitous—perhaps needlessly so. But we should have no problem arriving at the summit hall by the appointed time.” He glanced down the long drive that led to the mansion. “The governor should be here momentarily. Then we can all depart.”

Tarkin was about to add something, when a land-speeder leapt into view, making fast for where he and Valorum were standing.

“What now?” Tarkin asked as the two-seater pulled up to the house and came to a halt.

Absent their Jedi cloaks, Adi Gallia and Saesee Tiin climbed from the hovering vehicle and made straight for Valorum. Tiin did the talking.

“Supreme Chancellor, there is a problem. We have confirmation that assassins contracted by the Nebula Front have breached Eriadu security. Qui-Gon Jinn and several other Jedi have gone to the spaceport, in the hope of intercepting them.”

“The danger is no longer conjectural, Supreme Chancellor,” Adi said earnestly.

Valorum’s forehead wrinkled in apprehension. “I want them found,” he said at last. “I will not have the summit interrupted.”

Tiin and Adi nodded. “Will you now consent to our accompanying you?” Tiin asked.

“No,” Valorum said flatly. “Appearances must be maintained.”

Adi looked hard at him. “Then will you at least agree to keeping your vehicle’s force field enabled?”

“I absolutely insist on it,” Tarkin interjected. “It is Eriadu’s obligation to assure that no harm comes to you.”

With obvious reluctance, Valorum nodded. “Until we’ve reached the grounds of the summit hall.”

His face blushed with sudden anger, Tarkin swung to a group of Eriadu security guards, who were standing behind him. “See to it that the streets are cleared. Arrest anyone you have cause to suspect. Don’t concern yourselves with legalities. Take whatever steps are necessary.”

Eriadu security agents were already on the scene by the time Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Vergere, and Ki-Adi-Mundi reached the customs warehouse.

One human agent was aiming a scanning device at several repulsorsleds parked just inside the entrance, still supporting a dozen tall and narrow cargo containers, whose opened hatches revealed them to be empty. Elsewhere in the large space, a group of infuriated customs agents were being interrogated.

The uniformed human commander of the security detail entered from a dimly lighted corridor. Behind him moved two green-scaled and chitin-sheathed insectoid bipeds, with large black eyes, short ridged snouts, and toothless mouths.

Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan’s jaw go slack.

“Verpine,” he explained. “Organs in the chest enable the species to communicate by means of radio waves. But they can also speak and understand Basic, with the assistance of translator devices. Their keen senses make them brilliant at detail work.”

“Verpine,” Obi-Wan said, shaking his head in wonder.

Seeing the four Jedi, the commander approached, while the pair of aliens set about scrutinizing the sawdust-covered floor.

Qui-Gon introduced himself and the others.

“We have two dead humans in the rear room,” the commander said, after giving Vergere the same look Obi-Wan had given the Verpine trackers. “One male, one female, each dead of blaster bolts fired at close range, but from different weapons. Carbon scoring on the floor and walls indicate a full-scale blaster fight. Blood spots show that at least one of the combatants who got away was a Rodian. Bacta patches, synthflesh, and who knows what else is missing from the room’s medkit. We’re waiting for results on finger- and handprint analysis.”

“Captain Cohl’s partner is a Rodian,” Qui-Gon said.

The commander made note of it on a datapad, then pointed to the group of customs agents. “They were taken by surprise by no less than eight heavily armed assailants, most of them human, but at least four Nikto and a couple of Bith.