Star Wars_ Darth Bane 03_ Dynasty of Evil - Drew Karpyshyn [72]
When Zannah nodded, Set rose from his seat and executed a deep bow, his head dipping down so low his long hair tumbled forward to hang like a silver curtain covering his head and face.
“Lead and I will follow,” he offered, though there was something almost mocking in his tone.
She couldn’t help but wonder what Bane would have done in response to Set’s irreverent behavior. The consequences would no doubt have been harsh. Zannah, however, was content to let the Dark Jedi have his fun. She had wounded his ego, humiliating him by so easily overpowering him during their confrontation. It was important to let him regain his confidence. And if his jests made it easier for him to accept his role as apprentice, she was willing to put up with them … to a point.
Set understood all this, of course. She knew he was pushing her, testing the limits and boundaries of their relationship. At the same time, Zannah had been testing him. So far he had been smart enough to know where to draw the line.
Leaving their bags on the ship, Zannah and Set made their way from the hangar to the small customs building at the front of the starport. Chet, the young customs officer who had spoken to her the last time she’d left Ciutric, was on duty again.
“Good evening, Mistress Omek,” he said with a tilt of his head. “I’ll have someone bring your speeder around.”
“Thank you, Chet.”
“Want me to send someone for your bags?”
“I’ll pick them up in the morning.” If I’m still alive.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Set chimed in.
Zannah silenced him with a glare.
Chet obviously caught the exchange, but what he made of it Zannah wasn’t sure. A few seconds of silence passed before the customs official said, “May I speak with you alone for a moment, Mistress Omek?”
Curious, Zannah nodded at Set, who turned and walked away in the other direction, looking mildly offended.
“Had an unregistered drop ship enter atmosphere a few hours ago,” Chet whispered once Set was out of earshot. “Touched down in the jungle about a hundred kilometers east of the starport.”
Odd, Zannah thought.
Ciutric IV was located at the nexus of several key trade routes, but the tariffs and taxes charged by the customs stations were minimal. No legitimate merchant would incur the risk of landing in the untamed jungle just to avoid some paperwork and save a handful of credits. And there weren’t any smuggling operations active in the region; if there were, she and Bane would have known about them.
“Any idea who they were?”
Chet shrugged. “They landed outside our jurisdiction, and they didn’t send off an emergency beacon, so nobody bothered to send a patrol to investigate.”
She wasn’t surprised at the lack of official urgency generated by the unregistered vessel. Ciutric was generally a law-abiding world; as a result planetary security was somewhat lax. It was one of the reasons Bane had chosen to take up residence here.
She was intrigued, however. Did the drop ship have anything to do with the unease she’d felt upon landing?
“You said they touched down to the east?” Our estate is on the eastern edge of the city.
“Yeah. Showed up on the sensors a couple of hours before your brother got back.”
“My brother?”
“Oh,” Chet said, mildly surprised. “I just assumed you knew. He left the day after you did. Just got back tonight.”
“Any idea where he went?”
The customs official shook his head. “Sorry.”
Zannah’s mind was spinning with a thousand possibilities as the valet arrived with her speeder. Bane almost never left Ciutric. If he had business, people came to him … or he sent Zannah. Something must have come up that was too important for him to wait for her to get back. Either that, or he had business he wanted to deal with personally. And if that was the case, was it possible he had sent her to Doan as a way to get rid of her temporarily?
She could think of only one reason Bane would have wanted to keep her from knowing about his journey: he was looking for someone to replace her!
“Trouble?” Set asked, wandering over