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“So the scam-transfer went all right?” he asked I-Five.

“For the seventh time, yes, it went all right. We have precisely one hour and twenty-six minutes before it’s discovered and rectified by the auditor droids. Perhaps another four minutes before they are able to pinpoint the location of the credit tab and, depending on how busy the local police are, anywhere from six to fourteen minutes before they arrive to take the bearer of the tab into custody for attempted grand theft and illegal use of communication protocols THX-one-one-three—”

“Spare me the details. We have less than an hour and forty-five minutes to get this deal done and be on our way. How much farther is this place?”

“At our present rate of speed we’ll arrive in two-point-six minutes. Plenty of time to accomplish our task, as well as fence the holocron to the Hutt.”

“Assuming the Neimoidian doesn’t want to have a drink and chat about Republic politics and the latest hi-lo ball scores.”

“Since you are to negotiate alone, I trust you will find some way to skip the small talk. Time’s running out and the fake ID I utilized on the transfer won’t slow the authorities for more than another few minutes after they collect the credit tab. That’s assuming Hath Monchar doesn’t give your name to the arresting officers—which would be a dangerous assumption, for if I were him, I would do so instantly, and so would you to anybody who cheated you thus. In which case we will be in bantha excrement up to our eyeballs and photoreceptors, respectively. So decline liquid refreshment and idle chitchat and get the deal done; that’s my considered advice.”

Finding the Neimoidian was child’s play for Maul. Walls could not stop the dark questing fingers of the Force. When he arrived at the correct domicile, he sensed that there were four beings behind the door. Monchar, of course, and the bodyguard he had seen accompanying him. The dull ripples of the other two rumbled with suppressed violence. More guards, no doubt.

No matter. Be there three guards or thirty, the result would be the same. It was time for Hath Monchar to pay the penalty for attempting to double-cross Lord Sidious.

Darth Maul pulled his double lightsaber from his belt and held his thumb upon the ignition button. He took a deep breath and centered himself in the swirls and eddies of the dark side. Then, his power and concentration thus augmented, he thrust forward his free hand as though hurling an invisible ball.

The door shattered inward.

Mahwi Lihnn moved through the building’s dimly lit halls with great care, ready to shoot anything that moved. A door opened and an old human woman started to step out, saw Lihnn with her finger tightening on the trigger, and launched herself back into the room, slamming the hinged door behind her.

Lihnn managed to keep from blasting her, though just barely.

This could be a problem, she reflected. There were hundreds of rooms in this hive, and no way that she could search them all. Her plan had been to follow the cowled one to their common destination, but her few moments of shock at discovering the way the other had breached the entrance had been enough to let her quarry vanish into the warren. Lihnn knew she could wander around here for days and not find the Neimoidian. Maybe she should go back outside and set up a watch on the building’s exit?

The problem with that was she wasn’t sure of the cowled one’s intent in pursuing Monchar. Lihnn’s mandate from the Trade Federation was clear: Bring Hath Monchar back alive. If she didn’t find the Neimoidian soon, she might wind up with a corpse on her hands, which would not make Haako at all happy.

There didn’t seem to be much choice but to continue her search.

As soon as he was through the door, Maul triggered his lightsaber. The bright beams lanced out to their full lengths.

He took in the room: The Neimoidian sat in a chair against the far wall. A pair of Squid Heads scrabbled for their holstered blasters. The Trandoshan bodyguard