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But he could understand why Daala might have wanted to hire this girl. Once she herself, Admiral Natasi Daala, had been looked on with scorn as little more than Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin’s “bit on the side.” True, she had once been his mistress, and true, she was a strikingly physically beautiful woman. But she was also fiercely intelligent and ambitious, with an exquisite grasp of strategy that often left both allies and adversaries reeling. She had used the underestimation and contempt in which she had been held ruthlessly, calculatedly to her advantage. Now she was the head of the Galactic Alliance. She had insisted that the Moffs include women. It made perfect sense that she’d feel a kinship with a female Twi’lek, who until recent history had fetched high prices on the slave market. Daala would want to give a deserving female the same opportunity she’d had herself to defy expectations and excel.

Dorvan extended his hand. “Hello, Desha Lor. I’m Wynn Dorvan, as you already know. Is this your first government job?”

She nodded vigorously. “Yes. Chief of State Daala is a friend of my family. It was most kind of her to offer me this position.”

“Most kind,” Dorvan echoed. “You’ll have to excuse me … your presence here is a bit of a surprise for me. I’m sure we’ll learn to work together.”

He indicated one of the simple chairs, and she took a seat while he slid into the chair across the desk from her. Pocket squeaked slightly, and he lifted the little animal out and put her in her small bed on a shelf behind the desk.

“Oh, is that a chitlik? They’re adorable!”

“Yes, they are, and Pocket has the run of the office. I’ll take care of her. All you need to do is watch out not to step on her.”

Desha gave him a radiant smile. “I’m sure I’d never do that.”

“Not more than once, believe me. She’s generally calm, but she bites if she’s unhappy. Now … tell me about your clearance level and what our good Chief of State said you’d be doing for me.”

Desha Lor had a very high level of clearance indeed, which would be necessary if she was to be more to him than a pretty face to greet visitors. He intended her to be. If he was going to have an assistant forced upon him, then he would make her earn her keep. While she spoke, he ran his own check on her, keeping the screen turned away so she couldn’t see what he was doing. He nodded in all the right places, listening with half an ear.

Lor, Desha, daughter of a Twi’lek diplomat, had been an intern in the private sector for a year. Stellar student, no criminal record, all her offworld visits checked out. Her family was well known and respected. She was definitely clean. Almost too clean.

Is anyone this innocent anymore? Dorvan wondered, then reprimanded himself for waxing sentimental. He’d better keep an eye on her, make sure she was just the innocent young woman on her first big government job that she seemed to be. Daala was a sharp one, no one knew that better than Wynn Dorvan. But he aided the Galactic Alliance best by knowing the weaknesses of those around him, and Daala’s sympathy toward an attractive female trying to earn a place in the galaxy based on more than her looks might just be a weakness. It would not be the first time he had quietly helped the GA by moderating Daala’s more extreme stances.

Princess Leia Organa was the shining example of a beautiful young woman with good family connections and a spotless record turning out to be a rebel against the current administration.

Oh, yes. He’d definitely keep an eye on her.

MOFF LECERSEN’S RESIDENCE,

SENATE DISTRICT, CORUSCANT

“I’m keeping an eye on him,” Moff Lecersen said as he relaxed back into the tub full of pleasant-smelling water. “Not, mind you, that it’s all that hard to do.”

“Indeed.” Moff Vansyn’s voice over the comm was amused and wry. The conversation had begun earlier that night over an excellent meal accompanied by two bottles of imported gold wine. The hour had grown late, and Vansyn had an early-morning meeting, so the discussion continued