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Treen did not swoon, but continued to smile.

“So,” Lecersen said, “I have to ask, why does a Senator from Kuat want to kidnap the Imperial Head of State?”

“Well, he’s handsome, isn’t he?” Treen gave him an admonishing look. “No, truthfully, it’s because I want you to be Emperor, of course.”

“Ah. I see.” Lecersen blinked. That was not the answer he expected. In truth, he had not expected any sort of confession from her. Now that he was getting one, he had to figure out what to do with it; he had no jurisdiction in Kuat or here, and so might have to hand over evidence to the GA authorities.

Unless there really was something in it for him, of course. “No, actually, I don’t.”

“I’d be happy to enlighten you. Would you accompany me to the Kuat embassy?”

“Would I find myself drugged, with a bag thrown over my head?”

“Of course not. I want our next Emperor to look upon me with gratitude and respect, not irritation. But, please, do bring all the security forces you wish to. Just make sure”—she dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper—“you trust them absolutely.”

Half an hour later, accompanied by two security men bound to him by debts so profound that he could trust them absolutely—well, nearly absolutely—Lecersen walked with Senator Treen down the marble-lined halls of the Kuat embassy. Arches led to side passages and function rooms, most of them dim and silent. The creamy, blue-veined marble that decorated every surface, Lecersen knew, could, if salvaged and sold, buy him a brand-new Star Destroyer.

“I had been a Senator for one year when Palpatine came to power,” Treen told him. “Do you know what his greatest mistake was?”

“Making you angry with him?”

Her smile returned. “In a sense. Oh, the first years of the Empire were glorious. Taxes increased, sadly, but our planetary economy boomed as ridiculous Republic regulations were trimmed away. No, his mistake was in silencing the voices of planetary leaders. It would be like a general suddenly saying that no one of colonel rank or below could ever speak or communicate with him again. When Palpatine suspended the Senate, I knew madness had him in its grip.”

“Very interesting,” he lied.

She led him and his agents through an arch into a side chamber. The glow rods along its ceiling came on as they entered. The walls were covered with holopanels, each displaying, at five-second intervals, a changing sequence of still recordings of Kuat and the early days of Palpatine’s Empire: flotillas of Kuat-built vessels, public appearances by the dark-cloaked Emperor and Darth Vader, the construction of massive complexes.

The Senator heaved a deep sigh. “I miss the Empire—in its original, benevolent form. And I think you can bring it back to us.”

“I’m touched by your faith. But kidnapping Jagged Fel would not make me Emperor.”

“No, but it would be the first step. And the other steps are mapped out. Masterfully, irresistibly mapped out.”

“Tell me.”

“First, the Fel boy has to be eliminated because he cannot preside while the Galactic Empire experiences reunion with the Galactic Alliance.”

“I would have thought that you’d be opposed to reunification.”

“Oh, no. The resurgence of a powerful, healthy Empire depends on it.”

“Everything you say is a surprise …”

“If the reunification takes place under Fel, then Fel gets the credit. If Fel disappears or dies, his successor gets the credit. And who is more likely to succeed him as Head of State than you?”

“Fair enough. So I’m Head of State, and reunification occurs, and I’m now the second most powerful individual in the galaxy—a very distant second behind the Alliance Chief of State.”

She nodded amiably, clearly pleased that Lecersen understood. “Now, bear with me. A couple of years ago, Natasi Daala came to power. Wretched woman. We’re still suffering from her effects on the Empire.”

Lecersen snorted. “Because of her, half the Moffs are women. I have a hard time believing that a Senator from Kuat would object to that.”

“I don’t, but that would have happened anyway. Eventually, inevitably. I’m talking about this ridiculous