Star Wars_ Millennium Falcon - James Luceno [61]
Their signal to leave. They rose and filed out. Koi had already moved to the bar and was preparing Oxic a drink.
“Anger will only sabotage the fine work Dr. Sompa has been doing all these years,” she said.
Oxic hurried to the mirrpanel behind the bar to inspect his face for signs of reappearing age lines. “Not all species are blessed with your natural flawlessness, Koi.”
“And few have the longevity you've purchased. What does it matter how you look?”
He glanced at her reflection in the mirrpanel. “I'm not a Hutt. I've a public face to uphold. I can't be expected to win cases against young lawyers if I look like a crippled old human.”
She handed him the drink glass, and he carried it to the couch.
“Sompa is a fool. I shouldn't have agreed to his plan. If he had told Jadak the truth about the accident or forced Jadak's memories to surface, we could have simply taken him into custody at Aurora. Instead we've given him a mystery to unravel, another mission to execute.” He looked at Quire. “Is he still on Nar Shaddaa?”
“We don't know.”
Oxic swung to her. “Don't tell me we've lost him.”
She motioned in a calming way. “Nar Shaddaa isn't what it used to be. He won't be able to get offworld without our knowing it.”
Oxic stood up and paced away from the couch. “Do we know anything at all?”
“Spaceport security cams captured images of the airspeeder in which he escaped, along with images of the speeder's owner. The vehicle's virttags are forged, but we were able to match the owner's face. His name is Flitcher Poste, a canyon orphan. He has a record of committing minor offenses and has spent time in various detention centers on Nar Shaddaa.” Quire dug a data device from her purse. “Want to see him?”
“Why would I?”
“Because I have a suspicion that Poste and Jadak are now partners.”
Oxic took a moment to respond. “Is there some prior connection?”
“Nothing has emerged. But I thought there might be, so I ordered Cynner to find Poste on the off chance he could lead us to Jadak. Poste wasn't hard to find or to follow—for a time, at any rate.”
“You lost him, too?”
“Poste spent a day or so visiting different starship garages, asking questions about mechanics who would have been in business sixty years ago.”
Oxic absorbed it. “When Jadak had his accident.”
“I think he's looking for his old ship—the Stellar Envoy.” Quire waited for Oxic to sit down. “We were unsuccessful at eavesdropping on Poste's comms, but we picked up enough to know that a meeting took place in a tapcaf in the Corellian Sector.”
“With Jadak?”
Quire nodded. “But we only learned that after the fact, by visiting cantinas and showing their images around. Jadak and Poste met with an old human someone identified as a mechanic who works for Black Sun.”
Oxic stared at her. “Black Sun?”
“I don't think there's a connection. This is all about finding the Envoy.” She held his nervous gaze. “Did Senator Des'sein say anything that led you to believe the ship would play a pivotal role in this?”
Oxic thought back to the deathbed exchange he had had with his old friend and client. One of the more vocal of the two thousand Senators who had banded together to oppose the strong measures Palpatine had taken before and during the Clone Wars, Des'sein was also a member of a clandestine organization that called itself the Republic Group. The group had unmasked traitors in the Senate by following the credits that flowed from Coruscant to weapons manufacturers and starship-building companies throughout the galaxy. Following Palpatine's proclamation of his Empire, many members of the Republic Group had disappeared or been killed. Des'sein had survived, though not as a politician but a business consultant, during which time his friendship with Oxic had flourished. Privy to all his dealings, Oxic had drawn up Des'sein's will and had been present at the marriage of Des'sein's daughter. When the ravages of a congenital disease had finally caught up with his old friend, Oxic had journeyed to Coruscant from Epica to be at his bedside.
That was