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“Did you hear me, Priest?” Kibbick was feeling almost intoxicated with righteous anger. He drew himself up. “Obey, or I shall summon the guards!”

Slowly, the High Priest drew himself out of the sling. Kibbick inwardly drew a breath of relief. But Teroenza made no move toward the intercom. “Hurry up!” the Hutt lord blustered. “Or I shall summon the guards to take you away, and then I shall deal with the females myself!”

“No,” Teroenza’s voice was flat and quiet.

“No … what?” Kibbick was incredulous. No one in his life had ever refused a direct order from a Hutt overlord.

“No. I won’t do it,” Teroenza said. “I’m tired of taking orders from an idiot. Farewell, Kibbick.”

“How dare you? I’ll have you executed! Farewell?” Kibbick was completely befuddled. “Are you saying you’re quitting? Leaving?”

“No, I’m not leaving,” Teroenza said, in that quiet tone. “You are.” His powerful hindquarters twitched, his thin, whip-like tail lashed the air, and suddenly he lowered his head and came at Kibbick with a bellow of rage.

The Hutt lord was so taken aback that he didn’t even have time to dodge. Teroenza’s horn slammed into his chest. The horn wasn’t terribly sharp, but so powerful was the force of the High Priest’s charge that it penetrated for nearly its full meter-long length.

The pain was agonizing! Kibbick roared in mingled terror and pain and beat at the t’landa Til with his little arms. He tried to swing his tail around to deal a crushing, killing blow, but the room was too confined.

Dimly, Kibbick felt the t’landa Til’s hands shove hard against the solid wall of flesh that was his massive chest, then Teroenza’s horn, covered with Hutt blood and ichor, yanked free.

Purposefully, Teroenza began backing away.

Wheezing, choking, Kibbick tried to back up, too, but his back end jammed into the wall. He tried to turn and escape.

Teroenza slammed into his chest again.

And again …

And yet again …

Kibbick was gushing blood now from his multiple wounds. None were life-threatening in and of themselves. A Hutt’s vital organs were buried too deep within their bodies to be easily pierced … part of the reason for the old legend that Hutts were immune to blaster fire. They weren’t … but a blaster bolt that would fry most beings instantly frequently would not hit anything vital on a Hutt, leaving them free to crush their attacker before he, she or it could get off a second shot.

Kibbick tried to shout for help, but all that emerged was a gurgle. One of the blows had punctured a breathing sac. He struggled to pull himself toward the intercom to summon help.

Teroenza rammed him yet again. This time the force of the t’landa Til’s blow, along with Kibbick’s growing weakness, caused the Hutt lord to roll over on his side, helpless.

Kibbick’s vision was clouding over, but he could still see enough to recognize what Teroenza was withdrawing from a desk drawer. A blaster.

The Hutt lord struggled one more time to rise, to fight back, to summon help, but he was too weak, and the pain too great. Darkness was hovering, closing over his vision. Kibbick struggled against it, but it closed over him like black water at midnight.…

With cold precision, Teroenza aimed the blaster and used it to widen and disguise the wounds on the dying Kibbick. He shot again and again, until the massive body was a scorched horror, and the final jerks and convulsions were long over.

Finally he stopped, breathing hard. “Idiot …” he muttered, in his own language, and went off to wash his horn.

While he was cleaning himself up, the t’landa Til decided on the best course. A terrorist attack, of course. He’d say it was that Tharen woman and her troops. No one would dare dispute his word. He’d have the guards on duty executed, claiming they’d been bought off and were in on the assassination.…

Just the other day he’d closed the deal to purchase a turbolaser. He’d use this as an excuse to set it up in the courtyard.…

He knew he’d need more guards, more weaponry. Should he contact Jiliac?