Star Wars_ The Han Solo Trilogy 03_ Rebel Dawn - A. C. Crispin [19]
Just as Durga was lifting a particularly succulent morsel to his mouth, his majordomo, a servile, pale Chevin humanoid, appeared. “Master, there has been a message sent. You are to expect an important holo-transmission from Coruscant within a few minutes. Do you wish to take it here?”
Durga gave Zier a quick glance. “No. I’ll take it in my office.”
He undulated after the Chevin, Osman, until he reached his office. The “connection” light was just beginning to flash. Is it Myk Bidlor with news about the substance found in my parents brain tissues? the Hutt wondered. He had clearly gained the impression from the human that it would be some time, perhaps months, before they would complete their investigation.
Waving the bowing Chevin humanoid out of the room, Durga activated the security locks, keyed on the “shielded frequency” field, and then accepted the communication.
A blond human female suddenly stood before him, nearly life-sized. Durga wasn’t very familiar with human standards of attractiveness, but he recognized that she appeared fit and limber. “Lord Durga,” she said. “I am Guri, aide to Prince Xizor. The prince would like to speak with you personally.”
Oh, no! If Durga had been human, he would have broken out in a sweat. But Hutts did not sweat, though their pores did secrete an oily substance that kept their skin comfortably moist and slick.
Aruk the Hutt had not raised a fool, however, so none of Durga’s unease showed. Instead he inclined his head, the closest a Hutt could come to a humanoid bow. “The prince honors me.”
Before Durga’s eyes, the figure of Guri stepped to one side of the transmission field, and was almost instantly replaced by the tall, imposing form of the Falleen prince, Xizor, the leader of the huge criminal empire known as Black Sun.
Xizor’s people, the Falleen, had evolved from a reptilian species, though the prince was very humanoid in appearance. His skin had a definite greenish cast, and his eyes were flat and expressionless. His body was muscled and lithe, and might have been in his mid-thirties (though Durga knew his age was closer to one hundred). Xizor’s skull was bare save for a topknot of long black hair that fell to his shoulders. He wore an expensive surcoat over a one-piece garment that resembled a pilot’s jumpsuit.
As Durga gazed at Xizor, the leader of Black Sun inclined his head in a faint nod. “Greetings, Lord Durga. It has been several months since I have heard from you, so I thought it best to see for myself that you are well. How is Besadii doing in the wake of your esteemed parent’s untimely death?”
“Besadii is doing well, Your Highness,” Durga said. “Your help was most appreciated, I assure you.”
When Durga had first succeeded to the leadership of Besadii, he’d faced so much opposition from other leaders in the clan—mostly due to the young Hutt’s unfortunate facial birthmark, which Hutt lore held to be an extremely bad omen—that he’d had to ask Prince Xizor for help. Within a week after his request, Durga’s three main opponents and detractors had died in “unrelated” accidents. Opposition had grown far quieter after that.…
Durga had paid Xizor for his help, but the prince’s fee had been so modest, so much less than the young Hutt lord was expecting, that Aruk’s heir knew he hadn’t seen the last of Black Sun.
“I was only too glad to provide whatever assistance you needed, Lord Durga,” Xizor said, spreading his hands apart in a gesture that conveyed sincerity. Durga didn’t have any trouble believing the Falleen Prince was sincere. The Besadii Lord had known for a long time that Black Sun would be only too happy to gain a foothold in Hutt space. “And I must say, it is my most humble wish that we will have cause to work together again.”
“Perhaps we will, Your Highness,” Durga said. “At the moment, all my time is taken up with running the affairs of my clan, and I have little time for anything outside Nal Hutta.”