Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 06_ Balance Point - Kathy Tyers [65]
“Right,” Luke said. “I’ll talk to CorDuro Shipping. Unless I’m wrong, that’s where Jacen has headed.”
“Do that.” An idea was forming at the back of Mara’s mind. She’d brought along other disguises. Other people could have come to Duro fishing for well-formulated reasons not to open their worlds to refugees. The Kuati senator Viqi Shesh certainly hadn’t established SELCORE’s main camp anywhere near Kuat. Maybe Mara could scare up some information on who else here had antirefugee leanings.
She hauled one of her duffels into the refresher.
When she stepped out half an hour later, Anakin grabbed his cot’s edge with both hands. His eyebrows rose so far that they almost vanished under his dark hair.
Laughing inwardly, she tilted up her chin and stared down at him. “You may kiss our palm,” she said in a languid Kuati accent.
“Wow,” he choked.
Luke folded his arms and leaned against the blank view-wall, grinning. He’d seen her in many guises, but this one was spectacular. She’d tinted her red-gold mane a deep reddish brown and pulled it back severely into a tail at the crown of her head, securing it with a circlet of false émeraudes. Bits of masking putty raised the bridge of her nose; shadowing gel gave her cheeks a prominent hollow. More émeraudes rimmed her ears and dangled halfway down her neck. The amethyst-colored tunic, belted in what would pass for gold, had a spatter of green gems on one shoulder, and the cutout beneath the high collar plunged drastically. Her elevated shoes were tapered to give the illusion that the extra height was all her own, but the heels could be kicked off if she needed to make a fast getaway.
She cuffed Anakin’s shoulder. “Don’t drool on the carpet,” she said. “I’m surprised you’re still here.”
“We won’t be for long.” Luke pushed off the wall.
Mara smiled ruefully, sensing that he’d like her to stick around for another hour or so. Actually, that sounded good to her, too—but after putting on all this gear, she wanted to keep it unrumpled.
“We have an appointment,” Luke said. “That is, two Kubaz have an appointment.”
Anakin frowned, still massaging life back into his face from wearing the rubbery mask.
“I’m just going to nose around,” Mara said. “See what I can get from that crowd down at Port Duggan, where the performance is going on.”
She read Be careful in his eyes. Respecting his restraint, she didn’t promise that she would. She simply nodded.
His lips twitched.
She enjoyed that—communicating without words or the Force. “I’ll send Artoo a message if I end up elsewhere,” she promised.
Then she realized that she wanted to say, You two take care—simply as a parting nicety. She was getting soft.
She offered Luke her palm. He seized her hand, touched it with his lips, then tugged her close enough to whisper, “Come back soon.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
An aide ushered Luke into CorDuro Vice-Director Durgard Brarun’s sumptuous office. Lit by crisscrossed strips on the ceiling and walls, its focal point was a decorative air-circulation grille. Other black grilles reached from floor to ceiling in freeform designs. At the room’s front was a narrow counter, like something out of a tapcaf. A lone Duros sat behind it. The triangular CorDuro insignia on his right breast had a gold edging. Gray-green skin hung in folds under his chin. Over his ears, his hairless scalp was turning pale.
He stood to greet the pair of imitation Kubaz. “Gentles, how may I serrrve you?”
Luke wasn’t sure what information might be available. He meant to convince Vice-Director Brarun that he and Anakin were harmless, trying to bluff their way into dangerous circles.
It mattered more than ever that he succeed. Everything mattered more, now. He was helping to shape the future in which his child would grow up.
In his best Kubaz whirr-overlaid Basic, he said, “Many of our people are homeless. We have set up a colony on Yag’Dhul, but we need supplies.