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Ten minutes later two commandos escorted the last prisoner into the tent. The human was old, though not frail. The holograms Corran had seen of him had not had flesh quite so loose or sallow, but the dark eyes still sparked with life. While smaller even than Corran, the man exuded a certain power. A full shock of white hair crowned him and granted him some of the dignity his dirty jumpsuit stole.

Even Wedge seemed impressed. “Moff Fliry Vorru, I am Commander Wedge Antilles.”

Vorru smiled graciously. “Charmed. Do I detect a trace of Corellia in your Basic?”

“You do.”

“A loyal son come to free me from this prison?”

“Perhaps.”

Corran had never met Moff Vorru before, but his grandfather had told stories of the man. As the administrator in charge of the Corellian Sector under the Old Republic, Vorru had turned a blind eye to smuggling activities, which made Corellia a center for smuggling and gave it a reputation that had not changed over the years. When Senator Palpatine declared himself the Emperor, he found Vorru to be a rival of sorts. Prince Xizor betrayed Vorru to the Emperor, but the Emperor did not slay him. It was thought that Vorru had ransomed his life by causing his datafiles about others in the Imperial Senate and throughout the Empire to be doled out to the Emperor bit by bit.

Though it had been decades since Corellia operated as an open sector under Vorru, many criminals thought of Vorru’s Corellia as a shining utopia of unparalleled prosperity. Vorru had become a legend in the Imperial underworld and at CorSec there always were new rumors about an attempt by someone to raid Kessel and free Vorru.

The ex-Imperial Moff shrugged as much as his bonds would allow. “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Do you know Zekka Thyne?”

Vorru sighed. “I do. Aggressive and intelligent, though aggression is his default setting. Surprise him and he strikes out. Unpredictable beyond that.”

“We’re going to use him against the Empire, but we do not want him to become excessive and hurt others.”

The old man smiled slowly. “Using strategic weapons to gain a tactical advantage is a sign of desperation.”

“These are desperate times.” Wedge nodded toward Corran. “Lieutenant Horn thinks you can control Thyne.”

“Control him, no.” Vorru closed his eyes for a moment. “Control those he needs to be able to go too far, yes, I can do that for you.”

“Will you?”

“Gladly.” Vorru’s confident smile carried on up into his reopened eyes. “It will be dangerous, but seeing Imperial Center again will be worth the risk.”

Corran blinked and looked at a stunned Wedge. How did he know he was going to Coruscante?

The old man read the surprise on their faces, then laughed. “Don’t be astonished I was able to figure out where I would be used, rejoice in that fact. Were that simple a deduction beyond me, I would have no chance of fulfilling the mission you have given me.”

12

Walking through one of the long dark corridors built beneath the Imperial Palace would normally have depressed Kirtan Loor, especially as he was on his way to a meeting with General Evir Derricote. When Derricote had summoned him the General had seemed quite manic—a state Loor had seen crumble into a tantrum filled with demands on previous occasions, yet even that prospect could not dampen his mood.

Corran Horn was on Kessel freeing prisoners. Loor allowed himself a laugh that echoed sinisterly through the passage. Over the past two weeks the freed criminals had been filtered back into Imperial Center. The Rebels had been careful in their insertion efforts—security was maintained at normal levels, which meant a substantial bribe could make almost any datafile look like it had never been sliced. Had he not been tipped to their arrival, Loor would have missed their reentry into Coruscant’s underworld.

Loor even allowed himself to admire the Alliance for its plan. Criminals had a penchant for making themselves highly visible targets. The Empire did need to maintain order on the capital world, but their resources