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“All of whom you currently control anyway.”

“You overestimate my abilities.”

Loor raised an eyebrow. “Do I? You found me quickly enough.”

Vorru shrugged. “More by happenstance than anything else. I was in the process of consolidating my hold on the black market in bacta and had Nartlo under observation, since he had a source I could not isolate. My people had your people under observation when they visited him last night. We continued watching and were led to this vehicle. Your people are good at disguising themselves—by the way, the blond hair and goatee really do distance your appearance from that of Tarkin. Changing the appearance of a vehicle is not as simple.”

The little man smiled. “I had no idea who we had found until we checked the records on this vehicle. The registration is utterly benign and ordinary, with no sign of slicing on the datafile at all. That indicated to me that the registration had made it into the computers through legitimate means, and that meant Imperial Intelligence. Since you had turned Zekka Thyne against me, I had made it my business to learn about you then, surprise, surprise, here you are.”

“I hope I don’t disappoint you.”

“It’s possible, but we’ll see.” Vorru frowned. “Normally I’d not have picked you up so early, but Nartlo indicated that he’d given you the locations of the Republic’s bacta repositories. I immediately became suspicious—he maintained you were just a bacta dealer, but those containment centers just ache to be hit by the PCF. I tried to determine if Nartlo was lying to me, but you had anticipated I’d do that.”

Loor smiled. “You used skirtopanol on him.”

“Yes, and the convulsions were rather hideous.”

“Convulsions? Hmmm. We gave him a supply of lotiramine and told him it would prevent him from getting the Krytos virus. I included strict dosing instructions. If he went into convulsions he must have taken four times the recommended amount.”

“Some people assume that if one pill is good, more is better.”

“He died?”

“Cerebral hemorrhage.”

“He was useful, which is why we didn’t just kill him outright. The lotiramine would have made interrogation difficult for the Rebels, and some of the information he had about my operation would have had them haring off in all sorts of wrong directions.”

Vorru nodded. “Though he claimed no knowledge of a planned assault on the bacta stores, that is what you are planning, yes?”

Loor looked around the passenger compartment. “I would have thought General Cracken would resort to more professional methods of interrogation.”

“He would, and will, if you do not choose to cooperate with me.” Vorru crossed his legs and plucked at the crease in his slacks. “If I don’t get answers from you, I will tell Cracken I have uncovered a plot to assault the current centers. He’ll put precautions into place that will prevent your success while moving the bacta to new locations. You will lose and I will win.”

“And you have a plan that will result in some other outcome?”

Vorru smiled. “You will now be working for me. You will hit targets I give you and you will hit them when I want them hit. I am not unsympathetic to your war against the Rebellion, I just wish to kill yet one more mynock with a single laser-blast.”

Of course, it should have been obvious. Loor nodded. “You would do what Prince Xizor could not.”

“Xizor relied too much on his personal abilities and not enough on the ability to read others.”

“Having made Black Sun over into the People’s Militia, you’ll be in position to assume power if the Rebellion falters.”

“But I have no desire to see the Rebellion fail. I just want to see the Rebellion’s leadership fail. Manipulate the Bothans and appease them, frustrate the Alderaanians until they alienate the other humans with their constant reminders of how their world was martyred for the Rebellion, let the black market bankrupt the Republic so someone who has monetary reserves can come in and bail things out—”

“That being you.”

“Of course.