Star Wars_ X-Wing 04_ The Bacta War - Michael A. Stackpole [82]
Karrde’s gaze followed hers and he gave her a slight nod. “Might I offer you some of the wine I paid so dearly for? The best is a dry green from Aldera.”
Mirax nodded. “Please.” She glanced at her father.
Booster perched in his chair as if it were a slender pole and he was a bird topping it, but he nodded. “Thank you.”
Karrde poured from the crystalline decanter. It looked to Mirax to be of Quarren manufacture. She knew from the styling it came from Mon Calamari, but the purple tint to the glass told her the Quarren had made it, not the Mon Cals. Quarren crystal rarely makes it off Mon Calamari. Karrde definitely fishes for items with a very wide and fine net.
She accepted her glass of wine from Karrde, then raised her glass with the others as Karrde offered a toast. “May the bargaining be as sweet as the profit and the next deal not long in coming.”
In tasting the wine Mirax found it very dry, but surprisingly tart without being truly sour. “Perfect with game.”
Karrde sat at his desk and nodded. “I’ve heard it said this vintage was originally intended for a banquet featuring krayt dragon.”
“Oh? What happened, too much wine and not enough krayt?”
“No, too much krayt and not enough hunter.” Karrde held the glass up and let light sparkle through the wine’s receding legs. “The wine was ordered prior to the hunt. The dragon got the hunter, and the widow used the vintage at the memorial service. The wine won praises and since has been a very popular vintage. This particular year was considered very good, but the wine laid down the year of Alderaan’s demise was supposed to be even better.”
Booster cleared his voice. “It’s amazing what you know, Karrde. I’m very impressed. I was wondering if your encyclopedic knowledge includes where I can get some supplies I need.”
Karrde’s blue eyes narrowed slightly. “You need or things Wedge Antilles needs?”
“They’re things that are needed, Karrde.” Booster brought his hands together. “Let’s trim some parsecs off the course of this conversation, shall we? You know I think of you like the son I never had.”
Karrde snorted. “Like the son you never had killed.”
Mirax suppressed a laugh, and her father smiled. “True, I’ve not forgotten how you managed to pick up pieces of my network while I was harvesting spice on Kessel. That did anger me, but it also convinced me that Mirax was right in wanting me to retire.”
“Yet here you are bargaining for Antilles and his band of mercenaries.”
Booster frowned. “They’re not mercenaries.”
“No?”
Mirax shook her head. “Actually, to be mercenaries, they’d have to be paid. They’re doing what they’re doing because of obligations they feel to the Vratix and others.”
Karrde shot a glance at Tapper, then the two of them shook their heads. “Idealists cause a lot of trouble in this galaxy.”
“Just remember it was one of those idealists who killed Jabba.”
“Good point, Booster, but I’ve got no desire to end up like Jabba.”
“Nor will you.” Booster sipped more of his wine. “Wedge and the others may be idealists in some respects, but they’re also practical when they need to be, and I’m here to put that practicality into terms you can understand and respect. What I’m looking for is missile- and torpedo-sensor packages, launch-tube assemblies, and a supply of proton torpedoes and concussion missiles.”
Mirax noted no reaction by Karrde, but Tapper’s eyes widened quite a bit.
Karrde raised his hand to cover a yawn. “I’ve heard that you made a mess of the bacta refinery