Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 13_ Trouble on Cloud City - Kevin J. Anderson [43]
Most sophisticated. "
Lando watched as Lowie worked furiously, his long fingers tapping the controls. He growled something, and Em Teedee said, "Master Lowbacca is attempting to move beyond the obvious. If someone has assisted in covering up the arrival of Czethros, they most likely have sanitized recordings from the docking bay... but they may have overlooked other holocams......
Images flowed by in a rapid blur. Jaina peered over Lowie's shoulder.
Everyone intently studied the screen. Finally, Lowie growled in triumph.
"There! I see it, too!" Jaina said an instant later.
"That's him," Jacen agreed. "Good old respectable Czethros."
An external holocams from one of the Port Town gambling casinos had managed to catch the image of a tall man with moss-green hair and a narrow silver laser visor; the man emerged from a docking port and ducked into the shadows between buildings, trying to lose himself in the crowd.
"He couldn't clean up everything," Lando said.
Lowie froze the image and enlarged it.
"Now do you have any doubts?" Zekk asked Anja. She avoided his gaze as he continued. "Any man who intentionally removes all record of his presence here has got something to hide."
"It doesn't mean he murdered anybody," Anja said.
Jacen looked at her in surprise. "Maybe not. But he was here at exactly the right time, in secret, and tried to erase all evidence of his presence from Cloud City records. We know that a criminal organization has been blackmailing and threatening professionals here on Bespina criminal organization that has ties to Ord Mantell, where Czethros lives.
And we also have an eyewitness who says he saw Czethros throw Cojahn off the balcony. How much more proof do you want?"
Tenel Ka nodded grimly. "Do you believe Czethros is involved with Black Sun criminal activities?"
Lando frowned. "More than that, I'm afraid. From his background and from what I've seen here, I think Czethros may well be one of the key figures behind Black Sun. Worse yet," he added, "the fact that all these records and images have been doctored tells me that he must have some pretty important people in Cloud City's administration under his thumb."
"Figrin said Cojahn had tried to report the danger to the authorities, but they never did anything about it," Zekk pointed out.
"We've got to report this," Jaina said in a determined voice. "But this time to someone who'll take it seriously. If Black Sun is on the prowl again, we've got to do something before they get too powerful to stop."
Nobody noticed how Anja jumped when she heard Jaina's words.
With the doorlock cyber-sealed, Anja retrieved the meager luggage she had brought from the Jedi academy. She rummaged in the bottom of her case, popped out the false bottom, and removed the high-power small transmitter screen that she used only in emergencies. When the screen wasn't switched on, it looked like a portable mirror. But it was much more.
Moving her fingers along the edges of the frame, she depressed buttons, entering a code and sending her signal. She tossed her long, honey-streaked hair behind her, feeling sweat prickle her scalp.
Oh, how she needed a dose of spice right now. She had to have one... but the need wasn't any greater than it had been all day. Anja just didn't know how long she could tolerate this pressure. Her personal supply was nearly gone, and she didn't know what she would dounless Czethros came through for her. She hated to depend on him.
The secret crime lord followed his own paths, busy setting up his own game. In the past, though, he had spent an incredible amount of time with her on Ord Mantell, taking her under his wing, training her in the ways of making a profit at the expense of less-vigilant people.
Anja had connected with him in the first place because of a shared hatred for Han Solo. Czethros had helped her arrange the fateful meeting with him and the attempted ambushes on Anobis, but Han Solo had survived it all.