FOUR

From the waiting room of the great spired and onion-domed palace of Nal Hutta’s ruling Hutt, Nom Anor gazed out on a despoiled landscape of feculent swamps, mold-covered stunted trees, and parcels of wan vermin-riddled marsh grass. Stained by a mélange of industrial pollutants and spotted with flocks of ungainly birds, the sky was a brooding ceiling, frequently lamenting its wretched state with lackluster showers of grimy rain. The stilted, destitute precincts so abundant in the vicinity of the spaceport were nowhere to be seen, but the terrain itself reeked of impoverishment and decay.

“What a vile world this is,” Commander Malik Carr commented as he joined Nom Anor at the bay window.

“The Hutts know it as ‘Glorious Jewel,’ ” the executor replied nonchalantly. “But it’s not without potential. The moon, Nar Shaddaa, is far worse—completely encased by buildings and technology.”

Malik Carr grunted. “I see no potential. But perhaps your one true eye sees more clearly than my pair.”

Nom Anor quirked a smile. “I have been in this galaxy for some time, Commander, and have learned to look beyond appearances.” He turned slightly in Malik Carr’s direction. “Imagine Nal Hutta as, say, a laboratory for genetic experimentation.”

Malik Carr smiled slowly. “Yes, yes, even I can envision that.”

Taller than Nom Anor, the commander was displayed in all his glory, without ooglith masquer or cloaker. Malik Carr’s incised face and bare upper torso told of an illustrious military career. Cinched around his backward-sloping forehead was a vibrant head cloth whose tassels were braided into lustrous black hair, forming a tail that hung nearly to his waist. Recently arrived from the galactic edge, where argosies waited eagerly for the warrior caste to complete the invasion, the commander had been charged by Supreme Commander Nas Choka with overseeing the next phase of the conquest.

To keep his own identity concealed—even from the Hutts—as well as in deference to Malik Carr, Nom Anor wore an ooglith masquer that obscured the scars, augmentations, and like evidence of his sacrifices to the gods, along with a prosthesis in the empty eye socket that normally housed a venom-spitting plaeryin bol.

Malik Carr swung from the window and planted his fists on his hips in anger. “How dare this creature keep us waiting. Is he completely unaware of what he risks for himself and his pathetic world?”

“She, Commander,” Nom Anor corrected. “Currently, at any rate. Hutts are said to be hermaphroditic. That is to say, male and female characteristics are combined in each.”

Malik Carr looked at him askance. “And just now this one is female?”

“Fully female, as you will see. As for the prolonged wait, it’s nothing more than tradition.”

“But the precedent—”

“Don’t concern yourself with precedent. I have a plan for dealing with this outmoded formality.”

As the two Yuuzhan Vong walked toward the center of the antechamber, an entourage of ten honor guards and as many attendants snapped to attention. The guards wore vonduun crab armor and carried living amphistaffs and doubled-edge coufee knives. The female attendants were attired in veils, tunics, and cloaks that left visible only the sinuous markings that adorned their bared arms.

Malik Carr acknowledged the guards’ brisk salutes and sat down on a cushioned bench. Nom Anor remained standing. The waiting room’s high ceiling was supported by a dozen stately if moldy pillars. The floor was made of cut stone polished to a dazzling sheen, and woven textiles of intricate design graced the walls.

A bright-green, orb-eyed biped of medium size entered the antechamber. The creature’s lumpy head featured twin hornlike appendages, pointed ears, and a narrow crest of yellow spines. Its long, tapered fingers appeared to be equipped with suction cups.

“A Rodian,” Nom Anor supplied quietly. “A bellicose species given to warfare and bounty hunting. This one is the Hutt’s majordomo, Leenik.”

Leenik approached his master’s guests, his stubby snout twitching. “Borga the Almighty is prepared to grant you audience now,” he said in Basic.

Malik Carr shot Nom Anor a vexed glance. The entire Yuuzhan Vong entourage stood and began to trail the Rodian through an enormous doorway flanked by thickset churlish guards, whose pointed lower teeth and forehead tusks were perfectly matched.

“I suggest you take a deep breath before we enter,” Nom Anor advised the commander.

“Is the Hutt odor so unbearable?”

“Picture bathing in a reopened grave.”

Malik Carr grimaced and sucked in his breath.

The vaulted ceiling of the opulent court was even higher than that of the antechamber, and floating midway to the ceiling on a bolstered antigravity couch was an outsize, bulbous-headed slug whose disproportionately short arms might have been vestigial were the small hands they ended in not beckoning imperiously to Malik Carr and Nom Anor.

Atmosphere exchangers were working overtime, but there was enough residual rankness in the air to make the commander’s eyes water. Sybaritic toadies sprawled about on couches and carpets—musicians, gunsels, and scantily attired dancers, all of diverse species. Chained to one wall, though obviously a pet, was a ferocious-looking beast Nom Anor knew to be a Kintan strider.

Borga favored Nom Anor with a look. “How pleasant to see you again,” her deep voice boomed. “Come and sit beneath me.”

Nom Anor—whom Borga knew as Pedric Cuf, and who claimed to be nothing more than an intercessor between the Yuuzhan Vong and the Hutts—smiled without showing his teeth and remained where he was, a good distance from the repulsor platform. At his hand signal the attendants conveyed to the center of the room several ornate boxes of the sort that might contain tribute. Nom Anor went to the closest box and opened the lid. Almost immediately the levitated couch gave a shudder and crashed loudly to the stone floor, nearly spilling Borga the Almighty into her coterie of shocked sycophants.

“I’m terribly sorry,” Nom Anor said, as the chagrined Hutt struggled to regain her former composure. “I didn’t realize that the Yuuzhan Vong had brought along a finely tuned dovin basal for your amusement. The creature was apparently offended by your couch’s attempt to outwit gravity and decided to rectify the imbalance by catching hold of it.”

Nom Anor was proficient at mimicking the subharmonics that furnished the Hutt language with nuance. Even so, Borga had difficulty establishing the sincerity of the apology. Her oblique, heavy-lidded eyes blinked in confusion, then she quickly propped herself up, putting a curl in her muscular purple-patched tail, and gestured for two of her attendants to bring chairs for her guests.

The commander and the executor seated themselves with decorum, careful not to demonstrate too much smugness over their small victory, though a fleeting smile did escape Malik Carr.

“The Yuuzhan Vong have brought other wonders, as well,” Nom Anor said finally.

Once more at his signal two attendants placed an aquarium well within Borga’s limited reach, its murky waters hosting a variety of fist-sized life-forms, the likes of which the Hutt had never seen. Borga whispered something to Leenik, and the majordomo fished one of the creatures from the tank, sniffed at it, and took a cautious bite.

At the Rodian’s mildly enthusiastic nod, Borga snatched the thing from Leenik’s long-fingered hands, swallowed it whole, and loosed a resonant and lengthy belch of satisfaction.

“Another,” she ordered.

This time Borga opened her jaws so wide that Nom Anor could almost hear the living morsel plop into her enormous stomach cavity. She belched again and ran her powerful tongue over her lips and nostrils.

“A bit like a Carnovian eel-pup, but with just a hint of the resistance one expects from the finest nala-tree frogs supplied by Fhnark and Company,” she said, as only a gourmand could. “All in all, on a par with some of the classic droch appetizers fashioned by Zubindi Ebsuk.” She turned her gaze on Nom Anor. “How did you come by these, Pedric Cuf? On which world can they be found?”

“None in this galaxy.” Nom Anor smiled pleasantly. “They are bioengineered.”

The Hutt glanced at Malik Carr. “He created them?”

“Not personally. A Yuuzhan Vong shaper did so.”

“And this … this shaper could replicate the product?”

“I’m certain he could.” Nom Anor stood and gestured respectfully to Malik Carr. “Borga, permit me to introduce Commander Malik Carr, who will be overseeing this sector of space.”

The Hutt blinked. “Overseeing?”

Head canted slightly to one side, Malik Carr regarded her for what seemed an eternity. “You speak for all of your kind?” he asked in passable Huttese.

Borga’s blubbery body stiffened proudly. “I do. And I have been vested with the power to negotiate with your species.”

“By whom have you been vested?”

“By the leaders of the voting kajidics, as well as the Grand Council.”

“Kajidics?” Malik Carr said to Nom Anor.

“Criminal syndicates,” Nom Anor told him in their own tongue.

Malik Carr continued to appraise Borga openly. “Yours is the ruling kajidic, then?”

“I am Borga Besadii Diori, cousin of Durga Besadii Tai, son of Aruk the Great, brother of Zavval. Wealthiest and most powerful of the Besadii kajidic, I lord over the Desilijic, the Trinivii, the Ramesh, Shell, and all other clans. All the three billion of this world pay obei—”

“You are male or female?” Malik Carr cut her off.

Borga blinked. “Just now I am with child.” She indicated a pouch, low in her bulging abdomen.

“You birth live offspring?” Malik Carr said in obvious astonishment. When Borga nodded, the commander’s jaw dropped ever so slightly. “Like one of our lowliest caste women,” he remarked to Nom Anor.

Borga’s broad forehead wrinkled in uncertainty.

“Let us talk business,” Malik Carr said abruptly. “As … Pedric Cuf has undoubtedly apprised you, the Yuuzhan Vong have need of some of your worlds—for purposes of resource gathering. To effect this, we may be required to remove entire populations, and in some cases remake those worlds we select.”

“Yes, so Pedric Cuf has explained,” Borga said after a long moment. “In fact, we Hutts know a good deal about remaking worlds. When we arrived here from Varl, for example, Glorious Jewel was not the paradise you see now, but a primitive world of dense forests and untamed seas. There was even an indigenous species called the Evocii, who we were obliged to relocate on Glorious Jewel’s moon, where the pitiful creatures gradually died out. By then, of course, we had replaced all Evocii structures with proper palaces and shrines …”

Malik Carr glanced at Nom Anor while Borga prattled on. “She looks like something our shapers might have cooked up.”

Nom Anor laughed shortly. “It’s true. I thought the same thing when I first laid eyes on her.”

Borga had stopped talking and was eyeing Malik Carr with misgiving. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Commander,” she said, with cheerful servility. “While I’ve made some progress in the tutorials Pedric Cuf supplied, I’m not yet fully conversant with your language.”

Nom Anor cleared his throat. “The commander was just saying that he loves what you’ve done with the place.”

Borga managed a dubious smile. “In that case, let us return to talking business, as you say.”

Malik Carr nodded politely.

“In exchange for granting you the use of certain worlds—one of which we have already provided, as a demonstration of good faith—we Hutts are obliged to ask the Yuuzhan Vong to keep clear of Rimward Hutt space in general, as well as to avoid the worlds Rodia, Ryloth, Tatooine, Kessel, and certain planets in the Si’klaata Cluster and Kathol sector.”

Borga raised her voice in anticipation of objections. “I’m well aware that you have a fleet of ships anchored at the edge of the Y’Toub system, but we Hutts are not without our resources and weapons, and a war against us would only sidetrack you from your principal goal of defeating the New Republic.” She stopped herself. “That is your goal, is it not?”

Malik Carr and Nom Anor exchanged brief looks of bemusement before the commander replied. “Our goals should not concern you at this point. Furthermore, it would be premature to decide which of us has rights to which worlds when we have yet to see whether our partnership will succeed. That decision, in any event, will ultimately be made by Supreme Overlord Shimrra. In the meantime, I suggest you broach the matter with my direct superior, Supreme Commander Nas Choka, who will certainly wish to meet with you when he arrives in Hutt space, some days from now.”

Borga nodded. “I will gladly grant him audience, and I will do as you suggest and discuss terms with him. I do, however, wish to propose something for your immediate consideration. In addition to other enterprises, we Hutts have both a fondness for and a long history of slave trading. With our expertise and our well-established network of space lanes and hyperspace routes, it occurs to me that we might best serve the interests of the partnership, as you say, by overseeing the transportation of captives, laborers, servants, and fodder for sacrifices—a task for which we are uniquely suited. That way, the Yuuzhan Vong needn’t employ their own ships for the lowly purpose of conveying inferior beings to their well-deserved castigation, enslavement, or immolation.”

“In return for what?” Malik Carr asked mildly.

“Your promise not to interfere with the movement of spice and other proscribed goods.”

“Spice?” Malik Carr asked Nom Anor.

“Recreational euphoriants—some of which are arachnid by-products.”

Borga followed the exchange, then clapped her hands. Human servants appeared bearing trays mounded with crystalline powders, varying in both composition and color.

“Here you see examples of glitterstim and the kor grade of the mineral ryll,” Borga said, indicating one mound after the next. “And there you see carsunum, lumni-spice, gree spice, and andris.” She paused to regard Malik Carr. “If you would care to sample any one of them …”

Malik Carr lifted his hand in a negative gesture.

“Some other time perhaps,” Borga said graciously. “But what of my proposal?”

Nom Anor turned to Malik Carr with purposeful excitement. “It does suit Supreme Commander Nas Choka’s plan to gather resistant populations onto a few select worlds for indoctrination and security, Commander.”

Malik Carr nodded noncommittally, then looked at Borga. “You have no qualms about betraying the sundry species who embrace the tenets of the New Republic?”

Borga loosed a sinister guffaw. “Certainly no more than Pedric Cuf has. After all, Commander, business is business, and if anyone is to profit from the galaxy’s new circumstances, it may as well be the Hutts.”

“So be it,” Malik Carr said with finality.

Borga grinned broadly. “One more small item, Commander. Since it would be to our mutual advantage that Hutt supply ships refrain from unintentionally bumbling into your operations, is it too much to ask that we be advised of any imminent, uh, activities?”

Malik Carr cut his eyes to Nom Anor. “Exactly as you predicted.”

Nom Anor returned a barely perceptible nod. “Negotiation is also part of their tradition.”

“You do have a keen eye, Executor.”

“A practiced one, Commander.”

Borga watched them without comprehending.

“We were just discussing the terms,” Nom Anor explained.

“Consider our request an accommodation,” Borga said offhandedly. “A show of confidence.”

“What you ask seems harmless enough,” Malik Carr allowed. “As you say, Borga, we certainly wouldn’t want your spice vessels inadvertently disrupting our activities.”

“As I say, Commander.”

“Until further notice, then, you may want to consider avoiding the Tynnani, Bothan, and Corellian systems. Tynna, especially so.”

Borga’s broad grin returned with interest. “Tynna, Bothawui, and Corellia … As it happens, Commander, we do limited business in all of those systems.”

Malik Carr sniffed arrogantly. “I suggest you reduce your business to zero.”

No sooner had the Yuuzhan Vong entourage left the palace than three Hutts hurried into Borga’s court. A young Hutt, uniformly tan in color, slithered in on his own power; an older one, with a stripe of green pigmentation running down his spine and tapered tail, was borne in on a litter supported by a dozen leathery-skinned Weequays; and an even more aged one, sporting a wispy gray beard, made use of a hoversled.

The latter Hutt, Pazda Desilijic Tiure—uncle of the celebrated Jabba Desilijic Tiure—was the first to voice his outrage.

“Who do they think they are, making demands of the Hutts, as though we were some trifling species concerned only with escaping bloodshed? That Malik Carr, he reminded me of the worst of Palpatine’s Imperial moffs. And the one who calls himself Pedric Cuf was equally treacherous—speaking out of both sides of his mouth.”

Pazda showed Borga his most austere expression. “The Desilijic would never have permitted such indignities to take place in their court. Jabba would have fed Malik Carr and Pedric Cuf to a rancor and taken his chances with the Yuuzhan Vong fleet.”

“Like he took his chances with Jedi Master Skywalker?” the young Hutt, Randa Besadii Diori, remarked. “Personally, I always felt that Tatooine’s aridity wreaked havoc with Jabba’s judgment.” Elevating himself on his powerful tail, he nodded at his parent, Borga. “You handled them expertly.”

“Impertinent pup,” Pazda wheezed. “What do you know of judgment or strategy, growing up as you have in wealth and privilege?”

“One thing I know, old Hutt, is that I will never lose my wealth and privilege,” Randa told him now.

“Enough of this,” the littered Hutt, Gardulla the Younger, chimed in, impaling Randa with his gaze. “Respect your elders—even when you don’t agree with them.” He ordered his muscular bearers to steer him closer to Borga, nodding in regard as he neared the chief Besadii’s levitated couch. “To deceive an enemy, pretend to fear him.”

The grin Borga had worn for Malik Carr and Nom Anor had been replaced by a look of narrow-eyed fury. “Better to have the Yuuzhan Vong overestimate our subservience than our shrewdness.”

Gardulla laughed without mirth. “You succeeded in tricking them into revealing their next targets.”

“As I promised you I would.”

“Such intelligence is potentially invaluable. Do we now inform the New Republic of the invaders’ designs?”

Borga shook her head. “New Republic Intelligence operatives have already been making overtures. Let us wait and see what they bring to the bargaining table.”

“It had better be an offer of great worth,” Randa said.

Gardulla ignored the comment. “No doubt the Yuuzhan Vong will expect us to reveal their plan.”

“No doubt,” Borga agreed. “That’s why we will make no move. The New Republic will have to come to us.”

She lowered the couch to the floor. “When Xim the Despot and his droid legions attempted to invade Hutt space, the great Kossak defeated them at Vontor and sent them fleeing for the Tion Hegemony. And when Moff Sarn Shild attempted to blockade Nal Hutta and destroy our moon, the great clans set aside their differences to manipulate weak Imperials and send their forces fleeing, as well.”

She paused to glance in turn at Pazda, Randa, and Gardulla the Younger. “We have weathered many storms, and we will weather this one, as well. With care, we can play the New Republic against the invaders for the betterment of the Hutts.”

“And we won’t need a bungled Death Star to do it,”Pazda muttered, in reference to Durga’s failed Darksaber Project.

Borga glowered at him. “Insult my family again, and this court will no longer be available to you.”

Pazda mustered a chastised look. “Excuse the grumbling that comes with advanced age, Your Highness.”

Gardulla shook with sinister laughter. “As my parent used to say, ‘There’s always enough to divide—enough to keep, enough to spread around, enough to be stolen—as long as you’re first to get to it.’ ”

Borga laughed with him. “For the time being, let the word go out to our subcontractors to exercise caution in their transactions and deliveries.” She glanced at Leenik. “Who manages our affairs in the targeted systems?”

The Rodian dipped his head in a curt bow. “Boss Bunji oversees shipments to Corellia; Crev Bombaasa to Tynna and Bothawui.”

Borga licked her lips. “Inform them to suspend all business to the threatened systems—and to double their efforts elsewhere.” She clapped her hands loudly, awakening those sycophants who had dozed off. “Let us have music and dancing in celebration of this day!”