consisting of a set of military histories and CSA law, the former well thumbed while the latter apparently pristine since the ship was first launched. He mixed the two, in particular checking out the regulations and specifications of the Corporate Sector Authority’s navy.
Each evening, Mander would present himself, in clean and formal robes, to the Commander’s Galley. The first night was with senior officers, and Mander got the standard array of questions directed at the Jedi in the wake of the fall of the Empire:
Is the Order starting again? What are your intentions? Will you rule from Coruscant? How have things changed?
He deflected them as politely as he could, and got the officers talking about their own experiences in space instead. The nature of the Force was forgotten in stories of running down raiders and recovering contraband.
After that first evening, Lieutenant Commander Angela Krin met privately with Mander, and the Jedi soon came to understand her position. She had the responsibility to maintain the quarantine but could not deal with matters onplanet, Endregaad not being an official world of the Corporate Sector. So they were in orbit as people suffered and died below, charged by a distant bureaucracy with keeping others away. What help they couldprovide was advisory only, and any personnel were under the control of a now-collapsed government.
“The spice you brought was both welcome help and a can of worms,” she said, over dinner. “On the one hand, we desperately needed the medicines, but on the other I don’t have specific permission to use them.”
“Surely even the CSA can see the wisdom that such an opportunity presents—having the medicine, if from an unexpected source,” said Mander.
“You would think so,” said Angela Krin, moving her meat around in its gravy idly. “But in reality, the wheels of bureaucracy spin slowly but fine. The supply officer tasked with delivering the CSA-authorized medicine from Duroon blew a gasket when I sent him word that yours had arrived. He had been assuring me that there was not enough medicinal spice at hand to cover a planetary emergency, and he needed approvals to access the surplus stock.” She shook her head. “And this was while one in ten people on Endregaad were dying.”
“I hope that our contribution can have some effect,” said Mander.
Krin popped a morsel into her mouth, “It already does, though not the way you’d expect. As a result of your shipment, suddenly the floodgates have swung wide and sufficient amounts of medicine should be arriving by week’s end. In military terms, you gave them a good hard kick in the pants.”
“Have you distributed the spice we brought?” asked Mander.
Angela Krin’s face darkened slightly. “They are still checking it over. It is a standard issue, broadband soporific with strong antibacterial and antivirus properties. But it is very high-grade. Any idea where it came from originally?”
“You would have to ask Popara,” said Mander.
“I don’t think we’re his favorite people,” said Krin.
“This part of space is filled with species and factions that have been competing for millennia,” said Mander. “Trust is a hard coin to find.”
“There’s that,” said Krin, “but there’s also the fact that the Hutts were not particularly supportive and encouraging before you came along. The missives we got were as high-handed as you would expect from a Hutt, filled with demands and insults. And then, when we didn’t produce immediate results, they got nastier.”
“Popara sent these? Or did you talk to a green female named Vago?”
“Neither,” said the lieutenant commander. “It was a big lumpish blue one. Zonnos, I think his name was.”
“That would be Mika’s brother,” said Mander. “I’ve met him. A soft touch is not what he is noted for. That’s one reason they brought in a Jedi.”
Later, in the
New Ambition
, Mander related the events of the dinner to the others
Each evening, Mander would present himself, in clean and formal robes, to the Commander’s Galley. The first night was with senior officers, and Mander got the standard array of questions directed at the Jedi in the wake of the fall of the Empire:
Is the Order starting again? What are your intentions? Will you rule from Coruscant? How have things changed?
He deflected them as politely as he could, and got the officers talking about their own experiences in space instead. The nature of the Force was forgotten in stories of running down raiders and recovering contraband.
After that first evening, Lieutenant Commander Angela Krin met privately with Mander, and the Jedi soon came to understand her position. She had the responsibility to maintain the quarantine but could not deal with matters onplanet, Endregaad not being an official world of the Corporate Sector. So they were in orbit as people suffered and died below, charged by a distant bureaucracy with keeping others away. What help they couldprovide was advisory only, and any personnel were under the control of a now-collapsed government.
“The spice you brought was both welcome help and a can of worms,” she said, over dinner. “On the one hand, we desperately needed the medicines, but on the other I don’t have specific permission to use them.”
“Surely even the CSA can see the wisdom that such an opportunity presents—having the medicine, if from an unexpected source,” said Mander.
“You would think so,” said Angela Krin, moving her meat around in its gravy idly. “But in reality, the wheels of bureaucracy spin slowly but fine. The supply officer tasked with delivering the CSA-authorized medicine from Duroon blew a gasket when I sent him word that yours had arrived. He had been assuring me that there was not enough medicinal spice at hand to cover a planetary emergency, and he needed approvals to access the surplus stock.” She shook her head. “And this was while one in ten people on Endregaad were dying.”
“I hope that our contribution can have some effect,” said Mander.
Krin popped a morsel into her mouth, “It already does, though not the way you’d expect. As a result of your shipment, suddenly the floodgates have swung wide and sufficient amounts of medicine should be arriving by week’s end. In military terms, you gave them a good hard kick in the pants.”
“Have you distributed the spice we brought?” asked Mander.
Angela Krin’s face darkened slightly. “They are still checking it over. It is a standard issue, broadband soporific with strong antibacterial and antivirus properties. But it is very high-grade. Any idea where it came from originally?”
“You would have to ask Popara,” said Mander.
“I don’t think we’re his favorite people,” said Krin.
“This part of space is filled with species and factions that have been competing for millennia,” said Mander. “Trust is a hard coin to find.”
“There’s that,” said Krin, “but there’s also the fact that the Hutts were not particularly supportive and encouraging before you came along. The missives we got were as high-handed as you would expect from a Hutt, filled with demands and insults. And then, when we didn’t produce immediate results, they got nastier.”
“Popara sent these? Or did you talk to a green female named Vago?”
“Neither,” said the lieutenant commander. “It was a big lumpish blue one. Zonnos, I think his name was.”
“That would be Mika’s brother,” said Mander. “I’ve met him. A soft touch is not what he is noted for. That’s one reason they brought in a Jedi.”
Later, in the
New Ambition
, Mander related the events of the dinner to the others
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