for picking up honor coupons by killing each other, could get you murdered.”
Wedge waved her objections away. “How have you been?”
Her expression remained cheerless. “Well enough. I’ve been working hard. Mixing fieldwork with analysis. It never gets boring.”
“That doesn’t sound as though you’ve found any one thing that you want to devote yourself to.”
She shrugged, and he could sense even more distance between them. “I guess I’m not like you, that way. Listen, Wedge, I can be here, but not forever. What do you need?”
He sighed. “Duty first. I need to know what’s really going on here on Adumar. I’m effectively ambassador here for the time being, and I’m in completely over my head. How long has the New Republic really been aware of Adumar?”
“You don’t know?”
“No. I thought it had been a matter of days or weeks. Your presence, your cover, suggests it’s been longer than that.”
“Five or six months,” she said. “Intelligence discovered that someone was recruiting computer slicers for hire to do interfaces between a new set of computer protocols and New Republic and Imperial standards. Intelligence got interested, put together an identity for me as a Corellian slicer, and dropped me on one of the worlds where they were hiring. It’s the sort of mission we call a blind jump. When I got here, I set things up for the arrival of a team.”
“What’s your name here, by the way?”
She managed a faint smile. “Fiana Novarr.”
“I’m sort of surprised that a hired code-slicer would be invited to an affair like last night’s dinner, with the perator and all.”
“I went in on the arm of a minister. That’s not important, Wedge.”
“I suppose not. So what’s all this about a mapping ship finding Adumar, and suddenly they want our pilots as diplomats?”
“That’s all true, but it’s only part of the story. I was here for a few weeks—a temporary prisoner in theory, since I couldn’t communicate offworld until actual relations were opened with outside worlds, though I did anyway—and figured out that Adumari scout ships had gotten far enough out to discover human-occupied worlds. They’d figured out that there were two big power hubs, the New Republic and the Empire. And they wanted to learn everything they could before getting in contact with either one. They wanted to have the leisure to decide which one, if any, to side with. But the mapping ship incident did happen, and it sort of accelerated their plans.”
“Thus the invitation to me and Turr Phennir.”
She nodded.
“How did they keep you from knowing about the Imperial pilots coming?”
“They’re pretty sneaky people,” she said. “Convoluted politics and secrecy are a way of life for them.”
“Well, here’s an important one. What sort of arrangements am I going to be able to make with them if they’re not a united world? I can’t do much more than open up diplomatic relations and persuade them that the Imps are bad.”
“That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. Other forces are working on the perator of Cartann to persuade him to enter into a world government.”
“So all the hard mental work is taken care of. I just need to stand around, pose, look pretty for the holocams …”
She managed a brief smile. “That’s it.”
“Ie—Fiana, I’m not sure I like this place. They don’t put a very high value on human life. What do you think?”
“You’re right.” She shrugged, a clear sign that this was something out of her hands. “It’s different in other Adumari nations. Their mania for pilots is not quite as high. Dueling is not the fad it is here. Another reason for Cartann to join in a world government. It might acquire some more civilized characteristics.”
“Who’s your superior?”
“I can’t tell you that. That’s on a need-to-know basis.”
“Well, I’m talking about a need-to-punch basis. Your immediate superior and General Cracken didn’t
Wedge waved her objections away. “How have you been?”
Her expression remained cheerless. “Well enough. I’ve been working hard. Mixing fieldwork with analysis. It never gets boring.”
“That doesn’t sound as though you’ve found any one thing that you want to devote yourself to.”
She shrugged, and he could sense even more distance between them. “I guess I’m not like you, that way. Listen, Wedge, I can be here, but not forever. What do you need?”
He sighed. “Duty first. I need to know what’s really going on here on Adumar. I’m effectively ambassador here for the time being, and I’m in completely over my head. How long has the New Republic really been aware of Adumar?”
“You don’t know?”
“No. I thought it had been a matter of days or weeks. Your presence, your cover, suggests it’s been longer than that.”
“Five or six months,” she said. “Intelligence discovered that someone was recruiting computer slicers for hire to do interfaces between a new set of computer protocols and New Republic and Imperial standards. Intelligence got interested, put together an identity for me as a Corellian slicer, and dropped me on one of the worlds where they were hiring. It’s the sort of mission we call a blind jump. When I got here, I set things up for the arrival of a team.”
“What’s your name here, by the way?”
She managed a faint smile. “Fiana Novarr.”
“I’m sort of surprised that a hired code-slicer would be invited to an affair like last night’s dinner, with the perator and all.”
“I went in on the arm of a minister. That’s not important, Wedge.”
“I suppose not. So what’s all this about a mapping ship finding Adumar, and suddenly they want our pilots as diplomats?”
“That’s all true, but it’s only part of the story. I was here for a few weeks—a temporary prisoner in theory, since I couldn’t communicate offworld until actual relations were opened with outside worlds, though I did anyway—and figured out that Adumari scout ships had gotten far enough out to discover human-occupied worlds. They’d figured out that there were two big power hubs, the New Republic and the Empire. And they wanted to learn everything they could before getting in contact with either one. They wanted to have the leisure to decide which one, if any, to side with. But the mapping ship incident did happen, and it sort of accelerated their plans.”
“Thus the invitation to me and Turr Phennir.”
She nodded.
“How did they keep you from knowing about the Imperial pilots coming?”
“They’re pretty sneaky people,” she said. “Convoluted politics and secrecy are a way of life for them.”
“Well, here’s an important one. What sort of arrangements am I going to be able to make with them if they’re not a united world? I can’t do much more than open up diplomatic relations and persuade them that the Imps are bad.”
“That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. Other forces are working on the perator of Cartann to persuade him to enter into a world government.”
“So all the hard mental work is taken care of. I just need to stand around, pose, look pretty for the holocams …”
She managed a brief smile. “That’s it.”
“Ie—Fiana, I’m not sure I like this place. They don’t put a very high value on human life. What do you think?”
“You’re right.” She shrugged, a clear sign that this was something out of her hands. “It’s different in other Adumari nations. Their mania for pilots is not quite as high. Dueling is not the fad it is here. Another reason for Cartann to join in a world government. It might acquire some more civilized characteristics.”
“Who’s your superior?”
“I can’t tell you that. That’s on a need-to-know basis.”
“Well, I’m talking about a need-to-punch basis. Your immediate superior and General Cracken didn’t
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