25,793BBY: Eruption by John Ostrander

Author:John Ostrander
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Ranger Brock eased back into her chair. The discussions were still going nowhere but at least everyone was civil.

A servant brought her a goblet of wine, a Vaisamond red, something she had developed a taste for on Ska Gora. Lanoree raised the goblet to her lips—and paused. She knew the bouquet of the wine and something bitter underlay the aroma.

Lanoree turned her head to glance at the servant who had given it to her: a nervous little man, as old as Eomin Dessain. Fear came off him like a wave, a bitter aroma of its own. The servant turned to run. Lanoree caught him with the Force, lifted him up, and dropped him onto the round table. Thrusting the goblet in his face, Lanoree whispered, "I think this vintage is off. Please. Taste it."

The man's eyes went wide as he babbled incoherently. Lanoree growled, "Drink it, little man, or I will make you drink it." She didn't have that ability, but it was commonly believed that the mysterious Je'daii could seize your mind. That fear, that superstition, sometimes served the Je'daii almost as well as the Force did.

The servant certainly believed the stories. "No! It's poisoned!" he blurted.

Lanoree folded her arms, keeping her eyes on her would be assassin. "Master Dessain, you have a traitor in your midst. The kidnappers would have needed someone on the inside to reach your daughter. That traitor is this man."

Eomin Dessain looked at his servant, appalled. "Betolo? All these years, you have been a trusted servant, almost a member ‘of the family . . . why?"

"Because all these years I have only been a servant." Betolo said quietly. "Never a member of the family. I wanted to have something of my own before I died. A chance to leave this wretched rock."

Dessain's voice seethed with fury. "Where is my daughter?"

"With any luck . . . dead. My lord."

Lanoree's comm buzzed. "With any luck, my lord, she is not," she said as she activated the comm. "Hawk?"

. "Lanoree, someone is going—!"

"Yes, I know. He tried and failed. Is Oma Dessain with you?"

"She is," Ryo said, “but we have another problem."

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