[Jedi Apprentice] - 08 by The Day of Reckoning (Jude Watson)

Author:The Day of Reckoning (Jude Watson) [Reckoning, The Day of]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-03-10T13:35:38+00:00

Chapter 11

“Things are happening too fast here,” Andra said weakly. “Let me pour the tea.”

They sat around the table, warm mugs of tea in their hands. The enormity of the plan stunned Andra. She had expected conspiracies and corruption, but not on such a vast scale. It was obvious that they had stumbled on a scheme to take over the resources of an entire planet. The question was how the pieces fit together, and what they could do about it.

Qui-Gon drained his mug. “I suggest a two-part plan,” he said. “First, Den will infiltrate the lottery system.”

“Whoa, hold on,” Den said. “What do you mean, I’ll infiltrate the lottery system? What makes you think I can do that?”

“I have a feeling you already know how,” Qui-Gon said coolly. “Why else would you risk so much to get back inside UniFy? Why else did the security get triggered? You were able to invade the system.”

Den took a gulp of tea, then coughed. No one moved to help him.

“Okay, okay,” he croaked. “I think I can rig it. I mean, I think I can rig the part that’s already rigged.”

“And you know how to ensure that you’ll win the prize,” Qui-Gon said.

Den nodded reluctantly. “I can rig it so that I win the lottery. One winner is always someone selected by UniFy in advance. As the games go on, some contestants are given faulty equipment - not anything they would notice, but something slightly off that decreases their chances of winning. One of the contestants has been selected in advance and bribed. He or she agrees to pass half the fortune back under the table to the company. I can just put my name in the next winner’s place.”

Andra shook her head. “I knew you had an ulterior motive to helping me. You were going to take that fortune and run.”

“Joke, right?” Den said. “Because I can’t believe you would really think such a thing. After I won my fortune, I would have shared it. Some of it.”

“I don’t want any part of a fortune built on destroying our sacred spaces,” Andra said fiercely. “And you shouldn’t either!”

“It’s not my fault they’re being exploited!” Den protested. “And a fortune is a fortune.”

“That’s your trouble,” Andra said. “You really believe that.”

“Does anyone want to hear the second part of my plan?” Qui-Gon interrupted mildly. “Second, we should follow through on Andra’s original plan to visit the Sacred Pools. We’ll need to gather the evidence all over again.”

“It won’t be easy,” Andra said. “The security is extremely tight.”

“Just use some of that Jedi mind-altering-voice-bending stuff,” Den suggested.

“I’m afraid we’ll need more than that,” Qui-Gon said. “Andra, can you call in your supporters? I think the best plan is to infiltrate at several points so that we don’t rely on only one team.”

Andra looked down at her mug. She smoothed the wood of the table with her hand.

“Andra?” Qui-Gon prodded.

She looked up. “I can’t do that,” she said. “I haven’t been completely honest with you all.

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