Star Wars - 093 - The Cestus Deception by Steven Barnes

Author:Steven Barnes [Barnes, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Kenobi, Space Warfare, Obi-Wan (Fictitious Character), Star Wars Fiction, Space Opera, General, Science Fiction, American, Adventure, Life on Other Planets, Fiction, Media Tie-In, Science Fiction; American, Kenobi; Obi-Wan (Fictitious Character)
ISBN: 9780345458988
Google: D1WUNlDI0sYC
Amazon: 0345458982
Publisher: LucasBooks
Published: 2005-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

We have kept our pledges to you. All of them."

The intruder sneered. "Then why have you raised your prices, threatened to withhold shipment without further credits?" There was a moment of relief as they glanced at each other. For a moment, they had feared that he knew of the negotiations with the Jedi Kenobi! No, this was something completely different, Cestus Cybernetics' demand for a 10 percent surcharge. Llitishi of sales and marketing had sworn that Count Dooku would agree if they but held firm.

"It is the war, the war!" Debbikin leaned closer, trying to establish a sense of intimacy. "Supply lines have been cut..." The intruder was unimpressed. "We have made other arrangements for you."

"Yes, but the timing is off, and we have to buy additional products so that all of the equipment matches. We are proceeding, but everything is taking longer, and therefore more expensive—"

The intruder raised his palm. Although he hadn't so much as touched them, the force of his personality drove them backward into their seats. "You cannot be trusted."

Quill was using his secondary hands to reach stealthily for the little hold-out blaster always attached to his wallet. They knew that he was descended from an assassin clan, and that those skills had been passed from one generation to the next for half a millennium. If their kidnapper made but a single mistake, the blaster would be out, the Nautolan would be dead, and they had a chance to regain control of the car. And Quill, incidentally, would have redeemed himself.

"How can you say that! Our dealings with you have placed Cestus in jeopardy with the Republic. We would not betray you. If we did, we would have no one!" The intruder's back was to Quill. The blaster was almost in hand . . .

Tension crackled in the air. Debbikin kept his eyes on the intruder, striving not to reveal by eye movement or the slightest tremor of voice that anything was amiss.

For the first time the intruder seemed to change expressions. The film over his black eyes swirled. "Your Families need a lesson. The best I can imagine is one written in blood—"

Quill's blaster was out and moving to the level, its tiny gleaming barrel rising to sight at the intruder's back. But without turning, the intruder's hand flickered. The gleaming handle at his belt blurred. Something that looked like a coil of glowing wire suddenly flexed, lashing backward toward Quill's blaster. Three meters long it was, and thin as a thread, wrapping around the barrel. With the slightest twist of the intruder's wrist, the blaster was sliced in half, the grip suddenly glowing white-hot. Quill dropped the blaster, howling from singed fingers, and thrust them into his mouth, sucking and nursing them.

"Now then." Kit Fisto smiled grimly. "Shall we negotiate?" 37

By the time Obi-Wan arrived at the palace, the halls were in an uproar. He was hustled into G'Mai Duris's presence to see the regal X'Ting hunched in her seat listening to the words of a round, shortlegged Zeetsa with a very worried expression.

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