For the briefest of moments a flicker of emotion crossed Tarkin’s face. Then the mask fell back into place. “Rebels,” he repeated.
“Yes, Your Excellency,” Arihnda said. “But don’t worry. All they have is the merest skeleton of that data file. Just enough to keep them happy with my work so that they’ll keep sending me to other officials.” She dared a smile. “And keep funding me, of course. Bribery can be expensive.”
“Especially on Coruscant,” he agreed. “So this is a double-layer thief program?”
“Exactly,” Arihnda said. “It was layered on top of the Higher Skies version by an associate. The idea of bringing it to you was inspired by another associate. Both of whom would prefer to remain anonymous,” she added, as if it were an afterthought.
The tease worked exactly as she had hoped. Tarkin leaned back in his chair, his eyes boring into hers. “We’re far past the point of coyness,” he said coldly. “Their names.”
“The program was crafted on the orders of ISB Colonel Wullf Yularen,” Arihnda said. “The one who advised me to bring the results to you was Commander Thrawn.”
“Ah,” Tarkin said, his voice dropping a few more degrees. “So you drop the names of two highly respected individuals in the hope that I’ll think you have powerful friends and benefactors. Which one of them suggested that?”
“Neither,” Arihnda said, starting to sweat a little. “I’ve always considered that you were the only benefactor I needed.”
To her relief, he gave her another thin smile. “Thank you for not presuming we would ever be friends.” His smile faded, a small frown creasing his forehead. “Interesting about Commander Thrawn. He was on Coruscant just a few weeks ago, explaining himself to yet another court-martial panel.”
“What did he do?” Arihnda asked. She’d tried to keep track of Thrawn’s activities, but she hadn’t heard a whisper of this one.
“Burned off a vein of scarn spice on some alien’s territory,” Tarkin said. “Direct and efficient. Not as politically astute as some would have liked.”
“What was the outcome?”
“He was cleared, of course,” Tarkin said. “The High Command doesn’t especially like him, but they find it difficult to argue with his results. The Emperor seems to have taken a fancy to him, as well. What exactly did he and our good Colonel Yularen expect from you in return for their help?”
“Colonel Yularen wanted the data, of course,” Arihnda said. “He was highly interested in my, shall we say, unofficial survey of the Empire’s top politicians.”
“I assume you haven’t turned it over to him?”
“Not yet,” Arihnda said. “I thought you might like a preview. And perhaps to extract a few tidbits you could use for—” She shrugged. “Let’s just say for the good of the Empire.”
“Very noble of you,” Tarkin said. “And Commander Thrawn?”
“Amazingly easy to please,” Arihnda said. “All he asked for were expedited repairs on his ship, and a long-overdue promotion for his aide. The first I’ve already managed through some of my other contacts. But there’s still some political resistance to the second.”
“Resistance to a military promotion?” Tarkin asked disbelievingly. “Which of our esteemed politicians has that much time and energy to spare?”
“Moff Ghadi,” Arihnda said, watching Tarkin closely.
It was all she had hoped for. More, even. Tarkin’s face stiffened, his eyes going bright and narrow.
She’d already known there was a rivalry between the two men. She hadn’t realized how deep and bitter that rivalry truly was.
“Moff Ghadi,” Tarkin repeated. “I should have guessed.”
“I have information on him, of course,” Arihnda said, keeping her voice casual. “He was one of the first politicians I targeted.”
“You have that information with you?”
“Right here,” Arihnda said, touching her hip pouch and then pulling out her datapad. “But first, I thought you might be interested in hearing a recording I made a few months ago.” She keyed it on and turned up the volume.
“This had better be important.” Ghadi’s voice came from the speaker. “And I mean damn important. I’m this close to having Ottlis whipped for waking me up, and you don’t even want to know what I want to do to you.”
“It’s important,” Arihnda’s voice came back. “You were right—Higher Skies is keeping watch on many important people. I’ve found the files.”
“Of course I was right. Any reason this revelation couldn’t have waited until later?”
“It probably could have. But I thought you’d want to hear as soon as possible about the Tarkin file.”
“They have a file on Tarkin? What’s in it?”
“I don’t know. This one’s under a different encryption than anything else I’ve found. But if it’s like the ones I’ve been able to read, it probably has a lot of secrets in it. Things Tarkin wouldn’t want anyone else knowing about.”
“Perfect. Yes. I absolutely want those files.”
“I thought you would. I can collate them with the other files I’ve been able to find. But I wanted to make sure you wanted this one.”
“Don’t be stupid. You have the weapon I need to take down Tarkin, and you want to know if I want it? Get it on a data card and bring it to my office. Now.”
“Yes, Your Excellency. As I said, though, at the moment it’s unreadable. If you give me time, I may be able to decrypt it.”
“Just bring it to me. I’ll decrypt it. Let’s see how high and mighty Grand Moff Tarkin is when I’m shoving his dirty little secrets down his throat.”
“Very well, Your Excellency—”
“That’s enough,” Tarkin said quietly.
Arihnda shut down the recording. “Imagine that,” she said, mock-seriously. “A high official conspiring to use illegally obtained material to topple another high official.”
“And being foolish enough to allow that conspiracy to be recorded.” Tarkin eyed her. “I notice your own voice wasn’t nearly as identifiable as his.”
“A malfunction in the recorder.”
“Of course,” Tarkin said. “Tell me, what exactly did you give him?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Arihnda assured him. “It was complete gibberish wrapped in what appeared to be an advanced encryption layer. He’s probably still trying to find a coherent sentence in it.”
“I see,” Tarkin murmured. “So Colonel Yularen will get data on the Empire’s politicians. Commander Thrawn will get his aide promoted. I’ll have Yularen’s data before Yularen gets it, plus the satisfaction of removing Moff Ghadi from the face of the galaxy.” He raised his eyebrows. “We haven’t yet talked about you. What do you get out of this?”
“Your patronage and support,” Arihnda said. “The satisfaction of knowing I’ve helped the true powers that keep the Empire running.” She paused. “And if you should find it useful and expedient, I’d like the governorship of Lothal.”
“Lothal,” Tarkin echoed, leaning forward again and keying his computer. “Not exactly the ground-shaking demand I’d expected. Why there?”
“The rivalry between Governor Azadi and Senator Renking cost my parents their mining company and forced them out of their home,” Arihnda said, an unexpected surge of anger rising inside her. She’d thought she’d put the emotion of that betrayal behind her. Apparently not. “Being made governor of Lothal will humiliate the first, and make it easier for me to take down the second.”
“A clear vision of one’s goals is important in a governor,” Tarkin said drily. “But governorships are valuable commodities. I’m afraid this”—he tapped the data cards on his desk—“isn’t quite enough.”
“I thought it might not be.” Taking a deep breath, Arihnda pulled out another data card. “But this is.”