Star Wars - A Servant of the Empire - Unpublished

Mace knew he was in trouble when the shooting started.

When the Imperial Customs cruiser had hailed his ship, Mace had tried desperately to stall for time. He’d used the old “communications malfunction” routine, followed by the “how do I know you’re not pirates?” ploy. He was just going into the “reactor leak” number when the cruiser opened fire.

Either the first barrage was just a warning, or else the Imperial gunners were terrible shots. Mace threw the engine controls to maximum and switched off the safety Interlocks. The
Ordinary Trader
leapt away from the cruiser like a frightened tauntaun.

Thump! The cabin shook as a laser blast struck the ship’s flimsy shields. Two more shots followed. The shield status panel was all red.

Okay, so they’re not bad shots,
thought Mace.
But how’s their piloting?

He began jinking and veering the
Ordinary Trader.
Give them a minute to get used to it, and then—the hull groaned as Mace pulled the ship into a tight corkscrew turn, sending it hurtling down toward the system’s largest gas giant.

On the bridge of the patrol cruiser
Sentinel
, Commander Panatic was deceptively relaxed. Normally a very upright, spit-and-polish officer, in combat he slumped immobile in his seat. Only his eyes remained alert, glued to the tracking display.

When the fugitive changed course, Panatic barely blinked. “Ensign Monidda, change to vector ten by two-ninety. Maintain speed.”

“He’s going into the planet’s ring system!” Ensign Av, the astrogator, called out.

“Follow him.”

As the view of the rings ahead changed from a shimmering silvery arch to a barrage of tumbling icebergs, Ensign Monidda began to earn his pay. The fugitive freighter looped and dodged among them, and the
Sentinel
hung grimly on its tail.

“All stop!” The helmsman shut down the engines with a sigh of relief.

“You’re letting him get away, sir?” Av looked puzzled.

“Take us out. Vector zero by ninety.” Panatic glanced over at the astrogator. “I’m not going to play his game. Once we’re clear of the rings, switch to silent running. Engines off, sensors to passive mode. We’ll let him find us.”

“Ha!” Mace allowed himself a little chuckle when his scanner no longer showed the Imperial cruiser. “Serves them right for trying to follow a master pilot through an ice ring.”

He slowed the
Ordinary Trader
to a safe speed, and scanned. No sign of the Imperial ship anywhere. Had they hit an ice chunk? He felt a momentary twinge of sympathy as he steered cautiously out of the rings and set a course for open space. He was just setting the hyperdrive when everything went wrong.

The cruiser was dead ahead, blazing away with all four lasers. Before Mace could react or adjust the shields, the
Ordinary Trader
was hit three times. Mace’s control board lit up red, showing maneuvering thrusters out, shields gone, and the laser cannon disabled.

“Surrender or be destroyed!” the comm speaker blared.

“Okay, okay. You’ve got me.”

Commander Panatic led the boarding party himself. Sergeant Ivlik and Private Kamlok kept the prisoner at gunpoint while Ensign Av and the other two troopers searched the ship. Panatic sat in the pilot’s seat, asking questions.

“Name? Occupation?”

“My name’s Rav Mace. I’m a freelance trader registered out of Dovuli.” That much was true. Of course, he had registration documents for half a dozen other systems, too.

“You’re a long way from home, then. Cargo and destination?”

“I’m carrying medical supplies to the Moldar system.”

“Your drive’s set for the Shkali system.”

Mace tried to keep his face blank. “Must’ve made a mistake setting it. You were shooting at me.”

“Yes. Why did you try to run, by the way?”

“I thought you were pirates. My comm system’s been acting up, like I told you.” Mace glanced nervously at the two black-clad troopers flanking him.

Panatic swivelled his seat around to the comm panel, and flipped a switch. “Panatic here. Do you read me,
Sentinel
?.”

“
Sentinel
here. Loud and clear, sir,” said Lieutenant Sukal’s voice from the speaker.

Panatic raised an eyebrow. Mace said nothing.

“Your ship has pretty good drives for a simple trading vessel.”

“I like to tinker. Besides, speed is money.”

Ensign Av returned. “I’ve checked the cargo hold. Four cases of medical supplies—no contraband.”

Mace broke into a big smile. “See? I told you! This is all just a terrible misunderstanding. Now if you’ll just let me be on my way…”

Panatic got to his feet. “Bring him.”

Urged by Sergeant Ivlik’s blaster, Mace followed the captain aft, to the cargo section. Panatic looked impassively at the crates. “Ensign! Did you look inside the cases?”

“Yes, sir. Clear down to the bottom.”

“Mm.” Panatic turned and glared at Mace. “Mm,” he repeated.

Slowly, like a trackbeast on a scent, he went forward again, stopping to look into each compartment. Crew quarters, galley, passenger stateroom…

“Are your life pods in order?”

“Sure! I’ve got the latest inspection logged in the computer. I’ll just call it up for you and then—”

“Check the life pods,” Panatic ordered Sergeant Ivlik.

The
Ordinary Trader
carried two life pods. Ivlik opened the hatch on the starboard pod and looked in. “Looks all right, sir.”

“See? Everything’s perfectly all right. I’m sure you’ve got a busy schedule, so there’s no point in wasting any more time here.” Mace fell silent as Ivlik opened the second pod.

“Captain! There must be a hundred blasters packed in here.” Ivlik squinted at the serial numbers on the wrappings. “Looks like Imperial Army issue.”

“Look, I had no idea—” began Mace, but Panatic cut him off.

“Lock him in the brig.” As Ivlik and Kamlok led Mace away, Panatic got out his comlink and called the bridge. “Lieutenant Sukal, I’m putting you in charge of the prisoner’s ship. Tell Monidda to plot a course to Shkali system. We’re going to find out what this smuggler was up to.”

The
Sentinel
entered the Shkali system ten hours later, on full battle alert. Lieutenant Sukal, followed close behind in the
Ordinary Trader
. But repeated scans showed no other ships in the system.

“Still nothing, sir,” Ensign Monidda reported for the ninth time.

“All right. Cancel alert. Disarm weapons. Take us into orbit and do a sweep of the planet’s surface.”

He called up the astrogation database. Shkali, the main world of the system, was a cool, watery world with wide forests and some dry grassland. The natives were stone-age saurians with no planet-wide political system. Orbital scans had found no useful resources, and the system was far from any trade routes. Panatic frowned at the screen. Why would anyone want to smuggle blasters to such a backwater? An adventurer might arm some natives and carve out an empire, but for what? The glory of lording it over a pack of scaly primitives?

There must be something else on Shkali. Something missing from the database. A Rebel outpost, perhaps? Panatic’s pulse quickened at the thought.

Ensign Monidda interrupted his ruminations. “Sir! I’m picking up a comm signal. It’s just the carrier wave, not a message.”

“Pinpoint it and scan the area. Any ships down there?”

“No power sources, no energy discharge, no large metal masses. Just the one comm signal.”

“What’s the surface like there?”

“Low hills, with dense forest. Hmm—just west of the signal source is a large burned area.”

“All right, take us down.”