“I know the Republic doesn’t have a standing military. Doesn’t matter. We aren’t big enough to take them on, even if it’s just an RDC task force. They’d wipe us out. I say we need to lie low. No new operations for the time being. No more Paths. If your people give you grief, tell them the Eye sees something special in the future, something big. A new initiative.”

“Does the Eye, in fact, see that?” Lourna Dee asked. “A new initiative, I mean.”

“I’m always thinking of the next thing, Lourna,” he said. “You know that.”

Kassav and Pan Eyta exchanged a glance.

“Just doesn’t sound like us,” Kassav said.

“I call the vote,” Marchion said.

“Then I vote this is a big pile of bantha droppings,” Kassav said. “The Nihil don’t stop. We need to keep riding that storm.”

“You know,” Pan Eyta said. “I think I agree with Marchion. I say we take a little break. Just for a while. Maybe we should take a little time to plan, strategize—figure out how we operate if the Republic’s gonna be poking around in our territory.”

“Pff,” said Kassav. “Of course. You and your people just got fat off that job in Ab Dalis, so you don’t need to eat for a while. What about the rest of us?”

“Maybe you should’ve given me more of your people to help, Kassav,” Pan said. “One little Cloud worth of crew was all you could spare? Please. Anyway, I don’t mind a little break. Maybe I’ll take a vacation. Get tickets to the opera on Cato Neimoidia.”

Kassav made a disgusted noise, deep in his throat.

The rest of the vote was moot. In any decision related to the Paths, ties went to the Eye, a long-standing rule. With Pan’s vote, it was at least a two-against-two decision for putting a hold on new Nihil activity, at least until the heat from the Legacy Run died down. Lourna Dee hadn’t spoken, but her decision was irrelevant—and it wasn’t surprising she had waited to make her views known. She seemed to prefer that people knew as little as possible about what she was thinking. Whether that was pathological or tactical, Marchion didn’t know. Probably some of both.

“I guess that’s that,” Lourna Dee said. “But I still want to pitch you on a job.”

“Oh?” Marchion said, his voice thin.