Stellan stood aside so that Toon could leave, the Sullustan crossing paths with the last person Stellan expected to see enter the operations room. It was all he could do to stop his hand from dropping to his lightsaber.

Elzar stepped forward to intercept the newcomer. “Ty?”

The Tholothian mercenary didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “Elzar, I need to talk to you about the Nihil.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

Valo Temple Outpost

Amarant’s mouthparts clacked together in agitation as he was led down the corridor by an idiot of a security officer.

The Neimoidian—Snat or some such—had informed Amarant that he was being taken to a Republic ship for transport to a secret facility where he would be interrogated. Good luck with that, Amarant thought. He’d plunge his stinger into his own thorax before betraying Lourna Dee.

That said, at the moment he had no idea how to escape. His arms were shackled, the Neimoidian armed with a surprisingly heavy blaster rifle, and he was being marched through an outpost swarming with Jedi.

At least the transport itself didn’t seem to have any more guards. The shuttle sat in the temple’s open courtyard, the building having survived Pan Eyta’s bombing runs. There were signs of hastily extinguished fires, the walls blackened with soot, but the main structure seemed untouched. Pity. Amarant would like to see the place burn. Maybe he’d return once he was free and raze it to the ground himself, after he’d sunk his fangs into Snat’s stinking neck, of course. Amarant’s mind wandered, imagining the indignities he could heap on the Jedi, especially that wretched Ugor who had encased him in his disgusting gloop.

“Captain Snat, wait up.”

Now what? Amarant swiveled one of his eyestalks back the way they’d come to see a group of Jedi rushing up. At least he thought they were Jedi. Two were definitely in Jedi robes—both human, one with a beard, the other clean-shaven—while their companions were female, a Tholothian with a lightsaber at her hip and a Kuranu with no weapon that Amarant could see.

“Captain!” the clean-shaven male repeated, stopping the Neimoidian, who in turn told Amarant to wait. He considered slithering for it, but knew he wouldn’t make it to the ship before Snat laid him out with that damn blaster rifle.

“Master Mann?” the security chief said, sounding irritated. “I need to get the prisoner on the transport as soon as possible.”

“That will have to wait, Captain,” the bearded human said, staring up at Amarant. “We have questions that need to be answered.”

“I have nothing to say to you, Jedi,” Amarant hissed defiantly, drawing himself up to his full height, not that it seemed to faze the young Kuranu who shoved past Snat to address him directly.

“You don’t understand. Your people, they stole something from my ship, something that could be fashioned into a terrible weapon.”