"Michael Stackpole "The Bacta War"" - читать интересную книгу автора

Convarion's head came up. "It is your order, then, Madam Director, that I
kill the families of the crew of the Alazhi?"
Isard's head briefly flicked toward Convarion, but Vorru
doubted Convarion caught her slip. "That situation has been dealt with already
and does not need your attention. I have another task for you. Minister Vorru,
your briefing."
Vorru pointed to the chair at the head of the table. "Please be seated, Captain
Convarion. As you know, bacta is a precious fluid that is produced in limited
amounts and only available from us, here, on Thyferra. All bacta in the galaxy
is produced under our license and is sold with our approval. If you need bacta,
there is only one place to get it.
"At least, that was the situation until Antilles and his people pirated the
first convoy. What do you think they did with that bacta?"
"It is rather clear they didn't sell it, since that is the obvi-ous answer to
the question." Convarion shrugged reluctantly. "I have no idea what they did
with it."
"They gave it away. Much of it went to Coruscant, but we anticipated that."
Vorru pressed his hands flat against the tabletop. "Because they used our ships
and our crews to transport the bacta, we know where it ended up. We have shorted
future allotments to various worlds to make up for the bacta they were supplied
by Antilles, and we have charged them for that bacta."
Convarion's expression eased. "And they have paid?"
"Some have. Some have refused to do so." Vorru smiled. "This presents us with a
problem."
Isard leaned forward, posting her arms on the table. "If some do not pay, we
appear weak and others might balk at paying us. If they do not pay, they are as
much thieves as Antilles and his people."
"So you have a policy you are going to order me to im-plement."
"How perceptive of you, Captain." Vorru nodded sol-emnly. "We have a list of the
worlds that received stolen bacta. We have eliminated those worlds that have
paid us, have made arrangements to pay us, or have sufficient re-sources to be
able to pay us. We are left with a handful of target worlds that are too poor to
afford the gift Antilles gave them. You will select one of them and take our
bacta back."
"And if there is no bacta to recover?"
Isard straightened up and smiled mostly coldly. "If the bacta is used up, it
will have granted them health. You will take it back again."
Convarion nodded. "It will be done."
Vorru raised a hand. "Not so quickly, Captain, there are some special caveats
for what we want you to do. First and foremost, you will be taking along with
you two companies of the Thyferran Home Defense Corps and one squadron of their
fliers to carry out the work that needs to be done."
"But my Imperial troops will be much more effi-cient . . ."
"Indeed, but we want the Thyferrans to see the crimes of these worlds as crimes
against them, not against Director Isard. We want the Thyferrans to get their
hands dirty. If they are acting with us, they become complicit in our
activities. They will make themselves targets for Antilles, which will bind them
more tightly to us. By making them administer the punishment to these worlds, we
give them an even greater stake in seeing that we remain here to help defend
them, and we give them a reason to defend themselves."