Star Wars - Credit Denied - Unpublished Read Online Free PDF Page B

with a splatter of applause that quickly turned into a raucous roar of cheers, clapping, and foot-stomping.
    He put his hands up to call for quiet. “Now I would like to bring up the architect of this peace. A politician who has dedicated his entire life to ending the war between our two species… Ambassador Uli Aaregil.”
    An outpouring of emotion greeted Aaregil as he rose from his seat and assumed a position at the podium.
    While the crowd rejoiced, Rendra removed the blaster from her pocket and extended the tiny macroscope she had installed to aid her aim. She brought the weapon up to her eye as if she were trying to get a better look at Aaregil through an ocular magnifier, keeping the blaster concealed within her cupped hands. It would be an awkward pose to fire from, but she had no choice if she wanted to pull it off as surreptitiously as possible.
    Finally, the congregation had grown quiet enough for Aaregil to speak. According to her employer’s information, his speech would include the line “for all of us, from now until eternity.” Rendra had decided that that would be the signal for all of them to fire. Between the silencing units and the macroscopes, they should each be able to squeeze off a shot and retreat into the crowds before anyone could pinpoint them as the assassins.
    She watched Aaregil through the scope as he fiddled with a datapad. “I had prepared a speech for this occasion, but… but, to me, that’s too political for this joyous achievement.” He slipped the datapad into his tunic pocket. “Instead, I’d like to talk to you from the heart, about how I feel at this moment—one I have waited a hundred and twenty-two years to see.”
    Blazing stars, Rendra cursed. She put the blaster back into her pocket and took out her comlink. pressing it against her lips. “Nopul.”
    A pause, then, “Yeah.”
    “No speech. Alternative: fire when he introduces the next politician.”
    “Right.”
    “Vakir. Oro.”
    No response—not that she had expected one. She could only hope they’d figure out the problem on their own and contact her or Nopul.
    As she exchanged her comlink for her blaster, she hoped Dania Starcrosser was having a good time wherever she was in the galaxy on the credits Rendra has paid her, because it was the last good time she was ever going to have.
    Aaregil spoke. “We are about to embark on a new path for both of our species, one filled with freedom—freedom from the horrors of conflict; freedom from senseless death; freedom from meaningless ideals.”

    She adjusted the macroscope until the readings indicated she had a perfect shot at Aaregil’s chest. Meaningless ideals…! I should have had you speak to my father years ago.
    If her father knew what she was about to do, he would have shot her himself. Good old Dad, always placing ideals before everything else—including his family, Rendra had committed her life to avoiding that mistake and…
    Look where it had gotten her.
    She stared at Aaregil through the sights. What was she doing?
    Saving herself from returning to the life she had struggled so hard to escape, that’s what. She pushed away her misgivings. Ideals get you killed. Your father learned that the hard way. Don’t follow in his footsteps.
    She breathed out, hoping to send her inner conflict along with it, when her comlink beeped. She yanked it out of her pocket without bothering to hide the blaster. “Yeah.”
    “I got through to Oro and Vakir. They know the new plan.” He paused. “You sure killing him is worth a ship?”
    Just what she needed right now, another outsider questioning her life.
    “No,” she said crisply, “but it is worth my life.”
    “And that of millions of Weequay and Houk, as well, apparently.”
    It was a damning statement…
    And yet, it was true. She could not deny the logic, no matter how much she wanted to.
    Aaregil continued his remarks. “But I was not alone in this struggle to bring about peace…”
    “Time’s