Star Wars: Scourge Read Online Free PDF

their way. The Bothan looked at her and frowned. She nodded agreement, then said, more quietly, “What else did you find in the body?”
    “Purplish crystals at the corners of the eyes and mouth,” Mander said quickly. “Darkening and expansion of the veins and arteries. In addition to the damage from such a fall. And there was a surprising rigidity in the muscles. He was angry when he died.”
    The Pantoran slumped in her seat and bowed her head.
    Mander looked at the now-concerned face of the Bothan, and back at the Pantoran. “I committed the body to the flames, as is the custom of our Order. Had I known you were in the area, I would have waited.” There was no response.
    Mander tapped the envelope and said, “It is definitely a spice—it dissolves easily, and could be put into the scentwine the Rodian brought him. I think that is how the poison was administered.”
    Reen Irana’s shoulders shook, and at first Mander thought she was sobbing. Instead, he realized that it was a sharp, mocking laugh. “Poison?” she said, and her jaw stiffened. “If only it was simply that.”
    At once Mander realized that he had been mistaken. Reen Irana knew something more than he. What had he missed? He decided to wait for the Pantoran to tell him, and the silence grew between them.
    When she finally spoke, she fought to control her words. “Are you Jedi all this naïve? This isn’t just a poison. This is a narcotic. A hard version of spice. It’s called Tempest.”
    Mander looked at the packet. Now he regarded it like a serpent as well.
    Reen leaned forward and continued, “Spacers have been seeing this spice throughout the spiral arms. Along the Perlemian Trade Route and Hydian Way—even in the Corporate Sector and Hutt space. It’s used either mixed in drinks or as an aerosol. It’s a spice, but a nasty one—addictive and destructive. Heavy users are marked by a darkening of the blood vessels—you can see them through the flesh. They also …” She paused for a moment, thinking of her brother, before continuing. “Addicts are also prone to fits of uncontrollable rage.”
    “Like that which Toro showed in the restaurant,” Mander said quietly. “It still could have been used as a poison.”
    Reen shuddered and shook her head. “It wasn’t a poisoning. It was an
overdose
.”
    Mander blinked. He could not imagine Toro using a dangerous drug.
    But before he could say anything, Reen continued. “The rage is a symptom of long-term use, as is the darkening of the blood vessels. The last few holos I’ve received from Toro—he was angry, upset. He blamed the Jedi for sending him out to the middle of nowhere. Felt he was getting a runaround from his contacts. He sounded bitter, frustrated. It wasn’t like him. I didn’t think about it at the time, but ran into a mutual friend on Keyorin, another Pantoran. The friend said that Toro looked sick, and had gotten angry when asked about it.”
    “Sick,” Mander said. A statement, not a question.
    Reen looked away from Mander. “He said that Toro’s veins were showing dark through his flesh.”
    “You think he was already addicted,” said Mander. He felt the air go out of him. It was one thing for young Toro to give in to a momentary flash of anger. It wasanother if he had been using a drug all this time, without anyone knowing.
    No, he corrected himself. Without Mander or the Jedi Council knowing about it. Toro’s sister knew, or at least suspected.
    “I came here to confront him, to find out if he was okay,” she said, making a gesture of frustration. “We were not … close. I left for space before he left to join your Jedi. But he was family, and I was worried.”
    “And you came here and found that he was dead,” said Mander, hoping his voice covered what he felt inside.
    “And that
another
Jedi was here, asking after him,” said Reen. “I didn’t know if you had been working with him, or looking for him as well, or …” She let her voice trail