Star Wars, Allegiance

Chapter Four

So, Emperor Palpatine said, his eyes glinting from the shadows beneath the peak of his hood. It is as I suspected. Moff Glovstoak is a traitor.

He s at least an embezzler, my lord, Mara said. I don t yet know whether or not he s committed actual treason.

I consider theft of Imperial funds to be treason, the Emperor countered. Your part in this is now ended, my child others will carry on from here. You have done well.

Thank you, Mara said, feeling the warmth of his approval ow through her. Then unless there s something more urgent pending, I d like permission to do an investigation of the six artworks I found in Glovstoak s safe. The ones I examined appear to be from a batch of ten that were stolen from a gallery ve years ago during an attack on a Rebel cell on Krintrino.

The Emperor s face darkened. So as well as being an embezzler, Glovstoak may also be connected with the Rebel Alliance?

Or he may have a connection with the Imperial forces who carried out the attack, Mara pointed out, a little cautiously. The Emperor was a wise and good man, but he had an odd tendency sometimes to see Rebels and Rebel conspiracies where they might not actually exist. Or it could have been pirates or thieves who simply took advantage of the attack s chaos to grab and run. The interesting point is that Glovstoak apparently bought them through an auction house, which suggests he and the seller wanted a stamp of legitimacy put on the transfer.

You said ten were stolen, the Emperor said. Yet only six were in Glovstoak s safe?
Yes, Mara con rmed. And all six were apparently bought at the same time about eighteen months ago.

Where are the other four?

As far as I know, they re still missing, Mara said. That s one of the questions I d like an answer to. Another is why the original owner suddenly decided he needed such a large in ux of cash a year and a half ago.

For a minute the Emperor remained silent, and Mara felt a icker of

Timothy Zahn