"JAMES LUCENO. SABOTEUR" - читать интересную книгу автора

Twi'leks' head-tails were twitching.
Maul was pleased to hear the Rodian say, "This has to go directly to the top-and
I mean now."

The Toom clan had a motto: "Pay us enough and we'll make worlds collide."
They had started out as legitimate rescue workers and salvagers, using a
powerful Interdictor ship to retrieve ships stranded in hyperspace. By mimicking
the effects of a mass shadow, the Interdictor had the ability to pull endangered
ships back into realspace. While the rewards for such work were substantial,
they were never substantial enough to satisfy the desires of the clan, and over
the course of several years, the group had launched a second career as pirates,
employing their Interdictor against passenger and supply ships, or hiring
themselves out to criminal organizations to interfere with shipments of spice
and other proscribed goods.
However, unlike the Hutts and Black Sun, both of which could usually be relied
upon to honor the terms of any agreement, the Toom clan was motivated solely by
profit. A small outfit, they couldn't afford the luxury of turning down jobs out
of respect for some hazy criminal ethic-a stance that had made them outcasts
even among their own kind.
Headquartered in an underground base deep in Dorvalla's unpopulated northern
wastes, the clan received routine payoffs from both Lommite Limited and
InterGalactic Ore, to ensure the safety of their shuttles and ore barges. The
Tooms used much of the funds to bribe the commanders of Dorvalla's volunteer
space corps to ensure the clan's own safety-with the understanding that the clan
would refrain from operating within the Videnda sector.
Because Eriadu was outside the sector-and notwithstanding the fact that they
were already receiving payoffs from InterGalactic-the clan had accepted Lommite
Limited's generous offer of Republic credits to perform a bit of sabotage work.
InterGalactic would simply have to understand that the nature of their
arrangement with the Toom clan had changed. More important, the contract with LL
didn't preclude the possibility of the clan's entering into a similar contract
with InterGal-as certainly might be the case after the Eriadu operation. In
fact, the clan had every intention of contacting InterGal to suggest as much.
No one in the clan had expected InterGalactic to contact them before Eriadu.
A leather-faced Weequay, Nort Toom himself accepted the holotransmission from
Caba'Zan, head of security for InterGalactic Ore. The clan was mostly made up of
far-from-home Weequay and Nikto humanoids, but Aqualish, Abyssin, Barabels, and
Gamorreans also numbered among the mix.
"I want to discuss the most recent offer you tendered," Caba'Zan's holopresence
began. He was a near-human Falleen, burly and green complexioned.
"Our most recent offer," Nort Toom said carefully.
"About destroying Lommite Limited's ships at Eriadu."
Toom's deep-set eyes darted between the holoprojector and one of his Weequay
confederates, who was standing nearby. "Oh, that offer. We have so many
operations in the works, it's sometimes hard to keep track."
"I'm glad to hear that business is good," Caba'Zan said disingenuously.
"I've a feeling it's about to get even better."
The Falleen came directly to the point. "We're willing to pay one hundred
thousand Republic credits."
Toom tried to keep from celebrating. The offer was twice what Patch Bruit had