Baylis Ascaris looked up from a deskful of work as his son brought in the new operative.
"Father. This is the gentlebeing I spoke of."
Trass stepped aside to reveal a tall human with glittering black eyes, short-cropped dark hair, and a short beard that hugged his chiseled jaw. He wore gray leggings, gray gloves, a short, utilitarian coat with a blaster in its holster snugged tight to his hip, and glided into the room like a ghost.
Ascaris sat back to take the stranger in. "Etass …" He raised his brow ridges, waiting for a surname.
Etass raised a hand. "Best to leave it at that. Government clearances don't come easy, especially the monitoring of hyperspace lanes."
"So, you …?"
"Can tell you the registry, flight plan, cargo information, and flight information of every commercial craft in every hyperspace lane you care to monitor."
Baylis folded his hands. "Excellent. We shall have need to diversify our target list in order to avoid suspicion. A few passenger vessels, a few privately owned … We shall have need of your expertise."
Etass gave him a sharp nod. "Anything I can do, for the right price."
Rominger answered his most private comm. "Ah. Etass. Settled in?"
"I am." His operative gave him one sharp nod. "You were right; it was him. I don't know the location of the tankers yet, but I'm working on that. He wants to diversify the targets, trying to protect himself and diffuse suspicion."
"I'd like to know that our tankers are in one piece and our people are safe. Keep me informed."
"Yes, sir."
Senator Palpatine answered his most private comm. "Ah, Sate. What news do you have for me?"
"I am in place. Both places. Monitoring the hyperspace lanes for Baylis, and reporting on it to Rominger. I'm also keeping an ear to the ground for the Trade Federation tankers they're stealing. Seems they're trying to hijack a passenger transport or two to keep the heat off."
"Hm. Who do they have performing the actual hijackings, pray tell? The Maladians? Bando Gora? Some bounty hunter?"
"They seem to feel the less said the better. I don't need to know it to do the job. Just the hyperspace codes, thank you."
"Which sectors are you looking at?"
"Hydian Way around Kuat."
"I'll get back to you," said Palpatine.
Senatorial privilege could get you just about anywhere.