Good things were happening.
Sadiki sat with her boots propped up on her desk, sipping coffee and smiling. She and ThreeDee had finished watching the slaughter of the guards from the comfort of her office, where she wouldn’t have to worry about getting blood on her suit. As pure spectacle, it didn’t disappoint. Too bad she hadn’t had time to auction the holovid broadcast rights—or, even better, take bets on the outcome. Not that anyone in their right mind would have bet on a group of unarmed prison guards against Strabo and Nailhead and their followers. She had no doubt there would be repercussions to what she’d done—one didn’t trifle with Jabba the Hutt without getting some pushback in one form or another—but at the moment she was feeling relatively … what?
“Invulnerable,” she said aloud, and the droid perked up.
“Excuse me?”
“Bulletproof. That’s where we are right now.” Sadiki took another sip of coffee. “It’s a good position to be in, ThreeDee.”
“Yes, Warden. However, I can’t help but wonder—”
“Shush.” Sadiki held up her hand. “You’re spoiling the moment. How long till the next fight?”
“It’s starting any minute now. The algorithm—”
She checked the screens in front of her, took her feet off her desk, and stared downward at the display. “Wait a second,” she said, looking up at the droid. “Where’s Dakarai?”
“This isn’t right. There’s got to be some mistake.” She watched as the algorithm selected its two combatants. “Find my brother. Find him now.”
“I’m sure I don’t know where he is.”
Sadiki cursed. “Where’s the override?”
ThreeDee made a quick chirping sound, and its breastplate dialed open to extrude a slender adapter, plugging it into the console next to Sadiki’s desk. “Accessing algorithm override,” it said, and there was a long pause. “I can’t override the system. I’m afraid the combatants have already been locked in.”
“My brother can fix it,” Sadiki said.
“I’m afraid that’s simply not possible.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s the one who locked them in.”
Sadiki frowned at the display. “Dakarai’s in the system somewhere. He’s accessed it remotely somehow. It doesn’t make sense; why would he do that?”
The droid swiveled its head to regard her, its photoreceptors pulsating busily.
“Respectfully, Warden, when was the last time you saw Master Dakarai?”
Sadiki didn’t answer. She was still looking at the screens.
Dakarai, she thought, what are you doing?