
“Then tell the infidel this,” Shimrra said. “It will not be necessary for him to return to Corellia—he will
simply inform us which of his Centerpoint Party associates we should contact in order to deliver his
orders and our assistance. Tell the infidel that I have a much more important duty for him to perform. Tell
him that I have just appointed him President of Ylesia and Commander in Chief of the Peace Brigade.”
Nom Anor was struck with admiration. Now that is truly inventive vengeance, he thought. Thrackan
Sal-Solo had destroyed thousands of Yuuzhan Vong warriors at Fondor, and now he would be publicly
linked with a Yuuzhan Vong–allied government. His reputation would be destroyed; he would be at the
mercy of those whose warriors he had killed.
Sal-Solo listened to the translation in horrified silence. His eyes ticked back and forth again, and then he
said, “Please tell the Supreme Overlord that I am deeply honored by an appointment to this position of
trust, but because this would make it impossible for his plans for Corellia to be realized, I regret that I
must decline the appointment. Perhaps the Supreme Overlord doesn’t realize that the Peace Brigade is
not admired by all Corellians, and that anyone identified as Peace Brigade wouldn’t be able to command
the respect necessary to win power in Corellia. It is, furthermore, absolutely necessary that I be in
Corellia to coordinate the Centerpoint Party, and . . .”
Sal-Solo went on at some length, long enough so that Nom Anor began to feel toward him a thorough
contempt. Sal-Solo, convinced of his powers to charm others, thought that once he could get in the same
room with Shimrra, he could talk to him, one politician to another, and convince him of the rightness of
his schemes. As if he could lobby the Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong the same way as he might
lobby some miserable Senator from his homeworld!
“Executor,” Shimrra said conversationally, as Sal-Solo continued to speak, “is there a place where one
might strike a human in order to cause immobilizing pain?”
Nom Anor considered the request. “There are organs known as ‘kidneys,’ Lord. One on either side of
the lower back, just above the hips. A strike there causes considerable anguish, often so severe that the
victim is unable to cry out. Or so I am given to understand.”
“Let us find out,” Shimrra said. He made a slight gesture, and Onimi rose from his place at the foot of
Shimrra’s dais. In the dim light Nom Anor saw, coiled in the Shamed One’s hand, a baton of rank, the
officers’ version of the amphistaff. He was shocked to discover that Shimrra permitted his familiar to
carry weapons.
But who else would be more trustworthy? Nom Anor thought. Onimi must know that if Shimrra is killed,
his own death will surely follow.
Onimi stepped behind Sal-Solo and flung out his lank arm. The whiplike baton froze into its solid form,
now a lean staff, and Onimi with a single efficient swing slashed the weapon into Sal-Solo’s left kidney.
The human opened his mouth in a silent scream and fell like a bundle of sticks, hands scrabbling at the
floor. Nom Anor stepped to the helpless man, bent, and seized him by the hair.
“Your resignation is declined, infidel,” he said. “We shall see you are transported immediately to Ylesia,
where you may take your place as head of the government. In the meantime, you will give us the names
of your associates on Corellia, so they, too, may be given their instructions.”
Sal-Solo’s face was still distorted by an unvoiced shriek, and Nom Anor decided that his information
regarding a human’s vulnerable kidneys was true.