directly to North's office. When they were alone
the Messenger spoke quickly. "The Lord God desires," he explained,
"that Hades be the last place the Purist's Leader ever visits. The
Purist Leader believes that his itinerary is secret, but we have an
Agent in his High Command.
38 Here is his destination when he leaves Hades. The Lord God wants it
done quickly. There must be no hint that you were involved. Leave it to
your subordinate. You must remain here on Hades, and be highly
visible. That is all I have to tell you."
39 "Convey to The Lord God," assured North, "that the orders will be
carried out." The Agent nodded and left. As soon as he was out of the
office North called Communications. "Send a message," he ordered, "on
my priority frequency, 'Double star, double star! Hades, confirm.'
Send immediately."
40 "Yes, sir," the Officer answered.
41 North knew within hours North 2 would respond to the signal and be
on his way to Hades. A couple of days later they switched places. While
North 2 handled all of North's duties on Hades, seeing to the security
of the Purist Leader and that there were no civil disturbances, North
moved into deep space with five of his Rebel warships.
42 Staying under factor 3 they created no hyperwaves so their flight
was undetectable by either The Empire or The Purists. Halfway to The
Purist Leader's next destination they spread out in a capture pattern and waited,
monitoring the news broadcasts from Hades.
43 They saw the Purist Leader arrive, tour the major cities to
applauding crowds somewhat smaller, North hoped, than he had wanted,
then depart. As his ship reached the midpoint of its passage its
engines suddenly failed, and it dropped back into normal space. The
Lord God's Agent on board had done his work perfectly!