THE BLACK FLEET CRISIS #3 - TYRANTS_TEST

by Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell

  of the objects.

  The chips were the last pieces missing from the controllers, and

  Sorannan irreversibly sealed the clever access slides and panels before

  handing each object over to a courier.

  "Deliver this to Dobbatek.

  "See that this reaches Jaratt on Valorous.

  "This is for Harramin.

  "I want this delivered to Eistern on Intimidator. Tell him I will be

  there soon. Tell him to pass the word that it is almost time."

  Chapter 10

  While Han slept in the healing bath of the bacta solution, the command

  staff analyzed the latest data from the stasis probes deep inside the

  cluster, and the Wookiees prepared the Falcon for the battle ahead.

  Not included in any of those activities, Luke found himself alone and

  with time on his hands.

  He went by Wialu and Akanah's cabin, intending to reopen the subject of

  Nashira. But Wialu was not there, and Akanah would not tell him where

  he could find her.

  "She will be in deep meditation until the time comes, preparing

  herself," said Akanah. "This will be very difficult--she must be

  strong enough to hold the projection even if fighting begins."

  "Will you be helping her?"

  "She has not asked that of me."

  "Do you think that I can?"

  "Ask me, or help her?"

  "Help," he said.

  "No. You have great power, Luke, but this is not a work of power.

  When you lay your touch on the Current, it is still a thousand times

  too forceful."

  He digested that in silence. "Did you know that there's a Fallanassi

  aboard Pride of Yevetha? At least,

  that's how I sort it out, going by Chewbacca's account.

  A woman named Enara." He shook his head. "They had to have some kind

  of help. Going in there like that was crazy. Wookiee-crazy, the kind

  that comes from an excess of courage and a shortage of patience."

  "Yes, I know," Akanah said.

  "Will she be able to help Wialu?"

  "I do not think so."

  Luke frowned. "You seem to have gotten a lot more reluctant to talk to

  me since we reached J't'p'tan."

  "Circumstances have changed," Akanah said with a small, rueful smile.

  "Because Wialu is watching and listening?"

  "We have lost more than privacy," she said. "We are no longer moving

  in the same direction."

  "If you know that, you know more than I do about where I'm headed,"

  Luke said, pulling a chair toward him and sitting down on it

  backward.

  "I have more questions now than ever."

  "You must be greatly tempted to try to force Wialu to answer them,"

  Akanah said.

  "An occasional, resistible temptation," Luke admitted.

  "I know better."

  "It would be an immeasurable mistake."

  "I know that, too," he said. "But you could answer some of my

  questions--as my teacher."

  Eyes downcast, Akanah shook her head. "I don't think so, Luke."

  "Because of what Wialu said about your not having the right to? She

  said you were a child yourself--" "She was right," Akanah said. "I

  told you on the day we met that I was incomplete--that there was a

  weakness, an empty space, in me--that the loss of what my mother would

  have taught me had left me less than whole."

  "I suppose you did," Luke said. "I guess at the time, I paid more

  attention to what you were saying about me."

  "It was easy enough for me to forget myself," said Akanah. "But even a

  short time with Nori was enough to show me how far I have strayed

  without guidance.

  These days in Wialu's company have shown me how far I have to go to

  return to the path."

  "Your mother--Talsava--is she with the Circle?"

  "No," Akanah said. "When we are finished here, I will ask Norika to be

  my teacher."

  Luke folded his arms on the back of the chair and rested his chin on

  them. "So your journey is over."

  She shook her head. "It is just beginning. I know that I must go back

  and unlearn before I can move forward again. Do not envy me too much,

  Luke."

  Luke answered with a tight-lipped smile. "A momentary

  self-indulgence," he said. "Well, I suppose I can't ask you to work

  with me on the skill of concealment."

  "You will need another teacher if you choose to follow this path and

  become an adept of the Current," she said, her expression earnest. "I

  hope that you will.

  You have great strength, Luke, but you hunger for lightness.

  That is part of the gift that you have been denied."

  Frowning, Luke straightened his back and caught the top edge of the

  chair in his hands. "Maybe you can answer this question, at least--if

  Enara could conceal the Falcon and create phantom hostages, why

  couldn't she protect Shoran?"

  "I am sorry for your friend's loss," Akanah said, then paused. "I do

  not know the limits of Enara's skill.

  But creating a reflection from the surface of the Current and merging

  nearby objects with the Current are very different tasks. It is

  terribly difficult to do both at the same time. And there is something

  else--a person does not stay settled in the flow the way an object

  without volition will."

  Luke's eyes lit up. "Is that why the Circle is still at J't'p'tanmwhat

  you meant when you said they couldn't leave?" he asked. "Because it

  sounds as if the Fallanassi could hide the temple from the Yevetha and

  go away, and it would stay hidden--" "Yes. Objects which are at rest,

  or which follow the current without resisting it, will remain merged

  until

  they are disturbed," she said. "All of the effort comes at the

  beginning, and a single adept can manage it. But hiding the community

  of H'kig requires the constant attention of a great many adepts, and

  the effort is never-ending."

  As he listened to her, Luke experienced a flash of intuitive insight.

  "Yes. Yes, that's the only way it could be. Do you--" "I have already

  said too much," she said, shaking her head. "Please, Luke, ask me no

  more questions.

  Answering you and refusing you bring me equal burdens of guilt."

  "I'm sorry," Luke said. "I understand."

  "You understand, and you used it to get your answer," Akanah said

  sharply. Then she showed a quick smile, taking the sting out of the

  rebuke. "Please, Luke--go now."

  "All right," he agreed, standing and replacing the chair where it had

  been. But when he reached the cabin door, he stopped and looked

  back.

  "I'm sorry. I have to ask one more."

  She nodded wordlessly, as though she had expected it.

  "Did you see Nashira on J't'p'tan?"

  "No," Akanah said with regret. "I do not know where she is."

  It was decided early that the "phantom fleet" bluff should be played

  where it would have the most impact--in the light of N'zoth's sun, over

  the capital of the Duskhan League and the home of Viceroy Nil Spaar.

  "It's the strongest Yevethan fleet we've located especially in the wake

  of the rescue of the commodore," Corgan explained at the strategy

  session where the assault plans were first disclosed "If the Yeveth
a

  are still monitoring developments on Coruscant through their spy

  network, they know that the President's sending us reinforcements, and

  that'll help sell the bluff.

  "We've planned a feint at Doornik Three-nineteen for the day before,

  just to keep them jumpy and maybe draw off a ship or two from somewhere

  else. And on the big day, we'll turn out in strength at Wakiza, Tizon,

  and Z'fell, plus go after the shipyard that just turned up near

  Tholaz.

  But the big play is at N'zoth--that's where we have to break them, one

  way or another."

  Taking Intrepid to N'zoth meant a transfer for Hang from the flagship's

  medical ward to a medical frigate delegated to stay behind with the

  other noncombatants.

  The transfer, in turn, meant the first conscious moments for Han since

  he had come aboard.

  Both Chewbacca and Luke took advantage of the opportunity. The Wookiee

  had an emotional reunion With Han while the doctors and K-1B gave him a

  quick but thorough hands-on exam. Luke did not intrude on that time,

  waiting instead to hitch a ride with Han on the transfer shuttle.

  "Hey," said Han, craning his head at the sound of Luke's voice. "I

  used to know a guy who looked just like you."

  "Whatever happened to him, anyway?" Luke bantered back, finding a

  perch beside the stretcher and catching Han's right hand in his own.

  "How are you doing?"

  "You know you're getting old when you start wondering about what it is

  that's finally going to kill you," Han said with a pained grin. "I

  guess I'm gonna have to sit this one out, eh?"

  "Unless we have a sudden need for underwater commandos," Luke said.

  "They tell me you're due for another five days in the tank."

  Han's countenance darkened with concern. "Say, do you think you could

  use your powers of persuasion to get 'em to let me talk to Leia before

  they dunk me back under? Has anyone told her--" "Already set up for

  you, Commodore, as soon as we reach the frigate," said the doctor

  seated at the head of the stretcher, monitoring the readouts.

  "Of course she was told," Luke said. "The general

  sent a message as soon as you were aboard, and Chewie talked to her

  later."

  Luke saw that Han noted the omission. "Well, when you talk to her,

  make sure you mention I was bothering the lady doctors---otherwise

  she'll worry," he said. "Say, how about Chewie's kid? He sure hit his

  growth, didn't he? Chewie said this was some sort of rite of passage,

  and he's taken a new name--Lumpawaroo, I think it was."

  "With Waroo as the familiar," said Luke. "I think it means 'son of

  courage."" "Well, that fits--both ways," Han said. "They said back

  there that Waroo will be coming over to the frigate, too. I think that

  leaves the Falcon one hand short."

  "I don't think I'm welcome to sign on," said Luke, squeezing and then

  releasing Han's hand. "Chewbacca seems to think I abandoned you to the

  Yevetha."

  "Aw, he'll get over it. He's still wound up, that's all. I couldn't

  talk him out of going back to N'zoth with you--figures he owes it to

  Shoran."

  "There's no arguing with a Wookiee," Luke said.

  "He'll be all right. There won't be enough shooting to worry about."

  "Why's that?"

  At that point, the doctor saw on his displays the same fatigue Luke was

  seeing on Han's face and ordered an end to the conversation. They

  completed the trip to the frigate in silence, save for the off-key

  humming of the shuttle pilot and the wheeze at the end each time Han

  exhaled. The last third of the run, it seemed as though Han was

  asleep.

  But when the hatch had opened and the orderlies were unstrapping the

  stretcher to carry Han out, he opened his eyes and found Luke with a

  steady gaze.

  "Hey--kid."

  "What?"

  "You'd have come for me if you knew, right?"

  "You know I would," Luke said. Then he grinned crookedly. "It's a bad

  habit from the old days."

  Han let his head loll back and his eyes close. "You can keep that

  one," he said. "Give the bastards hell, kid.

  They've earned it."

  The final tactical conference for Strong Hand included not only the

  commanders of all sixteen battle groups--by hypercomm holo link, as the

  groups were already staged to their jump points--but also Luke, Wialu,

  and A'baht's five senior aides.

  "Here's the good news," said Colonel Corgan.

  "Not only did the feint at Doornik Three-nineteen go off without any

  losses, but we got a free shot at an outbound Fat Man in the bargain,

  and made the most of it. Primary credit for the kill goes to Captain

  Ssiew and Thunderhead, and I'd like to tip my hat to them for showing

  us the way."

  "Here's the interesting news," said Colonel Mauit'ta. "Looking at the

  data from today's action together with the clash at ILC-Nine-oh-five,

  we now believe that the Yevetha have their own game of

  where's-the-candy under way. That is, we are now ninety percent

  convinced that there are two versions of the Yevethan T-type--one a

  capital warship, and the other an unarmed transport. At this point,

  we're still looking for tip-offs to provide to your sensor crews. But

  we believe the risks would justify following a simple rule of thumb:

  Don't bother firing on any targets that aren't firing on you."

  "Here's the bad news," said General A'baht. "The last survey of the

  N'zoth and Z'fell systems show that the Yevethan fleets there continue

  to be reinforced by ships coming in from elsewhere in Koornacht

  Cluster.

  N'zoth is now at forty-six capital ships and Z'fell thirty-four.

  That means that if they call our bluff and we end up in a tussle, we'll

  have only about a six-to-five edge--which could go to even odds by the

  time we get there.

  We will get one more snapshot from our stasis probes just before the

  jump-out." He looked down the table at Wialu. "A lot's riding on you,

  madam. If there's any reason to think---"

  "I am ready," she said quietly.

  "Then we go at the times established in revision nine of the

  coordinated plan," said A'baht. "Good luck to us all--and if luck

  disappoints us, then good hunting to us all." As the holos began

  dissolving, one after another, A'baht leaned toward Luke. "Can I talk

  to you for a moment?"

  This conversation truly was private--just Luke and the general, alone

  behind the closed door of A'baht's office.

  "I've been holding off saying anything about this, thinking I'd let you

  come to me on your own and let me know what sort of role you wanted to

  have in this," said A'baht. "But we're getting close to the end of the

  talking, so I'll get right to the point. If this comes to a shooting

  war, I'd like to have the benefit of your experience and leadership.

  "I know there are some strictly bureaucratic issues about your status,

  but I don't care about them. I'd like to offer you command of Red E

  Squadron. That's twelve of this ship's best E-wing pilots, and I know

  there won't be any hard feelings about your coming
in at the top. You

  can use my personal fighter--the crews keep it zeroed in--" "I'm

  sorry," Luke said. "I appreciate your confidence, but I have to say

  no."

  A'baht frowned. "I'm not sure I understand. What, uh--what are your

  plans, then?"

  Luke stood. "I intend to be with Wialu and Akanah on the observation

  deck. My obligations to them come first."

  Squinting unhappily in Luke's direction, A'baht said, "If it's their

  security you're worried about, I can put as many armed men up there as

  you want, so you'd be free--" "Armed men will not contribute to their

  sense of security," Luke said. "The answer is no. I'm sorry if that

  answer disappoints you."

  "It confounds me," said A'baht. "The choice is yours, of course--but I

  would appreciate an explanation, if there is one."

  Luke felt the heavy weight of expectations settle on his shoulders. If

  you don't let them make your choices for you, they demand that you