take another course to draw off pursuit. The trio of ships would change off, and
some of the damage on the exterior of the ship suggests it ran off more than one
pirate raid on Another Chance. If Emtrey can talk it into opening up its logs
we'll be able to confirm that idea."
Wedge gave her a big grin. "That's a lot of information tor so little time to
research the ship."
Winter's hair spread out in a white veil across her shoulders as she shook her
head. "Most of it is information I remember from reading histories when I was
younger and by correlating little bits of data I picked up in the Organa
household or when I worked with Princess Leia aiding her father. When the
Another Chance was recovered, it was clear that a massive power surge had fried
circuits, including the controllers for the external communication arrays that
allowed ship-to-ship communication. Since Valiant queried Tycho's X-wing when it
broadcast the Another Chance's IFF code, and followed his lead in picking
targets, the Valiant was clearly assigned to protect the Another Chance. Three
War Cruisers and a War Frigate frequently comprised a patrol in the Alderaanian
fleet, so I concluded there must have been three War Cruisers. The Valiant and
the other two were the last three built in that class, were commissioned, and
then were immediately decommissioned. Unlike the other ships the Alderaanians
had used in the Clone Warswhich were strapped and melted down into peace medals
that were presented to the crews and surviving families as mementos there were
no records of scraps being sent out to crews. Nor are there records of crews
having served on them, so I have concluded that they were immediately refitted
with droids to accompany the War Frigate Another Chance."
Booster's jaw hung open. "You remembered all that and figured it all out?"
Mirax laughed. "Winter has a holographic memory. She
remembers everything she sees, hears, or experiences, including that dumb look
you're giving her."
Booster snapped his mouth shut, then shook his head. "Then remember this Never
have children."
Wedge snorted out a quick laugh. "Crumbs don't fall far from the Hutt's mouth,
Booster."
"Thanks a lot, Wedge." Mirax gave him a hard stare, but softened it with a
smile.
"Sorry, Mirax. Winter, what are the chances that Courage and Fidelity are still
out there?"
"Won't have any way of estimating that until we get a look at Valiant's inner
workings. Emtrey thinks he can find a way in, and he now has Whistler helping
him slice some code. Zraii is nearly shedding his carapace over a chance to work
on the Valiant, so my guess is that they'll have it open and functioning to our
satisfaction within a couple of weeks."
"That's something, then." Wedge glanced at Booster. "You want the Valiant, or is
it too small for you?"
"I'm sure you can find someone else who is better suited to commanding it."
Booster forced a yawn. "Overseeing a crew of droids would be more boring than I
care to imagine. You should give the job to that protocol droid of yours."
Corran laughed. Trying to visualize Emtrey on the bridge of a ship issuing
commands produced ridiculous images in his mind. "By the time he informed his
crew of his qualifications, they'd mutiny."
Wedge and the others who had worked with Emtrey joined Corran in laughter. Wedge
ended his laugh with a cough, then cleared his throat. "I think Emtrey is better
suited to be an Executive Officer, not a Commander. I do think, however, we've
got someone who has the skills we need and could get more out of a droid crew
than anyone else." He reached out with his right hand and touched Aril Nunb on
her left shoulder. "You've flown more than fighters. Interested in commanding a
War Cruiser?"
Her deep red eyes widened in surprise, then she nodded. "That's a job I can
handle. I may need Emtrey to help me."
"He's all yours." Wedge gave her a nod, then smiled at the others. "Okay, I
think we've got some directions in which
we can head and some operations to plan. We got lucky this time, but from here
on out, we manufacture luck. The good we'll keep and the bad will go to Isard.
She missed her best chance to kill us off, and I see no reason to give her
another one."
26
The apathetic mask Fliry Vorru had fitted onto his face cracked. He'd managed to
keep his expression utterly impassive as Ysanne Isard dressed down Erisi
Dlarit. Both women had maintained rigid control at first, wielding civility and
titles with razor-kiss efficacy. Polite phrasings bottled up vitriol; but
Vorru knew if he'd tossed a pair of lightsabers between them, they'd have minced
each other in a nanosecond.
Then Ysanne Isard had said, "High Admiral Teradoc has withdrawn the Aggregator
from my service and that is your fault!"
Erisi exploded. "My fault? What algorithm did you use to calculate that
conclusion? Sir."
"The calculations were simple enough that I would have thought any provincial
mind could have grasped them." Isard's eyes narrowed as her hands balled into
fists. "Your pilots were on both the Aggregator and the Corrupter. It was your
pilots who were supposed to deal with the snubfighter threat. They failed,
costing me the Corrupter and now making me the laughingstock of the galaxy.
Teradoc had the gall to say to me that he'd only lend me toys if I would promise
they would not return broken! The Emperor would have had his guts for floss over
such a remark. Because of you, I am subject to such indignities!"
"Begging your pardon, but the orders placing my pilots on those ships came from
you. I asked you to use our Elite pilots for the mission, but you picked a green
unit."
"Their evaluationsreports you preparedwere outstanding."
"Yes, but they'd not seen combat before." Erisi's blue eyes burned intensely.
"You sent them out after a unit that is arguably the best fighter squadron in
the galaxy."
Isard raised an eyebrow. "Even with your participation no longer needed or
welcome?"
The sniped quip seemed to pass unnoticed by Dlarit, but Vorru had no doubt she'd
cataloged it. "My Elite Squadron is the equal of Rogue Squadron. If you had sent
us after them, Teradoc would be prostrate before you, begging you to accept his
allegiance. He is laughing because you destroyed three squadrons, because you
didn't heed the warning he offered by refusing to send his own pilots against
Antilles."
Vorru saw Isard preparing for a counterargument and knew if Isard were not
checked Erisi might pay with her life for her frank audacity. In the space of a
heartbeat, he examined his options. If he said nothing, Isard would destroy
Erisi Dlarit, throwing the Dlarit family into further disrepute. The fact that
the Ashern had humiliated her father clearly fueled her desire for r etribution
on the forces arrayed against the Bacta Cartel. She had wanted to fly on the
mission to Alderaan, but Isard had refused that request. To turn around and then
blame Erisi for the mission's failure was frustrating enough that Erisi might
wish for death.
be worth it. Erisi and her family still had considerable influence within the
Bacta Cartel. If Isard had to be removed, having Erisi as an ally might make
such an operation possible and certainly would smooth over the consequences of
it on Thyferra. / could even claim to the New Republic that I joined Isard
specifically to work against her from the inside like this. The idea that the
New Republic
would have to accept him as the leader of the new Bacta Cartel broadened the
grin Erisi's defiance had put on his face.
"I think, Madam Director, you cannot discount the fact that the Rogues clearly
had planned ahead against the eventuality of betrayal. Granted an Alderaanian
War Cruiser is an antiquated ship, but coupled with the X-wing squadron's
strength, it was enough to make Captain Convarion pay for his recklessness."
Isard rotated her head around to glance at him over her shoulder. "You presume
Convarion made a mistake to blind me to the fact that if our operation was
betrayed to Antilles, it was doubtless through a spy you have failed to locate."
Vorru caught Erisi's eye, and in a moment he felt he had earned her gratitude.
Part of him began to list the various ways she could make it more manifest.
Because of her beauty and strength, the idea of a physical union to consummate
their alliance in opposition to Isard came to mind, but he dismissed it. He had
no doubt it could happenand might well happen yetbut their need for each other
had higher purposes than sating lust. If we are to be allies, our first
conjunction must be full of purpose and confirmed by reason, not dictated and
muddled by emotional involvement.
Vorru knew he could fall victim to Erisi's charms, because she realized that it
was possible to play to his vanity and desperation. He had always been vain, but
he had kept it in check. His age attacked both his vanity and ambition,
reminding himself that he had little time to accomplish all the goals he had
set out for his life. His time on Kessel had gotten him no closer to the heights
he had once seen as his due, and now he knew that unless he acted quickly, his
chances of even approaching them would wither and die.
"That possibility cannot be discounted, of course, Madam Directornor can it be
proven, as you are well aware. The fact is that Antilles has been very cautious
throughout his career. That he has lived this long is ample proof of that. The
precaution taken against our interference could have been nothing more than a
concern over whether or not he could trust his trading partner."
Isard turned so she could watch both him and Erisi. "Yes, his trading partner. I
want Karrde dealt with."
Vorru shook his head. "Under no circumstances. If we treat Talon Karrde any
differently than we do now, he will realize we have an agent among his people,
and we lose a very valuable resource. Moreover, Karrde's loyalty can be bought.
We will have him when, if, and however we want him."
He opened his hands. "As for your assertion that Commander Dlarit is to blame
for the failures of her pilots, this, too, is disingenuous. Her pilots were
inappropriately matched against Rogue Squadron. Captain Convarion always
believed the appearance of his vessel would strike terror into the hearts of his
enemies. He expected them to panic and run precisely because they ran the first
time he ambushed them. Antilles has not lived this long by repeating mistakes.
Convarion should have insisted on having the best pilots possible flying with
him. He did not, because he assumed their contribution to his victory would be
incidental."
Isard brought her head up. "Ah, well, then it seems I am wrong about
everything!" The rising ironic tone in her voice did nothing to hide her anger.
"Perhaps you would like to tell me how things are going to go from now on and
what we should do about them."
Vorru smiled and took a half step toward Isard as he turned to face her. "I
would guess, despite the possession of the War Cruiser, Antilles and his people
will continue their"he glanced at Erisi"as the pilots so colorfully put it,
'hit-and-hype' raids. In actuality you've seen those raids are minimally
effective. I would imagine they will also try to infiltrate some of the tanker
crews so they can hijack more shipments. Our lossesand we will have
someshould be minimal."
Isard's eyes half-closed. "Minimal losses to us will still be enough to let them
finance their war against us."
"True, but the fact is that time runs in our favor, not theirs. We have a number
of ways to deal with them, but their threat will not be ended until we locate
their base and destroy it."
Isard pressed two fingers against her lips for a moment.
"The elimination of their base has always been the way to deal with them. What
other plans do you have in mind?"
Vorru smiled hesitantly. "The prime method of eliminating their ability to
fight against us is for us to open up our storage wells and make an abundance of
bacta available."
"No!" Erisi and Ysanne looked at each other in surprise as their joint
denunciation of that suggestion echoed loudly through the room. Isard shook her
head. "That would kill the price of bacta and loosen the dependency of others
upon us."
"Agreed, but we can survive the momentary weakness, Rogue Squadron cannot. The
strength of the bacta price is their strength. Take it away, and they are left
penniless. Karrde won't speak with them. They will be unable to maintain their
spacecraft and will no longer appear to be friends worth protecting. Make bacta
abundant, offer a reward to bring Antilles and his people in, and hint that
bacta will remain abundant if they are captured or betrayed to you and Antilles
is done."
Even as he outlined the plan, Vorru knew Isard would reject it. It is the
easiest and most bloodless of the plans needed for getting rid of Antilles. She
will reject it because it does not satisfy her sense of revenge. She wants him
to suffer, not wither. I doubt she recognizes she should reject it because of
the backlash she will suffer among the Xucphra people when their standard of
living crashes.
Isard slowly shook her head. "Antilles has defied me directly and has killed
one of my Destroyers. I want him dead, I want Horn dead and the others, but I
want them to know I was the hand behind it, not market vagaries. Moreover,
relinquished power is power that is not easily recovered. Next."
"The other plan is the current onea plan that requires vigilance and patience.
We keep seeking information and then pounce when we know where he is." Vorru
shrugged stiffly. "The problem with this plan is that it is frustrating, since
we cannot act until we know where he is based. That could take three months,
six, a year."
"Unacceptable." Isard shook her head adamantly. "I am not going to sit back and
allow Antilles free rein while I just wait. This situation cannot be allowed to
mature further. We
1
I
need action. I want to kill something, and I want
to use her pilots to do it."
Isard pointed an unwavering ringer at Erisi. "If your pilots are truly elite,
killing something should not be beneath them."
Vorru felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Halanit was a disaster, yet she
would repeat it. "Madam Director, a raid right now would be a waste of people,
parts, munitions, and goodwill."
"But it will show High Admiral Teradoc and that fool Harssk that they should not
trifle with me and laugh at me. And what need have / of goodwill? Do I not own
all the bacta there is? Others should please me with their actions, not seek to
be pleased by me."
Vorru held his hands up. "There is no question you have power others would do
well to respect, but attacking another place like Halanit will inspire more fear
than you want."
Isard gave Vorru a predatory smile, all sharp tooth and pitiless. "But fear is
exactly what I want, Minister Vorru. However, I take your point. I will still
have my attack, and Commander Dlarit's people will do it, but we'll spare
off-worlders for the moment."
She blithely turned her attention on Erisi, and the Thyferran woman paled. "You
will plan a mission that punishes the Ashern for their boldness in resisting me.
Their antics have been hardly damaging, but I want them to know that to defy me
is to court death. Find somethinga munitions dump, a rebel camp, a sympathetic
village, anything. Find it and destroy it. No warning, no mercy." She smiled.
"No question who the true power here is."
I
27
Mirax Terrik found herself surprised by the delighted smile on Talon Karrde's
face. A crescent lined with white teeth split his moustache from his goatee and
gave him the rakish air of a space pirate. What surprised her was not that
Karrde could smile so handsomely, but that he dared to, given the scowl on her
father's face. Karrde can't be ignorant of my father's temper, so he thinks
he's anticipated our trouble.
Karrde, alone in his cabin, waved both of the Terriks to chairs. "I'll dispense
with greetings because I suspect you'd doubt my sincerity after what happened at
Alderaan." Karrde came around to the front of his desk, then leaned back on its
edge, crossing his long legs.
Mirax sat in the chair she'd been offered, but her father remained standing. He
rested his hands on the back of his chair, then leaned forward to bring his eyes
Star Wars - X-Wing - The Bacta War Page 25