Waiting beside her father for the Skipray Blastboat to come to rest on the deck of the Errant Venture’s forward landing bay, Mirax wished she could be anywhere else. Just thinking about meeting Talon Karrde again took her back to the time when they’d worked together closely to bring Ysanne Isard down. And thinking of those times made her remember when Corran asked her to marry him, and her father’s reaction when he discovered they were married.
Those memories ripped open the wound in her spirit caused by Corran’s death. In it she found echoes of the pain she’d felt when Corran was believed to have died on Coruscant, but that pain seemed dull and distant. She realized that part of the reason she felt things more keenly now was because previously Wedge had helped her through the trouble, but he was gone, too. Wedge’s death also hurt Iella and conjured up for her the pain of having lost her husband, Diric, on Coruscant.
The fact that the Errant Venture had visited Distna and found evidence of Rogue Squadron’s demise made it impossible to believe they had not all died. When Corran went missing on Coruscant, the lack of a body meant she hadn’t fully accepted his death as being real. While they found no body at Distna, they had found part of his X-wing, and some of the battleroms recovered from other ships showed Corran’s fighter had been hit and out of the battle fairly early on. He would have been helpless to defend himself.
She looked over at her father as the Blastboat’s gangway extended itself and Booster started forward. “I really don’t want to be here, Father.”
“I know, Mirax, but Karrde requested your presence.” Her father reached out with his right hand and drew her in under his arm. “Karrde might not be as smart as he thinks he is, but he’s not a cruel man. If he wanted you here, it’s not to hurt you.”
She sighed and wrapped her left arm around her father’s waist as they walked toward the ship. Booster had always bristled around Corran and found fault with him, but since his death Booster had been very kind and understanding. She was certain he would never admit to liking Corran, but he clearly understood how important Corran had been to her and refrained from disparaging him in front of her since their discovery at Distna.
She smiled. Part of his desire to avenge Rogue Squadron doubtlessly comes from his love for Wedge, but I’ll bet he wants to take a piece out of whoever killed Corran for having deprived him of something he planned to do himself someday. She looked up at her father, then laid her head against his chest as he looked down at her. “Thank you.”
Booster gave her shoulder a squeeze, then brought his arm up over her head and extended it to Talon Karrde. “You’re looking smug as always, Karrde.”
“I’m pleased to see you again, too, Booster.” Karrde smoothed his mustache with his left hand. “You remember my associate, Aves?”
Booster shook the other man’s hand. “This is the one you’re turning the Last Resort over to? Congratulations on getting that command, Captain Aves.”
Aves blinked with surprise, then looked over at Karrde. “I’m getting the Last Resort? How come Booster knew before I did? Either our security is slipping…”
“Or I’m just as brilliant as ever.” Booster beamed and Mirax found his smile infectious. “I deduced it, actually.”
Karrde arched an eyebrow at Booster. “Deduced it? This sounds very good.”
“It was simple, really. You’ll recall that because you’re now ‘retired,’ I suggested obtaining the services of some of your people and ships.”
Aves frowned. “You were going to sell him the Last Resort?”
“I only wanted to lease it from Karrde, provide him some retirement income.”
Karrde laughed. “As I recall, you don’t have any money.”
Booster’s head came up. “I’m not as liquid right now as I would like to be, but that is beside the point. Karrde told me the Last Resort was not available, but that the new commander might consider some sort of an arrangement. That’s why you brought Aves here, isn’t it, Karrde?”
“Oh, you thought…?” Karrde shook his head. “It’s the right answer for all the wrong reasons. This is what makes you dangerous, Booster.”
Mirax’s father nodded. “Don’t forget it.”
“Not likely.” Karrde reached out and took Mirax’s right hand in both of his. “I actually came to see you. I would never intrude on your grief, but I think I have some good news for you.”
Mirax rested her left hand on top of his and smiled. “Thank you.”
Karrde freed a hand and waved back at the Blastboat’s hatchway. Mirax heard a triumphant squeal, then tore her hands from Karrde’s and ran up the gangway. Dropping to her knees, she wrapped her arms around Whistler’s cylindrical body. She clung tightly to the droid, feeling the breeze caused by his dome spinning around.
She eased her hug open, then sat back on her haunches. “Whistler, you’re okay!” Another droid behind him hooted and she smiled at him, too. “Gate, you’ve survived!”
Karrde rested a hand on her shoulder. “Both of them are brimming with data, but a fair amount of operational secrecy is involved here. We might want to move to your father’s office.”
“Good idea.” Mirax stood and walked down the gangplank with Whistler. She kept her hand on his dome, relishing the coldness of his metal flesh. Even without word of Corran’s survival, she knew he lived. If he were dead, Whistler would have been destroyed along with him. If he were injured, Whistler never would have left him. The only way Whistler could be here is if Corran sent him, which means Corran’s alive. Same thing goes for Wedge and Gate, so I have to imagine that most of Rogue Squadron survived and is elsewhere.
The two droids, Booster, Aves, Karrde, and Mirax crowded into Booster’s small office. Booster took the chair behind the desk, leaving Aves and Karrde to shift debris from other chairs to the floor. Booster slid the holoprojector plate on his desk toward the forward edge and Whistler approached it with his datajack extended. Yet before he could plug himself in, a light on the projector’s comlink console blinked and Booster hit it.
“Booster here, this better be good.”
Iella’s head and shoulders appeared above the device. “Very good, Booster. I just had a message from General Cracken. He wants us on Coruscant as fast as possible. He didn’t say much, but I gather he has news about Wedge. I can’t believe it, but I gather Wedge and the others might be alive.”
Booster smiled. “I think you can believe it, Iella. Come down to my office and you’ll have more proof than you ever needed.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
General Airen Cracken pointed the remote at the holo-projector set up in the center of the New Republic Ruling Council’s private briefing room. The Councilors’ tables made a three-sided square and the projector had been set up at the open end of the formation. It had been oriented toward Chief Councilor Mon Mothma, so when Wedge Antilles’s image appeared, it looked straight at her.
“Admiral Ackbar, General Cracken, you have my sincere welcome. I apologize for any shock you feel at seeing me again. I am alive and on the day I recorded this message, Sienar Fleet Systems stock hit sixty-seven and seven-eighths on the Coruscant market, with twenty-three billion shares traded.
“Rogue Squadron survived the battle at Distna through the intervention of a group that has as much reason to hate Krennel as we do. They have offered their aid in destroying him and his Hegemony. Toward this end they have been training Rogue Squadron for a mission that will leave Ciutric open for conquest and allow us to rescue the Lusankya prisoners, including General Jan Dodonna. When Rogue Squadron is in place, you will be sent another message. You will have ten hours from that point to deliver a fleet to Ciutric. Details on Krennel’s defenses are appended to this message.
“I regret there is no way for you to reply to this message. You’ll have four weeks to gather your fleet at the staging area and, within a week after that, the order to go will be given. If you do not come, I have no doubt that Rogue Squadron will truly die. I mention that not as motivation, but a
s fact. Since we are already believed dead, you may not want to confuse issues by announcing our survival just to let people know we’ve died again.”
Wedge raised his right hand and touched it to his brow in a salute. “I look forward to speaking with both of you on Ciutric. Antilles out.”
The image faded to the Rogue Squadron crest, then Cracken used the remote to shut off the projector. He raised a hand as the Council members began to speak among themselves and quieted them. “That message came in three days ago, and was recorded four days before that. The delay in bringing it to your attention is my responsibility because I wanted my best people to look it over and they were unavailable until yesterday. They concur that, despite the beard, the speaker is Wedge Antilles.”
Mon Mothma pressed her hands together and rested her forearms on the table before her. “Did the datafiles shed any more light on who else might have survived Distna?”
“It is clear from the files that Wedge thinks Janson is missing. Their file also lists Asyr Sei’lar, Lyyr Zatoq, and Khe-Jeen Slee as missing in action—none of them were listed as being dead. Everyone else is alive, but only one person’s immediate family has been notified of the squadron’s survival. I would not have let anyone know, save for the fact that Corran Horn’s wife was one of the people I used to verify the message was from Wedge Antilles.”
Leia Organa Solo nodded. “Understandable, General. It looked to be Wedge to me, too. How do we know he was not under duress delivering this message?”
“Indeed, it could be bait for a trap.” Sian Tevv, the Sullustan Councilor, looked around at the others. “Krennel could have taken him in and be using him to trap our fleet.”
Ackbar waved a webbed hand to dismiss that notion. “First, we have a code system in place to provide warnings if one of our people is being forced under duress to make a message, and General Antilles used none of the code words that would have alerted us to trouble. More importantly, the plan appended to the message calls for a fleet of sufficient force to smash Krennel’s fleet. We have not employed such a large force against Krennel so far because we could not be certain we would catch him in one place. If we deployed that force against him and he struck outside the Hegemony, he would seriously damage the people’s belief in our ability to free worlds of tyranny.”
“As he continues to do by ambushing supply fleets headed for Liinade Three?” Borsk Fey’lya stroked the creamy fur on his throat. “That concerns me less, however, than the fact that Antilles is coyly silent about the identity of the individuals who rescued Rogue Squadron at Distna. I would bet they are old-line Imperial in nature.”
Cracken frowned at the Bothan Councilor. “Why would you suppose that, Councilor?”
“Do you not find it curious that out of the thirteen X-wing pilots flying that day, the three confirmed kills we have were nonhuman? Over three-quarters of those rescued were human. It strikes me that the Imperial bias is at play here.”
Ackbar shook his head. “Ridiculous.”
Cracken said nothing, and hoped he kept his surprise at Fey’lya’s comments hidden. When Iella had arrived at Coruscant, she asked Cracken to come to the Errant Venture and there revealed to him Whistler’s evidence of Ysanne Isard’s survival and leadership of the group that was helping Rogue Squadron. The way the ambush at Distna had been set up certainly proved that the real Isard had intelligence assets in the New Republic still, and the fact that she’d not been mentioned by Wedge meant she wanted her role in things hidden. Since her help eliminating Krennel could be the basis for an amnesty, keeping her identity hidden seemed like a good ploy; but Cracken had sparred with her for too many years to let himself underestimate her or her penchant for duplicity.
Leia glanced over at the Bothan. “I would remind my learned colleague that the Hegemony worlds—despite Krennel’s attempts to make them into a haven for humans—are only fifty-six percent human in population, and several worlds have a strong nonhuman majority.”
“Who are ruled by a human minority, yes, Leia, I recall those worlds well.” Fey’lya looked around the room at the other members of the Council. “I believe we have an unsavory situation here. I suspect very strongly that Krennel’s subordinates are using Rogue Squadron to stage an uprising that will unseat Krennel, and they expect us to put them in his place. While they will say they are joining the New Republic, the reality of human oppression in the Hegemony will not be changed. I think we should reject this plan because of the obligations it will place on us.”
Ackbar stood to disagree. “With all due respect, Councilor, I believe you are dreading a poor harvest and the first algae cloud has yet to appear. The plan appended to the message is decidedly sound and I see much of General Antilles’s direction in it. This will be a stunning opportunity to smash Krennel. Even if he were to escape, we would still possess Ciutric, which is the political and economic hub of the Hegemony. We have always known a strike at Ciutric would shatter the Hegemony, and here is a plan that will allow us to do it.”
“That is all well and good, Admiral Ackbar, but it still says nothing about the shadowy partners in this enterprise.” Fey’lya stood and opened his arms. “What do we do if we discover that Grand Moff Tarkin didn’t die on the Death Star, but has been lurking, waiting for this opportunity to ask for sanctuary? What do we do when he asks to be repaid for his role in this conquest of Ciutric? What if General Derricote, the architect of the Krytos virus, is not dead, but instead is behind this move? Do we welcome him? Perhaps this is Thrawn’s ploy, or even one masterminded by Ysanne Isard. Don’t look so surprised, Admiral, I have my sources that have told me what your Lusankya prisoners from Commenor have told you. No matter how beneficial their contribution to the New Republic is in this operation, could we reward them?”
Mon Mothma raised a hand. “If you will permit me, I must say that Councilor Fey’lya raises some interesting points. The question of when and how someone who has worked for the Empire may make a transition from enemy to friend is one we have not sufficiently addressed. We have accepted people like General Dodonna and General Madine without question. Even after the Emperor’s death, we allowed Imperials who had seen the folly of their allegiance come over to us without penalty. General Garm Bel Iblis presents a different sort of example, one of someone who, while he was one of the Rebellion’s founders, left us for a while because of differences with how things were being done. In choosing to rejoin us at an important moment, he contributed greatly to the New Republic’s survival. We’ve accepted him, but there have been those who have grumbled over that fact.”
Borsk Fey’lya smiled, bowed his head toward Mon Mothma, and seated himself.
She continued. “These questions, however important, really have little bearing on the issue at hand. We started a war with the Hegemony and, so far, have failed to achieve a satisfactory outcome. Wedge Antilles offers us a perfectly good plan that will allow us to end this conflict quickly. The only reason I can see for rejecting it is if it is unmilitarily sound. Admiral Ackbar says it is not, and we have trusted his judgment before in similar matters. I see no reason to doubt him now.”
Ackbar lowered himself to his chair. “I believe I can assemble the taskforce required to take the world within the two weeks. We will be ready to go then.”
Sian Tevv’s large ears curled forward. “You should take the full month. If you do, if the reports from the Bilbringi shipyards are correct, the Lusankya will be operational. I would think adding a Super Star Destroyer’s firepower to any taskforce would be worth the delay.”
“The Lusankya will take longer to be combat ready. We have not finished training a crew, and several more shakedown runs will be needed before the techs turn it over to a crew that can fight from her.” Admiral Ackbar’s barabels twitched. “Still, your point about firepower is a good one. To be on the safe side I will bring in more ships than called for, to provide me with a reaction force in case Krennel finds new allies.”
Cracken pointed a finger and swung it around t
o include everyone in the room. “The most important point concerning this operation is simple: No word of it may leave this room. We suspect Krennel has some intelligence assets within the government here—ex-Imperials, speciesist crazies, whomever. If any word of this leaks, the whole operation will fail horribly.”
Mon Mothma nodded solemnly. “I’m certain all the Council members understand this. No leak of this affair will come from Coruscant.”
Ackbar stood again. “Then, if I may have your leave, we have planning to do.”
Outside the chamber, Ackbar rested a heavy hand on Cracken’s shoulder. “Did I cover it well?”
“Yes, Admiral, better than most of my operatives would have.” Cracken smiled. The message from Wedge Antilles had come in two forms. One, which they had played for the Council, specified five weeks before an attack. The other, which they kept secret, chopped two weeks off the staging time. The inevitable leak from Coruscant would have Krennel waiting for an attack that would take place two weeks after they’d already smashed his fleet. Cracken had no real love for deceiving his bosses, but if a deception would protect the warriors who would die because of leaks, he had no problem lying as much as necessary.
“Better than your operatives? I find that hard to believe.” Ackbar led the way between two guards into Cracken’s office suite in the Imperial Palace. They passed through his antechamber, into his office, and into the totally secure briefing room beyond it. Cracken closed the door behind them and Ackbar seated himself at the briefing table.
Cracken smiled and took his place at the head of the table. “Admiral, I believe you know these people. Iella Wessiri was an investigator at the Celchu trial, Mirax Terrik you’ve met, and this is her father, Booster.”
The Mon Cal nodded his head. “I know of Booster only by reputation, and quite the reputation it is.”
Booster nodded to Ackbar. “It’s so good to be loved.”
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