Corran hesitated, then frowned. “I wasn’t going to reveal any of your secrets, General.”
“Horn, shut up. That’s an order.” Cracken walked across the courtroom to the door in the southeast corner. He opened it and swore. “This can’t be happening.”
Corran vaulted from the witness box and followed on Cracken’s heels into the large, rectangular room. Transparisteel made up the room’s entire southern wall, with a small doorway cut in the middle of it to allow access to a balcony. Cracken worked a set of controls on the wall, fading the sequestration opaquing of the transparisteel to nothingness. Corran looked out to the south and felt his heart sink into his bowels.
A colossal white wedge knifed its way into the sky. A fearsome broadside silhouetted a skyhook against a green background, then sent a smoking crescent crashing planet-ward. The ship—Corran knew it had to be a Super Star Destroyer because of the size—continued its upward flight and turned its weapons on the lower defense shield.
Corran found himself drifting through the doorway and onto the balcony with Admiral Ackbar and the others from the court. Above the city TIE fighters and X-wings tangled together in a complicated dance punctuated with fireballs and underscored with laser light. Corran couldn’t get an accurate count on the X-wings, but he didn’t see any of them go down. That’s gotta be Rogue Squadron up there.
The Super Star Destroyer moved up through the first defense shield. The TIEs started to run back to the ship that had launched them and the X-wings flew on in close pursuit. Corran smiled as more TIEs exploded or augured into the planet, but that appeared as a minor bright spot in comparison to the damage the Imperial ship had done to the defense shields.
Corran frowned. “Where did that ship come from?”
Whistler popped a sensor dish from his dome and let it spin around a couple of times before keening cautiously. Emtrey’s head jerked up and down, from the ship to Whistler and back again. “Sir, he says that ship’s transponders report it to be the Lusankya!”
Corran’s jaw dropped open. The bulkhead doors closing off access to the gravel mine wasn’t salvaged from a ship, it was part of a ship. The turbolifts, too, were part of the ship. Our whole complex must have been one tiny part of the ship with bulkheads trimmed out with stone. The mines were outside it, but we lived all snugged up in the belly of an Imperial Super Star Destroyer.
Cracken held a comlink up by his ear. “The ship appears to have been buried beneath a portion of the cityscape southwest of the Manarai Mountains. It came up firing. Freeing itself it devastated over a hundred square kilometers. Millions are missing, presumed dead.”
Corran pointed at the platform made of hexagons hugging the ship’s hull. “What’s that below it, some new type of armor?”
Whistler hooted sharply and Emtrey translated. “Whistler says it appears to be a massive collection of repulsorlift cells grafted together to float the ship free of Coruscant.”
“Ah,” said Cracken, “so that’s what they did with the lift-coils. Well before Endor, we uncovered an Imperial operation to collect an incredible number of repulsorlift components. We feared they might be planning to produce some new planetary assault vehicles with them, but could never trace the shipments. Now we know where they went.”
He looked over at Ackbar. “Can you stop it?”
“Most of the fleet is staging at… elsewhere in preparation for the operation against Zsinj—to hunt down his Super Star Destroyer. The rest of the fleet is on an assignment for you. Can you get them here?”
Cracken shook his head. “From Borleias? Not in time.”
“The Golan stations don’t have enough power to bring Lusankya down, but they can hurt it.”
Emtrey’s eyes dimmed. “We’re defenseless.”
General Crix Madine shook his head. “The Lusankya started inside our defense shields—the point assault forces usually see as a goal. The fact that the ship is headed out means escape, not conquest, is its goal.”
A Quarren aide slipped through the crowd to Admiral Ackbar’s side and handed him a comlink. The Mon Calamari flicked it on. “Ackbar here.”
“Antilles here, Admiral. We’ve broken off our pursuit of the TIEs and are returning to base to refuel and get ready to go out again.”
Hearing Wedge’s voice again sent a thrill through Corran. He smiled and saw Tycho mirror his expression. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Tycho nodded. “If I had Rogue Squadron on my tail, I’d be running, too, even in a Super Star Destroyer.”
Ackbar gave them a wall-eyed stare. “I concur with your plan, Commander, but you needn’t have informed me of it at this time.”
“No sir, I know that.” A cold edge crept into Wedge’s voice. “The reason I called is to tell you to let Tycho go. He wasn’t the traitor. I know who is and I can prove it.”
“What?” Ackbar’s mouth hung open. “Who?”
Corran smiled. “Erisi Dlarit.”
“I was asking Commander Antilles.”
“Who was that?” Wedge asked remotely. “How did he know?”
Cracken made a quick adjustment to his own comlink. “Commander, this is General Cracken. Use no more names on this opchan—it might not be secure.”
Ackbar shook his head. “How do you know who the traitor is?”
Corran pointed at himself. “Are you asking me?”
“No. Commander Antilles, please answer me.”
“Simple. Because of Horn’s death I had a subroutine added to the unit’s astromech droids allowing me to pull diagnostic data from them. She reported damage over the comm unit that her R5 didn’t report. She claimed the Lusankya had a tractor beam on her and pulled her aboard against her will. Work back from there and it’s obvious.”
Corran nodded. “Right. She was in a position to forewarn the Imps about Bror Jace’s return to Thyferra—and there was no love lost between them. I told her that when we’d taken Coruscant I was going to search out the traitor in our midst. She’d helped me check out my Headhunter so she knew the codes, the same as Captain Celchu. She comlinked the data to Isard and I was taken.”
General Salm shook his head. “Why would she do that? Why work against us?”
Wedge provided an explanation. “The bacta cartels were formed under the Empire. She and her people might have figured their monopoly would end if the New Republic succeeded in destroying the Empire.”
Tycho pointed toward the sky. “It’s through the second shield and outbound.”
Barely visible above them, the Lusankya exchanged fire with a Golan Space Defense Station. Gouts of green energy passed back and forth between them. The station’s fire buckled the Lusankya’s shield, collapsing the energy sphere that had kept the big ship safe. Explosions played along the huge ship’s hull, but in their light Corran saw the Lusankya begin to pull away from the station.
The Golan Station continued to blaze away at the Super Star Destroyer, causing more explosions, but they seemed to form a wall between the station and the ship itself. It took Corran a moment to realize what was happening.
“They jettisoned the lift-cradle, sacrificing it so they could escape.”
Cracken nodded. “Nothing to lose by doing that—the Lusankya isn’t going to be trapped on a planet again.”
“But it will be trapped again.” Corran nodded solemnly, recalling his promise to Jan to return and free him and the others. He glanced at Whistler. “Can you determine the damage to the Lusankya?”
Whistler blatted negatively and retracted his sensor dish.
Corran squinted but couldn’t see the Super Star Destroyer anymore. “Gone to lightspeed. I wouldn’t like to be where that ship ends its journey.”
“Being where it started from was bad enough.” Cracken shivered. “Isard was here all along, and now she’s gone.”
Halla Ettyk folded her arms across her chest. “I take it I should assume the evidence against Captain Celchu was largely manufactured by her?”
“I’d say t
hat’s a safe bet.” Corran nodded assuredly. “If Captain Celchu had been convicted and executed, she would have revealed the truth and made the New Republic look as bad as the Empire ever did. It probably wasn’t the most brilliant of her plans, but it didn’t take much effort, either.”
He turned and looked at Airen Cracken. “After all, the General here knew Tycho wasn’t the spy all along.”
Halla blinked. “Excuse me, what?”
Cracken slowly smiled. “Not bad for a man who’s been in prison for the past month and a half.”
General Salm glowered at the Intelligence chief. “You mean you knew Tycho Celchu was not an Imperial agent and you let me put him through all sorts of difficulties?”
Cracken shook his head. “Horn’s right, I knew he wasn’t the spy in Rogue Squadron, but I did not know whether or not Celchu was an Imperial agent.”
“General Cracken took precautions to guard against Tycho being a Lusankya-style agent.” Corran patted Emtrey on the shoulder. “General Cracken had Emtrey assigned to Rogue Squadron to monitor Captain Celchu. Emtrey had some special circuitry and programming installed in him that transformed him into an invaluable tool for a spy. If Captain Celchu had used him in that manner, General Cracken would have known what was going on. For General Cracken to have done anything less would have been grossly irresponsible on his part.
“Because of Emtrey, General Cracken knew Captain Celchu had not been meeting with Kirtan Loor the night I saw him at the Headquarters. I suspect Captain Celchu’s prosecution was allowed to go forward to lull the real spy into a false sense of security.”
“And to distract Isard.” Cracken smiled briefly. “She has always enjoyed these little games.”
Halla stared at General Cracken. “But you made Captain Celchu into a pariah. People were likening him to Prince Xizor and Darth Vader. What you did was unforgivable.”
“No, it was precisely what had to be done.” Cracken looked over at Tycho. “I needed to use you to find out who the spy in Rogue Squadron really was, true, but there was a side benefit to you in all this. The fact that Isard would set you up to be convicted and executed means that you were of no greater use to her. If you were one of her Lusankya agents, she would have framed someone else so you’d have been absolved of guilt and trusted with greater responsibilities. She would have fine-tuned you, not discarded you.”
He turned back toward Halla Ettyk. “As for the negative image of Captain Celchu that has been created, I can undo what has been done.”
“Never.” Salm shook his head adamantly. “Impossible.”
“Though I am not a member of Rogue Squadron, I think it is quite possible.” Cracken opened his hands. “We have a public ceremony rewarding the efforts of Rogue Squadron for their operations on behalf of the Republic. We let it be known that Captain Celchu was aware of the deception concerning his trial…”
Tycho smiled. “Things did seem arrayed rather well against me.”
“…And his rehabilitation will be complete.” Cracken clasped his hands at the small of his back. “That is pretty much what I had intended all along the way. Lieutenant Horn’s appearance here merely makes Captain Celchu’s innocence that much more obvious.”
Halla looked over at Admiral Ackbar. “Sir, on behalf of the New Republic Armed Forces, I withdraw all charges against Captain Tycho Celchu.”
The Mon Calamari opened his mouth in a smile. “It is with great pleasure, Captain Celchu, that I say this case is dismissed. You are truly free to go.”
Chapter Fourty-Five
Wedge Antilles kept his face impassive as Mon Mothma stepped up to the podium at the front of the dais on which they stood. The ten days since the Lusankya’s escape from Coruscant had been grueling. Abandoned Palpatine Counter-insurgency Front cells had begun to strike out anywhere and everywhere. Rogue Squadron, reinforced by Corran and Tycho, had flown numerous pursuit and cover missions, which seriously curtailed the PCF’s activity.
Cracken’s efforts to slice Loor’s datacard had proven fruitless until its existence had been mentioned during one of Corran’s debriefings. Corran noted that when Loor was working as the Imperial Intelligence Liaison with the Corellian Security Force, he’d had a trick for creating his encryption keys: he had memorized one day’s listings of the Imperial Stock Exchange and used stock listings and prices as his keys. Corran had Whistler give Cracken the date of the listing Loor had used and they quickly discovered he’d keyed the encryption with Xucphra’s listing on that day. The information on the decrypted datacard included a list of PCF safehouses and warehouse facilities, which Rogue Squadron and Cracken’s people quickly destroyed.
Diric Wessiri’s funeral had been tougher on Wedge than any of the flight missions. He found himself going over everything Diric had ever said to him, searching for any clue that would have revealed Diric’s compelled service to the Empire. Wedge couldn’t get Diric’s kind words after his testimony at the trial out of his head. That much compassion should have earned him a different end.
Iella barely managed to hold herself together, and Wedge thought only Corran’s reappearance allowed her to avoid a total emotional collapse. She’d mourned her husband once, then she got him back and had to kill him. Corran, having known her and Diric both, was able to recall for her the Diric of old. The pleasant memories seemed to soften the horror of what had happened, but only just a little and only occasionally.
Bright lights flashed on as a dozen holocams began recording the New Republic’s Chief Councilor. “Citizens of the New Republic, it is a great honor and privilege for me to be speaking to you from Coruscant—a Coruscant that is now safe and finally free of the Empire’s direct and evil influence. I am here, now, in the facility that is home to Rogue Squadron. You all have heard of this legendary unit—its pilots have ever been in the thick of the war with the Empire. Rogue Squadron won for us the opportunity to rescue Coruscant from the Empire, and since then they have been the bulwark that has preserved us from Imperial predation.
“In recognition of their efforts to defend the New Republic, the Provisional Council has created and is awarding to the unit and its members a medal intended to be the highest award our government can bestow upon military personnel. It is the Coruscant Star of Valor. The citation itself reads, ‘For service and bravery beyond the bounds of what can be asked of a citizen by a government, and a willful commitment to put the good of the many above their own personal welfare, the Provisional Council unanimously and joyfully awards to Rogue Squadron and its members, the Coruscant Star of Valor.’”
As Mon Mothma turned and looked back at him, Wedge came forward and accepted a transparisteel plate into which the citation had been etched. A hologram of the medal itself had been embedded in the transparisteel above the words, and a ghostly hologram of the unit’s members had been placed behind them.
Mon Mothma shook Wedge’s hand. “Congratulations, Commander. You and your people deserve this even more than I probably know.” She then stepped back and waved him toward the podium.
Wedge hesitated, then stepped up to the microphones. He had been warned he’d be asked to say something, and a number of people had made suggestions, but it was Admiral Ackbar’s advice he decided to heed. Be brief, he said, and remember all those who need to be remembered.
“This citation is not just for those of us who stand here behind me, but really for all those who fought in Rogue Squadron. None of them would have balked at making the sacrifices we have. All of us—everyone in Rogue Squadron and in the Alliance itself—have risked all we are to defeat a government that took joy in the sorrow and terror of its citizens. Winning this award, taking possession of Coruscant, these things are not ends in and of themselves, but blazes marking the trail we must all tread if the galaxy is ever to be truly free.”
Gentle applause from the dignitaries and guests gathered beyond the dais accompanied Wedge’s retreat back into line with the other pilots. As Mon Mothma walked past him, she let her left hand brush against
his arm. He glanced at her and she gave him a smile. I guess I didn’t do that badly.
She resumed her place at the podium and began speaking again. “Of the events that have transpired over the last year, there are many rumors and far fewer facts. Those rumors could all be dispelled by having an exact chronology of events created, and perhaps, in another generation or two, such a chronology could be made public. While we were a covert force fighting against the Empire, there was no questioning the need for stealth and secrecy. It was what kept us alive and allowed us to fight on against the Empire. Because of this secrecy we have defeated them in battle after battle.”
Mon Mothma nodded in the direction of the holocam to her right. “With the New Republic in possession of Coruscant, it might seem that the time for such secrecy is past, but it is not. The Empire is not yet dead, and the dozens of petty warlords tearing at it have already and will continue to study us for signs of weakness. Their drive to restore the Empire, with themselves in Palpatine’s place, means we cannot reveal all of our secrets.
“We can, however, reveal some of them. Doing so is not only a vital necessity, for secrecy can breed arrogance and we have all seen where that can lead, but a pleasure. It provides me a chance to right a great wrong and prevent possible future tragedies.”
She turned and pointed toward Tycho. “This is Captain Tycho Celchu, as loyal a son of Alderaan and the New Republic as ever lived. He willingly chose to subject himself to a surrendering of his basic freedoms in order to bring the Empire down. Because of suspicions about what the Empire might have done to him, it was felt he could not be trusted, yet this man refused to let those suspicions prevent him from doing all he could to destroy the Empire. On numerous occasions he put his own life in jeopardy, flying unarmed into combat zones to rescue pilots who otherwise would have died.
“Most recently you have all seen him on trial for treason and murder of other members of Rogue Squadron. This trial, as public and as ugly as it was, played a crucial part in an Intelligence operation to uncover Imperial agents within the New Republic. Despite being held up as an object of revulsion to the New Republic, Captain Celchu did not shirk his duty. He allowed himself to become such a target because it would mean that Imperial agents felt free to operate more openly while Captain Celchu was the subject of such fierce scrutiny. Imperial agents, in helping to manufacture evidence against Captain Celchu, revealed themselves to us.”
The Krytos Trap Page 33
