Star Wars The New Jedi Order - Hero's Trial - Book 4

by James Luceno

  A bloodcurdling scream rang out, followed by an agonizing moan. Showolter blinked his eyes open in time to see a wounded Capo dragging himself toward the front door of the adjacent suite, and Saiga - propelling herself backward on her rear-pressing a hand to the gaping hole a blaster bolt had opened in the center of her chest.

  Showolter came to his feet and staggered into the adjoining cabin space, gun raised in one shaking hand. Capo was already halfway into the corridor, and all Showolter's shot did was provide him with an impetus to hurry. Showolter stumbled to the door, but only to close and lock it. Wisps of smoke coiling from his charred shoulder, he wobbled back to his cabin.

  His fingers found no pulse in Jode Tee's throat. Throwing Elan and Vergere a quick look, he crawled over to Saiga, who had propped herself against the entry door.

  "Did you get him, Major?" she asked weakly.

  Showolter shook his head.

  "Who were they?"

  "I don't know, but they had the code."

  The Bothan's eyes widened. "Our code?"

  "Same one I was given."

  "Then how did you know we were on the level?"

  "One of them claimed to be working out of Gamorr. I guess whoever supplied the code didn't know that we phased out that safe house a long while ago."

  A pained groan escaped Saiga.

  "Saiga," Showolter said sharply. "You said we have two more aboard."

  Eyelids fluttering, she managed a nod.

  "Who are they? How were you instructed to make contact? Saiga. Saiga!"

  Her eyes rolled up into her head. A final breath rattled from her lungs and she died.

  Showolter's eyes glazed over. He turned and sat unmoving on the floor.

  "You're hurt," Elan said, close to his ear, in what sounded like genuine concern.

  The Queen trembled innocently. "Lightspeed," Showolter slurred, mostly to himself. He tried to focus on Elan. "Got to get you out of here. Capo'll be coming back with reinforcements." He made a futile attempt at standing, then pointed to the luggage. "In my bag ... painkillers and bandages."

  Vergere was suddenly beside him, her slanted eyes brimming with tears. "Let me help you," she said.

  Cupping her delicate hands, she held them to her eyes. Then she rubbed her moistened palms together and pressed them to Showolter's wound. He locked his teeth against intense but short-lived pain, then he took a long, shuddering breath.

  "Better?" Vergere asked.

  "Yes," he told her, plainly astonished.

  "It's a temporary repair. You're going to need medical attention."

  He nodded in understanding, pushed himself to his feet, and rearmed his blaster. Cautiously opening the door, he peered into the passageway.

  "We're leaving," he said. "Our only chance is to locate my backup."

  "But you don't know who you're looking for," Elan reminded.

  Showolter nodded grimly. "I'm hoping they'll recognize me."

  Elan offered her shoulder for support, and the three of them headed for the communal areas belowdecks.

  TWENTY-TWO Han emerged from the portable refresher like a man on his last legs, slamming the door behind him as if to prevent something horrible from escaping. "I'll bet anything some Gamorrean's been in there," he growled to Droma. "Can't stick to their own 'freshers. Have to foul ours."

  "Is this your typical morning mood?" Droma asked. Han glared at him. "No, but it's my mood when I don't get any sleep."

  The Ryn made a sound of dismissal. "I didn't ask to share your cabin space. I was fine being in steerage."

  Han stopped short in the passageway. "I don't mind sharing my cabin space. What I mind's your tail in my face half the night!"

  Droma frowned. "We Ryn are compelled to alter our sleep positions frequently. We never sleep twice in the same spot."

  "Next time I'll reserve the ballroom," Han said sarcastically. "Would that give you enough room?"

  "We're a superstitious folk," Droma explained as they resumed walking. "We never eat three times from the same bowl, and we have many rituals regarding bodily fluids -"

  Han's hands flew up. "I don't want to know about them." He glanced at Droma. "Why are you still on board, anyway? You told me you were getting off at Vortex."

  Droma shrugged. "I decided I'd have better luck finding a ride to Ralltiir from Bilbringi."

  "Yeah," Han said slowly. "But I thought you only had fare to Vortex."

  Droma adopted a docile look. "The truth is, I kept just enough of what you won at the sabacc table to secure onward passage."

  "A fine thing," Han snorted.

  The Ryn's former pugnacity resurfaced. "You'd begrudge me a modest remuneration, even after I didn't charge you for the card reading?"

  Han stopped again. "Charge me? You're the one who laid out the cards."

  "I don't recall you telling me to desist."

  "I was being polite."

  "Impossible," Droma said. "You're incapable."

  "Hey, if you knew the company I keep ..."

  Droma looked bemused. "Rich and famous customers in the ship repair business?"

  "I ... Ah, this is hopeless," Han said.

  Shouldering the travel pack, he accelerated, figuring that the Ryn's short legs wouldn't allow him to keep up. Leaving Droma behind after twenty long strides, he quickly rounded a corner in the passageway, then another. Then, out of nowhere, powerful arms grabbed him from behind, holding him fast and whirling him around.

  "Han!" his interdictor said, latching on to him for dear life. "I won't even try to imagine how Scaur talked you into this duty, but I'm sure glad to see you."

  "Scaur?" Han said, then recognition dawned. "Showolter? What the -"

  "They hit us in the cabin, Han. Agents working for the Yuuzhan Vong. Killed two of my people. I got one of them, but the other got away - a slippery-looking Rodian named Capo. He's probably got reinforcements aboard, and they're probably searching for us now. You've got to find a secure place to hide them."

  Han followed Showolter's hand to Elan and Vergere. "What's so important -"

  "They're Yuuzhan Vong," Showolter rasped. "Defectors."

  Mouth falling open, Han gave them a closer look, then returned his attention to Showolter. "How'd you -"

  "Is this your partner?" the NRI operative asked.

  Han spun, found Droma standing behind him, and frowned. "He's -"

  "Just until Bilbringi, Han," Showolter said with sudden frailty.

  "Han?" Droma asked in mild surprise.

  Showolter collapsed back against the corridor wall and slid to his rear, with Han following him down. "Backup personnel will meet you in Bilbringi. They'll handle the transfer from there." The NRI officer groaned in pain.

  Han realized he had blood on his hands and cut his eyes to Showolter's shoulder. "You're hurt -"

  Showolter shook his head. "Can't afford the time. Send a med, I'll be all right."

  Han rose and grabbed hold of a passing Duros steward. "This man needs to be moved to sick bay," he said. "Immediately - got it?"

  The steward's round head bobbed nervously. "Yes, sir, immediately."

  Han sent him flying with a shove and bent down to support Showolter. "You have a weapon?"

  Showolter looked up at him and nodded. "You need it?"

  Han restrained Showolter's hand from going to his shoulder holster. "No, you do - in case they find you."

  Showolter screwed his eyes shut against a wave of pain. "Get going, Han."

  Han turned to the defectors. "You two are coming with me. Any trouble and I'll stick you in a locker for the rest of the voyage, understand?"

  The woman bristled, but the little alien nodded. "We're in your hands."

  Han raised his index finger. "Remember that."

  They hadn't gone ten meters when he heard Droma ask, "Han?"

  "My code name," Han said over his shoulder.

  "You're an intelligence agent?"

  Han came to a halt and whirled around. "Stay out of this, Dro
ma. We're not playing cards now."

  Droma tilted his head. "Where are you planning to hide them - in your cabin? I know this ship better than you do. The only safe place is down below, where you can lose them in the crowd."

  Han mulled it over, then nodded curtly. "All right. Let's go."

  They set out for the nearest turbolift and were just shy of them when the Queen sustained an unexpected jolt, powerful enough to send Elan off her feet. While Droma helped her up, Han hastened to a nearby observation blister. In place of the purplish-white chaos of lightspeed, local space was fracturing into elongating lines of light. Han watched the lines compress to pinpoints, only to disappear and elongate once more. Finally, the pinpoints spun and arranged themselves into a starfield. In the middle distance a large, heavily pitted planetoid was revealed by a distant red-orange sun.

  "We've been decanted," he said, not without puzzlement.

  Droma glanced at a time display on the corridor wall. "It's too soon for Bilbringi -"

  Howling sirens silenced him, and the PA annunciators came alive.

  "Attention, all passengers," someone began in standard Basic. "This is the captain speaking. We have been forcibly reverted to realspace by unknown raiders. Onboard confederates of the raiders are already assaulting the bridge."

  "Raiders," Han sniggered. "They're not raiders, they're after someone in particular."

  "Are you sure?" Droma asked warily.

  Han thought back to another time he'd been separated from Chewie and the Falcon , booking commercial passage aboard the luxury liner Lady of Mindor with Fiolla, a companion far more enjoyable than the Ryn beside him. That ship, too, had suffered a phony pirate attack - led by Fiolla's traitorous right-hand man, Magg.

  "Pretty sure," Han deadpanned.

  "It's my people!" Elan said, stricken with fear. "They've brought a dovin basal to bear on the ship." She dug short nails into Han's biceps. "Please don't let them find us - please !"

  "Our shields have been rendered useless," the captain continued, "and our pursuers are coming alongside to board. Distress calls have been dispatched. I'm certain that someone will come to our aid. But in the meantime I request that everyone remain calm. I repeat, I urge everyone to remain calm."

  "The nerve of him," Leia said, venting to Luke and Mara as she paced the tile floor of their apartment on Coruscant. "Telling me I'm incapable of understanding his grief, then running off to who knows where."

  "You can take the boy out of Corellia, but you can't take Corellia out of the boy," Mara remarked from the couch.

  Luke smiled faintly. "Leia, this isn't the first time Han's done something like this. Remember when he and I went to Crseih Research Station?"

  "That was different," Leia said, shaking her head. "All right, he might have been yearning for the good old days, but that trip was more about his resignation from the military." She took a seat opposite her brother and his wife. "What he's doing now has nothing to do with nostalgia or his feeling hemmed in by an honorific. It's all about Chewie."

  "But that's natural," Mara offered carefully.

  "The grief and confusion, yes," Leia said. "But I think he's bent on vengeance." She sighed with purpose. "An old friend came to see him - a man named Roa. And off they went to Ord Mantell. Why would they venture so close to enemy-held space unless Roa had information of some sort?"

  "But of what sort?" Luke asked. "The Yuuzhan Vong directly responsible for what happened on Sernpidal are dead. Han helped see to that himself at Helska 4."

  "Luke, if that was any consolation, he wouldn't be out there," Leia said.

  Luke saw the truth of it. "Even so, Han's beyond doing anything rash."

  Leia pinched her lower lip between her teeth.

  "When Han and I first met, he had me convinced that he was as reckless as he pretends to be," Luke continued. "But Obi-Wan said something I'll never forget. He said that there was more to Han than met the eye, and that he had real substance beneath his callous front." He smiled in recollection and looked at Leia. "Obi-Wan also said that only a special person would have a Wookiee for a companion - and that not just any Wookiee would be found roving the galaxy in the company of someone like Han."

  Leia smiled sadly. "You don't have to remind me that Han's special. But that's just the problem. He needs that kind of companionship. Chewie and Han, I don't know, they seemed to steady each other. Chewie kept Han in check." Forcing herself to brighten, she turned to Mara. "I'm sorry to unleash on you two. I haven't even asked how you are."

  "I'm feeling a lot stronger," Mara said, and let it go at that.

  Leia smiled to herself, thinking about how deeply she cared for Mara. She asked herself how she could ever have distrusted her. "I thought you would have returned to Yavin 4 by now," she said after a moment.

  Luke and Mara traded secretive looks. "Have you been informed that a Yuuzhan Vong has defected?"

  Leia gaped at him. "What? When?"

  "Shortly before you left for Ord Mantell. She's being brought to Coruscant for further debriefing."

  "That's great news." Leia's eyes lit up briefly, then she trained them on Luke. "Does the defector have something to do with your still being here?"

  "She's asked to meet with some of us."

  "'Us' as in Jedi?" Leia straightened in her chair. "Don't tell me you've agreed to it."

  "She claims to have information about an illness the Yuuzhan Vong brought to our galaxy," Mara answered.

  Leia brought one hand to her mouth. "But, Mara -"

  A familiar shriek emanated from the adjoining room, and C-3PO hurried into view, jerky movements reflecting his inner agitation. Behind him rolled R2-D2, razzing and squeaking in what was clearly derision.

  "Oh, please don't deactivate me!" C-3PO whined. "It wasn't my fault! I was only trying to help!"

  R2-D2 zithered something scornful.

  "Oh, switch off, you little ... drink caddy ."

  "Threepio, calm down," Leia said. "What's this all about?"

  He swung to her. "It was just on the newsnet, Mistress Leia. The Queen of Empire has been set upon by raiders, Rimward of the Bilbringi system! A distress call was dispatched, but the ship is probably being boarded at this very moment!"

  Luke showed Leia a quizzical look.

  "A vessel transporting refugees from Ord Mantell to the Core," she explained. "Threepio, access the newsnet and see if you can learn anything more. It may be pirates rather than Yuuzhan Vong."

  "But Master Solo!" C-3PO said.

  Leia stared. "What about him?"

  C-3PO threw his hands in the air. "He's aboard the ship!"

  Leia shook her head as if she hadn't heard him correctly. "Threepio, I don't understand -"

  "Oh, I shouldn't have listened to him. But when he repeated the very same words you had used earlier, I was certain that my decision was justified."

  "What words?"

  "That sometimes it's better not to know what others are thinking. That sometimes it's less painful not to know the truth. You yourself said so, mistress."

  R2-D2 whistled in sarcasm.

  "Be still!" C-3PO said, hopelessly flustered.

  "But what does all that have to do with Han being aboard the Queen of Empire ?" Leia asked.

  "Master Han asked me to arrange for his passage, and I did so by impersonating you, Mistress Leia - your vocal patterns, at any rate. And as to why I never made mention of Master Han's whereabouts, that was because you never once asked me directly if I had knowledge to that effect. Master Solo promised to arrange for my memories to be stored, in the event of my deactivation. That way I might be able to practice detachment -"

  "Threepio!" Leia cut him off. "I'm certain you're not fully to blame - not when it concerns Han. But be honest with me now, why was he going to Bilbringi?"

  "I know nothing of his reasons, Mistress."

  R2-D2 rotated his domed head in a full circle, chirping and chittering, in a mix of rebuke and concern.

  Leia narrowed her eyes at
her brother. "So Han wouldn't do anything rash, huh?"

  "Threepio," Luke said, "you said that the ship issued a distress call?"

  "According to the newsnet reports, yes, Master Luke."

  Luke looked at Leia. "Help is probably on the way."

  Leia shook her head in anger. "Who's going to care enough about the lives of a few thousand refugees - especially if they've fallen into Yuuzhan Vong hands?"

  "We could go," Luke said.

  Mara threw him a dubious glance. "Even if we used the Namadii Corridor, we'd never make it in time."

  Leia shot to her feet. "You're forgetting one thing. We'll be flying the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy!"

  TWENTY-THREE "You mustn't let them find us!" Elan wailed into Han's ear as they threaded and shouldered their way through a mixed-species mob jamming the passageway.

  Han angled his head just enough to throw her a warning look. "Either you pipe down or I turn you over to them myself!"

  Elan's eyes became hooded.

  Han snorted in response. "That the best you can do?"

  "You'd do well to fear me," she told him.

  "Save the threats for someone who cares, sweetheart. I'm only doing this because Showolter took a blaster beam for you, which means he thinks you're pretty important."

  "More important than you know."

  "We'll see about that. But right now you're my charge and you'll do as I say, got it?"

  She allowed a defiant nod.

  The captain's request for calm notwithstanding, disorder reigned. Reports of raiders were seldom greeted with enthusiasm, but the fact that most of the Queen 's passengers had experienced the Yuuzhan Vong firsthand had only made matters worse. Most were searching out places of concealment in utility lockers, ventilation shafts, cargo containers, and the narrow closets of lower deck cabins. As a consequence, crowds of passengers and crewmembers swarmed the corridors and clogged the interdeck transfer chutes. Many had made frantic dashes for escape-pod bays only to find them locked down; others had stormed the upper decks only to be repelled by armed contingents of ship's officers and vendors. Clearly intent on ignoring the time-proven dictum that surrender was the best survival strategy against pirates, the Queen 's refugees had turned the starliner into a seething catacomb.