smuggling?"
"No, just let him off with a warning, I guess." The fighter pilot smiled. "Do
you want some of the ryshcate? You made it, so you should have some of it."
She hesitated, then nodded her head. "A small piece, but only if we can think of
a reason to celebrate."
"How about being alive?"
"Good enough for me."
Corran punctured the plastic wrap with his thumb and broke a corner off the
moist, flat cake. He split it in two and handed her the larger of the pieces. In
keeping with the tradition he said, "We share this ryshcate in the same way we
share our celebration of life."
"To the celebration of life."
They each bit into the cake and Corran clumsily caught crumbs in his left hand.
The cake itself was
delicious. The sweetness softened the woody bite of the whiskey, and the vweliu
nuts just melted in his mouth. He swallowed and smiled. "This is wonderful!"
"Even if it was made from smuggled ingredients?"
"Even more reason to eat all the evidence." He shook his head. "As a peace
offering, I can't think of anything better."
"Good." Mirax stood and ruffled his brown hair with her hand. "When this
Alliance finally gets around to going after Coruscant, I'll make another
ryshcate and you can carry it to whoever thinks they're in charge. Make the war
shorter."
"This ryshcate might have been able to turn Darth Vader into a Jedi again, but
I'm not sure it would work on old Iceheart." He set the case on the bed. "Sure
you don't want more?"
"Thanks, but I need to go back to the Skate." She looked at her datapad. "I have
about six hours until I pull a run Coreward."
"Are we going to fly cover for you?"
"Nope, I'm using my wits and guts to get me through."
Corran frowned. "No slight intended, but isn't that dangerous?"
Mirax shook her head. "I've been ambushed once and you Rogues have been ambushed
twice. Right now I suspect traveling without you might be a bit safer than
traveling with you, but this is a simple run anyway." She kissed him on the
cheek as the hatch opened. "Thanks for your concern. See you when I get back."
The hatch eclipsed her as it closed. It struck him that while he had been
relieved when Erisi left, he wished Mirax had stayed. He knew he didn't lust
after herthough she didn't surrender much, if any-
thing at all, to Erisi in the way of looks. With her, because of their common
world of origin, he had a connection that he and Erisi would never share. Even
the fact that their fathers had been enemies somehow strengthened the bond
between them.
He shook himself. "Snap out of it, Horn. You're fixing on her the way Erisi
fixed on you. Booster Terrik's daughter and Hal Horn's son might be able to be
friendly enemiesmaybe even friendsbut nothing more than that. Remember, first,
last, and always, she's a smuggler. There'll come a point when you're not cost
effective and she'll cut her losses."
He heard his words and knew there was a lot of truth in them. He also heard a
lot of his father in them, and that gave him pause. He popped the other half of
his piece of ryshcate into his mouth. There are better things to do with my
mouth than give voice to speculations that dishonor her gift. We can be friends
and will be friends. Out here, with the Empire cutting us off from our home,
what we have in common is more important than any differences that might drive
us apart.
24
Wedge's feelings about the briefing on Home One had started bad and quickly went
to worse. It hadn't helped that he had no time to pull Admiral Ackbar and
General Salm aside to work out some sort of compromise on Corran's case. Leaving
him hanging is more of a disservice than disciplining him. Given the Admiral's
apparent distraction with the briefing, Wedge assumed he would get no chance to
make a case in support of Corran.
Though he was a Commander, he was the most junior officer in attendance at the
meeting. He recognized several people besides Admiral Ackbar and General Salm
but by no means knew who all those in attendance were. He noticed a knot of four
room, but could not name any of them. Clearly, though, they were in charge of
the briefinga point made abundantly clear when the junior officers moved
through the room, downloading information from their datapads into those of the
other officers.
The Bothan General took the podium at the
front of the room and the lights above his audience dimmed. The Bothan's white
fur became almost dazzling and his golden eyes appeared to be made of liquid
metal. Wearing an Alliance Army uniform and clutching a telescoping silver
pointer in both hands at the small of his back, he began speaking in a soft
voice that did not lack for intensity.
"I am General Laryn Kre'fey and I am now going to brief you on the mission that
will open the way to Coruscant for our valiant forces. If you will look to your
datapads, you will see the basics on the installation we are to hit. You do not
need to know where it is right now, but suffice it to say possession of this
base is the key to the Imperial Core."
Wedge did his best to follow the briefing. The worldcodename Blackmoonwas
normal and habitable, not unlike Endor save that it had no native lifeforms
akin to the Ewoks. Initial survey teams, sent out under the Old Republic, had
rated the world poor in mineral or otherwise exploitable wealth. A small base
had been created there because the system proved useful as a plotting point for
runs to the Corporate sector and beyond, but being a crossroads in space was
insufficient to spur much growth and commerce. Other than some experimental
attempts at developmentall of which failed when exotic research no longer
earned generous investment tax credits under the Empire, the world was left
largely alone.
"The Empire did expand the base and provide force shield projectors but only so
the Rebellion would not find it an inviting target for transition into a
sanctuary so close to the Core." General Kre'fey gestured with an open hand.
"The base also supports four heavy ion cannons and has two squadrons of TIE
fighters available to it."
Wedge frowned. The defenses struck him as
oddtoo much for an out-of-the-way world, but too little for a world that would
put them perilously close to Coruscant. Vladet, a sector headquarters, had only
had four TIEs on the ground, two ion cannons, and a set of shields, but not
enough power to bring both cannons and shields on-line at the same time. Wedge
didn't get the feeling that Blackmoon was some sort of Imperial trap, but he did
think it was tough enough that the Imps on the ground might be able to summon
help from other worlds nearby and hold on until it arrived.
The Bothan General went on and described his proposed mode of attack. It
consisted of using the Emancipatorone of two Imperial Star Destroyers that had
been captured at Endor and repaired by the Allianceto batter down the shields.
General Salm's Defender Wing would then go in to pound t
he Imperial facilities
and defenses, with Rogue Squadron keeping the TIEs away from the bombers. Once
ground resistance had been weakened, troop transports would land Alliance
troops and complete the conquest of the world.
General Kre'fey concluded, "I expect to be operational in two weeks, with
conquest completed within fifteen standard days from now."
General Salm looked past Wedge to Admiral Ackbar. "This plan is already
approved?"
Ackbar, who had a silver Mon Calamari AdmiralRagab of the Emancipatoron his
other side, wore a pained expression on his face. "Yes, General Salm, this plan
..."
Kre'fey interrupted him. "Forgive me, Admiral Ackbar, but I believe I can answer
that question myself." The Bothan brushed the white fur on his face with his
left hand, bringing the fur down to a point at his chin. "Yes, General, the
Provisional Council
has approved this plan. Would you be objecting to their exercise of wisdom in
this matter?"
"I would never do that, General Kre'fey, but two weeks to prepare for an assault
is a very short time."
"If your pilots are not up to it, General, there are other Y-wing squadrons in
the fleet."
"My people will be ready."
No love lost between those two. Wedge raised his hand. "If I might, I do have
some questions about the operation."
The Bothan opened his hands indulgently. "Please, proceed, Commander."
"The deflector shieldsyour report shows them vulnerable to bombardment when
they are projected far enough to cover nonessential satellite facilities on the
ground. What if the commander just shrinks the diameter of the coverage?"
"It would not matter. The base has insufficient generating capacity to bring up
shields that could withstand our bombardment."
"Even if the ion cannons are not on-line?"
That question brought a moment's hesitation before it was answered. "It would
make no difference."
Wedge didn't like the faint confidence in Kre'fey's voice. The success of the
operation was predicated on bringing the shields down. While Wedge didn't want
to think General Kre'fey was being stupid, his reliance on bombardment from
space seemed remarkably shortsighted. The Imps had chosen to use a ground
assault on Hoth to bring the shields down. While bombardment had worked
elsewhere in the past, the Hoth solution seemed to work the best. And the
presence of ion cannons on the ground meant the ships doing the bombarding could
be disrupted, slowing their schedule and raising the
specter of help coming in from another system in time to beat back the assault.
He raised his hand again.
"Yes, Commander Antilles."
"I don't see a breakdown of the TIEs on Blackmoon. Are they) eyeballs, squints,
dupes, or brights?"
The Bothan's eyes hardened. "I beg your pardon?"
General Salm translated. "He wants to know if the fighters are TIE starfighters,
Interceptors, bombers, or advanced models."
"Ah, starfighters mostly, and some others." Kre'fey looked around the room for
other questions, but no one had any. "To maintain operational security you will
not be given the actual coordinates of your destination until you head out. The
simulation packages you are given will fill your needs for de-. tailed
information. Ysanne Isard has stepped up her counterintelligence efforts against
us and without surprise, this mission will suffer."
Without surprise, our people will suffer. Wedge shook his head. "I don't like
this."
The Bothan General's eyes narrowed to golden crescents. "Your likes and dislikes
are immaterial, Commander. The Provisional Council has approved this plan, and
that is enough."
The Corellian pilot bristled at the rebuke. "They may approve of it, but they're
not going to be flying this mission, General."
"But / will be there, Commander, in the first transport, leading the way down to
take Black-moon." Kre'fey's nostrils flared as if he were sniffing about for
prey. "I trust you do not doubt Bothan courage."
How could I when you Bothans take every opportunity to remind all of us that
your people cap-
tured the location of and information about the second Death Star? "No, sir, I
do not. I trust you do not doubt the courage of my people. They'll do the
mission, but I feel I have an obligation to them to make sure they're going to
come home from it."
Kre'fey's lip curled in a sneer. "An obligation you have acquitted so well in
the past, Commander Antilles."
Wedge felt a fist tighten around his heart. The faces of all the friends and
comrades he had lost throughout the Rebellion flashed through his mind. It
struck him that each one of them had become posthumous heroes specifically to
allow idiots like Kre'fey the opportunity to make more Rebels into posthumous
heroes. The ranks of the dead seemed endless, and inside a heartbeat the fire
Wedge would have turned on Kre'fey was snuffed by the void that had claimed
those he remembered.
Ackbar stood abruptly. "I believe, General Kre'fey, that Commander Antilles's
concerns are valid. I am surprised your normally painstaking precision in
matters of intelligence gathering has been allowed to flag here. If you will,
you have told us the hour the tide will be high, but some of us need to know the
minute and the second. You have it within your ability to provide us this
information and you will."
The Bothan glared at the Mon Calamari. "Or?"
"Or I will see fit to cancel the operation."
"But the Council approved it."
Ackbar's chin came up. "The Council is a political body that makes political
decisions. Unlike a battle where the outcome cannot be reconsidered, political
decisions can be recalled and revised endlessly. The Council did decide that a
move toward Coruscant needed to be made, and your assault met
the parameters they set forth. This does not mean it
is the only plan that might do that."
'?-' "We shall see whether or not this assault
goes forward, Admiral. I will distribute simulator
packages to all the commands so they may begin
training."
The Mon Calamari rested his fists on his hips. "You'll get that data, or I
shall destroy all your simulator packages myself."
The Bothan nibbled his lower lip, then nodded to his staff. "Fine, we will get
you the information you want, if it is obtainable." He snapped an order in
Bothan to his aides and they trailed him from the room.
The room emptied rather quickly, leaving Wedge, Salm, and Ackbar alone before
the illuminated podium. The Mon Calamari lowered his head and peered down into
Wedge's face. "You have my sympathies. That was uncalled for."
Wedge still felt like he'd been gutshot. "Why is it that everyone gives the
Bothans credit for locating the second Death Star and announcing the Emperor
would be on it? Has everyone forgotten the Emperor lured us to Endor to
exterminate us? The Bothans were had, yet they wear their deception like a badge
of honor."
The Mon Calamari nodded slowly. "I have heard others voice your opinionmostly
those in the Council who have found themselves between a Bothan and some mote of
power. Bothans would tell you that the Emperor only conceived of the ambush
after the information was stolen and he became suspicious. We only have the
Emperor's word that he fooled the Bothans and while Luke would never -
knowingly lie to us, I cannot trust the Emperor in I I anything."
Wedge sat forward and scrubbed his hands over
his face. "I'm sure you are correct, Admiral. I guess I just see that doubt as
the shadow lurking behind the unbridled self-confidence the Bothans exhibit.
They may have been right about the Death Star, and Kre'fey may be right about
this Blackmoon, but if he isn't, lots of people will die."
"I share your concern, Commander. You will get your information."
The Corellian nodded. "Can you tell me where this Blackmoon is anyway?"
Ackbar hesitated. "Need to know, Commander, and right now you don't need to
know. Before you go, however, you will have all the data you need. The Blackmoon
system is located in a dense sector, with limited ways in and out. Computing
astronav solutions will be simple since there are so few. It makes ambushes
easier, too, so the information will be provided when you need it, not when you
want it."
Wedge mulled that over, then nodded. "I do understand the need for security. I
don't like the limitations it imposes, but I understand them."
The Mon Calamari's mouth opened in a low chuckle. "We have progress. You'll be
moving from the fleet to a world called Noquivzor and you will stage from there.
Several other units will join you there, including Defender Wing." He clapped
his hands together. "So, I imagine you would like to discuss the charges
General Salm will bring against Corran Horn?"
Wedge sat back up. "If we're going to be living together I think it would be for
the best. Do you concur, General?"
Salm nodded his head. "I agree, but let's save the trouble. Forget the charges."
"Excuse me?"
The balding bomber pilot held his hands up. "If
I push for a court-martial of Horn for his actio ns, I'd be a fool and he'd sit
out this assault on Blackmoon." Salm's brown eyes contracted with disgust. "I
still think the whole of Rogue Squadron is out of line, but I think things are
going to go badly at Blackmoon. With Horn and the rest of your pilots there,
maybe things won't end up becoming the nightmare that I'm afraid is going to