[Black Fleet Crisis] - 02(119)

Ackbar stood before the briefing room viewscreen holding one hand behind his back and pointing with the other.

“This seems workable to me,” he said. “If we tap Task Forces Apex and Summer from the Fourth Fleet, Task Forces Bellbright and Token from the Second Fleet, and Task Force Gemstone from the Third, we should be able to maintain our current patrols through the rest of the New Republic while building the force in Farlax to the strength of two battle groups.”

“Meanwhile, the Home Fleet will be left at full strength to defend Coruscant,” Leia said. “Which may not sit well with the border sectors, but seems only prudent.”

“Well—General A’baht will be happy,” Han said, leaning back in his chair. “This is what he’s been saying he needed ever since he got there.”

Turning half away from the viewscreen, Ackbar exchanged glances with Leia. “General A’baht will not be in command of the combined force,” Ackbar said, and turned back.

“No? Well—he might not mind too much,” Han said, folding his hands on his lap. “A combined command like that is kind of like being put in charge of a zoo. Who are you going to pull off the line? Admiral Nantz is senior flag officer now, right?”

Ackbar turned back toward the viewscreen, both hands tucked behind him.

“No,” he said. “Not Nantz.”

A crooked smile creased Han’s face. “You’ll do fine, Admiral,” he said. “It’s like riding a—it’s something you don’t forget how to do.”

“Han, Admiral Ackbar will be staying here with me,” Leia said quietly.

“I’m putting you in charge of the forces in Farlax.”

The smile faded quickly. “Didn’t we take this class already?” he asked, sitting forward and dropping his forearms on the table. “I’m not the grand admiral kind.

And this’ll just make it look like you can’t make up your mind—Etahn, me, Etahn, me—” “Han, she had no choice,” Ackbar said without turning.

“The Defense Council, led by Senator Fey’lya, insisted on approving the commander. He’s lost confidence in General A’baht.”

“So why me?”

“Because you’ve already spent some time with the Fifth. Because you’re already familiar with the geogra phy and logistics out there. But mostly because you’re not tainted,” Leia said. “Fey’lya wanted Admiral Jid’yda—” “A Bothan—of course.”

“—and Bennie offered you as a compromise. As he explained it, the pro-Leia senators see you as supportive of me, and the anti-Leia senators think you’re independent enough to deal with me.”

Han shook his head. “I can tell that that must have been an elevated debate.”

“You can’t begin to know how absurd it was at times,” Ackbar said, turning away from the viewscreen and approaching the table. “Senator Cundertol actually supported you on the grounds of—and I quote the great man verbatim— ‘He’s not doing anything else, is he?”” “A heartwarming recommendation,” Han said.

“Remind me to thank His Denseness.” He pulled Ackbar’s datapad toward him and studied the list of force assignments. “I suppose it’s a little late at this point to consider negotiating a truce.”

“I can’t believe that the Yevetha will ever consider us their equals at the table,” Leia said.

“I suppose not,” Han said, and pushed the datapad’ away. “For a while there, Leia dear, I actually let myself think that we’d have a chance for that normal life you told Luke you wanted. I let myself believe that we were through with this sort of thing. And I have to tell you—leaving the uniform in the closet really agreed with me.”

Leia and Han exchanged rueful smiles at that.

“Well—seems like going all the way back to Yavin,” he added, “I’ve made you coax, wheedle, guilt, and shame me into volunteering for dirty jobs. I won’t make you do it this time. Fact is, the Yevetha disgust me—and they scare the stang out of me, too. If we don’t control them now, the future could get very messy. So I’ll take this job, because it needs to be done.”

“The hard jobs are usually necessary ones,” Ackbar mused.

“This isn’t hard,” Han said. “Those pilots who flew into the Cluster, knowing the odds on coming back—that’s hard. All I have to do is give men like that a reason.

What’s the timetable, Admiral?”

“There is a ferry flight of recon-X’s leaving for the Fifth Fleet in fifteen hours. They will fly escort for your shuttle,” Ackbar said.