“I see …. “Torbul said. The two of them exchanged a long look, and it was the ranking officer who looked away first.
An awkward silence ensued until Torbul cleared his throat. “Things are heating up in the Outer Rim,” he announced. “The Rebel groups out there are really understaffed. I’d like Red Hand to stay out there for a while, give them some assistance.”
“Yes, sir,” Bria said. “Sir …”
“Yes?”
“I think I may know a way to get more recruits.”
“What is that?”
“Well, the best we’ve ever done curing the Ylesian Pilgrims of addiction before was about fifty percent. Remember?”
He nodded.
“But now, with the new techniques Daino is using to help the Pilgrims we took to Grenna Base, he thinks his success rate will be better than 90 percent.”
“That’s very encouraging. But what does that have to do with getting more recruits?”
Bria leaned forward, her bluegreen eyes holding his dark ones. “Sir ˇ . . there are over eight thousand Pilgrims on Ylesia.”
He sat back. “What are you suggesting, Tharen?”
“Give me just a little help … an old troopship for transport, a couple more cruisers, some more troops, and I can take that planet. I can shut down the Ylesian operation for good. We’ll take every colony, free every slave there. Hundreds of them are bound to join us, if the percentages we’ve seen so far are any indication.”
“That’s a big ‘if,’” Torbul said.
“I know, sir. But I think the risk would be worth it.”
“We don’t have the troops. Not all of the Corellian resistance would be enough to take a whole planet, Tharen!”
“We’re getting recruits in from Alderaan every day,” Bria pointed out, truthfully. “And there are so many Bothan and Sullustan Pilgrims on Ylesia, those worlds might send us some troops and ships. It’s worth asking them. And what about Chandrila? They’re part of the new Rebel Alliance—sworn to help us!”
“Recruits … it’s an incentive, certainly.”
She nodded vigorously. “Sir, it could work. We can free those slaves.
And while we’re at it, we could take the spice to sell on the open market.
We’re always short of credits. Think of how many turbolasers or proton torpedoes that much spice would buy us! We could bomb the warehouses and factories when we had emptied them. Ylesia and its filthy trade would be a thing of the past.”
Bria realized that she had lost her composure, but in her passion, she didn’t care. Her hands were shaking; she gripped the edge of Torbul’s desk so he wouldn’t see the betraying tremor.
“I don’t believe the Rebel Alliance would think much of selling drugs as a means of financing the Rebellion,” Torbul said.
“Then, with all due respect, sir, don’t tell them where you got the credits!” Bria’s smile was more than a little savage. “You know as well as I do that they won’t look a gift traladon in the mouth.
They’ll take the credits and use them. We need weapons, medical supplies, uniforms, ammo .
. . you name it!”
“True,” he said. “Fighting a resistance is an expensive proposition.”
“Think it over,” Bria urged. “I know Red Hand could do it. And without Ylesia siphoning off some of Corellia’s best, we’d have more recruits.
Think about who’s going to Ylesia these days. Young people, dissatisfied with their lives, unable to pay the horrendous taxes, wanting something more, a better life. Those are exactly the kind of people we need.”
“True,” he said again. “But what about the Ylesian atmosphere? Your raid on Colony Three two and a half years ago freed a hundred slaves–but we lost a ship in that blasted atmosphere. That treacherous atmosphere of Ylesia’s is one of their best defenses.”
Bria’s features twisted in remembered anguish. “I warned them, but .
. .
that wind shear just caught the ship …. ” “Tharen … it wasn’t your fault. But we have to think about that.
Command is bound to point that out.”
She nodded. “I’m working on that, sir. There’s got to be a way to deal with the atmosphere. Better pilots, for one thing. Our people are enthusiastic, sir, but face it … most of them haven’t had much experience. Our training programs need work …. ” “I agree. We’re working on ways to make our sims better, and broaden their experience before we turn them loose.”
Bria stood up and leaned across the desk. “Sir … just promise me you’ll think about it. I can do it. I even have some ideas about how to fund the raid. At least consider it, okay?”