Ben glanced over his shoulder at the huge-headed Bith. “Opening a comm channel?”
“With the enemy so close we can read the names on the sides of their ships?” Tanogo riffled his cheek folds. “We wouldn’t last ten seconds.”
“But we’ve got to warn Tenel Ka!” Ben turned back to Ioli. “And we’re not going to reach her before the Ducha does.”
“Can’t you do something with the Force?” Ioli asked. Ben shook his head. “It wouldn’t be specific enough. She’d know there was danger, and she might even sense I meant there was treachery. But it’s still just a feeling, and in the middle of a battle…”
“She’ll be feeling those concerns anyway.” Ioli let her breath buzz out, then said, “Very well-but we’ll do this with a voice recording. And bear in mind we’ll be sending it over the hailing channel.” Ben frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“We have to be sure it gets to her,” Tanogo said from behind Ben. “And since the traitors may still have someone close to the Queen Mother intercepting messages…”
“… we want everyone to hear the warning,” Ben said, nodding. “It’s the recording part I don’t get. Why can’t I just…”
“Jedi Skywalker, do you really expect me to explain my orders?” Ioli demanded. “Tenel Ka is running out of time, so make your report brief and to the point.”
Ben cringed-more from the anger in her presence than the sharpness in her voice.
“Okay-sorry.” He opened a recording file, then spoke into the comm microphone. “This is Jedi Ben Skywalker with an urgent warning for the Hapan Royal Navy. Ducha Galney is a verified traitor coming to launch a sneak attack on the Queen Mother. Repeat urgent warning: Ducha Galney is a traitor. Take all precautions.”
Ben finished and looked over for Ioli’s approval, but found her returning the intercom microphone to its cradle.
She hooked a thumb toward the rear of the skiff. “The others are getting ready to go EV. Join them.”
“Copy.” Still stinging from the last time he had questioned Ioli’s orders, Ben unbuckled his crash webbing and rose-then realized what she intended to do and stopped between their seats. “Wait a minute-we have six people and only four suits.”
“You think I don’t know that?” she asked.
“Yes-I mean no,” he said. “I know you do. But there has to be another way.”
She looked at him with an expression that seemed more impatient than hopeful. “You have one?”
Unable to think while he was looking into her eyes, Ben Set his gaze drop to the deck. Both she and the chief seemed so calm and focused, but he could feel their fear in his own stomach, a fluttering ball of Force energy that made him want to throw up.
When Ben did not answer quickly, Ioli said, “I didn’t think so.” She checked the chrono on the control panel. “The chief says I need to send your message in two minutes and twelve seconds to give the Queen Mother a fighting chance. It’s going to take you three to put on that suit.”
“What about a message beacon?”
“Great idea,” Tanogo said. “If recon skiffs carried message beacons.”
“Go, Ben.” Ioli pointed aft. “And that’s an order.”
“I can’t just leave you to die,” Ben said, remaining where he was. “I’m a Jedi.”
“You’re going to be a dead Jedi, because I am going to send this report in exactly…” Ioli checked the chrono again. “… one minute and fifty-two seconds.”
Tanogo grabbed Ben’s arm. “We’re scouts, son. This sort of thing goes with the shoulder patch.” He pulled Ben out of the cockpit and pushed him aft. “Go on, now. We’ll swing back and pick you up if we don’t get vaped.” Ben stumbled aft, feeling guilty and confused, thinking it should be him and Jaina staying behind while the rest of the crew went EV. But after so many days sitting beside Ioli in the cockpit, he knew without asking that she would view any such offer as an insult to both her and her crew. Even with the Force, he and Jaina would not be able to handle the unfamiliar skiff as well as Tanogo and Ioli could. Besides, the Rover was their ship, so it was their duty to send the report-and in Admiral Niathal’s new military, an officer simply did not hand off her duty to someone else. Ben reached the back of the cabin, where Gim Sorzo, the Rover’s Twi’lek gunner, was just sealing his neck ring. Jaina and Zekk-who had already been Force-hibernating inside evac suits to avoid straining the Rover’s limited life-support systems-were buttoned up and waiting outside the evacuation cabinet, where the last suit hung open and ready.