Twizzl’s answer came immediately. “It would be better to send us all. That’s our best chance.”
“I didn’t ask for our best chance,” Jacen countered. “I need a reasonable chance,”
Twizzl was silent for an instant, then said, “Eighteen, sir. Berda believes that strength would give the task force a sixty-three percent chance of disrupting the Galney attack on the Queen Mother.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do, Captain,” Jacen said, Berda was the Anakin’s tactical computer, a powerful mainframe operated by a squad of Bith programmers. “Have the other two Battle Dragons stand off with the Anakin?”
“Stand off?” Espara echoed. “Colonel Solo, a sixty-three percent chance of saving the Queen Mother’s life is not good enough. You may be too much of a coward to send in the Anakin, but I assure you every Hapan…”
“That’s quite enough, Major.”
Jacen made a pinching motion with his fingers, and Espara was suddenly too busy gasping for breath to continue speaking. Her accusation stung more than he cared to admit, in part because it was so true-at least when it came to Allana. He was too afraid of losing his daughter to risk her life in the middle of a pitched starship battle, and it really didn’t matter that Tenel Ka would want him to make this decision. The simple fact was that there were some things he would never sacrifice-not even if it meant saving the galaxy.
When Jacen continued to hold his Force choke, Espara’s gasping changed to a desperate gurgling, and her hands rose to her throat. Her two aides scowled in alarm, and they stepped forward to shield her, automatically reaching for sidearms they were not permitted to carry aboard the Anakin.
Jacen froze them with a glance, then turned back to Espara. “Your dedication is commendable, Major. But there are facets of the situation that you’re unaware of, and I am doing exactly as the Mother Queen would wish. Is that clear?”
Espara nodded and braced her hand on the arm of one of her aides.
“I’m glad we understand each other.” Jacen released his Force choke and allowed her to gulp down a long breath, then held out his hand. “I doubt it will be necessary for you to communicate with Her Majesty’s Battle Dragons until after the battle. I’ll take your comlinks now.”
Espara reluctantly passed over her own comlink and nodded to her aides to do the same.
“Thank you.” Jacen slipped the devices into his uniform pocket, then turned back to the holodisplay feeling worried and useless. The eighteen Battle Dragons he had dispatched to save Tenel Ka were already closing on Gal-ney’s defensive screen. Clouds of starfighters were pouring into space between them, and vessels on both sides were already blinking and starting to fall out of formation.
Jacen could not help thinking that the intelligence provided by his parents had so far been more of a curse than a blessing. It had not prevented Aurra Sing’s attack on Al-lana, but it had sent him to Relephon with a sizable piece of the Royal Navy at exactly the wrong time-a blunder that might well end up costing Hapes her queen … and Allana her mother.
The Anakin and its two escorts were concentrating their fire along one flank, trying to help open a hole through the screen. But the usurpers adjusted quickly, sliding a fresh vessel into place each time an old one was destroyed, compressing their formation as their attackers drew closer. The pursuit detail was already down to fourteen Battle Dragons, and a third of those were blinking with various degrees of damage.
Jacen felt Orlopp’s attention. He looked over and waited until the Jenet was actually looking at him, then cast a meaningful glance at the datapad. “Everything all right there?”
“Nothing has changed.” Orlopp’s voice held a note of distress over Jacen’s apparent obsession with monitoring the assassin and the girl in his cabin. “The pilot you asked to see has arrived.”
“Good,” Jacen said. “We’ll need a few moments of privacy.”
Happy to escape Jacen’s presence, Espara and her aides left immediately, followed closely by his own staff. Only Orlopp lingered.
“Is there something else, Lieutenant?”
“There is,” Orlopp said. “You probably don’t need to be concerned, but we may not need to send anyone after those rescue beacons we detected. The Signals Deck reports a private transport headed their way,”
“Good. Have Signals track the vessel, and we’ll make contact after the battle.”
“Very good, sir.” Orlopp flipped the datapad up under his wrist and turned toward the exit. “I’ll send the pilot in now.”