[Legacy Of The Force] - 08(93)

“Come about and head for the orbitals, “said Luke’s voice. “You’ll make it. Then land, and we’ll talk.”

Caedus headed for the Anakin, wondering just how far Luke would go to force him to land. The odds were different now. This wasn’t like Kavan. Caedus had a fleet right next door.

“Aren’t you going to open fire?”

There was flash of blackness in the cockpit as the pursuing vessel blocked the sun for a moment. Luke’s presence faded back into the Force like a sunrise. “If I wanted to kill you, I could have done it several times over by now.”

“You think a stern talking-to, deprogramming, and the love of a good family will put me right again?”

“I’m prepared to try. You’d be amazed.”

Caedus was drawing Luke deeper into the fleet assembly area. Luke seemed to be simply hanging a wing-breadth off his tail, a suicidal tactic for anyone else.

“You’re going to have to shoot me down to stop me, “said Caedus.

“I always learn from history.”

“Try-ahh.” Caedus struggled to correct the StealthX as the damaged starboard wing cannon broke away. The escaping vapor was speckled with round droplets now. “Did you do that?”

Chunkk. The port cannon ripped free.

“You could retaliate, “said Luke, “and we’ll both end up dead. Come about and head back toward Fondor.”

Caedus was coming up on the fleet auxiliaries with their replenishment conduits strung between ships. If he could alert his anti-air batteries on the frigates, he could lead Luke’s StealthX between them and trust to the gunners’ timing.

“I’m not your father, Luke, and I don’t need to be redeemed, “said Caedus.

Luke reacted; it stung him, and Caedus actually hadn’t meant it to. He felt the flinch.

“Mara told me that about Lumiya.”

The name made Caedus flinch this time. “She was right, Luke.”

Pinpoints of light picked out maintenance pods moving over ships’ hulls. Caedus was preparing for a feint and a dash into the Anakin’s hangar bay now. Luke was too smart to mess around in the heart of the GA Fleet; Niathal must have done a deal. Caedus was being herded toward something here. He was being set up.

Luke hadn’t mentioned Mara’s death. Odd: he either had something worse planned for Caedus, or he didn’t think he was responsible. The ax waiting to fall kept getting bigger. Fett hadn’t come after him, either, and if one thing was certain, it was that he would find a way of getting at him.

But not this time.

Luke’s StealthX nudged him again from behind-how? Caedus couldn’t see. Force push? Something metallic inside the fuselage shrieked. He had a sense of someone rummag-ing furiously in the drives as if looking for a dropped hydrospanner, throwing fragments into the coils. He’s ripping the thing apart…

Caedus tried to block Luke in the Force and suddenly got an idea of just how much power Luke could muster. His seat shot forward, sheared off the runners, tipped to one side, and he hit the console at an angle before he could buffer the collision with the Force. Something cracked in his chest. Pain flared, stopping his breathing. Then he was aware of brilliant white light coming right at him. In the moments before he managed to veer off to starboard, al-most blinded, he got a glimpse of a StealthX’s uneven outline with two grappling arms extended, and the sense of a Jedi other than Luke.

They’d tried to cripple the StealthX and grab him, airframe and all, right in the middle of the fleet. Brazen; incredible. He’d never allow anyone but his own apprentice to fly a StealthX again, not even an ordinary pilot. Luke was still close behind, feeling as if he were actually leaning on his shoulder; Caedus switched to raw instinct. He looped around, weaving between cruisers spaced at regular intervals-someone must have picked him up on visual by now, surely? - and then maneuvered to line up the auxiliaries with the Anakin Solo, accelerating. He’d either hit it right or he’d crash, but if the other StealthX tried to take him at this velocity from a head-on intercept it’d rip them both apart.

Caedus aimed right at the fleet auxiliary replenishing a landing craft. It was crewed by civilians, merchant fleet, noncombatants; it had only a light cannon for self-defense. The Jong connection tunnel was actually an air lock extender, a quick and easy way to transfer supplies without docking shuttles, and there’d be crew working in it. Luke was right on his tail.

Smashing through it would damage the StealthX badly, but it would rip the tunnel apart, and there’d be deaths.

Let’s see who blinks first.

Caedus realized nobody could see any of the StealthX’s. Whatever fluid he was losing had vented completely. The auxiliaries couldn’t even pick them up on collision alarms.