[Republic Commando] - 03(137)

“Not too low, Boss,” Jusik said. “What’s our transponder telling their flight control?”

“Delivering ice desserts, sir,” Scorch said, checking the charge on his Deece. “Yeah, put some syrup and crushed nuts on this.”

Folks didn’t use their eyes any longer. They believed everything their gadgets told them. Sev studied the chart on his database, mapped in the position of the subsidence, and compared it with the divers’ hydrographic chart.

“The hole might not be directly above whatever blew up,” he said, “but it’s a fair assumption. That gives us a search area underwater.”

“You’re gagging to wear that scuba trooper’s rig, aren’t you?” said Scorch.

Sev didn’t answer. He was starting to wonder what he’d say to Ko Sai when he found her. She was still a figure of dread, a name that even the Kaminoans used to mention in hushed tones, and not just because of her expertise; she had the power of life and death, the authority to say who came up to scratch and who didn’t. Now that Tipoca City was far be-hind him, he was starting to realize why that wasn’t such a great idea.

It was turning into a long, slow day. Transferring the kit from the TIV to the diving vessel without being spotted ate a couple of hours, and then they had to work out a search pattern without even knowing what they were looking for-except maybe a lot of rock.

And those scuba suits just processed oxygen from the surrounding water. There was no excuse for coming back to the surface because they were running out of air.

Fixer and Boss took the first shift, transmitting optical and sensor images back to the vessel. Sev, Scorch, and Jusik sat on the bridge, watching the output screens.

“Come on, Sev, cheer up.” Scorch nudged him. He was suited up, slapping his flippers on the deck in a rhythm that annoyed Sev more with each thwack. “This is better than most of the stuff they show on HNE. It’s really interesting rock. Great weeds, too.”

If they didn’t find Ko Sai, Vau would have something to say about it. Okay, he didn’t know they were on the case, but he’d find out sooner or later if they failed.

Somehow that mattered to him more than coming up empty for Chancellor Palpatine.

Boss and Fixer surfaced after an hour and Sev and Scorch flopped over the gunwale into the crystal-clear water. Sev had done the compulsory diving course as part of his basic training-and why call it compulsory, he wondered, when everything was compulsory for a clone?-but just because he could do it didn’t mean he liked it. He didn’t. Scorch did. “Wow, this is amazing. Look at that!”

“It’s a fish, Scorch. You’ll get over it. So will the fish.”

“Come on, how many folks get to do this? Savor the privilege, man.”

“I will, next time I’m getting my shebs shot off.” Sev wanted to say a lot more right then: a terrible unguarded moment ambushed him, and he wanted to blurt out that he was fed up with hearing that voice within telling him he wasn’t good enough when he was almost bleeding from the effort, and that he wanted … fierfek, he didn’t know what he wanted, but he knew he didn’t have it.

That was when he realized why Fi wound him up so much, because Fi asked the questions that he couldn’t face. And Fi had a sergeant who was a father, who thought he was terrific whatever he did or however much he screwed up.

So the jewel-like fish and luminous coral around him had a long way to go to make up for that gnawing void in his chest. He ignored them, and swam without jet assistance to avoid churning up silt, scrutinizing the seabed of the island shelf and the rock formations around him for signs of recent activity.

Up ahead, there was a sloping pile of rocks extending from the cliff that wasn’t on the chart. As Sev swam over it, he couldn’t see anything growing there; no plants, encrustations, or any of the life that was quick to colonize every surface. How do I know that? I’ve never dived anywhere like this. It’s all from databases in my helmet systems. Flash-learned stuff. Things I’ve been trained to trust, unseen. The rock face opposite was equally scoured, as if this pile had been the large chunk that had shattered and fallen away from it.

“General Jusik, sir,” Scorch said, “is any of this showing up on your disturbance-in-the-Force meter?”

“I see it.”

Sev picked up some of the smaller fragments and moved them, checking for any debris that wasn’t part of what nature intended. This would take forever: he let the rock drop and swam away from the cliff to get an overall perspective, maybe even see some channel open to the sea. It was just as he was backing away that he brushed against something and turned, thinking he’d snagged weed fronds, and found himself looking at something white and vaguely familiar.