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[Thrawn Trilogy] - 02(154)

By:Timothy Zahn


Leia shook her head. “Sorry, Councilor. Han won’t listen to anyone when he’s like this.”

Fey’lya’s fur flattened. “I’ll ask you one more time, Councilor. If you refuse-“

He never had a chance to finish the threat. Something flickered at the edge of Leia’s peripheral vision; and even as she turned to look, the Quenfis’s alarms went off. “What-?” Fey’lya yelped, jerking in his seat and looking frantically around him.

“It’s an Imperial Star Destroyer,” Karrde told him over the blaring of the alarms. “And it appears to be coming this way.

“We got company, Rogue Leader,” one of Wedge’s X-wing pilots snapped as the sound of the Quenfis’s alarms came hooting over the comm. “Star Destroyer; bearing one-seven-eight mark eighty-six.”

“Got it,” Wedge said, turning his ship away from its confrontation with the Quenfis’s approaching starfighters and bringing it around in a tight one-eighty. It was a Star Destroyer, all right: almost straight across from the Quenfis, with the Katana dead center between them. “Luke?” he called.

“We see it,” Luke’s voice came back tightly. “We’re heading for the docking bay now.

“Right-hold it,” Wedge interrupted himself. Against the dark bulk of the Star Destroyer’s lower hull a large group of drive trails had suddenly appeared. “They’re launching,” he told the other. “Twelve marks-drop ships, probably, from the look of the drive trails.

“So we hurry,” Han’s voice came on. “Thanks for the warning; now get back to the Quenfis.”

The comlink clicked and went dead. “Like blazes we will,” Wedge muttered under his breath. “Rogue Squadron: let’s go.”

Captain Virgilio was trying to say something on the open channel. Switching to his squadron’s private frequency, Wedge kicked the X-wing’s drive to full power and set off toward the Katana.

In the near distance, just beyond the drive trails of the Quenfis’s X-wings, Rogue Squadron turned and blazed off in the direction of the Star Destroyer. “They’re going to attack,” Fey’lya breathed. “They must be insane.”

“They’re not attacking-they’re running cover,” Leia told him, staring at the scenario unfolding outside the bubble and trying to estimate interception points. It was going to be far too close. “We need to get over there and back them up,” she said. “Captain Virgilio-“

“Captain Virgilio, you’ll recall your X-wings at once,” Fey’lya cut her off. “Navigation will prepare to make the jump to lightspeed.”

“Councilor?” Virgilio asked, his voice sounding stunned. “Are you suggesting we abandon them?”

“Our duty, Captain, is to get out of here alive and sound the alarm,” Fey’lya countered sharply. “If Rogue Squadron insists on defying orders, there’s nothing we can do for them.”

Leia was on her feet. “Captain-“

Fey’lya was quicker, slapping off the intercom before she could speak. “I’m in charge here, Councilor,” he said as she started toward him. “Authorized by Mon Mothma herself.”

“To blazes with your authority,” Leia snapped. For a handful of heartbeats she had the almost overwhelming urge to snatch her lightsaber from her belt and send it slicing through that bland face:

With an effort, she choked the urge down. Violent hatred was the path of the dark side. “Mon Mothma didn’t anticipate anything like this happening,” she said, fighting to keep her voice as calm as she could. “Fey’lya, that’s my husband and my brother out there. If we don’t help them, they’ll die.

“And if we do help them, they’ll most likely still die,” Fey’lya said coolly. “And your unborn children along with them.”

An icy knife jabbed at Leia’s heart. “That’s not fair,” she whispered.

“Reality is not required to be fair,” Fey’lya said. “And the reality in this case is that I will not waste men and ships on a lost cause.”

“It’s not lost!” Leia insisted, her voice breaking with desperation as she threw a look out the bubble. No; it couldn’t end like this. Not after all she and Han had survived together. She took another step toward Fey’lya-

“The Quenfis will withdraw,” the Bothan said quietly; and suddenly, from some hiding place within the cream-colored fur, a blaster appeared in his hand. “And neither you nor anyone else is going to change that.”

“Report from sensors, Captain,” the officer at the Judicator’s scan station called up to the command walkway. “All the other Dreadnaughts in the region read negative for life-forms.”