Part 30 (2/2)
LaRone stared out at the s.h.i.+p, his stomach tightening. Vader? ”What in the worlds is he doing here?”
”At a guess, he's after either our traitor or Solo's Rebel friend,”
Quiller said tartly. ”I guess she must be a little more important than we thought.”
”Though he did say they'd probably locked down the planet over her,”
LaRone reminded him.
”I thought he was exaggerating,” Quiller bit out. ”I don't know about you two, but I don't want to be in the same city as Darth Vader. I don't want to even be in the same star system.”
”I don't blame you,” Marcross said, his voice sounding tight but determined. ”If you want, you can just drop me at the s.p.a.ceport.” : ”What are you talking about?” LaRone asked, frowning.
”I'm going after the traitor,” Marcross said. ”The rest of you don't have to stay. In fact, Quiller's right-with Vader here, it'll be a lot safer for everyone if you don't.” ”Forget it,” LaRone said. ”We're in this together.” ”You don't owe me anything,” Marcross insisted. ”We owe the people of Shelsha sector,” LaRone countered. ”Just because one BloodScar base is gone doesn't mean the conspiracy is over. We need to pull this thing out by the root.”
”If Vader catches you, you'll wish ISB had found you first,” Marcross warned. ”Just drop me and go.”
”Oh, thanks,” Quiller growled. ”That makes me feel so much better.”
”Actually, Vader being here may work out to our advantage,” LaRone pointed out. ”He'll almost certainly have his private stormtrooper legion on the ground conducting his search. We can just blend into the crowd.”
Quiller turned a look of disbelief on him. ”You're joking, right? LaRone, this isn't just some random storm-trooper unit you're talking about infiltrating. This is the Five-oh-first”
”So?” LaRone countered, trying to suppress his own private misgivings.
”The Five-oh-first puts their armor on one piece at a time just like we do.”
Quiller hissed between his teeth. ”You're crazy. You know that, right?”
”There've been rumors,” LaRone conceded. ”As long as we're all agreed,”
Quiller said with a sigh. ”Fine. If you and Marcross are going to be crazy, we might as well all be crazy together. Next point: what do we do about Solo and Luke and the Wookiee?”
”Good question,” Marcross agreed. ”If Vader's looking for their friend, we really don't want them running around loose out there. Especially not with what they know about us.”
”And it's for fussting sure they're not going to blend in with the Five-oh-first,” Quiller added. ”On the downside hand, I don't see an awful lot of other options. I doubt we're going to be able to keep them aboard. At least not without shooting them, which carries its own set of problems.”
”Chief of which would be where exactly you shoot a Wookiee to be sure of bringing him down,” LaRone said, an odd thought suddenly striking him.
”All right, try this. What if, instead of letting them run free, we give them an escort?”
The suggestion brought the exact reaction LaRone had suspected it would: both Quiller's and Marcross's mouths dropped open. Marcross found his voice first. ”Quiller was right,” he said. ”You are crazy.”
”Very likely,” LaRone said. ”But questions of mental health aside, why not? They'd be in the company of legitimate stormtroopers, thereby putting them above suspicion or interrogation by any of the local patrollers. And if we run into flak from Vader's troops, we claim they're our informants.”
”Or prisoners we're taking to interrogation?” Quiller suggested.
”That works, too.” LaRone hesitated. ”And if worse comes to worst and we get caught in a gun battle, well, I doubt there'd be anything left for Vader to interrogate.”
”Are you saying we'd shoot them?” Marcross asked flatly.
The ghosts of Teardrop flickered in front of LaRone's eyes. ”Not us,” he said firmly. ”Against the Five-oh-first, I doubt we'd have to.”
Quiller shook his head. ”They'll never go for it, you know.”
”Who won't go for it?” LaRone asked. ”Solo and Luke, or Grave and Bright.w.a.ter?” ”None of them will.”
LaRone shrugged. ”Well, we have until we land before we have to make any decisions,” he said. ”Maybe we'll come up with something better.”
The chiming of the s.h.i.+p's proximity alarm, as Mara had prearranged, brought her out of the dreamless sleep of her Force healing trance. She had arrived at Shelkonwa.
For a moment she lay quietly on the s.h.i.+p's fold-down cot, taking quick inventory. She was hungry and thirsty, a typical side effect of healing trances, but the burns and sc.r.a.pes she'd received at the BloodScars' base were completely gone.
She headed to the c.o.c.kpit, snaring a couple of ration bars and a water bottle from the galley locker on the way. She had finished the first bar when the computer prompt pinged, and as she pulled the hyperdrive levers the hazy disk of Shelsha sector's capital world appeared in front of her against the starry blackness.
And floating in s.p.a.ce between her and the planet was possibly the last thing in the universe she'd expected to see.
Her comm crackled. ”Incoming Z-10 Seeker, this is well, I doubt there'd be anything left for Vader to interrogate.”
”Are you saying we'd shoot them?” Marcross asked flatly.
The ghosts of Teardrop flickered in front of LaRone's eyes. ”Not us,” he said firmly. ”Against the Five-oh-first, I doubt we'd have to.”
Quiller shook his head. ”They'll never go for it, you know.”
”Who won't go for it?” LaRone asked. ”Solo and Luke, or Grave and Bright.w.a.ter?” ”None of them will.”
LaRone shrugged. ”Well, we have until we land before we have to make any decisions,” he said. ”Maybe we'll come up with something better.”
The chiming of the s.h.i.+p's proximity alarm, as Mara had prearranged, brought her out of the dreamless sleep of her Force healing trance. She had arrived at Shelkonwa.
For a moment she lay quietly on the s.h.i.+p's fold-down cot, taking quick inventory. She was hungry and thirsty, a typical side effect of healing trances, but the burns and sc.r.a.pes she'd received at the BloodScars' base were completely gone.
She headed to the c.o.c.kpit, snaring a couple of ration bars and a water bottle from the galley locker on the way. She had finished the first bar when the computer prompt pinged, and as she pulled the hyperdrive levers the hazy disk of Shelsha sector's capital world appeared in front of her against the starry blackness.
And floating in s.p.a.ce between her and the planet was possibly the last thing in the universe she'd expected to see.
Her comm crackled. ”Incoming Z-10 Seeker, this is s.h.i.+p's defenses and directing Mara to the captain's personal hangar bay. An escort from Vader's own elite 501st Stormtrooper Legion was waiting, and after a short walk they arrived at a small conference room.
Vader was waiting, standing like a brooding storm cloud near the head of the table. ”I understand you demanded to see me,” he said without preamble.
”I apologize for my earlier tone,” Mara said, inclining her head toward him in a gesture of humility.
”There is only one person in the Empire who can demand my presence,”
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