Part 17 (1/2)

leia looked to Mara, but she already had the slave controller back out and powered up. She aimed it in the general direction of the s.p.a.ceport and switched it on.

Almost immediately a new light flashed on the control panel.

”Positive lock!” Mara said, looking back toward leia-and then, in the same instant, behind leia.

leia had the lightsaber on before she could turn back around. A Human League trooper had his head out the window, was bringing his blaster to bear. She had the lightsaber up over her head for a downward strike before she was finished turning. The trooper fired, and she deflected the shot with her lightsaber. She swung the blade around for an upper cut that chopped through the blaster before it sliced the trooper's head off at the neck.

The man's head tumbled down into the darkness, and his body fell back into the room. Now it was too late.

Another man stuck his head out, out of range of the lightsaber, and leia fired with the pocket blaster. He pulled his head back in.

Either she just clipped the man or else he had the sense to retreat.

A hand appeared, threw a mini-detonator toward leia, and then vanished. leia caught the detonator on her lightsaber blade and flipped it back into the building. It went off a split second later, with enough force to have thrown her off the ledge if she hadn't dropped the blaster and grabbed at the drapes again. A gout of flame spewed out the window, close and hot enough to singe her hair. She could feel Mara grab onto her right arm, and it took all the presence of mind leia had to shut off the lightsaber before the backswing on the blade sliced a few parts off both of them.

Flames were blossoming inside what had once been Mara's room.

They were running out of time and chances and choices with alarming speed. Leia looked toward the s.p.a.ceport, off toward the horizon. There it was! She could see it. A spot of light headed straight for them at high speed. It had to be the Jade's Fire, riding to the rescue. She pointed it out to Mara, who nodded and let go of leia. She worked the controls on her slave controller, looking back and forth between the incoming s.h.i.+p and the controller. They still weren't out of the woods. Mara had to fly that thing right to them.

leia looked to the burning room, watching for more unwelcome visitors. Nothing from that quarter, and not likely to be unless they had some troopers who didn't mind being roasted alive. She looked over her right shoulder and checked the window on the other side, behind Mara-and saw lights and movement inside.

”Mara!” she criedut either Mara had been deafened by the blast, or else flying the s.h.i.+p by remote was too delicate for anything else to interfere. leia let go of the drapes, scooped up the pocket blaster, and spun around.

She fired behind Mara's head, straight at the hand coming out of the window. She hit the blaster the hand was holding and blew it up, clearing the threat from that corner for the moment, but starting another fire-and leaving her completely flash-blinded.

leia closed her eyes and shook her head. She reopened her eyes and looked out into the sky. There.

Coming close enough to be a recognizable shape. The Jade's Fire, rus.h.i.+ng closer.

But there, behind it, were other dots of light rising from the s.p.a.ceport. PPBPocket Patrol Boatsnt to chase down the s.h.i.+p that had suddenly launched itself.

The flames were growing brighter on either side of leia and Mara, but leia could hear the chaff, chuff of fire extinguishers being brought into play. The troopers would have the fires under control soon.

”leia!” Mara shouted over the roar of the flames.

”Get ready. I'm not sure how close I'll be able to fly her in, but the second she's close enough, jump! You might not get a second chance.

If you get aboard, go to the pilot's station and be ready to take control once I'm aboard!”

”Will do!” leia shouted, and watched as the Jade's Fire rushed closer. She was a bigger s.h.i.+p than leia had expected, significantly larger than the Millennium Falcon. She was a craft of graceful lines.

She had a snubbed-off nose and a wide fuselage that blended into the two thick elliptical wings. She was painted in a flame-pattern of oranges and red. leia certainly wouldn't want to try flying anything that size up to the side of a building by remote. And it looked like the job was giving Mara just a bit of trouble at that. The Fire slowed as it came nearer, and wobbled a bit in flight.

Turbulence.

Mara swore under her breath and made the slightest of adjustments to the controls. The Fire slowed down even more, and eased down just a trifle, bringing the top of the craft more or less even with the window ledge.

Mara brought her in to a complete halt in midair, about fifty meters from the ledge. At that moment a blaster fired from one of the upper windows of Corona House.

The shot pinged off the Fire's hull. A door opened in the top of the fuselage and a gun turret popped Out. It immediately swiveled about and returned fire. ”Shootback system,” Mara shouted before leia could ask.

”Automatically returns fire at anything that shoots at it.

Which reminds me. Don't do any more shooting yourself, or that thing will paste you for sure.”

”Thanks for the tip,” leia replied. Better late than never. She shoved the pocket blaster into her pocket and clipped the lightsaber to her belt.

Mara began sidling the Fire in closer, slowly closer, in toward Corona House. Another blaster fired, and the topside turret responded with a torrent of fire. Closer, closer. A topside hatch was opening, yellow light streaming out of the s.h.i.+p's interior. leia looked down at the portside wing of the big s.h.i.+p, and judged the distance as about two meters. A meter and a half.

Close enough. Don't give yourself time to think, she told herselL She jumped.

She landed hard on the upper hull of the s.h.i.+p and for a long, heart-stopping moment felt herself sliding down and off the rain-slicked hull. But then her hand found a purchase, and she pulled herself up and was on her feet, scuttling toward that open hatch, trying not to think of all the troopers in the building who might decide she would be worth taking a potshot at.

She heard a b.u.mp on the hull behind her and hoped to h.e.l.l it was Mara, but there was no time to look back.

She jumped down the hatch, not worrying about how she was going to land or what her ankle felt like, interested only in getting hull metal between herself and the line of fire.

leia managed to land full on her twisted ankle, and collapsed in a heap on the deck at the intersection of two corridors. She pulled herself up just as Mara came swarming down the hatch ladder. Mara hit the hatchclose b.u.t.ton the moment her head was clear of the hatch and came down the ladder.

leia caught Mara as her leg collapsed under her, and saw the blood soaking through the left leg of her coverall. That cut on Mara's calf must have been worse than it looked. But no time for that ”This way,”

Mara shouted, pointing down one of the corridors.

Heavier blaster fire sounded from the rear of the craft, nearly knocking them over. The overhead shootback system returned fire.

”That'll be the PPBs,” leia said. ”Can the hull take that fire without s.h.i.+elds?”

”For a while,” Mara said. ”But let's not try and find out how long.” leia halfcarrying Mara, the two women hurried for the control room. They stopped in front of a hatch, and Mara punched codes into a keypad. The hatch slid open. Mara half lunged, half fell into the pilot's station and instantly powered up the s.h.i.+elds.

”That'll hold the PPBs,” she said, and then hit the throttle. The Jade's Fire leaped forward, grabbing for speed and alt.i.tude.

leia got herself to the navigator's station and collapsed. Soaked through to the bone, her teeth chattering, her ankle throbbing, her body no doubt a ma.s.s of bruises and sores she couldn't feel yet, onetime Princess, onetime Senator leia Organa Solo, Chief of State of the New Republic, breathed a sigh of relief. They were going to make it. She watched through the forward viewport as the Jade's Fire left Corellia behind.

She was not sorry to say good-bye.

- . IUJ.

CHAPTER TEN.

Getting There aeriel Captison sat down at one end of the long table and nodded to the man standing at the far end. ”Admiral,” she said, ”I think we are ready to begin.”

”Thank you, Madame Captison.” Admiral Hortel Ossilege of the Bakuran Navy looked around the table. ”I wish to review the situation,” he said, ”and make sure that I understand it completely.

Mr. Skywalker, once more, please, how long until your New Republic can refit and redeploy its s.h.i.+ps in order to a.s.semble a fleet of its own?”

”Our best estimate is that ma.s.sing a force and preparing for action will take another forty-five standard days,” Luke said.