Part 40 (1/2)

”No need,” Rogue Nine said, his voice taut. ”There it is: a thin cylinder running vertically between the S-foils, just forward of the laser power line.”

”You've got one, too,” Wedge growled. Now that he knew where to look, the add-on was obvious. ”Ten to one the whole squadron's been b.o.o.by-trapped.”

”All right, so we don't lock S-foils,” Rogue Two said. ”We can still fire, can't we?”

”I don't think we should try it,” Wedge warned, frowning hard at the innocent-looking cylinder. ”In fact-Corran, roll starboard a couple of degrees, will you?”

Rogue Nine's fuselage rolled away slowly from him. ”I was right,” Wedge bit out, thoroughly disgusted now. ”The top of the cylinder's got two branches. One runs into the wing's servo -line, the other looks like it feeds right into the laser power line. My guess is that either locking or firing will knock out the lasers. Or worse.”

Rogue Twelve cursed feelingly. ”Has to have been those two Leresai in the Di'tai'ni maintenance crew who were always hanging around,” he said. ”So what do we do, try to bluff them?”

Wedge looked out at the Leresen s.h.i.+ps. They were on the move now, starting to form up around the manufacturing station speeding helplessly toward them. ”No point,” be said quietly. ”They already know we're out of it.”

And so they watched helplessly as the Leresai set about quickly, efficiently, and systematically demolis.h.i.+ng the station. Taking their toll of twenty innocent lives in payment for the guilty.

By the time the rest of the Peregrine task force arrived, it was all over.

Or, perhaps more accurately, it had just begun.

”It's finally started,” Leia announced bleakly as she locked the apartment door behind her and sank down onto the couch next to Han. ”The shooting has finally started.”

”Yeah, I heard,” Han said grimly, radiating concern as be slipped his arm around her.

”What's the Senate doing about it?”

”Mostly trying to figure out what they can do,” Leia told him.

”What's to figure?” Han asked. ”The Leresai slaughtered twenty-one Bothans, not to mention shredding a perfectly good s.p.a.ce station. Can't Gavrisom just order the Leresen government brought up on charges?”

”I wish it were that easy,” Leia said. ”Unfortunately, it's not. Three of the High Councilors have already stated they'll vote against any such resolution, on the grounds that we haven't made similar reparation demands on the Bothan government over the destruction of Caamas.”

”But they're not the same thing,” Han insisted. ”In fact, they're exactly opposite. The Leresai killed innocent people; the Caamas thing is about not punis.h.i.+ng innocent people.”

”We didn't demand that the Bothans punish the surviving guards who fired on the rioters, either,” Leia reminded him.

She sensed his flash of gruff embarra.s.sment. ”Yeah,” be growled. ”Because of me.”

Leia squeezed his knee rea.s.suringly. ”Not just because of you, dear,” she said. ”The Council's position is that the guards' action qualified as self-defense. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way.”

Han sniffed. ”Clan thinking.”

”Yes, I know,” Leia said. ”It doesn't make sense to me, either, to hold a relative or clansman responsible for someone else's actions. But the reality is that family or clan accountability is a central tenet of a lot of cultures out there.”

”Maybe,” Han conceded. ”But you still have to slap down the Leresai. If you don't, it'll just encourage everyone else who has a grudge against the Bothans.”

”It already has,” Leia said, a s.h.i.+ver running through her. ”A dozen other governments have filed notice with the Senate that they're going to be presenting their own lists of demands against the Bothans.”

”Or else?”

Leia shrugged. ”That's the implied threat.”

Han made a rude noise in the back of his throat ”You know what high esteem I hold the Bothans in, hon, but this is getting ridiculous. I suppose Fey'lya's screaming to Gavrisom for protection?”

”He doesn't have to,” Leia told him. ”The Diamala and Mon Calamari have announced they're sending s.h.i.+ps to defend Bothawui against any further aggression.”

Han whistled under his breath. ”You're kidding. What kind of s.h.i.+ps?” &mdash ”Big ones,” Leia said. ”Star Cruisers from the Mon Cals, some Nebula and Endurance-cla.s.s wars.h.i.+ps from the Diamala. They say they're protecting the rights of the innocent. Others are saying they're just the latest victims of Bothan manipulation.”

”That would be my vote,” Han said. ”Has Bel Iblis proved yet the Bothans were behind that phony Di'tai'ni mediation request?”

”No actual proof, but he personally has no doubts the whole thing was a ruse to keep him and the task force within easy striking distance of Bothawui,” Leia said, grimacing.

”Between that and the Leresai sabotage of Rogue Squadron's lasers-”

”What, they've admitted it?”

”Not only admitted it, they were proud of it,” Leia said. ”They consider it the height of honor to keep outsiders from getting hurt in one of their quarrels.”

Han snorted. ”I'll bet Wedge was real pleased about that.”

”He and Garm are about ready to spit blaster bolts,” Leia said. ”Garm told Gavrisom flat-out that the New Republic is not going to play the lowest piece in anyone else's political games.”

”That sounds like a direct quote,” Han said. ”Here, turn around a little.” Pulling his arm from behind her neck, he started ma.s.saging her shoulders.

”It was,” Leia said, feeling her taut muscles softening reluctantly under the pressure of Han's fingertips. ”That feels good.”

”Good-it's supposed to,” Han said with a touch of forced humor. ”You know, messing with someone like Bel Iblis wasn't a smart thing for the Bothans to do.”

”I'm sure they know that,” Leia agreed. ”It shows how desperate they're getting.”

She sensed the sideways movement as Han shook his bead. ”This is crazy, Leia. Don't any of them even care that Thrawn's back?”

”Of course not,” Leia said. ”Half of them don't believe a word of it-they think the Diamala cooked the whole thing up to scare everyone into letting the Bothans off the hook, The other half concede it may be true, but don't see any way the Empire could possibly be a threat to them anymore.”

”Then they're all fools,” Han growled. ”Thrawn's got something up his sleeve. I'll bet the Falcon he does.”

”I agree,” Leia said with a sigh. ”On the other hand, at this point he almost doesn't have to do anything at all. The New Republic's rapidly degenerating into a hundred different armed camps, all polarized around the Caamas issue.”

”Can't the Caamasi do anything to stop it?” Han asked. ”They can't want this.”

”Of course they don't,” Leia said. ”But you have to understand that Caamas has become more an excuse than it is a genuine issue. Everyone says they have the interests of Caamas and justice at heart, but a lot of them are just using that as a battle cry while they settle old scores.”

”Yeah,” Han said sourly. ”So what do we do?”

”Only one thing we can do,” Leia said. ”We have to take the excuse away from them; and that means getting the names of the actual Bothans that were involved and putting them on trial.”

There was a subtle change in Han's emotions. ”Yeah,” he said. ”Well . . . Karrde's trying.”