Part 17 (2/2)
”Stand by, fighters,” Thrawn said, his eyes on the battle. ”Fighters attack . . . now.” In the distance there was a flicker of pseudomotion, and the six Chiss fighters appeared in a loose line just off the projector's starboard side. ”Helm: prepare to follow.”
Thrawn had called the enemy's defense setup overconfident, but there was nothing sloppy about their response to this unexpected threat. Even as the Chiss fighters swung into their attack the Vagaari s.h.i.+ps began to spread out, trying to deprive the intruders of cl.u.s.tered targets as they returned fire with lasers and missiles.
Unfortunately for them, their attackers' commander had already seen Vagaari fighter tactics in action. The enemy s.h.i.+ps got off perhaps two shots each before the Chiss settled into their own counterattack and the Vagaari fighters began exploding. Less than a minute after their sudden arrival, the Chiss held the field alone.
Alone, but not unnoticed. In the near distance, the three larger wars.h.i.+ps were beginning to respond, their aft batteries opening fire as they began ponderously turning around.
”Fighters: take defensive positions,” Thrawn ordered. ”Helm: go.”
Car'das set his teeth. The stars began their usual stretch into starlines; then with a horrible-sounding thud from somewhere aft, the stars were back.
”a.s.sault One to projector's starboard side,” Thrawn called. ”a.s.sault Two to port. Chief Yal'avi'kema, you have five minutes.”
”Question is, do we have five minutes?” Car'das muttered, eyeing the shots starting to sizzle past the Springhawk's canopy.
”I think so,” Thrawn said. ”They'll need to be much closer before they can attack in earnest. Otherwise, they risk overshooting us and destroying their own projector.”
”So?” Car'das countered. ”Isn't that what they probably think we're trying to do to it?”
”Actually, I suspect they're rather confused about our intentions at the moment,” Thrawn said. ”An attacker whose sole purpose was destruction would hardly have had to move in this close.” He gestured toward the battle. ”But whatever they perceive our plan to be, they still must allow the projector to remain functional as long as possible. Once the gravity shadow vanishes, the defenders inside its cone will be free to escape and possibly regroup. They thus cannot risk overshooting us and must come in closer.”
Car'das grimaced. Certainly the logic made sense. But that was no guarantee the Vagaari wouldn't do something stupid or panicky instead.
The enemy wars.h.i.+ps had made it halfway around now, allowing them to bring their flank laser batteries into play. Still, so far they did seem to be concentrating most of their fire on the Chiss fighters arrayed against them.
And then, as the light of the distant sun played across the wars.h.i.+ps'
sides, Car'das spotted something he hadn't noticed before. ”Hey, look,”
he said, pointing. ”They have the same bubbles all over their hulls that we saw on the treasure s.h.i.+p.”
”Get me a close-up,” Thrawn ordered, his eyes narrowing. On the main monitor display the running series of tactical data vanished and was replaced by a hazy telescopic view of the bubble pattern.
Car'das felt his throat suddenly tighten as, beside him, he heard Maris's sharp intake of breath. ”Oh, no,” she whispered.
The bubbles weren't observation ports, as Qennto had once speculated. Nor were they navigational sensors.
They were prisons. Each one contained a living alien being, all of them of the same species as the mangled bodies Car'das could see floating among the battle debris. Some of the hostages were cowering against the walls of their cells, while others had curled up with their backs to the plastic, while still others gazed out at the battle with the dull resignation of those who have already given up hope.
Even as they watched, a stray missile exploded a glancing blow at the edge of the telescope display's view. When the flash and debris cleared away, Car'das saw that three of the bubbles had been shattered, their inhabitants blown into s.p.a.ce or turned into unrecognizable shreds of torn flesh. The metal behind the broken bubbles, clearly the main hull, was dented in places but appeared to be intact.
”Living s.h.i.+elds,” Thrawn murmured, his voice as cold and as deadly as Car'das had ever heard it.
”Can your fighters use their Connor nets?” Car'das asked urgently. ”You know-those things you used on us?”
”They're still too far away,” Thrawn said. ”At any rate, shock nets would be of little use against the electronic compartmentalization of war vessels that size.”
”Can't they shoot between the bubbles?” Maris asked, her voice starting to shake. ”There's room there. Can't they blast the hull without hitting the prisoners?”
”Again, not at their distance,” Thrawn said. ”I'm sorry.”
”Then you have to call them back,” Maris insisted. ”If they keep firing, they'll be killing innocent people.”
”Those people are already dead,” Thrawn replied, his voice suddenly harsh.
Maris flinched back from his unexpected anger. ”But-”
”Please,” Thrawn said, holding up a hand. His voice was calm again, but there was still an undercurrent of anger simmering beneath it.
”Understand the reality of the situation. The Vagaari have killed them, all of them, if not in this battle then in battles to come. There's nothing we can do to help them. All we can do is focus our resources toward the Vagaari's ultimate destruction, so that others may live.”
Car'das took a deep breath. ”He's right, Maris,” he told her, taking her arm.
Angrily, she shook it off and turned away. Car'das looked at Thrawn, but the other's attention was already back on the approaching wars.h.i.+ps and the six Chiss fighters standing in their path.
”a.s.sault One reports Vagaari crew has been eliminated,” one of the crewers called. ”Chief Yal'avi'kema reports that they've located the projector's collapse points and are folding it for transport. a.s.sault Two is a.s.sisting.”
”Order a.s.sault One to a.s.sist, as well,” Thrawn said. ”I thought there would be some sort of quick-set arrangement,” he added to Car'das. ”The Vagaari wouldn't want to hold position for hours as they a.s.sembled their gravity projectors in full view of their intended victims.” He looked back at the Vagaari wars.h.i.+ps, their turns now nearly completed, and his mouth briefly tightened. ”Stand ready to fire on the war vessels.”
Car'das looked at Maris, but her back was to him, her shoulders hunched rigidly beneath her vac suit.
”Weapons ready.”
”Fire full missile bursts on my command,” Thrawn said. His eyes flicked to Maris-”And instruct the fighters to fire shock nets at the war vessels' bridge and command sections at the moment of minimum visibility.”
”Acknowledged.”
”Fire missiles,” Thrawn ordered. ”Chief Yal'avi'kema, you now have two minutes.”
”Chief Iral'avi'kema acknowledges, and estimates the projector will be collapsed on schedule.” Across by the distant wars.h.i.+ps, there were multiple flashes of light as the Chiss missiles struck ”Helmets!” someone barked.
Car'das reacted instantly, s.n.a.t.c.hing up his helmet and throwing it over his head, peripherally aware that everyone on the bridge was doing the same. He had locked the helmet onto its collar and was looking for the source of the threat when there was a sudden burst of light and fire and the portside section of the canopy disintegrated.
Through the deck he felt the thud of airtight doors slamming shut, and for a fraction of a second he heard the wail of warning alarms before the sudden decompression robbed them of any conducting medium. Blinking against the dark purple afterimage of the flash, he peered through the still swirling debris at the impact point.
It was as bad as he'd feared. The three Chiss who'd been closest to the blast were lying twisted and crumpled on the deck. Other Chiss had also been thrown from their chairs, though most of them appeared to still be alive. Here and there he could see crewers struggling with torn suits or cracked helmets as they or fellow crewers fastened emergency patches in place. The control boards in the area of the blast had been turned into mangled, sharp-edged twistings of metal and tangled wiring, while elsewhere the rest of the panels appeared dead.
He was still a.s.sessing the damage when Maris suddenly shoved past him, nearly knocking him off his feet, and dropped to her knees beside the command chair.
It was only then that he saw that Thrawn, too, was lying on the deck, his glowing eyes closed, a violently fluttering tear in the chest of his vac suit leaking away his air.
”Commander!” he snapped, dropping to the deck beside Maris and fumbling in his suit pocket for a sealant patch. ”Medic!”
”I've got one,” Maris said, a patch already in hand. Ripping off the protective backing, she slapped it against the torn fabric. For a moment it bulged with the remaining air pressure from inside the suit; and then, to Car'das's horror, one edge began to come loose. ”It won't bond to this material,” Maris bit out, glancing around her. ”Help me find something to hold it.”
Frantically, Car'das looked around. But there was nothing. He looked up at the walls, knowing the Chiss must surely have medpacs scattered around their wars.h.i.+ps. But he couldn't focus enough of his mind on the Cheunh lettering to read the markings.
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