Reunion (30 page)

Leia nodded. Half a plan was forming in her mind; if the other half fell into place, the speeder bikes would be essential.

Outside the base, silence still reigned. While the pounding stopped, the Brrbrlpp were safe. She was grateful for that, at least; it gave her time to think.

“Sensing transmissions from the Unknown Regions is just half the story, surely,” Droma said. “You’d have to broadcast them again, into the rest of the galaxy. Where do you do that?”

“The sensors accomplish that task, also,” Ashpidar droned. Her flat, monotone voice made it hard to feign interest. “Every signal detected by more than one sensor is error-checked and boosted toward the Core by at least half of the remaining sensors. Juggling the reception-and-transmission
load is one reason why the system is so delicate, and why we try to maintain a healthy margin for error. I endeavor to operate on a fifty percent surplus capacity.”

“How many sensors have you lost due to the Yuuzhan Vong?” Leia asked.

“Thirteen out of forty.”

“Could you function normally with that?”

“As long as there are no further bombardments, then yes, we could operate for a time. But we would require additional resources to bring up that safety margin.”

“I’ll do everything I can to make sure you have them,” Leia said.
And quickly
, she added to herself. Who knew what messages Luke might be trying to send her from the Unknown Regions?

When the tour was complete, Ashpidar took them to her cabin, which doubled as an office. She took a seat on one side of her expansive desk, while Leia, Droma, and the security chief sat on the other. Leia’s bodyguards stood just outside the door.

“This is a secure environment,” Eniknar assured her in his sibilant voice. The Noghri was whip-slender and corded, his reptilian face a picture of intensity. “What you’re about to see has not been revealed to the rest of the crew.”

Ashpidar opened a safe on the wall opposite them and revealed a leathery ball with a supple, ridged surface. A vein pulsed at its base, indicating that it was a living thing. A wiry husk surrounded the creature, culminating in a long, tapering tail.

“A villip,” Leia said. “Is that how the Yuuzhan Vong knew you were here?”

Ashpidar agreed. “They were summoned here. Exactly when or why we have no way of knowing. There must have been another on Generis, too.”

“This one was found two days ago in a maintenance recess deep in the belly of the base,” Eniknar said. “Anyone could have hidden it there. The person who owns it must know by now that it’s been discovered, but they have not revealed themselves. Therefore, unfortunately, our betrayer still walks among us.”

“We’d just begun conducting low-key security sweeps when the Yuuzhan Vong arrived,” Ashpidar said. “Obviously survival takes preference in the short term. Until we can locate the traitor, I’ve kept the villip here, where no one can access it but me.” So saying, she closed the safe and locked it. “All other forms of communications are sealed tight. Nothing and no one gets out of this base without my authorization.”

Leia indicated her approval. “We can show you how to sweep for Yuuzhan Vong in disguise. We have mouse droids designed to do so discreetly. You don’t have to be a Jedi to do that.”

The expressionless Gotal inclined her head. “My thanks.”

“All we need to do,” Leia said, “is ride out the crisis. Once the Yuuzhan Vong have been knocked out of orbit, you’ll be able to emerge and conduct a proper inquiry.”

“That is my hope. I do fear, however, that—” Ashpidar’s desk comlink bleeped, interrupting her. “Yes?”

“A message from the
Millennium Falcon
,” reported one of the commander’s communications officers. “Coded telemetry data has arrived from orbit.”

“Patch it through, Ridil.” A holodisplay came to life on Ashpidar’s desk. It showed the disposition of the Yuuzhan Vong and Imperial forces over opposite hemispheres, keeping each other at bay. Flashpoints came and went as either side probed the defenses of the other or attempted to drop forces down into the atmosphere. No one was getting through. As Leia watched, the image zoomed in to the surface to show entry points for a small
Yuuzhan Vong force that had managed to make it down to the atmosphere while the battle had been raging.

“We’ve got company,” Droma said.

“So it would seem,” the security chief said.

“If they’re combing the area,” Leia said, “then it will only be a matter of time before they find us.” A distant pressure slipped into Leia’s mind. Relief rushed through her as Jaina’s mental presence made itself felt. It wasn’t some strange psychic attack, but a long-distance version of a Jedi mind-meld. The link was tremulous, severely attenuated. It was obviously taking a great deal of effort to keep open, and it soon ebbed and faded altogether.

“Princess?” Leia broke from her thoughts now to face Ashpidar, who was looking at her with some concern. “Are you all right?”

“I’m sorry,” Leia said, standing. “As long as no stray emissions alert the Yuuzhan Vong to our presence here, we should be safe for the moment. The traitor
inside
the base is what we need to be focusing upon. Come with me to the
Falcon
and I’ll equip you with mouse droids. While you’re addressing that problem, we’ll work on the other.”

Ashpidar stood and bowed her high, horned head. “I am grateful for your assistance.”

Eniknar escorted them back to the
Falcon
. No one spoke for the duration of the short trip, but once they were safely back on board the freighter and the security chief had gone, Droma immediately turned to Leia and shook his head.

“I don’t like him,” he said.

“Who? Eniknar?”

“Yeah, Eniknar,” Droma said. “Did you see his expression when that telemetry came through?”

Leia nodded. “There was something not quite right about him.” She turned to her Noghri bodyguards. “Did you recognize Eniknar’s clan-scent?”

“We do not know him,” Meewalh said. “He has distanced himself from Honoghr,” Cakhmain agreed.

“Or was never part of it,” Droma said. “Let’s set those droids on him and see what happens.”

“They’ll only detect a Yuuzhan Vong hiding under a masquer,” Leia said, “and I would have noticed that already. If he is a traitor, then we’re going to have to force him to reveal himself.”

Droma’s eyes studied her closely. “You have a plan?”

“Maybe,” she said thoughtfully. “But I have someone to talk to first.”

Captain Mayn brought Grand Admiral Pellaeon up to date via the comm unit. Jaina was still with Tahiri, Jag by her side, listening in via the comm unit in the
Selonia
’s medical wards. Pellaeon came through loud and clear from
Right to Rule
. Jaina’s mother had managed to open contact with those in orbit via a transmission from a modified research droid. The droid, little more than a repulsor unit with a subspace transmitter strapped to its back, had been quickly redesigned to receive the same radio frequencies employed by the planet’s native life forms. In order to further avoid giving away the relay base’s location, the
Falcon
had communicated with it only by brief laser pulses on that frequency. Even so, the transmission from the droid relay had barely lasted long enough to bring all parties up to date. Within moments, a Yuuzhan Vong volley had cut the conversation dramatically short.

“So the
Falcon
and the relay base are effectively trapped,” Pellaeon said once Captain Mayn had finished.

“That’s correct, sir.”

“And there’s been no sign of those ground troops yet?”

“None, sir.”

“That won’t last long. Commander Vorrik is impatient. He won’t allow them to sit on their hands down there; he’ll want results, and he’ll want them fast.”

“Their first task,” Tahiri said in low, confident tones, “will be to search the bombardment sites for signs of wreckage. When they’ve been cleared, the spaces between will be examined. They’ll begin at the center of the bombed region and work outward. Although they have effectively missed, they will assume that their information was correct and that the relay base is most likely near the middle.”

“And where is it, exactly?” Pellaeon asked.

“Near the edge,” Captain Mayn said. “The bombed region centers on the approximate location of the
Falcon
’s last transmission. They won’t know that it’s moved.”

“So we have them at a slight disadvantage,” Pellaeon said.

“All we need is a window of opportunity in which to act,” Jaina said. “Our first priority is to get someone down there to help them. At the moment, Vorrik is hanging in there because he feels confident of finding the base. If he has priorities elsewhere, then his time isn’t unlimited. Make it harder for him to find the base and he might just decide that it’s not worth it.”

“It would give me immense pleasure to force that battle-clouded fool to retreat from a fight.” There seemed to be a hint of a smile in the admiral’s voice.

“What about the traitor on the ground?” Jag asked. “How are we going to coordinate any sort of action knowing it could be undermined at any time?”

“That’s a risk Mom is prepared to take,” Jaina said. “She thinks they’ve already identified the traitor.”

“The mouse droids?” Jag asked.

Jaina shook her head. “They didn’t pick anything up. But she’s keeping an eye on him, in case he tries anything.”

“We can do little about the traitor down there,” Pellaeon said. “Our issue is to focus on how to get a team onto the surface. Vorrik has Esfandia effectively closed off. Neither of us can get down there.”

“I think I might be able to help,” Tahiri said. “All I need is access to a Yuuzhan Vong hulk. I’m sure there must be at least one floating around out there left over from the battle.”

“Actually, we have the orbits of six charted,” Pellaeon said. “But I doubt you’ll get away with taking one of them down to the surface. After Colonel Fel’s performance, they won’t fall for that trick in a hurry again.”

“That’s not what I intend. There might be a living villip choir on one of them. Give me that, and I’ll give you the window you require.”

The blond girl’s expression was fiercely determined, almost stern; she was a far cry from the confused, broken girl who had come to Mon Calamari for help prior to setting out on the mission.

“And how will you do that, exactly?” Pellaeon asked.

“I will tell Vorrik that I intend to lead the
Falcon
and the relay base into a trap,” she said. “I’ll tell him that I plan to betray Princess Leia and Captain Solo in the bargain.”

Pellaeon seemed uncertain. “He’ll suspect a double cross.”

“Perhaps,” Tahiri said easily. “But he won’t be able to afford
not
to take advantage of the offer. A quick and easy victory will enable him to move elsewhere without disgrace.”

The Grand Admiral still didn’t seem convinced, and Jaina could understand why. What if Tahiri really
did
betray Han and Leia, not Vorrik at all? What if she was planning a triple cross with Pellaeon himself on the receiving end?

“I trust her,” Jaina said. At some point she knew that
they were going to have to let Tahiri prove herself worthy, and now seemed as good a time as any—especially since the combined knowledge of Tahiri and Riina might be the only thing capable of getting them out of the mess they had found themselves in. Besides which, her gut instincts told her that Tahiri was whole and strong. “I trust her with my life.”

Her bold declaration had the required effect.

“Very well,” Pellaeon said after a moment’s thought, seemingly satisfied.

Beside her, Jaina also noticed the tense set to Jag’s shoulder ease noticeably. She even felt a slight lessening of intensity from Tahiri.

“I’ll leave you to organize the details with the
Falcon
and the relay base, once they open communications again,” Pellaeon went on. “I ask only that you advise me of the outcome. I’ll maintain the situation up here as long as I can. If you need assistance, you have but to ask.”

The admiral’s small speech was stiff, almost formal. Jaina suspected she knew why, and it surprised her.

“Of course we’ll need your assistance, Admiral,” she said. “We’re not going to get through this blockade on our own. You loaned Captain Mayn a TIE squadron during the initial advance. I’d like to requisition another one to Twin Suns Squadron for the time being. Would this be acceptable?”

“Jaina Solo,” he said with some amusement, “you’re as much a politician as your mother.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“As it was intended.”

When the line to the Grand Admiral closed, Jag faced Jaina with a frown.

“What was that all about?” he asked.

It was Tahiri who answered him.

“Trust,” she said. “If we don’t use the Imperials, they’ll feel as though they’re being left out, and then they’ll
wonder why. If we’re not actively keeping secrets from them, then we should let them participate in everything we do. I suspect that this is why peace accords with the Empire have failed in the past. A lack of fighting isn’t peace; it’s just a temporary cessation of war.”

Jaina nodded. “If we’re going to work together, the Empire and the Galactic Alliance have to not just communicate with each other, but
use
each other, also. Talking isn’t enough. Until we fight together, risk our lives alongside one another, we will always be apart.”

“I’ll give the squadrons some work to do until you’re ready to commandeer what you need,” Captain Mayn interjected into the conversation. “As the ranking Jedi here, I’ll take your instructions on what you require the
Selonia
to do in support of your mission.”

It hit Jaina, then, that she was effectively in charge. Yes, she was relaying her orders, but the finer points would be under her command. Even the Grand Admiral of the Imperial Fleet was prepared to take her recommendations. It was strange, but she didn’t feel discomforted by the authority she suddenly found herself carrying.

“Tahiri and I will confer,” she said. “I’ll issue instructions within the hour. Keep everyone on red alert. If our situation changes, we’ll need to act immediately.”