Wedge's Gamble (29 page)

“I’ll see.”

“That doesn’t sound very hopeful. What if stormtroopers raid this place?”

“Ask if you can borrow some from them.” Rima gave him a grim smile. “All they can say is no.”

He waited two more days, spending his time working up a line that would convince stormtroopers to surrender
their weapons to him. He found it a singularly frustrating occupation because, since they tended to be much larger than he was, he knew he could not intimidate them. Appealing to their humanity seemed a dubious prospect, as did appealing to their sense of fair play.

He spent the vast majority of time in the apartment going over the earlier events and trying to draw conclusions from all of it. First and foremost he was certain he’d seen Tycho Celchu talking with Kirtan Loor. That meant the operation on Coruscant was busted wide open. With Tycho on Coruscant the Imps clearly had full descriptions and datafiles on everyone in the squadron. He had to assume they were under surveillance or would soon be watched.

The fact that he’d stumbled across Tycho and Loor meeting in public
did
bother him a bit. If Tycho was an Imperial agent—as had been everyone else who’d ever been at Lusankya—why wouldn’t the meeting have been held in an Imperial facility? The obvious answer to that question was that Tycho hadn’t appreciated his Lusankya experience and was being wary of trapping himself in an Imperial stronghold. He was smart enough to know the Imps couldn’t be trusted, so he was probably gouging them for sufficient credits to buy some far-away world and live like a Moff for the rest of his life.

The fact that their mission had so clearly been blown really left the Rogues only one choice: leave immediately. He felt he had collected enough information about the general level of security on the planet to be useful, but he also expected all that to change in the near future, if it had not changed already. He had to assume that whatever any of the Rogues had learned was of dubious value, and therefore, their mission was a bust.

The only way to salvage any of this is to go home and start fighting against the Empire again
.

Before he could come up with another plan that would be effective, but also before he’d admitted defeat to himself, Rima came for him. She resisted answering his
questions about their destination and seemed abnormally taciturn and withdrawn, but she did give him power packs for his blaster, so he chose not to press her for information. He did wonder what had gotten into her, but he chose not to ask questions on the street. When they slipped into the Headquarters he found other things to occupy his attention, especially his being ushered down the back corridor to a side room where Wedge sat waiting for him.

Corran snapped to attention and saluted as Rima left the room. “Horn reporting, sir.”

Wedge returned the salute, then smiled and gave Corran a back-slapping hug. “It’s good to see you’re alive and well, even though the last time I saw you, you were doing your best to kill me and a number of other people.”

What?
“Excuse me, sir?”

“I was in the apartment where you sent a speeder bike through the window.” Wedge held a hand up and Corran saw some half-healed cuts on it. “Nothing major, but there’s not much bacta down here, so I have to heal the traditional way. Did find some ryll tincture that killed infection, though.”

“If I had known, I’d …”

“No one save the driver was badly hurt, so don’t worry.” Wedge inclined his head toward the door. “Winter tells me you wanted to talk with me? Something you could only tell me?”

“Winter?” Corran frowned for a second. “Ah, you mean Rima …”

“Right. We’d met before. She and Tycho are friends.”

“So I’ve gathered, which is why I wanted to talk to you.” Corran clasped his hands at the small of his back. “Five days ago, right here in the Headquarters, I saw Tycho Celchu talking with Kirtan Loor, an Imperial Intelligence agent.”

Wedge looked surprised, then frowned and slowly shook his head. “Five days ago?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s impossible.”

“I know what I saw, sir.” Corran jerked a thumb back toward the bar. “I saw him as sure as the Emperor is dead.” He tried to make his statement sound certain, but he was getting feelings of confusion and sorrow from Wedge’s expression. “Really, I did see him.”

“That’s impossible, Corran. Five days ago Warlord Zsinj attacked our base at Noquivzor. The barracks complex got hit hard. They’re digging through the rubble now but they don’t expect to find survivors.” Wedge hesitated for a moment, then swallowed. “Our support staff was devastated. Zraii survived, but that was the only confirmation they’d give me.”

“What about Whistler?” Corran blurted out the question before he realized how callous it made him sound. “He’s only a droid, but …”

Wedge patted him on the shoulder. “I understand. I don’t have word of him directly, but Zraii was working on our fighters in the hangar, so I have to suppose most of our astromechs were there with him. The hangar escaped serious damage. If any news comes through, I will let you know.”

“Thanks.” Corran took a deep breath and tried to sort everything out in his mind. “So what you’re telling me is that if I saw Tycho, I saw a ghost?”

“That’s about the size of it.”

“And you told Rima, er, Winter? That’s why she was so quiet.”

“I just got word myself and broke it to her as gently as I could. We’re still hoping—bacta can do miracles if there’s even the remotest spark of life—but things do not look good.” Wedge sighed. “Of course, that’s the least of our worries right now.”

“Oh?”

Wedge nodded. “Zsinj’s attack is driving the invasion schedule forward. We have a new mission and you’re here to help plan it out.”

“I’ll do my best, sir.”

“Let’s hope we can
all
do our best, and then some.” Wedge slowly exhaled. “We’ve got to come up with a plan that will let us, with a minimal amount of lead time, take over or destroy whatever we need to bring down Coruscant’s shields and leave the world open to invasion.

30

Corran followed Wedge from the small room into the hallway and farther along to an even larger room. The first people he saw there were the Bothan Asyr and the Devaronian he’d helped to escape from the warehouse. They were already seated at the large round table in the middle of the room. As he came around Wedge he saw Fliry Vorru looking very Imperial and Zekka Thyne looked pale and in a bit of discomfort.

Looks like not everyone escaped unharmed
.

“Corran!”

“Iella!” Arching his back, he picked her up in a hug and hung on tight. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“Gil did this to me. The identities he set up were on Coruscant.” Iella pulled back away from him, but kept his hands in hers. “I can’t believe it’s you.”

If seeing Thyne hurt had made Corran feel good, seeing Iella made him feel … 
almost whole. I’ve spent too long with nothing and no one from my past aside from Whistler. It was as if that world didn’t exist
. He smiled. “Where’s Diric?”

Iella’s smile froze for a second, then she glanced down. “I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry. What happened?”

“A year ago or so he was picked up in an Imp sweep and never came home. I bolted, made some Alliance contacts, and joined the Rebellion. There’s been no word and after this amount of time …”

Corran nodded and hugged her again. Diric Wessiri had been an interesting man. Old family wealth allowed him to lead a life of leisure. He viewed life as a collection of phenomena to be studied and experienced, but he was not one to let those experiences change him. He was easily twenty years Iella’s senior, but they fit together like oxygen and hydrogen. Diric didn’t always agree with things CorSec did, but he made an attempt to understand what had been done, and that quest for enlightenment had impressed Corran.

This is not the time to tell Iella that Gil is dead and that Loor killed him. There will be opportunities later, I’m sure
. “Diric was special, but so are you. It’s great to see you again despite everything else.”

“I agree.” Iella squeezed his hands gently. “And Mirax asked to be remembered to you.”

A smile blossomed on Corran’s face. “She’s here? How?”

“The
Skate
brought the rest of the squadron here and couldn’t get away.” Iella frowned. “I would have thought the others had told you how they got here.”

“We were a bit busy when we ran into each other.”

“No kidding. Mirax has threatened to give you speeder bike lessons. First rule, she says, is stay away from buildings.”

Corran laughed aloud. “Yeah. We’ll have to discuss that more.”

Thyne snarled. “How long is this chummy crap going to go on?”

“Patches, someday when you have a friend you’ll learn this is what you do when you haven’t seen each other for a while.” Corran released Iella and she moved off to take a seat next to Winter.

“Well said, Lieutenant Horn.” Vorru folded his hands
together on the table. “However, time is of the essence, I gather. Shall we get things under way? Commander?”

Corran took a seat beside Wedge, placing Winter on his right hand. Iella sat next to her, then the two aliens and finally Vorru and Thyne. Corran noticed that Thyne held his right hand and forearm protectively over his stomach.
Gut-shot. Painful. Good
.

Wedge stood. “I want to keep this as simple as possible. Since the warehouse incident we have all come to agree that working together to oppose the Empire is preferential to each going our own ways. Each of our groups has strengths and weaknesses, most of which overlap to minimize our exposure to the enemy. We can all agree that we will fare better on Coruscant once the Empire is overthrown and accomplishing that end is a goal of the Rebellion.

“Originally Rogue Squadron was sent here to recon Coruscant and gauge the vulnerable points for later exploitation. The problem is that Warlord Zsinj is testing both the Empire and the Rebellion. The Imperials know that to attack him is to weaken themselves to the point where they cannot prevail. The Alliance knows that to pursue Zsinj would dilute our strength so that a strike at Coruscant won’t be possible for years, perhaps even decades. This means the Alliance will have to strike in the very near future and they want us to open the gates to Coruscant.”

Fliry Vorru tapped a fingertip against the tabletop. “Bringing down a planet’s shields is not an easy proposition.”

“Agreed.” Wedge leaned forward on his hands. “The central computer complex here is the key. Is it fair to assume Black Sun’s slicers have not been able to insert code into the master programs that control the planet?”

The white-haired man sat back in his chair. “I believe the discussion of that point is premature.”

“Oh?”

“Quite so, Commander.” Vorru nodded toward the representatives of the Alien Combine. “Their stake in this
is quite clear. The Imperial regime is decidedly cruel and inhumane in dealing with them. The liberation of this planet would benefit them enormously. And you Rebels, well, you would be achieving a goal you’ve been focused upon for at least seven years. I mean, Winter dear, it is every Alderaanian’s dream to replace your lost world with Coruscant, is it not?”

Winter’s eyes glittered coldly. “The Alliance’s goal is to see the death of the evil that destroyed our world. Alderaan cannot be replaced and certainly not with this transparisteel and duracrete mausoleum for an Empire.”

Wedge folded his arms. “Your point, Vorru?”

“My point, Commander, is that the Alliance is not likely to be any more favorable to Black Sun than the Empire was. Less, in fact, I suspect. I want to know what is in this plan to reward me and my people for their cooperation.”

Corran snarled. “Why don’t you start with your liberation from Kessel?”

Vorru smiled delicately. “You would gladly see me back there, would you not, Lieutenant? If your plan succeeds you might find yourself appointed Minister of Security. If the cursing about you and your family done by Thyne here is any measure of Horn efficacy, I think I prefer having Ysanne Isard opposing me. What I would like, Commander Antilles, is some guarantee of clemency for those of my people who work to help you overthrow Isard.”

“And if that is not possible?”

“Relocation to a world of my choosing, a world that will be made part of your Alliance with me at its head.”

“A world you will turn into a haven for crime?” Iella looked disgusted.

Corran shook his head. “He’s smarter than that. He’ll solicit bribes from worlds so he doesn’t end up there. He’ll be rich enough to buy a star system or two.”

Vorru opened his hands. “I seek a world where I can live out my days in peace and you think poorly of me. I
find it hard to believe you hold the rehabilitative qualities of Kessel in such contempt.”

“Enough.” Wedge held a hand out to forestall Corran’s reply to Vorru’s unctuous comment. “I’ll give you my personal guarantee you and your people will not be held responsible for crimes committed while you are acting in concert with us. That doesn’t mean a sociopath like Thyne here is free to slaughter innocents. We’re only going to hit legitimate military targets. The streets start running with blood and I’ll burn your people down myself. I think this is the best offer you’re going to get.”

“It’s acceptable. For now.” Vorru nodded. “And, no, our slicers have not been able to get into the main computer.”

Thyne shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “We should just blow it up. Everything will stop and the shields will come down.”

“No they won’t.” Winter frowned. “Damage to the main computer system will transfer control to satellite facilities. While they are not as well guarded as the main facility, they will not be easy to take over. There is also a possibility that crucial systems, such as shield control, could get shunted to another satellite center if there is trouble with one. In other words, to get the shields down that way we’d have to guarantee a strike at
all
of the satellites as well as the main center, and we don’t know for certain where
all
of those subsidiary centers are.”