Dark Tide 1: Onslaught (28 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Gavin Darklighter refused to give in to the aches and pains in his body. Normally he would have put them down to fatigue, but he'd been able to get plenty of rest on the journey from Dantooine to Agamar and then on to Coruscant. The fact was that he felt as rested as he ever had during his time with the squadron, yet he also knew he was engaged in one of the most difficult battles he'd ever faced with it.

And everything he had learned on the trip in to Coruscant had convinced him it was a battle that Rogue Squadron and the New Republic could not afford to lose.

Gavin, Leia Organa Solo, Admiral Traest Kre'fey, and Senator A'Kla had been summoned to a meeting of Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya's advisory council to report on what they had found. It seemed clear to Gavin that from the smug look on Fey'lya's face, and the superior airs his confederates were projecting, that they either had no clue about what was going on in the Rim—which simply wasn't possible—or were choosing not to let it deflect them from whatever schemes and plans they had in mind.

He feared the latter situation was true, and saw the New Republic's death as the logical consequence of it.

The chamber boasted a solid wall of transparisteel that provided a hypnotic tableau of Coruscant at night. Lights winking on and off, speeders sailing through the night, and the curious patterns of lights in various buildings all seemed present to distract whomever the council wanted to interrogate. The seats offered to the visitors were positioned to maximize this effect. Gavin found himself succumbing to it, but exerted the effort required to refocus himself on the New Republic's leaders.

The Caamasi senator stood in the center of the arc described by the council's table and spread his arms. “You now have heard the substance of what I will report to the senate. There is no doubt that these Yuuzhan Vong have come to this galaxy with conquest on their agenda. The assaults on Dubrillion and Dantooine were not only relentless, but clearly designed as learning exercises.”

Niuk Niuv, the senator from Sullust, clucked deep in his throat for a moment. “If this is true, a lesson was taught them at Dantooine, wasn't it? You drove a cruiser off and escaped, did you not?”

Elegos nodded slowly. “We did that, yes. It seems, however, you are ignoring the evidence of Belkadan, that they have come and set up factories to produce war matériel. You ignore their operation on Bimmiel, which we know about only because the students there were evacuated to Agamar and arrived when we did.”

Pwoe, the Quarren, curled and uncurled his mouth tentacles. “Three systems, four if we count Sernpidal, and five if we include Helska 4, the place where the first incursion was destroyed, but the latter two are useless to them.”

“And useless to us.” The Caamasi let his hand slowly drift down to his side. “You also greatly discount the sacrifices we paid to save as many people as we did. Rogue Squadron has lost two-thirds of the pilots it had two months ago. Over fifty other pilots and troopers lost their lives. The Yuuzhan Vong killed countless people on Dubrillion, and the refugees on Dantooine suffered 50 percent casualties.”

Borsk Fey'lya shook his head and smoothed the cream-colored fur at the back of his neck. “We do nothing of the sort. We acknowledge the sacrifices of Colonel Darklighter's command. We have directed a unit commendation for the Dantooine and Dubrillion actions be added to the unit history.”

Gavin glanced at Admiral Kre'fey and caught the all-but-imperceptible nod that was his signal. Raising his head slowly, twisting his ring unconsciously, Gavin stared straight into Fey'lya's eyes.
Almost two decades ago you drove my Bothan lover, Asyr Sei'lar, to distraction, and that distraction got her killed. It's an old debt you owe me, and that debt gets paid back now, in full.

“If you value our effort, Chief Fey'lya, then I have to wonder why you are working so hard to deceive me, to deceive the rest of the New Republic's military.”

Fey'lya blinked, and the fur on the back of his neck rose. “You will be forgiven that insubordinate outburst, Colonel. You are clearly overwrought.”

Gavin stood slowly, letting his body uncurl into its full height. His contracted his hands into fists and let the muscles of his arms strain the seams of his jacket. He wanted them to see he was physically powerful, not just someone who sat in a seat and pulled a trigger.
I want them to know I am something they could never be.

He kept his voice even, despite the anger and disgust boiling inside of him. “Chief Fey'lya, in here we know the truth. The only reason the
Corusca Fire
was at Agamar is because Captain Rimsen is from Agamar and he diverted from his assigned patrol. He was suspicious of the fact the patrol route had been changed to prevent him from heading to Dubrillion and past Belkadan. In speaking to his family on Agamar, he learned of Leia's visit there. He returned home to assess the situation and was able to travel with Admiral Kre'fey to save us. If he had not been there, none of us would be here.”

“You have misinterpreted—”

Gavin cut him off with the sharp chop of a hand through the air. “I'm not finished.”

“Your career most assuredly can be, Colonel.” Fey'lya's ears flattened back against his skull. “Are you resigning, effective immediately?”

Admiral Kre'fey snapped off a quick comment in Bothan that brought Fey'lya's head around as if he'd been punched. The chief of state clawed curls of wood from the table. He snarled a comment in return.

Admiral Kre'fey came smoothly to his feet. “Oh, I dare, cousin, speak to you in that manner because you have grossly overstepped your bounds in this. Did you expect we would not know of Bimmiel? Did you expect we did not know of the sightings of Yuuzhan Vong on Garqi? How many other worlds that the Yuuzhan Vong have attacked did you expect us to remain ignorant of?”

The Sullustan looked aghast. “How could you know—?”

The admiral slowly shook his head. “There are a million ways to know. Commodities found on these worlds are being bid up in the futures markets. Communications companies that service these worlds are reporting outages and reduced earnings from these sectors. Recruiting numbers for our military from these worlds are down sharply. While you might have been able to shut off the flow of real news to various outlets, doubtless to prevent a panic, you have forgotten that information that doesn't get through is just as valuable as that which does.”

The members of the advisory council looked shocked. They murmured among themselves, then turned to Borsk Fey'lya. To his credit, the Bothan snorted as if what he had been told was inconsequential. “Even if these worlds are involved with the Yuuzhan Vong invasion—and you have no proof they are—the prosecution of the war against the Yuuzhan Vong is a matter for us to determine.”

Gavin shook his head. “Not when it is
our
lives on the line.”

“Again, Colonel Darklighter, are you quoting from a resignation letter?” Fey'lya sneered at him. “You Rogues quit the New Republic once before and we survived.”

Gavin's eyes narrowed. “Perhaps I am resigning, Chief Fey'lya.”

Traest Kre'fey stepped forward between Gavin and Elegos. “Beware accepting his resignation, cousin, because if he goes, so do I. So will the New Republic's military.”

“You're talking mutiny.”

“I'm talking the only thing that makes sense. You, you're all politicians. Your focus is on acquiring power. Why? So you can make lives better for some people. This is a laudable goal, but your efforts collapse when a true crisis arises. An earthquake shakes a continent and kills thousands. You take the blame even though it was not your fault. Why? Because you had too few regulations about how the buildings were to be maintained, or your rescue operations were too slow, your food supplies were too low, your payments to the uninsured are lower than they imagined they would get. There are hundreds and thousands of reasons you take the blame, and with each bit of blame you lose some power.”

Kre'fey tapped himself on his chest. “My mandate is to keep people safe, and the Yuuzhan Vong are a direct threat to their safety. Let us assume, to be charitable, that you did not believe Princess Leia when she explained the problem of the Yuuzhan Vong to you. Let us assume you thought they truly
were
finished. Your lack of response to that threat could be explained as naive, perhaps, but a lack of response now would be
criminal
.

“So, would I take the New Republic's military and draw it off into, say, the Unknown Regions and carve out my own little empire? Yes. I would prepare it as a haven for those who flee the New Republic as it falls to the Yuuzhan Vong.”

Pwoe's nostrils flared. “If you feel this way, Admiral, would you not be better off staging a revolt and unseating us?”

“No, because I am not a politician. I can't fight a war and administer worlds.” He shook his head. “I cannot say I would not back someone else in toppling an ineffective government, however.”

Kre'fey twisted to his left and waved a hand at Leia.

She sat forward and let a feral grin blossom on her face.

Fey'lya stood and folded his arms across his chest. “So, this is it, then, Leia? You so hate being out of power that you have seduced Admiral Kre'fey into backing you in a revolt? Do you wish to establish a Jedi hegemony to rule the New Republic? Will your children inherit your position after you?”

Leia laughed quickly and politely, then came up out of her chair with a fluid grace that reminded Gavin of a teopari stretching languidly. “Is that what you want, Chief Fey'lya? Do you want to be humiliated? Do you want to be remembered as the one who led the New Republic to such ruin that
I
had to rescue it again?”

Her voice came low enough that even Gavin had to strain to hear her. As her words poured into his ears, Fey'lya's facial expression changed. It went from a look of triumph to one of sour disappointment, then resignation. He leaned forward, posting himself up on his arms.

“How is it that you wish to play this, then?”

Leia smiled carefully. “First, you will cede control of military operations to the military. There will be no political micromanagement of the war. What they want, they get.”

“Of course.”

“Second, you will coordinate relief supplies and matériel to handle the incoming refugees. Agamar is already overstressed, and people will be fleeing further Coreward as the Yuuzhan Vong advance.”

Fey'lya glanced at Pwoe. “You can handle all that.”

“Lastly, you will allow Senator A'Kla to make his report to the full senate, with complete coverage of it to go out over the media.”

Fey'lya barked a sharp laugh. “So he can put the blame for this squarely on my shoulders? Never.”

Kre'fey glanced at Gavin. “In my empire, would you like a world for each of your children, or will they need whole systems to rule?”

Fey'lya's violet eyes flashed with fire. “We will work up the text of the report together, yes?”

Elegos nodded. “I find that acceptable.”

“Good.” Leia stepped forward and offered Fey'lya her hand. “I'd forgotten what it was like to work with you.”

“Be assured, I had
not
.”

Fey'lya shook Leia's hand, but the guarded expression on her face confirmed that she was thinking what Gavin could feel in his bones: Fey'lya's compliance now was not guaranteed to continue in the future.
In the short term we get what we need, but that won't always be so. If he can take advantage, he will.

Leia bowed her head to the council. “Thank you for your cooperation. It is for the best, and that, after all, is what we all desire, isn't it?”

“Most assuredly, Leia.” Borsk Fey'lya gave them all a predatory grin. “We shall put the New Republic above all petty, personal concerns. For the best.”

Gavin wanted nothing more than to head home to his wife, but he knew he was going to be poor company. Too many people had died, and when he was in a mourning mood, it tended to remind his sister that her husband had died fighting the Yevetha. She had come with her children to live with Gavin at that point, just to get back on her feet, but she'd remained since. From time to time she'd get to thinking of herself and her kids as a burden on Gavin, and that was something he just couldn't deal with at the moment.

He made his way back to Rogue Squadron headquarters and stalked through darkened hallways. He really didn't mind the building being deserted; it
was
very early in the morning. Admiral Kre'fey agreed that no alert would go out until noon the next day, allowing the warriors who would be on the front lines a lazy morning before they committed their lives to the bloody grind of war.

The only real bright spot in the whole disaster of the retreat from Dubrillion had been Jaina Solo's joining the squadron. Gavin had asked Leia if her daughter might stay on with the unit, and permission had been granted cautiously. When he saw the joy on Jaina's face at the decision, Gavin suspected Leia had agreed just because she didn't want to have to deal with Jaina if she'd said no. Jaina immediately moved into the squadron barracks, taking up a room with Anni Capstan, her wingman, and settling in as if she'd belonged there all along.

And flying the way she does, there's little doubt she will remain with us for a long time.

It surprised Gavin to find a trooper with a blaster rifle standing in front of his office door. The trooper was little more than a kid—
barely older than I was when I joined the squadron
. “Is there a problem here, Private?”

The youth swallowed hard. “Sir, I tried to stop them, sir, but they said it would be okay to enter your office. They said you wouldn't mind.”

Gavin blinked with astonishment. “Did they? And did they say who they were?”