Rebel Stand: Enemy Lines II (10 page)

“All the more reason to have a top-notch pilot in it. If it’s not going to be an assault craft, it needs to be able to dodge and outfly pursuers.”

“Do you have a pilot in mind?”

He considered, then nodded. “Shuttle pilot named Beelyath. He flies rescue missions picking up EV pilots. I’ve seen him do some pretty good tricks with his shuttle and fly into enemy fire to pick up pilots. He was one of
the ones who helped us retrieve those ejected victims when the Yuuzhan Vong worldship came into the system. And he’s Mon Cal. I know he has starfighter experience, which makes me suspect he has B-wing experience.”

“I’ll talk to him.” She could feel her spirits sag just a little, could feel the smile leave her face. “I have to go. We just can’t seem to find much time, can we?”

“Do you have another sixty seconds?”

“Yes.”

He leaned down for another kiss.

“Speak,” Tsavong Lah said.

Nen Yim straightened from her bow. “I have subjected the samples I took from your arm to analysis.”

“Is my situation favorable?”

“It is, Warmaster. The cure to your situation is no more complicated than refusing any further treatments at the hands of Ghithra Dal. Material I found upon your arm, material that must have come from Ghithra Dal touching you, inspires the radank leg to continue growing. It is absorbed into your skin and carried into the depths of your arm by the carrion-eaters. Remove the material and the condition should end.”

“Yet if I were to discontinue treatment at the hands of Ghithra Dal, he would know that I suspect him.”

Wisely, Nen Yim chose not to reply. Whether she had an opinion on the matter or not, she knew it was not her place to advise the warmaster on matters of strategy; any
recommendation she could make would not be well received.

“Can you shape a material that would negate the effects of Ghithra Dal’s doings while allowing him to continue to treat me?”

“Perhaps, Warmaster. But the material that coaxes your radank leg to grow as it does is very subtle, very complex. It could be that Ghithra Dal has been developing it for a very long time. Just having the samples I obtained, being able to observe their effects on other radank flesh, is not the same as knowing exactly how it works its effects, which is the first step toward counteracting it. It could take some considerable time to shape a defensive material. Time, or access to Ghithra Dal’s shaping chambers.”

Tsavong Lah considered, then nodded. “I will find a way to give you one, if not both. Withdraw.”

When she was gone, he allowed himself to revel in an all-too-rare moment of simple elation. Doom was
not
upon him. The gods did not punish him. He faced nothing more serious than treachery … and treachery was something he well knew how to deal with.

Less familiar to him was the notion of reward, especially as it applied to one who was not Yuuzhan Vong, one who was not a loyal warrior or adviser. “Send in Viqi Shesh,” he said.

   Viqi entered the chamber, somewhat thrown off her rhythm by the fact that her escort guards, instead of staying beside her as she passed through the portal, remained behind. She hesitated just within the chamber,
her quick glance taking in the presence of Tsavong Lah on his seat of command, of his advisers and servants staying well away along the walls.

“Come to me, my servant,” the warmaster said.

Viqi Shesh offered a glowing, though entirely insincere, smile at Tsavong Lah and stepped forward to bow before him. She straightened and awaited his words, but he offered none until, at his gesture, three Yuuzhan Vong in his command chamber departed.

“I have summoned you,” the warmaster said, “to acknowledge that you do indeed have worth. Your analysis of the situation with my arm was correct. I was afflicted with treachery. I offer you my congratulations.”

Viqi actually felt her knees go weak. It wasn’t from relief at being proven right. No, the story she’d concocted was supposed to be one that would buy her a considerable amount of time to find a way to escape. But she’d been right, the conspiracy had been rooted out, and her time was at an end.

Blast the conspirators. Blast them for existing, for being clumsy enough to be detected so early, for fouling up her plan.

She didn’t let her smile waver. “The fact that I am of some service brings joy to my heart,” she said. “I hope that I shall continue to be of worth to you.”

“You shall. And for your next assignment, you will travel to Coruscant, below us. Yuuzhan Vong warriors have died there, and the burns that killed them suggest strongly that
Jeedai
are the culprits. You will go with Denua Ku and join a search unit there—a unit of warriors, and even our remaining voxyn. They may be dying
off, but they can still hunt
Jeedai
. You will offer your insights to the warriors, who will run the
Jeedai
to ground. You will have the opportunity to distinguish yourself further in my service.”

Words nearly failed her. On an expedition into the ruined world’s depths, she’d be watched at least as closely as she had been observed here. She’d be forced to travel with a fast-moving pack of idiot warriors, running her into exhaustion. Dirt and sweat would be her companions. And voxyn—the thought of being within kilometers of the ferocious creatures was terrifying.

She offered the warmaster her most alluring smile and bowed again. The gesture gave her time to find her voice. “I live to obey, Warmaster.”

“Will you be offering your political support to Senator Gadan?” The old woman was stiff-backed, as alert as a hawk-bat on the lookout for prey, and the downiness of her white hair, which should have softened her appearance, should have made her grandmotherly, instead gave her the aspect of some mad Force-wizard from a scary bedtime story. Too, the jagged scar zigzagging across her forehead, which hinted at a fractured skull or even brain damage in some long-ago battle, was hardly reassuring.

“Addath enjoys my every confidence …” Leia said, her voice smooth. Han waited, though, because he could detect the unspoken
but
at the end of her statement.

Admiral Apelben Werl offered up a faint, exasperated
sigh, and leaned back in her chair. Her expression suggested that, though this meeting was not over, no further part of it had any purpose.

“…  personally,” Leia concluded.

The admiral gave her a closer look. “And professionally? Politically?”

“Professionally, I favor the harshest possible resistance to the Yuuzhan Vong.”

“Really.” The admiral suddenly did not look as forbidding. “I have no talent for deception, so I’ll ask straight out. What would it take to persuade you to lend me your support in this campaign? To help swing the population’s vote toward defense and away from appeasement?”

That was, in fact, exactly what Han and Leia had come to offer—a present of public support from the famous Solos.

Leia opened her mouth to make that statement, but Han cut her off. “That’s what I’d like to ask you. What
would
it take? What do you have?”

The admiral smiled. It was the expression of an experienced bantha trader. “Are you looking for weapons? Vehicles? I suspect that Borleias is already far better supplied than I am.”

“We’re looking for
surprises,
” Han said. “The Vong are going to hit us like an asteroid bombardment. Ultimately they’re going to take Borleias and then begin swarming out in all directions again. What can you give us to make their conquest of Borleias worse for them? What can you give us that they won’t expect?”

Leia kept her mouth shut. She gave Han a sidelong look. He expected it to be an angry one, but he was wrong; she was curious, evaluating.

“How are the Yuuzhan Vong fixed for naval warfare?” the admiral asked.

Han frowned. “Space navy?”

“
Water
navy.”

“Umm, I know they have some aquatic creatures—transports. And creatures that allow someone to breathe underwater. But we haven’t been faced with any significant water-based assaults.”

“Meaning they might not have any, or they might still have them in reserve.” The admiral leaned back. She rested her elbows on the arms of her padded chair, placing her fingertips together before her as if to suggest a sharply sloped roof. “I’ve spent the better part of my military career upgrading our armed forces to deal with external threats rather than internal ones. Meaning that I have access to a large number of water navy vessels, surface and submersible, most of them currently decommissioned and crewed by droids. They’re antiques … but an antique exploding shell can still kill an enemy if it’s placed correctly. I could give you several submersibles, large ones for oceans and small ones for rivers, if you can bring me a transport to carry them. And then you’d have weapons, however unlikely, that the Yuuzhan Vong have not encountered on Borleias.”

“Are they fully armed and operational?” Leia asked.

“Fully armed and operational.”

“How many?”

“I can give you two of the larger submersibles, about the size of Carrack cruisers, and four smaller units suited to river traffic.”

“Make it four and four and you have a deal,” Han said.

The admiral’s bantha-trader grin widened. “What deal?
You
haven’t offered anything specific.”

“We’re offering a guarantee,” Leia said. “We guarantee that you win the election. You’ll see the vote turn your way, and you’ll be able to see our hand in the turnaround.”

“Done,” the admiral said. “The day after I’m installed in the office of the Presider, you receive your eight submersibles.” She extended her hand, and Leia and Han took it in turn.

Once they were out of the admiral’s office, and off the military base she used as her headquarters, Leia asked, “All right. So you got us something for our help when we were expecting nothing. What, precisely, do we do with eight submersibles we don’t need? Which won’t do us any good against the Yuuzhan Vong?”

Han gave her his crookedest
this-time-I’ve-got-you-my-dear
smile. “Plenty.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“First, when we get the transport for the submersibles here, without informing Admiral Earnest back there, we leave one of the big submersibles and one of the small ones behind, in the nearest large body of water.”

“For what purpose?”

“You’ve been thinking of the resistance cells as being set up in the major cities, with vehicles and ordnance stored in caves, forgotten underground tanks, whatever the operatives can find. But those submersibles, however antiquated, can serve as preliminary resistance bases … and can be used to find caves that can only be reached from underwater. They’re not weapons to use on the Yuuzhan Vong, Leia, they’re mobile homes that fire explosive shells. Enough for four whole resistance cells.”

“Ooh.” She smiled and considered the idea.

“So how do we do it?”

“Do what?”

“Rig the election.”

“I have no idea. I was following your lead, remember? I’ve never rigged an election.”

Han sighed. “Well, you’d better figure it out fast. Or I’ll have to take your temporary scoundrel’s license away.”

Jag sat propped up against the side of his clawcraft, engrossed in his datapad. The special operations docking bay was, for once, comparatively quiet, only a few clankings and swear words floating in from the far corner to indicate mechanics’ activities. He was not too engrossed, though, to see the pair of booted feet appear before him.

He looked up, and up, into the blue features of Shawnkyr Nuruodo. A Chiss officer, she’d been his wingmate on his first trip into New Republic space at the start of the Yuuzhan Vong crisis, his sole partner during his recent return, and his second-in-command when he’d founded Vanguard Squadron on Hapes. Now, while he flew with Twin Suns Squadron, she led the Vanguards.

“Colonel, may I sit?”

“Of course.”

She lowered herself and sat cross-legged opposite him.

“I heard that Vanguard Squadron had been classified as fit for elite and special operations,” Jag said. “That you were going to be stationed groundside with the rest of us. Congratulations.”

“It’s just a matter of training, motivating, enforcing discipline.” Shawnkyr shrugged. “I came to you because it would be inappropriate for me to reject their promotion, however well intended, without first talking to you, since you founded the squadron.”

“Why would you refuse it?”

“Because I don’t intend to lead the squadron much longer. Nor should you return to it. It’s time for us to leave.”

“Explain that.”

“Our plan was specific, Colonel. We came back to evaluate the threat the Yuuzhan Vong posed to Chiss society. We’ve had time to make that evaluation. Now we should report back with our findings.”

Jag regarded her levelly. He’d anticipated this confrontation for some time. “And what would your report tell our high command?”

“That the Yuuzhan Vong are a significant threat to us, to the Empire, to any societal structure that does not resemble theirs. That the New Republic is shattering on all fronts, and that it is only a matter of time before the Yuuzhan Vong mop up here and spread out to reach us.”

“I agree with your conclusions.”

“Then let’s go.”

He shook his head. “I’ve come to additional conclusions that suggest we should stay.”

“May I hear them?”

“I believe that this engagement, here on Borleias, will be the surest test of Yuuzhan Vong determination and character. Only in seeing how this campaign plays out can we provide a definitive analysis of the enemy that our people will someday face.”

“So it is your plan to return to Chiss space immediately upon the fall of Borleias.”

“No.”

“Then I have failed to understand you.”

“I didn’t describe all my conclusions. A second one, not related to the first, is that my presence here may affect coming events, in a small but perhaps measurable way, and that to abandon this campaign now would not only do it harm, but eventually do harm to our people as well. Any damage I do to the enemy here is damage the enemy cannot do to us when they reach us.”