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Authors: Roger MacBride Allen
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the right sort of shielding, there would be no way to detect them.
What made it even more worrisome was that the enemy had shown almost no large ships so far. They
had
to be hidden somewhere. That was part of whyKalenda had wanted better numbers from Source T. If she had gotten good, hard data from Source T about the types of ships she had seen at Sacorria, she would have some idea of what might be lying in wait inside Centerpoint. For that matter, Centerpoint might not even need ships to defend itself. She had spotted fifty or sixty points on the exterior of the station that
might
be weapons ports. The station was an incredible amalgam of familiar and alien, modern and ancient. There was no way to know how long a given object had been there, or who had built it, or if it still operated.
She ran the images across her scan screen, one after the other. Armored portals and hemispherical blisters, long cylindrical objects on what looked like aiming platforms, attached to complicated plumbing and wiring. Some of them might be massive covered-over turbolaser sites. And those Phalanxes of dark circular openings. Some could be missile batteries. And some might be refueling stations or docking facilities for refreshment bars. There was no way to tell.
They would have to send in a team.
* * *
The
Lady Luck
launched itself out of the
Intruder
’s landing bay, and lifted off into the blackness of the sky and toward Centerpoint. “Why do I always get handed these jobs?” Lando asked no one in particular as he guided his ship toward the station.
“Maybe it has something to do with the way you volunteered,” replied Gaeriel Captison from the seat behind the copilot’s station. Lando didn’t feel too happy about having her along, but she had insisted. The ex-Prime Minister of Bakura had been granted full rights to speak for her government by the present Prime Minister, and she had been determined to join the scouting party, so that the Bakuran government was properly represented. Much to Lando’s regret,Threepio was also along for the ride, in case any translation was needed.
“I
had
to volunteer,” Lando growled. “Once Luke volunteered, I knew he was going to need his wingman.” Luke had launched first, in his X-wing. He was flying about two kilometers ahead of Lando, just close enough for easy visual tracking.
Kalenda, in the copilot’s seat of the
Lady Luck,
gave Lando an odd look. Of course, all of her looks were pretty odd, so maybe it didn’t mean much of anything. Or maybe she was wondering why a man who had worked so hard to establish a reputation as a devil-may-care adventurer, the sort who only looked out for himself, was sticking his neck out. Again. “Somehow, I think a Jedi Master would be able to take care of himself,” she said.
“Maybe,” Lando said. “And maybe not. Let’s just say that I owe him one.”
“Who in the galaxy doesn’t?” Gaeriel asked.
“Actually, Lady Captison,” said Kalenda, “you’re the one I most wish weren’t here.”
“Thanks for
that
compliment,” Lando muttered.
Kalenda winced. “Sorry, that came out wrong. What I meant was that Captain Calrissian and Master Skywalker have military training. They’re more likely to be ready for—for whatever we find. Not really the job for an ex-Prime Minister.”
“There are other skills in the universe besides knowing how to shoot and fly and fight without getting killed,” Gaeriel said. “If we get lucky, there might be someone reasonable on that station. Someone we can negotiate with. If so, having a trained negotiator with plenipotentiary powers on hand might be a good thing.”
“We’re going to have to get
really
lucky for that to happen,” Lando said. “So far we haven’t found many people who are particularly reasonable in this star system.”
* * *
Luke Skywalker felt good. He was back at the controls of his X-wing, alone, except for R2-D2 riding in his socket in the aft of the
What made it even more worrisome was that the enemy had shown almost no large ships so far. They
had
to be hidden somewhere. That was part of whyKalenda had wanted better numbers from Source T. If she had gotten good, hard data from Source T about the types of ships she had seen at Sacorria, she would have some idea of what might be lying in wait inside Centerpoint. For that matter, Centerpoint might not even need ships to defend itself. She had spotted fifty or sixty points on the exterior of the station that
might
be weapons ports. The station was an incredible amalgam of familiar and alien, modern and ancient. There was no way to know how long a given object had been there, or who had built it, or if it still operated.
She ran the images across her scan screen, one after the other. Armored portals and hemispherical blisters, long cylindrical objects on what looked like aiming platforms, attached to complicated plumbing and wiring. Some of them might be massive covered-over turbolaser sites. And those Phalanxes of dark circular openings. Some could be missile batteries. And some might be refueling stations or docking facilities for refreshment bars. There was no way to tell.
They would have to send in a team.
* * *
The
Lady Luck
launched itself out of the
Intruder
’s landing bay, and lifted off into the blackness of the sky and toward Centerpoint. “Why do I always get handed these jobs?” Lando asked no one in particular as he guided his ship toward the station.
“Maybe it has something to do with the way you volunteered,” replied Gaeriel Captison from the seat behind the copilot’s station. Lando didn’t feel too happy about having her along, but she had insisted. The ex-Prime Minister of Bakura had been granted full rights to speak for her government by the present Prime Minister, and she had been determined to join the scouting party, so that the Bakuran government was properly represented. Much to Lando’s regret,Threepio was also along for the ride, in case any translation was needed.
“I
had
to volunteer,” Lando growled. “Once Luke volunteered, I knew he was going to need his wingman.” Luke had launched first, in his X-wing. He was flying about two kilometers ahead of Lando, just close enough for easy visual tracking.
Kalenda, in the copilot’s seat of the
Lady Luck,
gave Lando an odd look. Of course, all of her looks were pretty odd, so maybe it didn’t mean much of anything. Or maybe she was wondering why a man who had worked so hard to establish a reputation as a devil-may-care adventurer, the sort who only looked out for himself, was sticking his neck out. Again. “Somehow, I think a Jedi Master would be able to take care of himself,” she said.
“Maybe,” Lando said. “And maybe not. Let’s just say that I owe him one.”
“Who in the galaxy doesn’t?” Gaeriel asked.
“Actually, Lady Captison,” said Kalenda, “you’re the one I most wish weren’t here.”
“Thanks for
that
compliment,” Lando muttered.
Kalenda winced. “Sorry, that came out wrong. What I meant was that Captain Calrissian and Master Skywalker have military training. They’re more likely to be ready for—for whatever we find. Not really the job for an ex-Prime Minister.”
“There are other skills in the universe besides knowing how to shoot and fly and fight without getting killed,” Gaeriel said. “If we get lucky, there might be someone reasonable on that station. Someone we can negotiate with. If so, having a trained negotiator with plenipotentiary powers on hand might be a good thing.”
“We’re going to have to get
really
lucky for that to happen,” Lando said. “So far we haven’t found many people who are particularly reasonable in this star system.”
* * *
Luke Skywalker felt good. He was back at the controls of his X-wing, alone, except for R2-D2 riding in his socket in the aft of the
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