Star Wars - X-Wing 8 - Isard's Revenge Page 33

  "I see." Isard's eyes narrowed. "Is there a problem adjusting the atmosphere? That should be a simple matter."

  "It should, yes, but environmental and helm controls seem to be locked out up here. They are routed into the auxiliary bridge. We're preparing a team to go down there and shift control back up here."

  Isard's frown deepened. "Dispatch your team, and send commandos with them. Do it at once. I will meet them at the auxiliary bridge."

  "As ordered, Madam Director."

  "Be quick about it, Captain Wintle. Isard out."

  She plucked her comlink from the chair slot and stood, for the first time noticing the open door to the rest of the suite and the woman standing there with a drawn blaster. Isard thought for a second, and then nodded slowly. "Yes, you are the Wessiri woman. You work for Cracken. You were married to one of my people."

  Iella Wessiri's brown eyes hardened. "Diric was never one of your people. Even at the end he defied you."

  "Ah, and then the reports I read of his killing Kirtan Loor and your killing him were incorrect?" Isard allowed herself a smile. "I can tell you about your Diric. He broke almost immediately. We'd barely gotten him strapped into the interrogation unit when he started babbling on about all manner of things. I know more about you and the intimate details of your life with him than anyone should have been forced to listen to. Why..."

  "Shut up."

  What surprised Isard was not what Iella said, but how she said it. Isard expected a shrill, snapped answer, uttered as censure and meant to inflict pain. Instead it came as a matter-of-fact comment, devoid of emotion. Isard couldn't believe Iella could be so calm in the face of what she had been saying. And she will not remain so forever,

  Iella shook her head. "You're not in control here, Isard. I have three people in the auxiliary bridge. Your people left on the bridge will suddenly find themselves with too little oxygen to function and they'll drop into a deep sleep. Those heading down to the auxiliary bridge will find themselves trapped in a section of corridor in which the atmosphere will be pumped up to five times normal pressure. Even if they have their own sources of oxygen, the pressure will prevent them from being able to breathe. They'll go out, too.

  Isard twisted the bottom of her comlink, and then raised it to her lips. Her words burst out over the ship's internal communications system. "Now hear this, I am Ysanne Isard. To the three people in the auxiliary bridge, I offer twenty-five million Imperial credits each to turn the ship over to my representatives. If your compatriots object, kill them and the whole amount is yours."

  The holoprojector burned to life again, showing a tall, white-haired man with a mechanical left eye standing between a dark-haired woman and a black Bothan with splashes of white over her fur. "This is Booster Terrik, Acting-Captain of the Lusankya. My loyal bridge crew and I agree there are not enough credits in the galaxy for you to buy control of this ship from us. Iella, kill her and be done with it."

  As the holograph faded, Isard looked over at Iella. "So, I forced you to murder your husband, and now you will shoot me in cold blood? Is that the plan?"

  Iella shook her head. "Booster's idea of justice is a bit more direct than mine, a little less refined."

  "Really? No desire for revenge?" Isard arched the eyebrow over her blue eye at Iella. "I am the one who warped your husband. I bent him to my will, shattered his mind, made him into my plaything. Don't you want me dead?" .

  "I'm not going to shed any tears when you die, Isard." Iella smiled easily. "Killing you would be too easy, though. It would deny you the time you'll spend agonizing over how we found you, how we knew you were coming for this ship."

  A shiver ran down Isard's spine at the thought she was predictable, but she twisted a smile onto her face to hide her consternation. "Actually, I wonder how you even knew I was alive. Deducing the rest from that fact I can imagine. None of Horn's messages got out."

  "No? And when was the last time you checked on the droids you had put into storage?"

  Isard's head came up and an unfamiliar sensation of dread crawled through her belly on sharp, icy claws. "The droids were restrained and used as hostages, but no one checked on them. So, one got away."

  "Two, actually."

  "Base security will be purged for that." Isard nodded a salute to the other woman. "Next time, no such mistake will be made."

  "There won't be a next time."

  "No? The New Republic won't dare put me on trial. Too many of the people you rely upon to administer the government could be exposed. I know all their secrets, and that includes many members of your precious Senate." Isard allowed herself to smile broadly. "I'll never come to trial in a Ministry of Justice court."

  "No, you won't." Iella's smile matched her own. "You attempted to take control of this New Republic ship. That's piracy, and that's an offense for which you can and will be tried in a military court. No public trial, no chance to stir up hysteria. You'll just be convicted and sent to a very secure prison."

  The woman hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. "I understand they're thinking of keeping you here, on Lusankya. You'll be an anonymous prisoner, cared for by droids, forgotten, locked away in the heart of the very prison you yourself created. For the rest of your natural life."

  That prospect stunned Isard and, in a moment's introspection, was what undid her. The terror inspired by such a fate prompted her to shoot her left arm forward, letting the holdout blaster slide down into her left hand. It was a rash act, one only possible when the horror of life entombed outweighed the horror of death.

  Her shock also made her a bit slower than she should have been. Her first shot took Iella Wessiri in the left shoulder, halfway twisting her around. The blaster in Iella's right hand remained steady, however, and the shot from it caught Isard square in the stomach. She felt herself snapping forward, and then flying back. Pain shot down her legs as she struck the wall, and then stars exploded before her eyes as her head rebounded. She heard the distant clatter of her blaster on the floor as she slid down the wall.

  Peering down, she saw her red uniform jacket was smoldering. Smoke rose to her eyes, which was the only reason she began to shed tears. Blood soaked her jacket and began to seep into her trousers. Pain, a raw, fiery sensation, pulsed through her body, and every breath came with wringing agony.

  She looked up at Iella and opened her mouth to make yet one more taunt about Diric, but her lungs couldn't project as much as a squeak. Isard tried to give her a hard stare, the sort of hard stare that had broken Imperial nobles and invoked fear in her inferiors, but her gaze swam out of focus.

  Then, before she could find any other way to try to hurt another human being, the world grew dark around her. In that last moment, in the sanctum the Emperor had given her, she realised she had failed him. With that realization held solidly in her mind, she admitted to herself that death would not be so bad after all.

  38

  Standing in the midst of a party being held on the Lusankya summoned up for Corran Horn a variety of conflicting emotions. The freed prisoners and anyone who had been in contact with them had been brought to Lusankya and ensconced on a crew deck, being served by droids alone, for two weeks until New Republic medical officials completed their scans and decided they were disease free.

  The release of the prisoners from isolation became a cause for celebration that drew officials and important people from all across the New Republic. At the far end of the large reception room, with his back to a massive transpari-steel viewport that looked out over the vast expanse of the ship's prow, General Dodonna stood flanked by Admiral Ackbar and Generals Bel Iblis and Antilles. A constant stream of wellwishers moved past them, exchanging comments, glances, handshakes, and smiles. Dodonna greeted warmly those individuals he recalled from Yavin and before, exuding the warmth and wisdom that had made him the natural leader of the prisoners.

  Corran smiled slowly. During his escape attempt from Lusankya, Jan Dodonna had killed a man who tried to stop Corran. The way to f
reedom was clear and Corran offered to let Dodonna accompany him. Dodonna had refused, knowing that if he escaped, Isard would have wiped out the rest of the prisoners. He traded his freedom for their lives, a sacrifice that earned him two more years of captivity.

  I'm not sure I could make that choice. Corran sipped Corellian whiskey. I hope I could, but I don't know if I'm that good a man.

  While everyone around him seemed to be very happy--with Booster's booming laughter echoing from the far corner of the room--something felt out of place for Corran. The last party I was at, Urlor Sette died, propelling all of us down the path that brought us here.

  Friends died and countless people suffered. Through the milling crowd he caught sight of Gavin Darklighter talking with Myn Donos and a couple of other people Corran didn't recognize. Gavin had a smile on his face, but the way he moved and his short responses told Corran that Asyr's death still ate away at him. Gavin's a good man and doesn't deserve such pain. I'm going to make sure to talk with him, help share the burden. He's strong; he just needs someone to remind him of that fact.

  Wes Janson came over and slapped Corran on the back. "We dress well for dead men, don't we?"

  "Well, better for me this time than the last one." Corran smiled at him. "But making a habit of being left for dead isn't a good idea."

  Wes nodded solemnly, though his smile only eroded slightly at the corners of his mouth. "When I thought you guys were all gone..." He shivered for a second and his voice faltered. "Then to see you again, albeit through a transparisteel wall while you were in isolation, you don't know how happy I was."

  "Oh, I have a clue." Corran jerked his head toward the front of the room. "My ears are still ringing from the happy whoop Wedge let out. He really couldn't contain himself."

  "Yeah, and that little Ewok dance of joy is pretty ugly to watch, isn't it?"

  "Watch? I was trying to get my feet out from under his." Corran and Wes both laughed, and then the Corellian pilot gave his friend a nod. "Wish you'd been with us on Ciutric, and I'm very glad to have you back with us now."

  "Yes, active duty beats being dead all hollow." Wes tossed him a wink, and then threaded his way off in Wedge's direction.

  Corran shifted his shoulders to loosen them. Probably going to pull some Ewok prank on Wedge, and Wedge will love hating every minute of it. Turning away from Wes's departure, Corran smiled as Iella and Mirax cut through the crowd and joined him.

  Mirax looked radiant in a long, sleeveless gown worn daringly off one shoulder. The garment appeared black, but a shimmering rainbow of pinpricks channeled light over it and her. She wore her dark hair up, and two tiny diamond studs sparkled from her earlobes.

  Iella wore a white gown with a short jacket over it. A single diamond on a platinum chain lay at the hollow of her throat, casting off dazzling light darts as she moved. Her hair had been gathered loosely at the back of her neck with a simple black cord. Her outfit, while not as flashy as Mirax's, had an elegance to it that matched Iella's noble bearing.

  Mirax slipped her right hand through the crook of Corran's left arm. "Enjoying yourself?"

  "Now I am, yes." He smiled at his wife. Her physical warmth and presence bled into him; pushing aside the sense of foreboding he'd been feeling. "How's the shoulder, Iella?"

  She worked her left shoulder forward and back. "It's fine. Full range of motion and all. Nothing bacta couldn't handle. You know that--you've been wounded much worse and survived."

  "True, if there's a spark of life, bacta will keep you going."

  Iella nodded. "Happy to be out of isolation?" "Very." Corran jerked his head toward General Dodonna. "It was very weird to be a prisoner of sorts on Lusankya again. We got the run of the deck they trapped us on, which happened to have been the deck where we were held the first time. The accommodations were a lot nicer this time around, though."

  "Lusankya looks nothing like it did when we were married on it." Mirax took his whiskey from him and drank a sip. "I definitely think it's an improvement."

  Corran nodded. "I guess a lot of refitting went on. There's a whole forward area where living creatures aren't allowed to go. It's just serviced by droids."

  Iella coughed into her hand. "It's a bio-containment facility. It apparently struck some of the designers that in rebuilding the prow; they could put in scientific and medical suites that would allow Lusankya to be more than just a military ship. I think their sense of irony prompted them to put an area on board that, had it existed when the Krytos virus broke out, would have been useful in thwarting Isard's plan. In the heart of that area there is supposed to be a containment cell so secure that any breach in it will immediately vent the whole area to space. Nothing, no virus or germ, will be getting out of there alive."

  "That's a plus." Corran smiled slightly, and then looked around. "Kind of funny about Isard coming back here. I guess it makes sense, but she had me fooled. She told me she was glad the ship had been destroyed, since I ruined it for her. How did you figure out she was coming back for it?"

  The two women exchanged a laugh. "Actually it was Mirax's father who figured it out."

  "You're kidding."

  "Nope." Iella shook her head. "The process sort of involved logic, but it was a bit twisted..."

  Mirax sighed. "It was Booster-logic."

  "I hope you had a Three-Pee-Oh there to translate."

  Mirax slapped Corran on the arm. "Easy, husband. If not for him you'd be fighting this monster."

  Iella smiled. "Booster started from the idea that Isard wanted to reestablish the Empire, and then he started breaking it down into all the steps she'd need to succeed at to get there. Somewhere in that list was a serious need to be able to inflict heavy damage on her enemies. From there Booster got to the Lusankya reborn, which he'd figured the New Republic was refitting because of the prices being offered for parts on the secondary commodities markets.

  "Cracken provided us with authorization to commandeer whatever we needed, so the four of us came here and took command."

  "Four of you?"

  Mirax and Iella exchanged a quick glance, and then Cor-ran's wife gave his arm a squeeze. "Booster, Iella, me, and a Verpine tech who did some quick rewiring. We trapped Isard's people and Iella took care of her in her own private quarters."

  Corran remained silent for a moment, and then nodded. "You think Diric is finally at peace?"

  "I hope so. Isard had reduced Diric to something he never wanted to be. Eliminating her won't bring him back, but she'll never do that to anyone else, so that's a plus. I can live with it."

  "And live much better for it." Corran shivered. "I wonder if she'll end up haunting this place."

  "I have no doubt part of her will always be with the Lusankya."

  "Right where it belongs." Corran sipped more of his whiskey. "Any word on what happened to Colonel Vessery and his people?"

  Iella shook her head. "He vanished, taking his two squadrons of Defenders with him. General Cracken isn't looking forward to his return."

  "I can understand that, but I don't fear it." Corran smiled. "In his own way Vessery is a very honorable man. He'll do what's right for his people."

  "Let's just hope that doesn't include piracy." Iella looked up toward the front of the room. "Looks like speeches are about to begin."

  Corran turned to follow her gaze. Borsk Fey'lya was moving toward a podium, with Admiral Ackbar and General Dodonna standing near him. Other officials lined up off to the right, and in the background a disk-shaped freighter lazily cruised down the Super Star Destroyer's length. "I think we can get closer."

  "You two go ahead. I'm going to slip out for a moment, get something from my room." Iella patted Corran on the shoulder. "It's another adventure we've survived, Corran. Twice now you've been declared dead and come back. Impressive."

  "But that's the last time for that." Mirax gave Corran a hard stare. "Anybody goes missing and next time it's me. You can do the worrying, okay?"

  "Okay." He turned to Iella. "Hur
ry back, we'll save a spot at our table for you for dinner."

  "Thanks." Iella turned and headed for the hatchway leading toward the turbolifts.

  Corran took Mirax's hand in his and led her forward to where they could see the speakers. She moved around to stand in front of him and pressed her back against him. He rested his chin on her bare shoulder and snaked his arms around her waist.

  Mirax turned her head and kissed him on the cheek. "It truly is wonderful to have you back. And I very much appreciate the sacrifice you made in sending Whistler to find me and let me know you were alive."

  "I floated it as a plan, and Whistler insisted. He's quite fond of you, you know."

  "And I am of him." Mirax smiled and kissed him again as Fey'lya began to speak. "After all, he's my ally in keeping you safe and that's a job we intend to continue for a very long time to come."