The hoverscouts popped their aft hatchways, and from each came a squad of eight soldiers, laser rifles held tautly across battle-armored chests as they dropped to the ground. Half of each squad took up backstop position, their rifles trained on the encampment from the partial cover of their hoverscout, while the other half sprinted across the open ground to the outer line of buildings and sheds. There, they assumed covering positions, allowing their comrades in the rear to similarly advance. It was a centuries-old military tactic, executed with the kind of squeamish determination that Covell would have expected of green troops. Still, the raw material was definitely there.
The soldiers continued their leap-frog approach to the main building, with small groups breaking off the main encirclement to check out each of the outer structures as they passed. The point men reached the central building-a brilliant flash lit up the forest as they blasted down the door-a slightly confused scramble as the rest of the troops piled through. And then, silence.
For a handful of minutes the silence continued, punctuated only by occasional short commands from the troop commanders. Covell listened, watching the sensors ... and finally the report came through. 'General Covell, this is Lieutenant Barse. We've secured the target zone, sir. There's no one here.' Covell nodded. 'Very good, Lieutenant. How does it look?'
'Like they pulled out in a hurry, sir,' the other said. 'They left a fair amount of stuff behind, but it all looks pretty much like junk.'
'That'll be for the scanning crew to decide,' Covell told him.
'Any indication of booby traps or other unpleasant surprises?'
'None at all, sir. Oh-and those life-forms we picked up are nothing but these long furry animals living on the tree growing up through the center of the roof.'
Covell nodded again. Ysalamiri, he believed they were called. Thrawn had been making a big deal about the stupid creatures for a couple of months now, though what use they could possibly be to the war effort he couldn't guess. Eventually, he supposed, the Fleet people would get around to letting him in on the big secret. 'Set up a defensive honeycomb,' he ordered the lieutenant. 'Signal the scanning crew when you're ready. And get comfortable. The Grand Admiral wants this place taken apart, and that's exactly what we're going to do.'
'Very good, General,' the voice said, almost too faint to hear despite the heavy amplification and computer scrubbing. 'Proceed with the dismantling.'
Seated at the Wild Karrde's helm, Mara Jade half turned to face the man standing behind her. 'I suppose that's it, then,' she said. For a moment Talon Karrde didn't seem to hear her. He just stood there, gazing through the viewport at the distant planet, a tiny bluish-white crescent shape visible around the jagged edge of the sun- skimmer asteroid the Wild Karr was snuggled up against. Mara was just about to repeat the comment when he stirred. 'Yes,' he said, that calm voice showing no hint of the emotion he was obviously feeling. 'I suppose it is.' Mara exchanged glances with Aves, at the copilot station, then looked back up at Karrde. 'Shouldn't we be going, then?' she prompted. Karrde took a deep breath ... and as she watched him, Mara caught in his expression a glimmer of what the Myrkr base had meant to him. More than just a base, it had been his home.
With an effort, she suppressed the thought. So Karrde had lost his home. Big deal. She'd lost far more than that in her lifetime and had survived Just fine. He'd get over it.
'I asked if we should get going.'
'I heard you,' Karrde said, the flicker of emotion vanishing again into that slightly sardonic facade of his. 'I think perhaps we ought to wait a little longer. See if we left anything behind that might point in the direction of our Rishi base.'
Mara looked at Aves again. 'We were pretty thorough,' Aves said. 'I don't think there was any mention of Rishi anywhere except the main computer, and that left with the first group out.'
'I agree,' Karrde said. 'Are you willing to stake your life on that assessment?'
Aves's lip twitched. 'Not really.'
'Nor am I. So we wait.'
'What if they spot us?' Mara persisted. 'Skulking behind asteroids is the oldest trick on the list.'
'They won't spot us.' Karrde was quietly positive. 'Actually, I doubt the possibility will even occur to them. The average man running from the likes of Grand Admiral Thrawn is unlikely to stop running until he's a good deal farther away than this.'
Are you willing to stake your life on that assessment? Mara thought sourly. But she kept the retort to herself. He was probably right; and anyway, if the Chimaera or any of its TIE fighters started toward Wild Karrde, they would have no trouble punching the engines up to power and going to lightspeed well ahead of the attack.
The logic and tactics seemed clean. But still, Mara could feel something nagging at the back of her mind. Something that didn't feel good about all this.
Gritting her teeth, she adjusted the ship's sensors to their highest sensitivity and checked once more that the
