Vision of the future

'What should I have said?' Entoo Nee countered. 'The damage had already been done. They had found Exocron.' He gestured upward. 'In fact, that was why I wanted to bring you here myself from Dayark, Captain Karrde. They wouldn't have been able to track my ship.' Karrde grimaced. As if his guilt burden hadn't been heavy enough, now this. 'How long before they reach the planet?'

'Excuse me,' Threepio spoke up before Entoo Nee could answer. 'But if pirates are on their way, shouldn't we be planning our departure?'

'He's right,' Entoo Nee agreed. 'Still, there's no particular hurry for you. They won't be here for at least another eight hours. Possibly more.'

'What about you?' Shada asked.

Entoo Nee's mouth puckered. 'I'm sure we'll be all right. I'm told the Combined Air-Space Fleet is quite good.'

'Maybe against the occasional smuggler or rock-dodger,' Shada said darkly. 'But this is Rei'Kas we're talking about.'

'It's our trouble, not yours,' Entoo Nee said firmly. 'You'd best make preparations to go.' The comlink, Karrde suddenly realized, was still on. 'Dankin?' he called. 'You get all that?'

'We got it, Chief,' Dankin confirmed. 'You still want me to get the ship ready?' Karrde looked past Entoo Nee at the room's darkened windows. Beyond those windows were people his actions, however unintended, had put in deadly danger.

Which meant there really wasn't any decision here to be made. 'Yes, get it ready,' he told Dankin. 'But get it ready for full combat.'

He looked back at Entoo Nee. 'We're going to stay and fight.'

CHAPTER

25

It was, Booster Terrik thought, about as chaotic aboard the Errant Venture as he'd ever seen it. And considering this was the Errant Venture he was talking about, that was really saying something. They were all over the place: New Republic techs and workers and officer types, thousands of them, crawling around every corner of his Star Destroyer. Fixing things, adding things, taking things out, upgrading things, and occasionally changing things around just for the fun of it. His own people had been overridden, nudged aside, superseded, or flat out run over as this oversized rancor of a restoration crew lumbered through his ship.

And moving around the center of it, like the single calm spot in the middle of a circlestorm, was General Bel Iblis.

'Five more warships arrived in the system last night,' a harried-looking aide was saying, hurrying to keep up with Bel Iblis as the general strode briskly along the Starboard-16 weapons emplacement corridor. Booster, with his longer legs, had less of a problem in that department. Still, in his opinion, Bel Iblis had a lot more energy than anyone had any business having this early in the morning. 'The Freedom's Fury, Spirit of Mindor, Starline Warrior, Stellar Sentinel, and Welling's Revenge.'

'Good,' Bel Iblis said, stopping beside a turbolaser monitor panel. 'What about the Garfin and Beledeen II?'

'No word on them yet,' the aide said, checking his datapad. 'I've also heard rumors that the Webley's here, but so far they haven't checked in.'

'They're here,' Booster spoke up. 'Captain Winger is, anyway—those mechanical fingers of hers leave pretty distinctive marks on metal ale tubes.'

The aide's eyes darkened. 'All incoming ships are supposed to check in immediately—'

'It's all right,' Bel Iblis calmed him. 'Don't worry, they'll surface in plenty of time. Alex probably just wanted her crew to get some rest before the orders started flying.'

'They're not the only ones who could use some rest,' Booster muttered under his breath. Bel Iblis frowned slightly, as if only now noticing the big man's presence. 'Was there something you wanted, Terrik?' he asked.

'Just wondering when the work on my ship will be finished,' Booster said.

'We're almost there,' Bel Iblis said. 'Lieutenant?'

'Looks like the major refitting will be completed inside of twelve hours,' the younger man confirmed, studying his datapad. 'There may be a few odds and ends left, but they can be finished on the way to Yaga Minor.'