Vision of the future

'I let you see a bit of this private conversation because I thought it would help drive home the seriousness of the situation we're in,' Bel Iblis said, nodding back toward the discussion still going on now inaudibly behind him. 'The buildup of warships over Bothawui is being repeated all over the New Republic as worlds and species line up behind the Ishori and Diamala over this issue. The only way we're going to defuse the situation is to find out who exactly the Bothans were who sabotaged the Caamas planetary shields.'

'As a dancer, General, you're no better than they are,' Booster said. 'Get to the point.' Bel Iblis locked eyes with him. 'I want to borrow the Errant Venture.' Booster stared at him, too stunned even to laugh in the general's face. 'You must be joking,' he got out at last. 'Certainly not.'

'What do you need it for?' Mirax asked.

Bel Iblis shifted his gaze to her. 'We think there may be a complete copy of the Caamas Document in the Ubiqtorate base at Yaga Minor,' he told her. 'Gavrisom has decided to launch an information raid to try to get hold of it.'

'A data raid on a Ubiqtorate base?' Booster echoed. 'What poor sucker pulled that assignment?'

Bel Iblis regarded him coolly. 'I did,' he said.

For a moment the room was silent. Booster studied Bel Iblis's face, wishing the general had glazed over the false wall behind him when he'd turned off the sound. The argument back there, particularly the Ishori Senator's wide- armed flailing, was highly distracting. As Bel Iblis probably intended it to be. 'Okay,' he said at last. 'I get the picture—you need a Star Destroyer to sneak in through their outer defenses. Last I heard, the New Republic still has some captured ones. Why not use one of those?'

'Two reasons,' Bel Iblis said. 'First, they're all too well known. Disguising their markings and engine ID signatures would take too long.'

'And probably not fool anyone for long,' Mirax murmured.

Booster glared at her. Whose side was she on here, anyway?

'Right.' Bel Iblis nodded. 'Second, and more importantly, we can't pull any of them away from their assigned patrol duties without everyone in the sector instantly missing them. You know what an information raid is like: if the target gets even a whiff of your plans, you're sunk.' Booster crossed his arms across his chest. 'Sorry, General. I sympathize with your problem and all, but no deal. I went through too much for that ship to risk it in some crazy scheme that's none of my business anyway.'

Bel Iblis cocked his head slightly to the side. 'You sure about it being none of your business?' Booster uncrossed his arms far enough to tap at his upper chest. 'You see a New Republic military insignia here?'

'You see the Diamalan Senator back there?' Bel Iblis countered. 'They're allies with the Mon Cals on this Bothan situation; and you know how much the Mon Cals hate smugglers. If all-out war breaks out, one of the first things they're likely to do is move against all smuggling groups they can find, if for no other reason than to drain the potential pool of privateers the other side can use.' He lifted an eyebrow. 'And with an Imperial Star Destroyer in your possession, where do you think you'll end up on their list of things to do?'

Booster grimaced. 'Somewhere near the top?'

'That's where I'd put you,' Bel Iblis agreed. 'So helping me is very much in your own best interests.'

He had a case, Booster had to admit. And he could feel the accusation behind Mirax's eyes as she gazed at him, reminding him of his glib comment not five minutes ago about how there was nothing they could do.

And it occurred to him—as it might not yet have to his daughter—that if Bel Iblis was going to Yaga Minor, Mirax's husband, Corran, and the rest of Rogue Squadron would probably be going in with him.

But to be asked to risk his beloved Errant Venture this way was just too much. Yes, it was falling apart, with half its systems questionable or totally dead, and with an operating cost that would make an Imperial baron blanch. But it was his. All his...

He paused. What in the worlds was he thinking of?

He uncrossed his arms and resettled himself in his seat, eyeing Bel Iblis speculatively.

'Unfortunately, even if I said yes, you'd never get away with it,' he pointed out. 'You turn a halfway decent sensor array on the Errant Venture and a blind wampa could tell we're not up to Imperial standards anymore. We'd need turbolaser and tractor-emplacement upgrades, shield rebuilds, whole system replacements—you name it, we need it.'

Bel Iblis's gaze had hardened noticeably during the recitation. 'I see,' he said dryly. 'Airen Cracken warned me about you.'