Vision of the future

'Glad to hear he remembers me.' Booster shrugged. 'It's up to you, General. I'll lend you the ship; but in exchange, you have to upgrade the systems. And win or lose, those upgrades stay put when it's all over.'

'The Mon Cals will love that.'

'If war breaks out, the Mon Cals will be the least of my worries,' Booster said bluntly. 'Every two-bit pirate and smuggling group in the galaxy will be trying to get their hands on the Venture. That's my offer; take it or leave it.'

'I'll take it,' Bel Iblis said, standing up. 'Where's the ship now?'

'Parked over in the outer Mrisst system,' Booster told him, standing up as well and trying not to show his surprise. His admittedly spotty experience with New Republic officials was that they needed more cajoling and a lot more bargaining before they finally gave in. And New Republic military officials were even worse. 'Where do you want it delivered?'

'I'll tell you once we're aboard,' Bel Iblis said.

Booster frowned. 'You're coming with us?'

'Along with two hundred of my crewers,' the general said. 'We'll assist you in flying the ship until we pick up a proper crew at the rendezvous point.'

'I have a proper crew,' Booster retorted. He should have known Bel Iblis wouldn't give in this easily.

'For running a mobile smugglers depot, perhaps,' Bel Iblis said. 'Not for impersonating an Imperial warship. I'll be bringing a full skeleton complement aboard before we leave the rendezvous point.'

Booster drew himself up to his full height. 'Let's get one thing straight right now, General,' he said stiffly. 'The Errant Venture is my ship. If I don't captain her, she doesn't go anywhere.' Once again, Bel Iblis surprised him. 'Certainly,' he said calmly. 'I wouldn't have it any other way. I have a shuttle waiting; we'll leave at once.'

'Whatever you say,' Booster said, fighting against the bad feeling that, despite appearances, Bel Iblis had still not given in quite the way it sounded. 'Mirax, you might as well take my shuttle and head back home.'

Bel Iblis cleared his throat. 'What?' Booster demanded suspiciously.

'I'm afraid Mirax will have to come with us,' Bel Iblis said apologetically. 'It's absolutely vital that we have complete security on this, and that means no one who knows about it can be allowed to wander around loose.'

Booster drew himself up again. 'If you think I'm going to let my daughter come on a raid against a Ubiqtorate base—'

'Oh, no, not at all,' Bel Iblis hastened to assure him. 'She and her son will stay behind at the rendezvous point with the prep crew.'

Once again, Booster had the distinct feeling of having had the blocks knocked out from under him. 'Fine,' he muttered. 'Well, let's get going. If you're determined to go marching into an Imperial base, we might as well get to it.'

'Yes,' Bel Iblis said. 'And let me thank you once again for your help. Don't worry; it'll all work out fine.'

'Yeah,' Booster grumbled as he took Mirax's arm. 'Sure.'

CHAPTER

17

With one final truncated lightsaber sweep, the last of the chunks came away from the opening and crashed hollowly to the rocky floor. 'There,' Luke said, peering into the hole. 'What do you think?' Mara stepped close to his side and shined her glow rod into the opening. 'Still going to be tight for the droid,' she said. 'But I think it'll do.'

Luke glanced back over his shoulder, to the eight Qom Jha hanging from the passageway ceiling. Yes, it would do. More importantly, now that Splitter Of Stones and Keeper Of Promises had returned with the Qom Jha hunters Eater Of Fire Creepers had promised, they should get moving before they lost any prestige in their guides' eyes.

Or to put it another way, before they lost so much confidence in Master Walker Of Sky that they decided to back out of this trip entirely. They hadn't said much about Builder With Vines's violent death, but they were definitely avoiding the area where their friend had died. And they weren't going out of their way to be nice to Child Of Winds, either. If he and Mara didn't get moving, there was likely to be more of the same trouble they'd already had too much of.