his black orbs radiating incredulity.
'Captain, we've got a thermal detonator affixed to the pod's drive core!' Cohl stared at him in similar disbelief. 'How long to detonation?' 'Five minutes and counting!' W ith its sterile surfaces, sunken control stations, and circular plasma screens that shone like aquariums, the bridge of the Acquisitor was identical to that of her sister ship, save that it held a full complement of bridge officers, and all eight were Neimoidians.
Commander Nap Lagard gazed out the forward viewports at the distant Revenue.
At this remove, the bulbous-nosed pods and barges flooding from her cargo holds were mere specks glinting in the sunlight, but magnified views had revealed hundreds of burst pods-the result of collisions and of starfighter laser bolts- their payloads of lommite surrendered to space. A heartrending sight to behold; but Lagard had already decided that he would retrieve as much of the cargo as possible-assuming that the terrorists could be chased off.
The stamp of the Nebula Front was all over the crippled Revenue, in the form of blistered durasteel, erose penetrations in the hull, pieces of twisted superstructure.
Recently strengthened and overlapping deflector shields had prevented the terrorists from inflicting similar damage on the Acquisitor.
More, the Acquisitor carried twice the usual number of droid-piloted craft.
No sooner had the freighter decanted from hyperspace than the Nebula Front ships had flown against her. In concert with the freighters' quad lasers, the starfighters had succeeded in warding off the attack and forcing the terrorists back toward the Revenue, where the conflict was still raging.
Countless droid ships had disappeared in globular explosions, but the Nebula Front had not been spared casualties, having lost two CloakShapes and one Z-95 Headhunter.
Only the Hawk-Bat-the light-freighter-size gunship of the mercenary known as Captain Cohl-had been a continuing menace to the Acquisitor, trying the fortitude of the freighter's new shields with disabling runs.
Just now, however, even the Hawk-Bat was in retreat, streaking off in the direction of Dorvalla's polar ice cap, the blue vortices of the gunship's thrusters visible from the Acquisitor backslash bridge.
'It seems we have driven them off,' one of Lagard's subalterns remarked in the Neimoidian tongue.
Lagard grunted noncommittally.
'Captain Cohl must have issued the abandon-ship order,' the subaltern continued. 'The Nebula Front would rather see our lommite lost to space than allow it to reach our customers on Sluis Van.' Lagard grunted again. 'They may think they have struck a blow against the Trade Federation. But they will think again when Dor valla is forced to make restitution to us.' The subaltern nodded. 'The courts will stand with us.' Lagard turned briefly from the view.
'Yes. But these acts of terrorism cannot be allowed to continue.' 'Commander,'
the communications officer intruded. 'We are receiving a coded transmission from Commander Dofine.' 'From the Revenue?' 'From an escape pod, Commander.'
'Put the message through the annunciators, and ready the tractor beam to retrieve the escape pod.' The bridge's speakers crackled to life. his Acquisitor, this is Commander Daultay Dofine.' Lagard hastened to the center of the walkway. 'Dofine, this is Commander Lagard. We will have you safely on board as quickly as possible.' 'Lagard, listen closely,' Dofine said.
'Contact Viceroy Gun — ray. It is urgent that I speak with him immediately.' 'Viceroy Gunray? What is so urgent?' 'That is for the viceroy alone to hear,' Dofine hissed.
Realizing that he had suffered a loss of face, Lagard stung back. 'And what of Captain Cohl, Commander Dofine? Is he in possession of your ship?'
Dofine's brief silence assured Lagard that the barb had found its mark.
'Captain Cohl fled the ship in a facsimile cargo pod.' Lagard turned to the viewports. 'Can you identify it?' 'Identify it?' Dofine asked sharply. 'It was a pod like all the others.' 'And the Revenue?
his 'The Revenue is about to blow to pieces!' In the terrorists' pod, Boiny studied the instrument console in dismay. 'Thirty seconds to detonation.
' 'Cohl!' Rella yelled when he failed to respond. 'Do something!' Cohl glanced at her, tight-lipped. 'All right, jettison the husk.' To a one, the terrorists settled back in relief, while Boiny tapped a flurry of commands into the console keypad.
'Charges activated,' the Rodian reported.
'Separation in ten seconds.' Cohl sniffed. 'Times like this, you wish you could see the faces of your adversaries.' Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan watched Cohl's pod on their separate screens. Abruptly, a series of small explosions ringed the humpbacked craft along its equator, and it split into two parts, revealing an oblate shuttle concealed inside.
The shuttle's fusial thrust engines ignited, and the craft rocketed away from the pieces of its discarded husk. Then the lower half exploded.
'That would be our thermal detonator,' Qui-Gon said. 'And the tracking device?' 'Affixed to the hull of the shuttle and still functioning, Master,'
Obi-Wan reported, gazing at the flashing bezel. 'Again, you have anticipated Captain Cohl.' 'Not without help, Padawan. You know what to do.' Obi-Wan smiled as he reached for the controls. 'I only wish I could see Cohl's face.'
Cohl's mouth fell open as he watched the pursuing pod burst apart along a midline seam. Inside was a wingless Corellian Lancet, painted a telltale crimson from pointed nose to sleek-finned tail.
'It's flying Coruscant colors!' Boiny said in astonishment. 'Judicial Department.' 'Matching us maneuver for maneuver,' Rella reported as she wove the terrorist's shuttle through a swarm of cargo pods and clusters of loosed lommite ore.
'Gaining on us,' Boiny updated.
