Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance (40 page)

"Not
in the usual sense. They're something else. But the fact that they
are at least partly alive is the only reason I'm still here. "

"You're
influencing them?"

"As
much as I can, which isn't very much. They only attack when either
obstructed or threatened. I'm doing neither, so they're letting me
be. They won't go away, but at least they're not being aggressive. I
think I can hold them back while you come to the door. "

Shigar
swallowed. "You want me to walk right through them?"

"It's
the only way. "

"And
then what?"

"Then
you open the door and let me out. "

"I
have a suit for you..."

"I
won't have the chance to put it on. There's no air lock. I'll keep a
bubble of air around me using a Force shield. That'll give me a
couple of minutes. You'll have to move much faster than that, though.
I won't be able to hold the hexes and the shield at the same time. "

Shigar
clenched his fists. It seemed impossible. But she was relying on him.
No one else could help her.

"I'm
on my way, Master. "

He
nudged himself around the corner and came into full view of the
hexes. Despite his faith in Satele Shan's mental powers, he fully
expected to be shot down at once. Instead the hexes just looked at
him with their black sensory pods, and rearranged themselves
slightly, so they could watch both the door and him at the same time.

Feeling
like he was in some kind of surreal nightmare, Shigar pushed himself
into the tangle of fat bodies and angular limbs, taking the utmost
care not to touch anything. He didn't want a chance bump to wake them
from their uncharacteristic complacency. He even breathed quietly,
despite the perfect insulation of the vacuum around him. The
intensity of the hexes' gaze made him squirm inside.

Finally
he was at the door. A red light warned of pressure on the far side.
He keyed an override into the pad and the light turned green. The
door would open at his command now, expelling the air in an instant.

"Are
you ready. Master?"

"Yes.
"

He
pushed the button. The gale tried to blow him away but he was firmly
braced against the opposite wall. The hexes flailed in surprise,
suddenly released from Master Satele's calming influence and blinded
by the frozen air coating their sensory pods. Shigar was partly
blind, too-he could see only blurrily through the mist stuck to his
visor- but he had the advantage of not having to see. His Master's
presence was like a beacon to him.

He
lunged into the tiny chamber and hit the switch to seal the door
behind him. The hexes scrabbled to get in. It wouldn't be long before
they cut their way through. He had maybe seconds to find another way
out.

Master
Satele floated in a ball in the center of the room, her Force shield
shimmering around her, a milky luminescence maintained barely a
finger-span from her body. Shigar was struck by how small she looked.
In his mind, she always seemed of gigantic stature, not just
dominating the Jedi High Council but influencing the course of the
Republic as well. Now, though, she seemed tiny.

A
grating noise came from the door. The hexes were already cutting
through. Master Satele had left her lightsaber floating beside her,
outside the Force shield. He took it in his left hand, reached for
his own with his right, and activated them both simultaneously. Their
greens were not quite identical, and by their combined light odd
shadows danced across the walls.

The
room was barely three meters cubed. Apart from the door, there were
no other entrances. That didn't matter. Shigar could make his own.
Raising both lightsabers, he stabbed into the wall at a point above
his head, then spread both blades out in a circle before meeting at
the level of his knees. A red-edged section of the wall fell free,
and he kicked it into the space on the far side. Using telekinesis to
gather up Master Satele, he propelled himself through the gap.

It
was another room, requiring another makeshift door. He moved quickly,
with confident strokes. Behind him, the hexes were wriggling through
widening rents in the door and wall. In a second they would be upon
him.

A
hallway, this time. He swept Master Satele ahead of him and hurriedly
took his bearings. He had come this way on the journey in. At the far
end of the corridor, he could see the distant spiral of the galaxy.

A
fat-bodied hex crawled into view, blocking his path.

"Get
ready, " he called over his comlink. "I'll be coming out
fast. "

"Good,
" said Larin. "It's getting a little tight out here, too. "

Shigar
didn't waste energy replying. Master Satele's shield was undoubtedly
strong enough to deflect anything the hex could throw at them, so he
kept her ahead of him. His job was simply to move both of them-fast.

The
Force rushed through him. Ever since his earliest discovery of his
powers, he had loved the thrill of speed. It had helped him win races
before his removal from Kiffu. It had helped him survive challenges
at the academy. Remembering that wild feeling of acceleration, he dug
deep into himself and kicked off against the wall behind him.

The
corridor blurred. Master Satele preceded him like a cannonball,
blowing the hex backward, out of the wreckage and into space. For an
instant, all was turning sky and scrabbling legs-then an invisible
force wrenched the hex away, and he was swept upward into the waiting
air lock of the Auriga Fire.

"Got
them, Hetchkee?" came Larin's voice over the comlink.

"Safe
and sound. "

Several
quick blasts from the tri-laser put the hex out of commission and
sent four others that had emerged after Shigar scurrying for cover.
He gripped the sides of the air lock as the ship accelerated away,
spinning agilely through the limbs of an approaching agglomeration,
with Larin's covering fire clearing a brightly lit path.

Then
the door was shut and warm air rushed in. Shigar hadn't noticed how
cold his fingers had become. He rubbed them quickly together, then
righted Master Satele on the floor.

"We're
out of danger now, Master. "

The
Force shield shimmered and dissolved.

Grand
Master Satele Shan unfolded to a sitting position and opened her
eyes. "Thank you, Shigar. " She stood and smoothed down her
robes. "I owe you my life. "

Shigar
bowed his head and returned her lightsaber. "I did only what I
must, Master. "

Her
right hand gripped his shoulder. "That's all we ever do, Shigar,
in times of war. "

The
inner door opened.

"You'd
better get up here, " said Jet over the ship's internal comm.
"Fast. "

Shigar
led his Master through the cramped corridors of the ship to the
elevated cockpit. Ula and Jet were at the controls, with Clunker
standing to one side, as motionless as a statue. Hetchkee was
elsewhere-filling the empty tri-laser spot, Shigar assumed, now that
the need for the tractor had passed. Ula glanced at them as they
entered, then stood up and bowed.

"Grand
Master" he said with a nervous expression on his face, "I
am relieved to see you again. "

"Have
we met?"

"I
am Envoy Vii-on the staff of the Supreme Commander..."

"Forget
the introductions, " said Jet. "We can have a tea party
later. There's another ship on the scope. "

"Imperial?"
asked Master Satele, leaning over Ula's chair.

"I
don't think so. " Jet brought up a wide view of the space around
Sebaddon. "Just when I thought we were getting a handle on this
mess... "

The
viewscreen showed the remaining Republic fleet at a much higher orbit
than it had been before, well out of range of the hexes. Infected
ships were lancing out in wildly different directions, thanks to
crippled drives or gravitational pull from either Sebaddon or the
black hole. The Imperial fleet, reduced to seven ships-including its
bulk cruiser-was also ascending to higher ground. A quick glance at
the projected orbits showed that they were likely to cross paths in a
few hours-but that was something to worry about later.

"What's
all this?" asked Shigar, brushing his hand through a layer of
fuzz surrounding the planet's equator.

"That's
where the last three missiles broke up, " said Ula, "and
two more launched since. They weren't aimed at anything. 1 think
Xandret is laying down a defensive halo of hexes to protect the
planet. "

"As
well she might, " said Master Satele. "Show me the latest
arrival. "

Jet's
finger stabbed at a bright dot hovering near the planet's tiny
satellite. "It appeared a minute ago. "

"From
the same coordinates as everyone else?"

"No.
It launched from a crater on the moon. I think it's been hidden there
the whole time. "

She
nodded. "I'd like to broadcast a message. "

Jet
gave her the comm.

"It's
about time you showed yourself, " she said. "I'd very much
like to talk to you, Dao Stryver. "

"And
I you, Grand Master" came the immediate reply. "It pleases
me that you survived this unflattering rout. "

"Can
one take pleasure from the survival of one's enemy?" she asked
the Mandalorian.

"One
can indeed, " he said. "I will explain in due course. "

"I
very much hope so. "

"Meet
me at the moon in half an hour. Send one ship. No escort. You have my
word that you and your party will not be harmed. "

Stryver
clicked off.

"I
don't trust him, " Shigar said.

"We
have no choice, " she said. "Plot the course, Captain
Nebula. Take us by the Commenor. I need to speak to Captain Pipalidi
now, in case we don't get another chance. "

"
'We'?" asked Jet.

"This
mission has already lost seven vessels of war. I will not risk
another. "

"Doesn't
anyone care what I'm prepared to risk?"

"Look
at this, " said Ula, drawing everyone's attention back to the
viewscreen. "The Imperials are launching a shuttle. "

"We
can't let it reach the jump coordinates, " said Shigar. "If
they're sending for reinforcements..."

"I
don't think that's where they're headed, " Satele said. "
'One ship, no escort, '" she quoted.

"And
Stryver did say we wouldn't be harmed by him, " added Jet. "Are
you certain you want to do this?"

"Forget
the flyby of the Commenor" she told him. "Get us moving
now. I'll talk with Captain Pipalidi on the way. "

"Yes,
ma'am, " said Jet, casting Master Satele a sardonic salute. "We
might as well run to our doom as walk. "

CHAPTER
30

Ula
watched with mounting dread as the rendezvous point loomed. He was in
the worst position imaginable, unable to act against the Republic's
wishes because Satele Shan would immediately overrule him, and unable
to reveal his identity to his real masters without blowing his cover.
For a wild moment he considered throwing himself on the mercy of the
Mandalorians, but sanity, fortunately, prevailed. Stryver had no
mercy. The best Ula could have hoped for in his care was slavery.

At
least he was alive, he told himself, and had a chance of staying that
way if he stepped through this minefield with utmost care.

The
Auriga Fire's blunt nose was angling ahead of the Imperial shuttle on
its approach to Sebaddon's solitary satellite. The moon was blocky
and misshapen, more like a brick than a sphere, with a cornucopia of
craters and fathomless fissures marring its ugly face. No wonder
Stryver had stayed hidden for so long. It didn't appear to have been
mined or booby-trapped, which was a major omission for a colonial
administration so keen to remain undisturbed. Ula wondered if they'd
simply never thought of it, or if they'd erroneously-but not
unreasonably-assumed that they would never be discovered so far from
the galactic disk.

The
First Blood Stryver's scout, anchored itself to the surface of the
moon as the two ships approached. It was shaped like a crescent moon,
with forward-pointing wings that bristled with weapons and a
matte-black, nonreflective skin. There were no markings of any kind,
just two glowing circles on either side indicating ready air locks.
Jet prepared a docking ring and tube to cross the distance, and
jockeyed to approach the starboard air lock. The Imperial pilot noted
his intentions and moved to dock on the opposite side. Along with
Larin and Hetchkee, Ula watched the shuttle closely for any signs of
treachery. The way the Imperials had illegally destroyed the Republic
shuttle on Hutta was still painful to him. He expected better.