The Last Command (40 page)

“Maybe.” Pash nodded toward the center of the room. “Looks like we’re ready to start.”

Wedge turned back as the buzz of conversation around them faded away. Admiral Ackbar was standing by the central holo table, flanked by General Crix Madine and Colonel Bren Derlin. “Officers of the New Republic,” Ackbar greeted them gravely, his large Mon Calamari eyes rotating to take in the entire war room. “None of you needs to be reminded that in the past few weeks our war against the remnants of the Empire has changed from what was once called a mopping-up exercise to a battle for our very survival. For the moment, the advantage of resources and personnel is still ours; but even as we speak that advantage is in danger of slipping away. Less tangible but no less serious are the ways in which Grand Admiral Thrawn is seeking to undermine our resolve and morale. It is time for us to throw both aspects of this attack back into the Empire’s face.” He looked at Madine. “General Madine.”

“I assume that you’ve all been briefed on the innovative form of siege the Imperials have created around Coruscant,” Madine said, tapping his light-pointer gently against his left palm. “They’ve been making some progress in clearing out the cloaked asteroids; but what they really need to get the job done is a crystal gravfield trap. We’ve been assigned to get them one.”

“Sounds like fun,” Pash muttered.

“Quiet,” Wedge muttered back.

“Intelligence has located three of them,” Madine continued. “All in Imperial-held space, naturally. The simplest one to go after is at Tangrene, helping to guard the new Ubiqtorate base they’re putting together there. Lots of cargo and construction ships moving around, but relatively few combat ships. We’ve managed to insert some of our people into the cargo crews, and they report the place is ripe for the taking.”

“Sounds a lot like Endor,” someone commented from the bench across from Wedge. “How can we be sure it isn’t a trap?”

“Actually, we’re pretty sure it is,” Madine said with a tight smile. “That’s why we’re going here instead.”

He touched a switch. The holo projector rose from the center of the table, and a schematic appeared in the air above it. “The Imperial shipyards at Bilbringi,” he identified it. “And I know what you’re all saying to yourselves: it’s big, it’s well defended, and what in the galaxy is the high command thinking about? The answer is simple: it’s big, it’s well defended, and it’s the last place the Imperials will expect us to hit.”

“Moreover, if we succeed, we will have severely damaged their shipbuilding capability,” Ackbar added. “As well as putting to rest the growing belief in Grand Admiral Thrawn’s infallibility.”

Which assumed, of course, that Thrawn
was
fallible. Wedge thought about pointing that out, decided against it. Everyone here was probably already thinking it, anyway.

“The operation will consist of two parts,” Madine went on. “We certainly don’t want to disappoint the Imperials planning the trap for us at Tangrene, so Colonel Derlin will be in charge of creating the illusion that that system is indeed our target. While he does that, Admiral Ackbar and I will be organizing the actual attack on Bilbringi. Any questions?”

There was a moment of silence. Then, Pash raised his hand. “What happens if the Imperials pick up on the Bilbringi attack and miss the Tangrene preparations entirely?”

Madine smiled thinly. “We’d be most disappointed in them. All right, gentlemen, we have an assault force to organize. Let’s get started.”

The bedroom was dark and warm and quiet, murmuring with the faint nighttime noises of the Imperial City outside the windows and the more subtle sounds of the sleeping infants across the room. Listening to the sounds, inhaling the familiar aromas of home, Leia stared at the ceiling and wondered what had awakened her.

“Do you require anything, Lady Vader?” a soft Noghri voice came from the shadows beside the door.

“No, Mobvekhar, thank you,” Leia said. She hadn’t made any noise—he must have picked up on the change in her breathing pattern. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“You did not,” the Noghri assured her. “Are you troubled?”

“I don’t know,” she said. It was starting to come back now. “I had—not a dream, exactly. More like a subconscious flash of insight. A piece of a puzzle trying to fit into place.”

“Do you know which piece?”

Leia shook her head. “I don’t even know which puzzle.”

“Did it relate to the siege of stones in the sky above?” Mobvekhar asked. “Or with the mission of your consort and the son of Vader?”

“I’m not sure,” Leia said, frowning with concentration into the darkness and running through the short-term memory enhancement techniques Luke had taught her. Slowly, the half-remembered dream images started to sharpen…. “It was something Luke said. No. It was something
Mara
said. Something Luke
did
. They fit together somehow. I don’t know how… but I know it’s important.”

“Then you will find the answer,” Mobvekhar said firmly. “You are the Lady Vader. The
Mal’ary’ush
of the Lord Vader. You will succeed at whatever goal you set for yourself.”

Leia smiled in the darkness. It wasn’t just words. Mobvekhar and the other Noghri truly believed that. “Thank you,” she said, taking a deep breath and feeling a renewing of her own spirit. Yes, she would succeed. If for no other reason than to justify the trust that the Noghri people had placed in her.

Across the room, she could sense the restlessness and growing hunger that meant the twins would be waking up soon. Reaching past the lightsaber half hidden beneath her pillow, she pulled her robe over to her. Whatever this important puzzle piece was she’d stumbled on, it would wait until morning.

The last surviving Rebel ship flickered with pseudomotion and vanished into hyperspace… and after a thirty-hour battle, the heart of Kanchen sector was finally theirs. “Secure the fleet from full battle status, Captain,” Thrawn ordered, his voice grimly satisfied as he stood at the side viewport. “Deploy for planetary bombardment, and have Captain Harbid transmit our terms of surrender to the Xa Fel government.”

“Yes, sir,” Pellaeon said, keying in the order.

Thrawn half turned to face him. “And send a further message to all ships,” he added. “Well done.”

Pellaeon smiled. Yes; the Grand Admiral did indeed know how to lead his men. “Yes, sir,” he said, and transmitted the message. On his board, a light went on: a preflagged message had just come through decrypt. He pulled it up, skimmed through it—

“A report from Tangrene?” Thrawn asked, still gazing out at the helpless world lying below them.

“Yes, sir,” Pellaeon nodded. “The Rebels have sent two more freighters into the system. Long-range scans suggest that they off-loaded something in the outer system on the way in, but Intelligence has so far been unable to locate or identify the drops.”

“Instruct them not to try,” Thrawn said. “We don’t want our prey frightened off.”

Pellaeon nodded, marveling once again at the Grand Admiral’s ability to read his opponents. Up until twenty hours ago he would have sworn the Rebels wouldn’t be audacious enough to commit this many forces to a battle just to get hold of a
CGT
array. Apparently, they were. “We’re also getting reports of Rebel ships drifting quietly into the Tangrene area,” he added, skimming down the report again. “Warships, starfighters, support craft—the whole range.”

“Good,” Thrawn said. But there was something preoccupied and troubled about the way he clasped his hands behind his back.

A message appeared on Pellaeon’s board: the Xa Fel government had accepted Harbid’s terms. “Word from the
Death’s Head
, Admiral,” he said. “Xa Fel has surrendered.”

“Not unexpectedly,” Thrawn said. “Inform Captain Harbid that he will handle the landings and troop deployments. You, Captain, will reconfigure the fleet into defensive formation until planetary defenses have been secured.”

“Yes, sir.” Pellaeon frowned at the Grand Admiral’s back. “Is anything wrong, Admiral?”

“I don’t know,” Thrawn said slowly. “I’ll be in my private command room, Captain. Join me there in one hour.”

He turned and favored Pellaeon with a tight smile. “Perhaps by then I’ll have an answer to that question.”

Gillespee finished reading and handed the data pad across the table to Mazzic. “You never cease to amaze me, Karrde,” he said, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the tapcafe’s background noise. “Where in space do you dig this stuff up from, anyway?”

“Around,” Karrde said, waving his hand vaguely. “Just around.”

“That doesn’t tell me mynock spit,” Gillespee complained.

“I don’t think it was meant to,” Mazzic said dryly, handing the data pad back to Karrde. “I agree; it’s very interesting. The question is whether we can believe it.”

“The information itself is reliable,” Karrde said. “My interpretation of it, of course, is certainly open to question.”

Mazzic shook his head. “I don’t know. It seems like a pretty desperate move to me.”

“I wouldn’t say desperate,” Karrde disagreed. “Call it instead a return to the bold tactics the Rebel Alliance used to be known for. Personally, I think a move like this is long overdue—they’ve allowed themselves to be put on the defensive far longer than they should have.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that if this doesn’t work they’re going to lose a lot of ships,” Mazzic pointed out. “Up to two entire sector fleets, if you can believe these numbers.”

“True,” Karrde agreed. “But if it does work, they get a major victory against Thrawn and an equally major lift in morale. Not to mention a
CGT
array.”

“Yeah, that’s another thing,” Gillespee put in. “What do they need a
CGT
for, anyway?”

“It supposedly has something to do with the reason Coruscant has been closed to civilian traffic for the past few days,” Karrde said. “That’s all I know.”

Mazzic leaned back in his seat and fixed Karrde with a speculative look. “Forget what they need it for. What are you proposing we do about it?”

Karrde shrugged. “It looks to me like the New Republic is fairly desperate to get their hands on a
CGT
. If they’re willing to fight for one, I assume they’d be even more willing to pay for one.”

“Seems reasonable,” Mazzic agreed. “So what do you want us to do, sneak into Tangrene before they get there?”

“Not really,” Karrde shook his head. “I thought that while everyone was busy fighting at Tangrene, we’d pick up the
CGT
at Bilbringi.”

Mazzic’s smile vanished. “You’re joking.”

“Not a bad idea, really,” Gillespee put in, slowly swirling the remains of the drink in his cup. “We slip in before the attack starts, then grab the
CGT
and run.”

“Through half the Imperial fleet?” Mazzic countered. “Come on—I’ve seen the kind of firepower they keep there.”

“I doubt they’ll have more than a skeleton defense there.” Karrde raised an eyebrow. “Unless you seriously think Thrawn won’t anticipate and prepare for the New Republic’s move on Tangrene.”

“Point,” Mazzic conceded. “They can’t afford to let the New Republic have a victory there, can they?”

“Particularly not at Tangrene,” Karrde nodded. “That’s where General Bel Iblis successfully hit them once before.”

Mazzic grunted and pulled the data pad over in front of him again. Karrde let him reread the information and analysis, giving the tapcafe a leisurely scan as he waited. Near the main entrance, Aves and Gillespee’s lieutenant Faughn were sitting together at one of the tables, doing a good job of looking inconspicuous. Across the way at the rear entrance, Mazzic’s bodyguard Shada was playing the flirtatious hostess role for Dankin and Torve, the whole routine being convincingly leered at by Rappapor and Oshay, two more of Gillespee’s people. Three more tables of backup forces were scattered elsewhere throughout the tapcafe, primed and ready. This time, none of them were taking any chances with Imperial interference.

“It won’t be easy,” Mazzic warned at last. “Thrawn was furious about that raid we pulled. They’ve probably redone their whole security setup by now.”

“All the better,” Karrde said. “They won’t have found the holes in it yet. Are you in or out?”

Mazzic looked down at the data pad. “I might be in,” he growled. “But only if you can get a confirmation on the time of this Tangrene thing. I don’t want Thrawn anywhere within a hundred light-years of Bilbringi when we hit the place.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Karrde said. “We know the systems where the New Republic is assembling their forces. I’ll send some of my people to poke around and see what they can turn up.”

“What if they can’t get anything?”

Karrde smiled. “I need to have Ghent write us onto their payroll anyway,” he pointed out. “As long as he’s in the system, he might as well check on their battle plans, too.”

For a moment Mazzic just stared at him. Then, suddenly, the frown vanished and he actually chuckled. “You know, Karrde, I’ve never seen anyone play both ends against the middle the way you do. Okay. I’m in.”

“Glad to have you,” Karrde nodded. “Gillespee?”

“I’ve already seen Thrawn’s clones in action,” Gillespee reminded him grimly. “You bet I’m in. Besides, if we win maybe I can get that land back the Empire stole from me on Ukio.”

“I’ll put in a good word for you with the New Republic,” Karrde promised. “All right, then. I’m taking the
Wild Karrde
to Coruscant, but I’ll be leaving Aves behind to coordinate my part of the attack group. He’ll give you the operations plan when you check in.”

“Sounds good,” Mazzic said as they all got to their feet. “You know, Karrde, I just hope I’m around to see the day the New Republic catches up with you. Whether they give you a medal or just shoot you—either way, it’ll be a terrific show.”

Karrde smiled at him. “I rather hope to be there that day myself,” he said. “Good flights, gentlemen; I’ll see you at Bilbringi.”

The brilliant green turbolaser blast flashed downward from the fuzzy-looking Star Destroyer in the distance beyond. It splashed slightly against the unseen energy shield, then reappeared a short distance away, continuing onward—