Enemy Lines II_ Rebel Stand - Aaron Allston [70]
“Me,” Tarc said.
“Try again.”
“Well, her, I guess.”
“That’s better.”
Iella smiled at the boy. “I was available, so I thought I’d stop by in person to give you some news. You did a very important thing last night. You prevented a Yuuzhan Vong spy from getting away with some, well, very significant information.”
“Information you didn’t want them to have. Unlike the stuff I gave them.”
Iella nodded, not contrite.
“What information?”
“I shouldn’t say. You shouldn’t ask.”
“I think I can guess.” When still under Yuuzhan Vong control, he’d stolen records of a project being developed at this base, something about a superweapon involving laser weapons focused through a giant-sized lambent crystal, a living crystal normally bioengineered only by the Yuuzhan Vong. The spy’s torture of the Bothan, asking about such a crystal, suggested that the Bothan’s chamber was where it was being kept or monitored. But there had been no giant lambent crystal there—only the wreckage of some sort of mock-up.
There was no giant crystal. It was a fake. The whole Starlancer project had to be a fake. In a moment of clarity, he understood that the Starlancer project was nothing more than a ring in the nose of the Yuuzhan Vong commander, something to tug him in one direction or another.
“What’s your guess?” Iella asked.
“I shouldn’t say. You shouldn’t ask.”
“Good man.”
“How’s the Bothan?”
“Alive. Which he probably wouldn’t have been, without your intervention. He’s a few beds down; you can talk to him if the doctors say it’s all right. Anyway, I just wanted to stop by and say thanks.”
“Happy to help. Except for the pain part.”
When she’d gone, Tarc said, “They’re talking about you.”
“What are they saying?”
“That you’re crazy as a monkey-lizard, jumping a Vong warrior all by yourself.”
“What do you say?”
“Well … I’ve never seen a monkey-lizard.”
Tam nodded. “Good answer.”
“Come on, boy.” Wolam motioned Tarc over. “We need to give the monkey-lizard here some more time to rest. You can be my holocam operator until he drags himself out of bed.”
“Good,” Tarc said. “I’ll make the recordings he’s scared to.”
“Just don’t record me.” Tam pulled the sheet up over his head.
He heard Tarc snicker, and then he drifted away into sleep once more.
Coruscant
Luke woke in darkness, disoriented for a moment by the lack of familiar sights and smells, but comforted by the knowledge that Mara was beside him. In fact, it was her settling into the broad cot with him that reminded him where and when he was. “Just coming off watch?” he murmured.
“That’s right.” She rested her chin on his shoulder, making him her pillow. “Go back to sleep.”
“I ought to get up.”
“You don’t want to do that. All the news is bad.”
“What news?”
“Ask the scientists.”
“We’ve spent so much time down in the ruins,” Danni explained, “that we haven’t had much of an opportunity to take all the readings we needed to.” Before she could continue, she yawned, then looked embarrassed at the way her exhaustion had betrayed her.
They were in the Complex’s control chamber, Luke and Danni and Baljos. Both scientists looked tired, but now, at least, there was sufficient fresh water to bathe and wash clothes, so they all looked better than they had in some days.
“What readings?” Luke asked. “Every time I look at you two, you’re taking readings.”
“We’ve been taking biological readings, mostly,” Baljos said. “Electromagnetic energy flow readings. Chemical tests of water and food sources. That sort of thing. But not until a few hours ago, when Kell and Face went topside and set up some holocams and other monitoring equipment, have we been able to do any astronomical recordings.”
Luke shrugged. “So what have you found out?”
“Gravitational readings suggest that we’re closer to Coruscant’s sun now,” Danni said. “The planetary orbit has changed.”
“The atmospheric temperature is several degrees higher than