Star Wars_ Darksaber - Kevin J. Anderson [108]
But not this time.
The eerie flickering glow of hyperspace roared around him as the A-wings tunneled through the walls of space-time, crossing the galaxy faster than the speed of light. Before launch, Madine’s team had sent no message to Ackbar, no comm signal whatsoever. The Hutts must not know of their departure.
Their navicomputer had plotted the shortest path to the coordinates provided by the tracer on Durga’s personal craft. On either side of Madine flew Korenn and Trandia, in communications silence, intent on their mission. He smiled grimly, acknowledging the caliber of his companions. The Rebels had always been astute at getting topflight volunteers.
In the muffled boredom of hyperspace, during the programmed hours of their journey. Madine let his thoughts wander. He had been one of those Rebel recruits, too, convinced to defect from the Empire by a few of his companions, friends from early days before the New Order had broken the backbone of the Old Republic—friends such as Carlist Rieekan, who had risen to the rank of general in the Rebel Alliance and had commanded Echo Base on Hoth.
Shortly after joining the Rebellion, Madine had begun working closely with Mon Mothma, who had taken him in as a trusted adviser even while others were not so certain about this new defector. Ackbar himself had been a good friend, after his own rescue from the Empire. Gruff and courageous, the Calamarian knew how to administer the Rebel fleet.
But Crix Madine had always been different in his priorities and the lengths to which he was willing to go to accomplish his objectives. Mon Mothma valued his opinions because he gave a fresh perspective. Madine himself had fought against the Rebels on the side of the Empire. He knew the tactics that were effective and those that had failed utterly.
Madine also knew his place: he was necessary, though covert tactics weren’t always pretty. Before the battle of Endor, while planning strategy and deciphering the precious data that trickled in from a fragile network of Bothan spies, Mon Mothma’s original plan had been simply to destroy the second Death Star while it was still under construction. When the Rebels learned, however, that Emperor Palpatine himself would inspect the battle station, Crix Madine had rejoiced at the opportunity.
Mon Mothma, though, appeared sickened. “The assassination of political leaders is not the sort of tactic the Rebel Alliance will condone,” she said in a closed-room session with Madine and Ackbar. “Even if they are our enemies.”
“Then we will lose,” Madine said. “The Empire has no such reluctance. Do you think they would hesitate to assassinate you in an instant, Mon Mothma, if they were given the chance?”
Mon Mothma stood, her face flushed, her voice rising uncharacteristically and hammered her fists on the tabletop. “I will not allow my government to become as warped and as evil as the Empire.”
“Mon Mothma,” Ackbar said, “we have risked too much to put this operation together. Our fleet is ready to depart for Endor. Our decoy mission has already begun at Sullust. We cannot scrap our plans just because the Emperor will be on the Death Star.”
“We will save millions of innocent lives,” Madine said. “There is a cost to ourselves, but the payback is potentially much greater. If we allow that Death Star to be completed, Alderaan will be only the first in a long chain of planets turned to rubble at the Emperor’s whim.”
And so Mon Mothma had eventually agreed that the Emperor was to be a target as well. Once the decision was made, she gave it her full enthusiasm, issuing orders with firm determination.
Thus the Death Star had been destroyed, the Empire overthrown, and the New Republic established … though peace and harmony had not come about as quickly as they might have hoped.
Now, Madine found himself streaking through hyper-space