Star Wars_ Death Star - Michael Reaves [152]
Desperate, Vil ran every trick he could think of through his mind. None of them was going to do the job. They were cooked.
Unless …
TIE X1
Vader bored in. The targeting computer narrowed the scan. He had a lock. Whatever they were up to—spies, perhaps?—it didn’t matter. He would eliminate them, then return to the main task.
He thumbed the fire buttons.
72
E-2T MEDSHUTTLE 5537
Vil slapped the retrofire controls. The reverse thrusters all lit full-out. The ambulance didn’t stop, but it slowed enough so that Vader and his two wingmates blew past as if the larger craft were standing still.
Vil punched the sublights back up to full and angled to starboard. No tricks now, just a straight run, a sprint—
TIE X1
Vader was angry with himself. They’d used such an obvious and simple avoidance ploy that he hadn’t seen it coming, even through the Force. He toggled the comm channel. “Get a tractor beam on that medshuttle!”
The reply crackled through his headphones. “I’m sorry, Lord Vader, but the beam generator for that sector has tripped its breakers. We’ll have it back online momentarily—”
Blast!
Vader swung around to follow the fleeing ship.
“Lord Vader,” came the voice of one of his TIE pilots.
“What is it?”
“Another trio of X-wing fighters is making a run up the same trench.”
Vader reached out with the dark side, seeking …
And immediately sensed a presence in whom the Force was powerful, as powerful as it would be in a Jedi Knight.
Vader realized immediately that this was by far the greater problem.
“Break off,” he ordered his wingmates. “Back to the station to intercept the new attackers.”
“What about the medshuttle?”
“Let it go. It’s not important.”
Vader led his pilots back toward the station. They arrowed down into the trench, their fighters screaming between the high walls.
There were the three X-wings. Vader and his wingmates followed, blasting them one by one. Again, no real effort was necessary. Were they all suicidal?
But, he realized, none of them was carrying the pilot with whom the Force had been riding. That one was still out here somewhere. Vader knew he had to find that one. He was a danger—perhaps the only real danger.
“I need locations on the remaining Rebel fighters,” he said.
“At once, Lord Vader.” There was a short pause. “There are only three more, my lord, and they have just entered—”
“—the same trench,” Vader finished. Whatever the target, the Rebels were convinced it was worth every ship they had. He knew he had best finish the last three quickly.
E-2T MEDSHUTTLE 5537
Vil didn’t know why Vader had broken off the pursuit, but he wasn’t complaining. He tried to coax a little more juice out of the sublight engines. The encounter with Vader had lost them precious time; they still had to make it out of tractor beam range before—
He felt the ship lurch, even as Ratua asked, “Why are we slowing down?”
Vil shoved the feeder slide control to maximum, but the shuttle continued to slow. He said, “They’ve got the tractor beam working again.”
“Can we break free?” Uli asked.
“I don’t know. We should be right at the limits of its range. I’m locking in the auxiliary power …” He dialed up the rheostat, suiting action to words. The E-2T surged, then slowed again.
“Vil?” Teela said.
“We’re still moving in the right direction,” he said. “There’s still a—”
The ambulance ship started to shudder; then, after a few more seconds, it stopped.
Then it began to move backward.
“Frag,” Vil said, his voice quiet. “They got us.”
The engines strained, but there was a definite increased speed sternward. The drive power dials started to move into the overload zones. “The engines’ll blow if I don’t shut them down,” Vil said.
“Let them,” Teela said. “Better to die trying than to let them capture and execute us. We owe Atour, Nova, and Rodo that much.”
Vil looked around. The others all nodded. He reached for Teela’s hand, held it.
73
COMMAND CENTER CONTROL ROOM, DEATH STAR
The officer said, “Less than a minute, sir.”
Tarkin nodded. Seconds away from glory. At last.