Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 05_ Allies - Christie Golden [162]
“What the …”
Jaina snapped the lightsaber off her belt, then crossed twenty meters of tarnished deck in three quick Force-bounds and sprang onto the fuselage of her StealthX. She could hardly believe what she saw. At the far end of the wing stood a spider-shaped BY2B maintenance droid, her thick cargo pedipalps clamped around the starfighter’s last laser-cannon while her delicate tool arms released the mounting clips.
“ByTwoBee!” Jaina yelled. “What are you doing?”
The pneumatic wrench whined to a stop, and three of the droid’s photoreceptors swiveled toward Jaina’s face.
“I’m sorry, Jedi Solo. I thought you would know.” Like all droids aboard the Rockhound, BY2B’s voice was female and sultry. “I’m removing this laser cannon.”
“I can see that,” Jaina replied. “Why?”
“So I can take it to the maintenance shop,” BY2B replied. “Captain Calrissian requested it. Since your starfighter is unflyable anyway, he thought it would be a good time to rebuild the weapon systems.”
Jaina’s heart sank, but she wasted no time trying to convince BY2B she had been fooled. “When Lando issued this order, did you actually see him?”
“Oh, I rarely see the captain. I’m not one of his favorites.” BY2B swung her photoreceptors toward the hangar entrance, and a trio of red beams shot out to illuminate a grimy speaker hanging next to the hatchway. “The order came over the intercom.”
“Of course it did.” Jaina pointed her lightsaber at the nearly-dismounted laser cannon. “Any chance you can reattach that and get it working in the next minute-and-a-half?”
“No chance at all, Jedi Solo. Reattaching the power-feeds alone would take ten times that long.”
“How’d I know you were going to say that?” Jaina growled. She turned away and hopped down onto the deck. “All right—finish removing it and prep the craft for launch.”
“I’m sorry, that’s impossible,” BY2B replied. “Even if we had the necessary parts, I’m not qualified to make repairs. The specifications for this craft weren’t included in my last service update.”
“I flew it in here, didn’t I?” Jaina retorted. “Just tell me you haven’t been mucking around with the torpedo launchers, too.”
“This craft has torpedo launchers?” BY2B asked.
Jaina rolled her eyes, wondering exactly when the droid’s last service update had been, then rushed over to a small locker area at the edge of the hangar. She activated the lighting, flipped the toggle switch on the ancient intercom unit in the wall, and stepped into the StealthX flightsuit she had left hanging at launch-ready.
A moment later, Lando’s voice crackled out of the tiny speaker. “Yes, Jaina? What can I do for you?”
Jaina frowned. The voice certainly sounded like Lando’s. “How about a status report?” she asked, pushing her arms through the suit sleeves. “My StealthX is really messed up. No use taking it out.”
“My that is too bad,” Lando’s voice said. “But don’t be concerned. Ar-en-eight has nearly sorted out the system problems.”
“Great.” Jaina sealed the flightsuit’s front closure and stepped into her boots. “I’ll head aft and check out the hyperdrive.”
“Oh.” Lando’s voice seemed surprised. “That won’t be necessary. Ar-en-eight is running diagnostics now. I’m sure the Em-Nine-O and his crew can handle any necessary repairs.”
And his crew. If there had been any doubt before, now Jaina knew she was talking to an imposter. Not long ago, Lando had confided to Jaina that the only way he had survived all those solitary prospecting trips early in his career was to close his eyes whenever one of the Rockhound droids spoke and imagine she was a beautiful woman. He would never have referred to M9EO as a male.
Jaina grabbed her helmet and gloves out of the locker, then said, “Okay. If you’ve got everything under control, I’m going to stop by my bunk and grab some shut-eye before my shift comes up.”
“Yes, why don’t you do that?” The voice sounded almost relieved. “I’ll wake you if anything comes up.”
“Sounds good. See you in four hours.