Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 06_ Vortex - Denning Troy [112]
“Not necessarily,” Jaina pointed out. She was looking at the holograph from the side adjacent to Zekk and Taryn, standing between Leia and Natua Wan. “We’ve given them plenty of reason to be cautious. Running the pods around to confuse tracking devices could be standard procedure.”
Taryn nodded agreement, then reached up and draped a hand over Zekk’s shoulder. “When she’s right, she’s right,” she said. “Jedi Solo has already embarrassed Colonel Retk once, and Yakas are beyond smart. Of course he would take precautions.”
As Taryn spoke, C-3PO quietly dismissed himself and left the room, moving toward the front of the office suite. Han caught Seff Hellin’s eye and nodded for the young Jedi to follow. C-3PO had orders not to allow anyone past the entrance, but given what they were about to do, there was no sense taking chances.
Once Han had returned his attention to the room, Zekk said, “What difference does it make if they are just taking precautions? We still don’t know where they’re keeping the pods, and that means we’ll be inside too long. This will be a running battle, not a quick grab.”
Taryn’s eyes turned hard. “Are you suggesting we leave that poor Horn girl frozen in carbonite?” Like most Hapan women, she was not accustomed to being questioned by her mate, and there was an edge in her voice that suggested she was still having trouble adjusting to the idea that Zekk was most definitely not a Hapan man. “I’m afraid I just won’t allow that.”
Zekk’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “The decision is Han and Leia’s,” he reminded her. “And Valin is frozen, too. Don’t forget about him.”
“What makes you think I did?” Taryn turned to Han and said, “If we’re going to do this, I need to get moving. It won’t be easy to make myself look like an uptight female boss, you know.”
Han raised a hand. “We’re gonna do it,” he assured her. “But let’s make sure we know what we’re getting into, okay?”
As Han spoke, the green path report suddenly stopped advancing.
“Stang!” he cursed. “They just found one of the bugs.”
Zekk turned to Taryn. “Didn’t you say Hapan trackers are undetectable?”
“I did, but they can’t overpower a signal neutralizer,” Taryn said. “If that tracker doesn’t come back online, it’s probably because GAS has a neutralizer in the pod vault.”
The yellow path report suddenly stopped advancing as well.
“And if that one doesn’t come back?” Jaina asked, pointing at the end of the yellow line. It was three floors above the end of the green line, and about fifty meters toward the interior of the building. “Would that be because there are two signal neutralizers in two pod vaults?”
Taryn’s eyes narrowed. “Probably,” she said. “If GAS is worried about security, it would make sense to keep the prisoners in separate locations.”
“That’s certainly a possibility, Taryn,” Leia said. “But raiding two locations is going to complicate things, even if we could be sure you’re right. Is there a way to confirm that the trackers are still in operation?”
“They are,” Taryn insisted. “I can’t prove it, but our devices use nanotech to fuse with anything they attach to. In less than a second, they become completely invisible. And they mask their transmissions as backgro—”
Taryn ended her explanation mid-syllable as C-3PO stepped into the room. He stopped just inside the door, but over one shoulder Han could see Seff Hellin looking frustrated and confused. Over the other was a tall, well-dressed man with a scar on his forehead. On the collar of his navy-style tunic, he wore the crest of the Imperial Head of State.
“Jagged?” Jaina gasped, starting toward the door. “What are you doing here?”
Before Jag could reply, C-3PO said, “Head of State Fel is requesting an audience with Captain Solo and Princess Leia.” He turned his photoreceptors toward Han. “I asked him to wait in the foyer, but he was most insistent that he be seen at once.”
“It’s okay, Threepio.”
Han nodded to Leia, and they followed Jaina through the door into the suite’s empty, beige-carpeted