Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 07_ Conviction - Aaron Allston [122]
Luke jammed his hand into the wires and circuits exposed by his crude mechanical surgery and pulled out a circuit board. “Transponder number one, for the planetary authorities.” He tossed that over the side and repeated the action, this time yanking free a smaller, thicker black module. “Transponder number two, for the company that rented you the speeder. All very legal and practical, but it would tend to get us killed.” That one, too, he threw over the side.
Beurth looked over his shoulder at Kandra and grunted an apology.
“I know. Not your fault, you’re not in charge.” Kandra blew out a sigh. “Are we safe yet?”
Vestara deactivated Ben’s lightsaber. “Safer. It’s been nearly fifteen seconds since we’ve been attacked.”
Ben’s voice was cheerful. “Time for some dizzying maneuvers to throw them off our trail.” He abruptly vectored to port.
Kandra groaned. The nausea was back.
When it had been five minutes since an attack, and once her heat-paks had been passed back to her, Kandra told Luke how she’d come to be there, and ended, “So do we get our story?”
Luke nodded, agreeable. “Of course. First—Ben, set course for this Crystal Valley she mentioned. That’ll be our next site to examine. Kandra, I’m going to tell you a story about a monster from the Maw cluster, a tribe of Sith lost to history, and the tremendous danger posed to the galaxy. Unless you’d prefer a meticulous explanation of how we got Mayor Snaplaunce’s shuttle running instead.”
“Hold on, hold on. Beurth?”
Her holocam operator got his shoulder unit in place and trained it on the Jedi Grand Master.
Kandra composed herself for a moment. Now, at last, this trip had become worthwhile. “So, yes, please, the story. Of the monster and the Sith. Not the shuttle.”
KLATOOINE
WHEN CRYPTIC WARNING DROPPED OUT OF HYPERSPACE IN THE KLATOOINE system, the Hapan flotilla was just entering planetary orbit. Hara and Fardan offered slightly undisciplined whoops of victory, echoed by other members of the crew back in the main compartment.
Dei merely smiled. “Approach in full stealth mode. Keep sensors on them. Be alert for shuttles or other landing craft departing.”
Fardan nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The Hapan vessels made several orbits of Klatooine, doubtless communicating with planetary government and other official forces on the surface, while the Cryptic Warning crept into an orbit trailing theirs. Then Fardan announced, “Landing craft departing from the flagship.” He increased the gain on the visual sensors, and Dei could see a saucer-like craft descending from the flotilla’s high planetary orbit.
“Track it. Don’t follow it—if we end up between it and the flotilla, the flotilla’s odds of detecting us are enhanced. Plot a parallel course down.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Cryptic Warning broke orbit and descended, its fuselage exterior now imitating color schemes as viewed by observers from a variety of directions—browns and yellows if viewed from above, sky hues if viewed from below. At a distance of a hundred kilometers from the Hapan landing craft, it descended at a rate matching its quarry’s.
Fardan plotted its most likely destination, by its course and by orbital scans of planetside activity, to a large encampment in the broad belt of equatorial desert. The landing craft swooped in to a sure and skillful landing. Hara circled the landing site in an approaching spiral while Fardan, Dei, and the rest of the crew evaluated sensor data.
The camp was situated in a depression immediately west of a lengthy ridge formed by foothills that were the first stage of an arid mountain range. The camp itself was circled by defensive batteries and shield projectors, the latter active, all mobile. Optical imagery showed a large number of tents and vehicles. Among the inhabitants were more Klatooinians than any other species, but dozens of species were represented. The landing craft settled into a sandy area just north of the camp. Elsewhere along the camp’s rim was a familiar-looking Corellian YT-1300 light freighter.
Dei didn’t interfere with Fardan’s duties. He personally ran