Star Wars_ Legacy of the Force 01_ Betrayal - Aaron Allston [128]
Syal nodded. Her face felt tight, especially around her eyes, from the brief bit of crying she’d done when no one was looking, and her bangs, now lank with perspiration, flopped into her eyes. She wished that VibroSword Leader would just take his chair and stay in it. All his standing up, doubtless to appear to be more intimidating, was getting on her nerves. Plus, she could use a friend right now, and it sure wasn’t him.
“I still don’t understand,” the woman said. “Why did you shoot him?”
“He lunged for my blaster pistol,” Syal said.
“Why did you have a blaster pistol?” Leader asked.
“So I could take him into custody.”
“No,” the woman said. “You took it out to take him into custody. Why did you have it in the first place?”
“I always do,” Syal explained. “When I got old enough to begin dating, my father insisted that I carry one.” That was a small lie. Her father had insisted that she carry two. But she’d made do with one most of the time since leaving home.
“And you drew on him because he was trying to suborn you,” the woman continued.
Syal nodded. “‘Do a few things for us,’ he said, meaning the Corellians.”
The woman looked skeptical. “Ensign Dunton, you’re a very low-ranking officer in a carrier full of people who could do the GA more harm than you if they were turned. Why you? What makes you so vulnerable to this sort of attempt?”
“Your leg,” Leader said.
“What?” Syal turned an uncomprehending expression on him.
“Your leg,” he repeated.
Syal looked down. Her right leg was vibrating again. She glared at it and it stopped.
“Answer the question, please,” the woman said.
“I’m…” Syal looked at her, then turned apologetic eyes toward Leader. “I’m Corellian.”
He glanced toward his datapad. “Right. Born on Corellia. Raised on Ralltiir.”
“No. Born on Corellia…raised on Corellia. The recruiting officer assumed, and put down, that I was raised on Ralltiir because I have Ralltiir citizenship. But I didn’t get it the usual way. I bought it.”
The woman said, “What else in your record is incorrect?”
“Nothing. But Lysa Dunton, well, that isn’t the name I was born with.”
Leader scowled at her and sat again. “You achieved an officer’s rank on a falsified name. We’re deep into court-martial territory here.”
“No, Lysa Dunton is my real name. I changed it, legally, at a court on Ralltiir that is known for being horribly disorganized. I knew it would take years for the records to reach the GA military. I changed it to avoid comparisons with my father, so I could achieve a reputation of my own.”
“What’s your real—” The woman checked herself. “Your original name?”
“Syal Antilles.”
Both the woman and Leader blinked. The woman reacted first. “Corellian. Antilles. You aren’t by chance—”
“He’s my father.”
“And Iella Antilles your mother.”
“I’m surprised you know that name.”
The woman nodded. “So the mechanic tries to persuade you to perform unspecified actions for the Corellian government.”
Syal nodded. “And he threatened to do things to my family if I didn’t comply.”
Leader gave Syal a hard stare. “So you’ve just gotten your family killed. You refused; that agent’s superiors will now begin the purge. Good going.”
Syal settled back in her chair, putting a precious few more centimeters’ distance between herself and her squadron leader. “I hope not.”
“The smart thing to do,” Leader said, “would have been to go along with whatever he said and bring Intelligence in later.”
Syal shook her head. “I’m no good at that sort of thing. Don’t you think I know what I’m capable of? My mother was in Intelligence. My sister got those genes, I guess. I wouldn’t be able to pull it off, and in the meantime, that man would have been free on this ship, maybe sabotaging the starfighters of my friends. No, that’s not smarter.” Syal heard her voice rise in indignation.
“I’ll tell you what,” Leader said. “We’ll look into this. If you’re lying, you get a dishonorable discharge and whatever