Star Wars_ Legacy of the Force 07_ Fury - Aaron Allston [49]
“Two days until the meeting with the Corellians. Two days, at a halfway point between Corellia and Coruscant—but that’s still a lot of space to cover.” Wedge frowned, calculating. “In two days, if you could have a StealthX shadow the Anakin Solo out of the Coruscant system, that might give us the exact coordinates. Her course, plus knowledge that the destination will be identical in distance from there to Corellia, as well.”
“Right—if we’re lucky and he doesn’t send the Anakin Solo through an elaborate, multiple-leg course.”
“I doubt he will. Whether it is one or not, he has to suspect that it’s a trap. Why worry about elaborate routing when you’re going directly to the adversary anyway?”
“True.” Luke nodded. “I’ll send out a StealthX immediately.” He turned back toward the outpost and led them in that direction. “Wedge, it’s good to have you here.”
“Speaking of which—”
“No, you’re not being paid.”
Wedge laughed. “Just like the Rebellion days. No, I was going to say, you’ve brought me in for military advice, you’re acquiring personnel and matériel, you have a base of operations and an agenda that involves interacting with two major galactic powers—has it occurred to you that you’re setting up a third government here?”
“No.”
“Well, you are. The Jedi are now a cross-planetary, self-governing body, and you’re their Chief of State. You might need to start thinking along those lines.”
“Huh. You want the job?”
“No. If it lands on me, I’ll give it to Booster Terrik. He’ll figure out a way to get us paid.”
ABOARD THE ANAKIN SOLO
Caedus relaxed in his Command Salon, away from the bustle and noise of the bridge, waiting for the exit from Coruscant space and the short hyperspace jump to the rendezvous point with the Corellian task force.
He would have preferred to pass the time in one of two secret rooms near his quarters—Allana’s playroom, or his cramped workshop, where, finally, he was finding the time to build his new lightsaber. It would be a proper lightsaber, with a red blade, the better to announce his new role as Lord of the Sith—though when it would be time to make that declaration, he still did not know.
The monitor before him, showing nothing but stars and tiny, fast-moving dots that constituted traffic inbound toward Coruscant, suddenly switched to the face of Lieutenant Tebut. A dark-haired human woman with a quiet, no-nonsense manner and an imposing air of efficiency, she had, like all officers aboard the Anakin Solo, survived the most intensive security vetting the Guard could conduct. A candidate for promotion to the position of executive officer, she had, with Captain Nevil’s blessing, begun a program of mastering every bridge officer’s duty, and today she was at the communications officer’s station. Caedus approved of both her ambition and her breadth of skills.
“The pilot reports readiness for hyperspace jump,” Tebut reported. “But we’re being hailed by a private yacht identifying itself as Love Commander.”
Caedus grimaced and briefly considered blowing the vehicle out of space. But no, Lando was only nearly useless, and the old gambler’s instinct for self-preservation meant that he often had some helpful information at hand.
Caedus pressed a button so that his next words would also go to Captain Nevil. “All stop.” He released it and looked at the monitor again. “Put her captain through to me.”
He waited just long enough for the picture on his display to change from Tebut’s face before he began talking. “Calrissian, give me one good reason—”
But the face that materialized on the display was not