Star Wars_ Millennium Falcon - James Luceno [12]
They returned to the cockpit for the remainder of the journey through the netherworld of hyperspace, neither of them speaking. Reeze broke the long silence.
“What do you think the Jedi installed?”
Jadak swiveled his chair, gazing around at the instruments. “No idea.”
“You didn't think to ask?”
“Why would I?”
Reeze didn't respond immediately. “You know, we could just keep going. Repair the ship at Nar Shaddaa and light out for the Outer Rim.”
“We could. But we're not going to.”
Reeze snorted. “Mission always has to come first. Even when it involves surrendering the ship.”
“The Senators are playing their part, we're playing ours. With any luck, it's all going to come out right in the end.”
“But this thing's about over anyway, isn't it? With Count Dooku dead. You heard what they said. They might not even need us anymore.”
Jadak mulled it over. “I'll tell you what, Reeze. If it does end by the time we reach Toprawa, I'll think hard about doing what you say.”
Reeze sat up straight in the chair. “So you are mad at them—for giving the ship away, I mean.”
Jadak finally looked at him. “Let's leave it at disappointment.”
Reeze grinned. “Disappointment's good.”
“You're ready to celebrate, huh?”
“Why not? It's been a lot of years, Tobb.”
“It has. But don't go getting your hopes up.”
“How could I with you around?”
Jadak smiled without showing his teeth. “So, Nar Shaddaa. Your old stomping ground.”
“Ha! You mean the ground where I frequently got stomped.”
The Rubicon navicomputer toned, and Jadak swung the chair around.
“Reversion coming up.”
They fell into an uneasy silence while the ship emerged into real-space, stars and starfields taking shape after a moment of wake rotation, the Envoy shuddering and groaning, running on pure momentum now.
“That wasn't too bad,” Jadak started to say—when the ship suddenly died.
Reeze began to toggle switches in the blackness. “No power of any sort. No lights, communications. No response from the emergency systems.”
Jadak watched Nar Shaddaa grow larger in the viewport. “That blast must have rattled the power core.”
“Any way to bleed velocity manually?”
“There might be if we had time. As it stands, we're going to go wherever Nar Shaddaa dictates we go.”
Back to toggling switches, Reeze cursed. “Any chance of inserting into orbit?”
“Hard to say.” Jadak unstrapped from the seat and stood, leaning toward the viewport. “At this speed and vector … we could end up slingshot back into space. I'm more worried about traffic coming up the well.”
“You should be,” Reeze said. He had a pair of macrobinoculars pressed to his eyes. “I've got a visual on a ship.” He fell silent, then said: “Oh, brother …”
Jadak peered at the enlarging ship. “What is it?”
Reeze lowered the binoculars. “Corellian bulk freighter—one of the big Action jobs. Large enough for a payload of Hutts with room enough for a herd of banthas.”
Jadak grabbed the binoculars and raised them to his eyes. A rounded rectangle with a gargantuan V-shaped undercarriage, the freighter was driven by a trio of cylindrical engines. “She's climbing right into our path. Accruing speed for a jump. Their instruments will warn them.”
“Warn them?” Reeze looked at Jadak in disbelief. “This is Nar Shaddaa. Who bigger, who better. We're like a mote in her eye. She won't yield.”
Jadak watched the huge ship rise from the planet's envelope.
“Your call, Tobb,” Reeze said after a long moment of silence.
Jadak gave the power toggles a final flick and blew out his breath. “Okay. We're outta here.”
They hurried aft to one of the escape pods, which fired from the freighter's ventral surface, well below the hyperdrive and sublight engines. Reeze climbed in first and popped the cover that sealed the manual release switch. Jadak squeezed through the circular hatch and sealed it behind him. Reeze had