Star Wars_ The Black Fleet Crisis 02_ Shield of Lies - Michael P. Kube-McDowell [88]
“But we also need to try to make it harder for the Yevetha to reach them. The primary hyperspace nav routes out of the Cluster should all be under interdiction, and from as close a proximity to the Yevetha forward bases as possible.
“Astrographic analysis shows that there are no single-jump exit routes from N’zoth, Wakiza, and the other known interior worlds—the density of the Cluster makes things a little easier for us. But there are still too many ways out. We cannot blockade Koornacht from this position, with these assets. Do not allow anyone there to believe otherwise.
“With respect to the preceding recommendations, I formally request the following additional assets be attached to this command as soon as practicable: any and all available Interdictors. Any and all available prowlers. No fewer than four additional capital ships, frigate or above, for assignment to the protectorates—I don’t want to pull anything back from here for that duty, lest we send the wrong message to the Yevetha.
“And, finally, we should be thinking about setting up a field supply and logistics center somewhere closer than Halpat. If our presence brings the Yevetha out, we’re going to take losses, and I want something better than cold space for our casualties and cripples. A’baht, commanding, Fifth.”
A’baht raised his eyes to the little droid. “That’s it. Expand, end, and close.”
“Done. Compressing—done. Encrypting—done. Ready for transmission.”
“Send it,” said A’baht, looking out his viewscreen at the curtain of stars and wondering if the predators concealed within were looking back out at him.
The north beach at Illafian Point, on the western shore of Rathalay’s western sea, was wide, broad, and nearly deserted.
If it had been located on a recreation world like Amfar, or even anywhere in Coruscant’s temperate zones, the chances were that the beach would have been bustling with activity and the dunes paved over with pleasure resorts. Humans were not the only species drawn almost worshipfully to the sun and the water.
But overlooked and underused had been exactly what Han had been looking for, and he was delighted by the long, empty expanses of gray basaltic sand. In more than two hours he had seen only two people, outside of the family. One was an older man prospecting along the water’s edge for the tiny jewel-like shells of sea motes, who stopped to show the children the small handful of unbroken shells he had found. The other was a Thodian distance swimmer who had passed offshore, taking no notice of them at all.
Anakin, Jaina, and Jacen showed no sign yet that the novelty of playing in and along the sea was fading. None of them had ever seen a body of water so vast that it met the horizon, or one that was home to carnivores large enough to devour an adult in a few bites, and it made an impression on them. They allowed Han to tell them of the wreck of the starfreighter Just Cause, which lay nine hundred meters below the surface, its cargo of precious metals guarded by superstition and schools of razor-toothed narkaa. They even stood still for a visualization lesson from Leia, who asked them to imagine being creatures of the sea, looking on the land for the first time.
Then they were off to play, wading into the sea and leaving stories, lessons, and parents behind. Jacen was captivated by the idea of the narkaa and kept plunging below the surface in hopes of seeing one. Jaina loved the warm current flowing along the beach and said that floating in it and letting it carry her along made her feel as if she were flying. And even though the water was nearly as tranquil as Lake Victory, the little waves that broke at the shore and tumbled over themselves trying