Star Wars_ The Black Fleet Crisis 03_ Tyrant's Test - Michael P. Kube-McDowell [147]
Pakkpekatt looked to Taisden. “I have no better ideas, Colonel.”
“Then do it,” he said. “Doctor—”
“Yes. Let me speak to Penga Rift.”
Captain Barjas’s voice answered the hail. “Doctor—thank goodness. We’re showing two satellites have suddenly gone dead, and we were concerned.”
“The vagabond has turned hostile,” Eckels said. “Is everyone back on board?”
“Except for you. We just got the last of them up.”
“Good. I order you to leave orbit immediately, and jump out to the agreed coordinates for rendezvous one.”
“Very well, Dr. Eckels. Good luck, sir.”
“We’ll be all right. Get out of here—take care of my people.”
“Eight minutes to horizon,” said Taisden.
“What? How are we losing ground?”
“The target is accelerating toward ORS-One, which is currently relaying the Qella database.”
Hammax shook his head. “Keeping the rock between us and it might not be all that easy to do.”
“Penga Rift is getting under way,” said Taisden.
“Perhaps the reply should be coming from the surface—” Eckels began.
Pakkpekatt ignored him. “Is there any spare bandwidth on ORS-One?”
“I can make some,” said Taisden.
“I want to talk to Calrissian.”
The agent’s fingertips danced over the controls. “Ready on two.”
“General, this is Pakkpekatt.”
“Colonel,” said Lando. “Looks a little warm out there. Is this a good time to mention that my yacht’s uninsured? Perhaps you might consider running away just a little faster—”
“General Calrissian, I don’t know how long we’ll be able to talk. Is there anything you can do to put a stop to this?”
“I don’t think so,” said Lando. “We just had a little mutiny over here—about ten minutes ago, my good friend Lobot drained the power cell on our only blaster into one of the droids. The droids are backing him up.”
“Do you know of any weakness or vulnerability of the vagabond that we can exploit?”
“Yes. Blaster cannon, cruiser-weight and up. The hull’s not armored, and there don’t seem to be ray shields, at least not at those frequencies. You can hole it and hurt it. But you have to get in the first shot, and make it good.”
They could hear a second voice saying, “Lando, it does not deserve this—”
Then Eckels found his voice in protest, drowning out Lobot. “This is completely unacceptable, Colonel. This artifact is unique, irreplaceable—”
“And deadly,” said Pakkpekatt. “Acknowledged, General. Stand by.” He gestured to Taisden. “Hypercomm, secure, to Rieekan and Collomus.”
“Go.”
“This is Colonel Pakkpekatt, commanding, Teljkon task force at Maltha Obex,” he said. “Confirming: We’ve found the vagabond and made contact with the team aboard. But the target has turned hostile, and we can’t get anywhere near—”
The flight deck was suddenly and momentarily flooded with light, marking the precipitous disappearance of the third satellite.
“—it. I believe we could jump out using the planet as our shield, but only at the cost of losing contact with the vessel. I am opting to try to maintain contact, and requesting immediate assistance and support to secure the target and recover our people.” He paused as though listening, then added, “Don’t bother with a cruiser—send a Star Destroyer, or two. We’re going to need a heavyweight to stop her.”
Chapter 11
The morning after the Battle of N’zoth, the Kell Plath Corporation liner Star Morning entered the system and requested a rendezvous with Intrepid for the purpose of picking up passengers.
Since the news did not directly involve Luke, he knew nothing of it until Wialu sent him a message requesting that he come to the cabin she and Akanah had been sharing. He found the women putting the cabin in order, preparing to leave. Akanah greeted him with an eager embrace.
“Did you hear? Our ship will be here in about an hour.”
Luke turned to Wialu. “You’re going back to J’t’p’tan?”
“We are going away,” she said. “It is time for us to find a quieter place. We need to grieve, and heal—to absorb the lessons