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Mon Mothma closed her eyes and squeezed Leia’s hand with a surprisingly firm grip. “Even when I’m gone, I will be watching over you.”

Speechless, Leia knelt at Mon Mothma’s bedside for a long time, far into Coruscant’s night.

30

Inside Maw Installation one of the members of Wedge’s Special Forces Team had deciphered enough of the primary controls to sound the facility-wide alarm. Through the intercom system an unfamiliar voice barked, “Red alert, an Imperial Star Destroyer has entered the vicinity. Red alert! Prepare for attack.”

Wedge stood next to Qwi inside her empty old laboratory as they gaped at the scarred and blackened hulk of the Gorgon. The mammoth ship maneuvered into position over the cluster of lashed-together rocks.

“Oh, my!” Threepio said. “I thought we were supposed to be safe in here.”

Wedge grabbed Qwi’s pale hand. “Come on, we have to get to the operations room.”

They ran through the corridors. Qwi did her best to lead him, though frequently she couldn’t remember which direction to go. Threepio, his servomotors whirring, tottered after them as fast as he could go. “Wait for me! Oh, why does this always happen?”

Inside the operations room Wedge was relieved to see that a dozen of his troops had gotten there ahead of him and were already scrambling to operate the controls. A few of the computer banks had malfunctioned, but the rest had been jump-started. Sensor arrays spilled data across their screens.

Wedge put his hands on Qwi’s shoulders, pressing his face close to hers and looking into her big eyes. “Qwi, try to remember! Does Maw Installation have any of its own defenses?”

She looked up through the latticed skylight, seeing the looming arrowhead shape of the Star Destroyer. Qwi pointed up. “Those were our defenses. Maw Installation depended entirely upon Admiral Daala’s fleet.”

She hurried over to one of the deadened computer consoles and used her musical keypad to whistle her password into the system, hoping to bypass the damaged circuits with her own files and select some of the higher-order functioning routines. “We do have shields,” Qwi said, “if only we could increase them.”

Five harried technicians came over to help her, using their own expertise to access the generators and reinforce the protective force field around the primary planetoids.

“That’ll hold for now against an assault,” a tech said, “but this makes me very uncomfortable, General Antilles. The power reactor is already unstable, and we’re placing a tremendous drain on it. We could be sealing our own fate.”

Wedge’s gaze flicked to Qwi and then back to the soldiers. “Well, it’s certain death if we don’t do something to protect ourselves now. We’ve taken what we need. I think it’s time to leave Maw Installation. Have the ships prepare for departure.”

“If Daala will let us,” Qwi said. “I doubt she’ll allow us to walk off now that we’ve uncovered its secrets.”

Wedge’s eyes suddenly blinked in realization. “We took one of the corvette engines off-line for spare parts for the power reactor! One of my ships is crippled and can’t move.” He ran to the communications station and switched on a narrow-beam to the disabled corvette.

“Captain Ortola, launch all starfighter squadrons from your bay—now. Take all personnel and shuttle over to the Yavaris or one of the other two corvettes. Without maneuverability, your ship is a prime target.”

“Yes, sir,” Captain Ortola’s voice acknowledged.

The broad trapezoidal viewscreen at the far end of the operations room surged with static, and then an image of fiery-haired Admiral Daala filled the screen. She leaned forward into the viewing area. Her eyes seemed to throw pointed javelins right into Wedge’s heart.

“Rebel scum, you’ll not leave Maw Installation alive. The information contained in this facility is now forfeit, tainted by your sabotage. I’m not interested in your surrender or your flight. Only your destruction.”

Daala ended the transmission herself before Wedge could formulate a reply.