• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Jaina finished, “Stop Exar Kun. Then Uncle Luke can come back.”

12

Leia sat next to Terpfen in uneasy silence during the entire journey from Yavin 4 to the ocean world of Calamari. Terpfen said virtually nothing, crouched over the controls as if unable to bear the weight on his shoulders.

The small ship descended through the cloud-swirled atmosphere of the sapphire world toward one of the wrecked floating cities where Ackbar had been overseeing heroic salvage operations. As the ship streaked toward the sunlit water, Leia saw golden trails reflected off the choppy waves.

She felt an eerie sense of déjà vu, thinking of when she and Cilghal had come to this planet in search of Ackbar in his exile. She felt this time she was coming full circle, riding with the unwilling Calamarian traitor to redeem Ackbar … but more important, to enlist the admiral’s assistance in a rescue operation to save her son.

“Reef Home salvage team, this is—” Terpfen hesitated. “This is Minister of State Leia Organa Solo’s ship. We must speak with Ackbar. Do you have a place for us to land?”

After only a moment Ackbar’s own voice responded. “Leia coming to see me? She’s certainly welcome here.” Then Ackbar added, “Terpfen, is that you?”

“Yes, Admiral.”

“I thought I recognized your voice. I would delight in seeing both of you.”

“I’m not so sure, sir,” Terpfen said.

“What do you mean? Is something wrong?” Ackbar replied.

The Calamarian hung his scarred head, wrestling with his answer. Leia leaned over to the microphone. “It’s best if we explain face-to-face, Ackbar,” she said in a soft but firm voice. It still felt awkward not to address him by his rank.

Terpfen nodded a painful thanks to Leia. He brought the ship down in a steep dive toward the ocean surface, then pulled up with room to spare and cruised over the wavetops until they approached a cluster of floating vessels and a turmoil in the slate-gray water.

Organic-looking barges with articulated crane apparatus extended down into the water. Bloated, inflated ships like enormous bellows blazed exhaust fire as their engines drove fans to pump air into the submerged hulk of Reef Home, one of the majestic Calamarian floating cities that had been sunk in Admiral Daala’s recent attack.

Leia had been on Calamari trying to convince Ackbar to reclaim his rank when Daala’s Star Destroyers had struck. Squads of TIE bombers had managed to sink Reef Home and damage several other cities. But Ackbar had come out of his seclusion and rallied the Calamarian forces to victory.

Now Leia watched the white froth as the hulk of the city heaved itself to the surface. Bubbles simmered around the lumpy dome of Reef Home. Figures clambered over the exposed metal, attaching grappler cables from the towering cranes on the surrounding barge ships. The bellows pumps continued to gush air into Reef Home’s sealed compartments, forcing out the water that had flooded deck after deck.

In the water, groups of dark figures—tentacle-faced Quarren—worked at the edge of the derelict city, prying open wave doors, patching breaches in the hull, and scavenging the ocean floor to find lost possessions.

As Terpfen brought the ship to land on the wet expanse of the main crane barge, the domed city shouldered its way higher above the choppy ocean.

Leia emerged from the small ship and stopped to catch her balance on the gently swaying deck. Cool salt spray struck her, making her gasp at the cutting wind and the iodine tang of drifting seaweed. One of the figures in the water used a jetpack to scoot away from the salvaged city, climbing a long ladder up the side of the crane barge.

Leia recognized Ackbar as he scrambled with enthusiasm onto the barge deck and stood dripping before them. He peeled off a thin translucent membrane from his face and took a deep breath of fresh air.

“Leia, I greet you,” he said, raising a flipper hand. “We’re making great progress in resurrecting Reef Home City. Our crews should have it refitted and ready for habitation within a few months.

“And Terpfen!” he said with heartbreaking