Star Wars_ X-Wing 02_ Wedge's Gamble - Michael A. Stackpole [89]
Asyr cut across the corridor to a stairwell and led them down. Ooryl and Shiel followed with Dmaynel, leaving Nawara, Rhysati, and Corran to form the rear guard. Though no one seemed to be pursuing the group, Corran and the other two gave the wounded folks a good head start before they followed.
Gavin didn’t recognize any of the tunnels or passages they took, nor the buildings they cut through, though they all looked pretty much like those he and Shiel had seen in their survey of Invisec. Finally they moved up a few levels and were admitted to an apartment where an Ithorian led them through a fairly conventional room to a thickly overgrown, junglelike area of heavy humid air, dripping water, rainbow-colored plants, and artificial lighting.
Asyr pointed Ooryl and Shiel toward a bluish-green mossy patch and they deposited Dmaynel there. “Houlilan, take care of Dmaynel. This other one is hurt, too, but not badly.”
Inyri shifted a bit in Gavin’s arms. “You can let me down. I can stand. I just banged my knee up when I fell.”
Gavin eased her onto her feet and supported her as she balanced on her left foot. “Are you going to be okay?”
She nodded, wincing only slightly as she tried to put weight on her right leg. “I guess you think I should be grateful.”
Asyr looked surprised. “They saved you from death or worse at Imp hands. Thanks are warranted.”
Inyri shrugged. “Thank them? Never. They’re the reason I’m here. If they’d not interfered with my life, I wouldn’t have been in trouble.”
Corran frowned from the doorway. “You had a choice. You didn’t have to leave Kessel.”
Asyr pocketed her small blaster and folded her arms. “There’s definitely something going on here that I don’t know about. Do I want to?”
Gavin shook his head. “Probably not.”
“For your own sake,” Nawara added.
Inyri smiled cruelly. “These are the people who brought Black Sun back to Coruscant.”
The Bothan covered her surprise well, then stared right at Gavin. “True?”
He shrugged. “I’m afraid so.”
Asyr frowned. “Freeing folks from Kessel explains why you’ve got no love for the Imps, but I don’t think the Rebels will think much of your doing that either. Makes the galaxy kind of small for you. That’s a big problem.”
“Not really, not at all.” Corran handed Gavin back his blaster. “As things go, that’s really a minor problem.”
“A minor problem?” Asyr’s frown deepened. “Do I even want to know you people?”
“Probably not.” Gavin smiled at her. “We’re Rebels—pilots in Rogue Squadron.”
“And you’re here on Coruscant?” Asyr’s amethyst eyes widened. “I begin to see your perspective on things.”
Corran nodded. “Let me help you get the full hologram. We’re here to figure out how to liberate Coruscant. In comparison with our mission, any other problem is a minor problem.”
Aril Nunb had decided to feign unconsciousness when they dragged her from the rubble, but the cracked ribs on the right side of her chest were painful enough to make her squeal when a stormtrooper pulled on her right arm. He hauled her to her feet, then shoved her toward the group of cut and bleeding refugees standing behind the Floating Fortress.
Aril didn’t think she’d blacked out when things started happening, but she couldn’t be certain. She remembered the stormtroopers arriving, then the far door going down. She’d broken for the exit along with the other Rogues, but a blast from the Fortress had exploded part of a hovel to her right. She thought only the shock wave had knocked her down, but the ache in her ribs suggested she’d been hit solidly by flying debris. Then she’d seen a Sullustan toddler begin to scream and thrash in a midden. She’d bent to help him out when the rest of the building came down.
She glanced back at the pile from where they had pulled her, but she saw no child. Aril turned to look forward again, but she saw no child among the hollow-eyed survivors. Those that could cry did, others licked their