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Despite the fact that her summons was meant to save his life, he took little joy in it. If things went as they had previously, she would appear in hologram and berate him for what he had or had not done for her cause. She used the fact that she could betray him to the Rebels as a bludgeon, and he cringed suitably when she did so, which seemed to satisfy her need to see him under her control. As nervous as her message suggested she was, he expected quite a beating.

What she does not understand, what she has never understood, is that I don’t fear her at all. The Emperor considered me a rival. She is nothing compared to him. I work for her because her goals and mine coincide. I can play her off against the Republic and benefit in the meantime.

Fliry Vorru smiled. He prepared orders dispatching militia teams to the sites she wanted, though he reduced her request for a dozen people at each location to three. The rest he ordered summoned to his bacta storage facility. He planned to have them moving as much bacta and other loot as possible to the various storage facilities he had scattered all over Imperial Center.

When she wants to know why I evacuated my facility, I’ll tell her the Alliance tipped me to a strike. And to make that seem true …

Vorru switched his comlink to a secure frequency and initiated a call. He allowed the sleepy individual on the opposite end of the link to awaken enough to understand Basic, then he spoke slowly and carefully. “Forgive the hour of this call, Councilor Fey’lya, but I knew not where else to turn. I have learned of an impending PCF strike at a bacta storage facility. If we act quickly, a great tragedy can be averted.”

All Wedge could see of Emtrey in the darkness was the droid’s glowing gold eyes. “What is it, Emtrey?”

“Forgive the intrusion, Commander, but we have just gotten an urgent message from Admiral Ackbar. There are terrorists about and we have to stop them.”

Wedge shook his head to clear it. “Terrorists here, in our area?”

“No, sir. They’re going to hit a bacta storage site. You’re to fly cover for our troops opposing them.”

The bedsheet slid down around Wedge’s waist as he pulled himself up and pressed his back against the headboard. “Call in the squadron.”

“I have, sir. They’re all coming in except for Master Ven. He’s not answering his comlink.”

“Keep trying. When you get him, I want to speak with him. Get to Zraii and start pre-flight on our X-wings. Tell him I want no fueling delays this time.”

“Done, sir.” Emtrey pointed at the datapad on the desk in Wedge’s room. “The primary briefing document has already been downloaded for your review.”

Wedge smiled. “Thanks.” He threw back the covers and stepped out of bed. “Caf, lots of it, for me and for the ready room. I have a feeling this mission is not one we can fly in our sleep.”

36

A tone brought Corran awake. A jolt of fear ran through him when he couldn’t recognize his surroundings. He knew he wasn’t in Lusankya anymore, or at least he hoped that was the case, but the thought that his whole escape might have been some elaborate charade staged by Isard to break him down gnawed at his spirit.

He hauled himself off the very comfortable bantha-hide divan. He’d not intended to fall asleep, but the tunnel-shuttle’s appointments were plush and seductive, especially in comparison with what he had endured in Lusankya. This is more impressive than the Hotel Imperial. The shuttle had a small refresher station which had allowed Corran to take his first shower since his capture. The Lusankya diet had not been very high in protein content, so his hair, beard, and fingernails had not grown much during his captivity; still, he could have used a shave. Then again, in this tunic, I’m hardly presentable. He laughed. If it were really that luxurious, there would have been a closet with a full wardrobe on board.

Holdout blaster in hand, Corran walked over to the egress hatch and opened it. Waiting for him was what looked like a private